#I can work around it a bit by making companions carry different things

[y-rhywbeth2]

'Wish I had a Bag of Holding' is Durge/Tav's most relatable line. I'd also kill for different containers. A scroll case. A potion bag.

I can just use different bags for these things, but it's some kind of sick twisted joke of the universe where all containers - even random coin purses taken off some peasant's corpse - have more space than a bag of holding but still accumulates weight.

And they all look the same so I never remember which one's which. Sorting through a dozen bags trying to find the one I put [x] in like 'nope that's the scroll case bag. That's the gem bag. That's the sack of dwarf flesh and skulls. That's the potion bag. That's the sack of plot-relevant items my Durge is hording as ties to the past they don't remember along with new things to ground them in their new identity as absence seizures and/or Bhaal keeps fucking up their memory, like the Prayer for Forgiveness and Orin's letters. This is the library bag containing all the books I compulsively collect and then don't read. This is the sack of trophies taken from slain enemies. That's the sack of rusty medical equipment from the House of Healing...'

Look, I just need to compulsively pick up literally everything that lets me add it to my inventory without encumberment and I need games to accommodate this without modding. It's not an unreasonable ask(!)

[parvulous-writings]

Could I request dating headcanons for Simon 'Ghost' Riley, Johnny 'Soap' MacTavish, and poly Ghoap with gn s/o please? - Fluff anon

Warnings: Oh boy... This be sweet...

Notes: Did I get carried away? Absolutely. I love my boys!! Thank you, Fluff, for indulging me!!

𝔖𝔦𝔪𝔬𝔫 ℜ𝔦𝔩𝔢𝔶

Simon likes to keep his civilian life very firmly separate from his work-life. You know that he's fairly high up in the military, that he often has to be very brutal, and the names of his closest companions. This took years to get out of him, though, and he flat out refuses to tell you anything else, or expand on the information you've already pried from him. "You don't need t'know any of that, love... Don't you worry your pretty little head about it, 'kay?" And that's that. You don't know about 'Ghost', and he'd very much like to keep it that way. He wants to stay your Simon, the sweet, if not awkward, young man you fell for years ago.

He's gone a lot - active service unfortunately demands it. He sends messages when he can, but rarely calls when he's away - you assume it's because he either doesn't want to risk, or can't risk, you overhearing anything in the background. He tries his best to make it up to you when he's on leave, though. Little date nights here and there, spending quality time together - he'll even acquiesce and let you watch your favourite schlocky movies or tv shows, no matter how much he normally pretends to hate them. In truth, they do hold a special place in his heart. They remind him of you, and for that, he'll always appreciate them, in a strange way. Sometimes he'll play half an episode on his phone, when he's away and has a chance - just to keep that piece of you with him.

Physical affection has two facets, with Simon. The public, and the private. In public, he stays almost unnervingly close to you, especially in crowds, but doesn't usually hold your hand or even touch you. Unless he needs to pull you away from something for your own safety, he isn't really a massive fan with expressing his love through public displays of affection; but he doesn't mind if you hug his arm whilst walking, or want to lean into him whilst sitting in a restaurant booth. In private, he isn't quite 'all over you', but he is very close. He doesn't like being in a different room to you most of the time, and if you're in the living room, you're not just going to be sitting around - he will be cuddling you, in some way. Whether he's perched you on his lap, or pulled you into his side - or even, on the rare occasion, when he lets you be the bigger spoon.

𝒥𝑜𝒽𝓃𝓃𝓎 𝑀𝒶𝒸𝒯𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓈𝒽

Johnny does talk a little bit about his time with the task force - unless, of course, he is legally required to not disclose some information (which is a fair amount, but he tries to find workarounds if something is genuinely bothering him). You know his friendships with Simon, Kyle, and Price are all strong - forged in the fires of conflict, and durable enough to withstand it all and more. You know that Price acts a bit like a father, Kyle is the 'funny guy' ("'Sides me, o'course, hen,"), and Simon is Johnny's stoic lieutenant, who he admires, respects, and holds very dearly. Though Johnny has never said the words exactly, you get the impression that Simon is something of a best friend figure to the Scot. Johnny doesn't go in depth or in detail about his missions, he only really speaks about it if there's something that's been bothering him.

He's gone often, but he keeps in contact as much as he can; calls, texts, and video calls whenever he gets the chance. He's often in the rec room when you're on call, and you can hear a faint 'hello' from Gaz whenever he catches Soap on the phone. When he's at home, his favourite thing to do is stay at home with you, and watch movies. Particularly old, or schlocky ones. Sharknado, Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies, and all other manner of B, or even C-rated movies come out. They're usually meant to be horror, but they're often so tacky they don't come across as it. Throw in that night's take out of choice, and boom! Johnny's perfect date night with you.

His main love language is physical touch, so public displays of affection with Johnny are a must, whether it's hand-holding, an arm around your shoulders, or him playfully putting you in a headlock when you're out and about with your friends. The headlock also appears in your private life as well - it's his own, special, silent 'I love you'. It's uniquely him, too. That playful, rough edge that he has, put into his affection. He likes to fall asleep on you a lot, too. Snuggling in bed, or on the sofa, draped over you like a muscled blanket. Something about being close to you soothes his soul, and allows him to sleep with little issue.

Simon and Johnny

There's a small clash with how Simon and Johnny communicate whilst away from you, but they manage to find a slight compromise. Johnny will call you, and drag Simon into view or onto the line if he gets too close to the Scot whilst he's talking to you. He isn't begrudging when he talks to you, but he's very aware of what sounds or sights can be picked up by the phone. He takes privacy and secrecy very seriously, does Simon.

When they're home, you always have practically glued to your hip, no matter the time of day - except the first day home. That first day and night they spend in the guest room together, adjusting themselves back into civilian life. It was a ritual that was started by Simon, that he almost insisted Soap follow with; and the Scot didn't argue. After their day of unwinding, one of them is with you always. Johnny trails after you in the kitchen, or when you're doing chores, and Simon will do the same when you're out and about, getting the weekly shop. It's endearing, in it's own way.

When it comes to night time, and sleeping arrangements, the first couple of nights after they integrate are the best, in your opinion. They both cling to you, one on each side, nuzzling their faces into your arm, or your stomach - or your back, if you're spooning one of them. Sometimes Simon will haul you to sleep on his chest in the middle of the night, and Johnny drapes his arm over the both of you, snuggling into Simon's bulky arm, already half asleep. Other times, Johnny will hug you right up against his front, as Simon hugs him from behind. Occasionally Si will mix things up, and hug you from the front, his large arms reaching over you to grab at the small of Johnny's back, and sometimes his rear.

[ganondoodle]

yeah no of course i cant stop trying still ...

currently trying to get out of the mindset -draw what could be popular- by designing some rough ideas for the weapons shops in the new totk rewrite (fuse isnt a thing here)

to explain; during the first part (before villain rauru reveal and change to shiekah arm) the way to repair or craft weapons is with a new type of NPCs; they are smiths that can repair your weapons, craft them, and have some avaible to buy (mostly for arrows but also small selection of weapons), it costs material and some money, or if you dont have the material/all material, it costs more money but is still doable, price depending on how valuable or hard to get the material is you dont want to spend on it

then after the switch to the sheikah arm and zelda taking on the role of your permanent companion, she can both repair and craft as well (might be limited but expandable with quests, as in that zelda learns more skills- so theres new quests after the switch and you cant just do everything before that) with the difference that you need to have the required materials but it costs no money

this would mean that while no giant change before and after the halfway point of the game, it is definitely different feeling, plus its a convenience that is good to have in the second half but shouldnt be sorely missed in the first, the difference between NPC smith and zelda gives you the option to spend material or money- so you arent forced to grind anything if you need either for something else, plus new quest rewards for the second half and new points of interest in general, similar to a stable but not too close so theres still an element of exploration; they arent super frequent but around the map of the surface enough that you can reasonably reach one in each region (perhaps after aquiring the yiga as allies/or before that in disguise they can do the same for you but are only found in the underground)

it would also allow for more diverse gameplay, if your favorite weapon is about to break (it might not fully disappear but if you use it up it would go into a condition like the master sword when its lost its power, not usable or doing tiny amount of damage, but not gone forever if you accidentally use it too much-) you can decide to throw it away or keep it until you find the next smith, depending on if you already found one and see you are close or havent yet, or spend the material if you have it to instantly repair it

(i havent decided yet if rauru might be willing to repair your weapons, but not to craft them since he lacks the skill (would never admit to it) and he only wants to give you just enough support to enable you to do what he wants you to do- i think that might work better bc its still a difference to zelda, since she can craft too, but not too much so that you would feel like the games forcing you to use the smiths in the first half ... possibly its unlocked with one of the enigma stones, when rauru can claim he is able to do that now bc it lets him recover some of his strength)

what im wondering now, which is a bit important i think, is .. should the smiths be wandering around a set path or have a lil stationary shop? if they wander around it would make it a bit more depending on situation of you wanna use them, but bears the risk of making it annoying if you dont know here they are or happen to be too far away and a lil weird bc should have something to work on there, like an anvil, which would be a lil strange to carry around; a lil shop could potentially turn into a location you keep teleporting back and forth though im leaning towards the shop; you could make helping them build it a quest too, or saving them from monsters? overall i think this idea is a rather nice balance

[felassan]

Just poring over some of the new images. ◕‿◕

Rogue Rook. I love this Rook, I wonder if they could be the 'default'-kinda Rook..? The detail in this game is incredible, look at the different textures and intricate patterns on clothes (in places you can even see where it's raised/three-dimensional when appropriate), carved designs on the wood of the bow, the textures on hairs, the folds of fabric and the way it hangs, the strung bow, light glinting off Taash's jewel-horn and gold pieces, etc. loads of care put into it and attention to detail. on Rook's chest is the Veilguard symbol. Taash and Neve look amazing too, and the team is ready to go! In the bottom right, is that a chest we can loot? ^^ Maybe this moment is from shortly after entering a new area, and the camera is about to transition from a cutscene kinda scene to a gameplay scene? like they've just gotten here, had a lil conversation about it, and are about to head off exploring. where do you think this shot was taken? it kind of reminds me a bit of this concept art of the Deep Roads.

