#'what if the dragon was worse and never got better' was not a question I needed answered

[agbpaints]

Old Salt

[mcflymemes]

AS SAID BY DAVRIN - PARTY BANTER *  assorted banter from dragon age: the veilguard

how safe is it? any reason to be worried?

that's reassuring.

that can't be a coincidence.

i'm the one who left. that's on me.

i don't regret the life i've lived. the things i've seen and done.

sometimes i wish i could have done both.

i made my choice.

i didn't appreciate my life at the time.

i miss the sense of a common purpose.

be careful. the things that pop out of nowhere usually bite you in the ass.

you're on clean-up tonight.

that's the idea.

it's an interesting line of work you're in.

enjoy your nightmare.

it's a good thing you're on our side.

i heard another rumor.

can she be trusted?

we know what we sign up for.

is it true you can control rocks now?

best not to question a gift.

you saved someone's life.

join the club.

i don't see you have a choice.

best way to come to terms with it is to face it.

still got a bad feeling, [name]?

no one was really sure.

i mean this in the kindest, most respectful way possible... no.

want some wine?

more for me. it's a good day for it.

i really should read more.

i thought you hated it out here.

whatever works for you.

don't say i didn't warn you.

no hard feelings.

you can't handle both of us.

what does that mean?

what else goes on there?

how did you survive it?

you like to keep things sparse.

a man who kills people for a living has to be able to move quickly. nowhere is home. everything's temporary.

they hired you?

i don't want to know anymore.

how do you decide when one of your targets deserves to die?

i'm serious. do you just kill anyone?

must be tough to sleep at night.

the things i hunt are pure evil. monsters. there are no shades of grey.

what if your target doesn't deserve to die?

could've fooled me.

maybe i pissed off the wrong guy at a bar.

what if i stole the guy's money?

you're avoiding the question.

i'll pass it on.

it's not about secrecy.

i mean, i get how you feel. but let's make this better, not worse.

you're not so bad yourself.

is there a question in there?

you must've seen stranger.

way i hear it, the city sleeps better with you in it.

seems we both spend our days hunting things most people don't want to know about.

i'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole thing.

it won't help our reputation, that's for sure.

i remember you.

is that what you call it? i call it a mess.

we're talking about a demon.

oh no, that really happened.

the thrill of the chase gets me out of bed.

i've had your coffee before.

seems like our work's going to overlap.

dragons are monsters.

i can see a day coming where you and i smack the crap out of each other.

i never said they did.

they acted like i rejected them.

i wanted to go my own way, not their way.

i didn't say i was the brightest kid.

never mind. forget i asked.

[justcallmecj]

Seeing Your Dragon Form: Vice's+Ruggie and Floyd

Trey

Trey was a lot more chill about this than you were expecting him to be.

He agreed to come with you with no problem, and when you came out of the mist and he saw you, he looked like this was all normal.

He quickly approached you and stretched his arms towards you. You brought yourself closer to the ground to make it easier for him to reach your head.

Gently, Trey pet your head. Running his hands across you snout and up to your horns.

He always made sure to keep eye contact with you if you were looking at him. Your e/c eyes and his golden colored eyes locked together.

He constantly made small talk with you, asking simple yes or no questions or simply telling you about something random.

Unbeknownst to you, on the inside, Trey was freaking out!

You reminded him a puppy! (Quite a deal larger than an actual puppy, but his view is still valid.)

He's used to keeping some form of a rational, adult face all the time. You, Riddle and Chenya are really the only ones who have seen the childish side that he has.

Because of this, he didn't want to just full on fawn and freak out on you. He also didn't want to risk overwhelming you.

He opted to waiting for you to be human again, where you could speak, to ask any questions he had.

Later that day, when you had turned back into your fae form, he asked. Surprisingly, he had a lot of questions.

"I'm proud of you, Y/N. I'll let you do what you want for right now, but when we get back to the dorm, prepare for questions, alright?"

Ruggie

He was very skeptical when you asked if he wanted to see your dragon form.

He immediately thought that you wanted something out of this (like to eat him).

With plenty of skepticism, he followed you out to your spot in the woods and waited patiently for you to come out of the mist.

Seeing you had him stunned for a solid 2 minutes.

Now, you and Ruggie have been friends for a long time now, and he knows that it's you, but he had a rough childhood.

You were about 4x his size, serrated claws, razor sharp teeth and covered in spikes. Everything about you screamed DANGEROUS.

It was like staring down everything that he taught himself to stay away from.

Then you did something he wasn't expecting.

You sat quietly and gently tilted your head to the side. Your e/c eyes gazed into his with a look he feels is familiar to him.

Then he remembered. Once, when one of his younger brothers had gotten into a fight, he came home looking roughed up and dangerous. But the moment Ruggie came to patch him up and they met eyes, his brother gave him a look that extremely contrasted that roughed up state he was in. His brother was soft and on the verge of crying.

Looking at you, it was the same thing. Ruggie got the same feeling he did back then. You looked scary and dangerous, but he knew that you were still the same softy that he sees everyday.

Finally, he got over his initial feelings and strutted towards you. He ended up right under your head, forcing you to look down at a weird angle to see him. You adjusted yourself and brought your head to his level.

Just as Ruggie had done with his brother, he patted you on the head. It instilled a feeling of contentment in you and your eyes slowly fluttered shut. Soon, a gently hum ran through your throat and hit Ruggie with the vibrations since he was still patting you.

"Wow, that worked a lot better than I thought it would. Y'know, all this nice treatment from me will cost ya, Y/N~"

Jade

You had his curiosity extremely peaked.

He must admit, upon meeting you and learning you were a fae, he thought about what you may look like as a dragon whenever he was with you.

He never said anything, out of courtesy and politeness. But now that you were offering him the chance, he took it with no hesitation and never held his tongue about anything.

You had asked him during on of the very few times Floyd wasn't with him, meaning at was just you two. (You still can't tell if that made things better or worse)

Jade was unaffected by the mist, and the extra amount of cold you radiated.

The first thing he did? Go to your tail. Him being an eel, he has one himself. For some reason, he wanted to find out how different yours was from his. He's never been able to get good looks at the tails of the beastmen at school, so you were his best example.

He poked and prodded at the spike that ran down it. Not that you minded, there was no feeling there and if they were to break, they'd grow back quickly. There was only feeling in your spikes when in fae form.

Soon, he had gathered all the information he needed for the time being. He then sat by your snout, which had been on the ground as you had laid down.

He held a pleasant conversation with you. You couldn't respond, but he didn't care. He spoke of things that really didn't need you input but still kept you entertained, which was his goal.

At times, he unconsciously start petting and stroking you. Running a hand across your hand(?) and claw, soft head pats, gentle rubs behind your ears, things like that. You decided to take a nap due the peaceful sounds of the woods and Jade's calming voice.

"You never cease to stretch my thoughts of you. When I think I have you figured out, you surprise me." He can only hope you can't hear him right now.

Floyd

Unlike with the others, it wasn't you who suggested him seeing your dragon form, it was Floyd.

He had been insistently pestering you about it for weeks now. Both Azul and Jade have tried to get him off your back but he just pops back up and asks again.

Eventually, you gave in.

Upon the disappearance of the mist, he was already on top of you.

Without notice, he poked at your sides, claws and wings. You barely even had enough time to figure out what he was doing before he moved on to investigate somewhere else. He stayed away from your tail though.

You even allowed him to climb onto your back for a while. He didn't stay long though, he found the scales to be too uncomfortable to stay there much longer.

Eventually, he opted to spend some time near your head, so he could spend the rest of the time with you.

For a while, he was surprisingly chill with you, but then mood swings decided to pay a visit.

He got frustrated that you couldn't talk back, or more so at the fact he couldn't understand you. He just really wanted to know what you were saying to him.

You thought of just not saying anything to not further escalate things, but then realized he be even more upset if he felt you were ignoring him.

You've been friends with Floyd for a long time now, and you've gotten pretty good at handling his mood swings. The moment you felt he was getting too frustrated, you took action.

You brought your tail towards him and pushed him over. He fixed himself and caught sight of your face. You may be a dragon right now, but he could tell that you were smiling at him and laughing in your head. He saw what game you were trying to play easily.

You two playfully wrestled with each other for a long time. He would climb around and you'd gently knock him over. Things like that.

"Umitsubame-kun! I knew it be a good idea to do this. We could've been having this much fun sooner if you had just listened to me when I first asked~"

Jamil

Jamil was a lot calmer than his Scarabian counterpart.

He will admit though, he's been curious about what you may look like. Just like Kalim, he doesn't have much experience with dragons, real or fake.

The mist was freezing to him, though, considering where he grew up, that's no surprise.

He didn't quite know how to respond.

You looked awesome! But he didn't know what to do from there. You two just kinda stared at each other for a while, neither moving.

Then you took the lead.

You walked up to him (it only took you like three steps) and raised your hand(?) into the air.

He flinched, thinking you were gonna crush him, but then froze when he felt himself rise into the air.

When he opened his eyes he saw that you had picked him up and held him in your palm.

