#But we all know warden was special in that kind of way

[knife-eared-jan]

Ok, as much as I have been hyping and playing 12 hours a day since it got out (still in Act 1 though, bc I'm a slowass player and completionist), I feel like I have to say something that is getting hard to ignore at this point... and I wanna preface this by saying that I am loving a lot of aspects of the game and I adore the writing when it comes to the companions, who I am obsessed with.

And maybe this will get better yet, as I generally heard the writing picks up once the story progresses beyond picking up all companions..

But I'm starting to get quite upset at the way the writing just does NOT care about the established lore and the politics of Thedas like at all, when to me - and many others - that richness, nuance and depth of the world is what makes the games so special.

(Spoilers below)

I looked past the way the elves in Arlathan just seemed to know that their gods are evil and Solas is "kind of a dick" but was right about that. When, you know, that made him basically the Satan of their pantheon up to now.. It was after all the tutorial stage of the game and I understand that you wanna ease newcomers into the lore. I could also handwave it in-universe with Morrigan being there - she could have filled the Veiljumpers in on the discoveries of the Inquisition or even what the Well told her.

It felt a bit weird that our contacts in every other faction just accepted this huge revelation without a blink, but again it was the early stages and I also get that having a discussion about it 6 times with different faction leaders would have been incredibly tedious. So I ignored that. And yeah, at least the First Warden found it hard to swallow.

The fact that they brushed aside the gods finding elven subjects - many of whom after all still worship them - with one sentence from Solas was disappointing though. Instead they chose to ally them with the Venatori and the Antaam who are the pure evil factions with no nuance or motive to side with them besides a comic book level of hunger for power. They didn't even throw in a sentence about the gods maybe speaking to the Venatori through the Archdemons to get them on their side or how it's very ironic that the Venatori, who want to make Tevinter great again, stoop to working with the pantheon of the people they oppress because they see them as lesser and other. No political exploration of the massive lore implications at all.

It really hit me when I picked up Davrin and he commented how Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain blighting the world would really endear us (elves) to the rest of Thedas - this was the first time anyone actually mentioned the political impact of the elven gods being real, freed, evil and blighted on modern day elves at all, when this should be HUGE. It should be ugly. It should be complex. It should be explored in as many examples as bloodmagic and the oppression of mages was in DA2. It should be a central point of Act 1. (This btw made me love Davrin so much in that moment because this was the first time in the game for me when I actually felt like talking to a Dragon Age elf and even just that one line felt like home.)

And now I just did Taash's first companion quest and it seems Qunari lore is also being ignored (except for the gender aspect of it, which I look forward to). Taash's mum was a scholar and had a baby and the only problem about that was that it could breathe fire and was special but otherwise all would have been dandy? Like she would have just been allowed to keep Taash long enough to find that out about her baby if she was living under the Qun? That directly contradicts everything we know about how the Qunari's culture around reproduction and childcare works.

Sorry to be negative and talking myself into a rage - I know it's not something people want to see rn. But like, I realise you have to brush over some lore intricacies for brevity and to make it digestible for new players. But this is a world initially inspired by Wheel of Time and ASOIAF, both of which are interesting because of the depth of ficitional cultures, lore and politics, and hence it's also what gives Dragon Age its appeal. And now they take us to the most politcally interesting areas on the world map and just get rid of all of political depth?

That's really disappointing. Imagine if Winds of Winter dropped all political themes just because there's several previous books and it's been some a lot of years.

Also, I managed to play DA2 before I ever played Origins and they could introduce me to a vast established background of lore just fine back then.

Sorry. Rant over. But I had to get that out of my system.

[ghostieyanyan]

♡~Yandere Valentine in Twisted Wonderland~♡

Yan!Twisted wonderland x mc (separated)

sorry this is a bit late but here's some of my short takes on valentines day in twisted wonderland!

Warnings: yandere, lack of proof reading (sorry), collars, pet-play, drugs, manipulation, hinting nsfw, beating someone up, dead animal, wedding, hidden camera, (if theres anything missing please do tell me)

~~~~~

Riddle

Riddle has been planning something for you before February even started, probably before new year too. He understand that he doesn't really have a nurturing touch, thanks to his mom, like the others do. But that wouldn't stop him from trying his best to make you feel special.

He'll ask you to have tea with him and if you happen to be distracted by "other matters." he doesn't mind using his unique spell and pull you around by the collar, like a dog.

"its very rude to not pay attention to the person that invited you out.."

~~~~~

Trey

As a vice house warden, he understands that you'll be busy. not just Crowley giving you either impossible or pointless work, or the fact that every boy from each and every dorm are falling to their feet just for you on valentines day, hoping you'll notice them.

Trey knows he's not like some flash students here but he knows what he's good at and doesn't need to try too hard like some other desperate students.

"Hey, perfect! i made you something, your favorite, with a little personal Trey touch~ you should probably eat it all now. Before Grim does."

~~~~~

Cater

Cater is pretty good at getting your attentions. Magicless other worlder, he just has to invite you to something outside of NRC and then watch as your eyes sparkles. Kind of reminds him of a little kid that just need extra attention which he's happy to do.

He'll show you cool different places, shops and cafes. All these cool places are picture perfect and he just loves dressing up with you. from an outside eye, it almost looks like you 2 are dating~

"Perfect! Look at this! we should totally take a picture here with our treats! Say "Happy Valentines Day~!"

~~~~~

Ace

You were very confused on why Ace has been grumpy all day. you tried everything to make him feel better but nothing. You bought him food, drinks, candy from Sam's. nothing.

After the day was over, you made it back to the dorm and Ace decided to follow you back? you tried to ask him what's wrong buy he swiftly grabbed you and rush to your room!

"All day has been a pain.. everyone gawking at you. All the meaningless gifts. All of it! Tonight, you're gonna make it up to me by letting me sleep with you!"

~~~~~

Deuce

Deuce wants to turn a new leaf and doesn't want to look back at his delinquent side every again. he's a new deuce now, a student that's just trying to get good grades and trying to be well respected. but old habits die hard.

Any and every time some one even looks in your way, he's sending daggers at them. and if they don't get the hide, he'll tell you that he needs to use the restroom and for you to stay where you are until he's back. he'll be quick...

"sorry it took me a while, there was.. a long line... wanna get lunch now?"

~~~~~

Leona

Leona, normally, doesn't care for this holiday. his brother always ask him if he's "stolen any hearts" this year? its always the same answer. but this year was different.

For once, he gotten some valentines gift. he remembered, not because he was eavesdropping, he just sleeping and you and your friends were talking about valentines gifts. how you had too many and how you might have to do several trips to bring them back to your dorm...

when you looked at your pile of valentines, instead of valentines, you saw sand.. and a plush lion with a card, flowers, and chocolate..

~~~~~

Ruggie

Ruggie cant really communicate with his grandma that much, cause they're not in a position to have phones but he does send letters now and then.

Each letter has there, 'how are you?'s to their 'are you taking care of yourself?'s. Now his letters to his grandma had this mysterious person, and how 'he's feels his heart flutter whenever they're near.' there also might be some 'I'm worried that I'm not good enough' he was very happy to get this letter back

"don't worry, sweetheart~ you should bring them over and ill give them a good talking to."

~~~~~

Jack

Jack tried everything to stay away from you all day. You're smell was just too intoxicating for him. Jack didn't want to risk spending time with you and his instinct...

he could tell, the other beastmen felt the same way. So all day, he kept his distance while also putting other beastmen in their place when they get a little too handy with you. luckily you didn't notice a thing.

But when you approached him, he couldn't just push you away. you mean too much to him. he doesn't want you to see him like.. a monster.

"Hi, prefect. how's you're day..?"

~~~~~

Azul

Azul tried to just charm you with his charisma alone, no shady actions, no "read the fine print." it seem like he was on his best behavior all day. it made you feel uncomfortable for a hot while.. but after a few hours you gotten use to it.

It was all in Azul's plan. instead of flatly telling you or tricking you to form a contact with him. he was gonna show you that you could rely on him, to trust him. so when you do sign a contact with him, you're guard will be so low, you wouldn't ever dare look at the fine print

"Prefect? Would you like to stop by Mosta lounge for lunch? there's a special i know you'll love. oh! its on the house."

~~~~~

Jade

before valentines day, Jade asked you to go out with him on a hilling trip. you'll find great mushrooms and if you find any 'shiny treasure' you could keep it as payment. you felt bored at the time and went with it. it was pretty fun. Jade taught you about wildlife and camping and you just enjoyed being out and about, anywhere than Grim's messes was a fresh air.

But on one of the day's out, Jade fell and hurt himself! it'll take a while for you guys to head back so you both decided to just wait until it heals, or when jade is "strong enough" to head back.

"aww.. prefect, you're too sweet for taking care of me~"

~~~~~

Floyd

Floyd has been a pin to your side all day. every time you were just talking to your friends or in line for lunch or whatever, Floyd comes out of nowhere, picks you up and runs away from your friends. it doesn't help that his long legs gives him a big advantage. the fact you cant struggle that much and the fact that you're friends cant keep up with Floyd...

When he finally gets alone time with you he just wants to play or just stare at you... its a mix really. sometimes he'll tell you he wants to show you a trick he learned from the basketball club. sometimes he just wants to walk around with you on his shoulders. but one things for sure, everyone is staying far away from both of you...

"Shrimpy! look at this! it kind of reminds me of you.. cause you're smol~"

~~~~~

Kalim

Lets admit it, when Kalim falls in love, he falls HARD. Like he would spoil his love rotten if he could. But he knows that you wouldn't allow him to do so, cause you're just too sweet.

Kalim loves to watch you work sometimes, you're so hard working even though you're in a situation that he couldn't imagine. Far from home with no contacted to your families, that's terrible. but he'll show you that he could help solve all your problems. But he doesn't want to overwhelm you so he'll start small.

"HEY PREFECT!!! Look what i got you! Golden bangles! they have our initials on them too! Come on, try them on! I'll help."

~~~~~

Jamil

Jamil could easily used his unique spell on you but with it being Valentines day plus every student's having their eyes on you, he cant do it without getting caught. So, he'll have have to charm you with the next best thing, food.

He understand the for some people, food is their love language. He wasn't sure if that's you but he does know that you love his food. so a win is a win.

He'll make you not only your favorite foods but his own too. As a "get to know me" dish. Watching you enjoy his hard work, was like breathing fresh air. he loves your presence.

"here prefect, you can have more. i made it for you after all. hmm..? oh repayment? just repay me by spending the day with me.. just me."

~~~~~

Vil

Without warning, on a weekend, Vil grabs you and tells you get to dress. he's taking you out. You couldn't really say no to him so off you went.

He took you to store to store to store. Each store had either something he liked or something he didn't. did you have a say in anything? no.

It felt weird a bit but overtime that feeling went away and you were left with giving Vil a mini show fashion show... with just you and him...

~~~~~

Rook

Saying Rook loved you was an understatement. he loved your hair, your eyes, your walk, your demeaner, everything. On one of his strolls by your dorm, he noticed that you were taking care of a stray animal in your backyard.

You left food for it, you made a spot it could rest, you had a whole set up. even though you don't have a lot of money, you're golden heart shined through. He felt like cupid just struck him through the heart. He would like to do the same to you...

so on Valentines day, you found a box at your door step. inside the box... was your stray friend's lifeless body...

~~~~~

Epel

Epel's family loves to send him letters, he at least gets one every week. they're all mostly asking if he needs anything or family updates, etc. But now talks about you his letter. last time he visited his family, they kept asking about you.

Epel feeling the pressure of his family, told them that you and him were together and how you had "other things to take care of" and that's why you're not with him. they seem to calm down and jumped to another family topic. Now Epel has to convince you to "pretend" hopefully don't for long, that he was your boyfriend for his family.

"umm... hey prefect? i have a favor to ask you..?"

~~~~~

Idia

Idia normally doesn't care of any holidays, in general. he mainly does them for his brother or whenever a game was having a seasonal event. but he couldn't say he had someone special to "sit by the fireplace with him with hot chocolate" or "having a picnic out in spring" or even "being or having a valentine"... He didn't mind it...

which what he'll normally say, until he saw you with your pile of valentines day gifts! augh.. why do you have to be so popular?!

With a lot of pushing from ortho, he finally gave you your gift. it was a blue teddy that looked like hades. You didn't have to know about the hidden camera and mic in it. you could just thank him by sleeping with it~

~~~~~

Malleus

Malleus couldn't really celebrate valentine's day.. he's a prince of Briar Valley, after all. Having him give a valentines day gift can be interpreted as a marriage proposal. that will look every bad for Briar Valley. But the heart wants what it cant have~

His heart belonged to you and he would gladly throw away his position as a prince for you. or... he could just ask you to marry him?

He didn't want anything to come to harm you because of him, so in secret, he made you a wedding dress/suit. Until his graduation, he'll ask you to marry him and then he'll pick you up and off to Briar Valley, ruling together~

~~~~~

Lilia

Lilia loves a good trip. So many places to see, so many things to do. He wants to take you to see it all. why stay at NRC and just reading about other places when you could go out with him. he may be older but he could still protect you with all he has and he'll still be able to show you a fun time. Oh maybe he should show you how to fight?

He's had his eyes on you since you came to the school, you were so strange but you are never boring. something always happened with you around but you all ways find a way out of it. you're, well..... perfect.

"Prefect! guess who got 2 tickets to Shaftland! why just two? for me and you silly. come on, get your things. I'm gonna show you so much more of this twisted wonderland"

~~~~~

Silver

You understand that Silver is just a tried guy. so you do everything in your power to make sure he's okay and not gonna get hurt. After a while of this, you've noticed that Silver's holds on you, when ever you go and move him to a safer place, is more forceful than normal? You just told yourself that it was just sleepy silver but it doesn't seem like silver noticed and you didn't mind.

Whenever Silver was awake, you noticed that he's always just a call away. he wasn't over your shoulder or anything but you did see him more often than you usual did... were you thinking too much on this..?

"hey prefect? i got you some treats from Sam's... happy valentines day~"

~~~~~

Sebek

Sebek is loud. that is not an understatement. bet Sebek probably knows that too. he often uses it to tell other to "respected Malleus." but today he was oddly quiet? you tried to ask him if everything was okay, he said he's fine. Also whenever the other first years asked, he'll snap but not at his normal loud tone?

Without you realizing, Sebek was actually fighting an inner demon of his. Humans, like yourself, were so small and weak. yes, Silver is human too but he's a trained human, you weren't.

He sometimes wonders... how easy would it be to over-power yo-

~❦~❦~❦~

Che'nya

When Che'nya first appear in front of you with just his head, you, ace, and deuce all screamed. he loved it~ but your little squeak whenever you get scared, gets his blood pumping. like the rush you get when you catch you first mouse~

He started to visit more often then before, but not just to say hi to trey and riddle. but to spook their little perfect. a pick to the side here. a blowing into your ear there.

He just cant keep his hands off you! the best part, he doesn't have plans on even telling you it was him.

