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felassan · 2 days ago

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The Art of Dragon Age: The Veilguard preview pages Part Two, under a cut due to spoilers. Preview pages come from Google Books.

[Foreword]

[Part One]

In Inquisition you had your advisors in the war room. We liked the idea of bringing the whole team in with you and the opportunity for friction it provides.

Part Two: Joplin

Top: Solas continues to taunt you and guide you through dreams. Middle: The suggestion of romance at sea. Bottom (1): Solas is nearly triumphant, but you reveal that you know about the last elves. Bottom (2): A stealthy, aquatic infiltration in Tevinter. Text: Story Art – After Dragon Age: Inquisition shipped, and all the DLC was complete, we focused our full attention on the sequel. It was going to have a fantasy spy theme, which was eventually modified to “covert commandos”. We were travelling to a new part of the map to hunt down the most dangerous man in the world. The beat boards continued. As the story started to take real shape, we asked if the artists could be moved into the same room as the writers. We could then get real-time updates to the story and create quick storyboards. Previously, most people working on the game didn’t know the full story until all the pieces had been put together in a take-home build (months from shipping the final game). For the first time ever, we could show the whole team what the story was intended to be near the beginning of the project, rather than the end. The biggest benefit of this was that the story could received feedback from a wider cross-discipline audience and could then be iterated on more than ever before. This also helped unblock the art team in an unprecedented way. Being able to look at the whole story in one glance meant that we could begin to prioritize our efforts. For example, we could tell which locations would feature most heavily, so we could spend more time designing their architecture, props, and clothing. It also forced us to do quick first-pass designs without overthinking, knowing that later we could come back and refine things if they changed. This method also takes a lot of pressure off and prevents things from feeling “overbaked”.

Top: The team is at its lowest. Middle: Sparking an uprising. Middle (2): Ghilan’nain is defeated. Bottom: In a dream, Solas is furious with you.

Top: You meet with the Archon of Tevinter. Middle: You stop Solas’s ritual, but something (or someone) escapes. Middle (2): Elgar’nan. Bottom: The patchwork team doesn’t get along at first. Bottom (2): Exploring the Anderfels.

Top: Solas reconstructs the lyrium dagger from the idol. Middle: The team discovers the body of Elgar’nan’s Archdemon. Middle (2): Ghilan’nain. Bottom: Tranquilizing himself, Solas recloses the Veil around himself and the Blight.

Top: This sequence was an early fail state. Solas succeeds in his ritual, life as Thedas knows it comes to an end, and the ancient elves return. Middle: Storyboards had played a critical role in the development of Inquisition. We wanted to integrate them into our process even earlier. To that end, we created an interactive storyboard. Starting with the early drafts of the story, we sketched it all out, including any major choices. These boards were then stitched together into a playable choose-your-own-adventure-style game. It meant that years before the real game was up on its feet, an early draft of the entire story could be played from beginning to end. This was invaluable in receiving early feedback from the team and planning out what visuals would be needed to support the game. Bottom: A rather covert entry into Tevinter remained a consistent element in the story right to the end.

Top: Rook and a team track a mysterious idol to a black-market auction. Middle: You’re not the only team that has been tracking the idol. Bottom: The remnants barely escape. Text: While we worked quickly, these sketches helped reveal where to best spend our efforts later. It turned out we spent far more time in particular locations. Some factions were over- or under-represented. In one case we discovered a unique creature that would have taken ages to build but would have only appeared for ten seconds before disappearing forever (it was cut).

Middle: These quick sketches are often used to approve new ideas as fast as possible. In this case, exploring a “hidden in plain sight” meeting place in a Thedas nightclub. Bottom: Icons from the interactive storyboard, where you could decide whether your Inquisitor had disbanded or preserved the Inquisition, and whether they stood opposed to Solas or not.

Top: Solas reaches out to Rook in dreams. Middle: Exploring new sections of the Deep Roads. Bottom: With the help of the Wardens, you defeat Elgar’nan. Text: After a round of feedback, the story was revised. For the next batch of drawings, we added more polish. This helped us design the game before designing the game. At this stage, we weren’t too precious about anything, so we could make visual design decisions quickly, purely to tell the story. Many designs made during this stage remained largely intact.

Top: A version of the deserts of Nevarra. In this case, trying something with very high contrast: white ash and sharp black obsidian. Bottom: The eastern Tevinter town of Ventus. This Tevinter location is a little less oppressive than the megapolis of Minrathous. You can see the hanging gardens, and in the background are magical statues keeping Arlathan Forest from encroaching any closer.

Top: Another fail state was that if you couldn’t find a way to block Solas from your dreams, he would be able to kill you remotely. Bottom: Solas lures his greatest threats to one location and wipes them off the board.

Top: Some visual backstory for Solas’s cut “bad cop” right hand, Reva. Middle: In disguise at a fancy Necropolis ball, waited on by the undead. Bottom (1): As you sneak into the ball, you sneak into the host’s office, only to find Reva one step ahead of you. Bottom (2): Reva reports back to Solas.

Top: In one draft of the story, Solas manipulated Tevinter and the Antaam into open war, with the goal of performing the biggest blood-magic spell since the creation of the Veil. Bottom: Rook would have to covertly approach both sides of the conflict to plead for peace. Should Rook fail at diplomacy, Solas also planted magic-collecting orbs around the battlefield. Sabotaging them would be Rook’s last option.

Top (1): Solas’s magical ritual in Arlathan Forest has already begun. Top (2): Elves loyal to Solas’s cause stand in your way. Middle (1): You finally reach Solas, just as he plunges his lyrium dagger into the Veil. Middle (2): Reva reveals a monstrous “Dread Wolf�� creature. Bottom: Solas is stopped, but you begin to learn that you’ve unleashed something far worse. Bottom (2): The biggest advantage to working like this is turnaround time. You can show someone a drawing and say, “Like this?” and then quickly revise it.

Top: Imshael, having previous joined Solas, turns out to be a loyal double agent. Middle: Kal-Sharok dwarves perform a ceremony in the grip of an ancient Titan. Bottom: Solas tranquilizes Ghilan’nain (above) and, as his last act, performs the same procedure on himself.

Ghilan'nain reveals herself to the world.

[no caption]

Top: A final message from the Inquisitor. Bottom: Defeated, Solas enters the Black City alone.

Top (1): Team members betray you. Top (2): A sacrifice opens the Black Eluvian. Middle: A happy ending with your love interest. Bottom: Secret instructions from Charter.

[no captions]

The ship was a great backdrop for the interpersonal conflict of the team. We enjoyed thinking about how to make it unique, like including the collection of curiosities seen above. We also liked including the idea that Isabela procured it for you, but as a fixer-upper. Nothing like a scrappy but lovable ship to call home.

Preview pages end here.

#dragon age: the veilguard #dragon age the veilguard spoilers #dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #video games #long post #longpost #solas #injury cw #blood cw #gore cw #smoking cw

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dentos-wife · 3 days ago

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See the problem is most people do not care unless it affects them. We have learned this a million times, hell look at the Puerto Ricans who changed their vote last minute because oh my gosh how dare they say that about my group!!! Despite the other side being awful as hell to everyone else including the other Hispanic populations which I’m going to be honest blew my mind a bit.

I hate to bring up the same thing a million other people say but it’s true, it’s the “I didn’t think the leopards would eat my face said the woman who voted for the leopards eating faces party.” phenomenon

So it’s pretty simple; if this is the only way someone will pay attention, then yes the suffering everyone else is feeling needs to hit their own circle for them to realize. When they’re dying from food regulation pulled back maybe they’ll realize. Or as we’ve seen with Covid maybe they won’t and they’re too damn stupid. I hate to use silly video game quotes but goddamn does Soren Fire Emblem hit it hard.

It’s true! We’ve seen it happen! We’ve heard from PLENTY of former Trump voters who are former Trump voters that all have one common theme: they didn’t think they would be affected and they’re got affected. So anyone who is like I want the people to suffer yeah I get it for selfish people who will not respond to outreach who will not have empathy for other people, it’s been proven it’s the only way they will care. Of course op the preferred method of is becoming a part of their circle so they care about you too. And don’t get me wrong that can work too and had but only on people willing to open their hearts and I hate that not everyone is capable of that. You’d think it’s do easy but it’s been proven that unfortunately a good amount of people don’t care until they or their community gets hit. And it sucks so many people are incapable of this empathy for others who are suffering SO

TLDR

Some people need this to happen because they don’t have compassion for others and it sucks I’m 100% anti suffering. I agree with you it’s not as important as marginalized communities safety and that’s not what we should be focusing on HOWEVER we’ve seen with this group of the unreachable its the only way they’ll wake up. And sometimes that doesn’t even happen and nothing can change their mind. For me it’s not about accountability or even having others suffer it’s you’re so closed minded you cannot see what’s happening until it hits you so for the sake of the world I hope it hits you and you wake up and join us despite what you’ve done in the past I’d love to have you thank you for finally opening your mind.

Every time you think to yourself, "I want the people who voted That Way to learn their lesson," I want you to come back to this post and ask yourself, "Is that really more important than marginalized people's safety? Am I engaging in Leftist LARPing to the detriment of actual people?"

#like yeah I’m human and I want the magas to suffer for what they’ve done #but if they leave the cult and realize how stupid they’ve been and decide to help instead?#I’ll accept them back it’s all brainwashing #obviously it’s different for those in power I am vindictive and I do want them to suffer #but frankly some people are so narcissistic and terrible I think it is deserved #for the rest though we need them to wake up through either outreach or the unfortunate reality of until it happens to them they won’t care

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by-ilmater · 13 hours ago

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i noticed an environmental thing while playing through a quest in treviso that i won't mention to avoid spoilers. but it's something very specific so i wanna make a post about it, and maybe some of you will find it useful for fic writing purposes

i saw this in the cellar of a certain villa. it's obviously barrels being used to age some sort of alcohol. but the formation of them is important.

this is called a solera. it's an aging process that can be used to age lots of different wine and spirits, but it's best known for use in aging sherry and port. it's a way for producers to blend wines and spirits of different vintages, where the oldest is on the bottom and the youngest is on top. as the older vintages are drained and only a bit remains, the younger vintages are blended into it, creating a sort of perpetual cascade of aging. this ensures consistency in the wine or spirit, as the character of the original vintages never truly leave. it's very cool.

historically, the solera method was developed in spain in the 18th century. i couldn't remember if i'd seen this particular asset in use anywhere else in the game (i feel like i would've noticed before if i had) so if this was intentional on the part of the devs, it's a very cool little thing to put in an antivan cellar, as antiva is loosely based on spain and portugal. it's also something that most people would miss, as you would need to have specific knowledge of wine production to recognize its significance.

anyway, i just thought this was a cool background detail and i wanted to share with y'all.