Luckily he's spent enough time on the flying carpet to not be afraid of heights.

You brought him close to your snout and in a moment of no better ideas, he gently placed a hand on the tip of your nose.

Your scales were freezing cold, and while he expected the air you exhaled to be warm, it was just as cold as your scales, if not colder.

Now he was a lot more comfortable with the situation, meaning he started doing more.

He asked questions, then realized that you couldn't speak. He then decided to change his method and asked yes or no questions. They started as one about your dragon form, then the conversation drifted off into other subjects. School. Food. Dorm life. Other students at school.

He asked if changing forms was tiring to you, in which you gave him a side ways nod. 'Sorta' is what you were telling him.

"How about when we're done here, we go back to Scarabia and I'll make you something to eat and get your energy back up? Take is as a 'thank you' for this experience."

Rook

Actually, this isn't his first time seeing your dragon form.

Since the first day he saw you, you've captured his attention, and triggered his hunting habits.

One day when you were taking a break from NRC life, you snuck away and spent some time as a dragon. Unbeknownst to you, he had been watching you the whole time.

But then you actually asked him if he wanted to see. He told you 'yes' with a strange and knowing excitement.

He was on top of you even before the mist cleared since his sight was enough for him.

This is the first time he's been this close to a creature so much bigger than him.

Throughout the entire experience he was showering you in compliment after compliment. Words of encouragement filled with passion, charisma and said quite fervently.

You wholeheartedly believed that even if he wanted to, Rook would not have been able to take his hands off you. His hands touched where ever they could, your spikes, wings, horns, snout, claws, tail, you name it.

You understood though. You've always known how curious Rook is. How, while it seemed strange and creepy to others, his habits and mannerisms never really bothered you.

Out of no where, he confessed to following you all that time ago.

He could see as emotions flicked across your draconic face for a few seconds. Confusion. Realization. Upset. Thoughtfulness. Then it stilled into one. Amusement.

Your chest rose and fell fast. You were laughing. Rook couldn't help but laugh himself, lowkey glad you weren't upset with him.

"Oh dear Dragon de Glace, your beauty is truly magnifique! I hope you and I will continue to have many moments like these in the future!"

Lilia

He happily took you on you offer.

He's known the Draconia family for years, so you having a dragon form is nothing new to him. Heck, he was there the first time Malleus used his.

Out of everyone, who saw you as intimidating or astounding, he saw you as cute.

Lilia will admit with no remorse, he has a soft spot for dragons. With his experience in helping to raise Malleus, he can't help it.

When you opened your eyes after transforming, you were met with Lilia's large, red, slit-pupil eyes in you face, upside down.

He flipped out and rested his arms in your snout, using them to support his chin.

He then struck up a conversation. He could understand every word you said to him. (Learned with Malleus.)

It was an extremely lovely conversation. But, you did get embarrassed when he would speak to you as if you were a child.

You'll have to excuse him. It's an old and sometimes an unconscious habit he picked up due to Malleus and mostly Silver.

For some reason, he really likes booping your nose. Mid conversation he'll just boop you for no apparent reason. He then proceeds to giggle to himself at your reactions.

Eventually, you got a bit tired. Your body relaxed while listening to Lilia and your eyes fluttered close.

Seeing that you had drifted off to sleep, Lilia got closer and gently moved your head into his lap. It was ridiculous with how much bigger your head was compared to him, but cute non the less.

He gently stoked your snout, making sure you stayed asleep. As you snored away, he remembered when he would do this with Malleus and even Silver when they were babies. It made him smile, a smile you unfortunately couldn't see.

"Just stay asleep Little One. I'll be here when you wake up, and we can continue to have some fun."

[velvet-apricots]

Who is the best Demigod at sex? Who is the least skilled one? List them in order of skill increasing! (also you can exclude Miquella if you want, their age thing is complicated)

The demi-god that is the worst at sex is Morgott. He has never touched his dick, he has never looked at a person naked. he is so deeply ashamed of himself that he can not even stomach the though of himself having sex. Not only would his cursed seed be touching someone, the thought of reproducing and making more omens is just... yeah he's not fucking anything any time soon.

The second worse demi-god at sex is Messmer. Man has mommy issues up the wazzu. He is too obsessed with doing what his mommy wants to have time for anything sexual. And if he did fuck someone, he probably would break down crying because he's not felt a tender touch in so long that he would be overwhelmed. He is a soggy wet cat of a man who also happens to be a genocidal tyrant. he is better than Morgott because he probably has jerked off a few times, and he has enough game to pull the affection of ONE woman, who would die for him.

The third worst Demi-god at sex is a tie between Ranni and Malenia. Ranni was a turbo virgin obsessed with magic and breaking free of her fate. She had no time for anything like that. And when she does finally have time... She lost her body. The best she can give is a handjob or oral sex. And idk what her mouth or hands are made of so that might not be pleasant. Malenia on the other hand is literally walking around with scarlet rot. Even just serving her as a cleanrot knight is an assurance of getting infected. NOT ONLY THAT her genitals and many other places on her body have rotten away. Any chance she had at experiencing sex is kinda ruined now. Like if you fingered her and took time with it, sure she might get off on it, but she would rather just swing her sword around.

The most middleground Demi-god when it comes to sex is a tie between Godrick and Radahn. Like yeah Radahn can fuck you, and he's got a big dick, but he cares more about hitting things and being crazy horse girl than fucking things. I don't think he knows where the clitoris is. Godrick on the other hand has fucked at least once, if gostoc is his son. However he is so utterly repulsive that its not pleasant to have sex with him. He smells rancid.

The demi-god that is third best at sex is Godwyn. I headcanon that he had many lovers over the years and actually had a pretty strong linage made up of several sons and one daughter. He might have fucked a dragon too. IDK.

Second best at sex is a tie between Godfrey and Rykard. Godfrey was very passionately in love with Marika, but he had to learn how to have sex. That man was not a virgin by any means but he had no fucking idea how to make her cum. So she had to teach him. He eventually became quite good at it. Rykard has a wife, she is obsessed with him. They probably have really freaky sex. That instantly makes him second best.

The Demi-god that is the best at sex is Mohg. Like, there is no question it's Mohg. Dude is in a sadomasochistic cult built on fucked up love. He fucks and he fucks a lot. And unlike his brother, the thought of siring a load of omen kids makes him enthusiastic. YES. MORE CURSED BLOOD. YES. AHAHAHAHAHA!

I am not doing Miquella out of fear for my own safety.

[crowinkwriting]

Something New Part 3

Part 2: Here

[I FINALLY FINISHED IT!!!!!!!! Here is another chapter. I will work on part 4 but I'm going to take a short break to focus on some of my other AUs and stories. Here is Rook's family tree so this chapter makes a bit more sense. Spite doesn't understand babies and that's okay.]

Rook and her older sister look down at the small infant in the crib as he naps. The elf had an uncertain smile, never being overly fond of children herself. “He’s cute.” Jewl comments.

“Thanks.” Rook says, giving her sister a small smile. Despite Jewl’s hesitation towards children Rook still appreciated that she had come by anyways.

“How’ve you been?” Jewl asks, her smile turning to a look of concern.

“Tired.” Rook admits. “But I’ve had a lot of help. So I can’t complain that much.”

Over the past 5 days Rook had a lot of help from Teia and Lucanis, but they were both busy today. Still Rook knew she wasn’t alone. Even with her sister here Rook knew there were at least a few Crows guarding the villa.

Jewl’s visible concern didn’t seem to go away.”Is Lucanis helping?” She asks quietly.

“He has been. He’s just busy today.” Rook tries to explain, giving her sister a reassuring smile.

“Still… What about when he’s not here? Are you just alone?”

“No. Illario is next door.” Rook jokes, earning a sigh from her big sister.

“That’s not better.” Jewl says, annoyed. 

Regardless, Rook still let out a tired giggle at her own comment. Finding it much funnier than Jewl clearly did. Jewl just rolled her eyes. Half asleep and her little sister still could never take anything seriously. Dante though had started to cry as he woke up. “Oh no.” Rook muttered as she turned her attention back to the baby. As Rook lifted the baby from the crib Jewl took a step back. She just watched as Rook tried to check what was wrong with the baby. Eventually the baby quieted down, content with just being held by his mother.

“I will admit… I wasn’t expecting to get a new nephew so soon.” Jewl comments.

“What do you mean?” Rook asked, not looking up from the baby.

“You just got married.”

At that Rook just shrugs a little. “It’s just how it happened.” She responded.

Jewl just continued to stand back and let Rook look after the baby. It surprised Jewl a little, how much more mature Rook seemed only after a few years. Still, she couldn’t help but feel her little sister was too young. It only felt like yesterday the two were learning how to tie knots on their mother’s boat, only a few years since Jewl left Rivain and Rook behind to join the Shadow Dragons. Rook had changed so much since then, she was an adult now, and she had saved Theades. The long scar across Rook’s face though was a constant reminder to Jewl that they weren’t all good changes.

“Was it his idea?” Jewl asked, looking around the large room. Rook let out a loud sigh at the question. “No. This is something we both agreed on.” She says, the mildest hint of annoyance in her tone.