~~~~~

Neige

but to Vil's dismay, Neige kept bugging him about you! the mysterious manager~ Vil got so tired on it that he just pointed him to your dorm. Which Neige was happy to run to see you.

When he saw you place, he's heart broke a little. how could someone so lovely as you, live in a dump like this? He found you out in the back yard cleaning. it kind of reminded him of himself, run down building taking care of others. you were perfect for him!

"Heya! perfect, right? i was wondering, would you like to go on a date with me?"

~~~~~

Rollo

Rollo will not caught walking into THAT school. but that wont stop him from appreciating you. Whether it takes a few days to a few years, Rollo swears to himself that he will save you from the hell hole your in.

but in the mean time he'll send you some flowers and a gift basket filled with Fleur City treats and fun toys that you liked when you last visit. if only you were in that school and you were in his, he'll show you so much and treat you much better than those.. "monsters."

"If though I'm not there, i hope you enjoy my gift. maybe next time you could visit again and I'll give you a personal tour."

~❦~❦~❦~

you can see this as platonic or romantic

~~~~~

Crowley

Crowley is a very strange bird man? says he cares for you then runs away with his feather tail in between his legs. Or when he just hands you work when he could easily do them himself. He's a very strange man so when he was insisting on you to stay by his side all day? it confused you.

like he'll have you in his office and when you tell him you needed to go. he'll "get sad" and say "awww.. i guess ill just power through all this paper work"

you thought he just wanted you to do the paper work (that you could do) so you did. you didn't figure out that maybe he just wanted you by his side so no one could see/ give you anything for valentines day.

~~~~~

Crewel

Crewel is a very classic man. so when he asked you to help him with some of his designs, you were quite confused. why not ask Vil or anyone from pomefiore? nonetheless, you helped as best as you can. giving your input on designs, telling him what you thought looked nice, getting materials for him, etc.

After you helped him make a set, he asked you to model them for him. he "wanted it on an actual person than a motionless mannequin."

You didnt know that he was doing this so you wouldnt be laying down with dogs with fleas today. Crewel thinks all the boys in this school are just crazy the fact its valentines day. so having you help him was just killing 2 bird with one stone.

~~~~~

Trein

Trein's cat, Lucius, seemed fine to you. but you couldn't say much when Trein asked you to help him look after his beloved pet. plus a cat that doesn't call you Hedgeman felt nice. a cat that was just a normal cat, that can understand you and talk but you don't understand it...

On Valentines Day, Trein tells you about his wife and what they do together on this day. It was really sweet to hear an old man talk about his love, plus his life too.

It felt nice and you enjoyed the time you spend together. you still couldnt tell if Lucius was actually sick or if he was just winning about food...

~~~~~

Vargas

You had no idea what came over Vargas. But when it was gym time and there was any partner exercises, it seems like he'll give the poor guys, that asked you to be partners, more hard exercises.

it could be in your head but after you're done, you see the poor student crying for squats or something? Will he be okay?

"oh, don't worry about him. he's been slacking off recently so its just catching up with him. HAHA!"

~~~~~

Sam

Sam is quite busy on Valentines day. a lot of students ask for valentines day cards, bears, to flowers. some even get the custom order. with those custom orders, he realized a lot of them were for you... he might not be able to do anything.. but his friends might help.

when same gives the students the valentines day gifts, he has a shadow follow them and when they're not looking. the shadow destroys the gift and runs away.