#dragon age: the veilguard #dragon age #this post brought to you by your local wine professional lol #lucanis dellamorte #putting it in his tag for the fic writers #hope this was fun and informative!

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ayoharuko · 2 days ago

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Love and Deepspace: Boyfriend Headcanons ♡

I really need to start writing more Zanye stuff considering his my type in so many ways, don't get me wrong but I love all of them, however. Zayne was the one who pulled me into the game and made me stay :3

Again, most of the headcanons may or may not be already canon in game. But do not worry, I do have originals I've thought off :3

Reader here is Gender Neutral (They/Them)

If you haven't seen Xavier's part its here!

Warning: Some Spoilers from his Myths and minor swearing.

Reminder: The character belongs to INFOLD/ its respective creators; this is all just fictional work so please try to not take these too seriously :)

♡ Now, we all know that our favorite Doctor loves sweets right? I feel like in his feel time, aka when he doesn't have work and takes a break from the hospital - he'll practice how to bake sweet goodies.

♡ Think about it! He knows how to cook well and his knife skills are exceptional, so he would definitely make baking as a stress relief and hobby.

♡ I imagine him making sweets to either give to the patients in the hospital, or maybe his coworkers too, once they finish another hard day.

♡ Obviously, you'll get most of the treats as your his special person but not only do you get most of the goods - you also get the first taste! He would also ask you for your honest opinion, now if your scared in telling him the truth; don't be. He encourages it so he can improve better in baking :)

♡ While on the convo of cooking and food - we also know that this man can cook very well, not only is the meal balanced but the presentation and taste is immaculate.

♡ Don't worry picky eaters, you won't even taste the veggies he put in the meal so you'll be safe and not gag (At least not from the food yk what I'm sayin-)

♡ Zayne will ALWAYS make time for you. No matter how busy he is, you will always be his top priority.

♡ You are literally the whole exact reason why he choose to be a cardiac surgeon/doctor after all.

♡ That also means he worries over you like a mother hen, sometimes he can be overbearing and too much on the scolding or doting whenever you get injured.

♡ So obviously, that leads to a few fights here and there but you understand that his intentions are all good.

♡ You are the passenger princess ✩

♡ Like. His car will always have snacks that you love, extra necessities, ties and your playlist is saved on his car too!

♡ On his day offs and you guys feel like hiking somewhere far, he would stock up his car filled with stuff that you usually use at your home as he wants you to be as comfortable as possible.

♡ He tries not to spoil you... he tried to put a limit on everything so you don't get your way but your just so fucking adorable and stupid sometimes that he can't resist giving in... kidding he loves you-

♡ Dates would consist of; cat cafes, hiking, going to the gym, trying out cafes, kitty cards but mostly he would prefer to spend time with you at your or his place :)

♡ Love languages would be Acts of service and Quality time.

♡ As mentioned, he would do chores and he'd cook for you. He also prioritizes you over anything, all his time belongs to you... it has always belonged to you.

♡ Despite telling you to always limit your sweets/desert intake, it apparently doesn't apply to him.

♡ You both would frequently visit the dentist as his teeth would hurt from the amount of sweets (and sugar.) he'd consume, one wonders how he hasn't gotten diabetes yet....

♡ Zayne knows that he can come off as aloof or cold so he thinks about the words he says to you before he actually speaks it. Which often saves you both from arguments a lot.

♡ He also makes a point to be honest whilst not hurting your feelings, you won't have to worry about him lying about how you look or the answers he'll give to your questions.

♡ The only thing he'd be dishonest about tho is when his the one in need of help. His so used to not accepting help that he lies that his evol doesn't hurt him; when clearly, it does.

♡ You'd have to be super plushy to make him care enough to take a break for his own well-being, how ironic for being a Doctor right? Well, his thankful that in times when he can't be the doctor, you make sure to step in as a Doctor just for him and him only.

♡ Zayne often has trips to the Arctic; and when he does, he would either take you with him (Which is rarely.) or make sure to update you with pictures of/or with Pie, the scenery and with your requests - his face as well. You both won't be able to video call all the time while his at the arctic because the signal would be weak so he takes pictures instead.

♡ When he does get back from his trip, expect gifts and tea from him. He'll also make sure to kiss you deeply as he definitely missed you a lot.

♡ Cats aren't really fond of him right? You would force take him to cat cafes all the time and try to establish a connection between him and one of the cats! There was only one cat that liked him enough tho- But thats a win for you!

♡ Since its been said that you both do go hiking sometimes, I believe you guys would do some camping as well.

♡ He would take you on a hiking journey up a cliff filled with pretty flowers and Mayne jasmines that he may or may not have planted himself and you both would set up camp there.

♡ He would grill some food, take out the sweets he baked back at his place and cuddle you under the starlight... wishing for this all to last forever.

♡ He gets nightmares right? When he does; all he wants to do is seek you out, but he often feels guilty as he knows you have your own problems... So you have to rely on your 'Zayne Senses' to know whether the nightmares haunt him or not.

♡ When it is haunting him; all you need to do is Lead him to the bed, tuck his head into your chest - just enough so that he can hear your heartbeat while you whisper promises that you're never gonna leave him.

♡ Zayne has learned how to be patient, yet for you? His Patience will be tested. Whether it's you on those week - long missions or you not calling or messaging.

♡ Zayne does skincare..... I firmly believe he has friends that are dermatologists and that they give him skincare products sometimes as a gift. He gives some of them to you too, if it has good benefits or if you just want it.

♡ If you both are living together and your schedules are in-sync; you both would do your skincare routines together.

♡ I believe that Zayne - not only takes care of his body health but also his face - and not in a beauty standard way but in a 'Good looks makes the patient more at ease and would likely trust him more typa way'

♡ However, in months where the hospital gets busy; he develops a little stubble under his chin. Sometimes its on purpose as he likes the way you shave it or the way you sit on his lap if yk yk...

♡ Nicknames that he gives you are so sweet like honey... the way he calls out to you with that sweet nickname he has given you, it instantly fills you with butterflies.

♡ I like to think he'd call you Honey, Sweetheart and My Love a lot... but when your asleep in the comforts of your shared bedroom; he'd whisper My heart and My Jasmine, just soft enough that you could barely hear whilst slipping away to dreamland.

♡ In conclusion, Zayne is just filled of Husband Material ᯓᡣ𐭩

♡ His not perfect by all means (Expect you think he is) but he will do everything in his power to make sure that you'll not only be satisfied but also comfortable.

I had a lot of fun writing Zayne's part! Considering that his my main after all heh.

I hope that you all enjoyed reading Zayne's part and let me know if ya'll want a NSFW Version of these headcanons :)

See you guys on my next post~!

Rafayel's Boyfriend Headcanons, check it out too!

Reblogs are appreciated and Feedback/Comments are always appreciated! :3

(Note: please don't copy and paste my works anywhere, and if you do see them on other platform please inform me.)

#post by: ayo haruko/emiko #reblogs are appreciated!#feedback is appreciated!#love and deepspace #lnds #love and deepspace zayne #zayne love and deepspace #lnds zayne #zayne x reader #zayne x you #zayne x y/n #zayne x mc #zayne fluff #l&d #l&ds zayne #zayne #love and deepspace rei #love and deepspace li shen #love and deepspace Lee Seoeon

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drdemonprince · 13 hours ago

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personal finance question! ive always thought FIRE was about working as much as possible and then like. being a millionaire by 30 after years of asceticism. which i now realize was an unfair understanding.

setting aside that some of us are coming to this late and havent been hustling as hard as they can since their late teenage years—how do you balance enjoyment now with retirement (and freedom!) later? really want to get into this, but also want to live my life now, yknow? not that “living my life” has to require spending money, but sometimes it might?

Oh yeah I love demystefying this shit. What you're describing is sometimes called "Fat FIRE" -- its for big earners and hard working grindset sigma males who want to (and can) stack a ton of money and then live pretty comfortably at an earlier-than-average retirement age. This is also more on the "RE" retire early end of the spectrum. What most of us here are likely to be more interested in is the FI part of the spectrum -- financial independence. That means assembling one's life around a relatively low cost of living, with a large savings, so that you can no longer be exploited by an employer quite so easily, can afford to quit a job or work less for a period of time if necessary, or get to pursue work that is more meaningful to you but earns less. This is also sometimes called "Lean FIRE" -- and there is a subreddit specific to it that is worth checking out.

Even Mr Money Mustache (who is a bit more of a "Fat FIRE" guy, given his lifestyle and earning potential) always reminds people that the whole *purpose* of the FIRE movement is to not have to work yourself to death doing shit you hate to maintain an artificially inflated lifestyle. It should be about finding some freedom -- not soaking up every single paid gig you can possibly fucking get and saving as much as humanly possible at the expense of enjoying your life.

We pursue FIRE because we're disabled and cant work full time, because we're environmentalists and want a lower footprint, because we dont want to have to take on gigs that morally compromise us, because we want out of the conventional capitalistic life path, and so on. The goal isn't to make as much as fucking possible -- it's to be able to not weigh every decision you make in terms of income!

It's also not binary either -- you don't have to be a hard-core early retirement person with a like million dollar index fund goal, or whatever, you can just aspire to like, have a couple tens of thousands of dollars in savings so that you can take a few years off working if you ever need to or want to, and pursue that goal while also contributing to mutual aid and buying yourself a gaming console or a trip once in a while. Your priorities and the particularities of your situation are what matter here -- and you having a little more freedom to make decisions around that you're happier with.

