#Citadel's First Lady (self)

[evilmcg]

Emeg's official reference sheet! Commissioned this lovely piece of art from @spookyfartduck.

[corallapis]

The Time Lords entered, moving clockwise around the colonnade that marked the perimeter of the room until they found their place and shuffled out onto the floor of the Camber. […] Everyone already knew precisely which part of the amphitheatre they should be standing in. They clustered in the usual groups determined by elaborate equations of seniority, office, family ties, college allegiance and personal acquaintance.

She knew the names of everyone standing around the President: the Magistrate and the other Ministers, the Castellan, the Co-ordinator of the Maxtrix, half a dozen Cardinals and a couple of cowled representatives from the religious orders. Larna found it difficult to believe that now she was a cog in the same intricate clockwork as these people, that she was beginning to acquire titles and duties of her own.

Each generation felt this way, each thought that they would usher in an age of revolution and a better way of doing things. Somehow, somewhere along the way, the dust and cobwebs and routines got into the blood, the desire always cooled. What had been energetic had always become ossified. Worse still, those who retained their fervour into adult life had become tyrants, intent on power whatever the cost.

A phalanx of the Chancellery Watch was practising the drill for the morning. They were in full ceremonial uniform, crimson, striped fur, breastplates and cloaks. They’d formed a neat square, and were marching up and down, boots clacking against the marble floor as regular as the tick of a clock. They’d done these drills for thousands of years — literally in the case of many of the soldiers. Long ago they must have exhausted every creative possibility there. That was the point, wasn’t it? They weren’t thinking, they were doing something that came as naturally and easily to them as breathing.

Gallifrey’s nameless sun rose over the Capitol Dome, as it had done since the first days of the universe. No sunlight penetrated the Dome itself, but the Oldharbour Clock that stood in the Eastern parts of the Capitol marked the occasion by chiming Nine Bells. On the ledge beneath the vast clock face, an intricate mechanical ballet began, as life-sized animated figures emerged from their positions and set about their daily routine. They were gaily painted and beautifully dressed, certainly symbolic of something, although even the few Gallifreyans that had noticed them couldn’t agree what it might be. One of the problems was that the clock had never been built. Not in this timeline, anyway. It was a paradoxical survivor from the Time Wars, probably the only vestige of its parallel Gallifrey still in existence. It had just appeared one day, no one remembered when. The analogue Time Lords that had built the Tower had imbued the clockwork figurines with a degree of sentience and the capacity for self-development. Now, unknown to anyone, the clock people were the most intelligent beings on Gallifrey. Their social interactions were complex, if perfectly regulated, and they had developed a complex framework of philosophy and etiquette to explain their world and their actions. It would be some time yet before they realised that they were just characters on a long forgotten clock face, but the discovery would come. When it did there would be dissension, schism and war. But still they would circle each other in perfect orbits, moving their limbs in perfect arcs.

Life in the Citadel normally ran like clockwork, everything in harmony, the same every day.

The chimes of the Clock Tower rang out over the hexangles of the Eastern side of the Citadel. The Time Lords and Technicians began to emerge from their quarters and glide smoothly to their work and their leisure. Lord Henspring and Lady Genhammer passed each other by the living fountain, three members of the Watch marched past, on their way to lay a wreath at the Monument to Lost Explorers. A small group of students stood around discussing the cultivation of roses and chess endgames. Deep within the Citadel, the TARDISes sat in their cradles, surrounded by humming machinery, as they had done for hundreds of thousands of years.

Nothing had changed, because nothing ever changed on Gallifrey except over geological timescales. Nothing was better, nothing was worse.

— The Infinity Doctors

[echoedcrosshairs]

Anatomically Defective - Echo x Fem Reader

Summary: Pre-Order 66 the boys walk into 79’s to blow steam and you catch Echo’s eye 🩶Smut with a Fluff Plot♥️

Warning: NSFW, Crude Language, PiV, Toy, Echo’s history, drinking, self conscious Echo (esteem issues), 69, oral (f receiving)

word count: 4852

Part Two

"I'm going to talk to her if you don't make up your mind," Crosshair scoffed watching his brother stare longingly at the pretty girl at the counter.

"You're not her type," the bar tender laughed at Crosshair setting down another round of drinks, "I haven't seen her go home with just anyone and you come on very strong," he said walking away chucking more, "Refill, love?" the bartender said tapping your shoulder showing you a blue drink in perfect view of the squad behind him.

"Thanks, Arthur," you said deliciously eyeing the mysterious drink and the group of men staring at you, "Did that on purpose didn't ya?" you laughed lowly so they couldn't hear.

"The frosty one, Crosshair is kind of an ass but the ladies never shut up about him afterwards, but you might like the half droid, Echo. Nice Trooper, one track mind for duty though," he admitted walking back around the bar, "just thought I'd point them out."

"Their clones?" You asked dumbfounded trying and failing to keep yourself from looking at them one more time before wide mouth gawking at him.

"It surprised me too when I found out, but the it explains why they all got the same brown color."

Actually Echo's eyes are more golden then brown, "Tell me about Echo," you asked looking back at him again before downing the dangerously sweet drink.

"War hero of the citadel rescue and Anaxes, blown up trying to defend the ship, captured, revived then experimented on, rescued and then got right back into the fight... and helped finally defeat Trench. I honestly don't know much more then that, I never met him pre... blown up," he admitted, "I think you'll get along."

"Give him one of these on my behalf," you said swirling the empty glass, "Also, another one if you kindly have the time."

"Echo," Arthur said setting down the glass, "It's from Y/N, but I know you know that because you watched me make both of them."

"Are you serious?" Crosshair said watching Arthur setting the matching drink down in front of Echo, "You're barely human and don't even have a-"

"Percentage wise he is correct about the first part. To think of it, I don't think Echo has had relations since he went-" Tech paused "boom. Is pleasure even plausible given the lack of anatomical parts?"

"I don't want to know," Arthur said excusing himself and walking around the bar, quickly pouring himself a shot and downing it, "Don't eveeen want to know."

"What?" You asked taking a sip of the drink, eyeing him cautiously.

"Nothing... nothing at all."

You roll your eyes at him. He leaves you to go poor drinks for a couple other regulars clients at the other end of the counter. It was so far a peaceful night, to early for the rowdy troopers to show up and but late enough for the regular fun ones to show up. You finished the drink, eyed Echo who was still staring at the drink. Well I don't think he's that interested, he hasn't even had a sip of it. You set the drink on the counter along with a few credits and made your way over to the slowly filling dance floor.

"Block!" You said running into the robot DJ getting groovy on the dance floor, grabbing him one of the girls could, "Mind if I cut in?"

"Hello, Y/N. Are you enjoying tonight's musical selection? I thought the alternating between slow and fast would create an interesting rhythm."

The song switched into a slow one, he reached out coldly and grabbed your hand, "I actually really like it, it's creating a dynamic atmosphere. It is most excellent," you said enjoying the dance, "Although it looks like some people don't understand it."

"As protocol dictates I must ask that I return to my post and adjust according, did you enjoy the dance?" Block asked.

"I did, thank you," you said letting go.

You laughed watching him walk away noticing eyes on your back, you ignored them and sat yourself in the dark corner of the bar furthest from them. You watched the dance floor in anticipation watching everyone enjoy the build up and the fall of music. The erotic dancing then fade into adorning swaying, watching the confused troopers was kind of fun. Arthur put another blue drink in-front of you saying it's on the house and apologized for being turned down. You told him it's okay, the night was young.

Echo watched her slide her empty drink towards the lip of the table and brought his gaze back to the glass. His brother's had a point, what could a girl like that want with a mess like him. Tech's words were cutting into him like a vibro blade, It's true I haven't been with a woman since, it's not that I don't want too... I just don't know if I can and she'd have to be very special to understand. He brought his eyes up noticing you were gone.

"She's with the DJ droid on the dance floor talking about the music selection," Hunter said finding you immediately, "Why didn't you go over there?"

"He's not a man that's why," Crosshair scoffed taking a drink, "Maybe I'll give it a shot," he said putting the glass down trying to stand up before Wrecker pulled him back down.

"Don't even think about it," Wrecker said with a yank.

Hunter was still staring at a silent Echo waiting. They looked to each other often for decisions but he didn't seem to trust him to go after it, "The girl showed interest in you and is over there dancing with a droid. I don't think the rest of us are her type," he said trying to encourage him, nonchalantly pointing at where you and Block were noticeable, "I would if I was you."

Echo watched Block nod at you before retaking his station. He looked at Hunter who gave him a nod. He got up which got him an off handed comment from Crosshair, You can keep her entertained and I can dick her down, which got him a loud thud of a punch from Wrecker. Echo scowled leaving the table, 'Was that a completely necessary comment?' he heard Tech say. Echo searched the booths for your face but the bright blue liquid at the end bar caught his attention.

"On the house. Don't know if he's just self conscious or more of droid then he appears to be, next time I won't try to help."

He watched you pick up the glass and swirling it watching the blue sparkle dance, "The night's young, won't let being turned down effect my night."

Echo watched you take a drink, looking around but didn't seem to notice him before looking down back at the glass. It is effecting you. What am I doing? Echo shook his head, took a breath trying to talk himself into walking up over when he left a shove behind him. 'Go' Crosshair hissed at him before stalking off. Oh, he was just trying to make me. Asshole.

"Sorry about that," Echo said shocking you causing you to shake a little and your drink slipped on you, "Fark I am so sorry," he said reaching and grabbing you some napkins. This is what I was afraid of, idiot, idiot, idiot.

"It's just a dress," you laughed blotting up the tiny spill, "I didn't even see you walk up," you said putting the wet napkins on the counter, "changed your mind?" you asked giving him a side glance looking at the sunken expression on his face before wiping up the counter.

"I just haven't had anyone take an interest in me since," Echo said raising his data port arm and sliding into the stool, "I am actually flattered."

"Really?" You said wide eyeing him, you looked at him closer. Sure he was paler, had a cyber connection relay system around his head but he still was insanely beautiful, everything else was just a bonus, "You're one of the cutest guys who's walked in here for a long time."

"She'd know, spends all of her free time here," Arthur laughed putting a glass infront of Echo.

"Dude... I live next door," you laughed.

"I just like giving you a bad time, keep this up though I might as well put you on the civvie payroll," he laughed walking away, "Don't make me regret this."

Your face flushed red, you put your hand over your check to try to cover it when you looked him equally as red but not bothering to try to hide it. You giggled a little bit removing your hand and putting both of them on the counter instead, "So what's with Frosty's glare?" You said noticing Crosshair looking in your direction.

"Crosshair? That's just his face."

"Not my type," you laughed winking at him making the glare worse.

"Got a thing for droids?" Echo asked nervously.

"What gave it away?" You laughed more thinking it was a joke, noticing the serious and the solemn look on his face observing you, "Oh, that wasn't a joke to you. I'm sorry. No, I don't like guys who think they can get anyone. Anyway he looks like a piece of work and not pleasant to be around."

"He's not," he laughed, it was warm like a planet that had two suns, "But he did shove me over here and in his own way told me to give it a shot. Sorry I saw you with Block and kind of assumed plus," Echo gave a small forced chuckle raising the arm again.

"Block? Maybe if his interface was better, at least I know he's reliable. Arthur wasn't kidding though, I spend a lot of time here so sometimes I give my input on the music when crowd watching especially when he changes it up and they don't seem to like it."

"Wait so you DO have a thing for droids?" He asked wide eyed with a smile this time.

"Guess I'll have to figure what out you are," you smiled into your drink sipping on it, "But that doesn't matter, it's who you are that matters. Nothing else matters, to me at least."

Echo's smile got bigger, maybe someone who actually sees me, "I liked that."

"Sooooo, how's it going," Wrecker asked tapping Hunter for his attention.

"I like her," Hunter said pulling his attention back to the squad, "She's definitely different."

"Excuse me, I'll be back momentarily. I- forgot something on the ship," Tech said drinking the drink and getting up.

"You? Forget something? Funny" Crosshair chuckled eyeing them at the end of bar.

"About you tell me about yourself," you smiled at him.

"Not to much to say that isn't easy information to find, I'm CT-1409, Echo. I was apart of Domino squad-" he started before you cut him off.

"That's not what I meant, how did you get the name Echo? What do you like to do in your free time? Favourite battle droid to fight, normal stuff."

"Normal stuff? Back when I was a shiny, I use to repeat every order given so I became Echo, hated it for the longest time but now I think it is the most perfect name my brothers could have given me."

"Oh," you asked turning your seat towards him.

"I'm the only echo left of Domino squad, last one still standing all of my brothers... gone. Echo of a man... I don't know, it just fits. For fun I use to enjoy reading regulation manuals, that's kind of boring to most people."

"It's... a beautifully poetic name," you said stunned, "as for the manuals, it just proves you've always been smart. People forgot knowledge comes from text just as it does from experience."

"What about you?" He asked.

You told Echo about yourself, his eyes seemed to continuously get more and more golden. He hung on every word you said time to time asking questions. Unlike other guys he seemed genuine and wasn't obviously undressing you with his eyes. Although I wouldn't mind if he did.

"Do you want to dance?" You asked, the liquid courage taking effect.

Echo stared down at his socket arm, "I'm not sure if-" he said awkwardly.

You grabbed his hand and elbow and dragged him to the dance floor, placing his arm around you and kept his fingers intertwined with yours, "Come on, scared?" you teased.

"Of making a fool out of myself."

You rested your head on his shoulder, "I'm not going to judge you, if anyone says anything they'll will regret it," you could hear his heart rate speed up and it speed up even further when he rested his jaw and cheek on you, "I take it confidence isn't your strong suit?" you whispered.

"Compared to my brothers I am... anatomically defective, more machine then man."

"I think you're more of a man then most of men in here."

Your hand moved tighter around his back and his breath hitched for a second before regulating. What was that about? You remember the padded circle your fingers moved over, Oh, his ports. His hand held yours a little tighter. The sensation was like a small jolt of electricity trying down him, "I don't know what that was," he whispered embarrassed.

You moved your hand again and it happened again, "I think it's cute," you giggled feeling his hand tighten again, "What does it feel like?"

"It feels like electricity... it's... good," he said hoping you wouldn't look up at the red across his face, at least now I know it's still plausible.

"Updateeee?" Wrecker asked watching them another with an ear to ear grin, "He look's happy."

"He does" Crosshair admitted.

Tech walked with a large punch with a project he'd been working on for some time, he looked at where his brothers were staring and found them on the dance floor. He gave a small smile when he caught Echo's eye and quietly walked forward and clipped it to his belt, "you might need it later," he whispered before returning to his squad.

"What was that about?" You asked looking at the large pouch.

"For once I have no idea what he's been tinkering on, but I know this isn't the place to open it."

"Want to go for a walk and see or... we can go back to my place," you suggested bashfully.

"Whatever you're comfortable with," he offered picking up his head.

You squeezed his hand, pulling back and smiling at him dragged him to the door, "I'd like the second open."

"What was that?" Hunter asked.

"Given Echo's lack of anatomy, I supply crafted him that anatomy."

"So... you made him a dick?" Wrecker said confused.

"Precisely."

You wrapped both of your arms around Echo's taking about the legend known as Domino squad and who they were and his loathing of Commando Droids and the Techno Union. You guided him into the building of your apartment quietly as you let him ramble about his adventures with Clone Force 99 but he missed his 501st brothers but it was his duty to let them go. You steered both of you up to the higher floor where your residency was.

"It's not much but it's home," getting him to chuckle at all of the manuals on your book shelf, "there's always something to learn" you said dragging him to the couch and turning on the holo.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who enjoys learning," he chuckled sitting. Echo's hand grabbed the pouch off his belt and stared at it, What was so important... It can't be... can it? Echo carefully opened the package so only his eyes could it, his jaw fell agape and he stared it for a moment before quickly closing it and putting it back on his belt.

"And?" You asked watching several emotions and questions play across his face.

"It's an uh... indecent attachment," Echo said staring at the roof for a moment contemplating why Tech made it, how long as he been waiting to give it to him and if this was the wrong time to find out.

"That's actually kind of sweet," Echo heard you say and was shocked bringing his attention back to you plopping yourself gently into his lap, "We don't have to use it if you don't want too or I'm more then happy just sitting here and talking for the rest of the night."

"Cute girl in my lap? I'm happy with either too," the shameless flirt came out before he even realized what he said, he smiled that part of his old self was still there, "Plus I don't know if it even works-"

You moved yourself and straddled him instead place you mouth by his neck see what he'd do. Echo tried to keep his breathing even, It's been forever since a woman's been this close. She obviously doesn't seem to mind, I need to stop minding. Echo opened up his neck in offering, letting his hand move your hips, "You really don't mind do you-" the pressure of your lips on his neck silenced him.

You kissed up his neck and pressed harder into the spots that made his breathing quicken while doing your best to make sure no marks were left, "Not in the slightest," you purred bringing your hands up to the ports on the top of his neck seeing if they had the same effect, "How about you kiss me and we'll see how tonight goes."

Echo smirked a little knowing he was a damn good kisser, he moved his hand to your mouth and pulled you towards him. He took your bottom lip between his putting pressure on them and pulling you closer with his lips. Your hands started tracing around the ports, his breathing got more shallow, "You really seem to like that" you breathed between kisses.

"It's pleasurable," he admitted.

"I thought so," you purred leaning back into him, "take this off," you said running your hand down the front of his uniform.