I really like the decision to prominently feature Bellara and Davrin on this cover. Bellara's magic device is activated - are the triangles being drawn towards her, or are they flying out away from her? ^^ its green glow makes me think of Fadey stuff. Harding looks to have the same bow as here, with the Inquisition hairy eyeball symbol, fitting for a Hero of the Inquisition. in the background is the familiar outwards energy burst motif (example one on the right, example two). the rest of the team are present in the foreground, ready to cast or running towards the battle. the ground, dark rock, is aflame. in the background we can see telltale floating rocks and some structures. maybe this shot is 'set' in the same place as the group fight that takes place at the end of the character trailer, as here?

In this version of the image, we can more clearly see tentacle-like objects in the bottom right, which make me think of Blight corruption and what we can see around the dragon here. the other thing I wanna say about this art is you can tell care has been taken to differentiate the companions and make them unique. like both Emmrich and Neve are mages and casting, but they hold their weapons in different ways and have different stances. Emmrich's staff is green with the light of necromancy, Neve's is blue with ice magic. both Taash and Lucanis are fighters, and running, but even from a static image you can see variation in the way that they move. You can almost hear Taash's powerful 'stomp-stomp-stomp' whereas Lucanis has more of a sense of speed and streamlined motion. it reminds me of what was said in the Discord Q&A about "characterful"-ness:

This game contains “the deepest companion arcs” that they have ever done - not just in a Dragon Age game, but in a BioWare game in general. “Being able to work across all the disciplines, building characters who look and sound and behave in very specific and characterful ways.” Each companion has their own story arc you can go through, decisions you can make. “They really do take center stage. As you play through them, you see the care and love that the team has put into each one.” [link]

You know, like they are looking and moving different in very specific and "characterful" ways. Also look at this -

This looks to be Lucanis in early concept art (art by Matt Rhodes). he moves in such a specific, 'characterful' way, and it's carried through from the concept art.

my last thought here is that this cover reminded me of the group/team fight scene in this Inquisition trailer. you know, like the whole gang is here and ready to go, ground aflame, black rock, Fadey stuff going on.

[aquamarine-oceanfront]

On Charlotte (Bunny Maloney)

I've been thinking a lot about her because I think there's an undercurrent of sadness to her as a character. She's undeniably got a number of significant flaws, but at her core I don't think she's a bad person like a lot of the cast (especially Bunny & Candy). Below is a lengthy analysis of her character - there's a very short summary at the end if you're curious but pressed for time.

One of the biggest reasons why I got on this train of thought in the first place was when Méko explained why she's such a shameless flirt:

She is looking for a real lasting relationship but her (low) criteria and the means she uses are of course confusing a lot. She's just stressed as she approaches thirty, seeing all her friends already settled...

Which certainly paints her fixation on romance in a different light, I'd say. She longs for connections but has no idea how to properly find or maintain them.

Obviously her carrying a torch for a man who's already taken isn't a good thing, but I think it's worth noting that both he and his girlfriend aren't particularly faithful to each other - to say nothing of the many other problems with their relationship.

Speaking of which: if you watch the show for a while, at some point I imagine you'll think to yourself "why are Candy & Charlotte friends?" Charlotte generally means well and tries her best to be supportive, but her foibles tend to make her a less-than-ideal companion to Candy:

Repeatedly trying to comfort her but inadvertently making her feel worse ("A Wrinkle in the ProtecTeam" & "Free Potchi" at minimum)

Promising to hear her out when she's going through another turbulent period with Bunny, only to flake the moment she learns Jean-François is nearby ("Jean-François: Super Model")

Occasionally just getting downright selfish (refusing to lend her a copy of a book in "Bunnies Are From Mars," getting into an argument while driving in "Raucous Caucus")

Of course, the other side of the coin is that Candy consistently thinks very little of Charlotte - she views the prospect of pairing her up with Stan as a terrible fate to inflict on him ("Stan's Perfect Match"), sometimes insults her to her face ("The D-FixItUp" & "Raucous Caucus" again), and rarely seems to really enjoy being around her. (Contrast with Charlotte, who always takes the time to talk to her whenever they happen to run into each other and tries to help her whenever she needs it.)

So why does Charlotte still stand by her? Frankly, I think much of it stems from her general lack of awareness. She tends to take things at face value and has difficulty discerning context in many situations (the pseudo-"who's on first" bit when she first enters the apartment in "Carrots Are a Girl's Best Friend" is a standout example), so I suspect she thinks Candy is a good friend just because she's occasionally nice and helpful. "Fishing for Trouble" provides the perfect case study of this: while pressed for time, Candy reluctantly hears Charlotte's relationship woes out and gives her a piece of advice ("dump him before he can dump you") that she earnestly appreciates.

"You always have the answer for everything!"

In short: I think Candy kind of does the bare minimum to help her when she's in need, and Charlotte gloms onto her for that. (Ironically, at times I feel like this is how Bunny & Candy's relationship works, but that's another story.)

With all that established, I think there's another reason why Charlotte is so devoted to Candy: she's desperate for any sort of relationship, platonic and romantic alike. Nothing really suggests she has many/any other friends - while this likely stems from economical animation practices (can't make too many unique character models, after all), it tracks with the only mention of her upbringing, midway through "Free Potchi:"

It's a joke, sure, but it's also canonical evidence that her parents didn't really like her or treat her well. With that in mind, it tracks that she'd obsessively try to find love as an adult - on some subconscious level, there's a void she yearns to fill. To some degree, it also explains why she struggles so much with maintaining long-term romance: she never really learned how to (Part of me wonders if some of her other flaws, like her inability to ever discern context or her occasional selfish outbursts, might also be explainable in the same light, but I may be stretching too much there.)

To cap this off, I think it's worth on one particular trait of hers: her complete sincerity. No matter what, she always states exactly what she thinks - oftentimes without regard for whether it might put off or offend those around her. At the same time, though, it also positions her as a sort of foil for Bunny and Candy, both of whom frequently resort to subterfuge against each other. ("Sick Bunny" is essentially a farce/pseudo-morality play focusing on this exact issue: the rabbits both want to go to a concert that coincides with prior arrangements they made together, try to lie their way out instead of just telling each other what they want, and end up all the poorer for it. It's not a coincidence that Charlotte and Jean-François, both of whom are far more open about their feelings, ultimately go together and have a great time.)

Very short summary: I think Charlotte desires love & friendship so desperately because she largely grew up without it. She's a nice person at her core, even with all her flaws, partially because of her sincerity (like Jean-François). Candy sometimes gives her advice/other help, so Charlotte views her as a treasured friend (even though Candy doesn't seem to care much for her).

[staytinyville]

Stay Alive (45)

BTS poly!ot7 x Reader

Magical Creatures AU

Series Masterlist

Warnings: none

A/N NOT BETA. Two updates in one day WHOOO!!

“Beloved, your aura is stale. I know you're worried but you have to put faith in us.” Jin dipped his head into the crook of your neck, his head tickling your cheeks. 

You all had finally begun to get a move on with the plan, traveling from the magical city of Seoul to where the portal of Lake Yuri laid. Each one of you traveled in their own ways–the valkyries were on their pegasuses while Seungcheol was able to carry some of his companions on his back as a full dragon. 

To say you were stunned when the man transformed into a 5 story reptile was an understatement. Namjoon laughed at your expression telling you that most dragons were able to shift just like Jungkook was able to. When you realized Namjoon was able to do that you softly told him you wanted to see his dragon one day. 

However it was not that day because Namjoon explained he was still healing from his injuries so shifting wasn’t an option for him just yet. So all of you climbed into a ship that was fueled by magic. It floated high above the sky–courtesy of another coven that learned how to use their magic in objects. 

You watched from the railing as the scenery passed by below, catching sight of more creatures that were beyond larger than imaginable. That didn’t stop you from thinking about what was going to happen the moment you all reached your world again. 

You shook your head. “Jin, you've been stuck in that facility for the past 10 years. Who knows what will happen—”

“And that's the thing, we don't.” He cut you off. “No matter how much the witches tell us the fortune is going to be good, fate has a silly way of changing quickly. However, because of our powers we have hope to win this. We're going to take everyone out–they deserve it just like we did.”

“I understand that. I couldn't live with myself knowing they were still trapped.” You shook your head, looking back over the railings as you allowed your body to relax into the elf’s arms. “But I also couldn't live with myself if something happened to you.”

“We'll come back home—with you.” Hobi walked over to the two of you, the others coming up as well. 

“And then we can settle down and have those babies. No worries about our powers from there.” He grinned, teasing you about the future. 

“We have things to finish, Beautiful.” Jimin told you.

“And we have a reason to make it out.” Namjoon spoke up. 

“Who do you think will have a kid first?” Taehyung asked. 

“We don't even know when!” You laughed at the second youngest’s question.

“She slept with me first.” Jungkook spoke honestly. 

“Ya! Doesn't mean anything. I slept with her here!” Jin whined, glaring at the boy. 

“I did too.” Yoongi shrugged.

“Same.” Taehyung repeated. 

“We just having sex all over the place now?” Jin scoffed. 

“Jin!” You scolded, lightly hitting his arm around your waist. 

“Sorry, beloved.” He grinned, leaning down to kiss your cheek. 

It wasn’t long before the mountains came into view. It seemed that everyone slowed a bit down as they came to the realization that this was going to be it. You couldn’t imagine how tough things might have been. Hanseol was a weak person from what Bang had explained. However Kang was a different story.