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shydroid3000 · 2 days ago

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On the subject of Light Yagami, Misa Amane, and guilt (guilt as in culpability and guilt as in the internal experience of feeling guilty): [Rambled about this as part of a response to an ask game but decided I'd pop it into its own post too 'cause I ended up writing a lot on the topic lol]

The question was: was misa just as guilty as light? Ooh, guilt in relation to Misa and Light is interesting to think about. On the one hand, I do think that they're both culpable for their actions at the end of the day. I have maybe some more grace to extend Misa in terms of her having an understandable reason to go down that path, what with her parents being murdered (and almost being murdered herself). Like, that's a level of trauma that makes you go, 'yeah, I can understand why she was all-in on killing criminals with the death note, even if I don't agree.' Light, on the other hand, had this good, stable, pretty privileged home life, in addition to him being a top student, talented, handsome, etc. He's got less of an excuse, you know? The fact that Misa's drawn to Kira's ideals out of lived trauma, whereas Light is drawn to those ideals largely out of ego is sort of a meaningful distinction. (By ego I don't just mean the belief that he's exceptional, but I mean -- the way he is so desperately driven to protect his conception of himself as a Good Person. That's a tragic and heart-rending manifestation of ego, but it's still about protecting his ego). But I also think there's 'guilt' on the level of the actions and choices you make regardless of motivations, and I'd see them as more equal on that front. Misa was an enthusiastic DN user and participant in Kira's plans/ideology. She's motivated by different things than he is, but she makes her choices knowingly. I think it would be diminishing of her agency and complexity to say that she's less responsible for her actions than Light is, if that makes sense. (Also, there are things Misa is guilty of that Light isn't, and vice versa. E.g., Misa pushes Light's boundaries in a way that can be very uncomfortable; Light uses Misa/others without real regard for them).

Now, beyond all that... the question is obviously about their culpability for their use of the DN. But it also makes me think about each of their *experiences* of guilt internally, and that might be even more interesting to me. I think that their relationship to guilt is one of the things that makes them so divergent from one another. Because... running away from guilt is such a huge part of what propels Light to go all out with the Kira thing. So much of his psyche is shaped around that black pit of guilt where whispers of "I did a bad thing. If I did a bad thing I'm not a good person" come from. He diligently tries to cover over that and barricade it off. He crafts an ideology that makes his murders righteous, and commits to making a New World(tm) where the meaning of 'good/right' is reshaped around that. He makes himself a God so that his actions are beyond judgment, or at least he is, because his murders are divine - they're acts of creation, even of love and self-sacrifice. And then Misa... well, guilt doesn't seem to be as obvious a factor for her, whether as motivation or reaction. I mean, I could imagine a reading where there's some well of underlying guilt about the death of her parents and her survival -- I think that would make sense given the circumstances. But... we never actually see that kind of Bruce Wayne -esque psychology peeking through, so that feels more like headcanon territory than direct analysis. Obviously she has deep feelings about the murder of her parents, but she has a very different relationship to guilt than Light. She usually comes across as very free from guilt. She knows what she wants and what her priorities are, and she pursues those without shame. She's impressed by Kira so she becomes the second Kira; she decides she loves Light and wants to be with him regardless of whether he even likes her, so she pursues that undeterred by his response to her. It feels like Misa is always calmly pushing forward toward what she wants, whereas Light's sprint forward toward his New World is really a running-away-from. But at the same time... what kind of underlying emptiness would make someone so completely devotional in the way Misa is, wanting to devote themselves to someone who mostly loathes them, to the point of not even seeming to be hurt by that person's disdain for them as long as they can still have that person in their life? I think there's definitely beneath-the-surface stuff with Misa, but it comes across like guilt is a colour that just doesn't exist in her world. Whereas with Light, every shadow in his world is the colour of guilt. If goodness or righteousness are the rays of the sun, Light Yagami is the moon that reflects the sunlight while trying to create a reality in which those rays are his -- are him -- a reality in which he becomes the sun. And yet he's a moon, and the dark side of it that he disavows is guilt, is 'I did a bad thing', is 'what if I'm not a good boy?' (Wow, went overboard with the metaphors there but too lazy to edit lol).

#just a copy-paste of this part of my ask game response so if you've already read that this is just the same lol #my thoughts on misa are so nebulous though. maybe she's running from guilt in her own way too but has been doing it for longer and thus #has put more distance between herself and guilt such that it's not visible in the rear-view mirror anymore. I'm not sure haha.#thanks applestorms for the inciting ask!! loved thinking about this question #death note analysis #light yagami #misa amane #death note

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rontra · 12 hours ago

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tell me more about these OCs. What’s their deal. How’s life where they live. Do they have games on their phones

the 4 dipshits i drew yesterday are from one of the oldest oc settings ive got (they were minted from the forge of stupid fuckheads in the year of our lord 2011) (and i'm very mean to them<3)

so because it's so old a lot of my followers will recognize them or even be familiar with previous iterations of their story/lore... there's been like. 3 discreet incarnations of it by now. and 3.0 needs some serious aid so this might be 4.0 now. so basically things people know may or may not be canon anymore. i just go in there and sift thru the entrails like fnaf mangle when im bored its my toys

but basically they live in chess world. and they all hate it. and life is bad. because of the Forever War. we should put a stop to that. but the Powers That Be are very picky about the steps that need to be taken to End the Forever War so that part sucks too. also because its chess world everybody has a lil rank and title and has to go perish on the battlefield or whatever

yesterday''s posts,

these two assholes are flang (blonde) and kaitlin (has games on her phone). they're part of the group of 4 main characters with kaitlin serving as the "guy everyone gives exposition to" vehicle, because she just got here, because it's also an isekai (surprise!). so she owns a phone and has games on it but she can't use it anymore because there's no phone service in Chess World. sad!

her rank is king (she/her king W), which means she has a lot of responsibilities in a lot of areas--none of which she wants or really signed up for, but her fun new wife (the black queen) just kinda recruited her into it. in the setting, king/queen are primarily military titles, then government positions; it is not necessary to be royalty "by blood", hence these unruly (albeit rare since there can only be one of each at a time) pawn-to-queen and pawn-to-king promotions happening on the board. she also has a cursed sword that is surprisingly unrelated to all of that but it has magic powers

flang (they/she) is From chess world and has grown up in alabaster. her mother is a doctor so she is too. her rank is pawn. she has a lot of issues and almost all of them are because alabaster sucks ass to live in if you're even like 1% outside of what alabaster considers Proper. it's a "reasonably stable and reasonably safe" kingdom to live and work in, but that safety and stability is always conditional; it's only stable and safe if you're born 100% conforming to it or discard your existing self to assimilate into it. this has made flang a very precious kind of insane that hurts them and everybody around them all of the time. but it can be repaired by defecting from the country, scaring their family, getting a fun haircut, almost succumbing to a fever, and finally the tender touch of a lesbian who has games on her phone

the other two people in the Main 4 are aster (kaitlin's wife, queen) and erin (the other queen) and are NOT the people i drew yesterday (BDHJBGS)

this is aster and erin 👇

you can tell because they have the look of 2 people who have been ruining each other for like a decade now and arent gonna stop until they change or die

aster (she/they) is trying to kill the white king for Revenge Reasons and ending the forever war is just like a cool side effect for her. she's the one who got kaitlin into all of this mess which is complicated because on the one hand, she got kaitlin into all of this mess and is trying to strongarm her into doing things she absolutely doesn't want to do (like killing people). on the other hand though, being roped into all of this mess did pretty directly save kaitlin's life in the first place and somehow loops back around to improving her mental health in the long run. so who's to say whether big murder plots that only you like and want are bad to do or not

erin (she/her) is normal about that freak^ but is in a very bad position because aster getting kaitlin on the board and starting their big dumb plan is a very clear signal to erin that aster has already won, long before anyone else thinks that. erin doesn't really gaf about the white king but she has other things she cares about and is willing to die to protect. to erin, aster's victory means she's on borrowed time and it won't be long before aster will go Through Her to get what they want. there's a confrontation on the horizon where erin fully believes one of them will kill the other one. but also they're like in love. but also erin has way better gfs available. you understand

the two other bitches i drew yesterday are NOT in the main 4 theyre just some other freaks . this is zarni (short hair) and fal (blonde) 👇

faolan (she/her) is the white queen's bishop which means she's the piece closest to the queen--basically shes erin's right hand arm man. she's erin everything. her confidant. her best friend. her silly rabbit. (is that what erin calls her?) no.

fal WANTS to be all of those things and has a weird crush on the queen but erin never lets anybody in and that includes fal. but basically faolan is the bitch who's always in it for Rank And Power and has climbed as high as she can and is still vying for erin's personal approval and acknowledgement because nothing's ever enough for her. she sucks to hang out with and almost dies very badly but zarni has her back

zarni (she/her) isnt actually from either kingdom she's with the unrelated third party pirate faction that mostly keeps to itself and has its own squabbles and drama that doesn't really have anything to do with the Forever War. an outlaw... a GRIMINAL... she met faolan way back when fal was much lower rank than she is now. fal was escorting her to the capital to receive basically a slap on the wrist for doing crimes in alabaster territory and they kinda hit it off in a weird way. right now zarni is technically like. fal's hired muscle. her right hand arm man (henchman edition). but for zarni it mostly doubles as a convenient way to have free passage into and within alabaster, for her own sidequest reasons. she ends up saving fal's stupid life because unfortunately they care about each other now and it's embarrassing for everyone. but maybe it'll distract faolan from looking at erin just long enough for her to realize she needs a big strong woman to carry her off into the sunset and build her a cottage where she can fucking retire already. or something. one can dream

anyway that's the people i drew yesterday (and the 2 in the middle that i didnt even draw but i would feel neglectful if i didnt mention). ssorry for the long post i just love talking about my ocs and these ones are 13 years old so talking about them comes Very Easily To Me MDJBSBJGS

i skimped on details just to get thru the tl;dr basics but i hope it was at least entertaining (and if anyone has more questions after this i dont mind i know i skipped a lot HDHBJG)

to me this is an oc setting entirely populated by stupid assholes who are constantly ruining at least 1 other character's life in some way. and that's how they all save each other. and that's beautiful. godbless our beautiful gay chess soldiers

#my final message change the forever war goodbye #oc stuff

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lie-lacdreams · 2 days ago

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Thermodynamics and Turmoil (Curly x Reader pt. 1)

Hello! I'm putting out my very first piece ever and I'm so excited to feed the masses as much Mouthwashing content as they deserve :) This game has a lot of sensitive topics to it and as such I'll try my best to bring them up as appropriately as possible. The story is gonna start off slow and elaborative because I love all of the Tulpar crew so much (except for Jollof rice, Jimneva convention) and they all have such interesting personalities that I couldn't help but to explore their wants and aspirations. This story will feature an alternative ending to the game because I cannot stomach sad things they make me very sad </3

engineer! reader x curly TW: a bad word or two, I think word count ~ 1.9K

Curly was back in the medical bay for his routine psychological evaluation with Anya. With all of the questions answered and out of the way, the both of them were just chatting before he had to go back to the cockpit and finish up his duties for the afternoon.