She didn’t appreciate what her sister was trying to imply. Jewl was slowly growing more accepting of Lucanis, but Rook couldn’t help but notice her weak attempts to find something about him to pick at. Jewl knew better though to push it further.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rook stood a few feet back holding the baby while Lucanis was sitting on the bed. The two had talked about it and wanted to try and talk to Spite again. Not trying to come to some kind of understanding with Spite would only make things worse. He was confused and when he was confused he tended to lash out.

“Are you sure?” Lucanis asked, cautious of Spite’s reaction.

“Please? He’s not going to get any easier if we don’t talk to him.” Rook reminds him.

Lucanis sighed, but relented. He closed his eyes and when they reopened there was a familiar purple glow. Rook gives the demon a small smile. “You want to talk?” Spite asked, seeming curious. Rook gives him a short nod before stepping a bit closer. “Listen, I know me and Lucanis could have done this better… but you’re going to be part of Dante’s life, and I know everything changing hasn’t been easy for you.” She explains.

Spite, for once, was completely quiet. He was usually very reactive and talkative even when there was nothing to talk about, but for once he just sat still. He looked at Dante and then back at Rook.

His silence though had begun to make Rook rather uneasy. He noticed as Rook glanced around the room, something she’d do if she was nervous. Though Spite couldn’t quite figure out why she was so nervous. Lucanis liked when he was quiet, but it just seemed to make Rook more upset.

“Spite?” Rook speaks up after a few moments.

“Why?”

“Why What?”

“Why are you fond of it? Why does Lucanis want it?” Spite asks. This time there was no annoyance or aggression. If anything the demon sounded confused.

“Because he’s our baby.” She explains.

Spite blinked at that.

“Ours?”

“... Yes. Our. Me and Lucanis’s … and yours too, if you’re okay with that.” She explained, nervously. Rook took another step closer and sat on the bed beside him. Dante was already asleep, content to be held by his mother. Spite goes quiet yet again, watching Dante. The spirit almost seemed nervous in a way but Rook couldn’t quite be sure. “I am not fond of this… baby. Not like Lucanis is.” He finally admits.

Rook gave him a reassuring smile and placed her hand on his shoulder. “That’s okay. It’s not the same for everyone. Sometimes it takes time.” She explained. Spite didn’t bother looking up and just continued to watch the baby.

It takes time.

[itsmarsss]

The World-Famous Annual Heffley Puppet Show [Rodrick Heffley x Reader] (Diary of a Wimpy Kid)

(~from the vault~)

Susan invites you to watch one of the Heffley's weird annual traditions, and you're expecting anything but this.

Word Count: 1,479

[...]

Dating Rodrick Heffley was… an experience. Not in a bad way at all, it was only that it could be… weird, for lack of a better word to describe it, at times. Like right now, for instance, when you were sitting in his living room while his parents told an extremely over-complicated story through… puppets.

You weren’t exactly sure how you'd gotten yourself into this situation. Okay, well, that was a lie, actually.

Susan had been incredibly persistent about you coming to the ‘World-Famous Annual Heffley Puppet Show’, as she made sure to announce extravagantly, adamant about you being present to witness the oh-so-great performance, and, despite Rodrick´s ridiculous attempts at making faces at you from behind her that quietly told you to not, in any occasion, agree to it, you just couldn’t get yourself to say no.

“Why would you say yes? You could have just said your grandma just died or something!” Rodrick questioned you, exhasperated.

“Dude! Don’t say that about my grandma!”

“Okay sorry. But you could’ve said absolutely anything! Anything!"

“I tried! She kept finding solutions! She even said she’d move the date up.”

“She said that?”

“Yeah. Why?"

“Shit. She’s never moved the date before. She really wants you to go.”

“Why is that?"

“No idea. I think she just really likes you."

“Why do you sound so shocked about that?”

“She’s never really liked any of the girls I went out with.”

“Okay, James Dean. You’ve gone out with like one girl before me when you were like sixteen.”

“Hey I got laid! Occasionally.”

“Ew."

“It’s true!”

“Yeah right.”

“Fine. I got laid twice. Happy?"

You shrugged, grinning at him as you poked fun at him some more.

"Well now that you said yes to her I guess we’re gonna have to go.”

“It can’t be that bad!”

It could. It definitely, 100%, without a doubt, could. The ‘performance’ had been going on for about half an hour now, and it didn’t look like it was heading towards an end any time soon. You were all sitting in chairs, which were lined up in front of the couch, your seat between Rodrick's and Greg's, with Rowley by Greg’s left and Manny by Rodrick’s right.

Okay, yeah, maybe this time you should have listened to Rodrick.

You really, really tried, but you could not, as much as you desperately wanted to, figure out the plot of the story Mr. and Mrs. Heffley were trying to tell. It had something to do with dragons and fried chicken and at some point you could swear there was a clown. How any of that tied up together was beyond you, and, as you could see, Rodrick and Greg too.

The only ones who seemed to be having any fun at all were Manny, who was standing up and clapping like crazy throughout the entire thing, probably props to the very questionable voices his parents were making for the ridiculous amount of different characters that seemed to progressively look worse in appearance as they showed up, and Rowley, who also didn’t seem to understand any of it, but looked entertained nonetheless, occasionally even shooting Greg a few comments, to which Greg just smiled and mumbled something incoherent under his breath in response.

You leaned over to Rodrick, who was wide-eyed at this point, looking borderline terrified at the scene that unfolded in front of him. “You said it was bad, not that it was gonna give me nightmares!” You whispered.

He looked genuinely embarrassed, and for Rodrick Heffley to be embarrassed of something, oh that was something. “I tried to warn you!”

“What are you guys talking about?” Greg whispered too, making himself a part of the conversation.

“Shut up dickhead,” Rodrick let out under his breath, to which Greg replied by sticking his tongue out at him, earning a middle finger in response. Oh, brothely love.

“Do you guys really have to go through this every year?”

They both nodded. “It’s like it gets more terrifying every year,” Greg commented, and you took a quick glance back at the couch, where Mr. and Mrs. Heflley were crouched behind. Apparently a pig who was wearing a bow tie was hunting down a rabbit for sweets now.

“Do you guys think they’d notice if we left?” Greg asked and you pondered on it. Then you had an idea.

You turned to face your boyfriend. “Okay look. You gotta be fast alright? And you can't let your mom be upset at me."

“What?” Rodrick questioned you, finally managing to look away from the trance the puppet show had kept his eyes in.

“When I say I gotta go you say you’re coming with me.”

He nodded, though he hadn't really gotten the gist of where you were going with that.

“Wait can I come?”

“No,” Rodrick promptly replied.

“Come on give him a break," you nudged his arm, to which he rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh.

“Fine. But only ‘cause she asked.”

Greg smiled, looking at you. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Alright we gotta get out fast. Just grab Rowley with ya.”

Greg nodded in understandment.

“Hey Mrs. Heffley?” You spoke up.

The voices stopped. You were already grateful just for that moment of silence. Susan’s head appeared from behind the sofa. “Yes dear? Something wrong?”

“I'm really sorry, but um I really need to head home, I think.”

“Oh but we’re only halfway through-”

“I’ll take her home!” Rodrick exclaimed at lightspeed, yanking you by your wrist and sprinting towards the front door.

“We’ll come with!” Greg yelled too, doing the same with Rowley, leaving only Manny as an audience for the remainder of the story.

“But-”

“Bye! Thnak you for inviting me!” You yelled over, already out by the front yard.

“Uh- bye sweetie!”

You got to Rodrick’s van, which was parked on the street, all panting and out of breath from running so fast.

“Okay, get in demon spawn.” Rodrick unlocked the back door and waiting for the boys to enter.

“Hey!” You exclaimed in feighened offense.

“Not you. You’re a… sexy little demon...ess,” he smirked, knowing he’d get a laugh out of you.

You could hear Greg and Rowley say ‘ew’ from the back as you got in the car.

“I agrre with them, ew. I think I prefer demon spawn.”

Rodrick got in himself, turning the engine on. “Okay any ideas?”

“Can we go to Chipotle?” Rowley asked.

“No we should go to Taco Bell!” Greg yelled, and they immediately started arguing about it, talking over each other so loud you couldn’t understand a single word they were saying.

“Hey! Dickheads! Shut up!” Rodrick yelled, and, surprisingly, they did. “Y/n chooses.”

“What? Why?” Greg asked, offended.

“She has girlfriend privileges!”

You laughed at Greg’s angry expression. “Well I think we should go to Subway.”

“We’re not going to Subway." Rodrick deadpanned.

“What? You said I had girlfriend privileges!”

“Not if you choose fucking Subway!”

“Fine. Domino’s?”

“That's a decent option!” He smiled, and started driving.

You got yourselves a large pizza, Greg and Rowley quick to leave the table and go chase after each other around the place.

“You have grease on your chin,” you informed Rodrick when you looked at him. He wiped it off, his mouth full of food. He tried to say something, but quit as soon as he started, the sound muffled.

“Dude swallow the pizza first, that’s gross!”

He did so before trying again. “I said thank you.”