You saw the momentary confidence on his face fade but he complied taking it off, exposing pale skin and a thin sunken torso. You grabbed his face and pulled him back to your mouth before letting your hands trace around chest and ports, "You're handsome," you breathed resting your forehead on his staring down at him, "lay down," you said standing up and pushing him down on the couch. He looked at you but laid down his heart pounding. You crawled back onto his lap, moving your mouth down his neck again and then down his chest kissing everywhere while your hands played with his ports causing him to let out a small quiet moan. Your pressed your mouth into his chest mouth and quicken the tracing of your fingers making a silently loader moan escaped him.

The feeling in Echo started building up, every second making it harder to think. He sat up and pulled you up trying to center himself, "How about somewhere a little more comfortable for both of us and something a little more reciprocal?" he suggested nervously. You took his hand and guided him towards the bedroom, "Did you want to try it?" Your eyes flickering down to the pouch. He smiled putting his hand on your strap of your dress, "Wasn't exactly what I had in mind. I use to be quiet talented with mouth."

You took his hand and used it to removed the strap, "Prove it," you said taking the other strap off your self.

He stared you up and down blinking, mouth slightly watering, "Yes, ma'am," he watched you crawl on the bed waiting for him. Maker help me. He crawled on the bed, grabbed and kissed your hand up to your wrist and placed it on the back on his head nuzzling himself between your legs.

You let out a small 'ah' noise once his mouth made contact. A small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth seeing how wet you were for him already. You looked mildly embarrassed but he love, your fingers finding the ports and stroking them. Echo moaned into you, the warmth of it causing you twitch mildly for him. He ran his tongue up scooping gently into your soaked opening, savoring the sweet bland slick that was because of him. You felt him trail his tongue up to the delicate section of nervous sticking out, he adjusted his lips around it making a little vacuum seal with his mouth and twirling his tongue around it.

"Kark" you moaned your hips tilted into his mouth, pushing him harder against you.

He took his non useful arm around your leg and pulled you closer to him, letting his tongue coast up and down coaxingly. He could feel the electric feeling building up again, he brought his fingers to the the slit of the opening letting you cover his fingers before pushing them inside. He feel your clit engorging, content with himself that you were really attracted to him. He worked his lips up and down while his fingers tried to find the pace and motion you preferred.

"There," the word trembled out your head going further back into the pillow.

You could feel his arm trembling around your leg, you stroke him faster. Maker does this feel good. He took a chance, ever so gently stroking you upward with his teeth, "Echo," you moaned coming undone on his face with the surprising sensation. He pulled you closer to his face, his nose resting on you and his fingers not stopping as you road them through the sensation. You started shaking harder and he started shaking. You felt the moment the surge took him, his mouth came but his fingers went deep as they could, "Mesh'la," he let out shakily his breathing ragged. You cupped his cup cheek staring at him still panting staring at the bliss across his face and his big golden eyes staring at you. He carefully removed his hand still shaking, he licked each of his fingers and his eyes rapidly blicking he left out another small delish moan.

"I am jealous of whatever is going on in that neural connection," you scooted over creating space for him, "join me?"

He moved himself next to you, laying on his back his breathing still ragged, you rolled up and put yourself around his data and interlaced your legs with his. Echo was still reeling, his whole body felt like it was adrift on pleasure cruise, when you brought your hand to his chest he shuttered with a groan escaping. He brought your hand to his mouth, kissed and put it back on his chest covering it with his own. She's so beautiful, his hand tighten around yours and his arm also wrapped you closer.

"Handsome," you mumbled turning more into him, "and so so so talented."

"You're so beautiful," he looked admiring you, "I'm glad you think so. How about another one?" he offered.

"Maker please."

"Do you want to try it?” Echo asked awkwardly looking down at the pouch.

“We can just go see if it works, or I’ll happily keep your face between my legs,” you smiled.

Echo pulled himself up and finished stripping his leg armor and blacks. He watched you examine him, “See something you like?” he said slowly and awkwardly opening the bag.

“I really do think you’re handsome,” you smiled sitting up pulling him back towards you resting your face against his stomach and running your hands down the cold of his legs, “Nothing to be self conscious about or embarrassed about around me,” you said pulling back so he could fiddle with the attachment.

Echo attached two tiny connectors to the ports closes on each side of his lower stomach and one on each thigh, “So figured out what I am yet?” He teased smiling feeling the attachment connect and accepted into his system.

“Well… what do you want to be?” you asked pulling him back onto the bad.

“I’m definitely a happy man,” he kissed you until your head laid against the pillow, “Where I currently want to be however? Definitely in you,” Echo moved onto his elbow, letting his free hand trail down you while he took your pebbled nipple into his mouth letting his fingers drift back inside, “Do you know that you taste good?” He whispered into your ear.

You squirmed under him, his touch and the comment making a physical reaction. Bringing your hand back to his head, “Echo,” you breathed feeling his touch start being rougher and faster. You could feel yourself coating his fingers, he smiled pulling them out and using them to stroke the attachment and his stomach tense, you removed his hand and stroked it yourself. You moved your legs around his and flipped him on his back on the bed the smile turning into a grin, “How about a test run?” You worked it up and down watching parts of his body tense and release.

He tried flipping you but you planted your knees deeper into the bed in defiance, “Why don’t you back up then and put that tasty pussy back in my face?” He said enjoying the sensation but wanted it to be fair. Did I really just say that? After all this time I’m still the same. He watched you slowly turn around putting your legs back his arms and painfully to slow put your self on his mouth. ‘Maker’ he moaned feeling your grip tighten on him. Echo let his tongue slide in and out of you, twirling it around the inner edges of the split before working his mouth back down to your pulsating need for him. He hummed against it the small vibration making you press your self a little further down on his face, he let his hand trail around your body enjoying the sensation of your skin against his. He felt his leg start to lightly drum against the base board of the bed, I guess it’s my turn first this time.

You watched his leg drum and the other one start to quiver, you moved the hand that wasn’t stroking him to a connector on his leg wondering if he could feel both or if his body only registered one at a time. Surprised with your self you picked yourself off of him so you could see his face, he grabbed you and pulled you back down holding you there. Someone’s enjoying himself. You felt the moment he stopped, the orgasm take over. You gently continued to stroke him until his hand gently begged you to stop. You moved yourself back between his legs, you could see the speckling of sweat glistening his body and some of you on the corner of his mouth which took him no time to find and lick up with the tip of his tongue. Your eyes trailed around his body, the pale skin, big eyes, the bigger then normal lips and his jawline and cheeks sculpted like the maker made him himself. For me. His breathing was raspy but you wanted the rise and fall of his chest putting your hand on the his lungs slightly feeling the mechanical system underneath try to catch up.

“Do you think I’m a man?” He asked weakly, looking at your hand knowing what you were feeling.

“I do. One I wouldn’t mind getting to know more whenever your around.”

“I think I’d bore you,” he admitted.

You leaned up kissing across his collar bones, “Rules, regulations, reports, none of that could bore me as long as you were apart of them,” you paused leaning over his neck, “You’re the only man who hasn’t bored me,” you said kissing the base of his neck slightly pulling on it waiting to see if he’d stop you from making a mark but his moan and hand squeezing your hip was the green light, “You are not lesser Echo” you whispered before turning your attention back to his neck.

“I’d bring you with me if I could,” he said picking you up with the handful of hip he hand a grip on moving you back and plunging his cock attachment into you, his hips spreading bucking all of it into you, “No one’s made me feel like this before,” his voice sincere gentle and softly moving you up and down him. He brought the side of his non useful arm to your face nudging you up, watching you nuzzle the arm realizing how different and understanding you were compared to everyone.

Cautiously he moved himself back on top of you resting his forehead against yours, nearly pulling himself all the way out and rushing himself back in, “Is it comfortable?” he whispered.

“I wouldn’t be able to tell your anatomically defective” you teased, “If it feels good to you, that’s all I care about.”

“I care about you.”

“And I you.”

[voidofcourse8]

ASOIAF Fic Idea #2: Self-Insert into Elinda Massey from TDOTD

Another Fanfic Idea I may or may not write since I have the issue of wanting to write and then my brain freezing after the first couple of chapters or in the middle of the planning process if I decide to actually plan it out!

Elinda of House Massey is a Lady-in-Waiting for Rhaenyra Targaryen from the time period of TDOTD.

She wakes up at 5 years old as Elinda.

She would have two brothers and three sisters.

She is the oldest of all her siblings.

Order of birth: Elinda, Sister 1, Sister 2, Brother 1, and twin siblings Sister 3 and Brother 3

Names will come later

Original Fate: Gouges out eyes and is put into Sea Dragon Tower for ransom

She was forced to watch Rhaenyra be burned and eaten by Sunfyre

Wiki Link Here

Little to no uplift, lots of scheming on how to survive the dance and come out with her eyes and not a captive.

If there is uplift, it would be to build a citadel of the arts where Stondance is located, sanitation improvements, and public education in cooperation with the faith.

Link for stonedance wiki here

Link for house massey wiki here

Citadel of the arts would be built in cooperation with the citadel and would include all sorts of arts along with the history and philosophy.

A finishing school for girls of lower birth would be started as well.

Whores would start attending the school to improve their skills and desirability.  Eventually they started attending the etiquette classes (as the fee was cheap) that were offered and became more like the Courtesans of Braavos than normal whores.

Elinda hears of this eventually and talks the girls into starting a Courtesans Guild, as she honestly can’t stop prostitution, but she can set up protections in the form of a guild.

As a joke it would be called “The Maidens Guild” by guards and others to make fun of it, but it turns out that the Courtesans Guild liked the name and it’s catchy, so it stuck.

Would include Elinda being one of few people taking Rhaenyra’s training to be heir seriously.

She becomes an unofficial advisor to Nyra.

She convinces Nyra that if her father won’t provide her the education needed, that she needs to seek it out herself, and helps her pick out people to teach her what she needs to know.

Also convinces Nyra to keep her Septa and Ladies-In-Waiting near her at all times, and explains to Nyra that she needs to be beyond reproach.  The ladies-in-waiting and septa will help guard her reputation.

Her septa is from flea bottom, and is well liked there.

Also she convinces her that Daemon is in fact, bad news..

Elinda comes with Nyra on her tour along with Nyra’s other ladies and helps her build alliances.

She can’t stop Aemma from dying or Vizzy T from marrying Alicent.  She tries and fails fantastically.

TDOTD is set up by the death of Prince Aemon, so there’s no stopping it when Rhaenyra is his only living kid with Aemma.

Jaehaerys never intends for Rhaenys to be the heir, it’s a source of strife between Aemon and his father

House worships the seven, descended from the first men; they have a Weirwood tree in their castle.  It’s become more of a garden and is at the heart of the castle.

House words “Ever Moving” from a tumblr that made them

Link here

Book/Show fusion for canon

She would survive the dance, her family does declare team black.

She will marry and her youngest brother survives the war, but not the oldest of her 2 brothers.

Haven’t decided who she would marry though.

[radianceholy]

Owlcatober 2024 - Dance

not only the first one of these that's overtly shippy but also the first one that involves an actual knight commander oc!!!

knight commander magda, drunken master monk / bloodrager legend.

no cws here. just poorly wooing an old lady

Galfrey could look upon the bustle of Drezen with the impartial eye of a ruler, gazing from atop the high walls of Drezen Citadel and observing from afar, but in seeing the end of the War that had consumed her, body, mind, and soul, she could feel a fatigue setting in. A human shouldn't live this long. She'd trained herself too well. Swallowed her doubts, her self-hatred, her fear, and her guilt, granting herself not a moment to dwell on such things. 

–Tired. She was tired. And the more she fought, the more she longed for it to end.

Drezen had become a terrible sight, she was told. Demons in the streets and whispers of conspiracy among the Crusaders, with a cult of personality surrounding the commander and her violent, bloody methods. She grew more powerful, more brutal, and more monstrous by the day, and those who would dissent were dwindling in number. She couldn't believe how bleak things had become, in her absence, to hear of it. The corruption had passed over like a wave, every demon had been chased out of the city, aside from one solitary outlier. Knight Commander Magda, a monster in battle whose violence rivaled the foes they faced, faced her six months later with all of the grace her position would demand. Galfrey didn't have the strength in her to ask about Alushinyrea, or her lengthy disappearance. She felt too bitter, and her lack of faith was rewarded.

All's well that end's well, no?

“...Mm. Nah. Graceful words aren’t for me” Magda didn’t meet Galfrey’s gaze. “I wanted to kill you, but it was just... just more bullshit," she grunted, gesturing awkwardly. "It was supposed to be all mine. My territory, my power, my underlings, my crusade. If you were jealous, or threatened, or somethin’ like that, you were right to be.” Her hands clenched to fists. “...When I got back… when I, y’know… when I learned all about that shit, when the goddess… when she actually came to me…”

…Tonight, her vigil was not as lonely. Silently, Commander had crept behind her. She had senses as keen as ever, and it would be difficult to miss such a lofty shadow settling over her, but she'd become rather light on her feet. There was a quiet timidity to her movement that ill-suited her massive frame.

Magda’s body was a knot of scar tissue muscle, with wild red curls that weren’t so much tamed as it was loosely corralled; tied back just enough that it wouldn’t fall in front of her face, but thick and bushy enough that it still provided a great deal of volume to her already massive figure. She was, by far, one of the tallest humans she’d ever met, and as broad as a barn.

The Knight Commander drew in a sigh, and Galfrey let the silence linger a moment or two. It wasn't a comfortable silence, but it was a familiar one. The silence between today and tomorrow was a peaceful one, this time.

“...Wanted to thank you, y’know.” Her voice was gruff and gravely, like the smoldering ruins left behind by a house fire.

“You know that’s not what I’d expect to hear. I was full prepared to apologize for what I'd put you through, in my jealous need for control.”

“...Heh. I know.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “...I wanted to snap your neck, a little, when you stripped my title.”

Galfrey’s head tilted, looking up at the enormous woman at her side. So casual a confession. If she were here with a proper procession, it would be a dangerous affair to navigate, but between the two of them, the candor seemed to put her at ease. “You’re far from the first to curse my name,” she replied, as though absorbing such blows were as natural as breathing.

“Yeah– yeah, I know.” She had changed, but there were still signs. Her nails grew thick and sharp, and they looked more like claws. Her horns had grown brittle, and when she’d attempted to headbutt a Glabrezu, they cracked, leaving behind broken stumps, but they hadn't exactly fallen out, either. There was a scar where her tail had been, and Galfrey knew only because that woman wore very little while leading the charge into battle. She had no idea if it was the trauma of rejecting her mythic power, or a self-inflicted wound.

She'd gotten herself hurt often enough. Reckless. Often enough, drunk. But sober-minded in meetings, and reasonable enough to let her advisors make the decisions when it really mattered. That’s why the Fifth Crusade didn’t crumble without its commander, even if Galfrey felt nothing but bitterness over having forced it to do so. The two of them stared out into the streets. Too many words needed to be said, and the world only seemed to narrow. Soon, there would be nothing left but a march to Threshold. “...It was a betrayal. If this is some gesture at diplomacy, you needn't bother.”

Galfrey nodded diplomatically, though she couldn’t bring herself to look Magda in the eyes, either. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Commander.”

“Like hell I don’t.” She all but growled. “...I was sick for two weeks. Irabeth handled all the marching orders, kept everything running… hid what was going on, through the fevers, the weird visions, throwin’ up everything I ate or drank…” She shook her head. “...So the rank and file wouldn't know what I was goin' through. When the abyss was leavin’ my body, I thought I was gonna die.”

Galfrey closed her eyes. “...They expect too much of you. You were a mortal woman. You fulfilled your duties to my satisfaction, and I will not let you think otherwise.”

Magda heaved a great breath. “...Same goes for you, y’know.”

Galfrey looked up at her. Her jaw was set, eyes hard. She’d spoken those words with a bitter conviction, with enough force to tear through whatever resistance she could put up. Her bare heart, and Galfrey’s. “A hundred years of… this. This, by the gods. Galfrey - my Queen, I mean - how’d you survive it?”

“...By killing myself in smaller ways, I suppose. I could remember my duty, and my responsibilities. I could put them over any other petty concern.”

“Petty concerns… so all those bits of you, they're each a petty concern?”

A sad smile played at her lips. “One woman, against an entire nation, every land beyond it, and the enormity of the abyss…” She shook her head. “...Of course they were. Of course I am.”

Magda cleared her throat. By the time she’d turned to her, she realized the enormous woman was now facing her, hand outstretched, with a rather solemn expression on her face.

“What’s this, now…?”

“...Training.”

She scoffed, casting a skeptical look. “Is it, now?”

“...Ye- yeah. Learnin’ to control my movements again, rather than letting loose like that. Slow, deliberate.”

“And you’d practice that with the Queen of Mendev? The stakes are much higher than you anticipate.”

“Mm. Strip my title if I step on your toes.”

“That’s not…” She sighed, taking her hand. “I’d rather you didn’t joke about such things.” Her enormous fingers, her terrible calluses and scars. The two of them looked worlds apart, beside one another. Magda’s other hand rested on her waist. Galfrey didn’t have anything to say about that.

It was a slow step. Amateurish, and without ballroom music to accompany it. It reminded Galfrey of social affairs when she was just a girl, without the pressure of performance weighing down upon her. Such an achingly long time ago…

“I’ve never danced before,” Magda admitted, disarmingly vulnerable.

“And you’ve taken the lead, already?”

“Ain’t that just the story of my life…”

A warm silence hung in the air between them.