“You’re all good to go, Captain. Seems like there isn’t much change from your answers like last time, as usual.” Anya let out a tired sigh.

“That should be a good thing, given we’ve already been on this trip for almost two months now. We should all be used to the routine around here at this point. Has everybody else been adjusting alright?” Curly stood up from his chair, Anya following suit as they moved towards the door.

“For the most part, everyone’s been well but I wish they would open up or take the assessment seriously. I mean, at least Daisuke has been making my job a little easier – he just talks and talks.” she mused. Curly gave a little chuckle in response, thinking about the last-minute intern that the Pony Express decided to add on board to their journey. He wasn’t exactly the most helpful – at least according to Swansea – but he brought an air of lightheartedness that they all needed in a cut-corners, shitty working environment like the Tulpar. “Oh, actually, have you seen (Y/N) lately?”

Curly thought for a moment. Along with Daisuke, (Y/N) was another late addition to the crew. The Tulpar has started showing its age and as such, there were increasingly consistent problems with the water pipes, life support, and fuel usage. However, instead of giving the crew a new ship, they handed the responsibility of keeping the ship up and running to the passengers. After their previous trip, Swansea went straight to the higher-ups and ripped them a new one, stating that “he couldn’t be expected to perform miracles”. When the crew was assigned this trip, they were all surprised that corporate had listened to Swansea’s complaints and granted them with another engineer. (Y/N) was self-sufficient, only really needing to work with Swansea to consult him on how best to move forward and with Daisuke when Swansea needed a break from his overzealousness. As a result, Curly saw and knew very little about her. “No, I’m afraid I haven’t. Why?”

“She’s due for her check-in as well but I haven’t seen her these past two days to tell her that. Go figure. We share a room yet recently she’s been waking up earlier and sleeping later than I have. When I went to ask Swansea and Daisuke if they’d seen her, they said that they haven’t seen her at all today.”

“Huh. She’ll show up eventually. This ship only has so many places a person can be. If I see her, I’ll let her know to go straight to you. Thanks, Anya.” He patted her shoulder lightly before heading out, making his way back to the cockpit to fulfill his duties.

In the evening, the crew convened at the table for dinner. Curly always looked forward to this time of day, where everyone had finished all of their tasks and could open up with light hearted banter. With only the six of them on the ship for over a year, all they had were each other, and he cherished all of his crew members. Anya and Swansea were chatting to the left of him about Swansea’s kids back on Earth. To his right, he saw Jimmy get increasingly agitated as Daisuke tried convincing him to swap dinners with him. That’s when he spotted the empty chair across from him and realized that (Y/N) was still missing.

No one was concerned by her absence; it was a common occurrence, and he trusted Daisuke and Swansea to be in the loop about what she was up to and would report to him if anything happened. During the work day, everyone was so consumed with their jobs and couldn’t afford to worry about the whereabouts of the others, unless they needed to lend a hand. Curly wasn’t an exception to this. As the captain it was his responsibility to make sure his crew members were okay and that things were moving along nicely, and so far there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary that indicated otherwise. With everyone finishing up their dinner, clean up began before people bid each other goodnight.

In the middle of the night, he woke up parched. Debating whether or not to get a glass of water, he finally got out of bed and made his way to the lounge where the kitchen was. Leaving his room, he could hear a faint clacking noise grow slightly louder the closer he got to the lounge entrance. Opening the door to the lounge, he was finally met with the sixth crew member whom no one had seen all day. Sitting at the dining table, (Y/N) rested her feet on the seat of her chair and had her knees drawn up to her chest. All around her were books and loose papers scattered about. Her hair was messed up, likely a direct cause of the hand she kept on her head, fingernails digging into her scalp. Curly gently cleared his throat, trying to make her aware of his presence. Shooting a tired glance his way, her eyes widened a bit before immediately sitting up straight and tidying her hair. She looked guilty, like she was caught in the middle of doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing.

“Finally, we get to see her. Where have you been, Miss Absentee?” He sent a small smile her way, walking over to her.

“C-Captain! What are you doing up? It’s quite late.” (Y/N) nervously fidgeted.

“Just up for a glass of water. What are you doing up so late is the real question.” He crossed his arms.

“Just doing a bit of work. Can’t get enough of it.” She joked dryly. Curly frowned and pulled the chair next to her to take a seat. She sighed and leaned back, finally relaxing from tensing up after seeing Curly enter the room. (Y/N) didn’t know her captain well, and as such she always tried her best to save face and remain professional with him, but at this hour of the night, she was too tired to keep up with decorum.

He leaned on the table, facing her. “I know we may not be as close as you are with Swansea and Daisuke, or even Anya, but as your captain I care about how you’re doing and I want you to open up to me.” Her expression became hesitant as she shifted in her seat. “We’re all busy and even though it’s common for you to go missing during meal times, seeing you like this now is making me worried about how you’re doing.”

(Y/N) kept quiet for a second, looking like she was mulling something over before picking up the object right in front of her. “Do you know what this is?”

“An abacus. Interesting that you have one.” he said.

“Yeah.” she sighed. She moved her gaze from Curly to the plastic Polle statue in the corner of the room. “Before I got on the Tulpar, they had given me all of the supplies I needed to fulfill my duties and do what they asked of me. I had met Swansea only briefly before so he could give me manuals and maps of the ship’s layout. I got the uniform, the steel-toed boots, notebooks, writing utensils, and a solar-powered calculator.” (Y/N) shook her head. “You’d think that would be enough to prepare me to be here, but no . If only there was a way to have a bit of sunlight in outer space in a ship with no windows. They gave me something so crucial but useless out here. I had brought the abacus on board with me for sentimental reasons, but ironically enough it’s the only thing here that allows me to do my job.” She glanced back at him. “I’m not sure if you were aware, but Pony Express lied and said this was an internship for graduate students. Little did I know I’d be thrown into something I wasn’t going to have much guidance in. I needed a break from my PhD and even though the pay wasn’t that great, I was desperate for some sort of escape from academia. I thought going to space would give me that, but every day I wake up is a constant reminder that I’m so underqualified. Swansea is an expert with the mechanical side of the ship and he’s helped me a great deal, but the fluid mechanics and thermodynamics of it all are things he knows nothing about. So I’m here, trying my best to play catch-up and praying that I figure out a solution so that this ship has enough fuel, enough air to last us an entire year, and that the Tulpar doesn’t pop like a pressurized soda bottle while we’re out here.”

“(Y/N)...” Curly’s voice died at her name, shocked at this revelation and disappointed he somehow didn’t know about her struggle sooner. “I had no idea what you were going through. You always seemed to have a grasp on your tasks and Swansea always praised the work you did, so I just assumed you weren’t having a hard time adjusting. Have you told any of this to Anya during your evaluations?”

“No… I really wanted to believe that I could do it and stick it out, and so far, thank God, I’ve just barely made it every time. I really wanted you and the rest of the crew to believe I was capable and worthy of being here.” He cautiously put a hand on her shoulder, testing the waters on how he should comfort her.

“You are worthy of being here. The fact that we’ve been having such a smooth trip with no complications so far makes that obvious. I really appreciate you opening up to me now. I want to do everything I can to make sure you aren’t stressed about your work. You need to get rest and eat like the rest of us. Sure, none of us are a chemical engineering smarty pants like you, but you can always ask for help, even if it’s just for something like bringing you food or running errands around the ship.” He smiled at her, and she weakly reciprocated the gesture.

“I’ll keep that in mind for next time. Thank you, Curly.” Too tired to remember formalities, (Y/N) let out a big yawn, much to his amusement.

“So are you gonna go to bed?” He asked. She threw her head back and groaned in defeat, murmuring a “yes”. “Good! I hope I get to see more of you around now that you’ll be asking for help, yes?”

“Yes, of course, Captain. I’ll see you tomorrow.” The both of them stood up, (Y/N) to head to her quarters and Curly to finally get his glass of water. Before completely leaving, she paused and turned back. “Oh, and Captain?”

“Hmm?” He raised his head up to look at her again.

“I know you have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders looking after all of us. Please, rely on me too.” She smiled gently.

“Goodnight, (Y/N).” He called after her as she slipped through the door. He felt content that he was making good progress to gaining the trust of the crew member he knew the least. It always made him feel good to be the reliable captain he hoped everyone viewed him as. Having that conversation with (Y/N) made him a little more relaxed now that she had opened up to him for the first time.

#mouth washing #curly mouthwashing #anya mouthwashing #daisuke mouthwashing #curly x reader #mouthwashing x reader

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explodingchantry · 2 days ago

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Thing about veilguard that I see people say a lot is that it's mostly for new fans and whilst yes it's obviously partly true, I find bioware actually fails a lot in that regard - in 'pulling in new fans'. So in the end their desperate attempts at catering to new fans as well as old fans just hurts both new and old fans alike.