“It was looking all greasy and gross!"

"Oh shut up," he smiled at your teasing. "I meant for saying yes to my mom. She was actually like super excited about it.”

You furrowed your eyebrows together, confused. “Wait I thought you wanted me to say no.”

“Well yeah. But she clearly liked that you did go or whatever. She likes you.”

“That good?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I guess. Maybe he won’t be so up our asses if she likes you.”

“Well you’re very welcome. Cause that was… something.”

He laughed. “You thought that was bad? You should see the Christmas one.”

There was no way. “They do a Christmas puppet show too?”

“Oh no it’s much worse. They actually act in it.”

“Jesus.”

“Yeah. And you’re officially invited by me.”

“Oh no don’t bring me into this again-”

“Too late! I-” he took a sip of his soda- “will be telling my mom you had a wonderful time today, and you were so, so bummed you had to go home early!”

“You’re a jerk!”

“What's that I hear? You’d be thrilled to attend the Yearly Heffley Christmas Play?"

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”

You smiled. You supposed you signed up for weirdness the moment you said yes to dating Rodrick Heflley of all people.

“I do, actually!”

He smiled at you. No, you don't.

[. . .]

A/N: heyy rewrote some thingies but its mostly the same as when i first wrote it. so here ya go with some more rodrick content! :)

[mangyraccooon]

Some more thoughts I have on Dragon and Tsuru’s relationship

If your new just know it’s my headcanon that Tsuru is the mother of Monkey D Dragon

Anyways, Tsuru was young when she had Dragon. So was Garp, the baby wasn’t planned obviously. Simply the result of a night with too many drinks and waking up next to your friend.

There were two factors that contributed to what happened next.

1. She knew marrying Garp would be a colossal mistake, both of them would end up miserable (I also have the theory she was a closeted lesbian but that’s for another time)

2. She was already engaged. (To a well educated merchant who dealt with the marines)

After his birth, Dragon was promptly handed to his father. His mother was not to be in the picture whatsoever.

Dragon himself figured it out when he was around 10-12. His eyes were not Garps, too angular and his face was too sharp, high cheekbones.

He confronted her when he was 13

“You’re my mother aren’t you?”

“No, a mother is someone who wipes your face, bandages your cuts, holds you after you wake from a nightmare. I am many things Dragon, but I can never be your mother.”

Their relationship never really got better or worse from there, they played weekly chess or shogi. Tsuru gave orders, Dragon carried out orders.

She kept her word, she never was his mother, not once.

She watched him grow and leap and fly and crash and be labeled the most wanted.

“Poor Garp,” the dumber cadets would whisper “for his son to turn out like that.”

Her name was never mentioned.

Before Tsuru turned 50 her husband passed. Her children (the legitimate ones) cried at the funeral.

Garp took her out for a drink.

“Do you ever think what it be like, if things were different?” He asks pouring a generous amount of gin into her glass.

She looks at his face, just starting to show the cracks of time. And she thinks, she thinks of Sengoku and the box of ashes he keeps in his desk and the dutiful little wife who smiles and never questions him coming home all hours of the night. She thinks of Garp, of the trail of broken hearts he’s left. Born too wild to love anyone, at least not in entirety.

She thinks of Roger.

She thinks of her husband, the cup of tea he would make her every morning.

“Sentimentality isn’t something I linger on.” She answers already draining the cup.

[evilwriter37]

20 Questions for 20 Writers

Tagged by: @howtodrawyourdragon. Thank you!

1. Is writing a hobby or way of life?

100% a way of life. It kind of has been since I was a child. I was sick all the time and had story ideas, so I started writing them down when I was too sick to go to school. I got bored of just reading and wanted to make my own.

2. A journal full of writing notes or a clean, completed manuscript?

Well, currently I have folders upon folders of notes for my fantasy novel, but obviously I would like a clean, completed manuscript at some point. The entire work is 28k words at the moment.

3. Who (or what) is your writing inspiration?

My special interests for sure. Obviously How to Train Your Dragon, but when I get into something, I really get into it. Lol, one could say autism is my writing inspiration.

4.Which is worse: someone you "idolize" reading your first draft or listening to you sing?

Probably someone I idolize reading my first draft. I'm getting a lot better at receiving rejection and critique but it's still very hard for me. I had a good singing voice before I had covid. (The band teacher and the chorus teacher in high school would fight over who got to have me. I chose band.) Covid has absolutely wrecked my singing voice, but I think I can get it back with practice. So yeah, I'll take someone listening to me sing over reading my first draft.

5. Has writing from someone else's POV ever changed your own perspective?

I don't think so, no.

6. Tumblr, AO3, LiveJournal, or FFN?

Ao3. One time ao3 logged me out and I was like: "What are you doing? I live here!" I do have fics on tumblr that have over 100 notes and I have no clue how that happened, especially when I look at interaction now. Interaction and fandom as a community are just dying on this website. Oh, and fanfiction.net was so horrible that I deleted all my stories from there and never looked back.

7. AO3 wordcount, and are you satisfied with it?

3,125,805. I'm more than satisfied. I'm stunned. And for some reason self conscious? I've had people call me crazy for writing so much fanfic, especially for the same fandom, and it just hurts, because this is my passion. What did you think I was going to do? Hit 1 million words and stop writing? No fucking way.

8. What movie/book/fic gripped you irrevocably?

Movies and shows: How to Train Your Dragon, Good Omens, Teen Wolf

Books: Hard to say because I only really recently got back into reading. I haven't written fanfic for a book since I wrote a single Captive Prince fic. Oh man, Captive Prince was so good. Thank you pro censorship people for recommending it! (People got so mad about it and the themes in it that I decided I had to read it. So worth it.)

Fics: I'm so, so gripped by @lifblogs Bad Batch fic: Brother, Hold Me Up. That thing is an absolute work of art.

9. What's the highest compliment you could ever be given, and have you been given it?

I think the highest compliment I got was someone reading Infernal Fascination of all things with their book club. Like, this person would give me updates about what was said during meetings and they just devoured it. It was awesome.

10. What defines your writing style?

Visceral description and poetic prose. I like to think.

Tagging @wyked-ao3 @the-bar-sinister

[andersons-bayonettes]

Dragon Age: Vows & Vengeance... The podcast that you are...

It's mediocre.

Now, let me explain. Vows & Vengeance was never meant to be an absolute amazing podcast, it's as supposed to make you hyped for Veilguard/show you the companions. A little teaser to bridge the waiting time until release, that it did pretty well.

However. I loved the story of the podcast up until Episode 7-ish. I still liked episode 7, but I could tell it was going somewhere I probably didn't want it to go. Episode 8 was... Episode 8 exists.

But let me actually get to critique it, before bashing it.

I listen to Podcasts a lot. Some of them Lore Podcasts, other Story Podcasts, with or without narration, talk podcasts, amateur and professional. This one felt like it wanted to be professional - while not quite being there - but still felt amateur enough to be a little off-putting. I don't mind most voices (including Nadia's, I think she's fine.) yet tge acting/writing was sometimes whacky at best. I felt like most voices were just way too similar. I often, especially at the start, got confused who is speaking. It got better, of course, but you don't want your listeners questioning who of your main characters is speaking.

Additionally, the podcast was meant to bring some characters closer to you, it was supposed to be a "hey, look at this, this is what they will be like, are you excited yet?" Kinda thing which worked for some. Mainly, the episodes featuring Lucanis, Emmerich and Taash did a really excellent job characterising them. I am ABSOLUTELY down to see more of them. Bellaras was fine, could be better, could be worse. The episodes with Davrin and Neve were... Not well for characterisation. And don't understand me wrong, you get to meet them, yes, but while most characters showed multiple layers, Neve and Davrin both just seemed like you just met them. I forgive them for the Lace Harding episode because we already know her from Inquisition.

Now, I don't mind Solas not showing up often. I think it's fitting. At the end of Inquisition, they out a heavy emphasis on the fact that if Silas doesn't want to be found, you can not find him. He was supposed to be that sliver of danger lurking all around, but where exactly, you'd never know. Thus, Nadia chasing Solas for weeks was absolutely fitting. Even if I think it's funny how Silas's plans have been ruined twice now by people he used as a pawn, doing something he didn't anticipate.

The ending was very, very, very lackluster. The funeral was nice, the demon battle was okay. I don't understand why they had to squeeze in this "I've been haunting you since you were little" crap, it was absolutely and entirely unnecessary. It's sad we spend so much time wanting Nadia & Elio to be back together, rooting for them to finally get a happy ending and all we get is "I killed him, anyways, lemme kille you now". One last talk maybe would have been nice, or let the demon, in one last attempt to stop Nadia, transform back into him. I know it's cliche, but it's cliche because it works.

Or, have the demon kill Elio in front of her. Let's say teh demon used Elios connection to Nadia to cross over, let him kill Elio and the ending would have been a lot cleaner in my opinion. Semantics and personal preferences aside, if they ever make another Podcast, I do hope they find someone who has experience in how to do them. The actors were good. They absolutely were, I assume it's a directing issue.