“...You think anyone from the streets can see us?”

“Doubtful.”

“Then… you’ll train with me, again?”

She sighed. “...Calling it ‘training’ won’t fool me. You want to spend more time with me.”

“Hah… it was worth a shot, y’know.”

Galfrey smiled, despite herself. “Well… when you bring this war to a close, you will have many years ahead of you, I gather. You’ll have to be able to hold your own in stately ballroom affairs.”

“...Yeah? If someone experienced could teach me, y’know…”

Galfrey let out a sigh. She let herself smirk, though, a fleeting moment of mirth.

“I’ll consider your request, Knight Commander.”

Magda’s shoulders sank. Her large arms wrapped around Galfrey’s body, squeezing her against her broad, well-muscled chest. Their dance had devolved into a slow, rhythmic sway, the way the branches of a tree might shift and move in the spring breeze.

Galfrey closed her eyes.

Perhaps, for now, she could permit it. Just this one, small indulgence.

[ludcake]

can you tell us more about your oc cassanna? we’re piecing together her backstory with a cork board and some string rn

ok you literally do not KNOW how much i have of her. I'm currently writing a dedicated halloween fanfiction of her with the Red Keep-as-monster because I felt like it was a vibe. She's everything to me she's my baby.

Casanna Lannister (with one S because it looks nicer and medieval languages have no consistency :D) is the only child of the Lord of Lannisport. Her mother was Jocasta Reyne, who died in childbirth after several previous miscarriages - and her father, Lord Tommen Lannister, was completely wracked with guilt. (After having pushed his wife to *that*, of course. Because the guilt only matters when it can't be helped anymore.)

Her father turned into a total catholic religious freak. Just, self-flagellation, fasting, wearing hair shirts, threw away the entire finances of House Lannister of Lannisport into giving money to charity and the Faith. Complete freak. He thinks that he's sinned for the murder of his wife and must repent to the Seven and is carrying that guilt *everywhere*.

Meanwhile, little Casanna was being raised by Septas like a proper little lady - except she was very sick. Or rather, very frail - frail on the level of the Maesters saying "she probably won't make it to six", except that since her father sees her survival as the imperative to his own moral redemption, he went crazy on it. Got the entire court praying for her recovery, didn't trust any maesters to touch her, regular leechings performed by the Septon - and while she hung on there as a child, things still weren't great.

That is, until Septon Joffrey showed up.

He was a wandering Septon, who'd taken vows of poverty, and no Septry would take him for his own... Unorthodox views; he was an expelled acolyte of the Citadel, because he saw the Seven and scripture as utterly paramount, to the point of getting into fistfights with his peers over it. Still, he was charismatic; he was a young man at the time, and he was invited into the keep of the Lannisters, as Tommen saw all men and women of faith, and he offered his services.

Casanna improved, and he tutored her. He taught her that the Seven were also One-in-Seven; that the Stranger and the Warrior were just as worthy aspirations for her as the Maiden and the Mother. She'd never be a mother, she replied; the maesters had told her, she did not have the constitution for it. He assured she could find still solace in the Seven, that Maiden-Mother-Crone wasn't all of God's teachings she could hold; his teachings as Maester worked pretty well, and her health recovered considerably, enough she could hang out with other children - enough that he was made Lord Tommen's right hand for it, given the resources of the realm, feast and gold alike at his fingertips.

She was twelve when she was first betrothed to be married, to a third cousin of the main Lannister line; she was twelve when she watched him, twice her age, bring out a mountain lioness to be slain in her name, to honor her, and watched the lioness maul him. Lord Tommen insisted that Septon Joffrey treat him, against the advice of his liege; when the cousin died, Joffrey was cast away.

Five more times she was betrothed, and five more times tragedy befell them; men from the Westerlands, Reach, Riverlands, as far away as Dorne came to ask for the hand of a child upon whom rested the possessions of Lannisport, third and fourth sons aiming to have something to their name. She rejected them all, a sad and small child, who did not wish to see tragedy again.

By pressure from her uncle, who wished to be heir to Lannisport - and by the other houses of the city, who saw her as an unreliable heir - she was sent away, to King's Landing, at the age of sixteen to be a lady in waiting to a princess. And here's where things diverge.

The *main* version of her is from the RP server I run, Birthright, and it's where a lot of her being crazy comes from; there, Daeron the Daring became King after the death of Aegon II, and things spiraled out from there to a general Green Victory. In that scenario, she's lady in waiting to Princess Rhaenara Targaryen, whom she fell in love with - and who loved her back, until Rhaenara was betrothed to Casanna's cousin through the Reyne line, who is the Lord of Casterly Rock. The main thing is that Casanna's approach to that relationship is... Very toxic, and very central to her character - she cannot be a maiden anymore, but she'll never be a mother. She used to fantasize about being a knight to her Princess, but someone else took that away. She created her confidence around being her confidante, about serving her, and her father died and she put a crown on the Princess' forehead and now the realm is dying and the gods aren't answering her prayers and she has to grip onto the idea of that idyllic, perfect relationship she had in her teenage years with all her might because otherwise there might be nothing left. So she became Lady Confessor and Mistress of Whisperers, and she can't handle the torture and murder, but she doesn't stand being unable to serve, so she pushes on and punishes herself through hurting others, including, ultimately, one of the hostages at the Red Keep - Daenaera Stone - whom she slowly falls for after months of very much being in a position of almost killing her, because Daenaera has accepted death enough that it's the only moment of peace Casanna has now. Because they can just sit together, and talk, and hate each other, and that's as good as bliss. Because nowhere else can she be like that. Because she can say the truth, because she can say what she feels, because she knows nobody will ever believe a prisoner. Nobody will ever listen to the words of a madwoman. A dead woman.

MEANWHILE, there's several other versions of her I play with. The constant with her are - toxic catholicism, usually involving the worship of a person as an outlet for her own frustrations with herself (my sin doesn't count if it's for them) and - being gay and also really mad that she can't be straight and have children and a husband and feeling lonely and isolated because of it, because in a society where the worth of a woman is measured by her womb, by her beauty, what happens when you can't have children, when you can't love men, and you're aging??

The main version I'm playing with for my Halloween fic is one wherein she's a lady-in-waiting to Cersei during AFFC, and her obsession revolves both around Cersei but ALSO around the Red Keep itself, and thinning the line between the two as an entity until the ghosts of the Red Keep eat her because the Red Keep is alive and is also a monster.

I can talk a lot about her, but just gonna. Leave this bit from a scene where I'm writing her.

Lady Confessor. My due was to be her Hand, to rule Lannisport, to sit beside her, that our blood be one and our flesh be united; my due was to speak as her voice, to act as her will, to breathe at her command and caress her as leal companion. Rather, mine is the charge of dungeons, of torture, of questions and answers, of the dread that come to men's hearts when they hear the whisper of her name; mine is the charge of spycraft and rats, of shadows and death, the Stranger's work. A lioness ought to have her pride, but none may hear me roar. Casanna's heart weighed and sunk deeper into her gut, that ever demanding ache for a past she'd lost a millstone round her neck; for sweet spring days where she blossomed to a woman, laying beside her heart's delight, her deepest desire. Those few nights not plagued by terrors, the images of her father's ghost haunting her, of Aegon, of Rhaegar, of the King and Lord Mallister passing to her eyes, their dead eyes, final sigh, their blood drowning her - those few nights not plagued by the weight of her actions, she dreamt of how her hair smelled in those drowsy mornings, of how the sun shone to her face, how her skin felt to her fingers, her voice to her ears. Her hands shook and spilled ink over the parchment, staining the words she'd penned; her ears echoed the sound of screaming, the insults and the sobbing, the pain and the despair of the Black Cells she now oversaw. A lady is never fazed by her circumstances; merely inconvenienced, the voice of Joff returned to her. The Seven made each of us in Their image, and given us the duty and the right to take Their Works into our hands - Maiden and Crone, Warrior and Smith, Mother and Father, even the Stranger; righteousness and piety comes through all.

She'd crowned her, laid the steel circlet to her forehead and proclaimed her Queen as she'd done a thousand times amid kisses and whispers; yet though her gaze still lay fondly upon Casanna, the duties of a Queen called her away - the realm tore itself apart for the grief they shared, the grief which parted them, the grief neither knew how to bear. Had it been a mistake, she'd questioned? Had she taken to action too quickly, and now she'd share the fate of the Black Queen's favourites, her Queen given to the flames? Her cousin had taken her from Casanna, wed her, given her a swollen belly and a happy smile through sorrow and thorn; Master of Laws, Warden of the West, Lord of Casterly Rock, Shield of Lannisport - yet that shield did nothing to prevent the incoming blow from the Ironborn. That shield let her father die, gave away her birthright, the Rock that now stole her treasures. She penned down her letter again; to a cousin she'd grown beside, a Lannett of a cadet line, a boy when they'd last met and now a man grown. Were her father alive, he may have encouraged that she match her hand to his, so the line may persist beside another junior of the Rock; rather, he'd serve as her castellan and first officer so long as she remain in King's Landing - she'd hoped that mayhap she may charge him with the affairs of the Rock, too, if she could persuade her cousin, but he now went to campaign, warring across the Riverlands, reaping the seeds of rebellion she'd sowed. Encased within the envelope to be sent was a badge of office - a golden key with the bow of a lion, twinkling eyes of sapphire and fangs of ivory. She had five made - one for herself, one for Lord Damon, one for Ser Lannett and the two remaining ones... Well, she needed bait to find new stakeholders.

The Golden Bank of Lannisport - as it would be called, as per its charter - was to finance the reconstruction of the city, a new fleet for the Rock, to rival Oldtown and even the Free Cities; without Gulltown or White Harbour beside the Queen, her domain may expand, and though her holdings would always be those of a cadet, she may find fortune elsewhere. Or so ran the thought. Lord Royce had passed not a week before, and the rotting smell of his body still stained her clothes, she felt; her hands seemed bloodied no matter how much she washed them, and she could hardly focus anymore, her tired expression hidden by the steady work of her servants and ointments and paint from lands as distant as Lorath and Yunkai. Casanna had torn the realm apart, laid beside a woman, killed those who trusted her; it had been the Seven's own punishment that she lose all that she love most, that she be shackled like a hound, that she be put to serve her Queen as her left hand, do the darkest bidding and shed the blood and whisper the evils necessary for the realm. She had her duty, and she'd do it to her best ability - but her heart hurt that she felt it unrewarding, a punishment, her mind taken by guilt she'd never felt before. Casanna had never questioned the direction her heart took her, the winding roads that service to her Princess led her through; she'd lied and betrayed, she'd even been accomplice to death when it was required - but that was when she was rewarded with kind words and caresses, when they were one, when she still held out hope they may be together, as the Maiden's light bless them. Now she was a spinster, a gaoler, a rat-catcher in the walls; Mistress of Whisperers, Lady Confessor, Child of the Stranger, a bloodied sapphire to adorn her Queen's crown. No true lioness should be sneaking about without a pride to follow her.

What had once been the Queen's was now hers, and she sat at her chair on the Small Council; as she busied herself with royal affairs, now Casanna looked after the wyrms and drakes along the realm, whose whispers and blades served the line of the dragon. They said the usurper courted the favour of the Iron Bank of Braavos, and that the Rogares lay close with the court at Sunspear - the Martell had not yet recognised the legitimacy of Her Grace's reign, but they'd always been a troublesome lot. She set the letter aside upon a stacking pile of missives to be sent to the rookery by a servant; her livelihood had become to writ letters, learn the weakness of flesh and bone, demand answers, reminisce and fall to night terrors, at times interrupted by the counsel of the Small Council. Her cousin rode out to the Riverlands, her Queen was beset by treason and flattery; Casanna's affairs were not war, and war was all the realm was set against. She'd grown in times of peace, blossomed to a woman in strife, but when it came again, she was beset by matters she'd not learned, powerless in the face of it all. She paused, and cleaned after her desk, standing up and taking a deep breath - her corset felt tight around her waist, months of indulgence to hippocras and honeyfingers to console her heart taking their toll on her shape. She'd not gone out hunting or riding on horseback since the Great Council, and she missed the fresh air of the open fields of the Kingswood; but duty took its price, and it was rather that than her blood. The Lady Confessor placed her cloak upon her shoulders, and pinned it together with a golden brooch; with firm steps, she ran down the stairs, the stink and musk of the gaol bringing her insides to a simmer. She withdrew a dagger, a pretty dirk from Lys, and got well to work. For the Queen.

[meissashush]

I feel bad about this, but I need all the Ro info. Hate, betrayal, and nightmares for Rosea? T_T

hate: What does your OC hate? Why? How do they act towards the object of their hatred?

Moogles.

It was a genuine fear when she was a child, the wide empty eyes of a giant plush moogle staring into her soul from an armchair in the Amicitia manor. The thing was absolutely haunted. It didn't matter how much Lady Amicitia tried to assure her, nor how much Gladio tried to make it seem harmless, she was utterly convinced that thing was going to eat her in her sleep.

The moogle got put away for future visits.

Now that she's older, it's mostly a joke. Mostly. The cartoons of them are fine, the small key-chains are sometimes actually kind of cute, and she'd never let Iris know she doesn't care for them, but the reality is they make her skin itch. She doesn't want them near.

Kenny Crow doesn't bother her in the least, though, which is the only reason Gladio won't pick on her about the moogles. She knows his weakness.

betrayal: Has your OC ever been betrayed by someone they thought they could trust? Has your OC ever betrayed someone who trusted them?

Rosea isn't someone who is easily betrayed. It's a self-preservation thing, in that she knows her place in the priorities of the people closest to her, so it's hard for her to consider it a betrayal. If she did, she'd only ever feel betrayed.

In an emergency, the King must come first. Then the Prince, then the Shields, and so on and so forth. The Marshal's Daughter isn't very high on the list, as it isn't a position that holds any power. No systems will crumble, nor institutions suffer if she were harmed, other than Cor's feelings. Which means considerably more than she believes, but still doesn't really hold a candle to the lives of parliamentary figures.

In an emergency, she is often left in charge of herself.

But that level of sacrifice, especially amongst children, only meant that the little things would hurt so much more. When they were children, Noctis and Ro had a spat that would have landed most children in timeout. It was petty, mostly verbal, and ended with Rosea throwing her very first punch.

When Noct started bawling, both he and Ignis (the sole witness) threw her under the bus. She ended up being banished from the Citadel for an unspecified amount of time, and their friendship was almost completely destroyed.

In a way, this could also be seen as a betrayal by her towards every adult in her life. They all expected her to be more mature than that, which lead to a lot of them treating her much more coldly from that point on. She was a trouble maker, now. They expected her to disappoint them.

And given this mindset? She hardly counts anything else she did from that point on as an act of betrayal, since why would anyone expect better of her? It's not her problem, she owes them nothing.

nightmare: What does your OC have nightmares about? How do they deal with their nightmares? Do they tell people, or keep it to themself?

A lot of things. Between training for emergencies and actual emergencies, nightmares were sort of just expected. It was even mentioned in the training manual. Being chased, kidnapped, tortured, murdered, etc - it was all fair game. Cor comforted her when she was younger, but the more they happened the more numb she grew to them. She doesn't mention it much, anymore.

[cerberusdailynews]

[CRIME] Notorious Cat Burglar Turns Self In, Claims She "Was Tired of the Whole Business"

Police Baffled by Self-Report via Clancy Tavish, the Sirona Star [SIRONA] Police at the 42nd Precinct Station of Senturom were baffled yesterday as an elcor alleging herself to be the infamous “Crawler of Grisaron” turned herself in, citing a climbing dissatisfaction with her work/life balance. Thirteen artifacts of considerable worth were recovered in her ensuing arrest, lending significant credence to her claim. “We had no idea what to make of it,” said Police Sergeant Eduardo Spaulding, who was present at the time of arrest. “We still don’t, frankly. Here we are, three Citadel homeworlds and over a dozen colonies trying to pin down this master art thief, and she just lumbers into our podunk town and turns herself over.” The Crawler of Grisaron is currently wanted on Sur’kesh, Thessia, and Earth, along with a number of other major colony worlds for the theft of countless priceless works of art, often stolen under spectacular circumstances. Thefts attributed to the Crawler include Athame by Siphoni M’Stal (c. 2100 BCE), the statue Lady with an Orange by 21st-century sculptor Uriah Blau, and the painting Tore Nura Scheming Against the Gods by Siron Sogan. The last of these, commissioned by Clan Dragel after their first successful manned mission to the planet that took their name, is a Union treasure and was considered impossible to steal before its disappearance in 2166. The alleged Crawler (current name unknown) has refused to divulge the means by which she procured any of these items, nor has she identified any co-conspirators who may have assisted herself, citing only “extensive research” the degree of which “has encroached on my social life.” Attempts to identify her via biometrics have similarly failed, though investigative representatives from the Union, Republics, and SATAE have promised to combine their efforts to determine just who she is and how she managed to commit each crime. Until then, the Crawler has been detained in Sentorum’s maximum security prison wing pending extradition to one of the aforementioned homeworlds. “Matter of fact: it will be nice to get some much-deserved time off,” she said in a statement to the Star before her detainment. “Smug: Perhaps, once I get out, everyone will finally be better at looking after their toys.”

[draklorn]

amaryllis, anemone, bay tree, hibiscus, tulip :)

amaryllis: what is something or someone that your muse takes pride in? how do they express that pride?