it kills two bird with one stone. they cant give the perfect gifts and Sam still gets the money. oohh he loves what he does~

~~~~~

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

ok sorry i'm just. ????

rant and spoilers ahead because i gotta yell into the void a little

first of and most of all. WHY does it sound like Solas front and center of everthing now??? Including both Inky's and Rook's stories/motivations???? Like okay i understand that Solas will inevitably be important in Rook's story and that's chill! We knew he was gonna play a part in this story! But why do they make it sound like half or Rook's purpose is just there to further Solas's story/character

and it quickly becomes clear that Rook will have their own unique relationship with Solas, as the Inquisitor did before them. I think what's been fun for us, too, is trying to build Rook as kind of almost a mirror of Solas.

Epler also acknowledges that the Inquisitor “obviously has a very personal relationship with Solas,” one that will need to be reckoned with in The Veilguard.

“And I'd say the Inquisitor, to some degree, feels guilty or responsible for what Solas is doing to the world. So while we're not going to get too far into details about what role they may play, they absolutely are somebody who is going to be interested and invested in the outcome of Rook's journey in The Veilguard.”

Why. are you telling us how our Inquisitor is supposed to feel about this?? When you play DAI you agree to play The Inquisitor, yes, but you don't agree to play someone who Cares About Solas. Like. Yes. I get that he is important. That much has been clear since Trespasser. And i'm ok with that! But how come you say "this is a game about Thedas and a world in conflict" and then also talk like this story is About Solas, Actually.

The other thing i absolutely do not get and do not like. At All

Those decisions are: who your Inquisitor romanced (with the options gender- and lineage-locked in the same way that they were in Inquisition), whether or not you disbanded the Inquisition, and whether you vowed to stop Solas or save him.

?????

No "who drank from the WoS"? No "who is Divine"? No "does OGB Kieran exist"? No "is Hawke alive" (Varric is there. SURELY he cares about this a lot)? No "what happened to the Mages & Templars"? No "were Wardens banned from the south"? Arent't those uh. Really Relevant Decisions???? WHY is one of the whole grand three (3) decisions that carry over if Inky wants to save Solas or not. I mean ok i guess i get it cus that was The Big Decision TM at the end of Trespasser but again. Why is that the big thing that matters. out of all the things that SHOULD matter.

There's not as many decisions you have made up to this point that have an impact on what's happening in Northern Thedas.

But it’s also part of the advantage of moving the setting up to Northern Thedas, Epler says, with the prior games in the series taking place in Southern Thedas, a significantly different region both geographically and sociopolitically.

Uh. Yeah they do. See above points and also some that i forgot probably. Northern and Southern Thedas don't operate independently from one another that's not how this works. Especially again with things like the WoS or the Divine decision. Also half our companions from the other games are from the north?? I get what you mean kinda and it's true to an extent but not like this. I understand wanting to do a soft reboot but the explanation is. Kind of shoddy

for one, the team focused on choices that they felt they could react to meaningfully – not just a cameo or one-liner.

“There's never a sense of, ‘Oh, that decision doesn't exist.’ But maybe we don't touch on it in this particular title,”

The. Cameos and one-liners are what make it special though?? You can't say "We want those stories to be personal." and then say you're not making any of those small decisions matter. And i don't mean matter as in having A Big Impact TM but i know that a lot of us LIVE for those small tiny nods to previous decisions that make the world feel actually alive and connected. I understand that we can't have full on-screen cameos or questlines or whatever for every little tidbit but not even. idk. Background convos about what's going on in Orzammar? Gossip about Ferelden's monarch? A line from Varric about Bartrand? Dunno man. Again not to mention the Big Things like Kieran. or the Well of Sorrows consequences. Or the Divine (which. yknow. is directly relevant everywhere except maybe Tevinter??). Those were always the things that made importing a worldstate so charming! because you could see the small little impacts that you have on the world. The tiny things like the line about the pigeons in Ferelden in DA2 or a wartable mission with Wade and Herren in DAI are so so special to me

[the-broken-truth]

Primal Hunt - [Yandere] [Werewolf Jamil Viper] [Female Yuu]

Summary: It's Halloween in Night Raven College, and everyone is celebrating with parties and festivities. However, Yuu Arisugawa is preoccupied with finding a way to activate the Dark Mirror and return to her world. Unfortunately, she has become the target of a predator who not only wants to prey on her but also has something darker in mind for the magicless female. Will Yuu survive the Night of the Blood Moon, or will she be devoured?

Broken: Welcome to my First Yandere Jamil Viper One-Shot. I know it's not Halloween, but who seriously cares?

[Halloween Night - Ramshackle]

Soft sapphire eyes looked at the pages of the book resting on the desk before the window where the light of the Blood Red Full Moon shined through the rather foggy window. With an exhausted yawn, Yuu ran her hair through her short black hair before using her hand to close the tome before her and pushed it away from her before resting her elbows on the desk and placing her face in the palms of her hands, completely exhausted by the countless hours of searching through countless tomes and writing down information for the one question she's had since arriving in Twisted Wonderland: A way to return to her original world.

Yuu Arisugawa is the Prefect of Ramshackle and is widely known to be the strongest person on campus, even though she has no magical powers. However, she possesses a power that nobody can understand, which makes her equally feared whether she is angry or having a normal day. Yuu commands respect through her actions, not because of her magical abilities or family status, unlike many other students on campus. Despite the Headmaster's duties, she still manages to excel in her studies while assisting students of all dorms and years with their issues. Additionally, she handles all the Overblots, from Riddle Rosehearts to Malleus Draconia and everyone in between. Everyone knows not to anger the Prefect because of her impressive abilities.

No one would say it around Dire Crowley since Yuu asked them not to, but all the other students considered Yuu as the True Headmaster of Night Raven College and would call her that when the Old Crow was not around; Yuu would never admit it, but she liked it when the others called her that. It made her feel like her efforts were being appreciated.

However, the only thing the students didn't like about Yuu was her current mission: Returning from whence she came. Not a single person at Night Raven wanted Yuu to return to her original world; the teachers, the students, the Dorm Wardens and Vice Dorm Wardens, and even Crowley (I'm sure we all know why) wanted Yuu to remain with them, however, the Arisugawa Female was too set on returning home and there was nothing anyone could change her mind; no amount of gifts and pleads would make her stay in Twisted Wonderland.

Tonight was no different.

T'was Halloween Night and all the dorms were celebrating in style, it was more special since the Blood Moon was high in the sky; making everything better for the atmosphere of the parties. Every dorm invited Yuu to their personal events but the Prefect refused since she was going to use the peace and quiet to look through the tomes she had about the Dark Mirror in hopes of triggering it to bring her back home. Grim asked her if it would be okay to go with Ace and Deuce on their Halloween adventures and Yuu agreed; the fact Grim asked her made her laugh since he always called her his 'henchman'. Due to the Blood Moon, The Ghosts of Ramshackle were in some kind of hibernation; Yuu was completely alone in the silent walls of Ramshackle.

Yuu pushed herself away from the desk and rose from her seat before leaving her room to head down the stairs to make herself something small to eat and maybe a cup of tea; all that reading and still the dots were not connecting for her, at least not at the moment.

Upon reaching the kitchen and putting the kettle on to the tea, Yuu placed a frozen pizza in her toaster oven and turned the timer; that was when her phone, a gift from Professor Crewel (Dad Crewel!), binged with a message. She pulled it out of her pocket and opened the message - it was from Ace in the group chat she had with Ace and Deuce.

Ace Trappola❤: Hey, Yuu! Sorry to bother you but we have a problem here.

Yuu: What is the problem, Ace?

Ace Trappola❤: We lost Grim.

Yuu: What do you mean you lost Grim? What happened?

Ace Trappola❤: We were invited to Scarabia Dorm for their party and everything was going good, but when the food came, we noticed that Grim wasn't anywhere around and we both know he loves food. Did he come back to Ramshackle by any chance?

Yuu: No, I am here alone. When was the last time you saw him?

Ace Trappola❤: Last time I saw him, he was talking to Jamil.

Yuu: Jamil? Jamil isn't that fond of Grim. what could they have been talking about?

Just then, a new text appeared from Deuce Spade.

Deuce Spade♠: I found Grim! He was locked in a broom closet and he was passed out!

Yuu: What do you mean? Is he awake now?

Deuce Spade♠: Yeah, but that's not important right now! Yuu, you need to leave Ramshackle right now! Grim wasn't just knocked out, he was Snake Whispered!

That text caused Yuu's eyes to widen in shock: The Snake Whisper was the Unique Magic of Jamil Viper, Scarabia's Vice Dorm Warden who overblotted while attempting to stage a coup but was stopped by Yuu.

Ever since that night, Jamil's attitude and relationship with Kalim and his dorm mates have been better, he integrated himself into Yuu's Friendship Circle, however, he was never really interested in speaking to the others in the group: He only wanted to speak and interact with Yuu. In fact, he seemed as if he wanted to be more to Yuu than 'just a friend', at least, that is what his actions spoke:

During meal times, he would bring food for Yuu along with his own and Kalim's. He always made sure to sit next to her and if there was anyone else occupying the seats next to Yuu, he would demand that they give up their seat for him. During one such occasion, Jamil forcibly removed Ace from his seat when he refused to give it up willingly to the Viper.

Whenever Yuu expressed a need for something, no matter how small it was, Jamil always brought it to her. He brought her school materials and even odd things like newer versions of items. Yuu suspected that Jamil was following her because she had mentioned a Triple Layered Cheesecake with strawberries on top that her mother used to make for her on her birthday. She had kept a copy of the recipe card in her room at Ramshackle. However, on the day of her 17th Birthday Party, Jamil surprised her with the exact same cake, which tasted just like her mother's recipe. Yuu was grateful for the cake, but couldn't understand how Jamil knew the recipe when the recipe card was in her room and no one had access to it. It made her wonder if Jamil had been in her room without her knowledge. The very thought scared her but she refused to show it.

Jamil always found ways to be near Yuu. He would volunteer to work with her on paired projects and assist her with finding books. However, Yuu noticed that whenever she was looking for books related to the Dark Mirror, they were difficult to find when Jamil was around. When she searched without him, she found them easily. Whenever Yuu invited her friends to her place to relax, Jamil would bring ingredients to make delicious desserts for himself, Yuu, and Kalim. However, he would only give cookies to the others so Yuu wouldn't get mad at him.

The most troubling thing about Jamil in Yuu's opinion was that he was very possessive and insistent that Yuu spend time with him; he would grab her forearm and bring her closer to him whenever they were walking with their friends or glare at other students who spoke to her for too long, the longest he lasted before scaring someone off was 2 minutes.

Now, Grim was Snake Whispered and locked in a broom closet in Scarabia? What the hell is going on and why would Jamil do something like this?

That was when the lights went out and Yuu was now standing in utter darkness just as the timer on the Toaster Over went off and the Kettle started steaming. Yuu slightly jumped when the lights went out but soon calmed herself down as she shook her phone to trigger the flashlight before walking out of the kitchen and looking down the hallway; every single light in Ramshackle was out but this was confusing. The weather was perfect for Halloween and Yuu recently got the old wiring in the power box replaced to make sure there were no fires or blackouts.

'Was someone trying to play a trick on me? It was Halloween after all.' Yuu thought as she walked to the front door, opened it, and went out and around Ramshackle to look for the power box, only to find something shocking: The Power Box was damaged...by some kind of creature. 3 large and deep claw marks slashed through the wires and circuit boards, causing the blackout; something or someone did this on purpose...and it was most likely that it was still around.

Yuu turned on her heel and ran back into Ramshackle, slamming the door behind her and locking the door before calming down and heading up the stairs to return to her room, and closed the door behind her before turning to face it with her back to the window. She closed her eyes while taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart. She had to calm down and think; all she had to do was...

*Tap*

*Tap*

*Tap*

Yuu's eyes widened at the sound of tapping on the glass behind her but she was too frozen to move, that's when she noticed something else; the shadow that consumed hers. There was something watching her and it was large.

"My, my, Prefect. All alone on this Halloween night? Why don't you let me in and I shall hold you tight." The voice said. Wait. That voice.

Yuu pushed through her fear and turned around and came face to face with none other than Jamil Viper, but it would seem that the Viper was hiding more than his hatred for Kalim during the Coup.

Jamil was no longer completely human, Yuu could tell that from the large wolf-like ears and the long bushy tail waving side to side slowly with excitement. Red markings rest upon Jamil's cheeks like whispers and a very decorated marking on his forehead. He was dressed in a rather nice outfit like he was at the party, but she knew that was no costume; by the look of his canine-like feet wrapped in black bandages and the claws wrapped in the same material up to his forearms. Yuu could see the obvious: Jamil Viper was a Werewolf.

"Trying to stay calm, Prefect? That is utterly adorable, however, that is not going to fool me. I can hear your heart pounding against your chest. I can see your pupils jumping in those lovely pools of sapphire you call eyes. Also..." Jamil takes a deep inhale before exhaling with a smile on his face as he places his wrapped clawed hands on the surface of the glass, "I can smell your fear, Prefect, and it's delicious; utterly intoxicating."

"You used your Unique Magic on Grim and locked him in a broom closet in Scarabia's Dormitory during the party. Why?" Yuu asked while keeping her distance from the window, the only barrier she had between herself and the Werewolf Vice Warden before her.

Said werewolf chuckling as his tail waved from side to side like a slow-paced pendulum.

"Still trying to act tough? Oh, Prefect, you're too damn cute for your own good; it makes me want to devour you even more now. As for that blasted chimera, I was not going to let him get in my way and ruin the plans I have spent months putting into place." Jamil's silver eyes - which were as black as coal the last time she saw him - seemed to glow with unknown intentions.

"Plans? What plans?" Yuu asked. Jamil's smile grew, displaying his large canines, as his right index finger started tapping the surface of the glass once again. Yuu's body moved on its own and took a few steps back.

"Let me in and I'll explain everything that's gonna happen before this night is over, Prefect." Jamil purred at the girl, who shook her head at him, making his smile grow even wider. "Prefect..."

He reeled his clawed hand back.

"That wasn't a suggestion."

Jamil's hand shot forward and shattered the glass all over the floor and desk of Ramshackle, making Yuu over her face to keep any and all glass from hitting her face. When the sound of large footsteps hit her room floor and the sound of glass shards hitting each other hit her ears, she removed her hands and looked at the tall werewolf standing before her with a wild grin on his face as he stared down at the 5'3 Girl.

"What is wrong with you, Jamil?" Yuu asked. The large male tilted his head at her with his smile still resting on his face.

"You have no idea how long I have been waiting for this, Prefect: The moment I would have you alone and I would take what is rightfully mine." His tongue ran along the surface of his teeth, "Your skin... It shines so deliciously in this crimson lunar light. I can't wait to see how divine you taste, My Dear."

Jamil had taken one step closer to Yuu and the Prefect's Body immediately went into Fight, Flight, or Freeze Mode. She knew that Jamil was stronger than her, so fighting was not an option at the moment. Freezing was also not a good idea as it would have made her an easy prey for a Werewolf Vice Dorm Warden. As much as she hated the idea, she knew she had to run. She quickly gripped her phone and threw it towards Jamil with all her might. The phone hit him directly in the center of his forehead, catching him off guard and causing him to snarl in pain. Jamil took a step back and held his forehead, giving Yuu just enough time to open her room door and run out down the hall. Luckily, she managed to reach the stairs just when Scarabia's Vice Dorm Warden was recovering with a smile on his face.

"Oh... Sweet Prefect. You know exactly what I want and exactly when I want it." Jamil purred before bolting out of the bedroom and chasing after Yuu, who managed to make it down the stairs and to the front door; she swung the door open and started running down the stairs just as Jamil appeared standing in the doorway of Ramshackle.

Yuu made it to the gate and ran out before heading down the path that led to the Hall of Mirrors, but that trip was cut short as Jamil landed in the middle of the path in a perfect crouch; his claws lightly scraping the ground as he looked at Yuu's horrified face.