All in all it was a decent podcast. It has a lot of issues, but it also has a lot of good aspects, makingbit overall, well, like i said, mediocre.

[slothquisitor]

Costs of Leadership

Summary: In which Rook has to make a choice, and Lucanis doesn't believe anyone is coming to save Treviso. Also, my official petition to give Mourn Watchers cool bone magic. Eventual Rook/Lucanis, 3k.

Read on AO3.

_____________________________________________________________

When Camina had met Varric and Harding, she’d felt more resigned about traveling with them than anything. In those first few days, Varric had told her a story, one that she was not entirely sure she believed until almost a year later when traveled through a magic mirror to a ritual site that was everything Varric had feared it would be. Somehow, over the course of the last year, Varric’s cause had become hers. But she’d still never wanted to be a leader. Had only taken up the mantle because Varric had insisted that she did after he was effectively sidelined. She had thought that Neve or Harding might question her, especially after her disastrous attempt at stopping Solas’s ritual. Instead, they’d looked relieved to have someone stepping up. And some part of her had been relieved too, for another chance to fix things instead of simply making them worse for once. 

In some ways, she feels like she’s play-acting being a leader like she’s not making this all up as she goes. But at least she knows that part of being a good one means listening to the team when they come up with great ideas. And she’s grateful that Harding had found a way to get in touch with the Wardens even after she’d botched the meeting with the First Warden. 

The blight is changing, and they need experts, and the gods have been quiet so far. Some days, she wakes up in the Lighthouse on the makeshift bed in the room she calls hers and feels like maybe they’re actually making some progress. Today had started that way. 

It’s certainly not ending like it. 

They might have met Davrin and Assan, and she might have convinced Davrin to join them, but it had come at a cost: two dead Wardens, twelve missing griffons, and a promise to help Davrin get them back from a terrifying monster. She wishes it was less of a mixed-bag day. 

It’s a quiet and somewhat heavy trek through the Crossroads back to the Lighthouse. She’s looking forward to being back in the safety of the Lighthouse, to a warm meal, a bath, and some rest. 

“So this is where you live, huh? In the Fade?” Davrin asks, looking around with distrust at the Crossroads. 

“You get used to it,” Harding says encouragingly. 

“Yeah,” she agrees. “It’s cozy and the gods can’t find us here.”

“Right. Never going to get used to that,” Davrin replies flatly.  

He’s borne the news about the elven gods better than expected, anyway. When she’d noticed his vallaslin, she’d tried to be careful in her explanations. He’s a Warden and not with a clan, so it’s hard to say where his actual beliefs fall, but even if the gods were nothing but a fairy story to him, learning that they’re not only real but trying to blight the world…it’s a lot. 

She steers the conversation away from that particular topic for now. “Don’t worry, we’ll find you and Assan a nice -” She stops mid-sentence when she sees Bellara in full gear running toward them. 

“Rook!” Bellara calls. From the look on her face and the alarm in her voice, something is very, very wrong. Neve and Lucanis aren’t with her, and her mind immediately starts jumping to worst-case scenarios.  

“What’s wrong?”

Bellara takes only a moment to catch her breath before diving headlong into a rushed explanation. “Oh Rook, everything is wrong. Treviso and Minrathous are both under attack. Blighted dragons! Two of them. Neve and Lucanis already left to go try and help. I stayed behind to let you know, and to find out what we should do. We have to help them.”

“We got back just in time it sounds like,” Harding says, not bothering to hide her worry. 

She has been waiting for the gods to make a move and now they have and well, it was never going to be just one dragon was it? She shoves down the tiredness she feels and starts asking questions. She doesn’t like any of the answers. 

On the one hand, they’ve got Minrathous, the seat of power in Tevinter, currently overrun with Venatori who might use a fucking dragon to make a political play. But it has a few things Treviso doesn’t: namely defenses. On the other hand, Treviso is a merchant city already under occupation whose best defense is a group of assassins currently playing vigilante. The Crows are good at what they do, but a dragon is not an assassination target. 

“Where should we go, Rook?” Harding asks. There’s a trust there, that she’ll know what to do, the right answer to make. No matter what she says, she knows Harding and Bellara will follow. It feels like too much power for a single person to hold. 

From a purely strategic standpoint, they should go to Minrathous. Throw everything they’ve got in one basket, do everything possible to keep it afloat, to keep the power balance shifted their way. Losing Treviso would be terrible, but it’s not Antiva City and in some ways, with the Antaam occupation, it’s already lost. There’s no guarantee that they can do anything to stop the gods in either city, but there’s a better chance if they all stick together. She’s just not sure if she’ll ever be able to sleep at night knowing that she was sacrificing one city to try and save another. 

For a moment, she is back in the Grand Necropolis surrounded by undead and ignoring an order to retreat, to pull her team back. 

“Davrin and I will head to Treviso to help Lucanis. Harding, you and Bellara go see if you can help Neve.” 

She doesn’t like it, splitting the team like this, but what other play does she have? She hopes Neve and Lucanis will understand her rationale. She hopes she’s not dooming anyone, any place. 

“Let’s go.”

***

Lucanis never used to feel fear. He had prided himself on that fact, thought it made him more professional. And then he’d been captured and fear became as constant a companion as Spite. But even that fear seems to pale in comparison to the cold trickle of terror inching its way through his veins as he and Teia run through the streets of Treviso with their fellow Crows as a dragon bellows overhead. What does he know of fighting dragons? In all his years of training and contracts, nothing could have prepared him for this. 

He and Teia have taken nearly half the Crows with them and are sweeping the streets, killing as many Antaam as they can and directing civilians toward safer parts of the city. He trusts that Viago and Illario are doing the same along different routes. Lucanis doesn’t believe that they can stop this, but maybe they can alleviate the worst of what might be. When he’d left the Lighthouse, left Bellara with the message for Rook, he knew that he’d be going into this fight alone. 

Treviso is his home, but it is not as important as Minrathous. He knows this. Rook will too. But the Crows protect their own, so he directs another group toward a legion of Antaam and keeps making his way through his ruined city while the streets shake and a dragon roars.

“We can’t keep this up forever! Wherever that dragon attacks, the Antaam immediately follow,” Teia calls as she throws a dagger through the neck of an incoming warrior. 

“I’m open to suggestions, Teia,” he replies as he dodges an incoming blow. He spins to lodge his own dagger in the gap between the Antaam’s armor and helm. The qunari collapses heavily. He’s fighting as carefully as possible, willing Spite not to manifest those wings or any other indicator that he’s more than he seems, but he’s not sure how much longer he’ll be able to keep this up. They’ve been fighting for a while, and he’s already tiring. The Ossuary really did a number on him. 

“We can’t fight it if it’s in the air! We need to lure it to the ground,” she says as she trades blows with another Antaam warrior. 

“Okay, and how do you propose we do that?” 

Teia rips her blade free in a spray of blood that barely misses him. “I don’t know. This is all a bit above my pay grade.”

“Tell me about it,” he replies, looking around his crumbling, burning city. At least Caterina isn’t here to see this; it would break her heart. And there is some relief in that, in knowing that the only person he truly has to worry about here is Illario. 

“Lucanis!” 

He whips around at the sound of his name, and he has a hard time believing what he���s seeing for a moment. Running through smoke and debris and downed Crows and qunari is Rook.  Her armor is covered in blood and dust, but her purple eyes are bright and her magic is too. She shoots spells through her staff at nearby Antaam, looking for all the world like a hero in one of the romance novels he enjoys. She’s here.

The surprise gives way to immense gratitude. She’s not alone either, she’s being trailed by a burly, well-armored elf and…is that a griffon?

Teia grins. “Rook, it’s good to see you.”

Rook turns to the elf beside her. “Davrin, this is Lucanis and Teia of the Antivan Crows. Davrin is our new Warden contact.”

Davrin nods in greeting and then gestures to the griffon beside him. “And this is Assan.” In answer, the griffon jumps excitedly, lopsided ears flapping. He feels even more relief now. Rook hasn’t only come to help, but she’s brought a Warden. Surely that means she’s got a plan. 

hey don’t have time for pleasantries; not while Treviso burns. “We need to find out where the Antaam are coming from and get that dragon on the ground.”

Rook glances around at the carnage surrounding them. She points to a nearby dead Antaam warrior. “This is one of their legion captains?”

“Yes?” 

She turns towards Davrin. “I need you to find another dead Antaam with armor like this and I need you to bring me their foot. Lucanis, can you keep them off me for a few minutes?”

Davrin stares at her in concern. “You want me to do what?”

Rook takes a deep breath. “I’m happy to answer any and all questions when we’re not in the middle of a battlefield. Can you help me?”

Davrin looks like he wants to argue. “Yeah. Sure.”

“I’ll go with you, I have a feeling I’m not going to like this,” Teia replies before they re-enter the fray. 

“Rook, what are you doing?” he asks. He wants to trust her, but she’s not making a lot of sense. 

She kneels down next to the corpse, rips the boot off the Antaam’s foot, and pulls a sharp, thin dagger from her pouch and something that looks suspiciously like a saw. “I have a way of figuring out where the Antaam are coming from, but I need you to be okay with the methods.”