Devan is proud to be a Draklorn of the Frostguard. Although not a title they had strived to achieve in the cult, it is the highest honour to be chosen as one of Lissandra's most faithful, and they carry that heavy responsibility on their shoulders with the utmost pride. They are a role model to Warriors of the Keeper's Lodge and Foundlings alike, but also a mortal bearer to the truth of the world; their eyes truly opened. Specifically within the Citadel, Devan keeps their role in high regard. From the way they carry themselves to the way they will speak with authority to all bar their Lady herself. Being one of only a handpicked few in the entire history of the world to know the forbidden truths they do is something few dream of having, and even fewer find any joy in holding.

bay tree: does your muse seek glory & accolades, or do they favour a simpler, more personal life? 

The only thing Devan has ever sought was the honour that came with being a loyal Frostguard. To protect their home from the Darkness, and serve a higher calling, was what Devan believed their purpose in life to be. They are a model Frostguard; one other Warriors of the Keepers Lodge have been able to look up to and be inspired by. They are well-studied, are a knowledgable soldier, and have always placed their faith first. So it is no wonder that, after serving (and surviving) for so long, they have been granted the highest honour of being a Draklorn. After reaching the highest goal in life they had dared set for themself, Devan has been left with little to be motivated towards besides continuing to perform their Lady's bidding. Which... should be enough. They have even made an effort to appreciate little things they achieve, no matter how mundane or irrelevant it may seem. But these attempts are so artificial, it leaves them far more bitter trying to find fulfilment in the mundane than just going through the motions without giving it further thought.

hibiscus: how does your muse view the gentler, daintier things in life? as things worth preserving & caring for, or things only bound to wither & disappear? 

The most precious things in life are the young lives brought to the Foundling village. Whether orphans or recruits from villages under the Frostguard's protection, to Devan those young faces represent the future of the Freljord. Among them will be the next line of Frostguard, who defend their home from itself and the horrors below, and who will teach the younglings after them. So they must be prepared and cared for in every way. And beyond Devan's soft spot for companionable creatures, their unyielding faith in their Lady and ingrained loyalty to their Frostguard kin, there is nothing else physical they truly care for in their heart. By oath, they are not to take a partner, and their own self-care does not go beyond the necessary. Everything, eventually, withers and returns to the cold. From ice we are born, and to ice we will return.

tulip: how does your muse view people in general? 

The humble heartbound or southern foreigner is looked down upon, in the simplest way of saying. Those who do not have ice running through their veins are, if not lesser, than fundamentally weaker, in the Draklorn's eyes. At the best of times, the Hearthbound are to be cared for; kept safe and warm at night, and fear in their hearts quietly stoked with stories of what lies beyond the fire's inviting light. They don't know any better, you see? And they never should, for their own sakes.

Fellow Iceborn are regarded as equals, so when they do not follow Her Faith, it is a disappointing heresy. And because of Freljordian customs, women are inherently held with more respect than others, and Devan is no exception to treating them with more courtesy, relative kindness, or warrior's respect, when fitting.

anemone: answered here.

botanical questions

[evilmcg]

Another lovely art piece I commissioned from @spookyfartduck of my emeg and @mcltiples emorty.

[groundbreakingdot872]

Thinking about this scene in the context of Agravaine’s brainwashing has completely changed it for me…

The entire two episodes, Agrravaine had a subplot to play where he acted angrily at Morgana’s new reliance on Helios, reminding her that he was her ‘one true ally’

This isn’t unusual for him, he’s sporadically had these speeches of loyalty before; but this time, even Morgana’s a little put off by his strongly worded statement.

Look at where the scene takes place:

Arthur’s desk

In a perverse show of power, Agravaine is meant to act subservient to the wrong ruling Pendragon, at the very desk where all of those treatises to alter the Kingdom would’ve been drafted. The man who’s loyalty and familial love he should’ve cherished, has been stolen from him, and misplaced in Morgana’s servitude.

That entire conversation Agravaine comes off more pushy and worried for her than he’s ever been, and I wonder if the symbolism of Morgana taking Arthur’s place so physically, was affecting him more than usual.

His last words to her seem to reference another scene, “And I ask you take care.” Words of assurance that startle her, maybe for the genuinity in his eyes, but to me they come across more vulnerable from an inner panic..

He may be remembering an earlier memory, before the brainwashing, remembering where the words “I am your one true ally, my lady. I am your own teue friend” acted as a spell to ground him in subservience to her.

Sound familiar?

Morgana to Gwen: You are not alone now. You need never be alone again. I’m the only one you can trust, I’m all you have left in the world.

Agravaine: i am your one true ally, my lady. I am your one true friend. I would do anything for you, you know that.

——

He was alone.

Dishonored by his past, and on self-exile for 20+ years by the time s4 rolls around. Ygraine had been cast off and long-forgotten, and the brother-in-law he despised holding a candle to her memory. Tristan had died at the same iron fist; died trying to win honor back for the Du Bois name, only to felled by his own family.

He may very well have been in the citadel when it all occurred, cradling Arthur in his arms in the birthing room, pale in shock and new grief, while Tristan stumbled out to face Uther in his wrath.

But he’d been given a chance on Arthur’s coronation, one more opportunity to return his family name to honor. Riding to the citadel in haste, anxiously wanting to see how much of his sister lived on in his nephew, he was an easy target.

…It must’ve happened so quickly, pulled off his horse, knocked unconscious on the trunk of a nearby tree.

Dragged back to her makeshift lair where she commenced with the ritual. Her first foray into mind control.

Her experiment.

She took his grief and regrets, and transformed them into something more insidious, seething. An ugly scowl weathered into his features, where decades before, a jovial man had once laughed. But her work was awkward and imperfect.

I definitely agree that this accounts for the deadened stare that sometimes crossed Aggravaine’s face, where his inner self surfaced with clarity.

And those words Morgana frequently whispered to him, about ‘true allyship’ and ‘promises of loyalty’ were likely triggers to blind him under the spell again. Repurposed years later to lock Gwen under thr same control, but this time, with enough allowance for free thought to execute more complicated plans.

But Agravaine was her first. The unfortunancy of his circumstances wielded to manipulate Arthur by his only damning weakness. Family.

I love how the Merlin fandom doesn’t agree on everything, but we all can agree that Agravaine is a slimy bastard

[whirlybirbs]

FEVER-DREAM    ;    echo/reader 

summary: echo is fine-tuning his new prosthesis. you have experience, you help. unspoken feelings are acted on. adoration blooms. you learn what mesh’la means.

word count: 3k

pairing: echo / f!reader

tags: mutual pining, lots of tender looks, victorian-era hand-touching sluttiness, echo is a gentle soul, reader is head over heels, a touch of ptsd mention, set on ord mantell, mention of our boy fives, in this house we love assistive devices, enough sexual tension to power the death star

a/n: this is me round-house kicking the bad batch writers in the throat because they made echo cosplay a droid — but, also because this man deserves to be treated as more than a means to a mission’s end. majority of you know i am ~bitter~ (understatement of the century) of tbb’s plot/design/writing. but echo has been a favorite from the original days... so have some very soft fic.

i reference character redesigns by @nibeul​ in this piece — please go peep them here, and some updated character spreads here! they’re really beautiful and add a phenomenal layer of storytelling to the existing designs that’s lacking. nibuel’s art and writing is lovely. please give them a follow — i can’t rec their work enough. 

“How does it feel?”

The words are nearly whispered; it’s clear you didn’t want to startle him, and Echo can feel the pinch in his brow soften at your sudden appearence in the doorway. 

His bunk, at the back of the Havoc Marauder, is small — the space itself even more so. There’s a makeshift partition, hooked together with spare parts and meant to offer a bit of privacy on the cramped vessel. Its slate grey color has faded, and the edges have become tattered in the cycles of use. 

When Echo pulls his dark eyes up from his work, you’re leaning against the frame — your expression is earnest.

For a moment, the once-ARC Trooper is quiet. 

He wonders if he’ll ever get used to your attention. Each and every time, it sends him into a spiral; his heart catches as he inhales and tries to push down the warm stir in his gut. The sight of you is enough, nowadays, to melt Echo’s well-maintained irritability. His attention is stolen from his ever-present pain, if only for a bit.

There are plenty of days where he misses the old him — the wide-eyed, eager ARC Trooper who had his brothers by his side. His real brothers. Hevy, Cutup, Droidbait... Fives. 

Fuckin’ hell, Fives was probably staring down at him now laughing. 

No matter what changes, you’re still shit with the ladies, vod’ika. 

In a way he hasn’t fully admitted to himself, you make him feel like himself again. Like... Like some shiny cadet, on leave and distracted by the promises of pretty smiles passing-by. It’s good.

This makes him feel... good. 

He flexes, and his right hand — the new, gunmetal durasteel cyberized-prosthesis — closes into a tight fist. It’s taken him a bit, but the feeling isn’t so foreign now. It’s still... slow. Slower than he’s used to, but you’d mentioned it may take some time. The phantom feelings get better, too. All in all, it’s a good thing.

Your own hand, your left, glimmers back in the same gunmetal color.

(Echo had never pressed you about the missing limb — not until one day, in Cid’s, you’d joined him in a quiet corner. You’d spilled your drink and a complaint about getting the star-cherry syrup out of the joints had slipped out. Echo had laughed; a real laugh, the sort that was so rare coming from him, it had you staring at him as if he’d hung ever star in the sky. 

Can I ask how it happened? he’d said, breaking the heavy silence when your eyes never left his.

The Pykes, you’d said, and that was enough.)

“I haven’t, uh... Haven’t gotten the sensory calibration right yet.”

Then, his prosthesis cramps. His fingers go rigid, and Echo curses sharply as he reaches around his forearm to quickly reboot the appendage. It goes slack, then hums alive once more.

You wince.

You’re slow to move into the room — and you settle atop one of the crates Echo had stolen from the belly of the ship, an old Mantell Mix shipping container. You’re mindful to set his datapad aside, to not disturb his space too much. Before you reach for his hand, however, you lift your chin and open your hands in your lap.

“May I?” you ask, just as soft as before.

Echo feels small under your gaze.

Truth be told, you’re doing more than just... asking. You’re taking him in — appreciating him. It’s a habit that’s grown more and more apparent to not only himself, but the others.

In recent rotations, Echo has let his hair grow out — not long, but the once close buzz he’d kept has begun to curl at the top. Not entirely dissimilair to how it was before the Citadel. The dermal implants, the ones the Techno Union installed in order to parse the nuerological data in his head, stand out against his warm-colored skin. 

His usual AJ^6-inspired headpiece is resting on his bunk.

That damn thing.

A neccesary tool. One that, given the amount of user data Tech had procured when working on modifying the implant, Echo found himself immediately distrusting. It wasn’t as if the AJ^6 cyborg construct had a beautiful track record, and frankly, Echo would like to keep his personality in tact, thank you very much. There were plenty of days he felt machine enough. 

It wasn’t often you saw him without the headset; you knew it made linking in via his scomp easier to handle, it made the visualization of data transfers as easy as breathing. For Echo, it was a part of his vast kit, an important tool. For you, seeing him without it bubbles up a bit of a smile.

Echo catches it.

His eyes narrow playfully.

He looks... well. You — hell, are there words for it? For the way the sight of him makes you feel? It’s like there’s a world full of potential there, a thousand words unsaid, and feelings that have steeped in the warmth of longing gazes and half-there touches.

You’re still looking up at him, knees bent on the crate.

You blink, realizing you’ve been caught staring — not for the first time and certainly not for the last. In the beginning, it had left a sour taste in Echo’s mouth. But, now... Well, it stokes a sort of pride in his chest that he hangs onto. 

It never gets easier to recover from — certainly not when Echo smirks. He moves to allow you to take his prosthesis into your lap. The gesture is gentle; your fingers cradle the firm yet pliable metal.

“What?” he asks. His voice, low and rough and warm, is tinted with amusement.

“Nothing,” you say vaguely with a shrug — as if that’s supposed to explain any part of your enamored stare. Your attention moves to the prosthesis.

“Nothing?” he asks, moving to thumb his left ear with his free hand with a dash of nervousness. A habit. Echo tilts his head as his fingers brush the cochlear implant there. The panel rests neatly against the side of his head, a small rounded-off square. The bite of self-consciousness has dwindled around you — but still, it creeps back up every now and again.

The Corporal’s brows knot playfully as you turn his new hand over in your lap; you’re admiring the upgraded feel, the more seamless panelling in comparison to your own. Echo watches your lashes flutter in silent thought.

Then:

“You’re a terrible liar, you know.”

You blink slowly at the hand, swallow down your sudden sheepishness and ignore his gaze. You bite back the smile digging into your cheeks. “Maybe.”

“Do I have something on my face?” he asks suddenly, and you look up.

A baited trick. He’s smiling. 

The warm sort — the sort reserved for you and for Omega. The two souls that hold a piece of his heart, with all its ticking valves and electric timed pulses. There are machinisms that keep him alive, and then there is you. Your wide-eyed expression melts, giving way to the sort of smile he’s tried to memorize over and over. It’s the same smile that has warded off that reoccuring nightmare of the night on the tarmac at the Citadel, the same smile that has pulled him through the grit of phantom pains.

“What—” a sudden laugh bursts from your chest, “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You were staring, mesh’la,” he rumbles out as a reminder, enjoying the fact he’s suddenly become the center of your attention. Echo leans back, his boot toeing yours. You nudge it back. Your face feels hot. You ignore his pointedly teasing look with a roll of your eyes.

The nickname started a few weeks ago. You haven’t asked what it means — no, for now it’s meaning hangs in the balance. Untouched but there. The affection the word carries makes your heart feel heavier and unbelievably full.

“Bad habit,” you chirp back, looking up at him through your lashes.

His laugh is warm.

“Maybe not.”

“No,” you say quietly; your voice is soft as your eyes bounce across his face, tracing the lines of his face with your gaze, “I don’t think it is.”

There’s a silence that slips between you — a comfortable one. It’s heavier than before. That has begun to happen recently, especially with the petal-soft utterance of mesh’la becoming more and more frequent. You hold his gaze. Echo lets out a soft, contented sigh.

Then, you remember the task at hand.

You clear your throat.

“Uh... The access panel I’m looking for,” you say slowly as your raise your finger to point to your own arm, “It’s on your bicep.”

Echo blinks. He clears his own throat before looking down — he hadn’t even noticed that access panel. That could explain the jarring miscommunication stalling the limb. This model had more bells and whistles than he initally realized. 

Better than a fuckin’ scomp link, that’s for sure.

Wordlessly, Echo makes room on his bunk. You move to settle beside him, your bent leg resting aginst his hip as you half-straddle the bed; your other knee brushes his thigh — and Echo tries to sit still. You’re close, now. 

“Is it okay if...?” you trail off, fingers tugging on the short sleeve of his blacks; you pause until Echo offers a curt nod. You catch him swallow. You push onward, fingers nimbly rolling the fabric up over his broad bicep. 

Echo steals a glance your way as your fingers pass across a slip of his bare skin. 

In his lap, both his hands twitch.

He’s no small man. Lean and athletic, Echo is built like a soldier. Omega had said once that Echo was an ARC Trooper, one of the best of the best. You believed every bit of it, and you’d hung on her words when she’d rambled on about ARC training, about Kamino, and about who Echo was before you knew him. It was all in the past, though. That Echo is a part of this Echo but... They’re different men. He’s been changed by the things that have happened.

You don’t press him on the details. 

In time, they’re slipped into conversation here and there — between the here and now.  

In the beginning, when you’d found yourself amongst the crew of the Havoc Marauder — be it for a simple job on Cid’s behalf — Echo had hardly paid you a moment of attention, though you admit you’d been curious from the start. It had taken three jobs for you to finally see his face. Then began the slow and gradual bonding over catching joints, grating plates, and hardware updates. His legs, your arm. Two pieces of a pair.

Now, he has this. A beautiful new upgrade — something he’s wanted for a long time. A part of his old self is back, in a way.

You liked that it was more than just a tool. That, in having this piece of his body back, he felt like more than a tool. More than a scomp link. 

After all, he is a man — a... a very handsome man. One whose proximity is sort of distracting you, again, from the task at hand.

“The panel here,” you say as you slowly press on the seam that enables the settings panel to be revealed; you’re mindful to explain, “It controls sensory outputs, as well as synchonized synaptic commands. The panel on my forearm does the same to my hand, yours is just... well, you’ve got the new and improve version.”

Echo ducks his head as you work, watching you from the corner of his eye. “Feeling a bit jealous, mesh’la?”

“Maybe,” you breathe out with a smile. 

Then, you lift your eyes. You intended to see that he was still comfortable, but instead you come face to face with the Corporal. His nose nearly brushes yours when you lift you chin, completely dragged in by the closeness shared.

There’s a beat of tension. Echo’s mouth goes dry.

You fingers pause. You swallow hard. “How... uh, how does it feel?”

Echo tightens his grip, then releases. His breath tickles your cheeks. His eyes, a deep, warm brown, flit from your eyes to your mouth, and then back. His voice is a croak. 

“...Same as before.”

You tinker with a dial, eyes never leaving his; your voice is above a whisper. “And now?”

It’s immediate. Like a rush of cold air up his arm — and on instinct, Echo’s hand twitches. His fingers grip the fabric of his blacks, along his thigh, and... he feels it. The smooth, stretch of the material. It’s... it feels like a lot. His fingertips, metallic and cyberized, tingle. It’s distracting.

He can feel. 