He was a witch who only wanted more power. He would find ways of making himself powerful at the expense of others. You couldn’t give an answer for as to why he started working with Hanseol but there was still worry in the back of your mind about the man you had only come across once. 

Seungcheol was quick to turn back into his human form in a puff of smoke after his members got off his back. The faerie of the group twirled a staff around stomping it into the ground causing a mist of magic to flow out from it. Another member who you assumed to be some kind of sandman dropped down from his cloud, letting go of the three other members who had rode with him. 

The valkyries climbed off their horses, allowing some of the other warriors from the area to take them. IU had shifted back into her human form after being a swan. There were more people who came down after them, getting ready to cross the portal and into the other world. You took in a deep breath, knowing no matter how many people Hanseol had on his side they couldn’t stop people who had trained for years. 

“You boys ready?” Minsuk asked them all. 

Namjoon took a look at everyone, getting nods of their heads. 

He turned back to the leader of guards for Yuri Lake. “Let's go.”

 The pass through the magical mirror-like lake felt much different than what you remember a few days ago. It was freezing cold but only for a few seconds. You didn’t feel wet like you thought you were going to but you did feel light as Jungkook helped you through. 

He was waiting on the other side along with the rest of the boys wanting to make sure you were more than okay. Once you caught your breath again, you gave them a smile allowing them to rest easy. While the others looked around in quiet contemplation you took the time to walk towards the entrance of the cave. 

Seeing the small cross waiting there had you stopping in your tracks. You felt the breeze blew through and into the cave, causing you to look up. When nothing caught your attention you turned back to the stone, trying to memorize it to heart. 

You felt something touch the back of your legs, causing you to turn but found nothing. The others had begun to make their way out, Hoseok’s eyes quickly landing on you before making his way over. 

“Do you think her parents hate me?” You asked quietly. 

“I don't think they would. It wasn't your fault.” Hobi comforted you. 

It hurt to think that you couldn’t remember anything from before. Your head couldn’t even come up with the things you could’ve done with Nabi before everything went wrong. You must have been friends with her before crossing into the other world. You had been coming to your grandparents home since you were a little kid. But your mind really couldn’t think of anything having to do wit her. 

“I want to know her story. What happened before and after everything.” You said, looking over at him. 

“I'm sure your grandfather will be more than happy to tell you after this, princess.” Yoongi passed by, giving you a smile. 

The familiar trek back to your grandfather’s house was easy. However once the building came into view and the back gate was left broken your eyes went wide and you rushed forward. 

“Wait!” Jungkook called out, having smelled something off with the house. “(Y/N)!”

You stopped at the patio, seeing most of the doors broken off or furniture thrown out into the open. The house itself was still standing but it was clear someone had forced their way in and were trying to find something specific. In this case you knew it was someone rather. 

“They were here.” Jungkook spoke up, his nose wrinkling up as he took a sniff around.

Your eyes began to sting, biting your lip to keep from making any loud noises to alert the others. However they could still easily see you picking up things with shaky hands.  

“Let's get a move on. We have to stay vigilant in case Hanseol left some of his men behind to guard the lake.” Namjoon added, looking around the trashed house. 

“I'm glad we told grandpa to stay back.” You spoke up, picking up a family photo.

“We'll help him rebuild later.” Jimin told you softly, picking up the other pictures that were thrown around. 

“All my grandmother's things.” Your breathing began to grow shallow, tears pooling at your eyes. 

“Here, I managed to find this in the rubble.” Jin came up to you, handing you a small metal circle.

“Her wedding ring.” You sniffled, turning the diamond over before putting it on your own finger. 

“It fits.” You choked on your tears, quickly being pulled into Jin’s embrace. 

Hoseok took your hand, fingers delicately running along the one that had your ring. You sniffled as his magic came from his own hands, wrapping themselves around the jewelry. He had a small smile on his face, looking proud of himself when he pulled back after he finished. 

“What did you do?” You asked, looking up at Hoseok.

“It won't fall off.” He explained with a smile. 

“So it's glued on?” Taehyung tilted his head. 

“It's magically glued on. She can take it off but only her–or us.” The witch explained. 

“Thanks Hobi.” You smiled, leaning up to give him a kiss. 

“You're welcome, Hun.” He smiled. 

“If I could, I would make you your own ring.” The boy rubbed the ring, smiling softly. 

“Your transfiguration is good though.” You told him. 

“Not perfect.” He shook his head. “And for you I want to make the perfect ring.”

“Why is it not perfect?” You asked. 

“Because I don't have my wings to perfect my spells. They are part of my energy and because they are gone things don't look as they should in my eyes.” He told you honestly, a sad look passing his eyes. 

You could easily remember the day you had met Taehyung for the first time. A boy who wanted to show you a magic trick–well what you thought was a magic trick at the time. It left you astounded and with wonder. You wanted to see more of what he could do. 

He was someone who left you wanting to know more about the childish side of things. It was who he was as a person, someone who could do so much and yet still stay as though nothing ever really affected him. You knew he was hurting as much as the others but that didn’t stop him from wanting to try his best to protect everyone just like the others. 

“I think everything you do is amazing. You got the others out perfectly. Wings or not, your magic is amazing.” You softly told him. 

Everyone had gathered outside in the courtyard in the middle of your grandparents home, watching as Namjoon seemed to fuss in and out of the building. 

“How will we get there? You say it's in Seoul.” Hwasa spoke up, looking as Namjoon seemed to close all the available doors to the house. 

“Bang Nim gave us some portal keys to enter.” He showed six different keys in his palms, all different sizes. 

“However I must let you all know, we will be heading directly into the facility. Be prepared to fight.” He took in a deep breath, looking around. “Are we all ready?”

“Are you?” Yoongi spoke up, looking at his closest companion. 

Namjoon turned to you, watching as you had a reassuring look this time around. “Always.”

Series Masterlist

@h3arteyes4mingi , @fangirling-all-the-way-tbh , @rinkund, @rln-byg , @singukieee ,  @hoshi-is-ult-bbg , @ldysmfrst , @juju-227592 , @alienchickenpoop , @dreamerwasfound , @afangirl91 , @psiphidragon , @puppyminnnie , @shyloh-the-cornsnake , @ollyoxenfrees , @whynotlarene , @beeltsumu , @cryingpages , @milopenne , @belikejk , @thatonedemigodfromseoul , @woozixo,

[myobsessionsspace]

Pre Release of Travel Show Thoughts

This might be a bit all over the place 🙈

Just some random thoughts after talking with my friends.

Remember when Hope on the Street came out and it was on Amazon Prime. I think many of us were thinking that was the end of the set shows, programs etc that were gonna appear on Disney+ from BTS.

We’ve had a number of shows from the group since Chapter 2

I kinda forgot about their Disney deal when the talks of Jikook’s travel show started to become real. My friends and I started guessing if it would be on Weverse only, like Jimin’s Production Diary or on YouTube like Suchwita & Jin’s The Drunken Truth. We were hoping and praying it wouldn’t just be one Bangtan Episode or on a South Korean nft platform like the HYYH series Begins ≠ Youth.

To be honest we hoped for a Jikook YouTube Channel (still dreaming for one🥲), where after service they could come back and carry on with more adventures and content, but we would have settled for Prime too.

I say all of this to say, how come it’s on Disney+ again after the switch up with the last HYBE show Hope on the Street being on Prime?

It makes me wonder about the start of the show’s planning. Like Jungkook said in Suchwita it was kinda spontaneous and following a years old conversation between Jimin & Jungkook. Them seizing the opportunity of the both of them being together in New York, after Jimin went to support Jungkook’s solo debut performance.

I wonder about if Jikook knew if their application for companion enlistment had been approved yet. Many have covered in detail the program and the kinda 1 in 100 chance of getting approved for it. BTS already have done many unique things and why should their military service be any different, all members aiming to at one point in time be serving at the same time and have all completed their service to not have to worry about it again?

There’s only one other group I know of before BTS

**see comments for extra info**

Anyway back to the the point 😅. As all the members wanted to enlist and return as one unit in 2025 and with Jimin being in his last year of eligibility due to age criteria, if they hadn’t have been approved Jikook wouldn’t have been certain of being together for their 18 month military service.

It makes me wonder about their plans. If they wanted to create as many memories as they could in as many places as they could together just in case they weren’t going to be able to enlist together.

If they wanted to take the moments in between the end of FACE promotions, the little gap at the start of SEVEN promotions and the gap in between the rest of GOLDEN’s recordings, MUSE’ recording and also squeezing some more travel at the end of GOLDEN promotions, Jungkook’s Japan promotions and the Usher remix video Jungkook had to do straight after Japan.

It feels to me like Jikook knew that regardless of if they did enlist together, they wouldn’t have been able to travel as a duo for a long time as if we can take Jim as an example, the members will most likely be going straight into OT7 work mode once they complete their service in 2025.

It feels to me like if Jikook hadn’t have gotten their companion enlistment approved, the travelogue was a was to permanently keep record of the many memories they wanted to make.

That with everything on Jungkook’s plate it wouldn’t be feasible for one GCF Tokyo style video like before.

For starters their travels were on a much larger scale than their 2017 trip to Tokyo.

Not just one hotel in one destination, walking around the city, visiting some shops restaurants and Disney but multiple countries, multiple hotels, villas, camping, kayaking, yachting, skiing, indoor adventures, restaurants etc

They are way more globally recognisable than in 2017 where there were still some sightings but not as many as if it was 2023.

Jungkook and Jimin literally had to squeeze these moments in between hectic schedules tight time constraints.

It makes sense that they would utilise their company to help with areas to visit to help with descretion, with bookings, as they’d have to book out whole villas, hotel floors, activity locations etc. it makes sense that because they’d need security.

Unlike Tokyo 2017,

dropped off by their fathers and Jimin’s brother

No security detail with them at airport

Sightings around Tokyo

which was a gift to Jimin from Jungkook, where Jungkook planned everything, paid for everything, filmed everything and edited and uploaded GCFT, this time round it was for both of them. Not for one to have to shoulder the planning, payments, filming and editing.