I'm obviously an old time fan of dragon age but I find that whilst veilguard over-exposes some of its lore, it barely explains a lot of it, too? It's really clumsy in what it chooses to over explain and what it doesn't and it ends up feeling very strange.

Further spoilers for basically the whole game

Like even the codexes don't actually explain that much, and you don't get to go to a companion and ask them to tell you their whole life stories like you used to in previous games. I don't know how a player who has never heard of dragon age is supposed to care about all of those Solas memories, about the reveals regarding the titans, about meeting a fragment of mythal and hearing morrigan speak about having a part of her inside of herself as well. I don't know how a new player who doesn't know anything about dragon age is meant to care or even understand anything about ANY of the revelations pertaining to the blight and it's advancements. There were parts that horrified me with their implications but would fly over the heads of even fellow fans who didn't care about the same aspect of the lore as I did

In a sense it feels like veilguard doesn't know who it wants to be for and because of that it fumbles in quite a few ways. But I find it really hard to believe that the story and lore would be friendly to a completely new player especially because a lot of the game is about revealing those fucking earth shattering bits of info and confirming age long theories. It's too loaded in it's history, too reliant on that history, to land without it. (which is why the lore inconsistencies feel all the more baffling)

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angrykittybarbarian · 19 hours ago

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A list of things that bother me about Dragon Age: The Veilguard Part 2

I already touched on a few things that caught my attention and personally irked me about the game. After getting through some more of it naturally a few more points have come up. Though I think they are not really new aspects but more concrete examples of what I had touched on last time.

Without further ado, let's get into it.

!Spoilers below the cut!

The dialogue is repetetive and at times contradictory

Like I already discussed last time the dialogue is bad, to express it in the simplest of terms. As I progressed through the game I stumbled upon a glaring example for what I mean.

In the questline where you infiltrate a Venatori meeting there is a part where Neve in disguise and in company of Rook and another companion gets a Venatori to admit that Elgar'nan was present but not Ghilan'nain. For some inexplicable reason Neve turns around and repeats this twice as if Rook wasn't present.

But moving on.

I stated in my last post that the game feels the need to state the obvious. This is what I mean. It makes the dialogue feel like a rough draft that was incorporated into the game without further polish.

As of its contradictory nature two examples come to mind.

In Harding's companion quest you meet this dwarf of Kal Sharok. His dialogue is stoic, no bullshit straight to the point and passionless. Which was fine. But after several minutes of him being that way they get to stone statue Valta who speaks in these misteryous riddles and suddenly he switches to this unserious tone of "Oh that weird statue, we never know what she's saying, ain't she funny." (I'm paraphrasing here). I was confused for half a minute because of his sudden change in attitude and left wondering what his characterization is supposed to be now: serious or quirky?

Same thing with Taash's whole story. This is especially upsetting because I feel like they could have done such great work with it.

Instead it suffers so much from several inconsistencies that I felt sorry for the VA because they actually did a great acting job.

Taash has a coming out scene with their mother where they reveal they're non-binary. Ignoring the usage of modern terms in a medieval-ish setting, the conflict about their gender makes no sense.

The writing wants you to believe Shathann is not okay with her child being non-binary but she never actually expresses such a thing. Actually Shathann sort of had an inkling that Taash was no ordinary woman ("Behaves more like a man...") and she never passed any negative judgement on it. When Taash told her this she even tried to understand by categorizing their identity into qunari vocabulary she knew (remember the term aqun-athlok?).

I get how hard it is to have an overly critical mother and the feeling of not being good enough but that was not what Shathann was about in that scene and it did Taash so dirty because they looked more like an entitled teenager than someone suffering from trauma and perfectionism.

Some old characters are mischaracterized

It's Scout Harding. I mean Harding.

I was really excited to have her as a companion in the new installment but they sort of butchered her character that I found myself annoyed everytime she opened her mouth.

And this is because they make her sound so immature. Really think about it. DATV somehow makes Scout Harding sound younger and more childish than she was in DAI despite the fact that she is supposed to be a whole decade older in DATV than in DAI.

I don't know what direction her VA recieved while recording but everything was pronounced so slowly and extra clear that it seemed at times that Harding was either talking to a confused elderly person or a child.

She herself uses expressions not fit for her age. The most jarring moment was when she called the Blight in D'meta's Crossing 'weird' and sounded like a teenager who has stumbled upon furry art for the first time on deviantArt. This pattern pretty much continues throughout the game. And it hurts so much.

Also Morrigan. She at least still uses her even for DA setting standards antiquated vocabulary but she is too happy and cheery and friendly.

Morrigan is not a nice person to those she does not know and like personally. But to Rook she was so nice despite having met them for the first time.

The Morrigan we have come to know love/hate should have been more snarky or at least more neutral in her demeanor.

The Venatori

I don't know why they are still a thing honestly. I was under the impression they have lost all footing after the death of Corypheus. Why would they follow the Gods of the people their country systemically abuses anyway?

Bonus: Why would the Antaam for that matter, as the qunari are so notoriously arcanophobic that they leash their mages, sew their mouths shut and literally call them "dangerous thing"?

Solas' spy network and agents

What happened to them? Where are they? Shouldn't he have a small army? Why weren't they used as the gods' agents instead of the Venatori? Surely, Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain would have an easier time simply controlling Fen'Harels elven army after imprisoning him in the fade.

The Chantry

It is just not present. Sure there are some Chantry buildings but there is no discussion of faith. In all previous DA games the Chantry has had a constant influence that could be felt everywhere. Faith was discussed and explored from various angles and perspectives, ranging from ultra conservative to progressive. But in Veilguard it's not there.

Why are we not exploring the Tevinter Chantry more? Why doesn't Emmrich discuss the nevarran Chantry, who follows the Sunburst Throne in Orlais, in regards to the Mournwatch, their necromancy practices and magic? Why was he not affected by the mage uprising that started in Kirkwall? How does he deal with faith and the Chantry? It is simply never mentioned.

By all accounts, this game avoids delving into the world like the plague.

#long post #bioware critical #dragon age critical #dragon age #dragon age inquisition #dragon age 2 #dragon age origins #dragon age the veilguard #da:tv #da:tv spoilers #emmrich volkarin #scout harding #morrigan #solas #elgar'nan #ghilan'nain #taash #shathann #neve gallus

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kagecreep · 2 days ago

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Bloodlust Dreams (RoninxMC)

(KillerChat) Description: You meet Ronin in the alleyway. Kiss or kill? Why not both? (Spoilers for Ronin ending in KC)

Notes: Kiss or Kill is the final option? no. kiss AND kill. we're both going to hell hand in unloveable hand stuck in each others guts CW: extreme gore ig? and YES i know its completely unrealistic for them to survive this let me have my fantasy some dialogue in the beginning was taken from the game cuz obviously. extremely gorey i guess. not the worst but its, um, yeah. my shame bared with gnashing teeth <3

WC: 1.9k (Parts 1 & 2)

━─━────༺༻────━─━

Your skin was splitting at the seams, red hot angered blood, cells dividing and cracking open. Pinned immobile against the dirty wall, many times cleaned of splattered blood splashed with knives and boots and bullets.

"I told you, baby. I'm your little wish fulfillment. I'm what you dream of. Isn't this a story for the ages?" He grinned. "Come on –– tell me what you want! Do you hate me, do you love me? Are you gonna kill me? Or are you kissing me, darling? How much do you feel?"

There was, of course, a reason behind your desire to write about a killer. A hidden longing, founded in the beauty of tearing flesh, sinew and organs, palettes of vein blue and bile green and iron red. Being of somewhat sane mind kept you from ever enacting such things in real life––instead you dreamt of it, slept neck deep in peeled muscles and seeping blood. You wrote about it deliriously. Desirously.

You didn't know if Ronin realized that; if he knew his game was not corruption but an allowance––permission––for you to give in to what was already there. You supposed the darkness was inside everyone, lurking, that howling beast mourning its captivity, shrieking when its head reared to the light.

Your mouth arrived at his mouth, like destruction, like deliverance, like a dream. He was laughing mad, like you're his plaything, like you're his darling, like he expected no less from you.

That laughter filled up and infected your thoughts, your muscles. You yanked the knife out from beneath your jacket where it lay concealed, pressing the shivering metal against his chest. But it delighted him––his laughter howled in the alley, barking up the brick walls. Cackling over the stains of pooled blood.

"This is what you want, isn't it?" You hissed, biting at his lips, clawing at his jacket. The pins and zipper, the scissors, ripped at your fingers. "You want me elbow deep in your guts."

"Oh, darling," he seethed through gritted teeth, "only if you'll let me warm my cold little fingers in your aorta."

His hand gripped your hair, digging in and pulling, ripping, tearing. Sanity and skin. You kissed, tearing into his heat, desperate to overwhelm him. But standing above you, towering above, he kept you immobile. The wall of his body gave no mercy. You tried to move him, to pin him instead, to set him helplessly against your will, but his weight pressing in rendered you the prey. Heavier he leaned in, digging your knife into him willfully with his weight. You sucked in a gasp.

"C'mon, don't tell me it was all for show," he said between kisses, dark eyes watching how your attention flitted between the knife and his lips. "You pulled out the knife. Use it."

You kissed harder, pulling at his lips and tongue with your teeth, and in a blinding madness jerked the blade across his abdomen. Wet heat seeped from the wound, dripping through his black shirt and onto you. You moaned at the sensation and shared that hot breath with him, whispering into his mouth. The knife clattered out of your shaking hands.

"Am I pretty now?" You asked, squeezing the blood-soaked shirt and smearing the excess over his face.

His eyes rolled back into his head, a long moan singing from his heart. Darting from his lips, his tongue snaked out, licking the iron taste from your fingers. It curled around your bone, his piercing catching on your knuckle.

"My turn," he whispered with his devilish grin.

Fingers. Claws. Puncturing in, digging in, always consuming in liquid desire to sink within your flesh, inside, inside, inside. His fingers were inside you. He had ripped the protective layer, peeled everything back, and dug his skeleton into yours. He took your breath away. Lucifer and his pale, beating eyes.