His hand is slow. It moves across to bridge the space between you. His pointer finger settles on the curve of your knee; the feeling of your tactical pants beneath his fingertip is ignored, instead he chases the heat of your body.

Your breath catches at the touch. 

Echo’s face is turned to you, but... his attention has settled on his hand. His palm then sweeps across your thigh. He follows the curve, soaks in the feeling. You’re frozen in place, beating back the desperate sound of appreciation that threatens to be pulled from your throat. The touch is... more than welcomed. 

The closeness itself is making you dizzy.

Then, Echo turns — and the warm, durasteel-plated palm finds your cheek.

Your skin is hot. 

“Is this okay, mesh’la?” he whispers, words riding on a quiet exhale — the sort that make you feel... well, you don’t even have words for the way he makes you feel. Echo is... kind, honest, and loyal. Above all else, he’s gentle. Despite it all, despite every bit of horror he’d been put through, he’d never lost sight of the importance of a gentle hand. Especially now in a moment as intimate as this. It coaxes you closer.

You lean into the cybernetic attachment, cheek resting in his palm. You nod, then, with eyes eager to take in every bit of this moment.

He chuckles at the enthusiasm. Echo’s thumb, deft and smooth, then traces the line of your lower lip.

The feeling is... the gnawing pain that he’s felt for nearly a year has melted. Finally, the itch has been scratched in his brain and the hollow ache of his bones is gone. It’s relief, and comfort, and excitement and all these beautiful things — and you. 

You’re stuck — you don’t want to move, you won’t move. He’s rooted you completely, and when his other hand — the calloused and warm one of flesh and blood — finds it’s spot along your thigh, you swallow a lovesick sigh that would only exaserbate your desperation. 

Your mouth is moving before you realize it. 

“What does it mean?”

Echo’s eyes narrow, only a bit, and he runs his thumb up your cheekbone.

“What does what mean?” 

“Mesh’la,” it sounds foreign on your tongue. It’s not Hutteese or Twi’leki, not like any language you know, “Will you tell me what it means, Echo?”

The corner of his lips quirk. Your eyes jump to it.

You feel like someone’s reached right into your chest and given your heart a squeeze — and it only worsens when he laughs. He laughs, deep and quiet and warm, like a thunderstorm on a summer night. It feels cruel, to string you along like this when you’re here, lips parted, hanging off his every touch and his every word.

“Beautiful,” he says quietly as his other hand touches your jaw — it’s so damn reverent, this little moment in time, that you almost don’t believe it’s real.

It feels like a dream — like someone has come in and stolen your thoughts from you; like the unrequited yearning has finally stoked a fire large enough to burn you up entirely, a fever you never knew you wanted.

His nose brushes yours.

Your fingers wind into the fabric of his chest. You’re clinging, lost to the moment — and you can’t help wonder if this is how it feels when he catches you adoring him. He’s admiring you so tenderly that you nearly break.

You want to kiss him.

He’s thought about nothing but kissing you for the last five days at least. Longer in his dreams. Nowadays, it’s a constant pull, a constant want.

And now, it’s here — a present and current moment where it can happen. Where he can stop being a shiny cadet and he can make a move...

Enter Omega.

“Echo, we’re back—!”

The telltale hammer of a girl’s boots on the floor signals that the party is back from their supply run — but you’re so far off, spinning in a different universe, you don’t even hear her until its too late... Until Echo is yanking himself away and clearing his throat and rolling his wrist to test the prosthesis in a different way, a less intimate way. 

You blink, then rattle yourself back to the present. Omega is in the doorway staring with a quizzical look. Clearly, your state does little to dissuade the assumptions she’s already making and you can see the gears turning in her head. The dark-haired girl then slowly grins.

“Hi.”

You swallow. “Hi, Omega.”

“...Whatcha guys doin’?”

Echo coughs. “Uh, just fine-tuning the new upgrade.”

“...Riiiiiight.” 

You rub your cheeks and laugh — clearly forced and incredibly pained — as you stand up and nearly ram your head right into the top of Echo’s bunk. It’s met with a hiss of warning from the trooper as he jumps up to try and protect you from the impact. 

“Well! Uh, thanks for letting me help, Echo,” you clap, rocking back and forth on your boots, “I, uh... Oh, Cid called. I should... I should get back—”

“Yea,” he says, straining a bit to find the words, “Yea, I’ll... I’ll comm you if it starts to, uh... If it starts to act up?”

Omega watches the exchange, big brown eyes moving from left to right. 

“Good, great — yea, that’s,” you inhale as you rub your thighs and move towards the door, “Perfect. Okay.”

“Okay.”

“Bye!” Omega calls, waving.

You wave back, smiling. “Bye, Omega.”

Then, once it’s only Echo and Omega in the bunk, the tween speaks.

“...What the kriff was that?”

[incorrect-koh-posts]

If you search Krol Tredowaty in Polish you mighy find images of Baldwin IV. An early take. Very cool.

Oh, thank you for pointing that out to me! 💛

Have some lovely Baldwin IV cover illustrations for Zofia Kossak's 1937 novel The Leper King (Król Trędowaty):

I'm particularly fond of these two - I think the minimalist art style suits both the subject and our leprous boy quite well, and I like the design the artists chose for his cloak and veil.

I also came across a rather pretty Polish cover for the Bernard Hamilton book:

My version of the Kossak novel (published in Germany in 1964), sadly, looks quite boring in comparison:

And while we're on the subject: I have to admit I rather enjoyed Kossak's take on the events in the Holy Land between roughly 1176 and 1187. Of course, it is very old-fashioned in terms of its writing style, and far from historically accurate - but considering that it was published in 1937, long before most of the decisive academic works we know had been written, I think Kossak nonetheless did an admirable job with presenting the historical events in a way that is both comprehensible and somewhat entertaining. Being nitpicky about the details while having access to almost a hundred years' worth of further research would be a little unfair, in my opinion.

That said, I'm not sure this is the right novel for you to read if you are simply looking for some good sauce about Baldwin, since Kossak's portrayal of him is a bit of a mixed bag. In some instances, her Baldwin resembled the wise, gentle king we know from KoH very closely, but in others, he came across as whiny and wallowing in self-pity, acting much more childish than he should. (Remember: In that time and place, men were considered legal adults at the age of fifteen.) So, what I missed in Kossak's Baldwin sometimes was the inner strength that - according to the chroniclers - he must have possessed in spades. His mother Agnes of Courtenay, by the way, receives a similar treatment and is presented as an overweight clucking old hag, which is, unfortunately, the default characterisation she is given in older historical fiction.

Apart from that, though, The Leper King was a hoot. This may be just my particular brand of weirdness talking - I'm currently writing my thesis about medieval German literature, so go figure - but I unapologetically love those early literary takes on Baldwin & Co. Their differing characterisations of the various historical figures are always fun to compare, sometimes I merely get a good laugh out of them while other times I end up being surprised or even genuinely impressed. This novel, somehow, managed to pair the WTF-factor with moments that I found genuinely heart-warming and dialogue that was by turns either well-written or absolutely laughable.

To be fair, some of this can probably be chalked up to the translation because - let's face it - many things that sound fine in any other language become very odd, all of a sudden, when translated into German. Towards the end of the book, for example, Kossak covers the Hattin episode and thus briefly tells how Eschiva and her sons retreated into the citadel at Lake Tiberias when Salah ad-Din laid siege to the city. Upon hearing this news, Kossak's Raymond exclaims affectionately "Meine tapfere Alte!", which is best translated as "My valiant old lady!", and if that isn't the funniest shit ever, then I don't know.

What I also found particularly wholesome - though of course not historically viable - was the way Kossak depicted the relationship between Baldwin and Raymond. For some reason, she seems to think Raymond was Baldwin's uncle (when in reality he was his first cousin once removed), but the "favourite uncle & favourite nephew" dynamic she builds between them really works for this novel. As a Raymond fangirl, it was also quite refreshing to read something that showed him as both sympathetic AND ambitious and, for once, didn't make him do the whole "cackling evil relative who is after the crown" act.

In the German translation, Raymond repeatedly calls Baldwin fondly "Mein Junge" und "Mein Kleiner", which literally means "my boy" and "my little one". I'm not crying, you're crying. Baldwin, in turn, refers to Raymond as "Oheim", which is an old German term for "uncle" (specifically: the brother of the mother - imagine that: Raymond as Agnes of Courtenay's brother! 😂). Hence, while it is simply a genealogical mistake and historically speaking, of course, a cartload of bollocks, it nonetheless warms my heart that this novel chose to present us with the one and only depiction of a literal "Uncle Tibs".

So, yeah - this was a fun read.

[cloneforceenby]

Bad Batch AU: Omega and her many, many uncles ✨

This is a continuation of the "Five Clones & a Little Lady" Bad Batch AU/headcanons about The Bad Batch raising Omega from a baby. Let's talk about how our favourite clones would be as uncles to little Omega growing up! This was so fun to write, honestly.

Thank you @scarlettroseog for the help with these!!

Note: I've finally been decisive and this AU assumes everything up until and maybe just after the Citadel arc happened, meaning all our faves are still alive, except the Domino Squad; please accept my apologies to Droidbait, Cutup and Hevy for not being included in this. If its any consolation, this means Fives would absolutely for sure been there to help rescue Echo on Skako Minor.

Oh, and 99 is alive. He just is. Don’t question it.

Mando'a glossary:

Buir(e): father(s)

Ad'ika: daughter/little one

Ba'vodu: uncle

Ba'buir: grandfather

So, the many, many uncles, let's begin with the 501st (I will do other clones in another post!). I haven't fully decided where they are/what they're doing in this AU. Maybe they're on a nearby planet, I don't know. The main thing is that they visit often and Omega loves them. 

Rex: 

Hands down, the most trusted uncle of them all (you'll see why as I go on), besides Cut Lawquane. When Rex is in charge of babysitting, Hunter in particular can actually relax and get on with whatever he's doing, because he knows Omega is in good hands.

Rex is nervous to begin with, but Echo picks up on it and guides him through how to hold her safely. Tech quietly offers to show Rex the extremely useful baby care videos. Rex quietly accepts.

Due to incessant teasing from the 501st, Omega first refers to him as Grandpa Rex and calls him Ba'buir, but eventually she switches to Uncle/Ba'vodu Rex. She adores him, though, particularly because they're both blonde! He always has time for cuddles (no really, he will drop everything if Omega calls for him), is full of stories to tell her, and he might just secretly be her favourite.

Fives:

The self-proclaimed favourite, coolest uncle in the galaxy. Cried when Echo first called and told him about Omega. Due to being so close to Echo, Fives seems to believes himself to be the uncle-est of uncles. They're all her uncles, but he's the most uncle of them all. In fact, he was offended that no one got him a "congratulations on becoming an uncle" card. Rex writes a half-assed one on the back of a receipt to shut him up. Fives wasn't amused.

Fives is not allowed to babysit Omega alone and especially not with Jesse and Hardcase, because the three of them caring for her only ends in disaster, or Hunter crying. Case in point; Fives was once left in sole charge of Omega for 30 minutes and she wandered off without him noticing. It took him ten minutes to realise the child had disappeared. Cue panicked clones, Hunter in hysterics (can you tell he is the Anxious Dad™️ of the bunch?). Omega was found napping under Echo's bed. Turns out Fives had forgotten they were playing hide and seek. For Hunter's own sanity, Fives is never left in charge of Omega anymore.

Jesse:

Assumes he is in charge when Rex isn't around to babysit but he isn't. In reality, he isn't allowed to babysit without Kix of Dogma around to keep him and the others in check. Fives and Hardcase are the ringleaders for mischief, but he eggs them on and joins in, making him just as untrustworthy.

Once, he just stood back and watched as Fives and Hardcase allowed tiny Omega to eat her bodyweight in junk and candy, despite Crosshair having specifically left a meal for them to heat up for her. Crosshair gets home to his ad'ika looking a little green, and receives a lovely welcome home gift in the form of vomit. All over him.

For real though, Jesse is a sweetheart, and he was so honoured to even get to hold her when she was a baby. He turns into a total softie around her, making faces, playing peekaboo, all the baby talk. He listens so intently whenever she babbles or talks, and will fight any of the others to get to read her a bedtime story. He would quite literally kill a man for this little girl.

Hardcase: 

The Funcle™️, or so he claims. Heard once that babies are made of rubber (and therefore bounce), and believed it. He loves Omega to bits, but can't figure out why her buire (especially Hunter) look so fearful everytime he goes near her. Might have been the time he tried to yeet the weeks-old Omega into the air because he saw a guy throw his child in the air once, and the kid seemed to love it. Or when he brought an old 501st jetpack for four year old Omega to play with (Rex did not see him smuggle that on the ship when going to visit them, or he would have confiscated it). He means well, he does. But he also has little to no sense of danger, and for that reason, mone of Omega's buire allow him around her unsupervised.

Much to their despair, Omega adores Hardcase's chaos and often tries to copy him, which has previously ended in upset or injury. If Omega is hurt on his watch, though, Hardcase feels utterly awful. But then he never learns.

Kix: 

Now being a full time medic, the Bad Batch (mainly Hunter, Wrecker a very close second) practically have this guy on speed dial. Seriously, that little girl will fall and graze her knee and you'd think she was bleeding out. When Omega bumped her head because Wrecker wasn't looking where he was going with her sat on his shoulders, it was as if her head had been sliced clean off. Kix finds it adorable though, they just want their ad'ika to be safe and healthy, although he knows for a fact that Tech self-taught himself basic medical aid, and almost definitely extended that to baby and child care. He doesn't mind too much, Omega might just be the sweetest kid he knows, she comes out with the funniest and most profound things, so he'd never turn down a call from them.

He got Omega a tiny medkit because he'd always catch her trying to look inside his when he visits. One time they had a great day where he taught her some basic first aid, and her buire and many of her uncles ended up all wrapped up in bandages.

Kix is the actual second in command if Rex can't babysit, although he has on occasion allowed Hardcase, Fives and Jesse's antics as long as Omega is in no immediate danger. He is still one of the most trusted uncles, though.

Tup: 

MY SWEETHEART. THE MOST PURE. THE GENTLEST BOI. Tup knows two things when he goes to visit. First? He'll have a little shadow the entire time. Second, he will have his hair braided (with added flowers) at least twice. Omega will fight anyone who mocks him, usually Hardcase. Tup doesn't think he looks lovely, Tup KNOWS he looks lovely.

Tup is such a gentle soul and little Omega always ends up gravitating towards him. He's such a natural, and he's just so sweet with her. She'll chat away to him about anything and everything and he'll just sit and listen and talk about whatever she wants. He'll play dolls with her, take her out for walks (even if only to give her buire a break), read her stories, he'd do anything for his little niece. Their favourite activity together is probably painting, they create all kinds of masterpieces together, and usually Omega ends up putting a blob of paint under her eye like his teardrop tattoo. In fact, they often give each other face "tattoos" when they get bored of painting on paper.

Dogma: 

Has absolutely no interest in babies and barely knows Clone Force 99 anyway, so why should he care. He will emphasis his disinterest until he's blue in the face, and yet almost always ends up taking charge when the 501st babysit. Not to mention that he's been caught making faces at Omega to make her laugh and doing aaalllll the baby talk. And the fact he is consistently able to sooth Omega to sleep (something that annoys Hardcase endlessly, she always cried whenever he held her). Rex also found a holo picture of Dogma holding Omega, both of them smiling away. But sure, Dogma doesn't like babies.

Bonus! 99: 

Omega's Ba'buir! 99 might just be Omega's favourite person in the world, and her buire quickly realise that they have to take her to visit him every single day, or she will take matters into her own hands and take herself. No, really, Hunter was walking home one day to find little Omega toddling along on her own, Lula dragging behind her, on her way to 99's house. He only lives down the road, but its obviously too far for a small child to go alone.

99 was a large part in why the five of them committed to raising Omega. In the early days of her arrival, they were full of self doubt and didn't feel they could give her what she needed or be who she needed them to be. 99 reminded them that she was their blood, and that they never leave their own behind. He was so proud to see his squad become such great, loving buire to little Omega. They were so grateful that he helped them see sense.

Omega adores her ba'buir (who she called Ba/Baba when she was very little) and loves hearing all his stories of her buire growing up as well as all the clones he met on Kamino. She chats away to him about anything and everything, and they'll often bake all kinds of creations together. He also starts teaching her how to fish! He always enjoys her company, she reminds him so much of each of her buire, and he's so proud to he the one she calls her ba'buir.

Random extra headcanons:

- Fives, Jesse and Hardcase once had a great time tormenting Hunter by sending him constant holo-images of Omega in various staged hazardous situations. One of Fives pretending to put Omega in the oven, another of her sleeping on the couch surrounded by empty beer cans (this one freaked Tech out because he thought she really had been given alcohol, bless you Tech), you name it. Hunter did not enjoy his child-free night and went home early. Kix was in charge that night, but he saw it as harmless fun, so didn't put a stop to it.

- sometimes the 501st have a contest where they all kneel down and try to get Omega to run to them. Fives always insists it'll be him, but it never is. She usually runs to Rex or Tup, although at least once Dogma was the lucky clone. One time, Omega stared at the line of clones staring back at her and instead just burst into tears and ran right back to her Cross'buir, who scooped her up into his arms and very smugly said "I win."

[lokiondisneyplus]

Most Marvel post-credit scenes hint at the future. Loki opted for a blunter approach: the God of Mischief would return in season 2.