"Prefect... You know that you are not getting away from me. Just be a good girl for me and let me feast." Jamil purred but Yuu wasn't going for that, she turned to the right and attempted to get into the forest but Jamil lunged at her and grabbed her upper arm in his grip; his claws digging into her skin, making a mark on her body and making her flinch in pain. "Stop fighting me, Prefect; just submit and everything can be less painful for you."

Yuu wasn't having it and punched the werewolf in his chest with her free hand, shocking him and causing him to release his grip on Yuu, he tried to grab her gain but all he managed to do was grab her sleeve and it tore off, leaving a piece of her shirt in Jamil's hand has she disappeared into the forest surrounding Ramshackle. Jamil looked at the piece of cloth in his caws before bringing it to his nose and deeply inhaling the scent soaked in the cloth; a pleasuring moaning exhale escaped his mouth as he placed the cloth in his pocket and chased after the Prefect of Ramshackle.

The Hunt was On.

Yuu ran for what seemed to be at least 20 Minutes, the wound on her arm was slowly bleeding and she knew she needed to deal with that or Jamil was going to sniff her out faster than ever. She went to hide behind a large tree, ripped off some of her pants leg, and tied it around the wound to absorb the blood. She was trying to catch her breath when she heard more footsteps coming, she remained as still as she possibly could and attempted to calm her racing heart as Jamil entered the area, his silver eyes scanning the area before he lifted his head and took a deep inhale of the air around him.

"Oh, Prefect... The fact that you think you can escape me fills me with so much joy; you're making me excited. Once I find you, you're going to take responsibility for this. Keep running. Keep hiding. Make me earn you. Make me worthy of you, Prefect. Please..." Jamil purred and whimpered at the same time before running off in a random direction; allowing Yuu to peek her head out and look in the direction Jamil ran. She knew he was playing with her, he was like a predator and she was the prey he was seeking.

She needed a plan to distract him long enough for her to get to the Hall of Mirrors and to one of the other dorms to seek aid. She thought for a while before she made her move; she needed to do this now and right or she was going to be devoured by a wolf with venom.

The hunt was fun and Jamil loved the rush he was feeling, the thrill of hunting the ultimate prey and ultimate reward made him purr in his throat; he loved working for what he wanted, and claiming his reward at the end made everything worth it, Yuu was giving him the hunt he wanted and she was the reward he was going to claim. He looked up at the crimson moon in the sky - it was lighter than before. The night was ending and he needed to find his prey. He needed to do what he planned before it was too late.

Jamil sniffed around and Yuu's scent hit him hard; she was nearby and she was moving fast. He darted in that direction with wide feral eyes, he was going to capture her and devour her slowly before claiming his ultimate reward. She was right in front of him and he lunged out of the bushes and pounced on the source of Yuu's scent but he was filled with shock and disappointment when he realized that he didn't have Yuu in his grasp, but a small rabbit.

The rabbit was trembling in fear as Jamil looked down at its small body, his eyes locking with the piece of cloth wrapped around the rabbit's body. He yanked it off and looked at it after releasing the small creature; it was a piece of Yuu's Pants Leg, soaked in her blood! She fooled him! She threw him off her real scent!

Her scent hit him again and he was shocked at how far away she was, he turned in that direction and bolted in that direction; he was not going to let her get away. She belonged to him! She needed to realize that.

Yuu's heart was pounding once again as she ran through the forest, her vision blurring as she stopped in a clearing where the moon's light shined. Her lungs were on fire. Her vision was shifting. Something was wrong. Something was horribly wrong. Yuu could feel it in her blood as the wound on her arm burned.

'What's... What's happening?' Yuu thought as she tried to take another step but she was walking like a drunk person; it was like she was under the influence when she never had alcohol before. She tried to shake the dizzy feeling out of her head when she was suddenly tackled to the ground and held down by her arms; her vision focused once again to see the smirking face of Jamil Viper above her. She attempted to struggle and push him off but it was as if the strength in her body was fading.

"Looks like you're all out of energy, Little Rabbit...and all out of strength; not that you need it, I'll take care of you from now on, My Sweet Prefect." Jamil purred before leaning down and burying his nose in her neck before inhaling her scent once again, "You have no idea what your scent does to me; being this close to you... it's not like smelling your sheets and clothes."

"W...What?" Yuu asked in a weak voice.

"Surely you have noticed little things about Ramshackle, Prefect. Things not quite as you left them? A small wrinkle in your sheets that wasn't there? A new food item you don't remember putting in your fridge? Your soft sweaters being moved around? That was me. All of it was me. I would want you but I could not get close enough to you, so I had to settle by inhaling your scent in Ramshackle while you were away, but I couldn't take it anymore, Prefect. I needed more. I wanted more. I wanted you. I needed you. Now? I have you but you are still not mine...not yet." Jamil smiled as a clear substance coated his fangs; it wasn't saliva... Saliva wasn't that cloudy looking.

"I'll never be yours, Viper... I'll stay away from you until I find a way home." Yuu tried to defy him but all he did was lick his lips.

"I know. That's why I never approached you like this until I had everything worked out. I knew you were going to leave me and I can't have that. I am going to make you mine, Prefect, you won't be able to survive without me once I am done with you... And I will start... By severing your connection to your original world." Jamil's words made Yuu freeze as he used his claws to tear away another piece of Yuu's shirt, the area covering her neck and collarbone.

Yuu watched in horror as Jamil opened his mouth while his pupils shined red as if he was using his Unique Magic before he lunged forward and sunk his teeth into Yuu's exposed flesh; the Prefect's screams echoed throughout the forest.

Jamil kept his grip on Yuu's neck until she calmed down and her screams died down, he smiled against her flesh as he felt her body getting warmer; the venom in his fangs was doing its job. Yuu soon fell victim to the pain and venom, causing her to pass out in Jamil's grasp before he removed his fangs from her flesh and licked the blood from his lips as he looked down at the passed-out Prefect of Ramshackle.

He looked at her bleeding wound before leaning down once again and ran his tongue along the wound, cleaning the blood and closing the wound with his saliva. Once the wound was closed and the blood was gone, he pulled away after placing a small kiss on her neck before placing another one on her forehead before looking at her sleeping face while caressing her cheek.

"I know you are going to be confused and afraid when you wake up, but I am going to be there to guide you through your new life just as you have been there to guide me. We - the underappreciated souls of Night Raven -are meant to be together; you might not understand what that means now but I will make you understand, Yuu. Tonight was your last night alone. When you wake up, you shall have a new life....with a mate that truly loves and understands you." Jamil gathered the unconscious girl in his arms before standing up, "Come along, My Diamond. Let's go home."

With that, Jamil turned on his heel and started walking through the forest with his unconscious mate slumbering in his arms as he headed back to Ramshackle; it's only natural for a newly wedded couple to spend time alone after making a lifetime commitment.

[END]

[teddybearsandspaceships]

Again, way too detailed notes about a Cleo stream (15.3.2024) because it was great and I want to remember. (Please Cleo upload your VODs again please.) Featuring an Ancient City, Hermit scariness ratings, a new Emerald Daddy, and Life series reminiscing with the Clockers.

Plan for today: Ancient City raiding!, to get books

She´s definitely going alone because Ancient City raiding on her own is terrifying but you know what else is terrifying? The other people on the server.

The only person on the server Cleo is afraid of is False. Not Gem, Gem´s a kitten. False could take Cleo in a fight and kill her dead, but more importantly False can scare Cleo because she´s quite sinister. 5am Pearl is kinda cute. “can kill you, probably won´t,” if you entertain her. Cub isn´t scary either, the only thing to be scared of with Cub is the grind. Doc is 95% bark.

(In hindsight, finding a Swift Sneak II book so early is a tease knowing that it´ll be the only one.)

Chat is way more scared of the Ancient City than Cleo is. Worst that can happen, you summon a warden, you die, and your gear despawns, so what. Cleo thinks people are trying to freak her out and scare her into making mistakes.

This stream was right after or during Mumbo´s video on Hermits´ weird playing habits came out so there were plenty of questions about Cleo´s set-up. Cleo defends their choices, also they have a desk now.

Hypno drops by to show off his new armor and announce a raid. Cleo calls Cub her Emerald Daddy because he supplies her with emeralds.

Hypno drops off a shulker full of emerald blocks for Cleo, for free. Cleo then tells him he gets free books now. Hypno is astonished and delighted, and asks for a written voucher. Cleo writes him one and calls him Emerald Daddy too. Cleo: “Double Emerald Daddy, I´m good.”

Cleo won´t tell her fellow Hermits that they´re great to their faces because it would ruin her tough guy image.

Fun in chat: Etho sleeps. Bdubs: “sorry dad” Etho: “son I am at your place to give you a scolding” Bdubs: “be right up” – Cleo is sorry she saw that

Cleo discovers Joel´s glow ink shop and the glow squid Joel built from candles and is delighted. Joel is now her absolute favorite person. Armor stand buddies!

Taking advantage of the fact that all words are made up, Cleo makes a few more hoppadingdongs

Bdubs demands quiet because he and Etho are about to record one of their famous Bdubs-and-Etho clips. Cleo says they should get in a group. Etho: “Mum is so bossy, right Bdubs?” Bdubs: “She´s so bossy.” Cleo: […] *hits him* “Don´t talk to me that way.” Bdubs: “I´m sorry.” Cleo: “You will be.” Bdubs: “I´m sorry. That was a no-no, I´m sorry.” Etho: “Never talk back to your mummy.” Bdubs: “No, never.” Cleo: “Yeah, you two role-playing this thing again, it´s weird.” Etho, laughing: “You´re done with it, aren´t you, Cleo.” Cleo, also laughing: “I´m done with it. I was kind of done with it when it started, to be honest.” Bubs: “That shows your level of commitment.” Etho: “I feel like we move on from it and then Scar brings it up once in a while, and then Bdubs…” Cleo: “Me and Etho are kind of over it, so…” Bdubs: “Really? I saw Joel today and I thought, this is my uncle.” Etho: “Baby-sitter, right?” Cleo: “Cousin.”

Cleo offers to mute again but Bdubs asks her not to, having her there is great. Like audience chatter.

Bdubs shows Etho and Cleo his scaffolding challenge as his shop advertisement. Etho: “He´s so clever.” Cleo: “He is, he´s a genius. That´s our special boy.”

Bdubs starts his spiel: “You think you´re so cool…” Etho: “I thought I was…”

Bdubs wins the first game because Etho has trouble ringing the bell. And the second one. Cleo soon realizes that it´s easy to make Bdubs lose by sabotaging the scaffolding. Bdubs swears Etho and Cleo to secrecy about this easily exploitable weakness.

Cleo keeps talking about how wealthy they are. Very profitable shop, after all! (…true but I saw Cub´s stacks of diamond blocks the next day. Fear the grind.) Cleo bankrolled Etho already.

After a conversation about pricing Etho tells Cleo they have to teach Bdubs about peer pressure. Then remembers that “she doesn´t like it when we do that, we gotta stop.” Cleo says it´s fine. (Yay boundaries.)

Cleo asks Bdubs for a horse. Bdubs accuses Keralis of fraud (secretly swapping the horses people bought from him if they don´t buy the extended warranty.) Cleo asks if Keralis is gingering his horses. They talk about the meanings of the word, and why ginger is also used for red-heads. Etho: “Is it ´cause gingers are spicy?” Moment of silence. Cleo: “…sure?” Bdubs: “Yeah…” Etho: “I think we nailed it.”

Some talk abut spelling variations. “You can just say you don´t know how to spell, Etho, it´s fine.” And then talk about British dialects, how they drop the “t” in the middle of words (or phrases). Etho and Bdubs try to imitate it, badly. They don´t seem to understand what “in the middle of a word” means.

Shopping district talk, and some reminiscing about Shade-E-E´s. Cleo steered clear because she didn´t know Etho very well back then. Etho has a different glass prank in mind for this season. Etho and Bdubs also remember an end rod exchange thing they did, they neither remember what started it or how it ended. 

Cleo: “I feel like you´re not spiteful enough, Etho.” He lets too much go. Bdubs protests that Etho lets it go with him, because they have a history – Etho: that´s right – but to anybody else Etho is very spiteful. Cleo: He´s never been particularly spiteful to me, “and I deserve it.” Bdubs, dismissive: nah. Etho: “Well, to be fair, Cleo *builds up a dirt wall like he did between them in Third Life* I am kinda scared of you.” Both crack up. “You´re not necessarily who I wanna be poking.”

Cleo clarifies that the reason why False is the only one who scares her is because False is very quick on the insults. Cleo can be fast, but False can be faster. Bdubs: “Now I´m scared.”

Etho tells Bdubs the story of why he´s scared of Cleo: “I always viewed Cleo as, like, sweet, innocent, you know, quiet…” Cleo cracking up. It was because Cleo stole Pizza, for no reason. “She was laughing the whole time, like a crazy psycho.” Cleo: “It´s a llama.”  “I just thought it was interesting, I had a complete shift of what I thought of you at that moment.” Bdubs: “Yeah, she can do anything.” Bdubs was also shocked at that moment. They hadn´t talked about it, Bdubs just supported her in her plan to cause trouble. Stealing Pizza was more of a crime of opportunity because Scar didn´t want to talk to her and left Pizza there. “Bold move.” “It´s just Scar.” Etho reminds everyone that the Life series was fresh at that point, they know now that this sort of thing happens but they didn´t then. Cleo didn´t know most of the people in the series very well so she went full-on chaos gremlin. She blames Bdubs.

Etho repeats that that´s when his perspective on Cleo shifted. “And it never shifted back. Like, the more stuff she did, it just got further in that way.” Cleo can understand that: she got worse, as time went on, chaos-gremlin-wise. Etho: now we´re in season ten of Hermitcraft, she´s stealing villagers… Cleo points out that it wasn´t her idea, but admits that she fully embraced it. Etho isn´t sure he would have, Bdubs says he wouldn´t have. Cleo: “What´s Doc going to do to me.” Bdubs: “Uh, have you seen the sand dial?” Cleo: “Have you seen what´s inside it?” Bdubs, clearly grinning: “Oh, yes, yes.”

Scar is online and Bdubs invited him over to find out if he was actually upset about Cleo stealing Pizza. Scar arrives on his horse, but stays away a few blocks. Etho walks up to him: “You may approach, Scar.” Scar ender-pearls up to them. Bdubs asks how mad he was at Cleo over Pizza, Scar claims he was looking up tickets to the UK to seek his revenge. “Pizza meant more than I can express.” Does a whole sad monologue. Cleo and Etho think it was funny, Scar demands they take it back. Worse, and what also really threw Etho, when Scar asked Cleo to her face if she stole Pizza she denied it.

Cleo: “Yeah, but I´ve had my punishment now, ´cause now I´m your mother forever.” Scar just realized: “The family! What a wonderful moment.” Etho: “Out shopping together.”

Scar has to wait for Skizz to enforce rules in the shopping district, but Skizz is off on the high seas. Scar: “What if the boat went down.” “What the hell, Scar!” “That´d be awful!” Scar imagines it as, you float for a while, maybe see a shark, then get rescued in a helicopter. Cleo: you might see someone else die, while you survive ´cause you´re the main character. Scar asks after a Titanic character and is surprised Etho immediately knows her name because Etho is usually bad with movie references.

Cleo: “I would never do anything to you guys, you´re my family.” Bdubs: That´s sweet.” Scar: “That was sinister.” Etho: “Trolls us.” Cleo: “Correct.”

Scar got a tip to keep a horse from wandering off inside a circle of berries from an e-mail. Only the best things come from e-mails.

Bdubs tries to prove scaffolding superiority to Scar. Etho and Cleo support the pitch. Scar is disappointed by mom and dad. Etho and Scar agree to give it a try sometimes. Bdubs says Tango puts redstone on scaffolding sometimes, Etho is horrified. Etho shows them that you can use scaffolding to clutch a fall. Scar tries it because it would also work on leaves – unfortunately Etho forgot to tell him that you need to crouch and he dies. He´s not going to be happy, but ultimately it was clearly his own fault. It´ll take him a while to come back, Bdubs feels like he should go get him but Etho and Cleo need to leave.

[jackoshadows]

I end up writing a lot about Jon Snow and Arya Stark because their relationship is indeed special in the world of Asoiaf.

However, in terms of siblings bonds, love and friendship, Jon is also incredibly close to Robb. As Jon puts it, his best friend and rival and constant companion. And even just reading Jon's memories of Robb and their interactions before he leaves for the Wall is just some of the emotionally heavy moments in Jon's POV chapters. He thinks of Robb more than even Arya. When he says farewell to his best friend Samwell in book 5, it's Robb that he remembers. If we look at mentions of the Stark siblings in Jon's POV chapters:

I know GRRM has mentioned he regrets not giving Robb a POV and I have to agree because I would have loved to burrow into his thoughts on everything.

It's clear from the text, IMO, that Robb understands and empathizes with Jon being a bastard where Arya (and Bran) are too young for the same. When Robb is a little kid he doesn't get it - the same way Arya and Bran don't get it when we meet them at the start of AGoT. We have Jon's own memories of him and Robb playing and Robb declaring that Jon can never be Lord of Winterfell because he's a bastard.

An older Robb, however, keenly empathizes with Jon. I imagine it can't have been easy to accept that he was destined to be a Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North while the half brother who grew up side by side with him had no proper future planned out for him. It would not have been easy for him to see Jon seated separately or not allowed in the training ground with a prince. He would have sensed Jon feeling ostracized and bitter and understood the cause for it.