"You offered me your heart," he murmured, lips brushing against yours in a moment of sudden gentleness. "I'm just taking what's mine, darlin'."

You laughed. Your lungs sung, collapsing, wheezing as he pushed in deeper. His grin grew wicked, tight and sharp, cackling as your vision went hazy.

But you were not yet lost.

You pulled him in, claws over his neck, and bit into the soft flesh–-the junction between his throat and bare shoulder. The hot skin gave way and fresh blood spurted from where your teeth punctured, your wide jaws lapping up every pouring rivulet. In your ear a full moan rang from his vocal cords, vibrating in your canines and incisors. You released, letting the blood flow, and kissed open-mouth up to his lips, where you latched onto life once more.

Foreign skin in your belly, grappling your intestine. Squeezing. You lost the ability to scream. When his grip loosened, your shivering, sweating hand clawed its way down his chest, tore his shirt, and plunged into the heat of his open wound.

You found yourself staring into the gates of Heaven. Hands warm and sticky, grasping, inundated in Ronin's life-force. Shining, blinding light, like the sun beating down, cool rivers at your feet.

"You think that you corrupt," you whispered, bells ringing in your ears and vision blinded by the ethereal light. "No. You release. Set free. You liberated me, Ronin. You're my divine messenger."

A hitch in his breath, and he withdrew from your guts. Your vision returned from that bleaching light, and you watched his lips tremble, his eyes go wide as his pupil's shrunk.

"My angel of rot," you moaned, pressing the words into his skin through your kisses. "You gonna let me bleed all over you?" You asked, worming up through his stomach, under his lungs and finally, over his heart. "Archangel?"

You squeezed. ~+~

Sex bathed in blood. Well, you weren't sure if it was sex. Neither of you once touched the other's genitals, but you were arm deep in his organs. He was elbow-deep in yours. Maybe it was some sick, divine intervention that allowed you to live beyond that critical moment when he grasped your beating heart. You knew it shouldn't have happened. You shouldn't be standing. And even so, even living past that moment, you shouldn't have followed Ronin home like a ragged dog on a leash.

His room was darker than you realized when you had all those video calls. Through shaded windows, painted lamps, and coloured fairy lights, Ronin doused his room a deep red that bled from the walls and ceiling, pooling on the floor. Everywhere tapes and old vinyls piling up on shelves and tables––the scent of iron mingling with a thick perfume. Despite the visual and olfactory stimulation, your mind could not be torn from a single thought.

He had been gentle with you.

He ripped you open with nails, tore your flesh apart, and his blood was still crusted beneath his fingernails––but his movements within you, sinuous and lithe, warped around your intestines and organs and left no mark. He cradled each organ like an infant's head, weak and fragile, ready to break by his crushing hand.

You had not been so careful. Your actions very nearly gave him a heart attack, but here he was, sitting between your splayed legs, wiping up the last of the blood crusted on your stomach and chest. His eyes remained on his work for the most part, but occasionally drifted up to watch your heavy expression with a smirk. That spark of pride in his eye never left him.

The scar you gave him was even––almost perpendicular to the thick scars just beneath his chest, a pale pink against his white skin. It cut cleanly and sewed cleanly, with little trace of your wretched intrusion. But you––five gnarled points, jagged tearing across your torso where he ripped and gnashed. Like a door forced open, the wood splintered across the floor. You stared at him, absent of the light, and wondered if he realized you would never heal from this. You would never look the same. His at least had the chance to heal, become something pale and fragile. Yours would forever be a tender wound––a rounded, broken halo of Ronin's claws.

He was staring at you now. His ministrations on your stomach had ceased, and all his attention was on your distrait gaze.

"What?" You asked flatly.

"Jus' wondering what's going on in that pretty little head of yours," he said.

At the side of the bed, strewn across the floor, piles of bloodied tissues and cut string occupied the edges of your mind.

"Thinking about what we did," you said, and this time your voice lost its' strength; quiet and diminutive.

"Feeling regret already?" He pouted. "Here I was feeling proud of you."

"Not exactly," you said, looking up to meet his gaze. "I... hm."

Your eyes fell back down to your lap; his knees touching your inner thighs, his hands on your hips, your hands––quiet and diminutive.

"Guess I'm... wondering what you want with me now," you mumbled.

"What I want with you?" He repeated, laughing. "Darlin', I'm not nearly done with you! What makes you think that was the end? I took you to my home, didn't I? Tenderly nursed your wounds like the lovers do? Isn't that what you wanted?"

Your brows knitted, furrowed together.

"I wanted your blood on my hands."

"And you got it," he murmured, leaning in. "Doesn't that satiate you at all?"

His breath against your lips again. Coasting across, gentle––gentle as his hands wrapping around your lungs. Desire coiled up in your throat, blocking your air.

"No," you whispered.

Tears blooming in the corners of your eyes blurred your vision, but even through that haze you watched how his grin widened, sharpened, and cut into your sanity.

"You want more?" He rasped, lips brushing against yours with every vowel. "You want another kiss from my blade, baby? Jesus, you're insatiable. Hope you don't forget to feed me, too." He paused, eyes flickering to your lips, and murmured. "Think I might be as insatiable as you."

"You want my blood in a jar?" You asked quietly.

"I want your head in a jar, sever your spinal column n' keep it as an ornament, pretty little white bones hanging like bells," he said, his voice singing in the quiet room.

His hands roamed up and under your neck, grasping your jaw. He dug in, nails into your skin, and pulled you down, forcing you to stare him in the eye. You steeled yourself and met his demand.

"What do you want... darlin'?"

"I want everything," you said through gritted teeth.

"Patience is key. Thought, bein' a writer and all, you'd know lots about it," he said.

"Sometimes," you said, scanning his eyes. "Sometimes the words flow like a raging torrent and your fingers flick across the keys so fast you can barely hear the individual tapping. Though... yeah... sometimes you sit staring at a blank screen for hours... just waiting for something to come."

"Glad to know you have experience. Y'know, you need patience to be a killer––need to be able to hold in that blazing fire till juuust the right moment. Guess I'll have to train you up a bit," he pressed into your wound, "'n whip you into shape."

You groaned, tensing at the pain flooding from your wound.

"Does it involve real whips?" You asked, your grin spreading.

"You wish," he said.

Razor grins––spread like cut cheeks, bleeding, dripping. A beautiful, bloody ending. You wrapped him up in your arms and squeezed, breathing in his scent, taking in each of his wandering hands slipping over your body.

#killer chat ronin #ronin beaufort #killer chat

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headfullofgalaxies · 13 hours ago

Text

I want to write a review of Echoes of Wisdom, but I keep going into a tangent about where I think the game falls in the timeline. So, I'm going to write up my theory here and get it out of my system, because I have *~*~*OPINIONS*~*~* on this and I WILL BE HEARD.

Let's get one out of the way first before we delve deep into it.

I know that Nintendo doesn't really care about the timeline. Nintendo barely even cares about its own LORE. Even the basic stuff! There are literally the only two things every Zelda game has in common: the little gremlin named Link who wears a green tunic and the world's dumbest hat, and the quest to save the world from some evil force. That's it. Those are the only things! The Tri Force doesn't show up in every game. Ganon/Ganondorf doesn't show up in every game. ZELDA doesn't show up in every game! Hell, the Master Sword is only in, like, HALF of the games! So, yes , the canon timeline is nonsense but I'm going to play with it like the fun little toy it is.

Anyways... *pulls out conspiracy board* on to the fun stuff.

So, first and foremost, which branch of the timeline is Echoes of Wisdom on?

The Downfall Timeline.

How do we know this?

1) The map

Many parts of the map are copy-paste from the original ALttP/ALBW games. If you've played those games, you can find some fun Easter Eggs and stumble across side quests early by going to places from those earlier games. So, this game would take place in a similar Hyrule. And, as both these games are in the Downfall Timeline, it is the most logical choice.

2) Ganon

The Downfall Timeline is the only timeline that features exclusively Ganon (beast form Ganondorf).

hides Four Swords Adventures under the rug

THE ONLY ONE.

This is because, after successfully gathering the full Triforce with the Hero's defeat, Ganondorf fully transforms into the Demon King, leaving behind his human form entirely and taking on the name Ganon instead.

3) That stupid hat

Look, yes the old Game Theory Zelda Timeline video is kinda... stretching it at places, but the hat thing is a pattern. And one of the hats this Link has features a prominent, yellow stripe.

So now that we know WHICH timeline EoW is in, we need to figure out WHERE.

So the Downfall Timeline is split between three Heroes' eras:

The Hero of Legend (ALttP, LA, and OOA/OOS)

The New Hero of Hyrule (ALBW and TFH)

The Hero of Hyrule (LoZ and AoL)

why does the new hero of hyrule come before the hero of hyrule? idk your guess is as good as mine.

For simplicity's sake, I will be calling the eras Legend, New Hero, and Hyrule. We'll call EoW's era Echoes.

So the map is based off the Hyrule in Legend and New Hero. Hyrule's map has some things in common, but it's not nearly as similar. It makes the most sense to loop Echoes in with Legend and New Hero, putting it sometime BEFORE Hyrule.

Now the question is how before Hyrule? Is it before Legend, between it and New Hero, or after both of them?

The answer comes by taking a closer look at the similar land marks and temples on the map. In Legend and New Hero, the temples are in good condition. However, in Echoes, some of the temples are showing some wear. One of them is even broken down completely. With all that, it makes sense that it comes after both Legend and New Hero, but before Hyrule.

Another thing that lends credence to this theory is the Master Sword. The Master Sword is present in all three timelines, to varying degrees. In the Adult Timeline, Wind Waker Link stabbed Ganondorf with it and left the sword at the bottom of the ocean with the rest of Hyrule. In the Child Timeline, it's used by the heroes to challenge Ganondorf. kicks Four Swords Adventures back under the rug

However, its presence in the Downfall Timeline is weird. The Master Sword is present in both Legend and New Hero, but notably absent in Hyrule. Where did it go?