Based on the final turn of events, there was really no other choice: Loki (Tom Hiddleston), having journeyed to the furthest point in spacetime with his variant Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) to meet the founder of the TVA, a scientist-turned-survivor-of-multiversal-war known as He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors), finds himself zapped into a new reality when his lady self slays the omnipresent being. The mind reels!

Creator Michael Waldron takes delight in the endless possibilities of Loki’s core premise. And as a veteran of Rick and Morty, he knows what anchors a mind-bending show, and what will keep Hiddleston’s character hurtling through his chaotic, rewritten future. Below, Polygon talks to Waldron about landing on the key choices of Loki season 1, what to expect from season 2, and a bit on his next project, the wrestling drama Heels, which is set to premiere on Aug. 15.

Did you know there’d be a second season of Loki from the beginning or was that choice made later in the process?

Michael Waldron: We always knew that it was a possibility. We always knew that we wanted to propel Loki and these characters out into the MCU after this, into further stories. But that didn’t really crystallize as a sure thing until we were in production and everything. And as we were really figuring out the finale.

So you were still cracking the ending as you shot the show?

There was a hiatus due to the pandemic. So things were constantly being retooled because of that. I think, by and large, everything with He Who Remains and the Sylvie-Loki conflict was always there. But that cliffhanger was the sort of thing that suddenly became a really appealing opportunity, a chance for that to lead into a second season.

What element of the series helped you crack the macro story of Loki, and made all the other pieces fall into place? Each episode almost feels like a standalone adventure, similar to Rick and Morty, but what helped it all click?

The first couple of weeks in the writers room was just laying out the individual episodes. It was very important to me that each episode stood on its own, and you could say “This is the Lamentis episode,” “This is the apocalypse moon episode,” “This is the Void episode.” I didn’t want it to just be cut up chapters and have one long continuous story. Obviously, we had to figure out the time travel for things to slot into place. I think a big idea for us was the way you get around the TVA by hiding in apocalypses. That felt like such a big, cool, exciting idea that it drove the action of episode 2, episode 3, and in a way it’s like Alioth is the ultimate apocalypse that He Who Remains is hiding behind. That sci-fi idea cracked a lot open for us. I know that after we had that I went home and I slept a little sounder.

Did adding the multiverse to the Marvel Cinematic Universe feel like blowing something up or expanding it, in terms of narrative possibilities?

In the same way that after the first couple Iron Man movies, and with the first Avengers, suddenly these movies were kind of going to space. Then we had Guardians. I think of the multiverse as another version of that. It’s new ground to cover, and particularly interesting because characters meeting other versions of themselves and other versions of people they know is... cool. That’s just a cool sci-fi concept! But I think with anything, as you expand outward, it only works if the humanity remains. It’s exciting to watch characters dealing with big crazy multiversal conflicts because we can see ourselves in them. I think you just have to hold on to the humanity that makes these stories work in the first place.

Did you go back to the Thor movies for Loki? Was there anything to find in the past of Marvel as you were paving the future?

Absolutely. I mean I watched them many times, contrary to what Twitter might think because I did some bits on there saying that I’ve never seen Avengers and I upset some people [laughs]. I have seen it many times. “Confirmed: Loki writer has seen Avengers and saw it before writing Loki show.”

In fact, I was watching all these movies on a loop in the writers’ room. I gleaned so much because you watch the evolution of the character. Avengers was particularly informative because our story picks up Loki right after that, but I also I found a lot of inspiration in Thor: The Dark World, a maybe sometimes maligned movie that I actually really enjoy. I just think there’s great stuff with Loki being tangentially responsible for the death of his mother, how he reacts to that. That is the start of his journey of that version of Loki’s redemption, so I was inspired by that.

What’s propelling the characters into season 2? Where are you headed in basic terms?

In season 1, you saw a lot of characters reckoning with and questioning their own glorious purpose, and that glorious purpose changing, [characters] realizing that that can change. Everybody except for Sylvie. I think she holds onto hers, which is vengeance, and to the detriment of us all, perhaps. And we’ve got a Loki who, at the top of our show, assessed himself as a villain and, I would argue, at the end of our show, has become a little bit of a hero. There’s nothing more heroic to me than fighting for the right thing and losing. You see that washing over him as he’s there back at the TVA, after Sylvie has knocked back there. And then he gets up because that is what heroes do — they keep going. So I think that you’re gonna see a Loki that looks at himself in a different way certainly that at the top of this.

Do you hope to explore more of Sylvie’s backstory in season 2?

I guess we’ll see. We certainly have our own rich backstory for her, stuff that didn’t get to make it into the show. Elissa Karasik, our episode 2 writer, wrote a lot of amazing backstory for Sylvia and everything. So those ideas exist out there.

And her version of Thor?

Tune in.

How did He Who Remains come about? Did you bring the character to Marvel or was that a character Marvel hoped to introduce?

I was pushing and our team was pushing early on in the writers’ room that it should be a version of Kang up in that Citadel, sort of fusing the mythology of He Who Remains with a little bit of the Immortus mythology. And that was a thing we were excited to do. And it became clear that it actually made sense for our story. The only way we were going to do it was if it made sense, but it was like, who had a better argument for creating the TVA to prevent other versions of themselves from existing then a guy as evil as Kang the Conqueror?

You wrote the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — did Marvel hire you for that after Loki? Does the movie feel like a continuation of the show?

Yeah, that opportunity came as we were getting ready to start production on Loki. It was a pleasure. I got to work with Sam Raimi, a hero of mine. I was in London for five months making that movie at the top of this year. We had a blast. I think that it’s a continuation in as much as ever every Marvel movie is to some extent a chapter in an ongoing story, but these things are meant to stand alone and the most important thing about Doctor Strange too is making the most kick ass Doctor Strange movie we could.

Is Loki a two-part show now or are you invested in telling a longer story with future seasons beyond season 2?

Time will tell, but I do my hope is that season 1 stands on its own. We always wanted to tell a complete story there. And in whatever the next chapter may be will stand on its own as well.

Your next show, Heels, is already on the way. We got a big preview out of Comic-Con this year, but I’m curious about the scope of this story. You’re starting with two brothers running an independent wrestling franchise, but you’ve dropped the name “Vince McMahon” a few times — is this about the building of an empire? Would you liken it to The Godfather or Breaking Bad?

I always thought about it a little bit of a Scorsese-sort-of rise, and we’ll see if there’s a fall. Starting from humble beginnings and trying to build some crazy. Wrestling was certainly not always the empire that it is and that’s what’s interesting, to watch the evolution of a family-run wrestling business from something you do in your small towns and perhaps a national, even global empire. That would be a really compelling arc for a show over the course of several seasons. I’d be excited to explore that.

What’s the most dramatically fulfilling wrestling moment you’ve witnessed? What’s the bar for the wrestling drama of Heels?

It’s gotta be Hulk Hogan turning heel in the WCW. There was an invasion storyline, these guys from WWF, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, came over and they were the bad guys. It was at a Pay-per-view and and they were beating up on the good guys that you love, and here comes Hulk Hogan in the yellow and red and he’s the hero. “The Hulk’s gonna get ‘em! The good guy’s here!” And then the Hulk just leg drops Randy Savage. That was the original Red Wedding. I just think about the boldness of turning him heel. To a little kid... I wasn’t even like a massive Hulk fan, but he was just such a mythological figure. What a chance that Hulk Hogan took as a performer, as a bankable kind of movie star at that point. That was bold, risky storytelling and it set off two years of amazing storytelling with Hogan just playing a craven, cowardly heel and just being so evil. I really respect the hell out of them for doing that. That was a great storyline.

[phoenixsoul13]

Ada Henrietta as a ME Companion

Name: Ada Henrietta Gray Alias: The Medic Birthdate: Monday 13 Dec 2156 Class, Specialization: Engineer, Field Medic Weapons: Heavy Pistol, Submachine Gun

Unique Powers: Protective Drone “Ada activates her personal drone, Lady, which does its best to protect the team by drawing enemy fire and boosting shields.”

Lady’s Stats: 50% of Ada’s health/shields Duration: 60 Seconds Team Shields: +25%

Rank 4 Evolutions 1. Part of the Team: “Lady has received a boost of her own to keep her on the field.”       Lady’s Stats: 75% of Ada’s health/shields       Duration: 180 Seconds 2. Lady the Nurse: “Lady has received an upgrade to assist health regeneration.”       +50% Team Health Regeneration

Urgent Care “If Ada knows nothing else, she knows how to get people back on their feet. The team member with the lowest health will be healed without using Shepard’s medi-gel stash.”

Ada will move to and heal whoever has the lowest health between Shepard and the other squadmate (if unconscious, the other squadmate will be revived), who will be back to 80% health/shields/barriers after 10 seconds; for the first 5 seconds, neither they nor Ada can participate in combat. During the 10 seconds, they will both be protected by a kinetic bubble and will not take damage during this time. Can only be used 3 times without restocking medi-gel or returning to the Normandy.

Rank 4 Evolutions 1. Speedy Recovery: “Ada’s affection for her team members has her moving faster than ever.”    The patient will be back to 80% health after 5 seconds, and they and Ada will only be out of combat for 2 seconds.

2. Prepared for Anything: “Ada has learned to always have extra medi-gel on hand when out with Shepard.”     Ada will now be able to use this ability 5 times without restocking medi-gel or returning to the Normandy. In addition, the patient will be brought back to full health.

Healing Touch (Passive) “Having a combat medic on the team helps them fight harder and longer.”

Team’s Weapon Damage: +25% Team’s Power Damage: +25% Team’s Health: +25%

Rank 4 Evolutions 1. All for One: “Where would they be without their leader? With Ada in the party, Shepard gets an additional health boost.” Shepard’s Health: +50% (instead of the base +25%)

2. One for All: “Everyone knows Ada would fight Hades himself to keep them alive. The whole team gets an additional weapons/power boost.”     Team’s Weapon/Power Damage: +50%

Medic Armor (Loyalty Power) “If Ada falls, the team’s lost their medic. Ada gains blue tech armor that protects her health in more ways than one.”

Ada’s Shields: +50% Ada’s Health Regeneration: +10%

Rank 4 Evolutions 1. Here to Stay: “Ada’s not going to quit any time soon. When destroyed, her tech armor gives her a major health boost.”     Ada’s Health: +100%     Duration: 60 Seconds

2. Self Defense: “Having extra armor has made Ada a little less cautious about engaging in active combat.”     Ada’s Weapon Damage: +25%

Armor: Pre-loyalty, Ada’s armor is basic light, grey with pink and blue accents. Post-loyalty, Ada’s armor is the same model, but white with pink accents and her new light blue tech armor overlaid.

Origin: Colonist

Up until she was almost fourteen, Ada had a perfectly normal childhood. Ada was born on the Citadel, but only a few months later, she, her sister, and parents all moved to Terra Nova as her parents, now no longer Alliance, wanted to give their children the best life they could. She loved it as home, and was very sad to leave when she was eight and her parents decided that the family should move out to Mindoir, to get away from the city. Ada loved places buzzing with technology, like the Citadel, and Mindoir was… not that. She made do though. Since she was young, she enjoyed tinkering, trying to reprogram things to get them to run more efficiently, or to do something silly to make her baby sister laugh, and she continued that on their farm on Mindoir (to her parents’ annoyance). It wasn’t her ideal life, but she loved it nonetheless.

In 2170, Mindoir was attacked by Batarian slavers and Ada’s life changed. Her parents were killed. Her elder sister defended the house until Alliance forces arrived. Once rescued, custody of Ada and her sisters was given to their aunts, and they moved in with them and their cousin. The transition from Mindoir to living on Alliance bases and ships was rough, and only made manageable by the love and care they received from their family. This was especially so of Cousin Joyce, who clearly did everything she could to help the three sisters process their grief.

Psychological Profile: Disillusioned

Ada wanted to attend university to study technology, but she didn’t have the funds, so she decided to follow in her parents’ footsteps and joined the Alliance in 2175 under the deferred education plan. Her parents had left the Alliance shortly after her birth, and while they had never overtly praised it, they’d also never said anything negative about it up before they died either. She ended up enjoying the thrill of combat, though still acted in very tech-heavy roles. She first caught the attention of her superiors after the attack on Elysium in 2176, where she helped hold off pirate forces. This was also her first time acting as a field medic, by necessity given the limited number of personnel. To her surprise, she found she enjoyed it, more than she enjoyed actively fighting other people. Ada was starting to feel like she had a place in the Alliance, though she disagreed with their stance on trying to forcibly integrate themselves into a position of power in galactic politics. But she still felt she was in the best position to do some good.

This changed the following year when her dear cousin Joyce was one of the fatalities of a thresher maw attack on Akuze. The Alliance seemed more concerned with celebrating the one survivor than investigating how a colony ended up being built so close to a thresher maw nest to begin with. Ada wouldn’t have called herself an expert, but growing up on Mindoir gave her the sense that this was no accident. The thresher maws should’ve been discovered long before the colony was built. But every Alliance official she spoke to said her grief was clouding her judgment. That it was just a terrible accident. Even her Alliance-appointed grief counselor, who initially seemed sympathetic, appeared to be trying to guide her in that direction of thought. Ada started doubting her own suspicions, but the worry in her gut refused to leave.

The year after that, Ada found herself on Torfan. The site of the Alliance’s retaliation towards the Batarians. Ada could understand the innate need for vengeance. She’d lived through Mindoir. But the death and carnage she saw there, it wasn’t the answer. Every soldier that died as she tried to stem the blood flow. Every thousand-yard stare she saw when she looked up from the latest corpse. Every shot fired at a surrendering Batarian. It all was too much. When Ada left Torfan, the Alliance celebrating their “victory”, she realized the Alliance she had believed in only a few short years ago didn’t exist. It probably had never existed.

The last few months of her required service felt like a century, and her supervisor’s inquiry as to whether she’d be reenlisting was only met with hysterical laughter.

The second she was free of the Alliance, Ada applied to the Allied Galaxy University on the Citadel in a pre-med program. She also, at her younger sister’s suggestion, started seeing a therapist that wasn’t on the Alliance’s payroll, hoping to untangle the mental damage her years in the Alliance had done to her. She was paranoid, she kept smelling blood when she shouldn’t be, but she was free now, damn it, and she was going to keep it that way.

Recruitment Dossier Text:

Ada Henrietta Gray - Combat Medic, squad support - Former Alliance soldier with expertise in technology and field medical application.

Ada H. Gray left Alliance service six years ago and has been one of their strongest critics ever since. While to all public knowledge, she hasn’t touched combat since leaving the Alliance, Cerberus intel reveals that in addition to self-defense practice, Ms. Gray has been in multiple combat situations in the shadier parts of the Wards. She can usually be found either at Allied Galactic University or at her job at Tazzik’s Tech Repair shop.

Recruitment Mission ME2:

Ada’s recruitment mission is available in the first round of dossiers, but will disappear if Lair of the Shadow Broker is completed beforehand. Bringing Garrus along on the recruitment mission will result in some unique/extra dialogue.

To start Ada’s recruitment mission, Shepard must speak to Anderson and ask about her. Anderson will question Shepard’s interest, to which Shepard can be honest and say they’re thinking about recruiting her, or say it doesn’t matter why and push him again for information.

If Shepard is honest, he’ll say he’s glad Shepard is considering a combat medic, and Ada Gray was one of the best, but Alliance intel has flagged her as a potential risk given her open criticism of the Alliance and suspected involvement in Shadow Broker activities on the Citadel. “Of course, if you get her on your mission, both she and the Alliance may end up thanking you.” Shepard can question why the Alliance cares about Ada working for the Shadow Broker, to which Anderson replies, “Alliance intel gets a little nervous when someone who used to be in the Alliance gets involved in the information market. A lot of lives could be put at risk depending on the information being shared.”

If Shepard refuses to explain, Anderson will mention her open criticism of the Alliance, and that Alliance intel is keeping an eye on her, but no specifics, followed by a comment depending on Shepard’s military history.

War Hero: “The medical corp first noticed her during the Skyllian Blitz, where she took to field medic duty like a duck to water.” Sole Survivor: “I believe her cousin was in your unit on Akuze. Alliance gossip says she started loosing faith shortly after that tragedy.” Ruthless: “She was on Torfan, and has been openly critical of what happened there ever since. I’d tread carefully, Shepard.”

Regardless of the path taken, Shepard can thank Anderson for the information, or ask if he has any more; if it’s the latter, Anderson will apologize, but say that’s all he has for them.

Upon leaving the Presidium level, or subsequent arrivals to the Citadel, EDI will mention that according to C-SEC surveillance, Ada appears to be at her job.

After traveling to a level of Kithoi Ward, only available for this recruitment mission, Shepard will be able to walk around and explore before finding Ada. There is a massive video game store with VR demos (if Shepard tries to use one, a squadmate will protest, saying they need to find Ada), a turian food stand, and an area with public terminals. There is also an elevator and a stairway, but Shepard refuses to use them.

A cutscene starts as soon as Shepard enters the repair shop. Ada is sitting on the back counter, reading what appears to be a medical text, but she looks up as Shepard and their teammates enter.

If Garrus is brought along, Ada will immediately get down from the counter, hastily tossing her book aside.

Ada: Garrus, where the hell have you been? Garrus: It’s… a long story. Ada: Your sister hadn’t heard from you in so long she called me.

Shepard can ask how they know each other; Garrus will hesitate, but Ada will simply explain they used to date a few years ago.

Regardless, Ada will add that she’s not surprised to see him with Shepard.