“Is this a weird necromancy thing?” 

She doesn’t answer him and instead fillets the skin off the Antaam’s largest toe in quick, deft movements. He realizes with some horror that she’s done this before. “Mierda.”

Once the bone is exposed, she saws it clean through until all that remains is the small nub of blood-covered bone. She holds it in her palm and begins whispering words he cannot quite catch. The bone shudders and then glowing green, it rises, hovering just above her palm.

Lucanis can feel her pull on the veil, her magic responding to her call. It doesn’t feel like blood magic, but it doesn’t feel right either. When her eyes open, they glow a sickly green that reminds him of veilfire. 

“There’s an encampment and a dreadnought near a square building. The building is a few stories tall and there are stone reliefs on the second and third floors… I can see the Chantry building not far from it…and the canal…”

“The governor’s residence?” Lucanis asks.

Rook blinks rapidly, the spell fading. “That’s where this warrior was for the last twenty-four hours at least.”

“Whatever you did, told you that?” 

She looks less than thrilled about having had an audience for this. “It’s called bone reading.” 

He has heard of bone reading. Zara even had her own mystics, but that is not what Rook has just done. “That is not like any bone reading I have seen.”

“Does the governor’s residence make sense? Do you think Ghilan’nain could be there?”

He thinks about the directions they’ve been encountering Antaam from. Perhaps they’ve turned it into their garrison. “Maybe.”

Davrin reappears, holding a still-bleeding foot out to the side as far as he can from his body. “Alright, Rook. Now will you tell me what we need this for?”

Rook quickly repacks her tools. “Sorry Davrin, turns out I don’t need it.”

“Of course, you don’t,” Davrin grimaces and then tosses the foot into the courtyard.

“Do you have a plan?” Lucanis asks. 

Rook nods, going a little pale. “Yep. But it’s a really bad one.” She pulls out the lyrium dagger from her belt. 

“You’re going to taunt a god?” he asks, wishing he was more surprised. 

“If you’ve got any better ideas, I’d love to hear them.”

He really, really wishes he did. “I’ll get to the governor’s residence.”

She tucks the dagger away and gestures to him to lead on. “You ever fight a dragon before?” 

He begins to jog. “Can’t say I have.”

“Well, I guess there’s a first time for everything,” she replies lightly. 

He’s pretty sure they’re all going to die. And well, he supposes trying to protect his city isn’t the worst way to go. 

Lucanis learns three things fighting a dragon. The first is that Ghilan’nain is horrifying. If that monster was ever a person, she’s not one anymore. The second is that his daggers aren’t very useful against a dragon. Which, he could have probably guessed. The last thing he learns is that Rook is absolutely batshit insane. She flings spells and magic and dodges attacks and acts like this is any other fight when they all know it’s not. But somehow, in the end, they’re all still standing when Ghilan’nain calls her dragon off.  

Bruised and battered they make their way back to where they’d diverted from the rest of the Crows. It’s a relief to see Teia and hear that the worst has been avoided even if it doesn’t feel much like a victory. Rook is only one person, but whatever she’d done in that fight had spooked Ghilan’nain enough to call the dragon back. If she hadn’t come to help…he doesn’t like to imagine how much worse it could have been. 

“We should get to Minrathous,” Rook says, but she sounds tired. There’s still ice in her long, dark hair and dirt streaked across her cheek. 

They’ll rest when they’re dead. He trusts that Teia and Viago and Illario can handle the rest. “Let’s go.”

They rush to Minrathous, and he still has to wonder a bit at the miracle that is. That they can be in Treviso one moment and Minrathous within the same hour. But it doesn’t matter how quickly they’ve hurried here, he knows as soon as they step out of the eluvian that they’re too late.

Blight is everywhere. The buildings in Dock Town that aren’t burning are groaning under the weight of the blight. There’s a sense of wrongness in the air. They find Neve, the Viper, and Tarquin just outside the ruins of the Shadow Dragon hideout. The Viper lays on a box, clutching an injury. 

“Smells like blight and death,” Spite says, recoiling from the scene. For once, they seem to be of one mind.  

The few Shadow Dragons he can see are hurrying from place to place, tending injuries, directing those carrying in bodies, and coordinating what relief they can from this ruined corner of the city. If there was any question about how things had gone in Minrathous, it is dispelled by this harrowing scene. 

“What’s the situation?” Rook asks. She looks at Neve with worry. They’re too late, and Rook knows it, but she’ll need to hear it from Neve first. 

Neve shakes her head, defeat showing in every line of her body. “Look around. I don’t know where to start. Venatori had a clear shot at the palace while we faced a dragon we could barely hurt. The Viper drew it away from a safe house and took a claw to the gut as thanks. A healer could fix the wound, but the Blight is already in him.”

The devastation is clear in Neve’s voice. The anger too. 

“I’m so sorry,” Rook says. “What can I do to help?”

Tarquin steps forward from his place beside the Viper. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough? This is all you, isn’t it?” He gestures to the ruined city. “The blight. The dragon. Now the city’s lost to the Venatori.”

If Lucanis expects Neve to jump to Rook’s defense, he’d be wrong. The Viper waves Tarquin off, but the silence that follows is deafening. Rook is just one person, and he’s not sure her being here really would have made the difference. But it’s pretty clear it doesn’t matter. 

“I sent Bellara and Harding to help, and we came as soon as we could. Treviso was under attack too…I didn’t…I tried.” Rook’s words falter as if she knows as she’s speaking them that there aren’t words enough to make any of this better. 

Lucanis is struck by the desperate unfairness of the whole thing. It should have never been a trade. How is anyone supposed to choose when faced with something like this? And that’s why it was that way, wasn’t it? The gods had to know that they couldn’t be everywhere at once. Treviso is safe enough for now, but the cost is staggering. 

Neve squares her shoulders and steps up to Rook. “Tension’s a little high. You should go for now. I need to be here a while. See to things.”

“Neve…”

Neve shakes her head. “Just go.”

And so they do, but Rook is uncharacteristically quiet the entire way back to the Lighthouse. 

[taddymason]

hi :)

I've got a (long) ask about your Dad Jay AU

What are the top 3 of the worst crimes they have committed? What exactly is Jay and Kaidas kill count? How would the Ninja react if they found out about it?

I've always wondered this, since it was often brought up how many people they've already killed or what terrible crimes they did.

Tbh almost every thing they did (during the administration arc) was justified by the administration, killing was necessary. I think it's clear that for Jay and especially Kaida, killing is a norm, it's what they have to do to survive, either they die or you. If I remember correctly this was also encouraged by Christa, in EIhijSotR (😭 abbreviation of everything I hear is just static on the Radio), I don't remember the exact line, but I think my point is clear.

While they were trying to figure out what exactly Master Wus Ghost was, Kaida said that maybe it's one of the people they killed and forgot to burry, which of course indicates that they probably killed so many, that it would hard to pin point which individual the ghost was, and they were only talking about the ones they didn't burry.

Also in Home, Kaida says in the end , after Jay brutally killed hundreds of men, that she's seen worse and that they've done worse.

Jay and Kaida are very aware of what crimes they did and like they said they're trying to be better, but what I find interesting is, how Kaida doubts that that's even possible after what they did.

I've found it hilarious that the source dragon pointed out all the terrible crimes they did, while the Ninja were super confused and Jay didn't deny anything. We can often see how terrified the Ninja are, Everytime either Jay or Kaida mentions of the crimes they did. It's very often mentioned that Lloyds trying to teach Kaida to get rid of this mindset, bc of "all life is valuable" thing, so I'm wondering how well that'll go, as in will Kaida ever adapt to the fact that killing is bad?

(I'm sorry, i didn't even realize how long this became, i ramble too much :( )

oooo i love love this question, never apologize for a question this long because i love talking about this stuff.

Now their top three worst crimes is kind of complex lol, they've done so many things it's hard to say which one is worst. Leaving murder aside obviously, they've squatted in the cloud kingdom for months, destroyed one of the islands, and definitely in their time in the Administration they've had to do things like estorsion or blackmail. In fact in that one shot it's actually implied that Jay and Kaida know how to interrogate someone for information. If I had to give it an order mmm: murder, extortion/blackmail and vandalism (they have destroyed private property many other times before the Clound Kingdom thing)

Now, as for their kill count? Tbh I have no idea, but I know it's high. Think about it, when Kaida and Jay are escaping in Chapter 19, she implies that they've already taken out a group that big of enemies with their powers, and they've been working in the Administration for years. Of course, when Jay becomes a manager this wasn't as constant anymore, but whenever something went wrong, or there were problems, he really wasn't that opposed to getting his hands dirty. The worst part is that if Jay ever tried to keep score as a field agent, he definitely lost it at some point and by then he stopped caring because he had already gotten used to it.