Well, if Null is as aware of the cycle of reincarnation as it implies (having specifically targeted children to catch the hero and princess before they could challenge it), then it stands to reason it would know about the Master Sword, too. And if it nommed the Master Sword with a rift, that would easily explain why the sword is no longer present in the Downfall Timeline.

So that concludes my theorizing on the location of Echoes of Wisdom's location in the timeline. Now that that's out of the way, I can actually write my review of the game without worrying about this tangent.

(side note: for the purposes of Links Meet AUs, I think it's perfectly acceptable to combine this Link and Zelda into another era. The Hero of Legend era is the funniest and my personal preference, but the New Hero of Hyrule era would probably be easier writing-wise.)

#loz #legend of zelda #eow #echoes of wisdom #loz timeline #zelda #link #star*speaks #i cannot stop thinking about this #save me from this self-made hell #sorry for the four swords adventures abuse #i haven't played the game but i read its manga and it's one of the best zelda manga #but its place in the timeline makes NO GODDAMN SENSE #so i have elected to ignore it for my own sanity

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ofthemorningstars · 3 days ago

Text

A Black Heart (Part 1)

TerzOmega ~ Secondo's POV ~ Family Fluff ~ Light Angst ~ Resurrection AU

3.9k words

Part 2

Ao3 Version

When Terzo is rushed to the infirmary, a reluctant Uncle Secondo must watch Terzo and Omega's oldest child. Trouble ensues.

Content warning: mpreg(cis), pregnancy complications, medical trauma

----

Secondo stormed through the hallways of the ministry in a fury, pissed off and ready to start a fight. He was headed towards the infirmary, and not by his own will; he had gotten a frantic call from Omega, at two fifteen in the morning, no less. Terzo was going to regret disturbing him at this hour.

Meeting his brother’s newest child was a formality at best, and there was absolutely no reason that it had to happen in the wee hours of a Sunday morning, the busiest day of the week for him. Unlike his brother, he still pulled his weight within the ministry. He had shit to do. As he rounded the corner and laid eyes on where his ghoulish brother-in-law was seated in the waiting area, he was about to open his mouth to rip Omega a new asshole, but he stopped when he saw the look on his face. On both of their faces.

His oldest niece, Starlight, was sitting next to him and leaning on him heavily, still in her rainbow-print pajamas. She looked upset, her purple-grey complexion stained with tear tracks. She had a death grip on a fuzzy pink blanket, her other hand in her mouth, sucking her thumb. Secondo grimaced in disgust; what a filthy habit. If he had a child, he’d never… Well, he’d never, would he. He and children simply didn’t mix, so he did his best to avoid them. Even children that were his own blood.

He evaluated Omega with fresh eyes. He didn’t look much better than his daughter did. His complexion, while identical to hers, looked somehow ashen, as though the blood was drained from his face, which was lined with worry. His white hair was out of its usual neat bun, hanging around his face in messy waves. One of his large hands rested on Starlight’s shoulder, while the other was furiously typing on his phone.

When Omega spotted him, he rose quickly to his feet, picking his daughter up and situating her on his hip. She clung tightly to him, grabbing onto his hair hard. If it bothered him, he didn’t show it. It took only a few strides of Omega’s long legs to cross the room to him, and when he stopped, he was far too close for comfort, towering over him as he did. Secondo refused to allow the ghoul’s stature to intimidate him, scowling up at him with his arms crossed.

“What the hell is this all about? Do you have any idea what time it is? I know your husband gets to sit on his ass all day now, but some of us have to–”

“Language!” Omega hissed at Secondo, covering one of his daughter’s pointed ears and pulling her head against him tightly. She looked positively frightened. Secondo felt his face heat up, anger bubbling up within him. He continued on, pushing past the warning.

“I can meet your damn baby any time, did this REALLY need to happen at nearly three in the morning?!” When the little girl looked like she was about to cry, he cut himself off, if only to avoid the noise.

“Frankly, Secondo, no one cares about you meeting our kit,” Omega spat back, venom in his voice, although he appeared to be restraining himself. “I called you here because we need you to watch Starlight. Terzo… isn’t well.”

At this, Starlight well and truly began to cry. Omega turned his attention to her, shushing her softly and running a hand through her white hair, the same shade as his. “It’ll just be for a day or two, ok princess? You’ll be back home with Daddy and Papa in no time.” He punctuated his reassurances with a kiss on her forehead. Secondo wanted to gag at the saccharine sweetness of the scene before him.

“Why the hell can’t Primo watch her? I have important shit to do!” Secondo was done playing games, hellbent on putting his foot down. Omega pinched the bridge of his nose, looking for all the world like he was talking to a petulant child.

“Primo has to assist with the delivery. He’s the only one who knows how to perform the binding ritual on ghouls who aren’t summoned from the pit,” Omega explained, sounding as though he were repeating the same line for the hundredth time that day. Perhaps he was. It was only then that the severity of the situation hit him. Primo “has” to assist with the delivery, not “had”. The baby hadn’t been born yet. More worrying was the realization that, obviously, they never would have called him prior to the obligatory newborn visit. Not unless it was an emergency.

Fuck.

“Sir?” A nurse popped her head out from around the corner, her gaze fixed on Omega. Omega bristled, barely concealing the look of panic and fear that crossed his face. He turned his head, nodding in acknowledgment and holding up a finger, asking for one more moment. She nodded back at him before disappearing. Omega returned his attention to the distraught toddler in his arms.

“I’ve got to go watch after Papa and your baby sister. I need you to be a big girl for me and go with Uncle Secondo for right now, ok?” To both of their dismay, she started hyperventilating, tugging hard on the lock of her father’s hair that she still held tightly in her clenched fist. Secondo watched as Omega gently grabbed the back of her head, pulling her forward until they were pressed together forehead to forehead. They were doing their weird quintessence ghoul thing, Secondo thought. He rolled his eyes, tapping his foot impatiently. If Omega heard him, he didn’t pay him any mind.

After a few long moments, Starlight’s crying ceased, her breathing returning to normal and her body visibly relaxing. Omega pulled back, wiping the young girl’s tears away and giving her a final kiss, this time on the cheek, before setting her gingerly down on her feet. With a gentle nudge, she took a few tentative steps towards her uncle. Omega handed him a large bag that he somehow hadn’t seen earlier, as well as a key to their chambers, in case she needed something they'd forgotten in their haste.

“We’ll see you soon, sweetie,” Omega assured her, but the slight quiver in his voice gave him away: he was scared. Shit, shit, shit!

When Starlight reached out and grabbed Secondo’s hand, his eyes grew wide with shock. He froze, unsure of what to do, before settling on giving her clawed little hand a firm squeeze. With that, she nearly collapsed into him, grabbing hold of his arm and clinging tightly. He led her back to his quarters, the journey far more slow and awkward than he would have liked. Finally, though, they reached his door, and he unlocked it and let them both in. His head was spinning, overwhelmed by the prospect of his newfound responsibility. At least, he thought, she would soon be asleep, and he could worry about it when she woke up. She was already beginning to nod off on the way back to his room, after all.

When he closed and locked the door behind him, he slumped against it, letting out a deep, exasperated sigh. Starlight looked around at her new surroundings, eyes wild, overwhelmed. To Secondo’s dismay, her earlier cries resumed, and she sat heavily on the floor with a thud, rubbing her eyes, grabbing at her own horns in what seemed to be a self-soothing gesture. Her tail was wrapped tightly around one of her legs.

Unsure of what to do, Secondo gave her a half-hearted pat on the back, reluctantly kneeling on the ground to better reach her. He’d regret this later, he knew he would. His knees weren’t what they used to be, but he’d do anything to get that infernal crying to stop. She lunged forward, catching him off guard when she wrapped her little arms around his middle, wiping her nose on his shirt. Ugh. Gross. This was why he didn’t spend time with children.

“U-uncle Secondo, will Papa and my b-baby sister be ok?” she sniffled after she’d seemingly cried herself out. Secondo didn’t immediately answer, unsure of how best to respond. “Papa was hurt, he was s-screaming and holding his tummy. I heard Daddy say it was too early for my sister to come,” she continued.

Secondo’s earlier worry returned. Sure, he and his brother weren’t exactly close, but he certainly didn’t want him to die , or to suffer the loss of a child. He rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what to say. She sensed his hesitation, her cries threatening to break into a wail. In a desperate bid to calm her, he put both hands on her shoulders, steadying her.

“Sì, they will be fine. I promise.” He hoped he wasn't lying.

He got her settled down on the sofa, her eyes closing almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. He changed his tear and snot stained shirt with mild disgust. Before going back to bed himself, he called Omega, hoping to get some answers as to just what the hell was happening with his little brother. The call went straight to voicemail.

When he awoke the next morning, Starlight’s face was a foot from his own, standing at the edge of his bed and staring at him with watery eyes. She wiped at her nose with the back of her hand.

“Uncle Secondo, I’m hungry,” she whined. Secondo looked at the clock on his nightstand. It was only 7:45.

“Jeeze, kid. Are you usually up this early?” Starlight stared at him blankly. He got up with a sigh. He was greeted by mostly empty cupboards in the kitchen. He didn’t eat at home much, preferring to go to the great hall over cooking. He found a box of bran cereal, figuring it would have to do. She made a face when he put the bowl in front of her, sniffing it cautiously. Secondo watched with amusement as she ate all of it anyway, even drinking the milk. She really must have been hungry after all.

Not knowing what else to do, and having called out of his ministry duties, Secondo put on cartoons and let her sit and watch for the rest of the day, despite being told that her fathers didn’t let her watch much TV. She remained glued to the screen until just before noon, when she started to get visibly bored and antsy. He sympathized, feeling much the same way. Surely there was something they could do. Suddenly an idea occurred to him.

“Hey kid, do you wanna go pull a prank?” Secondo asked with an evil grin. She looked at him quizzically, her head cocked to the side.

“What’s a prank?” she asked innocently. Secondo’s smile evaporated. Man, he thought, his brother really sheltered this kid. He ignored her question and got her dressed. Once he had applied his face paint and gotten dressed himself, they headed to the great hall together, bringing a secret weapon.