Robb would have understood that Jon had nowhere else to go when Jon chose the Wall. That with Ned and the other adults not offering other options for Jon, the Wall was a chance for Jon to be a ranger like their uncle Benjen.

It can even be argued that Robb marrying Jeyne after she 'comforted' him was so as to not do what his father did. We see Jon wrestle with the same dilemma with Ygritte, determined not to be like his father and avowing sex so as not to have a bastard.

He seemed to have trouble saying his brothers' names. "That night, she . . . she comforted me, Mother." Catelyn did not need to be told what sort of comfort Jeyne Westerling had offered her son. "And you wed her the next day." He looked her in the eyes, proud and miserable all at once. "It was the only honorable thing to do. She's gentle and sweet, Mother, she will make me a good wife." - Catelyn, ACoK

The little bit where Robb and Jon say farewell is so loaded with both of them leaving things unsaid but understanding what was left unsaid at the same time.

In fact all of Jon's farewells - with Bran, Robb and Arya in that order - establishes the kind of relationships he has with the 3 of them in increasing order of importance. Robb and Jon's conversation in particular, demonstrates their maturity, understanding and love, and touches on a shared sense of empathy between them.

"You Starks are hard to kill," Jon agreed. His voice was flat and tired. The visit had taken all the strength from him. Robb knew something was wrong. "My mother …" "She was … very kind," Jon told him. - Jon, AGoT

Without Jon saying anything, Robb senses an emotionally heavy interaction with Catelyn. This speaks to Robb knowing how Catelyn has previously treated Jon and Jon's own response to that.

In the same vein, Jon, not wanting to hurt Robb while saying goodbye, assures Robb that Catelyn was 'kind'. That's Jon acknowledging Robb's love for his mother even as he himself hates her.

Robb looked relieved. "Good." He smiled. "The next time I see you, you'll be all in black." Jon forced himself to smile back. "It was always my color. How long do you think it will be?" "Soon enough," Robb promised. He pulled Jon to him and embraced him fiercely. "Farewell, Snow." Jon hugged him back. "And you, Stark. Take care of Bran." - Jon, AGoT

They just love each other so much.

It also speaks so much to their bond that Jon was ready to risk desertion to help Robb in his war and begs for Robb's forgiveness when he then ultimately decides to stay at the Wall and Robb declaring - despite opposition from his mother and Theon's betrayal - that Jon will be his heir, Lord of Winterfell and King in the North, looking past prejudice and bigotry

And that's the beauty of their bond, where Jon when considering Stannis' offer of Winterfell, recalls Robb's hurtful words and is so emotionally distraught that he blacks out in fury.

“You can’t be Lord of Winterfell, you’re bastard-born. My lady mother says you can’t ever be the Lord of Winterfell.” - Robb

When all the while this was what Robb was saying about the brother he loved.

“Should I die without issue, I want him to succeed me as King in the North.” - Robb

This is why Robb Stark's last decree is important. For closure for the Jon/Robb relationship and Jon's own conflicted feelings about accepting Stannis' offer of Winterfell. To know how much Robb loved him and accepted him as a brother. That it was not all one sided - that just as Jon wanted to desert to help his brother, Robb was declaring Jon his heir and Lord of Winterfell. The decree speaks to that bond of brotherhood, trust, loyalty and love.

Jon refuses Stannis's offer because of preconditions like burning the Winterfell Godswood - the Old Gods of the North - and his guilt of taking what was Robb's. With Robb's decree there are no such preconditions and it affirms Robb's trust in him to do what's right.

And I hope some day GRRM finishes TWoW and we get to read Jon Snow's reaction to getting that final decree and knowing that Robb did indeed think Jon would be Lord of Winterfell.

[daitranscripts]

Skyhold Conversation: Fiona

Investigate

Skyhold Masterpost

Fiona: Greetings again, Inquisitor.

Alexius given to the mages Fiona: I heard of your verdict on Alexius, Inquisitor. Servitude is… kinder a punishment than I would have given, but I won’t complain. He may wish you’d done worse. My fellows have some interesting ideas on exactly what he can do as compensation.

Alexius is researching magic Fiona: I heard of your verdict on Alexius, Inquisitor. Research on your behalf is almost too kind. I hope you know what you’re doing. Do be wary of anything that man proposes.

Alexius imprisoned Fiona: I heard of your verdict on Alexius, Inquisitor. After what he did, I would have seen the man hanged. Rotting in a dungeon with have to do.

Alexius executed Fiona: I heard of your verdict on Alexius, Inquisitor. It was what he deserved. I hope it serves as a warning for anyone, magister or no, who thinks of trying that again.

1 - Dialogue options:

Investigate: You were a Grey Warden? [2]

Investigate: You still lead the mages? [3]

Investigate: How did Alexius take control? [4]

General: Everything is well? [5]

General: Carry on. [6]

2 - Investigate: You were a Grey Warden? PC: You were once a Grey Warden? Fiona: Mine is… an unusual circumstance, Inquisitor. Normally one is part of the Order until death, but long ago I found myself stripped of what made me a Warden. They tried to reinitiate me, but nothing worked. Nor could they figure out how it happened. So I was sent to the Circle of Magi, the first Warden ever to be kicked out. Quite the achievement.

Dialogue options:

Special: That didn’t bother you? [7]

[Back to 1]

7 - Special: That didn’t bother you? PC: You sound happy about it. Fiona: Becoming a Warden seemed like a dream when I was first conscripted. Towards the end, however, my brothers and sisters… they felt I had somehow cheated death. I was glad to leave. It also made me unique in the Circle. I had an opportunity to do more than I ever could as a Warden.

Dialogue options:

Special: You started the rebellion. [8]

[Back to 1]

8 - Special: You started the rebellion. PC: You mean you began the mage rebellion. Fiona: I pushed for our vote to free the Circles of Magi, but I cannot claim sole responsibility for what followed. Still, despite all the chaos, I would do it again. What happened had to happen. [back to 1]

3 - Investigate: You still lead the mages? PC: You’re not still the grand enchanter, then? Fiona: Any claim I had to the title ended along with the Circles of Magi, although some still call me by it. Perhaps the Circles will one day be resurrected. If so, another will take the position. Until that time, I lead my fellow mages by default. I will do what I can for them.

Dialogue options:

Special: The Circles will return? [9]

[Back to 1]

9 - Special: The Circles will return? PC: You believe they’ll recreate the Circle of Magi, after all this? Fiona: It depends on who the next Divine is, and what she offers. We can’t go back to the way things were… but endless warfare benefits no one. That is why I agreed to Justinia’s Conclave. There must be another solution.

4 - Investigate: How did Alexius take control? PC: I’ve been meaning to ask: how exactly did the Venatori take control in Redcliffe? Fiona: Mages constantly found their way to us while we were there. Stragglers. Most of them strangers. I had no way of knowing some were actually Tevinter. They spread whispers, encouraged talk of an alliance… and we were desperate. I’m not proud of our choice, but we were certain templars were coming. It could have ended far worse.

5 - General: Everything is well? PC: I trust everything is well with the mages?

Fiona (conscripted): Some struggle with the idea we are once again subject to control… but we are enduring.

Fiona (conscripted): A few malcontents claim you’ve put us in a new Circle, but most are relived to be safe.

Fiona (allied): Most are pleased with the alliance, even if we wonder what will happen next.

Fiona (allied): We’re mostly relieved. An alliance with the Inquisition offers security, although who knows for how long?

Fiona: There have been a few scuffles with your templars, but overall it is going well.

6 - General: Carry on. PC: I’ll leave you to it.

If Alistair rules Fiona: Before you go, Inquisitor, a question? In Redcliffe, after we left, did you perhaps speak with King Alistair? Considering who you are…

PC: He wasn’t in the mood to talk.

Fiona: It’s just that… I knew his father, Maric, back when I was a Warden.

Dialogue options:

General: I could introduce you. [10]

General: That’s interesting. [11]

General: And…? [12]

10 - General: I could introduce you. PC: You want me to smooth things over with him? Introduce you? Fiona: No, it’s too late for that. [13]

11 - General: That’s interesting. PC: Oh? That’s rather interesting. Does he know that? Fiona: No, he doesn’t. And he shouldn’t. [13]

12 - General: And…? PC: And what? You were hoping that would patch things up with him? Fiona: No, it’s too late for that. [13]

13 - Scene continues.

Fiona: I only wanted to know if he was happy. His… father had such hopes for him. Don’t mind me, Inquisitor. The concerns of an old woman, nothing more.

[kimberlyannharts]

Like I mentioned before, I'll be recapping AJJ's story separately from everything else, as I have so much to say about it jfkdjfd It's technically part of a larger story, so it kind of makes sense? If you're wondering why I'm doing the same for the Ranger Academy story.....uh........it's Amy Jo Johnson's (and Matt Hotson's) prologue to The Return, Re-Imagine!

--- idk if i mentioned it before but I like the sort of mix between modern comic designs for the ogs and 90s portrayals. I do miss Kim's fuckass bob though

--- with the full comic confirming this is meant to be a diverged show timeline that means this really is meant to be their first kiss and i'm rhghhrhghrhgrhrggrj esp with the alteration of Kim's hand placement. Francesco I owe you my life

--- Finster agrees: men get pegged!

Also this is a minor thing but I like that Rita is visibly older here like she was on the show. comic!Rita has always been drawn younger but between MMPR/TMNT II and Mistress Vile they've really been piling on the sexy Rita fanservice lately

--- now why did she go and kind of low-key confirm DrakkonSlayer as romantic here too. "Take your place by my side" I've heard that line before!

--- listen dodging the Peace Conference and the Power Transfer with "wait.........we can fucking teleport, who cares if we're on the other side of the world" is the funniest way to go about it. Omega Rangers you're NOTHING

--- damn girl no one's going to take him from you!!!!!!

--- me @ Melissa's story: eh this is a bit over the top, like we get it, they're this super perfect romance, okay

me here: OH MY GODDDDDDDD HE PROPOSED ON THE COMMAND CENTER MOUNTAINNNNNN

--- Paralleling Tommy and Kim's wedding with Zedd and Rita's is so sick slkdhlskjlsdj AJJ is an auteur

--- OKAY SO. posting the whole page so we can discuss Once and Always 2.0 -

Jason and Rocky both being firefighters is a funny coincidence. Part of me has to wonder if both weren't originally meant to be cops but both sets of writers went with the "safer" choice. Basically a Warden Garcia situation

I know we all love Minh but Trini actually having a life beyond just being Minh's mom thank fucking god. And putting her in CONGRESS!!! Why did they give that to Zack in the special!!!!!!!!!

Billy being a scientist duh. At least this just seems like........experimental science stuff and not turning him into PR's Elon Musk

I already mentioned Trini getting the Congress job rather than Zack and I like him being a DJ!!!! It's nice to see some serious consideration given to Hip Hop Kido and love of music rather than ignoring it or making it a joke

and I know I yelled about it before but AJJ canonizing the Tomberly coach duo RHRHHRHGRHGHHGHGH i just know AJJ heard about the whole PhD in paleontology thing and went "............no??? he teaches fucking karate"

(and yay, Down Syndrome rep in Tommy's students :>)

--- damn just like seeing classic Rita and Zedd again seeing classic Serpentera again really makes you realize the current comic incarnation uhhhhhhh sucks. Especially when they're cutting to the chase and just blowing up shit compared to how Serpentera in the comics can get messed up by uhhh a big cat jumping on its tail

--- the way this cut happens in a page turn Amy Jo Johnson IS! AN! AUTEUR! (like legit it's awesome that you can clearly tell how she's applying her experience in directing TV and film to comic form.)

--- LOOK AT THE MOON THEY SONIC ADVENTURE 2ed THAT SHIT

--- and Kim/Emma I'm gonna need you to find your husband immediately you know you can't trust him to be on his own for five seconds

[clonerightsagenda]

Uglies liveblog pt 3

Shay doesn't seem to be dating David like she was in the books. Will their blowout be less dramatic then?

It might be harder to manage without Tally's internal narration, but we're not seeing the depths of their cultural dysmorphia with how viscerally horrified she is by the older uglies at the Smoke. It makes Tally's obsession with getting the surgery harder to buy into, which is perhaps why they added the dangerous weapon thing as motivation

"These weren't normal scouts. They weren't regular pretties." Like what, middle pretty wardens? No way is the city sending regular pretties into the wild.

Ok so Tally and Shay's tension is about Shay wanting Tally to commit, not fighting over a boy. That's nice tbh

Az-Maddy-Cable older generation ex-friend drama. I'm here for it honestly

So the cure is the weapon

Feel like the movie speedrun the pretty surgery reveal and Tally's change of heart a bit

Dr. Cable showing up to the Smoke personally? They sure made her a lot more hands on, but I suppose if you have a big name actor you want to show her off. Kind of like all the extra Scoresby scenes.

Killing Az like that is dramatic but having him die when Cable tries to push the surgical memory wiping works better thematically (why Maddy cares so much about informed consent)

Well shit we're doing the Tally traitor reveal in front of everyone

Confused as to why Cable just left her there

Doing the reveal earlier removes the tension of Tally and David working together to rescue the Smokies when David doesn't know it was all Tally's fault. Don't take all the lying and scheming and nonstop betrayal away from her

Nooooo they forcefemmed Shay

What's up with putting them into surgical chambers alive and fully clothed? Scott wrote about how it was so important for Tally to break out of the operating tank at the end of the series to represent her escaping the cycle of constant surgeries but this is a bit premature

Is Tally attempting to defeat a Special with the power of friendship. Tally this is the wrong book for that. In fact even in book 3 Specials are mostly defeated with the power of medication civilian casualties and dead boyfriends

They just ambiguously killed him…. maybe we're getting an early start on the dead boyfriends

"How will we know it's still you" "I'll leave you a sign" doesn't that make the whole cure thing pointless

They changed the context but at least they kept the iconic "Make me pretty" line.

A bit confused about Tally still having the scar. They rip off and entirely replace your skin in the surgery. Are they saying she had the wherewithal to ask them to keep it, as a sign that the lesions haven't fully taken hold? I don't think they really take requests

[pxnsneverland]

Beauty and The Boss | austin!elvis x oc (part 11)

plot summary: Laura Jean Walker is the daughter to Louisiana’s most powerful mafia boss, but to her, he’s just her jail warden. When she sneaks out to the Louisiana Hayride with her friend she sees Elvis Presley perform and instantly knows something is special about this boy. Especially when he saves her from being assaulted by a townie. She thinks she’s on cloud 9 until she gets kidnapped in the middle of the night by the Memphis Mafia led by Elvis himself. Will Laura Jean try to free herself or will something hold her back from finding her way home?

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

pairings: austin!elvis x oc

word count: 1729

warnings/notes: Gun Violence

Chapter 11

I'd be lying if I claimed I wasn't worried about my father's impending visit. I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to wiggle my way out of his hands this time. There will be no rebellion or blackmail to save me or Elvis. This meeting would put a stop to everything, regardless of who won. I stayed close to Elvis while he and the rest of his mafia armed themselves with as many of Elvis' guns as they could conceal on their bodies. It was like witnessing troops train for battle. Elvis approached me, a fully loaded handgun in his hands.

He extended it to me. “Now, darlin’, I don’t know how this is gonna go. But I’ll be damned if I let him take you away from here no matter what happens to me.” He took my already trembling hand and placed the gun in it. “I’ll protect you with my life and you know that. But if Walker manages to fire first…you need to defend yourself. I know he’s your Daddy–”

“Not anymore.” I slid my hand around the gun's grip and tucked it into the waistline of my pants. Despite my quivering palms, the rest of me was rock solid. Even before I met Elvis, Daddy had been dead to me for a long time. I could pull the trigger if the time came. At least, that's what I told myself.

Elvis kissed both of my hands on the back. “When all this is over, we’re gonna have a Hollywood weddin’.” He grinned, but I could sense the anxiety he was attempting to conceal.

I smiled back and placed my hand on his cheek. “We sure will.”

~

2 hours appeared to fly away before Elvis received a call from the front gate. I knew it was time when his jaw clenched. He hung up the phone, nodding to the mafia guys who had been eagerly waiting for Elvis' signal. Elvis led me to his office, followed by his guys. When my father arrived at the door, just two people remained to accompany him in. Coming down the corridor, I could hear his dominating footfall. I took a long breath to calm my nerves, which were becoming more agitated as the steps became louder. The door flung wide, revealing my father and his mafia associates, men I had grown up with since childhood. Men who were previously like uncles were suddenly total strangers standing before me, staring at me with the same disdain they had for Elvis.

Elvis was absolutely disregarded by Daddy. He gave me a cheeky look as he glanced at me. His gaze slid down until it came to rest on my hand, which was lying on the outside of my thigh. His lower lip trembled. “Well…” he said slowly, “I guess my little gift was an early wedding present, wasn’t it?”

“You’re a sick man, Walker.” Elvis pretended he hadn't heard Daddy's remark. “You knew she would be in that car with me. You were willin’ to let your own daughter die just to prove a point?”

“My daughter made her choice.” While conversing to Elvis, he kept his gaze on me. “But once I get rid of you, well, her choice won’t really matter, will it?”