How would they coordinate everything in the midst of recordings, rehearsals and flying around the world for international promotions?

ding ding ding

Their company and staff are still a company, whose main directive is to make money, beginning and end of it all.

I’m sure the company are nice enough to the members but how would such time, resources and expenses be written off if Jikook asked on the company to help them with security details, with flight planning, whole hotel floor booking, villa bookings, closing businesses down for the duration they wanted to visit or opening ski resorts up a day early etc.

Their airport arrival streamed by news outlets

Management and security accompaniment vs when they were spotted alone in 2017

Fans falling over to picture Jikook, camping out for hours at airports, protective barriers errected at Japanese airport for theirs and fans protection etc

Yes they are millionaires but I’m sure we all know millionaires who earned from the bottom up and are sensible with their money. We all know the members and joke about how they’ll wear expensive watches and clothes but still fight over a rice cooker as a prize or Jungkook take home hotel toiletries or ingredients from run cooking episodes etc

So for the company and staff to help Jikook make this a possibility in the time the had before enlistment how would it make sense financially? How would it benefit everyone? We know Jikook love sharing with army, Jungkook’s lives of 2023 show us, their predebut days of vlogging to now show us, Jungkook’s GCFT shows us. They share.

So a show, sure, Jikook are used to cameras, the members are able to retain their authenticity through they years since day one of being in front of a camera.

That’s it, I’ll stop cos otherwise I’ll keep on musing forever 😅

💜💛

[moltensmusings]

Okay heavy spoilers as I talk about final thoughts in regards to veilguard now that I've completed my initial run.

Under the cut because it's long:

I think it is the best dragon age game and while that may be controversial let me explain.

It takes the best parts of each game for me and compiles. Similarly it felt like it took inspiration from Mass effect 2 and 3 in tone and outcome, however the endings we get for Veilguard leave me a lot more satisfied than they did with 3.

I think it's devastating that you can't come out of the game with all 7 companions. That Harding or Davrin has to die. But I also can acknowledge that this outcome is one that made the ending and messaging work. It made the threat of facing gods feel much more realistic and added importance to the decision to work through the game to get the best outcome.

I love all the companions and their interpersonal relationships. How so often in the game you get to resolve differences and mediate and we get to see how rooks words effect things. I loved each companion getting their own room that changed over the story and the devs choosing to have them move around the lighthouse for interactions which isn't something done in previous dragon age games but was something they did in Andromeda that I liked.

The decision to have companion quests be a constant appearing thing over the game is also great. It really helped me get a feel for the characters and enjoy them more.

Surprisingly I don't actually mind the change from 3 to 2 companions on a quest. Banter felt like it happened so much more and not having to focus on healing them made it so that I could still enjoy their conversations while running around.

The outfits and visuals were great and Rook felt like the most full of life main character we'd gotten because of how smooth the animations and lighting was for them.

The environments in inquisition were my favorite in any DA game until this one. I loved how lived in the cities felt. The maps were large and great for exploring which meant one of the things I liked about inquisition carried over without it feeling overwhelming for other players.

This was the first time I actually cried playing a bioware game. Varric's death, coupled with the loss of a companion, actually got to me. And they let you sit with it. You get to say goodbye to Varric. You get to see him off.

Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nan felt like terrifying and compelling villains. Incredibly memorable especially after Corypheus. All the while pairing it with the tense dynamic between Rook and Solas it fully left me wanting to rush through the story to see more of them. It's so clear care and thought was put into designing the main antagonists of the game and I'm appreciative of it.

I'm eager for the next game. Wanting to see how things will connect with the new big antagonist and who our protagonist will be. They have big shoes to follow once again but I have faith.

With that said, I want to add some notes on things I wish had been included. I say these with the understanding of why so much of it wasn't/asking everyone to be aware I still enjoyed and intend to replay the game.

While I fully think the choice they went with made the story more compelling, the "well drinking" not mattering at all is a bit disappointing. I get why they removed it but if inquisition ever got remade/remastered I hope they just remove the option if it didn't matter.

I wish more inquisition choices got carried over because I would've loved to see inquisitor show up with everyone left in the innercircle to assist rook. They wouldn't be in the main battle but more just them getting a side appearance before the final fight starts. Maybe if we got a party scene they'd show up then.

Same note: the person left in the fade never being brought up/us never getting Isabela talking about Varric or any of the da2 companions showing up before we say goodbye to him makes me a bit sad. We'll never see the kirkwall gang together ever again and it hurts.

The romance scenes felt very few and far between. We had a few flirt options and a small handful of proper romance scenes so (at least for Taash) I just didn't get as invested in it as I do for other da games. I wish there were a few more.

All in all: I would recommend this game to people. I'm an andromeda and Inquisition enjoyed which I know is controversial in the fandom, but I feel like this one is actually a game I could see a lot of people liking.

I wish we had a celebration party scene for the characters. Lucanis mentions it to Bellara while fighting to get to Elgar'nan and I was so excited only for it to not happen.

[carriagelamp]

It feels like I have been mostly reading duds this month… somewhat appropriately, I guess, given that January is rather the dud of months. About half of these books I really genuinely enjoyed (among others, Ducks, Fox 8, and Unseen Academicals were all great!) and the other half ranged from “fine but lacklustre” to ��seriously?” I did end up reading more Canadian books than usual though, which was a pleasant surprise

Doctor Who: Twelve Angels Weeping

A reasonably fun Doctor Who short story collection that nominally had a “winter” conceit to tie them together but… not it didn’t. This could be read at any point of the year, it's not particularly Christmas-y. Instead each of the twelve stories focused on a different Doctor Who villain/monster, with the Doctor and his companions only occasionally featuring — it was actually rather refreshing!

Of the stories, my favourites were: Red-Eyed League (Praternoster Gang!!! I love love love stories with them!), Celestial Intervention, Student Bodies, A Soldier’s Education, The Rhino of 23 Strand Street, and Anything You Can Do. I think there was only one story I disliked enough to skip, the rest ranged from pretty good to at least passable.

Apothecary Diaries v2 & 3

Honestly, this disappointed me. I really truly loved the first book of The Apothecary Diaries but for the next two books I felt like I was forever waiting for something to happen. But it was really just more of the same episodic stories. Which, if that's what you want, it delivers! Obviously lots of people who aren't me love this series! But for me... no

It feels like this author is allergic to character development — or even character interactions! You get a few funny moments now and again, but absolutely nothing that’s willing to go past the surface. I understand that Maomao is not a very social or empathetic character (frankly it’s one of the things that I love about her) but there’s ways for an author to force character interactions and make characters go out of their comfort zone even if the character's themselves are reluctant. This author… doesn't. Maomao just bops around, doing her thing. Which is fine. But also boring.

Instead the novels hinge entirely on the quality of the mysteries which… frankly just aren’t in-depth enough or clever enough to carry that weight. So. Disappointing. I might try watching the anime at some point to see if that’s more enjoyable because I do still enjoy Maomao and Jinshi… maybe that’s why I’m most annoyed, because this has potential that is just seems to do nothing with…

The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore

Another disappointment. I saw this on so many 2024 book list round-ups! I’ve been looking for a new nonfiction book! It’s about bookshops!!! But despite this perfectly cocktail, this just… didn’t do it for me. I was more interested in getting a larger, overarching look at how things evolved, which this book gave a little bit of, but it spent too much time in the weeds for me. It focused a lot on single, specific bookstores and people. Maybe because I’m not American and don’t know these towns/stores/people so they have less impact, but I found it got so entrenched in kinda repetitive minutiae that it lost sight of the bigger picture that I was craving.

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

Now this was a pleasant surprise. I’ve read Kate Beaton’s works before (I think everyone on the internet has… Hark! A Vagrant and Step Aside, Pops)

but I hadn’t been aware that she’d done a new graphic novel or that it was going in a more serious direction than her gag-a-day style!

Ducks is a memoir-style comic that looks at Beaton’s time working on the Albertan oil sands to pay off her student loan debts, and the horror that comes from taking so many people and forcing them into a pressure cooker of a work environment. The oil sand camps tend to be quite northern, intensely isolated, very male-dominated, and run by the bastard oil companies that treat employees like disposal commodities to shove into their meat grinder. The conditions are horrific, and what Beaton experiences is also horrific. This graphic novel does a great job giving a sincerely nuanced look at these conditions and poses some very difficult questions about human nature and society.

Eerie Tales from the School of Screams

Just a fun youth horror graphic novel! I’ve enjoyed Graham Annable (the Grickle)’s work for years, mostly through his youtube shorts and Puzzle Agent, so I was excited to see him put out a standalone book. His signature style -- in art, humour, and horror -- is very present in this work, and it tells a few different horror short stories in a way that’s inviting to younger readers while still being able to give a thrill to older readers. Definitely worth giving a read!

Fox 8

A very neat short story that I also saw crop up on some 2024 reading lists. I listened to its half-hour audiobook and was very happy to do so! It’s told in the perspective of a fox who is struggling to understand why his forest has been ravaged, the ensuring food scarcity, and the people that now live there. It primarily focuses around Fox 8’s fascination with the humans and the “mall” that they’ve built where the forest once stood. Equal parts funny and tragic with a very unique narrative voice.

Just Beyond the Very, Very Far North

A very cozy children’s novel. I’d read The Very, Very Far North last year and was excited to see it had a sequel. It follows a group of animal friends who all live in The Very, Very Far North, and deals mostly with low-stakes friendship challenges and personal problems. It's written in a very Winnie-the-Pooh style — not the most exciting book you’d pick up, but it feels perfectly designed to be a bedtime readaloud.