The walk felt like it took ages, Starlight continuously asking questions about the nature of pranking someone. When they finally arrived and Secondo was sure no one was looking, they snuck into the kitchen, quickly spotting their target. It was easy to identify Copia’s food, as he ate the same thing nearly every day, like the little weirdo he was. He fished the bottle of extra-hot hot sauce out of his pocket, lacing the red sauce on his rigatoni with it with a snicker. Starlight looked up at him, puzzled.

“Won’t that hurt Uncle Copia?” Her concern was endearing, but her voice rang out a little too loud. Secondo shushed her, quickly ushering her out of the kitchen and into the great hall. They ate lunch in silence at a table directly across from Copia, Secondo trying hard to be inconspicuous as he watched Copia like a hawk.

When Copia finally took a bite of his food after what felt like an eternity of waiting, Secondo watched with delight as he quickly spit it out, downing an entire glass of water before fanning his mouth cartoonishly.

“Fucking shit, that’s hot! What the fuck?!” Copia exclaimed, more shocked than angry. Starlight began to giggle, and Secondo elbowed her in the ribs, not wanting to get caught. Copia’s gaze flew to them immediately, his eyes widening in horror and his hand flying to his mouth as he seemed to only now realize that there was a small child present. He stalked towards them, glaring at Secondo before turning his attention to Starlight, expression softening. He crouched down to her level in a deep squat.

“Do you know who messed with my food, little Star? You look like you do,” he stated plainly, face a mask of seriousness, but his voice was soft. Her eyes darted to Secondo for a moment, but she quickly stared forward, shaking her head. “Now now, I know your fathers taught you not to lie. That’s not very nice.” Copia took her hand in his, rubbing the back of it with his thumb when her lip began to quiver. She turned her whole head to stare at Secondo this time. “Yeah, that’s about what I figured.”

Secondo scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“I did no such thing. She’s three! You’re really going to believe her?” Secondo managed to sound indignant despite being fully aware of his own guilt.

“A heck of a lot more than I believe you,” Copia snarked. “Why’s she hanging out with a grumpy old man like you anyway?” Secondo rubbed the back of his neck when he felt Starlight stiffen beside him. Please, not another meltdown.

“Terzo is… in the infirmary, and Omega is with him,” Secondo said, choosing his words carefully.

“Ah, mazel tov! A new baby, how wonderful,” Copia exclaimed, clapping his hands together. Secondo shot him a look, shaking his head. Copia looked confused, then concerned. He opened his mouth to ask the question that Secondo could feel coming, when Starlight chimed in, opening her mouth for the first time since Copia had come to their table.

“Papa isn’t feeling good. He got hurt,” she said quietly, her voice threatening to break. A look of panic crossed over Copia’s features, and he rose to his feet, patting his pockets, clearly looking for his cell phone.

“Don’t bother, Omega’s phone is off. I tried last night and again this morning.” He sounded defeated. “Primo is with them. I’m sure everyone will be just fine.” The last part was added more for Starlight’s benefit than for anything else. Copia sighed, deciding to sit down beside Starlight, wrapping an arm around her.

“Why doesn’t anyone ever call me for these things? I love children!” Copia sounded genuinely hurt.

“No one ever calls you for these things because you’re a fucking idiot,” Secondo said bitterly. Copia covered Starlight's little ears, but to his surprise, she let out a giggle.

“Language!” Secondo was cautioned for the second time that day. He rolled his eyes. Whatever. She’d learn it before they knew it anyway.

“Uncle Copia, could you come play with us? Watching TV is boring,” Starlight pleaded. Omega looked chuffed.

“Of course I can, little Star! I’d love nothing more. Why don’t the two of you come back to my chambers after lunch? I’ve got something I’d like to show you.” Copia patted her on the back and walked back to his table, taking the rigatoni to the trash and going into the kitchen himself. Secondo pinched the bridge of his nose. This was an unexpected consequence, and a huge pain in his ass.

After they ate, Secondo followed them to the papal suite, trailing behind like a shadow while Starlight skipped ahead of him, holding Copia’s hand. Copia was talking a million miles a minute at the little ghoul, although Secondo couldn’t have told you what he was talking about even with a gun to his head.

When they entered, Secondo felt a sense of bitter familiarity; this suite had once been his home, and then Terzo’s after him. All of the brothers had taken turns residing in these luxurious quarters, but Copia was the one who’d been allowed to stay the longest. It was an unpleasant reminder of everything that had happened over the last decade or so. While, yes, Copia had been the one to overthrow the previous tyrannical regime and bring all of them back from the pit, he had also been the reason they were sent there to begin with. To say it had soured their already strained relationship was an understatement.

He hated what Copia had done with the place. How could someone manage to make such glorious living quarters look like a pathetic bachelor pad? Empty pizza boxes, video games, an arcade cabinet… And worst of all, a cage filled with filthy vermin: Copia’s beloved pet rats.

Starlight squealed with delight when she saw the fat furry little shits, running over to their cage and putting her fingers through the bars. Three large rats scurried over to her, sniffing her hand curiously.

“Would you like to hold one?” Copia asked, and Starlight began jumping up and down, clapping her hands. Copia opened the cage, pulling out a light brown rat with beady black eyes, the largest of the bunch. “His name is, eh… Rigatoni. I guess you could say I really like pasta.” He patted his belly for emphasis. The ghoul giggled as she was handed the creature, her face lighting up. She held it carefully, with an awareness of her claws that Secondo found impressive for a child her age.

Copia sat her down in his armchair with Rigatoni, watching fondly for a while as they played together. While she was distracted, Copia pulled Secondo aside, walking to the far side of the sitting room, his face uncharacteristically serious.

“Ok, now are you gonna tell me what the hell is going on with my brother?”

“I don’t know any more than you do,” Secondo replied defensively. “Omega called me at two in the morning demanding I go down to the infirmary. He sent Starlight home with me, and she told me that Terzo was hurt. She said he was screaming and grabbing his stomach. Now Omega won’t answer the phone, and Primo is nowhere to be found. I’m assuming he’s still with them.”

Copia grimaced. Secondo could see the cogs turning in his brain, trying to figure out what exactly was going to happen next. Secondo turned around to check on Starlight, doing a double take when he saw her curled up with the rat in her arms. Both of them were fast asleep.

“Man, she’s really tuckered out. What time does she usually take a nap?” Copia asked, amused. When Secondo stared blankly at him, Copia shook his head judgmentally. “Toddlers need naps, dipshit.” Secondo just shrugged in reply. They sat for about fifteen minutes in uncomfortable silence, letting the little girl sleep.

Eventually, though, Secondo got tired of waiting. He decided to pick her up and carry her back to his own quarters. When they got there, Secondo set her down on the sofa. He felt a twinge of guilt, though, at making her sleep there. Surely it wasn’t comfortable or healthy for a growing child, and he knew her fathers wouldn’t be pleased about it if they found out. With a deep sigh, he stripped his bed, putting fresh linens and blankets down. He transferred her to the bed, covering her up and going so far as to tuck her in. He wondered when he’d become such a softie.

After she woke up, the rest of the day was just as stilted and awkward as that early morning had been, with his niece again growing restless. Secondo gave her a bath, wanting to wash away the germs of that filthy rat. That night after she’d gone to bed, Secondo texted Copia, reluctantly asking him to come over tomorrow to help with Starlight. His reply was nearly instantaneous, eagerly accepting the invitation, almost like he expected it. Secondo didn't sleep well that night, tossing and turning on the sofa.

Copia followed them back to Secondo’s chambers after breakfast like a lost puppy the next morning, a small animal carrier in tow. To say that Secondo wasn’t thrilled about the unexpected furry guest would be an understatement, but Starlight was very excited, and he supposed that was what really mattered.

They spent the afternoon playing together, and when she again fell asleep with Rigatoni, Secondo expected Copia to gather up the animal and leave, but to his dismay, Copia whipped out some sort of handheld video game system. Apparently, he came prepared to wait out naptime. Secondo rubbed his temples as he realized what he had set himself up for.

They played until evening, and when it was dinner time, Copia followed them there too and ate with them, sitting next to Starlight, trying the whole time, with moderate success, to make her laugh. After dinner, Copia tried following them once again, but Secondo decided that enough was enough. He had overstayed his welcome, and Secondo made that clear to Copia in no uncertain terms. Copia sulked, clearly taking it personally, and went to leave, but not before giving Starlight a big hug. She happily returned it, squeezing tight. They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways, much to Secondo’s relief.

Secondo had just gotten her situated on the sofa watching TV again when his phone rang. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that it was his brother-in-law. He went into his bedroom, silently shutting the door behind him.

“Hello?” Secondo answered, trying to sound calm and collected, not wanting to let the ghoul know how frazzled he felt.

“Secondo,” came the deep voice of Omega. He sounded exhausted.

“Yes? Where the hell have you been?” Secondo was getting a little irritated, wanting him to cut to the chase. There was a pause, followed by a long sigh on the other end of the line.

“We need you to keep Starlight for another couple of days. Two, maybe three. Hopefully no longer than that.” Anger bubbled up within Secondo. Was he really to be expected to put his entire life on pause at a moment’s notice for these people?!

“Why can’t Primo take her? Surely the new ghoul has been bound to our world by now, his job is done!” Secondo hissed through clenched teeth.

“We still need him here. He’s been working around the clock to help keep Terzo alive.” Omega’s voice was dark. There was another long pause, Secondo stunned into silence. He took a moment to appreciate the severity of the situation.

“That bad, huh?” Secondo said, keeping his voice down.

“Yes,” was all he got in reply. Secondo hung up the phone before he could say anything else, feeling numb, his extremities tingling. He peeked through a crack in the door at the little girl currently perched on his sofa, her stark white hair standing out like a beacon in the dim glow of the television. He braced himself to tell her the news of her extended stay, praying to whatever would listen that he wouldn’t soon have to deliver even worse news.

Starlight cried herself to sleep that night.

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