Elvis' jaw clenched. “I have no complaints about resolvin’ this peacefully. I’ll forget about the money you stole and your debt to me, but you have to leave Laura Jean here with me and never contact her again.”

“What kind of father would I be if I left my daughter here with you and your riff raff?” Daddy narrowed his eyes. “Especially when your bloodline has a history of killing mine.”

What was he on about? Until I met Elvis, I had never heard of the Presley family or their links to the mafia. And I knew Daddy would never miss an opportunity to tell me about another mafia family that was our rival. He had to be lying. Just trying to get something going inside of me so I'd make a mistake and he'd have the upper hand.

I discovered my own voice before Elvis had an opportunity to discover his. “What are you talkin’ about, Daddy?”

Daddy gave me a frightening smile, as though everything was going as planned. “You know your Mama died in a hit that was meant for me. You should know, darlin’. It’s his fault you don’t have a Mama anymore. Or should I say it's his Daddy’s fault.”

My cheeks heated, and I felt as if the world was whirling around me. My mouth got dry, and drums began to pound in my mind. Vernon Presley was the reason my life had crumbled. He was the reason my father saw me as a property rather than a daughter. His thugs had murdered my mother, an innocent, charming woman who had done nothing wrong but fall in love with the wrong guy. The name Presley was the boogieman I'd been looking for all these years, the thing that kept me awake at night hoping and praying for justice for a mother who died much too young.

“Laura Jean…” Elvis began in that lovely, delicate voice I had grown to adore, the one that was just meant for me..

My hands were quicker than my thinking, and I snatched the revolver from my belt and pointed it at Elvis. The Memphis Mafia attempted to make a move towards me, but Elvis stopped them and told them to keep still. Angry tears streamed down my cheeks, and all I could see through my clouded vision was red. “Did you know?”  I said, my voice shaking.

Elvis raised his hands. “Darlin’---”

“DID YOU KNOW?!” I yelled and removed the gun's safety. My finger was poised above the trigger.

Elvis' expression softened as he gazed at me with loving eyes. I have no doubt I could have shot him right there and he wouldn't have stopped loving me. I was blinded by the wrath, anguish, and heartache I'd been harboring since I was 12 years old. Elvis released both of his hands. “I didn’t know. But I knew Daddy had ordered some hits before he got jailed. He called it protectin’ me from the nearby bosses who would come sniffin’ around once word got out about me takin’ his place. When you told me about your Mama and with Louisiana bein’ so close, I—I thought maybe, but I didn’t want it to be true.”

The hammering in my brain became more intense, and the wrath within demanded blood for blood. I could hear my father laughing behind me. “See, baby girl? That’s why I’ve kept you so close, tried so hard to get you away from this boy. He doesn’t love you. He’s just tryin’ to finish what his father started.”

Mama's face flashed across my head like a movie reel. Her smiling face saying my name as if it were the most beautiful thing in the world. Her hugging me and singing to me only to serve the purpose of making me smile and cheering me up. Her teaching me to play the piano and her bell-like giggles when I hit the wrong key. The images then altered. I saw Elvis's face. Elvis smiling at me and whispering my name to me in the breeze. Elvis cradling me in his arms and tenderly sang me to sleep. Elvis teaching me to play the guitar and his boisterous laughter when I couldn't figure it out. My thoughts abruptly cleared, allowing me to see Elvis's face directly in front of me. That was right. That first night when I watched Elvis perform, I rediscovered the affection I had lost from Mama. His love, our love, was as precious and beautiful as Mama's love for me. Elvis was nothing like his father, and I was nothing like mine.

I spun around, my gun now aimed squarely at my father. He also indicated for his men to take a step back. His amusement was unwavering. A memory went through my head of Daddy teaching me how to shoot a gun. If you aim at something with this, you better always intend on killing it, he had said. “What? Are you going to shoot me now? Your own father?” He laughed. “You’re not going to kill me, Laura Jean. As much as you hate to admit it, you need me. You can’t survive without me.”

I shook my head. “I haven’t needed you for a long time, Daddy.”

“You know that’s a lie. Look where you’ve ended up, look how far you’ve fallen.” He extended his hand. “Come with me, sweetheart. Let us be the family we were meant to be.”

I'd heard him talk like this before. He'd only used that voice with Mama. A sincere voice that made you believe he meant what he said. But there was something odd about it. The genuineness felt distorted and untrue. “Leave, Daddy.” 

“You’re coming with me, you little brat! Whether you want to or not!” He pulled out his handgun and pointed it at Elvis.

I didn't think about it. I simply reacted. In my haze, I heard a loud gunshot and had no idea who had shot first. I cast a brief glance towards Elvis. There was no blood or evidence of harm. He appeared unharmed and content. I carefully turned my head to see where my father had recently stood. He was now lying on the ground, blood soaking his costly suit from a gunshot wound to the chest. As I approached him, he was struggling for oxygen and choking on his own blood. His men just watched for a mob leader who fell quickly lost respect. I stood over him, his astonished and wounded gaze was returned with one of indifference.

I knelt next to him. “I want you to know two things before you die. That your daughter who you treated like an expensive object is the one who killed you. The other thing I want you to know…is that one day soon, your daughter is going to hold the name of the family who ruined your life.”  I kissed and placed my fingertips on his brow before rising to my feet. I aimed the gun at him once more. “Goodbye Daddy.” I fired, the bullet striking him between the eyes.

Stay tuned for part 11!! Click HERE to view!

[hmshermitcraft]

!For theme!

There’s a lot of facets to warden culture that is hard for Pearl to show. Mainly cause a lot of it involves sign language and music which can be…hard to understand to mine warden hybrids granted all the hermits are fast learners but it can be hard to understand the nuisance sometimes. But there is one thing she can show her partners that’s she’s sure will knock their socks off!

The hermits understand that Pearl wants to share more of her peoples culture and has been struggling to do so in a way that the hermits can handle. Because not everyone on the server is 10ft tall and can deadlift a ravager over their head with one hand-yes we know you can doc it’s not a competition-but apparently she has something special she wants to show them. So when it starts getting dark out Pearl rounds all the hermits up and takes them to an open field where when it starts to become pitch black at midnight she starts glowing like a a night sky. With each of their names on her heart-hard to tell with some of them due to where their placed- and they all drop their jaws.

And Pearl begins to explain this is how warden hybrids show who they love. Granted she can’t see worth a damn so the hermits realize how hard this must have been. They all proceed to smooch her as she pulls as many of them as she can into a hug.

God she loves these people!

Rando anon

She knows that most creatures' eyes simply aren't adapted to see these kind of things. She struggles a lot with her sight, but in the deep dark the world is filled with bioluminescent light. Most people discount it, though, became they simply can't see it. It's not really useful for Pearl's navigation, either - no more than her usual sniffing and familiarity.

It's not an easy process to convert that light into something the hermits can see, and certainly not easy to write the names! But it was worth it for the expressions on their faces. And all the love and kisses she gets afterwards!

[songofsaraneth]

Hello! What's the deal with the gryphon in the new dragon age game? I'm tempted to play it only for it

hehe YEAH! So the Lore about griffons (<- this is the spelling they use in the games so im just goin with it) in Dragon Age is that there's a specific group of knights who used to ride/raise them. They're called the Grey Wardens, and they are an order dedicated to watching for/preventing a special type of magical plague that occasionally breaks out called a blight. Each blight ends up with hordes of infected creatures ("darkspawn") accompanied by a "archdemon" which is essentially a giant dragon corrupted by this plague who proceeds to try to destroy the world, and the Grey Wardens job is to stop it from doing that. During one such miserable period they found out they infected their griffons with the blight, they became REALLY VIOLENTLY GOOD at killing the darkspawn, but then the griffons would die after within a few months :(

To be fair, all the Wardens are also infected with the blight too, just in a way that it takes them really really slowly compared to everyone else. so they're "immune" in the sense of already having it, and will die from it eventually but not lose their minds like if a general person got infected. So it was kind of a natural thing to be like "well what if we try putting the griffons through this" rather than just like animal abuse for fun or anything. They were all really sad their friends the griffons died but at the time it was viewed as the only way to stop that current archdemon from destroying the world, which it did, and then the order tried to rebuild itself without having any of the griffons left.

HOWEVER there was a SECRET CLUCTH OF GRIFFON EGGS that were not infected, and were put into suspended animation to protect them. Eventually (during the timeline we get to in the games) they were found, and raised in secret away from everyone else. So while we don't see them in the first 3 games, from the DA tie-in novels we know they're slowly growing up. So in the new game Veilguard, one of your companions, Davrin, belongs to the Grey Warden order, and discovers one of these baby griffons. He adopts it and names him Assan (arrow in elvish)! So if you go out with Davrin, Assan will come along, and has his own attacks, moves, etc :) I do hope we get more griffon lore in the game to go with him but I've been avoiding spoilers so can't say how deep it'll go. But yeah the assumption is you get Assan fairly early and so he can come around with you for a lot of the game, though I think only while you also have Davrin out with you too (<-might be wrong though someone can correct me there if so).

[ryuichirou]

I just want to say: the darker AUs you have on your blog are just *chefs kiss*. The prison AU has so many venues for underhanded dealings, manipulation and just prime psychological warfare. Heartslabyul's dynamics as wardens is just? asking for trouble and I am all for it. I guess my question would be: How would the prisoners take advantage of their wardens' weaknesses? Seeing as some are more rule-bound (Riddle, Trey) in a sense, you could also consider them the most predictable. Meanwhile other wardens may underestimate the prisoners (Ace because he's arrogant, Deuce because he's a little naive) and that could lead to other problems. Although lowkey, Cater kind of seems like the guy who is actually a double-agent working for the prisoners... I mean that signature spell is literally the perfect alibi... any more info on him? I apologize for going on and on but I am just so genuinely intrigued by your prison AU. I would kill for any more details about it, it is just seriously so good.

This reply is written by Katsu &lt;3

Thank you very much for liking darker stuff and this AU in particular! The character writing is so great in TW that putting them in literally any setting and thinking about how their relationship would slightly transform because of that while trying to remain as close to the original as possible is just a treat. And since we all know they are villains... it’s going to be exactly like you said – dealings, manipulation, smuggling, warfare and whatnot.

Half-way though this reply turned into an instruction, for some reason?.. I’m sorry lol I spent too much time writing all of this.

Your take on the Heartslabyul boys is pretty much on point, so I’d probably describe their weaknesses in a similar manner.

Riddle is extremely predictable because he follows the prison rules to a T. You can abuse his regime and his routines; his patrol routes follow a very distinct pattern, so if you find any of his blind spots, it’s basically a golden mine for smuggling. Even if Riddle’s aware of that, but sometimes he can’t change what he’s doing atm because it interferes with some of his Queen of Hearts rules, so he’s bound to obey them no matter what despite the fact that he’s not a student anymore and despite the fact that someone breaks prison rules right in front of him. I think prisoners would learn quite a large number of Queen of Hearts rules to use for their advantage. It sometimes can be something simple, for instance, like abusing the rule 153 - the only tea you may drink in the evenings is herbal tea. They can freely put something like sleeping pills in it because they know that Riddle is definitely going to drink this tea and not anything else in the evening. Or rule 25, which lets you know that his shift is going to end sooner than usual that day, not to mention he’s going to drag a bunch of other wardens with him to help out with a tea party.

Trey, on the other hand, isn’t as strict, so he’s less convenient for the prisoners, esp in comparison. However, he doesn’t lack common sense unlike Riddle, who is rather eccentric, so his “normal guy” attitude also leads to him being rather predictable, just like you said. Nothing special comes to mind for me except for the usual ways to trick people, but Trey isn’t exactly the most trusting guy, so he might actually see through you. Prisoners can sometimes abuse his poor eyesight, though.

Ace really is arrogant, he’s the one you can easily manipulate if he has some respect for you, and if you seem cool to him, then despite being a prisoner you definitely have some (respect). It’s the same as Floyd described, basically, where Ace does dumb shit thinking it’s part of a master plan, and that he won’t get caught for it, so he follows your lead. He’s also very short-tempered, and this, with his provoking manner of speech, leads to him being one of the “weakest” wardens in prison. One of the most troublesome and funny...

Deuce is somewhat the same, he gets angry quickly and is ready to fight anyone who disses people he likes or respects (he’s less likely to jump someone if they offend him personally). He’s naive and will believe you if you say you want to change, but only because of his own experience,and only after he gets to know better. He’s not exactly trustful and is well aware about different types of delinquents and their behaviour patterns, although his knowledge about really creepy and dangerous dudes is worse. He also won’t believe you the second time after you betray his trust. He also runs fast, that’s his strong point.

Cater... I honestly don’t know or remember much about Cater, he’s one of the neglected boys by us (sorry, Cater), but I think your idea of him being a double agent seems perfect for him, as well as his unique magic that’ll make him one of the most knowledgeable people in the prison in terms of rumors + will always provide him with perfect alibi. He’s profitable, so I think prisoners will try to maintain nice relationships with him. He seems like one of the smugglers, who would bring stuff to prison for trade. Kay-kun is here to deliver your cigarettes!~ and stuff.

Jack’s weaknesses are related to him being a pup – anything extremely stinky (hi, beanfest), loud, or distracting and abusing his sharp senses is a nice go-to for disturbing with his work. If he’s transformed into a wolf, anything that helps you to drag out the situation would also be beneficial – I’m pretty sure that after transforming back he’d be too tired to do anything. Since his nose is very powerful, to erase tracks and your own smell from objects it’s better to use stuff that’s extremely chemical and/or includes bleach or even worse stuff. Now it sounds like I’m writing a tutorial...

Kalim is a walking weakness disaster. The only thing that’s on his side is his luck and his positive attitude. He’s a nightmare for his colleagues, even though he’s pretty hard-working and listens to every order without complaint... I’m sorry. He’s so easy to abuse, even if he learns his mistakes and tries not to repeat them. I wouldn’t even call him stupid, he isn’t, it’s just everything else about him.

Rook doesn’t have any weaknesses, although maybe he might get distracted by Vil’s beauty or some other stalking activity – you never know where he is, which can be both a pro and a con. Plus, Rook doesn’t take his job very seriously, he’s more here to have fun and discover something beautiful by being among the lowest scum of the earth, or something like that, so he might neglect his duties from time to time.

Vil’s weakest spot is his face, so doing anything to destroy it or disturb his beauty, despite this being a dick move, is a nice way to get rid of him. Also gross and dirty stuff might stall him, so he’ll spend at least some time to overcome his disgust, but that depends more on his mental state. If he’s confident, which he often is, it just won’t do you any good. It’s still possible to overpower him, but that’s for very strong prisoners.

Epel is on the same line with Ace and Deuce – quick-tempered and fast to punch you in the face, so he’s easy to manipulate as well. He’s not as scheming as Ace and not as nice as Deuce, so he’s probably the dumbest warden there is (sorry, Epel...). He also tries to look cool, so if you stroke his ego in the correct way or prove that you’re super cool and worthy of his respect, he’ll be your minion. He’s good at lying in people’s faces, though, which can also be used if he’s on a prisoner’s side.

Idia is a scared kitten who’s very weak physically, so he won’t put up any fight – you can bully him into lots of stuff with threats and violence, even if he’s going to complain about it along the way. He gives up easily if he sees that chances to win aren’t on his side, and that’s definitely going to be the case with most of the prisoners, unless he can use his technician skill somehow. He’s hard to spot, but if he falls into prisoner’s hands, his go-to is to get out of situation with the least amount of losses from his side. Wow, he’s so useless he’s with the Ace-Deuce-Epel team.

Ortho is a little bit naive, but his super strength, super hearing, super eyesight and literally all of his other settings and his gear compensate this weakness. I’d recommend avoiding him as much as Rook, he’s too OP. His basic weakness would be water and humid stuff, but I’m pretty sure Idia has this covered by giving him magic shields and air dryers or something.