My Dress-Up Darling v4

Another meh for me. I enjoyed the first few books of this series which focus on a girl who wants to get into cosplay but lacks the skills to do so, and a boy who is interested in things like sewing and outfit design but has only ever used it for crafting hina dolls. Their growing friendship is cute and I like all the research that went into this! But this one… just didn’t do it for me. I enjoyed some parts well enough (the budget cosplay chapters were neat!), but while the past three books I found had a good balance between plot and fan-service, this one felt like too much fan-service and too little substance. I probably won’t buy anymore, but I might keep reading them through the library, because I am invested in the cuteness of the main couple and the pretty costumes...

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind v1

………..I’m going to commit a grave sin and say that I actually didn’t love this. Maybe it’s because Nausicaa isn’t my favourite Ghibli film, but I found this so politically dense that I just got… bored. The art was pretty though, of course, and it would be an excellent read for anyone who really liked Nausicaa the film and would like to delve deeper into the lore, because it is apparently a LOT more expansive than the film is able to touch on.

Nim’s Island

A kidlit classic (even though it only came out in the 90s… it feels like a ~classic~ for some reason? Or that’s the vibe I’ve always picked up) that I’ve meant to read since I was a kid myself xD I finally did it! It’s a Robinson Crusoe style story about a girl who lives on a small island with her father, who’s a Scientist Performing Science. The story starts with her father needing to go to sea to do Science and getting stranded, so we see Nim needing to manage the island on her own while corresponding with an author through email. It’s cute. A little dull, the plot varies between slow to non-existent. I might have liked it more as a kid, but as an adult it really didn’t do it for me.

The Teller of Small Fortunes

A cosy fantasy book that follows Tao, a fortune teller who specializes exclusively in reading “small fortunes” for people, reluctant to do anything bigger out of fear of drawing the Mage Guild’s attention. As she travels though she winds up telling a wandering mercenary’s fortune which have significantly bigger implications than she could have expected. Tao suddenly finds herself saddled with the mercenary (who is determined to see if stick around after hearing his fortune), as well as an ex-thief, a less-than-successful baker, and an ornery cat. For the first time in a long time, her life is suddenly full of people as she continues to travel the land and give out her small fortunes.

Cosy fantasy can be hit or miss for me (sometimes they feel agonisingly dull and pointless) but this one had just enough action and intrigue to keep a good forward momentum going. I enjoyed all the characters, and though I didn't think it totally stuck the landing the first half was very charming and I would recommend it to anyone that wants something soft and pleasant and magical.

Unseen Academicals

This must be my third or fourth time rereading Unseen Academicals, it’s one of my favourite Discworld novels; it’s technically the final book of the Wizard’s series, but it functions largely as a standalone since it has an entirely new cast of main characters and the wizards serve mostly as background cast. And man, did Sir Terry Pratchett absolutely nail his cast for this book. Mr Nutt, Trev, Glenda, and Juliette are all completely perfect and interact with each other in really interesting ways.

Technically this book is about football (soccer). More technically, it is not even remotely about football. More, more technically, it’s all about football. Also it's about gender and socio-economics and model minorities and genocide. Also it's Romeo and Juliette except it's not and also Romeo woke up in time to realise how stupid everything is.

Street football has always been popular in the city, creating a complex and occasionally violent subculture among the various streets and their teams, but now the higher-ups are beginning to take notice. Just as the wizards are starting to get involved in this Sport Of The People, other characters are determined to escape it and its ever present Shove. As always, Terry Pratchett does a great job dissecting people and society in a way that is both very poignant, a little tragic, and hilariously funny. Can’t recommend it enough, even if you’ve never read a Discworld book before.

[notsocheezy]

Welcome to The Author's Archive

I'm Cassandra Erica, local girlish-shaped thing carrying she/they pronouns under each arm (despite how much more difficult it makes grocery shopping). I write every day and aim to reach a full year of daily Brain Curds without missing a single one. So far, so good - and I’ve proven to myself just how many ideas I really have swimming around in here! Many of them have proven worth refining.

"So," you're wondering, "what have you written so far? What are you working on? Are you going to keep up this weird reflexive second-person perspective?" To answer back-to-front: no, many things, and not quite as many things. Here are some lists!

~~~

RELEASED ON NOTSOCHEEZY.COM!

The Real Me (2022, Short Story)

There's something a bit off about businessman Mr. Shirley Jones. What's he hiding?

Three Takes on Death (2022, Short Story)

What might happen when we die?

Pink Bow (2022, Novella)

Who knew trying on one dress at the mall could change a person's entire life? Chris - or, uh, Kris - certainly didn't. Was it just a dress inside that box with the pink bow, or was it something more?

Passable. Episode One - The Virgin (2024, Writer's Block Short)

The pilot episode (of sorts) for a trans sitcom. Lily gets herself a date with a little something extra. Sarah racks her brain to keep her boyfriend sexually satisfied without breaking chastity. Alice and Brayden run a 'scientific' study with a virgin busboy.

Plus some other things, don't worry about it.

~~~

BRAIN CURDS

Brain Curds are lightly edited daily writing - usually flash fiction and sometimes terrible on purpose. Click here to see some of the greatest hits! Here are some of the more notable series:

The Frank Program

Frank hosts a podcast with high profile guests, and he's not afraid to tell you "what they don't want you to know," but he has plenty of his own secrets.

Quantum Fates

On a day that ought to be like any other, Trevor wakes up from a nightmare with a splitting headache, a voice in his head, and visions of the near future.

Passable.

Four trans college students share an apartment in Irvine and screw up each others' lives through sheer lack of scruples.

Government Man

Government Man is from the government.

Cole Nicole

Genderfluid femboy model, Cole Nicole, navigates life just outside the spotlight.

Veronica

Via gruesome means, Veronica gets her revenge - a dish best served at 98.6 degrees.

The Prom Consort

Kelly finds herself roped in to an arrangement (don't call it a love triangle) that might just be profitable. That is, if old wounds don't prove too painful.

~~~

WIP!

Anthill Theory (Short Film) Finished - Waiting for Soundtrack

An exploration of free will through a time loop that the protagonist doesn't know he's in.

A Covenant of Rust (Novella) Expansion and Rewrite Phase

A newlywed couple moves into a 1950s prefab home in early 2020, but finds more hidden beneath the surface than the floor plan could reveal. Will forgotten secrets and isolation bring them together, or tear them apart?

Blue Rabbit (Short Story) Pre-Final

Sequel/companion to A Covenant of Rust. I keep telling myself I'm going to finally finish this one, but it'll have to wait for its sibling project.

One Late Night Easter Morning (Short Story) First Draft

A chance encounter at a bar leads to late-night musings about humanity.

The Order of the Degenerati (Novel) Outlining

A secret society was formed after the tragedy of the holocaust to make sure it never happened again. Unfortunately, nowadays the most they can do is make YouTube videos go viral.

It Goes Up (Never Never NEVER NEVER NEVER) Complete

You will never read it.

Memories Retained (Novella?) Mostly Cancelled

Ever had a dream where you were back in high school, before it all went to shit, and you decided to do something differently? Ever woke up and found out it really happened?

Seeing Other People (Novel?) I Hate It Now

A story of love, polyamory, Dissociative Identity Disorder, and heartbreak.

And MORE! THERE IS ALWAYS MORE!

~~~

MY BOOK!(?)

Publishers don't seem super interested in collections of short stories, and I'm afraid a collection of short stories and novellas may make a literary agent's head explode, so expect to see Tales from Starved Childhoods as a self-published debut! It includes a fully rewritten new version of Everyone Has Their Price (2017); newly revised versions of Next Day Delivery (2017), The Real Me (2022), Three Takes on Death (2022) and Pink Bow (2022); and all-new stories still in progress.