And the interesting thing would be the ninjas' reaction. They know that Jay and Kaida have done bad things, even if they have a hard time gauging it and in their minds they would try to excuse it. I think it would always be a hard thing to accept as something that Jay would do willingly when with things like Zane being the Ice Emperor they could always turn around and say that he wasn't really their friend so they wouldn't have to deal with it. Like, I don't think they can fully process it even with what they know because I've left it intentionally ambiguous. Were all those murderers in self-defense? Were there things that could have been avoided or would it always have ended with them dying? How many cases like the one at the beginning of chapter 24 could Jay and Kaida have stopped if they wanted to? And that's why I think this quote from Jay sums it up pretty well:

So it's not about the things they could have done in those years, you can imagine how many people they could have killed etc, but the things they chose not to do when they had the ability to act.

You're right in what you say and that technically they were justified in the Administration arc. I mean, as far as Jay knew the ninjas were coming to hurt them and the Administrator specially tasked him that it was his job and Kaida to kill them, so it's not like they had any other options with what they knew. Because in the end, they are both victims of their environment for having powers. Kaida grew up there, conditioned to believe that no life is unthinkable and in LP she is a teenager who was seen for a long time as a weapon. And Jay was manipulated in a moment of vulnerability where he had no context or idea of what to do other than join the agents. At the end of the day, what sets them apart from characters like Cinder is that they never enjoy what they do, they have lines that they would not cross.

The problem is, of course, not that they do things out of cruelty, but because they are simply ordered to, because it is a job and they never gave themselves enough time to question whether they could do something else. And it was not even an easy alternative, because it would not have been entirely ideal for Jay to risk Kaida's life by opposing every single thing that seemed wrong to him in the Administration.

For them, there was never any other alternative so no matter if Jay felt guilty from time to time, there were never any consequences to these actions and he could go to sleep peacefully thinking that there was nothing he could do with the cards he had been dealt. With Kaida it is even more complicated, since of the two she is the one who sees murder as the most normal thing to the point that both of them are casually mentioning that they may or may not have someone wanting revenge on them.

So are they both far from redemption? Not really, but in order for them to change and decide to try to be better, it is important to understand that they are not exempt from absolution for what they did. Or at least, that is the catalyst for both of them to decide to change, to realize that their actions do have consequences and that they cannot walk away from it as if nothing happened. I think they will eventually be able to handle these problems, especially if they are going to be ninjas, without being so "trigger happy" so to speak.

[mcflymemes]

AS SAID BY ALISTAIR THEIRIN - PARTY BANTER *  updated version - assorted banter from dragon age: origins

they say you can get anything here. i once got pick-pocketed.

i don't know if i should take you seriously... but you scare me sometimes.

i locked myself in a cage once when i was a child. for an entire day. ahh... good times.

why do they call it a brothel? there's no broth. or is there?

couldn't you crawl into a bush somewhere and die? that would be great, thanks.

leave me alone.

i know where babies come from!

what would you do if someone told you that they loved you?

food shouldn't be frilly and pretentious like that.

we take our ingredients, throw them into the largest pot we can find, and cook them for as long as possible until everything is a uniform grey color. as soon as it looks completely bland and unappetizing, that's when i know it's done.

we're not going to be mobbed, right? that's not something they do here? mob people?

do you get the feeling things are just getting worse as we go up?

now that's just unnecessary.

i don't think we're alone. i really don't think we're alone.

is it just me, or did i do really badly back there?

excuse me while i begin projectile vomiting.

maybe she was ugly. maybe she had buck teeth. how would we know?

what is that smell? fish? and something else. oh... more fish.

uh-oh. i'm terrible at puzzles.

let's try not to get lost here. places like this can get you turned around.

i think there's something ahead. something big.

i don't even want to imagine where that leads.

you could be an utter moron, for all we know.

it used to get so quiet that i would start screaming until someone came running. i would tell them that i was just checking. you never know, right?

there's a certain allure to danger, isn't there?

i will never get over how quietly you are able to move.

i heard you often seduce your targets.

don't you wish you could have stayed there? to help more people, i mean?

i've never been very good at that. the steeling myself part. i find it better sometimes to just be a little weak. i'm all right with that, really.

i just wanted some advice.

what should i do if... if i think a woman is special...

i am not lost.

do i have a choice?

you find that curious, do you?

that's directed at me, i take it?

have you really been thinking about that all this time?

so let's talk about your mother for a moment.

why do you always go on about how stupid i am? i'm not stupid, am i?

it hurts my manly feelings, you know. all one of them.

you're not even listening to me.

you're joking, right? a five year old could answer that question.

so what's the deal with you and him, anyway? dare i ask?

that... is a ridiculous question.

i figure you'd be the sort who knows all about deception.

it's moments like this when i truly appreciate the difference between you and me.

you're... you're drunk, aren't you?

how do you manage to be constantly drunk? are we even carrying that much alcohol with us?

i guess a romance between you and i is completely out of the question.

you know a lot of big words.

you wouldn't understand.

don't you ever talk? you know, make polite conversation just to put people at ease?

i spy with my little eye... something that begins with... "G"

are you talking to me?

are we under attack?

i don't have to prove anything to you.

we're not exactly traveling in the lap of luxury here.

can you mend it? when we get back to camp?

i might catch a cold.

that's... one way of looking at it.

i have a hard time believing that.

it's not an outlandish question.

you know, of all the mages i've met you have to be the first one i can honestly say i've really liked.

why are you smiling like that?

i wasn't looking at... you know her... hind-quarters... i gazed. glanced... in that direction, maybe, but i wasn't staring... or really seeing anything even.

i hate you. you're a bad person.

i'm not an idiot. well, not most of the time.

you didn't answer my question.

if you aren't telling me, there must be a reason.

do you mind if i ask you a personal question?

have you... had many women in your time?

how do you... woo them? is there a technique?

i like my hair the way it is, thank you.

we aren't talking about this, are we? did i hit my head?

is that a smirk? are you smirking at me?

well aren't you just chock full of useless trivia today.

i suppose you don't care.

so when this is over, what do you intend to do with yourself?

[js589]

So, my husband and I just finished The Dragon Prince, and...

We're mad.

(There is a lot I love about TDP, and about season 7, but it gets very little mention here. You have been forewarned.)

Like, this final season was just coming at us with everything it had for most of the first 8 episodes. Sure, there were filler-y bits every now and again, but there was a pretty good buildup. Episode 8 especially was just like oh wow, we're going here. (As much as Karim just never learning was frustrating, it made his fate very fitting. I was both horrified and impressed.)

But it seemed like the final episode, rather than serving as a fitting ending if there isn't further media, reminded us of all the plot threads that are still dangling, some from much earlier seasons!

The whole show had moments of "okay, this was an unnecessary bit" and "okay, when are we going to get back to this thing that seems to be really important?" but Mysteries of Aaravos was definitely much worse about it. The baitlings/glowtads, for example, probably should have been relegated to side materials.

And Harrow-bird... I have multiple misgivings. First of all, it should have been much clearer earlier on if this was indeed going to be A Thing. There's no way it resolves quickly, but it could have been spaced out through the seasons. And the unseriousness of the reveal really felt like it cheapened the emotional impact of Ezran deciding to forgive Runaan even though he doesn't know how to yet. That could have been an amazing exploration, and instead, it's moot because Harrow arguably hasn't actually died. Like, Callum could bring him back. Easily.

And while this is a show aimed at children, Ezran not actually using the nova blade after it got hyped for so long felt kind of like a pale imitation of AtLA, but Ezran's peaceful ideals never actually got confronted the way Aang's did. In TDP, Callum had to face up to his inner darkness multiple times, but God forbid Ezran not get saved from actually doing anything remotely controversial. I mean, Avizandum and Zubeia's sacrifice works, IMO, but it just feels like anytime Ezran has to confront big, scary things, it turns out he didn't need to and it's actually all kind of okay somehow.

But above all, the arc title is now too fitting. A lot of those mysteries of Aaravos are still mysteries, and they didn't need to be! If this is the Aaravos arc, then it should have had an actual resolution and not a "we'll circle back in 7 years" ending. Like, they'd better put it together and just keep Aaravos from coming back in that case. Seriously, Aaravos gave humans dark magic. Why did the Startouch council not intervene the way they did with Leola? Why did they not intervene when he returned? If he'd done something to incapacitate them, you'd think he'd have said so, but he appears to not have exacted revenge yet. Other questions: does the book that uses the key still exist? Is the key actually important? Can Callum use it to forge connections? Is (as my husband jokingly theorized) dark magic just star magic with a different source?

What about Claudia? I'm left wondering why she still serves Aaravos. I'm assuming it's because she understands his desire to avenge Leola and she doesn't care about who else gets harmed along the way, but I feel like that doesn't really square with her characterization? I dunno...

Finally, as much as I love Rayllum... yeah, it got a little too much focus. Not as much undue focus as other elements, but it was definitely overdone. (But I did actually appreciate Rayla readying to kill Callum. Like, dude's got plot armor up the wazoo, but she doesn't know that.)

Overall, I'm just really dissatisfied with all that's left open. Mysteries of Aaravos had massive pacing issues. I believe that the story could have been told in its entirety, and I wish it would have been.