Sebek – very aggressive and stupid. If you offend him or anything that he respects, he’ll probably try to murder you and not think about anything else. On the downside, he’s very strong and has sharp senses, so after teasing him it’s important to get out of his reach. He seems silly, but I wouldn’t count on it too much without getting his emotions involved in the process, he’s attentive and analytical.

Silver is also somewhat naive and goes with the flow. He’s gullible, so if your acting is mid or higher level, it’s very easy to trick him into believing you, even if you say something dumb like “zombie breakout, run” while going with your escape plan. And, of course, his narcolepsy, which makes him one of the favourite wardens for prisoners.

This sounds more like a character analysis post than me trying to name their weaknesses, but I hope it works! Once again, thank you very much for you kind words and this wonderful ask ❤️

[good-beanswrites]

Could I ask for "I prefer not to be disturbed." with Amane please? I just saw the prompt and went. Omg amane. Imagine amane saying this to Kotoko when she's. Beating people up. And Kotoko goes 'understandable' and goes to mikoto <3 it just seemed funny in my head sorry for rambling

Omg I absolutely loved this, thank you!! 😂 I was cracking up about this for so long -- it's such a fun way to read Amane being completely untouched afsdfd. It's got a bit of the attack-scene drama but I had fun writing it lighter, so I hope it reads as such! (me? writing in present tense? less likely than you think but here we are lol)

Kotoko’s fist pounds three times on the cell door. A confused face appears as it opens. “Shiina Mahiru. Milgram has named you guilty of an unforgivable murder. Meet your judgment.”

In only a minute, her boots travel around the guard tower. She flicks dark hair from her eyes, careful not to wipe the blood from her knuckles onto her face. 

Three pounds on the cell door. A confused face appears. “Kajiyama Fuuta. Milgram has named you guilty of an unforgivable murder. Meet your judgment.”

Kotoko moves to cell 008. There is more blood. Three pounds on the door. She opens her mouth.

But it remains closed.

She waits a moment. She can hear Amane inside.

Kotoko knocks again, trying for more urgency.

A professional voice comes from inside. “I am preoccupied. Come back later.”

Kotoko grits her teeth. She doesn’t plan on harming Amane as she did the others -- she would never raise a hand to a child (despite what she told her about avoiding special treatment.) Still, the girl needs to be taught a lesson. Kotoko is a vessel for justice. She has been chosen. She will not be turned away so easily.

“Momose Aman--”

The door opens a crack from the other side.

"I prefer not to be disturbed."

Amane looks up, her expression making it clear she has already been disturbed. Kotoko’s fierce red eyes are startled by the gaze looking up at her.

“Well,” Kotoko shifts so she can see the blood that flecks her clothes. She can get a good look at her boots, and her raw knuckles. Amane sizes her up, her purpose becoming clear. “I --”

“You will need to come back later.”

Kotoko's brow furrows. She doesn’t have time to come back later. She can already hear Kazui collecting himself from where she’d left him with Fuuta. She wasn't prepared for any of this.

“Er... You have been named guilty. Your...” She clears her throat. “Milgram has named you guilty of an unforgivable murder.”

“Milgram is wrong.”

Amane’s voice is unwavering. Her eyes went from mild frustration to a pinpointed rage.

Kotoko had just listened to Mahiru’s cries that this was all a mistake, though the woman accepted her judgment quickly. She’d heard Fuuta’s excuses and denials, showing nothing but an immature rejection of what he’d done. But the way that Amane rejected her verdict, Kotoko was actually inclined to believe her.

No, she would not be mislead. She was not mistaken. She was here to bring only righteousness. She was here to administer punishments.

“I am here to--”

“-- you are here to disturb me. I refuse to be taken from my studies.”

Amane squares her shoulders. She starts rolling up her sleeves.

Kotoko knows better than to mess with a young woman with that kind of fire in her eyes. She gets the feeling that even if she doesn’t take things too far, Amane will. That was not part of her grand plan of delivering justice.

She straightens. “...I understand.”

She hears Kazui is nearly recovered. She thinks she hears Shidou’s voice as well. Too much time has been spent here, with no easy resolution. There’s one more prisoner she must deliver punishment to -- one whose verdict was the absolute clearest to the warden. He should be her true priority.

Kotoko steps back. “You will see the error in your ways in due time. But for now, I’ll leave you to it.”

Amane’s hard set expression doesn’t change. She gives a curt bow. “Or, perhaps you will. Thank you.”

Kotoko doesn’t lose another moment hurrying to the neighboring cell. She spares a single glance over her shoulder. She just has to be sure those intense green eyes are off of her. Amane shoots her one more look before shutting the door.

After exhaling a little sigh -- not out of relief, if anyone were to ask -- she pounds three times on the next cell.

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About the Series Finale of The Owl House

Salutations random people on the internet who certainly won't read this! I'm an Ordinary Schmuck! I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons!

And today...we talk about the series finale of The Owl House. Man...What a show. WHAT A SHOW! To accurately convey how much joy and love I've had with this series...is too much to go into for a short intro. Regardless, I cannot believe we're actually here. Especially after such a fantastic season that, let's be honest, had NO RIGHT to be as good as it was. Going in, I was a little worried that the finale wouldn't have the best treatment, what with Disney, the homophobic bastards that they are (that was a joke...kind of), shortening the series and making Season Three have three specials that are forty-five to fifty-five minutes long. But I could not be more pleasantly surprised to find out how wrong I was.

"Thanks to Them" might just be the new best episode of the show, showcasing all of The Owl House's best qualities in just forty-five minutes. Featuring some perfect character-building moments, serious heartbreak, brief but insanely adorable Lumity moments, Camila being the best mom, some surprisingly dark stuff for a kids' cartoon, and practically speedrunning Amphibia's "back to Earth" arc but cutting out all the fluff and saving the goofy antics to montages as it should. Any worries I had about Season Three were pushed away thanks to this special, and I appreciate it.

And "For the Future"...also exists.

Alright, that's not fair. "For the Future" IS a great special, giving some much-needed development from Willow, having a beautiful moment with Luz and Camila, gifting us with Stringbean (who IS perfect. SHUT UP WITH THAT MAIN CHARACTER ENERGY BULLCRAP!), and showing how much of an intriguing character that The Collector is, even if he's not as devious or threatening as we originally predicted. BUT it is held back a bit by a forced redemption with Boscha and all the big story moments with King, Eda, and Lilith happening off-screen, so we can spend more time with Boscha’s forced redemption. There's way more good than bad, but it feels like the bad weighs the good down too much. And, I won't lie, it made me feel a little worried again for the show's future.

Remember how I said in my "A Lying Witch and a Warden" review that a show's premiere doesn't need to be perfect? I stand by that rule, as its job is to illustrate what is to LIKE about the show and leave future episodes to reveal why people should LOVE it. However, for the series finale, it NEEDS to be good. Not perfect, mind you. There can be SOME cracks here and there in the story, but the overall thing has to still be a satisfying conclusion. Because when it comes to a series finale, it can make or break a show. For example, Star vs. the Forces of Evil had an awful series finale with a main character doing the exact thing a series antagonist set out to accomplish and screwing up the world in such a bizarre way that it didn't feel fair for anybody involved. It was so bad that, despite having more good memories than bad ones, it caused me to not want to watch the show again. Contrast this with Amphibia, a show that I didn't love all that much but had a phenomenal series finale that was a perfect conclusion to the story that connected to the show's overall themes and caused me to cry FIVE TIMES when watching it. And even then the ending wasn't perfect. There were still some poorly placed jokes that spoiled moments, a character redemption that wasn't entirely earned, and an incredibly confusing scene between Anne and a specific character (you'll know when you see it). But still, I cried FIVE TIMES for a show that wasn't my favorite. A reaction like that made me believe that I was a little too harsh on Amphibia because why else would its ending make me feel that way?

THAT'S what a series finale needs to do. It must evoke this powerful emotion that this show is finally over and that there won't be any more adventures...Unless the network makes a revival for some reason. Regardless, that's still the goal, and I cannot emphasize how much I hope that The Owl House accomplishes it. The question is: Did it?

...I don't know. I wrote this intro a week ago. How was it, Future Me?

Future Me: AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Awesome. So, let's see what made him react like that as we dive in, one last time, with "Watching and Dreaming."

Spoilers below.

WHAT I LIKED

It Just Goes: That's the best part, really. No build-up, no messing around. We're just going RIGHT into it all with everyone getting captured and Luz waking up in a nightmare. And it's a good thing, too. We only have fifty-five minutes, and, apparently, eight of them will get cut for future reruns...Why the f**k do people even bother with Cable anymore.

Anyways, if this special isn't wasting time, I won't either.

*Looks at my intro*

...Anymore. Let's move on to the nightmares!

The Nightmares: Yup. This hurt.

Eda and King's nightmares are pretty basic, with Eda's having more of what we've already gathered and revealing that King might have more trauma than expected regarding the Titan Trappers. It's still well-done and honestly creepy with Bill's blank eyes, but it is still LUZ'S nightmare which hurts the most. All of her fears, anxieties, and guilt are put up on full display, and, yeah, it's what we've seen before, too, especially within this season. What makes this one hurts is because, well...it's Luz. My favorite character in the show and one of my favorite protagonists in anything. To have her fight through her literal worst nightmare, one she probably thinks she deserves to go through is an extra bit of pain I did NOT need. And there might be an extra subtle bit of pain where the explanation behind why she gets out of it was that she fact-checked her own nightmare. Not because her friends were saying things they would never say in real life but because Amity misquoted Azura. Luz believed EVERYTHING the others said, but because Amity didn't say things exactly how she must have imagined it over and over makes Luz realize that it wasn't real. There’s never a moment where she goes, “They don’t really think that way.” At least, maybe not until later, but we’ll get into that. For now, I will say that it was pretty painful to see Luz go through this, but it was also uplifting to see her friends still build her up despite how bleak things were. Because it’s Luz. She has and will forever do the same for them, no matter what, even if it’s hard for her to see right now.

Besides, as painful as this was, at least it wasn’t the MOST painful thing in this episode…That comes later! And we’ll get to that, but respectfully, I’m gonna stall for a minute.

The Nightmares Last…For Seven Minutes: That shocked me. This whole premise of Luz, King, and Eda living out their worst nightmares sound like something that could make up its own episode, but I’m kind of grateful that it doesn’t go on for too long. If we had twenty minutes and several more episodes to go through, I would be mad, but we have fifty-five minutes with a lot to do and no time to do it. So, while I would have loved to watch more, I’m still glad that the nightmares didn’t overstay their welcome. It gave us all the interesting stuff we could ask for, all the pain we DIDN’T want, and led us to…

Luz, King, and Eda’s Reuniting: The tears weren’t falling down my face as I expected, but let it be said that I was still grinning ear to ear at this. Our main trio is back together and it really does feel like everything is right with the world again. I’m not kidding, just seeing these three interact again and goof off in just the briefest of moments made me feel like I was watching The Owl House again. “Thanks to Them” was great in having the main Hex-Squad work together and bond, but Luz, King, and Eda is the show’s main trio. Things never really felt right with them all torn apart like that, even if King and Eda still had each other and Luz still had her friends. And, I won’t lie, it felt weird that so much of this season didn’t focus on them that much. It’s the final season, and we have so much time dedicated more to everyone else but them. Oh, they had great development throughout, especially Luz going through her pain, guilt, and revelations of wanting to be understood. Still, it didn’t feel enough to me, so it’s good that “Watching and Dreaming” is a special that’s all about Luz, Eda, and King TOGETHER as they solve this issue for one last adventure. The series started with them, so I’m glad it ends with them fighting off their greatest challenge yet...Playtime.

The Collector’s Games: Again, this could have been an episode of its own. But, just like with the nightmares, we have so much to do and no time to do it. So as fun as it is to watch Luz, Eda, and King fight through the Collector’s toy chest, I’m glad we didn’t spend too much time on it. A brief montage is MORE than enough for me, even though I wouldn’t mind seeing, well, more.

Plus, if we go on for too long in showing the Collector screwing with our trio, it would make his redemption a little harder to swallow.

Speaking of which… 

The Collector: I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t interested in a Collector redemption story. Well, that’s not true. I was mainly against the idea of him becoming part of the gang. I could already tell that they weren’t an evil psychopath like Bill Cipher, but more like a kid that has way too much power. That doesn’t make the Collector evil, it just means he needs to grow up and learn that mortals aren’t playthings. In fact, their idea of mortal life says a LOT about who the Collector is: “Toy’s break all the time. You just fix them.”

So, I do see how it’s possible to redeem him. They’re a kid and he doesn’t know better. Even his backstory helps support that, showing how they were a kid that was playing a game with cute creatures but was blamed for actions outside of his control. The Collector never saw themselves as the bad guy, so it makes sense to try and teach him TO know better. I was never against that…I was just against the idea of them being a part of the family like our other redeemed characters. I love Amity, Hunter, and sometimes Lilith like any other schmuck, but the Collector kind of enslaved an entire civilization to play his games. Redemption is fine, I can see it, but I wanted the Collector to have SOME punishment…And they don’t get it. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like the final decision the writers made. I truly do believe its smart to let the Collector go off and learn to grow up, only willing to come back if he feels ready to do so. It’s a decent end for a character that…came the f**k out of nowhere and was a last minute addition to making the final season more epic.

Though, I will admit, it is a decent turn of events for making us think that the Collector would be the final boss of the series only to reveal that they’re just some poor kid who doesn’t know what mortality means. It helps make them more of a unique character than just “Diet Bill Cypher,” while not stealing away from the REAL big bad of the series. And on that note, let’s talk about…

Belos Possessing the Titan: Ooooooh, so THAT’S what the f**k was up with the beating heart in the throne room…That had to be planned, right?

Like, I’m sure Dana Terrace didn’t plan things to go exactly as they went in the series, but why else show attention to the BIG FRICKIN’ HEART in Belos’ throne room if there WASN’T a plan ahead of time. And…BOY what a horrific plan it was.

Belos just infecting the Isles with…himself leads to more spectacle than the Collector ever brought. Having a single foe and their minions to fight against is pretty cool, but to have an ENTIRE island and its environment against our characters leads to a pretty epic final showdown, as well as an intense one, if I’m going to be honest.

But what’s even MORE intense was watching Belos get to the heart. I didn’t WANT to see him succeed (who the hell would), so it was great to see Raine do all that they could to prevent it from happening. Plus, it’s cool to see Raine take an active role rather than be pushed to the sidelines or get tortured again (they REALLY deserved that rest in the final moments). They were actually giving it their all, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough due to Raine being exhausted after Belos’ possession and a bit of luck on Belos’ part. The bastard got ONE bit of his glop through and that was all he needed…

However, as awful as it is, this really was a cool way to give the series one last epic battle…And a little something painful. But before we get to that, I need some fluff. Can I get some fluff? PLEASE give me some fluff!

Luz, Eda, and King Showing The Collector Around: …I’ll take it.

I know I said this special has so much to do and no time to do it, meaning we have NO TIME to waste, but this feels like wasting time with a purpose. Not only does it help teach the Collector the value of life, but it sort of makes the show feel like we’re going down memory lane with the characters, revisiting some great hits before we close out for one last time. Not all of them, unfortunately, as we don’t have TOO MUCH time to waste, but it’s still some good sights to see again. Plus, it is pretty adorable to see The Collector genuinely take interest in what Luz, Eda, and King are trying to teach him. Again, the Collector’s a kid. And any kid will learn and understand things that you teach them if you do it in the right way, so it’s sweet…Although…

Collector Trying to Show Belos Love and Kindness: They could have specified that not EVERYONE deserves it.

And it’s…sickly funny? Like, it makes you think The Collector is going to demolish Belos again, only for them to try and show love and kindness. Because of COURSE he would. They were just told that love and kindness is the better option, so he immediately applies it. JUST. LIKE. A KID.

Seriously, I cannot emphasize how much of a well-written child the Collector is, where all it takes is a good talk to make them at least try and do something different if told it’ll be better for everyone. Sure, his immediate actions were incredibly misguided, but, hey, at least it didn’t cause any real damage like–