Tales from Starved Childhoods is set to be the physical manifestation of my early career as a writer, so stay tuned and look for it someplace books are sold!

~~~

If you'd like to be one of my readers or vice versa, don't hesitate to reach out! I'm shy but I won't bite without consent.

I'm always happy to have more eyes on what I'm making and I'm always happy to read something new. It helps with the burnout. I'm open to most any genre - I don't really think much about labels when coming up with ideas.

If you work for a publisher and you see something you like, send an email to publishing@notsocheezy.com with the subject line, "Business Factory."

[true-blue-sonic]

Curious to know the difference between Espilver & Silvaze for you (personally I definitely entirely disagree that Espilver is Silvaze but gay 😭)

I must say I've never heard of that statement before myself, though my gut feeling is also that they are not just "the exact same ship with a different person", so to say. It is mostly because Espio and Blaze have quite some differences in personality that affect their interactions with Silver, but I feel like the fact Silver's personality has notable differences between his '06 and Rivals 2 appearances also has an influence on it. And as I wrote this post, I also noted some things about Blaze's personality in '06.

So let's unpack all that, haha! I can understand why at first glance, it's easy to see Blaze and Espio as characters who are mostly just "the same". For example, they're both portrayed as the straight men of the bunch: for Blaze clearly seen in Rush Adventure, where she starts out rather irritable, dismissive, and unamused of Marine, and for Espio with his focused and strength-obsessed attitude compared to Vector and Charmy's goofing around and bickering. Both of them are driven and heavily disciplined, are notably stoic amidst the more zany other members of the cast, work swiftly towards goals, seem more introverted and alright with doing things solitarily, have the occasional moment of wit and snark, can certainly get flustered, and possess a strong desire for justice, among other traits.

But there's also differences between them. Blaze's withdrawal from others came from the pressure she put on herself and 'always having been alone' because of her pyrokinesis, whereas Espio's solitary attitude seems more like an informed attribute to me. Wherever he goes, the Chaotix usually are not far behind, and when he does go solo it's apparently either to go train and hone his skills or because Vector sent him out for a mission. Espio thus doesn't at all seem to have any of the self-loathing Blaze used to have in her pressuring herself: I would say that for him it seems more like a self-imposed desire to become more powerful, which he seems to tackle masterfully and with a level attitude. Blaze also has much more of a temper on her, which makes her easily riled up; Espio meanwhile has a burning desire to snuff out evil, but keeps a calm head throughout. None of these are really traits that affect Silver, but I find it noteworthy to point them out.

But.... to be quite honest, what makes this ask rather difficult for me is that Blaze in '06 doesn't have much to do, which I believe is a common fandom complaint. Silver is the only one to ever acknowledge her, and her role mostly just is to be a satellite around him who keeps him on-track and gives him encouragement and tips. There's very little of her Rush personality (hot-headed, awkward about making friends but getting better at it, not good at accepting help which carries on a bit still in Rush Adventure, etc.) that shows in '06, in my opinion. For example, a noteworthy trait of her in Rush is the fact that she was teased for her pyrokinesis and had high expectations of protecting the Sol Emeralds on top, which caused her to shut others out and put everything on her own shoulders. That is not an experience I would say can be skipped in Blaze's personality: it really heavily influences how she acted in Rush, and affects her to this day even after her growth. But afaik there's no mention in '06 at all of Silver positively impacting her with his apparent acceptance of her and her powers: the trait is merely informed at best, not shown. Basically all development is centered around Silver instead, where Blaze is there to help but does not develop in turn, if that makes sense? And thus, she's more of a blank slate who's very supportive of Silver and who clearly loves and appreciates him as her companion, but whose personality as we'd seen it one year prior is not really there for me. And that makes it difficult for me to objectively compare the differences between the two ships, to be quite honest.

I will readily concede that Espilver and Silvaze could have many things in common: I would say both Espio and Blaze serve as Silver's support in their respective games, where they keep him on track and help him keep up his hopeful attitude. They seem to be well-synced with him, and Silver clearly respects them both. But the main difference for me is that Silver generally is the one making the plans and handing out the orders in Rivals 2, that Espio also follows. Espio only steps in when Silver cannot do so anymore, such as when his powers are almost depleted in the canyon. Silver does not need him for any emotional support or to get advice: he already knows with certainty what he is doing. Meanwhile, though '06!Silver also feels like 'the leader' between him and Blaze for me, he seems much more dependent on Blaze for said emotional support and guidance. He turns to her when he gets stuck about the morality of hurting one person to help many, and she calms him down when he expresses frustration about being unable to defeat Iblis for good, for example. I'd say it is in such things that those little details lie for me: '06!Silver has a lot more focus on morality and world-saving, whereas Rivals!Silver's quality that stands out most is kiiiiiind of being a jerk at most times. He's got his sweet moments, also with Espio, but his temper is very noteworthy in that game; much more than it was in '06, in my opinion.

And to add to that, I feel like the '06 personalities are not carried over so much in later games. In Colours DS, Silver and Blaze start one-upping each other for a bit about how they each could have defeated Orbot and Cubot solo, which I would say fits better with Blaze's withdrawn and occasionally-awkward-and-overly-serious demeanour as seen in Rush. Silver's self-confidence and competitive attitude meanwhile is present in most of his portrayals, and thus also here... but gone are the questions about morals or him needing emotional guidance, which makes a strong part of his personality in '06 for me. Also in one Sonic Channel story, Blaze and Silver get off on the wrong foot at first, and it takes some time for them to see the value in the other being there as their actions sync. I'd say such a story and development fits the two of them better with their non-'06 personalities: Blaze is self-reliant and doesn't accept help easily still, whereas Silver has more of a temper against her at first. It's quite different from '06, where they apparently already are the best of companions and Blaze's role kind of is to give Silver support. But the main source of Silvaze content simply is that game, and there Blaze's personality is rather lacking to me compared to what we learned of her before, and Silver's personality carries more focus on his softer, younger, naive sides. Meanwhile, in the Rivals 2 games Espio offers him his help in the game proper and you can see how they affect each other afterwards, but Silver does not need Espio for emotional guidance or to answer questions about how far you can acceptably go to save a world. For me, that makes both ships just a bit different!

[choiceofgames]

Author Interview: Amy Griswold

Deep beneath the earth, the dragon is rising! Quest into mysterious underground caverns and forests to learn magical secrets, draw strength from friends and family, secure alliances that can save your home, and carry on the heroic legacy of Stronghold!

Stronghold: Caverns of Sorcery is an interactive fantasy novel by Amy Griswold, where your choices control the story. It’s entirely text-based—380,000 words and hundreds of choices—without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

Choice of Games editor Mary Duffy sat down with author Amy Griswold to talk about the upcoming game and some of her other works. Stronghold: Caverns of Sorcery releases Thursday, January 30th—you can wishlist it on Steam today, it really helps, even if you don’t plan to purchase it on Steam. 

We’re returning to the world of Stronghold: A Hero’s Fate. This is something of an indirect sequel, right?

Yes, it’s a chance to revisit the town founded in Stronghold: A Hero’s Fate with a new generation of characters facing new challenges. The influence of your town’s founding hero determines the starting situation of your town and the personality of your grandparent, the town’s current leader. But for players who want to jump in without playing the first game, there’s the option to choose a preset backstory or make detailed choices about your town’s history when you begin the game.

How was it for you picking back up the threads of the Stronghold universe?

I really enjoyed revisiting the world of Stronghold and getting to explore some corners of it in more detail. In Stronghold: A Hero’s Fate, the goblins are mostly seen at a distance, and the dryads are enigmatic forest protectors. Stronghold: Caverns of Sorcery takes a closer look at both goblins and dryads, with befriendable (and romanceable) goblin and dryad NPC companions. It was also interesting to write a game primarily focused on sorcery. In Stronghold: A Hero’s Fate, it’s possible to never engage with the lost magic of your ancestors at all. In Stronghold: Caverns of Sorcery, the player character and their friends Corbin, Zoe, and Fox are all sorcerers, and “I use sorcery!” is the obvious way to approach a lot of problems. This required making the magical system more complex and varied, with options to focus on the knotwork of goblins and dryads or the experimental science of alchemy as well as rediscovering your ancestors’ lost arts.

Between these two games you published The Play’s the Thing with us, which is a fantastic game, and a fantastically different setting. Tell me a bit about the inspiration there, because within the Amy Griswold canon we’ve also got one of my all time favorite games, The Eagle’s Heir, which is a wonderful Napoleonic alt-history. You seem adept at jumping around in genre.

I like changes of pace. The Play’s the Thing was a fabulous chance to play with a bunch of dramatic tropes that would probably be over the top in a Stronghold game — wicked rulers, troubled heirs, long-lost siblings, and a deadly curse! plus a dancing bear! — while at the same time exploring what it’s like to try to make art that means something while the world is falling apart around you. The Eagle’s Heir is a swashbuckling steampunk adventure with airship racing and dastardly plots, but it’s also about how personal choices can shape political change. And both Stronghold games are fantasy adventures built around the tropes of classic tabletop games, and are also about how your choices influence other people in a small community. To me, the Choice of Games format is well suited to games that let players soak up the atmosphere of a particular genre, while at the same time exploring the reasons why choices and stories matter.

What surprised you most about the writing of Stronghold: Caverns of Sorcery?

I kept finding edge cases carried over from A Hero’s Fate that I had forgotten were possible and needed to be accounted for. What happens if the original player character has no children (biological or adopted) and no nephew, and then chooses a protégé as their heir, and then their protégé dies, leaving no one the right age alive to be the grandparent of the player character in Caverns of Sorcery? Etc.

There’s a dragon in this game. Choice of Games is a dragon-heavy publisher. Please say a bit about your dragon.

Dragons are useful because they give player characters a problem to react to in interesting ways. It’s hard to ignore a dragon. The dragon in Caverns of Sorcery was imprisoned by your ancestors centuries ago in the caverns near your town. It would very much like to escape, set your town on fire, and feast on the survivors. What else the dragon wants is possible to explore over the course of the game. But this isn’t, at its heart, a game about a dragon; it’s a game about a situation where doing nothing will lead to disaster, so you have to try doing something. What kind of “something” is up to you.

In addition to writing interactive fiction for us, you’re also a prolific novelist, I’d love to tell our readers about other works of yours they can enjoy.

Fans of the steampunk world of The Eagle’s Heir may enjoy the gaslamp fantasy mysteries Death by Silver and A Death at the Dionysus Club (with Melissa Scott), in which metaphysician Ned Mathey and detective Julian Lynes solve mysteries and navigate the fascinatingly awful world of Victorian London and its gay community. And for sci-fi adventure, I recommend the Stargate Legacy series, a virtual fifth season of tie-in novels set after the end of the Stargate Atlantis TV series (start with Homecoming by Jo Graham and Melissa Scott.)

What are you working on next?