If Garrus is not brought along, after Shepard enters, Ada will greet them and place a bookmark in her textbook before setting it aside and asking, “How can I help the great Commander Shepard?” If Shepard has the Ruthless background, a stronger, less friendly emphasis will be placed on ‘great’.

If Shepard inquires about her nonchalance about Shepard being alive, Ada will only shrug and say she likes to keep her ear close to the rumor mill. She’ll then ask how she can help them.

Paragon: I need your help on an important mission to stop the Collectors. They’re abducting human colonists. (+1 recruitment point)       Ada: …the ones that the Alliance aren’t investigating.

Renegade: I’m recruiting you to stop the Collectors.       Ada: Well that’s… something.

Either way, Ada will say that while she’s flattered, she’s been out of the combat business for years and is in the middle of med school, which she is disinclined to leave.

Garrus, if present, will comment that he understands where she’s coming from, but they could really use her expertise. Ada will smile softly, but shake her head.

Shepard’s options:  

Investigate: Couldn’t you study remotely?       Ada: Possibly, but rumors suggest your mission is suicidal, and I’ll admit I’m selfish enough that I want to live. Paragon: I know this is a difficult decision, but we could really use your help.       Ada: I’m sorry, I just… can’t. Renegade: You know what? Fine. Forget it.       Ada: [Ada uses a monotone tone.] Have a nice day. Charm: The Alliance isn’t doing anything. You could help us save those colonists. (+1 recruitment point)       Ada: I know, I just- Intimidate: We know you’re involved in something. You’ve been seen in combat far more recently than six years ago.       Ada: [Ada stares silently at Shepard, as if daring them to continue.] Intimidate (replaces the above if Shepard learned from Anderson that Ada is suspected of working for the Shadow Broker): We know you’re working for the Shadow Broker.       Ada: [Ada goes very still, as if she’s nervous but wants to hide it.] ….and?

Before Shepard can say anything else, Ada’s omni-tool beeps. As she reads a message, she frowns and says, “Sorry, you’re going to have to leave. We’re closed.” Despite any protests, Shepard and the squad are removed from the shop as Ada closes it up. If present, Garrus will start to say something.

Garrus: Ada… Ada: Sorry babe; call me later?

Before she rushes off towards the stairwell, a messenger bag slung over her shoulder.

Squadmate #1 (Garrus if he’s present): So… we’re going after her, right? [Shepard runs towards the stairs] Squadmate #2: Looks like it.

The team follows Ada at a distance, enough to easily hide when she glances back. Unfortunately, they lose sight of her a few times, but EDI is able to guide them in the right direction by checking C-SEC cameras. Eventually, Ada enters a back hallway that’s dimly lit. When Shepard enters, they can see Ada walking towards a group of mercs. Most appear to be in one squad of about half a dozen people milling around the other half of the hallway, but there are two, an asari sitting on a crate and a salarian leaning against the wall that don’t appear to be with this group. Unlike most civilians dealing with mercs, Ada appears confident rather than nervous. Shepard sneaks forward in order to hear the conversation.

Lead Merc: -bring it? Ada: Of course.

Ada pulls a small datapad out of her bag and waves it slightly at the lead merc, but pulls it back when they reach for it.

Ada: Hold up. Transfer the credits first. Lead Merc: Give me the datapad. Ada: That’s not how this works.

In the next second, guns are pulled by everyone except Ada and the asari. The lead merc heads for Ada, shooting; Ada ducks, accidentally dropping the datapad as she activates her omni-tool. Whatever she does causes the lead merc’s gun to start sparking and him to yell out in pain.

Before Shepard and their squad can get into the fight themselves, it’s already over, with only Ada, the asari, and the salarian still standing.

Ada: God damn it. Asari: Told you so. Ada: Not the time, Kel, please.

Ada starts checking the bodies of the mercs, trying to see if any of them survived (they did not), and closing their eyes. As Shepard and their group approach, the two remaining mercs prepare to fight again. Ada looks up and sighs as she sees Shepard. “I should’ve known better than to hope that you hadn’t followed me. Kel, Dayl, they’re fine.” Ada then moves to check on any wounds or injuries that Kel and Dayl might have. (Kel has no injuries and moves to start discarding the mercs’ bodies; Dayl has a shoulder wound that Ada treats during the following conversation.)

Depending on whether they learned about Ada’s possible connection to the Shadow Broker or not, Shepard will ask what the meeting was all about, or ask if Ada works for the Shadow Broker. Ada will confirm the suspicions, or explain about the Shadow Broker. If asked why, Ada will respond, “Shepard, do you know how expensive med school is?” adding “and therapy, and rent,” under her breath. If Shepard got info about Saren from Barla Von in ME1, then Ada will add, “Besides, it’s not like you haven’t used the Shadow Broker’s information before.” If Shepard didn’t, Ada will say, “Besides, you’re currently working for a terrorist organization. You have no right to judge me.”

Ada finishes wrapping a bandage around Dayl’s shoulder, and gives her instructions on how to take care of it, which she waves off with a “Sure sure”. Kel hands Ada the datapad that she dropped earlier, which has a cracked and dark screen.

Ada: Damn it; they just don’t make them how they used to. Kel: I’m going to get Dayl home. [Kel glances warily at Shepard.] You gonna be okay? (If Garrus is present.) Ada: I’ll be fine. Go on. (If Garrus is not present.) Ada: [Ada glances sideways at Shepard.] Go on. I’ll take care of it.

After Dayl and Kel leave, Ada sighs and starts packing up her medical supplies. “I assume you still want me to join you.”

Shepard: No. I don’t think you’ll be a good fit.       Ada: Really? After you followed me all the way down here? [She blows a piece of hair out of her face.] Fine. (Recruitment Failed.) Shepard: I do. You’d be a good fit for the team.       Ada: Okay, I’ll admit I’m a bit tempted. I’m… admittedly a bit tired of this business, though I can’t imagine fighting with you will be that much different. So… I don’t know. I want to help, but things are… *shrugs uncertainly*

Investigate: If you need money, Cerberus can pay you enough to fund the rest of med school when we’re done.       Ada: I… really don’t want their blood money. If I agree to this, I’ll only be taking enough to make sure my sister has a home while I’m gone. Paragon: I understand. Take care of yourself.       Ada: ..thanks. Good luck. (Recruitment Failed.) Renegade: I need people that are committed to the mission, so if that’s not you, then say so.       Ada: Fine. It’s not me. (Recruitment Failed.) Charm*: I understand how you feel. But you can do some good. We need to save those colonists.       Ada: ..fine, you got me. I’m in. (Recruitment Succeeded!) Intimidate*: Those colonists need our help. Are you willing to do what the Alliance isn’t?       Ada: …yes, yes I am. (Recruitment Succeeded!)

*both of these checks start out at the max level and can be reduced by collecting recruitment points throughout the mission, of which there are three (two in dialogue selections, and one in bringing Garrus).

If Shepard fails to recruit Ada, she will leave quickly, though briefly speak to Garrus if he’s present (telling him to stay safe and call his sister). If Shepard succeeds, Ada will say she has some things to take care of, but she’ll meet them on the ship within 24 hours. Garrus, if present, will tell her welcome to the team, at which she grins.

Where Are They On The Ship ME2: Ada can be found in the med bay, usually sitting on the counters across from the windows (much to Chakwas’s feigned annoyance).

Once recruited, Ada can be asked about: Family: Ada can be asked about her family. If Shepard brought up Ada being payed at the end of her recruitment mission, they can ask specifically about the sister she mentioned. Either way, she’ll enthuse about her younger sister Moira, who’s an artist, and lives with her on the Citadel.             Any other family?: Ada will mention her two aunts that are both in the Alliance, and reluctantly mention that she has an older sister, also in the Alliance, she and Moira are estranged from. Her parents died in a slaver attack on Mindoir, and she’ll refuse to talk more about it.                   (Locked behind loyalty mission) Shepard can ask why Ada is estranged from her older sister. She’ll sigh, before explaining that her older sister Erin was not happy with Ada criticizing the Alliance and Ada and Moira ended up cutting off contact because Erin couldn’t not take it personally.

Alliance: If asked about her time in the Alliance, Ada will talk about enjoying the challenges of learning under pressure, and discovering her love of being a medic. Ada will be reluctant to talk about her criticisms of the Alliance unless Shepard expresses that they have similar feelings. If asked about why she left, Ada will mention Torfan being the catalyst, but refuse to elaborate, especially if Shepard has the Ruthless background.

Shadow Broker: Asking Ada about her work for the Shadow Broker will, before her loyalty mission, lead to her being vague. She’ll allude to some issues about being able to trust people, but it pays well. After her loyalty mission, she’ll admit that she had been getting concerned about getting out of the business, but as she still needed the money, she had pushed aside those thoughts. If Lair of the Shadow Broker hasn’t been completed, Shepard can ask if she wants to go after the Shadow Broker, but she’ll state she doesn’t know where to start. If Lair of the Shadow Broker has been completed, she express relief that the new Shadow Broker is “a bit more sympathetic”.

Loyalty Mission: Ada will be sitting in a chair in the med bay, hunched over a textbook, though she’s clearly not really reading it as she hasn’t flipped the page in several minutes. Occasionally she pulls at her hair and her leg is bouncing with nervous energy. Shepard calls out her name, and Ada startles, sitting up and letting out a short scream as the textbook falls to the floor.

Ada apologizes and swears under her breath as she picks up the textbook, but she stares at the cover rather than opening it back up or setting it down. Her eyes are red and face blotchy; she’s clearly been crying earlier.

Shepard: Ada, are you okay? Ada: [She sighs heavily.] No, no I’m not. Shepard: What’s wrong? Ada: Here, just..

Pulling up her omni-tool, Ada starts playing an audio message.

Voice (clearly run through a disguise modulator): The Shadow Broker doesn’t tolerate betrayal, Ms. Gray. If you want to see your sister Moira again, bring Shepard and enough info on Cerberus to make back what we’ve paid you to these coordinates. Then maybe we’ll let your sister go.

Shepard:

Investigate: Betrayal?       Ada: I didn’t… I checked in with my contact before leaving with you. He said it was fine. I don’t know what’s happened, but now I can’t reach him or my sister.             Further Investigate: Are you sure your contact could be trusted?                   Ada: Hard to trust anyone in this business. Paragon: We’ll get your sister back.       Ada: I… I couldn’t imagine asking. Thank you, Shepard. Renegade: I won’t be bait.       Ada: No, I.. I understand. I’ll try to figure something out.

(If Shepard doesn’t complete Ada’s Loyalty mission before going through the Omega-4 Relay, and Ada survives the Suicide Mission, Ada will disappear from the ship afterwards, presumably to rescue her sister.)

(If Lair of the Shadow Broker has already been completed before receiving this mission, additional/alternate dialogue will note that these must be agents of the former Shadow Broker, though whether the plans were already in motion or these agents are acting on their own is unknown.)

The coordinates that Ada received lead to the planet Euntanta in the Crescent Nebula. The shuttle lands outside the mercenary base at night, but even with environmental suits, the temperature is still sweltering. Approaching the door, Ada is clearly anxious, hugging herself and looking around, clearly expecting an ambush.

If Garrus was chosen as the other squadmate, he’ll put his hand on her shoulder. “We’ll get her back.” Ada will reach up to grab his hand on her shoulder before nodding and heading towards the intercom.

If Garrus isn’t present, Shepard will have the option to either say, “We’ll get your sister back.” or “Let’s get this over with.” Either way, Ada will nod weakly before heading towards the intercom.

After a brief exchange, they’ll be let into the base and immediately faced with at least half a dozen guns.

Mercenary: “Disarm. Now.” Shepard: “And if we don’t?” Mercenary: [Shoots Ada’s leg before anyone can blink.]

Ada cries out in pain and crumples to the floor. An renegade interrupt appears. If taken, Shepard will shoot the mercenary and a fight breaks out, meaning they have to fight their way into the base. If not, the team drops their guns and are taken to a cell, meaning they will have to fight their way out.

Fighting In Shepard and the team fight through multiple rooms and corridors. Ada is noticeably slower to move in combat, and her health never goes above 70%. There are less enemies overall though since the ones at the entrance were already taken out. Partway through the base, Ada stops following Shepard.

Ada: I need… a minute. Just a minute. Paragon: Is it your leg?       Ada: Yeah. Renegade: We don’t have time.       Ada: I know… but-

With a grimace, Ada slides down a wall to the floor.

Ada: Fuck. I need to take care of this. Just a moment… Paragon: Okay. We’ll scout on ahead. Shout if you need us.       Ada: [Pained laugh] Luckily I’m good at that. Renegade: Fine. You’re slowing us down anyway.       Ada: Your bedside manner is terrible, Shepard.

Despite her tone, Ada is clearly distraught at slowing the team down, and makes Shepard (and Garrus, if present) promise to get her sister Moira out alive.

Before Shepard and the other squadmate can leave though, two mercenaries enter the room, guns held up in a surrendering gesture. They’re Kel and Dayl, from Ada’s recruitment mission. They quickly explain they were brought into this not being told the whole story, which while not abnormal, quickly made things suspicious when Moira was captured. It seemed their loyalty to the Shadow Broker was being tested. Shepard is given the option which to take with them to fill Ada’s slot (Kel - Adept or Dayl - Infiltrator); the other will stay behind with Ada while she treats her leg.

A hallway and a room later, the team enters the last hallway just in time to see the door at the end be biotically ripped off. Moments later, a young woman with purple hair and black lipstick stumbles through the doorway: Ada’s sister Moira.

Moira: Okay, where’s the asshole that locked me in here?

(Alternatively, if Garrus is present) Moira: Garrus? What the hell happened to your face? Garrus: A rocket. Moira: [Without missing a beat] Bullshit.

Kel/Dayl either says that the merc is probably already dead, since they’ve killed everyone on their way in, or that this isn’t the time, since while they’ve killed all the mercs here, there may be more connected to this group and they should get out while they can.

Fighting Out The team is taken to the cell and escorted in. At the sight of her sister, Ada pulls from a merc’s grip and wraps Moira into a tight hug. As Ada attends to her leg (after making sure Moira was unharmed), Moira explains that she had received a message supposedly from Ada that explained she was stopping by the Citadel and to meet her at the docks. “I should’ve known something was up; it was missing your usual sign-off, but I figured you’d just been busy and forgot.” It was there she’d been kidnapped and brought to “this god-forsaken planet.”

They quickly devise a plan to break out, involving either Ada and Shepard overloading the door, ‘causing it to open (if Shepard is a tech class), or Moira and Shepard ripping the door off (if Shepard is a biotic class), or tricking the door into opening by shooting the fire sprinkler on the ceiling (available to all Shepards).

As in the Fighting In version, the team fights through multiple rooms and corridors, though with a greater number of enemies and Ada’s health never going above 90%. (Moira doesn’t join in the fighting proper, at Ada’s request, as she has no real combat experience. Shepard may occasionally see an enemy get thrown into a wall though, even if no one in the squad has biotics.) Earlier than in the Fighting In version, a halt is called, this time by Moira, as she notices Ada is starting to falter.

Moira: You need a break. Ada: I can wait until we get out of here. Moira: No, sit down.

Ada reluctantly sits and slightly grimaces at her leg.

Ada: Maybe I should check it out. Paragon: Okay. We’ll scout on ahead. Shout if you need us.       Ada: Will do. Renegade: Fine. We’ll mop up the rest without you.       Moira: Fuck you too.

As in the Fighting In version, Kel and Dayl appear, explain their story, and Shepard chooses who to take with in the fight to the entrance. (Moira, of course, also stays with Ada.) Once they reach the entrance, they briefly contact the Normandy to be on stand-by.

Conclusion Hurrying back to where they left Ada and Dayl/Kel, they enter the room to see medical supplies scattered around Ada, who’s being held at gunpoint by a merc that apparently slipped by the group. Dayl/Kel are sprawled on the floor, either unconscious or dead.

Moira (from the doorway if Fighting In was done, from the floor where she was apparently knocked down if Fighting Out was done), seeing Ada in danger, throws a biotic blast at the merc. He stumbles, but isn’t knocked over, and Moira has to dodge his returning shot. He returns his attention to Ada.

Merc: You really thought you could just walk away? Ada: I asked you, Phillips! You said I could leave! Phillips: And you believed me? Ada: …I wanted to. Phillips: [He scoffs.] No one walks away from the Shadow Broker.

(Alternatively, if Lair of the Shadow Broker has been completed.) Merc: You really thought we wouldn’t know you helped kill our boss? Ada: What are you talking about, Phillips? Phillips: You thought we wouldn’t notice how much softer whoever you put in charge was? We haven’t been ordered to eliminate anyone in weeks. Ada: I didn’t- Phillips: Shut up. You think I’ll believe you?

A Renegade interrupt appears. If taken, Shepard shoots Phillips’s hand. If not taken, Garrus (if present), or Kel/Dayl (whichever was left behind with Ada, having apparently regained consciousness) will shoot to disarm him. As he yells out in pain, Ada scrambles to grab a gun, and when she does so, Phillips finds himself at gunpoint. He starts to say, “You think this will sto-” but never has the chance to finish as Ada shoots him in the head. After Phillips drops dead to the floor, Moira rushes to Ada’s side and the sisters hug tightly, Ada looking over Moira’s shoulder at Phillips’s corpse in a look that’s difficult to decipher.

Wrap Up Sometime later, back on the Normandy, Shepard enters the med bay where Chakwas is checking over Ada, Dayl, and Kel. Moira can be seen in the background in one of the beds, seemingly asleep. Chakwas is going over treatment instructions, which she pauses as she sees Shepard. “Commander, have you ever heard of doctor-patient confidentiality?”