Luz’s Death: …The amount of times I yelled “No” when this happened was immense…You know that scene in The Punisher where Frank Castle is having a nightmare about being forced to sit and watch as the people he loves die in front of him? The one the internet memed? Yeah, that was literally me when this happened.

This…hurt. It hurt a lot. And I knew Luz’s death wouldn’t be permanent. It’d be f**king CRAZY, even for this show. But there WAS a small amount of fear that it could have been. A fear caused because of one character: The Collector.

This HORRID scene (that I weirdly put in the likes section despite the pain it causes me) has a purpose. It’s to teach The Collector that mortals aren’t just toys that can be fixed when broken. It’s why they try to stop Eda and King for going feral. He now understands that life is fragile and doesn’t want to see anyone else die, even crying for the first time over the stress and pain of it all. Is this a little muddled by Luz (THANKFULLY) coming back to life later? Maybe, but there’s two things I want to say to that:

One. I still think it’s done decently enough. Even though Luz comes back, that brief moment the Collector gets when they think he can’t fix it helps teach them that not every solution is as simple. And because it’s the TITAN that brought Luz back and not the Collector, a character that’s canonically weaker than Titans, it could potentially make The Collector think that death isn’t something THEY can reverse. Meaning the lesson can still stick with him as they realize that even HE isn’t that powerful.

And two. I’D SOONER BASH MY OWN HEAD IN BEFORE ADMITTING THAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER TO LEAVE LUZ DEAD! SHOVE your thematic sense nonsense! Luz does NOT deserve death, and I will forever stand by that statement!

As for the death scene itself…it pains me with how much it mirrors Eda’s goodbye in “Agony of a Witch.” There, Eda was giving her last words to Luz, knowing she won’t bounce back this time. She did so by forcing a smile to keep things light, but the problem is that her EYES betrayed her. Here, it’s almost the same thing. The second Luz realizes what’s happening and that there’s nothing she can do to fix it, she tries to reassure King and Eda that it’s going to be ok, even forcing a smile as there’s tears rolling down her cheeks. And Eda and King are just…frozen. They don’t move, they don’t say anything, they don’t even CRY. They’re too frozen in shock and horror of seeing Luz die before their eyes to react in any way. And when they DO react, all they feel is blind, justifiable rage towards Belos, going feral in trying DESTROY Belos. That’s the power their love for Luz had on them. THANKFULLY, her death wasn’t permanent. And we have one person to thank for that.

The Titan: PRAISE BE THIS SHAGGY MAN!

Also, I LOVE this shaggy man! It’s hilarious to me that the all imposing titan, the very thing the characters LIVE on, is just a big boy hanging out in the In Between while wearing a bathrobe and some PJs. In fact, I’m willing to bet that he has some fuzzy slippers under that…water? Is it water? Whatever it is, I bet he has slippers under there. Plus, he’s such a charismatic goober, trying to lift Luz up despite experiencing…literally the worst thing anyone can experience. But he’s also reasonable and kind of sad. Sure, the Titan has a chance to watch his son live his best life, but he’s still stuck and half-dead in a realm that not even HE can escape from. He’s a chill guy and, honestly, he’s the type of guy I’d chill out and binge TV with if not for the fact that he’s, you know…dead…And fictional.

And to address the elephant in the room, this IS pretty similar to the series finale of…a different show that I’ll be vague about. However, despite the similarities, I do think this scene is different enough and honestly a little better. In that show, it comes out of nowhere and it feels like a cop-out for what could have been a more tragic ending. With The Owl House, we see the Titan running around in the In Between, trying to get Luz’s attention in “For the Future.” Heck, he even shows up for a split second in the opening scene, so we KNOW he’ll play SOME part. Plus, the resurrection makes more sense to me. In that other show, it again feels like a cop out while having this very contrived idea for how the main character will learn to one day take the god’s place. Which, again, comes out of nowhere. But with resurrecting Luz, it’s done as more of a battle strategy to stop Belos from killing everything. I mean, he probably would have done it anyway because of what Luz did for King, but that just proves my point. There’s more reason to select Luz to save and resurrect. One might even call it personal bias. In that other show, the god picks and resurrects the main character because she made a big sacrifice. And that’s a good reason, but it cheapens that sacrifice the character made. Luz wasn’t thinking about sacrificing herself. She was trying to save The Collector and died for it due to a mistake. It’s an unfair ending and the Titan sets out to change that. Call it gratitude for taking care of King, say that it’s him wanting to stick it to Belos, and you can even claim how it’s a showcase of how kind the Titan is. No matter how you look at it’s a great moment with a great character that we only got to really know for a few short minutes.

But I will admit, seeing a Hooty in his eye makes me even MORE questions about what the f**k Hooty is. Seriously, WHAT IS HE!?

But that’s a question for another time. We’ve got a BATTLE to commence!

The Final Battle: AND EVERYONE DOES SOMETHING! That’s the best part, really. For a series finale, you want at least the most essential characters to be doing SOMETHING in the final battle and not have most of them watch as three of girls go off to have an anime battle in space (I SWEAR I love that finale). The Owl House certainly takes advantage of that for its final battle, with every character going off to take care of something.

You have the Collector making sure their castle doesn’t fall and kill everybody, while Camila and the kids do the same kind of damage control INSIDE. I do feel as though that Camila and the kids don’t do that much, large in part in the fact that there’s so much going on, but I’m fine that there’s at least SOMETHING they do.

But while that’s happening, you have King, Eda, and Luz, who is ROCKING that new look, working together to kill Belos! And I could not have asked for it in any other way! While things didn’t go exactly how I imagined it, I always did hope the series would end with the three of them working together to beat the big bad Belos. Not only do we get that, but we also get Luz being the most powerful she’s ever been, an epic guitar version of the show’s theme song (which is always good), and even Raine joining the fight. And yes, the kisses they got from Eda gave me life.

But all of this doesn’t compare to the final bit, where Luz RIPS BELOS OUT OF THE HEART like the parasite that he is! The animation was as smooth as butter, the others giving her backup was perfection, and Luz brings the whole thing full circle by screaming, “NOW EAT THIS, SUCKA!”

THIS was everything I could have hoped for with the series finale of the show and so much more! And things get better!

Amity Being the First to Offer Her Hand to The Collector: …Well, not that. Although, that is a pretty sweet moment. Amity, more so than anyone else in the show, understands that people are more complex and have reasons for their behavior. If a person truly wants to help and be better, it’s for the best to offer a hand to help them back up on their feet, and that’s just adorable of her…But you ALL know what I need to talk about.

Belos’ Death: SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW YOU, Belos, for trying to weasel your way out of a just punishment! I didn’t believe his lies about the curse for even a SECOND, and neither did Luz. NOTHING excuses Belos from his awful behavior. Not a curse, not dark magic. Just him and his failure to meet the consequences of his actions.

And watching him melt away in the rain like the wicked witch of the west to then get CURB-STOMPED by Eda, Raine, and King? Yeah, that’s cathartic.

Burn in hell, you evil bastard.

Now, with justice more than served, how about we look more to fluff and–

Reunions: BECAUSE THEY FEEL SO GOOOOOOOOD~!

But, yeah, a lot of fluff and sweetness.

You got Gus and Willow reuniting with their parents, which made me grin from ear to ear.

You have Hunter gaining a father with Darius, which is the happy ending that boy deserves, really.

You have Camila hugging Luz again after (maybe?) thinking she’s dead.

You got Luz and Amity reuniting with a SECOND on-screen kiss (YES)

You’ve got HOOTY hugging Lilith…In a weird display, really.

You’ve got…everything. Everything wonderful, everything is perfect. Because, best of all…

IT’S A HAPPY ENDING: Dana Terrace, you conniving witch of a woman (and I say that affectionately), how DARE YOU make us live in fear by telling us you hate happy endings!

“She didn’t say–”

ShE dIdN’t SaY sHe HaTeS hApPy EnDiNgS! Yeah, I know. She specified that it’s Happily Ever Afters she doesn’t like. But WHAT IS THIS if not a happily ever after?! And for those who hate happy endings, you can hate them all you want but you cannot deny that this one, in particular, is EARNED. These characters have gone through so much hell with things only getting progressively WORSE ever since “Hollow Mind.” So to have an ending where everyone is perfectly happy and living their best lives is more cathartic than watching Belos get stomped into the dirt. And there’s so much thoughts to discuss…Which is why we’re gonna speedrun it. Because if The Owl House can speedrun a season long arc into three specials, I can speedrun my thoughts for its epilogue:

The photos on Luz’s wall are perfect. My favorite is the new and updated Grom photo, which shows Vee looking happy with the others. And a happy Vee is the best Vee.

Luz is going to the University of Wild Magic! She’s still learning magic, even if she can’t do it the way she used to! And going to a school that EDA made helps make it EXTRA sweet.

The future designs are perfect! And they’re all babies! Yes, the kids are young adults now, but they STILL look like babies in my eyes…Except for Gus, who looks like he’s in his mid-twenties–How does witch puberty work again?

Willow’s still doing flier derby, and good for her. It’s good to know she’s doing something that makes her happy and isn’t a stereotypical “she runs a flower shop” ending that some of us (myself included) expected.

Hunter has a new palisman! And no bags under his eyes! He’s finally happy! A happy Hunter! YES!

Hunter and Willow is…kind of canon? I mean, it feels more implied with no kiss to seal the deal, but I like it that way. Not every canon couple needs a kiss to be official in my eyes. Plus, I always find it funny when shows with explicit same sex couples have implicit straight ones. That’s a bit of role-reversal that we can all appreciate given the many, many years when it was the opposite.

Flapjack’s gravestone…Ow.

And it says “Thanks for finding me.” That’s some EXTRA ow.

Boscha’s almost completely blocked behind the credits…I actually appreciate that more than I should.

Kikimora is put on grunt work…Perfect

Lilith is adding a new section to the library…I guess. And the notes on her blueprint for the new library are funny. “Call Flora to show off :3” Love it.

I think Amity’s dressing up and traveling? Probably to find new additions for the library, which is pretty cool.

Scara’s new look is perfect.

The first character we see get a coven patch on screen is the first one to get removed. That’s actually a cool detail that some might miss if they didn’t rewatch this series over a dozen times…like me.

The kids have matching tattoos of Flapjack…Ow.

Eda having a hook for a hand is more appropriate than getting a cybernetic arm from Alador. I don’t know why we didn’t think of that.

King has his initials “King Clawthorne” on his collar now! That’s adorable!

Luz’s King-ceañera! We got a Quinceañera afterall! Even though most with Dominican decent don’t really do that…It’s still adorable!

The final shot…I mean, could you ask for anything better than all the characters saying goodbye to this final goodbye? What a perfect ending…

WHAT I DIS–I said PERFECT–

Actually, no. I told you, it didn’t need to be perfect, and it really isn’t. There’s a few nitpicks to be had.

NITPICKS. Let me specify that none of these really ruin the special for me. They’re just little things that don’t make it perfect. For instance:

If the Collector’s powers don’t work on King, then why was it possible that the Collector levitated King and put him in that nightmare?

Why were King and Eda there having nightmares too? Specifically Eda. Yeah, the Collector was mad at both Luz and King, but why put Eda in the mix too? Lilith was turned back into a puppet for…I want to say spiteful reasons, so why didn’t Eda get the same treatment? I know it’s for the convenience of having them all together, but it feels a little too convenient to me.

It’s pretty vague on how people freed themselves from puppet forms. Amity at least has the explanation that maybe it was the light glyph, but what about Raine? Did Belos’ possession have anything to do with it? If so, why didn’t it work immediately?

Camila and the kids protecting the people inside the Archives is fine, but it does feel a little pointless with how little they do. You might even be able to cut them out and little will change.

Especially since those five got shafted HARD in this special. I’m willing to live with it because “Thanks to Them” and “For the Future” more than compensated for how little we see of them here. Unless you’re Amity, who has VERY LITTLE to do all season, but Seasons One and Two ALSO compensated for THAT so…Pbbt! Still, I feel like others would take issue, so it’s worth noting.

And, as my buddy @l-egionaire pointed out, Luz losing her magic really is kinda pointless. If she’s going to get magic again from KING anyway, why remove it? To me, it feels like a half-baked attempt to give a little bittersweetness to the ending. A good attempt, but THAT’S something that I’d agree is cheapened a little.

Other than that, this finale’s golden.

IN CONCLUSION

“Watching and Dreaming” doesn’t leave me empty…but it DOES fill me with peace. And honestly, that’s better.

I was scared that something bad would happen within this finale, what with the constant “You’re not readys” from the crew. And sure…Luz died…But she got better, so it’s no big deal.

It really is rewarding to see this show get a well-deserved happy ending that came after some large amounts of pain and an EPIC final battle that was all I could ever ask for. There might be some cracks, but that doesn’t stop this special from being a well-earned A+ in my eyes, nitpicks be damned!

And to Dana Terrace and the crew, in the less than zero chance that any of you is reading this…Thank you. Thank you for EVERYTHING.

I’ll be rewatching this show for years to come, and dreaming about what any of you bring next.

[hydrachea]

I want to hear from you as a fellow shipper: 1. Out of all the humans that Sigewinne has encountered in her probably long life, what makes Wriothesley special? 2. In turn, what makes Sigewinne special to Wriothesley? Side note: Fontaine has really been emphasising on the human-non-human relationships (Neuvia, Callirhoe and Finch, Neuvifuri) and how they have changed each other, and I would be very happy if they do continue in that direction and give us significant Wriosige moments. I personally think that their best dynamic would be a complementary contrast to NeuviFuri's - as in NeuviFuri revolutionised against the tyranny of Celestia and the Heavenly Principles and were the lead actors in the drama that was Act V, but WrioSige are more down-to-earth and "realistic", quietly improving the Fortress one reform at a time (and because it's been bugging me a lot, I hope post-Archon Quest events give ample time to develop the reforms of the justice system in Fontaine bc if it's as simple as "Neuvi ascends to power" it's still a shit system).

Do they have to be special? Is it not enough that, of all the people they've met across their lives, something slowly came to life as they spent time together?

I don't know much about love, really. I'm aromantic, so it's a feeling that will forever be out of my grasp. But I do know I don't really believe in soulmates, or in "the one". I believe you either find, or build a connection with someone, and that "someone" can be many people.

I do think Sigewinne has been Wriothesley's only romantic interest across his life, if just because he was sent to Meropide when he was still very young - 10 to 15 years old, most likely, considering Genshin seems allergic to characters older than 30. You can fall for your fellow inmates, Avice and Faissolle have shown as much, but under the previous warden I doubt that was much of an option - and his focus was largely elsewhere. As was everyone else's, really. Every day was pretty much a fight to survive. And that leaves Sigewinne, who was likely there before the previous warden and who will still be there once someone takes over after Wriothesley. Her existence almost feels separate from the rest of the prison. Pair that with the fact that he fought a lot and so probably saw her a lot to get patched up, and she starts standing out to him. She's kind, but she isn't naive. Humans to her are both endearing and interesting, and neither of those feelings are malicious. And she's much, much smarter and older than she looks. Compared to what most other people in Meropide had to offer, plus those inhuman traits unique to her, no wonder she caught his eye and later on his heart.

Sigewinne, though, has lived a long time. Several centuries is a safe assumption. We know from Neuvillette's story quest that the relationship between humans and mélusines hasn't always been good, but it's been better for many decades. And with her interest in them, I'm willing to bet several humans caught her attention long before Wriothesley was even born - likely all for different reasons too. She might not have understood her own feelings back then, though - in fact she might only have come around to understanding "love" by the time she met Wriothesley. Those that came before him paved the way, in a way. If she were to find a pattern across all those that caught her eye, I'd say she likes strong characters. People who stand their ground and keep their beliefs at heart even when all the odds are stacked against them. It's fascinating to her, because it's not a feeling that comes naturally to her the way it does to them. She sees a spark in them, one that's very literal in her mélusine eyes, and she's drawn to it. And maybe they remind her of an old friend, too.

(And my friend I sure hope we'll get more interactions between them as more patches come out. As you said, Fontaine has been delivering on the side of relationships with nonhumans and I want more of it. Especially these two. They're so casually married, I'm still not over the photos conversation.)