I’m working on revisions to a science fiction novel, Gyre, that’s under contract for probably sometime in 2026, and I’ve got a couple of historical fiction projects on the back burner as well.

[dearunreliablenarrator]

✨Good day and happy STS!✨

What is the Coolest thing you have ever come up with lore-wise? Could be anything—a sick motif, a compelling character design, unique worldbuilding, anything!

Feel free to Ramble !!!

and have an awesome day ✨✨✨

✨howdy!

umh, there's honestly so much i can touch on because i've realized i don't really share much on my WIPs outside of Mystic Mondays or sporadic snippet drops.

but i think i'll start with the most important thing that will carry over through the unreliable universe.

so. generational ties/crossroads/parallel timelines/red string theory, i believe are the backbone to the lore inside what we'll call Project NM (PM for short). which wasn't an intentional thing until I started to plot for the duo/companion book for WTRB (where the river bends-a speculative comp. romance (something like that)), because I needed way to bring all four of the characters together in their events naturally, since they'd be referenced and also (technically) be happening at the same.

this was a pretty significant plot hole eraser and pace fixer, because it gave me a sense of timing for events and as someone who isn't planner when it comes to writing, it definitely made me realize that this projects couldn't been done on the fly. (mind you writing now compared to writing in middle school is a complete different world, didn't really worry much about plot holes)

now! i can add as many side stories as i want because i've given myself a backbone to Project NM, and not have to worry about creating world building details from scratch every time i have a new idea. (this also cut down on some overactive world building things, that would have been too complicated to be real or explain)

so, it works lika this. The timeline generationally goes all the way back to GG (a sort of prequel to the unreliableverse) which i could say is set in the feudal/middle age/era because of the Age of Enlightenment is interesting and I've watched Ella Enchanted one too many times to not have my own take on it. (and knights are cool...)

And with GG (which will also have a companion, maybe) the two female leads respectively are the reasons MOST if not ALL of the female leads throughout the series are connected.

So, with that being said. No matter what timeline is currently being lived through, their descendants (or they themselves) will meet and have to face whatever challenges (curse as people are saying nowadays) together, that were never dealt with previously.

But what this doesn't mean is that they're all happening at different times or generations. For clarity, we'll stick with the Big Three. WTRB (where the river bends), CUTS (cherries under the sun) and ALT (altheia).

canonically, CUTS and WTRB are happening that same time but the entry point to their stories are staggered. CUTS and all it's horror begins in the late summer/early fall (starting from the prologue) while WTRB opens in late winter/early spring and at some point meet at a crossroad. whether that's characters referencing one another or events. There will things that shift the actions of each group, respectively as their stories go on.

as for ALT, this is maybe 500 or so years later, i haven't really decided yet. but its far enough out for some consequences to be eliminated, and close enough to still see and feel some of the repercussions of not just the actions of our characters but also the world they live in or grow around. so, 5 generations later at the least, at the max 10.

so,tiny diagram here!

i'm linking a youtube playlist, that i hope will make this make a little more sense if i've gotten you lost. it'd probably be a piece of media i'll reference alot along with Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022).

while there are some more things i want to expand on here, i'll plug mystic monday one more time. there is no tag list, but it does have a dedicated tag for your searching ease. #unreliablelore or just search mystic monday!

i find the lore here- while being a bit more detail oriented and researched base, it isn't really significant to the storyline. think of it as a living library, to be referenced throughout the story. and probably the answers to easter eggs as they come.

i think thats all i can ramble on about at thee moment, if there's anything i can clarify or expand on just let me know.

k-bai✨

[ganondoodle]

some random ideas for the totk rewritten project

krog (korok) seeds

i think i found a way to include krog seeds even if i reintroduced bags for expanding your inventory- what if the krog seeds are redeemed for the amiibo sets and maybe a few new things? that way you are not forced to engage with krog puzzles if you are tired of them and its not essential either, you can choose what armor set you want instead of being "surpised" by the same link hat three times in a row for fighting your way through the depths (like i was lol)

considering im rewriting the krog forest to be like a minidungeon with a unique miniboss and boss AND you start the quest for restoring the master sword there i think that this is acceptable

what if one of the expensive rewards was a krog armor set that includes the mask from the botw DLC but adds two more pieces, its effect could be to turn invisible as the krogs are to most people; considering how they are not invisible to everyone it could still work with important NPCs still seeing you AND you could run through monster camps without them chasing you if you just want to get through without you attacking them- since its expensive you gotta gather alot of krog seeds to buy it meaning it wouldnt make encounters much easier bc you have to fight alot of monsters before being able to afford it anyway and the effect is removed once you attack an enemy .... or maybe once you are spotted you can stand still and the effect restores itself nhfkjdnkjfdk

food + storage

to raise the difficulty a little i thought about bringing bottles back, they are physical items this time with a limited number and are able to store medicine and soup that has no expiration date; personally i like cooking tho so i want to keep it, maybe with the effect of being a bit more limited in number and, while not spoiling completely, it loses some of its effectiveness over time

how you use them im not yet sure, either the same way in inventory (which i think i will go for since i dont want to change it that drastically and with the added balance of limitation i think that is still fine) or on some kind of item wheel you can set yourself like in skyward sword

there are bags you can find as bigger items that will expand your weapon, shield or bow inventory slots, perhaps a small bag gives you one and a big one two slots- it would be a bigger and different reward for exploring or quests and fills the spot for inventory expansion

theres a chest in links house (i thought maybe links house is still links but they built onto it so zelda has a place to stay as well, like a bigger/double house) that can hold armor sets if you dont want to keep carrying all of them around but dont want to sell them either

repairable weapons through zelda

weapons still break but are full weapons again, i found the excuse of them all being useless now through the cataclysm ... somehow for some reason a pretty blatant way for forcing you to fuse stuff bc its literally the only viable thing to do, but i like the idea of inventing new weapons with materials; to balance it out and give you an incentive to help out your friends i figured that at first weapons still break, but in each region is a smith that can teach zelda (who is your companion in this rewrite) how to repair weapons of a certain type (zora, spear, goron, two handed, rito, bows, gerudo, one handed-- perhaps it is a longer quest of idk .. bringing certain weapons to those smith or similar) which she can do anywhere outside combat;

how broken the weapon is determines how much extra material she may need to do it- im still working on it but i got the idea of the status of the weapon being symbolized in three stages, fine, damaged and broken; damaged is the one that needs less material to fix up, broken costs more- a broken one might still occupy an inventory slot but is unusable or very very bad damage wise, you can throw it away either manually or when you try to pick up a new one you can choose if you want to swap it out (just like they did with stuff from chests in totk .. idk why they didnt add that to in game weapons lying on the ground too) or choose to keep it and repair it once you are out of combat

arrow types

i dont like the menuing in totk for the arrows ... it was one of the most frustrating things to deal with (especialyl bc it sorted your inventory too??? when you used the sorting in the quick menu???) so i wanted to change that a little, havign to go into the quick menu everytime for each arrow i find tedious too, so;

there are more arrow types but they are craftable with arrows and materials, you can craft them in bulk out of combat (the typical types from botw -fire,eletric,ice,bombs- but then add those confusion ones, wind, the cloudy shroom thingy, poison .. perhaps a few more if i can think of more but not too mayn to not clutter it again)

enigma stones function

i wanted to change how enigma stones function somewhat, they dont "enhance" the ability of the champion/sage (i still wanna call them chmapions bc thats what they areeeee) it allows them to link an ability of theirs to link without the orginal champion having to be present or dead, the stones come in set of two each and function somewhat like a magic communication between the player and the champion, once you obtain the second piece its embedded into links shiekah arm prosthetic (also something of my rewrite) and allow him to call upon their ability at will through a second selection wheel

ranch ruins

the ranch ruins i wanted to be rebuild (bc thats cool and i thought restoration was a theme? lol) and maybe you help rebuild it proper and as thanks you can put your horses there to roam around all at once when not taken out to ride, not a big gameplay thing but a neat quest with a rebuilding thing of a building we havent seen in its prime and a neat addition of letting you see all your horsies at once :)

(totk rewritten project)

[variousqueerthings]

This is the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me in my life. The only exciting thing!

Bill! I've been writing with a friend while watching s10 and this friend really doesn't like m*ffat, and I think by s10 all goodwill had run out and they do tend towards the most negative read of every episode, and bill as character generally

and look, bill is introduced with a truly stupid, fatphobic, rambly-in-a-bad-way bit of dialogue. we breathe deeply. we remember that we're here to do a rating and so this will be included in that. but also that there are many many facets of bill's character that are very interesting, fun, and different to anything we've seen since m*ffat took the helm on this show, and that this line -- while fucking... argh... is not repeated. but also just never should have existed to begin with

(also oh gosh, fatphobia as sexism and/or as political... it's really both isn't it, it's going on both, y'all making your first lesbian main character say fatphobic shit, c'mon!)

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 7/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 10/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 8/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 7/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 8/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 7/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 7/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 10/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 7/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 7/10

FULL RATING: 78/100 (if I can count….)

m*ffat where was this energy five seasons ago???

OBJECTIFICATION: I knocked a whole three points off just for that "joke" to be honest. this episode is otherwise pretty good at writing its female characters, bill and heather

it's especially as a counterpoint to the paternoster gang, where lesbianism = sexy master/servant powerplay in leather, and look- look I am not averse to that as concept

but written my m*ffat on doctor who? yeurgh

point is, that's not bill and heather

PLOT-POINT: bill is the POV character in a way none of the other companions were in their first episodes (barring amy as a kid, but as an adult, not so much anymore). the doctor is some weirdo but compelling professor at her college, which she works at and secretly goes to classes at, her potential relationship with heather is what sets off the plot and carries it throughout, and is what drives the ending

it's pretty neat on the whole. my friend's main angry point about this episode (well one of them) was that bill was totally unconcerned with what happened with heather/that it should have had a bigger effect on her longrunning and... yehhh I'm not not in agreement but I do think that with doctor who being a bit of a bullshit-science type show in which characters don't die in a number of ways + that I know heather comes back at the end + there's that setup that they'll probably see heather again + the focus on bill's character as being in the closet to her foster mum (foster or adoptive, I've forgotten now) and working in a canteen and just not really knowing where her life is going and all of that wrapped up in meeting heather and that adventure with the doctor... it does work on the whole