Kel waves off the concern, saying they’re going to be leaving shortly anyway. She and Dayl head towards the door, Chakwas following with treatment supplies. Shepard turns to Ada, who’s sitting on the edge of a bed.

Investigate #1: They’re getting off at Illium?       Ada: Yeah; I said we could drop them off at the Citadel, but they’d rather get off the ship as soon as possible.       Shepard: Why?       Ada: [waves at a Cerberus insignia]       Shepard: …point taken. Investigate #2: How’s your sister?       Ada: Good. A bit dehydrated and hungry, but she’ll be okay. Investigate #3: Were you close with Phillips?       Ada: I.. don’t want to talk about it, honestly. Investigate #4: I’ve never seen you that ruthless.       Ada: ...You’ve never seen someone threaten my family before. Paragon: How are you feeling?       Ada: Good. Leg barely stings anymore, but I still need to stay off it for a day or so. Renegade: You gonna be ready for the next mission?       Ada: So long as it’s a couple days away, yeah.

Ada fiddles with the edge of her medical uniform for a moment.

Ada: I can’t remember if I’ve said this or not, but still, thank you Shepard, so much. [She grabs Shepard’s hand.] If I lost Moira, I just… I don’t know what I’d do. Paragon: Anytime, Ada.       Ada smiles in response. (Scene ends.) Renegade: I needed you focused for the mission.       Ada: [lets go of Shepard’s hand] Of course. Right. Consider me focused. (Scene ends.) Flirt: Anything to see you smile.       Ada: Anything? [tilts her head]

If this the first time Shepard has flirted with her, she’ll smile and say she’ll keep that in mind before the scene ends. Otherwise, she’ll suddenly stand up and kiss Shepard. Taking a paragon interrupt has Shepard kiss her back, though it’s quickly interrupted by a cough from the back of the room, followed by Moira’s voice.

Moira: I’m still here. Ada: [turning her head to look at Moira] You are supposed to be sleeping. Moira: And you’re supposed to be off your feet. Ada: [She turns back to Shepard] Sorry..       Paragon: Don’t worry about it.       Renegade: It was a mistake anyway.             Ada looks crestfallen, but quickly covers it up.

Regardless of the response chosen, the scene ends as Shepard turns to leave the med bay (though right before it fades, Shepard is hit by a clearly biotically thrown pillow if they chose the Renegade response).

If Shepard didn’t return the kiss (i.e. the paragon interrupt wasn’t taken), Ada quickly backs off.

Ada: Sorry, I… may have had a little bit too much medi-gel.       Paragon: Don’t worry about it.             Ada looks at Shepard sheepishly, but doesn’t respond.       Renegade: Don’t do it again.             Ada: Of course.       Flirt: No, you’re fine. We should just… table this until you’re feeling better.             Ada: Right. Makes sense.

Regardless of the response chosen, the scene ends as Shepard turns to leave the med bay.

Romanceable: Yes, by every Shepard. Before Ada’s loyalty quest, Shepard will have multiple opportunities to flirt with Ada, although nothing will really come of it until the final scene of her loyalty mission. The scene to start a romance with Ada will appear after completing one mission post Ada’s loyalty mission IF Shepard has flirted with Ada at least twice (flirt at the end of Ada’s loyalty mission not required) OR took the flirt at the end of her loyalty mission, AND Shepard didn’t take a Renegade response after the kiss (if it happened).

The scene starts upon Shepard entering the med lab. Chakwas is not present. Ada smiles when she sees Shepard, and presses a button that turns the med lab windows opaque. At Shepard’s curious look, she says, “I wanted to talk to you. Privately.” Ada leans against the counter where she usually sits.

Her next line(s) varies depending on how this scene was unlocked.

(If Shepard has flirted with Ada at least twice, but not at the end of Ada’s loyalty mission.) Ada: So we’ve been flirting a bit and I wanted to see if it was going anywhere or if it was just for fun? I just want to be sure we’re on the same page.       Paragon: It’s just for fun.             Ada: Cool. Good to know. [Ada grins and winks at Shepard.] (Go to 3)       Renegade: We should stop.             Ada: Understood. (Go to 3)       Flirt: I want it to go somewhere. (Go to 1)

(If Shepard flirted with Ada at the end of her loyalty mission, but the kiss didn’t happen.) Ada: So… I wanted to ask about what you said the other day; ‘Anything to make me smile’? Something like that can be taken as a very romantic declaration, so I wanted to clarify what you meant.       Paragon: Sorry; I just meant I like my crew to be happy.             Ada: Okay, glad I asked. (Go to 3)       Renegade: It didn’t mean anything. You’re looking too much into it.             Ada: Okay. Sorry. Thanks for clearing that up. (Go to 3)       Flirt: I meant what I said. I want to see you smile, no matter what it takes.  (Go to 1)

(If Ada kissed Shepard at the end of her loyalty mission, but Shepard didn’t kiss her back.) Ada: I wanted to apologize properly for the other day. I misinterpreted some signals. It won’t happen again.       Paragon: No harm done.             Ada: Good, thanks. (Go to 3)       Renegade: Make sure it doesn’t.             Ada: I will. Make sure it doesn’t, that is. (Go to 3)       Flirt: What if I want it to happen again? (Go to 1)

(If Ada kissed Shepard at the end of her loyalty mission, and Shepard kissed her back.) Ada: So I think we should talk about the kiss the other day and what it means going forward. Make sure we’re on the same page.       Paragon: I think we should just be friends.             Ada: Oh. Okay. Thanks for… telling me. (Go to 3)       Renegade: It was a mistake.             Ada: Oh. All right. [Ada looks crestfallen.] (Go to 3)       Flirt: I’d like to do it again. (Go to 1)

1. Ada tilts her head with a curious look on her face. “And what does that mean exactly?”       a. I want us to be together.             Ada: Aww, how sweet. [She steps towards Shepard.]             A Paragon interrupt appears. If taken, Shepard kisses Ada, who eagerly returns it. If not taken, Ada will initiate the kiss. After a few seconds, Ada will break it off with a smile. (Go to 2)       b. [Kiss her]             Ada is initially surprised by the sudden kiss, but quickly starts kissing Shepard back. After a few seconds, Ada will break it off with a smile. “So, fun times it is then.” (Go to 2)

2. Ada pulls away from Shepard. “Before we go any further though, we need to talk about something.”       Shepard: Okay..       Ada: I’m poly, so we won’t be exclusive at all. Is this a problem?             Investigate: Poly?                   Ada: I prefer having multiple partners.             Investigate: Would I need to have multiple partners?                   Ada: No, you don’t need to do anything you don’t want to. I just want you to know where I stand. If you do have other partners, all I ask is that you be safe and honest with them.       a. No, that’s not a problem.                   Ada breaks out into a grin before rushing forward to kiss Shepard again, hooking her arms around their neck. The kiss continues until a cough from the doorway interrupts them. Chakwas has returned and is clearly trying not to laugh. “This is a med lab. Please take that somewhere that isn’t my workspace.” Ada pulls back, blushing a bit, but clearly very happy. (Go to 3)       b. Yes, that’s a problem.                   Ada: I see. Unfortunately, things won’t work out between us then. [Ada looks a little disappointed, but covers it up with a weak smile.] Thanks for coming by, Shepard. (Go to 3)

3. Shepard turns to leave the med bay. “And Shepard,” Ada stops them before they can do so. “Thank you again for helping save my sister.”

After starting the romance, Ada will start referring to Shepard as ‘babe’ (though they can ask her to stop by inquiring about the pet name in conversation with her). Shepard will receive a message from Moira, warning Shepard to bring Ada back from the mission unharmed. Bringing it up with Ada will have her apologize (while trying not to laugh), and she’ll say she’ll talk to Moira about being nicer to Shepard.

After starting the romance, an additional dialogue option will be available to ask Ada about any partners she has currently aside from Shepard. She’ll respond that Shepard is currently her only active partner, but she, Kel, and Dayl have been long-term partners for almost as long as she’s known them.

Starting the romance with Ada will also open up some options to either hang out with Ada (where a short scene of the two of them spending time together will occur, like cuddling in Shepard’s cabin) or “have some fun” (where a very short scene will show them making out in Shepard’s cabin).

In the romance scene right before the Suicide Mission, Shepard enters their cabin to find Ada lounging on the couch, typing on her omni-tool. Her expression is dark, but she smiles when she sees Shepard.

Shepard: What are you doing? Ada: [She sighs] Trying to write a message to Moira, to be sent if I don’t make it back. [Her gaze shifts from Shepard, staring off into nothing.]       Paragon: [Shepard grabs Ada’s hand.] Hey, we’ll make it back. Don’t worry.             Ada: [She laughs humorlessly.] Not sure that’s possible, but I’ll try.       Renegade: Don’t think like that. I need your head on straight.             Ada: Yeah, I know. It’s just… the waiting. I’ll focus once we’re in the middle of it.

Ada leans her head against Shepard’s shoulder/own head, playing with their hand between hers. After a few moments, Shepard breaks the silence. “Hey…” Ada lifts her head to look at them, a curious expression on her face.

A Paragon interrupt, if taken, has Shepard kiss Ada, cupping her face with their other hand. When they break apart, Shepard whispers, “I love you.” Ada smiles, moves her hands to Shepard’s face, brushing her thumbs across his cheeks. “I love you too.” The scene fades as the couple sit on the couch, gently kissing each other.

If the interrupt is not taken, Shepard has two options. 1. Shepard links their fingers together with Ada’s, saying, “I care about you.”       Ada lifts their linked hands to kiss Shepard’s knuckles. “The feeling’s mutual.” The scene fades as the two cuddle on the couch. 2. Shepard sits up, pulling away from Ada a bit, just enough to turn to face her. “I have an idea to distract you.”       Ada smirks, lifting an eyebrow. “Do you now?” Shepard leans in to kiss her deeply, then stands up, lifting her with them. Ada hooks her arms around Shepard’s neck and starts kissing their jaw, as Shepard maneuvers the two of them towards the bed before the scene fades.

Mordin’s Advice: Ah, Shepard! Glad you’re here. Wanted to speak with you. Sexual activity normal as stress release for humans. Ada seems experienced enough to handle most things, but wanted to offer some advice anyway. Don’t be afraid of speaking up when unsure, Ada appears understanding, but not mind-reader.

Kasumi Commentary: I hear you and Ada have been spending a lot of time together. I’m glad. She needs a break from studying. You could prop a door open with those textbooks. | (If Shepard kissed Ada back at the end of her loyalty mission.) Moira told me you and Ada were kissing in the med lab. No offense Shepard, but that seems a little unsanitary. Sweet though.

ME3: If Ada’s loyalty mission was completed and she survived the Suicide Mission, then in ME3, she’ll appear in the Docks Holding Area on the Citadel attending to injured refugees and soldiers. When spoken to, Shepard can ask her to come back on the Normandy, but she declines, saying the people here need her more. After talking with her the first time on the Citadel, she will boost the Citadel Defense Force’s War Asset by 5 points.

If she was romanced in ME2, then her romance can be rekindled in ME3. When docked at the Citadel, she can occasionally appear on the Normandy, talking with old and new squadmates alike.

If neither she nor Garrus were romanced in ME2, then they will get together in ME3, often seen together on the docks; multiple squadmates will comment on this. If asked about this, Ada will say that she’s grabbing onto whatever happiness she can find.

Citadel DLC: Friend Date

Message:

Hey Shepard!       Want to hit the arcade? They have a Towers of Hanoi machine! :D       Ada

Meet-up: Ada meets Shepard outside the arcade. She’s grinning, clearly trying not to bounce with excitement. Shepard can ask what’s so great about Towers of Hanoi (to which Ada will launch into an explanation about the history of the puzzle and it’s relation to math and logic), or Shepard can say they’re surprised this place has one, since the puzzle seems to not be very popular (to which Ada with concur with some disappointment, saying that people don’t know what they’re missing out on).

Ada will challenge Shepard to see who can get the higher score (the game operates by having the player solve increasingly difficult Towers of Hanoi puzzles in a certain amount of time). If Shepard wins, Ada will say she’s impressed; if she wins, she’ll tease Shepard. Shepard can suggest they play another round or that they should try a different game. Either way, Ada will agree (albeit reluctantly if the suggestion is a different game), and the scene ends.

Apartment Date (only available if Ada’s romance was rekindled):

Message

Hey Babe,       I need a break; can I come by?       ♥ Ada

Meet-up Ada walks into the apartment, saying, “You really left your door unlock-“ before stopping as she takes in the size of the apartment. “Fucking hell, my apartment could fit into this living room.” She looks up at Shepard, who’s on the upper overlook. “What favors did you pull to get this place?”

Shepard will say “I’m watching it for a friend,” as they join Ada on the main floor.

“I need friends like that.” Ada’s gaze seems torn in multiple directions, trying to look at everything, before she settles for heading towards the window. “I knew apartments on the strip were expensive. Guess I now know why.”

Shepard joins her at the window. “Don’t come here often?”

Ada shrugs and shakes her head. “No, usually a bit too touristy for me.” She moves away from the window, towards the side of the living room with the bar.

“So what did you want to do?”

“Whatever’s relaxing.” Ada moves to the couch. When Shepard joins her, she puts her legs over their lap. “Just being with you is enough.”

Shepard grabs the remote for the tv. “We could watch something.”

“That sounds nice.” The words are half mumbled.

Shepard looks over at Ada; it seems in the short time she’s been on the couch, she’s started dozing off, her head falling against the back of the couch. They smile faintly, then stand to grab a nearby blanket to cover her with. Shepard’s movements seem to wake her up, just a bit.

“Sorry; didn’t realize I was that dead on my feet.” Even as she’s trying to stay awake, eyes blinking in a fight to stay open, she’s clearly losing the battle.

Option 1: Don’t worry about it, just rest.       Ada: You’re too sweet. Option 2: You can make it up to me later.       Ada: [smiling] I’ll do that.

The scene fades as Ada finally succumbs to sleep. After the cutscene, Ada can be seen sleeping on the couch until Shepard leaves the apartment and returns, or invites another person up to the apartment.

Shadowbroker DLC: Terminal Messages: [A drafted message that’s been edited multiple times.]

      Erin Sister Erin,       If you’re reading this If you’ve received this, then I’m probably most likely probably dead. I don’t know I wish I didn’t want to not reach out to you one more time though I don’t know why it’s what Joyce would’ve wanted. I can’t say we were wrong, but I wanted you to know that as your younger sister, I still love you regardless, even though you hurt me us. Please look after yourself and Aunt Rebecca; she’ll be mostly alone now need people to grieve with.       Sincerely Love, Ada

[A list of Alliance-critical extranet sites that Ada has visited; the more conspiracy leaning ones she’s spent less than a minute or so on. The one she’s spent the most time visiting is run by former Alliance personnel. She’s left one comment, talking about how the death of her cousin plus Torfan drove her to leave, though she shares no details.]

Shadowbroker Comment: “Ah, the medic brought out of retirement. I knew you’d turn against me, Gray.”

Comments on Shepard’s Driving: “Shepard, I don’t know how to fix ‘death by head-on collision’!” “Maybe you should let your friend drive?”

Opinions: Friends: Garrus, Tali, Kasumi, Legion, Samara Neutral: Jacob, Jack, Mordin, Thane Enemies: Zaeed, Miranda, Grunt

Decisions They Approve Of: Releasing the Rachni Queen, Saving the Council, Convincing Garrus to spare Sidonis, Saving Maelon’s Data, Destroying/Saving the Reaper Base (it’s complicated), Curing the Genophage

Decisions They Disapprove Of: Killing the Rachni Queen, Punching Khalisah, Destroying Maelon’s data, Not saving the refinery workers on Zorya, Sabotaging the Genophage, Failing to bring peace between the Quarians and the Geth

Comments on Cerberus: Fucking xenophobic terrorists, the lot of them. Don’t try to defend them to me, Shepard, you won’t get anywhere except the infirmary.

Comments on the Alliance: Did you know Cerberus used to be an Alliance black ops? That’s the kind of shit the Alliance is okay with so long as it’s not public. Then they disown you. There are people in there that want to do good, but after Torfan, I just couldn’t stand it anymore.

Comments on the Reapers: The only reason I’m on this ship is because the Reapers are somehow more evil than Cerberus. God damn freaking existential horrors.

Banter: Joker commentary on recruitment: “Are you feeling okay, Shepard? You actually recruited a combat medic? Wow, things must be crazier than I thought.”

Joker Comments: “Ada’s an odd one; she keeps talking to EDI, asking all sorts of questions. I'd be glad for her distracting it if I thought EDI could be distracted."

Greeting: “Holding up okay?”

How do they Address Shepard: “Shepard”; “Commander” (Ruthless background); “Babe” (Romancing)

Combat Phrases: “Hold still!”; *activating her drone* “Get ‘em girl!”

Low Health: “Uh oh.” “I didn’t think that was an artery.”

Revived: “Oh dear. That’s gonna sting for a bit.” “Thanks.” Friendly Fire: “Careful!” “Is antagonizing the medic really the best idea?”

Location Comments:       Citadel: “I don’t come to this Ward very often, but I think there’s a good restaurant near here if anyone needs a bite to eat.”       Horizon: “It feels like… after they cleaned up the attack on Mindoir. Too empty and still.” “Let’s not linger here.”