[ohnomyhooves]

Thoughts on the headcannons that doffy is colorblind and that’s part of why his fashion sense is Like That and that corazon is so unbalanced bcos he suffered a traumatic brain injury in the same event where doffy got an arrow in his eye and cora was only normal kid levels of klutzy before that and got much worse after

Firstly I'm so sorry if it took me ages to reply, I didn't get notified of this in my inbox at all!🥹

Also, I do like both of those theories– in my opinion there is definitely something about his eyes that Doffy is deliberately hiding, whether a natural 'flaw' or an injury.

On Doffy's eyes;

I think the arrow to the eye was quite clear, it's hard to imagine he could get away from something like that completely unscathed. The only question though if this is the case is why he was wearing glasses before any of that happened. My guess is either:

- he had some kind of eye defect from birth, something that he possibly saw as this huge flaw for a high and mighty Celestial Dragon. Perhaps colour blindness from birth, or heterochromia, or partial blindness etc.

- this is self-indulgent and unnecessarily cute (sue me!) but I also like to think that maybe he was just attached to the glasses themselves as an item, the way small kids get overly attached to things and just don't let them go for a long phase I.e a favourite piece of clothing they insist on wearing everywhere or an impractical accessory.

In either case, I can see that after his injury he started wearing glasses all the time for a totally different reason; to hide an injury that was now a bigger flaw than anything else because it was definite proof of weakness. Whatever he's hiding behind those glasses I refuse to believe he's not touchy and secretive about it. I think the HC that Doflamingo actually has perfectly normal eyes under there and is just an Extra Bitch is hilarious!! BUT considering that he got to keep them even at Impel Down, and I believe the wiki says that Tsuru got him a new pair before he was tossed in jail, they must be pretty important to him/ the Marines who arrested him for that little while his eyes were bare probably saw something that they knew Doflamingo would get Touchy and Dangerous about so they wanted to cover it right back up and pretend they hadn't seen anything.

BUT I'M GOING ON A TANGENT! To answer your actual question, I've never considered that his sense of fashion is so atrocious because he could be colourblind. Like, I just thought it was atrocious because his personality involves being the centre of attention all the time– sitting on the fcking table at warlord meetings, crowning himself King of Dressrosa and throwing massive celebrations in his honour, his behaviour at Marineford– but now that you mention it I like that possibility! I would have to look up how people with colourblindness perceive colours, I think, to get deeper into it; for example, if he doesn't perceive his horrid feather coat as being pink the way other people see it, what colour does it look like to him, what aesthetic exactly is he going for? Doflamingo would 100% not care if other people's visual senses were assaulted in his quest to look good to himself so that's fascinating.

On Cora's clumsiness;

I totally REFUSE to believe he was exaggerating this or playing it up for the sake of his cover. His accidents are too inconveniently timed for that to be the case, like when it got him in trouble when he was stealing the Op Op Fruit...(ouch😭)

He says he's always been clumsy since birth but his klutzness is simply next level, so it really makes sense that it's the result of some traumatic injury. If it was simply a childhood trait I think it would get better with time, not significantly worse; AND, I know we didn't see much of him as a child, but there wasn't any time child Rosi was depicted as being that clumsy. I believe the only time he ever showed clumsiness was when he tripped and fell into a treasure chest one time(?) in one of the very first scenes of their family before they moved out of Marie Jois, but that's like. On a totally believable level for a child. His clumsiness is such an integral element of his character as an adult that I think they would've highlighted it in his younger self.

So! Yes, I agree with that headcanon ;-; poor Rosi...

Thank you for submitting such a fun ask! I do enjoy yapping about them XD

[newkatzkafe2023]

@lara-legomonkiekid

What if Y/N acted like Homer Simpson?

Good Lord😳😳😳

(Lmk Wukong) I don't think it was a ever good idea for you to the meet in the first place. He met you at pigsy's noodle shop where everyone was Stairing at you as you ate what seems to be 28 bowls of noodles And then you went to order another one. That was the final straw which got you kicked out

Monkey (Y/N): I paid for those noodles and they should let me finish eating them!!!😠

Wukong got a closer look at you And saw that you were a female monkey a yellow plus size one. Which was oddly cute for you you had a white sundress on and some blue boots. Wukong found himself blushing at your appearance And continue to quietly observe you until your attention turned to him.

Monkey (Y/N): Hey Sunflower wanna go to Moe's with Me my treat😘😘😘

Soft and bold I guess one drink with you wouldn't hurt

(NR Wukong) He was just strolling Bye until somebody flew out of a bar window. Would scared the crap out of him he done red inside to see What was the commotion Just so he can see a bunch of unconscious bodies and this

A chubby yellow female monkey strangling a random demon. That just raises so many questions by itself but he just Waited until you were done

Monkey (Y/N) I'll teach you to waste beer Especially my beer 🍺 🤬🤬🤬🤬

He didn't know what to make of this. But he found you to be cute. As soon as you were done, you will stomp out of the bar going next door to a dumpling shop And begin to eat your emotions he quietly followed you and asked if you were ok. She turned to look at him with soy sauce dripping down her lip

Monkey (Y/N) never better Cutie😁😋

You were the cutest chubby puzzle he's ever seen and he's gonna solve you whether you like it or not.

(Mk Reborn Wukong) He fighting some more demon again but he was alone. He saw a chubby female monkey laying watse to the group of demons herself.

His jaw was touching the floor. He never seen anybody that big moves so fast. But when he stiff the air for a minute he smelled booze??? Wait your fight like this and your drunk?! He hates to admit it but that's impressive. After your mini Massacre you pull out what appears to be some noodle like what??? When you turn to him and ask where you can get some beer, He has never been so confused in his life.

(HIB Wukong) Ok you guys actually go way back. You met eating peaches together before he challenged Buddha and got seal under the mountain. When Liuer released him to he said he would help if the went to fine you. He wasn't even sure if you were around anymore until he saw a familiar yellow figure eating peaches in the Distance. As usual you were always eating something until he made his presence known to you. When you turn, there was tears rolling down your eyes as you ran up to him and embraced him in a Hawk. Telling him that you miss him very much It have so much to catch up on. But first he has to introduce you to Liuer.

(Netflix Wukong) when he first came to be you took it Initiative to take care of him. You freakin hated how the other monkeys treated him. So you took him right under your wing. You made sure he was happy healthy and safe and Patched up his Bruises when he gets into tussles with other demons. You were incredibly worried about him Well he was starting A battle with the jade emperor and the dragon king. But you felt that he would be just fine but When you heard that he was going to be sealed under the mountain for 500 years you decided to Pack your supplies and be sealed under there with him. Just so he's not alone for a long time You have no Idea how much he loves you huh? From The very beginning you were there for him at his Worse and you were there for him at his best Safe to say he was made just for you.

Feel Free to Reblog😇👍

[hpowellsmith]

After taking a break last week, I'm here again for the saturday question!

So... "when playing games with PC customisation, do you play as your own gender or orientation? Bonus question: why/why not?"

I always play male characters (I'm a woman) in text based IF and most visual novels with high customization of the main character, because I despise self insert - it makes me extremely uncomfortable and literally alienates me from my character and the game as a whole. Most text based IF make it even worse than the majority of visual novels because of the second person writing which I also hate (I got used to it obviously so it doesn't bother me as long as I have a male MC, but it's still such a treat when a game is written in first person from time to time - at least it's more common in VNs). But if the MC is a different gender than me, it allows me to "distance myself" from my character and see them like the actual character he deserves to be, not a reflection of myself, and I'm like "haha game, you won't convince me I am in the game - the MC is not even the same gender as me!". That also means I can't play genderlocked female IF at all. I'm fine with NB locked though as it's still not female. Though I'm still most at ease with male MCs. Can be cis or trans though - I pick depending on the game.

On the other hand, I'm straight and I almost always pick male love interests because of a combination of me rarely liking the writing of female characters in games (or at least not liking it much for a romantic interest type of character) and sometimes simply feeling awkward in romantic situations with women to begin with, even in fiction. Sometimes I pick NB ROs too, but more rarely - it's often hit or miss depending on the writing of the character. But yeah, I tend to default to male. Meaning, it indirectly makes most of my MCs gay. Though to be fair, like I already mentionned in one of these questions in the past (I believe), I'm also sort of cursed, and every single time I actually was interested in a female RO in an IF or even a female love interest in one of the TTRPG games I play with my friends, the IF/campaign got cancelled, so it never led to anything!

Now, in games with a full body avatar for the MC and what not, I think me making male and female MCs is sort of half and half? Like, in Dragon Age and Mass Effect games I have female MCs, while in BG3, Rogue Trader and a few other games I pick male. Basically, when the character has a full on design and there is no second person writing and what not, so self insert is not a "risk", I will chose based on what feels better in said game, if the RO I'm interested in is locked to certain MC genders and other factors similar to these. So in these games, my MC being straight or gay will be more varied.

Thank you for this, it's great to hear about how tastes and preferences come up in these kinds of games!

Basically, when the character has a full on design and there is no second person writing and what not, so self insert is not a "risk", I will chose based on what feels better in said game

I find this a bit too; I feel more comfortable playing (for example) a straight character if it's a set character, and especially if it's a visual game and/or one with VO for the PC.