it could have been more I do think that, especially heather's character, whom we know basically nothing about other than that she was probably depressed and wanted to travel places, but I think bill's emotions are far more grounded and long-reaching and important to the story than amy's or clara's ever were and this already in episode one

maybe I'm just happy to see something but I do think it's also something done -- for the most part -- quite well

COMPLEXITY: this plot as a mystery is quite fun. bill is just as much figuring out the doctor as she is the mystery of the puzzle. as such, it's kind of a slow-burnish that's not massive in scope, but I think it's rather delightful

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: new companion called bill whom we already know a fair bit about, woman in a puddle, mystery in the cellar, nardole is still there, the doctor is having a bit of an emotional Time (when are they not -- but it's an evolving emotional Time)

COMPANIONS MATTER: bill does a lot in this episode, which is extra great because she's so new. it's a lot of questions, but also a lot of proactive behaviour, and it's also questions that are about bill learning and not about acting as a sounding board for the doctor all the time

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: the doctor is mainly trying to stay out of things, and then bill drags them into things, and it's a bit about emotions and a bit about becoming a (grand)parental figure to bill, who needs some support, I like that this is the impetus that gets the doctor involved in the story... well, that and can't resist a mystery of course. and boredom. multitudes

also a defining thing the doctor does is go back in time and take some pictures of bill's mum for her. this is simply done out of kindness (and it doesn't hurt that it affects a later plot)

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: I really like the callbacks in this one, it really says some stuff about the doctor-as-character where they currently are -- that is, looking with melancholy at the past. funnily enough, with river and susan on the same desk, it kind of ties river to that past more effectively than the show managed to do during her actual episodes, I feel

also by putting susan there, it says a lot about how the doctor is going to be interacting with bill. a very different kind of dynamic to any we've had before on nu!who

“SEXINESS”: I've put this highly, as I don't remember anything. generally this season I haven't remembered if there's anything (actually no lies, one thing just popped up, but not this episode), so I'll just have to operate on that assumption and... maybe take notes for the latter half. but I think we're relatively free of this anyway, considering a lot of the heteronormativity has been removed from the show at this point

INTERNAL WORLD: there is a university and bill lives with her foster mum because her mother is dead, and she works in the canteen and sneaks into lectures. honestly an old university is the perfect place for the doctor to hide, tenured professors are like cryptids

there's a biiit less on the queer side of things, and there will be throughout the season. this not to say that bill is not definitely a lesbian, in a way where I'd say (controversially perhaps) that clara never felt queer to me

but simply that it doesn't seem like bill's involved much in queer culture, and that culture doesn't affect the plot as such. I'm okay with this, I think there's still a lot to be said for how bill's lesbianism already affects the text for the better, but it is the point and I am doing this particular rating, so it should be said

POLITICS: I mean to strip bill to box-ticking (not in a bad way) for a second, but she's a black, working-class lesbian who's living with a straight, white foster mother, whom she's not out to

and she is the hero of the story. she's funny, she's kind, she sees things, she asks good questions, and she remembers very very well and applies what she learns to the situations she's in. while one might ask whether some of these aspects of her could have been explored more throughout her run, it's fair I think to say that they are explored and are recurring parts of her story and affect how she sees and moves through the world

I also think there's just something about this weird professor type seeing her in turn, singling her out as special, which is such a different way to how m*ffat has written the doctor opposite women since s2, in which only women who are suitably Special in particular ways (through being "well-bred" and "highly educated" and essentially very classist ideas of being from the right background, or by first being introduced as a mystery and then later as a character)

dare I say... he might have learnt something?

which is why, to bring the mood down for a second, her fatphobic ramble feels out of character for who we later learn she is, and just feels more like a throwaway joke on the side of m*ffat to show that... idk actually what it's meant to show. that bill rambles? that she's slightly awkward? and of course m*ffat doesn't know that fatphobia is a thing (I imagine) and so wouldn't have wanted to write it to show that bill has unexamined bigotries (which could be interesting, but not done in this way or with this character or with the themes of this season), especially is we're kiiind of seeing bill flirt with that woman in a later scene?

(I also think this ramble is weird in terms of how it describes the doctor, it's so nonsensical. is it implying the doctor was essentially sexually harassing this unknown woman? this unknown woman that she also objectifies before we even get to the fatphobia???)

I should actually just include it as a reminder to people, because it really does suck: "Okay, so my first day here, in the canteen, I was on chips. There was this girl. Student. Beautiful. Like a model, only with talking and thinking. She looked at you and you perved. Every time, automatic, like physics. Eye contact, perversion. So I gave her extra chips. Every time, extra chips. Like a reward for all the perversion. Every day, got myself on chips, rewarded her. Then finally, finally, she looked at me, like she'd noticed, actually noticed, all the extra chips. Do you know what I realised? She was fat. I'd fatted her. But that's life, innit? Beauty or chips. I like chips. So did she. So that's okay."

I am not negating that this was terribly written and offensive, but I do think it's also at odds with later bill and I don't take it in as part of her character, so much as a massive bit of bad writing on the m*ffat's part, same as, say, when the doctor grabbed jenny and kissed her without her consent, which would be a character-ruiner for me if I decided that that was part of my canon. this isn't quite as bad as that, but it's not a great way to introduce a character that you're meant to root for, and also just... I mean not that there aren't fatphobic lesbians but c'mon, you're showing an ostensibly queer perspective and you're turning her into a bloke????? nah nah nah, fuck right off with that

FULL RATING: 78/100 (if I can count….)

it's frankly wild how far and fast this jumped for the first episode of the season. its main detractor, really is that joke, and perhaps the general limitations in including a queer culture to bill's queer identity, but bill is -- on the whole -- fantastic and immediately shifts the show into a completely different gear

I feel like it's a shame she came here at the end, after a lot of people had dropped off, not just for one season in and of herself, but the final season of this entire era. it's a lot of weight to carry and I think pearl mackie does a fantastic job

[runawaymun]

Trick or treat! What about a line or two from something that'll likely never see the light of day from the WIP folder?

Ohhhh this is a fun question!

Ok so with @the-commonplace-book's permission, I shall share quite a few chunks of a little story we wrote together for fun, mostly just to take a break from some of our more serious joint projects, which is the MGME trope, but make it a couple of kids and their shitty parents -- who are some longstanding OCs which have been knocking about for years from a different, really cool project that she's working on. Mostly this whole thing began with, "what if Torin and Finley met Elrond and he could maybe dad them a bit? Wouldn't that be fun?"

The first section includes Glorfindel rescuing the parents from some Trolls (classic) after they fall into Middle Earth, and then I'll just select chunks at random. We wound up dropping it because we got to a point where we got bored, but it was a really good time while it lasted and spawned a totally different (but similar) idea which we poke at every once in a while.

This could get quite long :D

-

Neil and Deidre had been bickering so loudly and incessantly, that they hadn’t heard the thud! thud! thud! approaching until it was just behind them. They spun around just in time to see an enormous grey monster reaching for them. 

They scrambled to escape, but it had them in their clutches - one in each giant hand. It was as rank as it was ugly, and no matter how much they squirmed and screamed, it wouldn’t let them go.

It carried them a ways through the woods, to a camp just outside a cave, where another giant grey creature sat tending a fire proportionate to their size. They began to chat.

If they had spoken the local tongue they might have understood the conversation as:

“What do you have there, Art?” 

“Oh just some tasty morsels for tonight’s stew! Caught them scrambling about the edge of the moor, I did.”

“That one’s got a good bit of fat on him.” The second troll said, poking Deirdre with a thick grimy finger. 

Art yanked her back, sending Deirdre screeching anew. “Hands to yourself, Wildo. I found them. I’m cooking them up.”

“There’s plenty to share! With that one at least.”

“This one’s mine. You can have the skinny one.” He tossed Neil to Wildo, who fumbled the catch, much to Neil’s increasing distress.

Of course, Neil and Deirdre Brady couldn’t speak this language, and so they were left in a fright, with monstrous creatures tossing them about and speaking utter nonsense. Perhaps it was for the best. No one, of course, wants to know that they are about to be roasted alive for lunch.

-

Trolls were nothing to sniff at.

They raised such a horrid stink.

Glorfindel had been waiting just at the edge of the cave this lot was living in, having been drawn by the orange glow this side of the hill. A glow that bright in the middle of the night in the Trollshaws only meant one thing. And these trolls were too close to the main road not to be a nuisance to travelers. 

He’d been waiting because he had only counted one troll at the fire and they generally never lived alone if they could help it. It would be better to bag them both at once.

He was handsomely rewarded when the troll’s companion returned with dinner. 

A very loud dinner.

The screeching was warranted, but hard to listen to. Glorfindel winced. No time to waste!

He left Asfaloth where he was –there was no sense risking him with the trolls– and strode into the ring of light, Aurë flashing in his hands, and called out jovially:

“Ho, my friends! What a nice catch you have!” 

Both trolls froze and turned to look at the intruder. 

Glorfindel gave Aurë a whirl and then gripped the hilt with both hands. “Mind if I join you for dinner?” 

Before either Art or Wildo could decide how to react (trolls were, of course, rather slow creatures), Glorfindel raised his voice in a battle Song which forced both to drop their prizes and clutch their ears in horror. He sprinted toward them, Singing, and cut Art down with one long slice to his belly. Wildo recovered quicker, and grabbed the wicked-looking knife from his belt– which was about the size of Aurë– and waved it wildly in Glorfindel’s direction with a terrified shout.

Glorfindel neatly sidestepped each cut, parried, and then stabbed Wildo straight in the knee.

The troll howled in pain and sank to his knees. Glorfindel took the opportunity to plunge Aurë straight into the beast’s eye, right up to the hilt.

It took a bit of a yank to get the sword out again, which was tiresome. He had to put a boot to the creature’s skull to get enough leverage.

Panting, he cleaned Aurë and sheathed it, then turned and held out a gloved hand, glowing with golden light, to the woman first. 

“Right. I hope you are not terribly hurt. Nasty things, trolls.” 

-

(and later, the twins find the two boys in the forest and, after discovering that they speak no recognizable language, bring them to Rivendell to see if Elrond can figure out how to communicate with them)

The twins led the boys up to the house. It was buzzing with activity this time of day, elves going to-and-from the healing halls or the kitchen, some Dunedain guests milling about. They passed a group of hunters heading out for the diurnal prey that would be out soon. 

Elrohir would have liked to get the boys another meal before doing anything else, but it was best to figure out what language they were speaking first. They climbed the stairs to the second floor, then went out to the garden and passed Lindir, who greeted them with a bow.

“Ada’s in his study?” Elladan asked.

Lindir nodded. “I have just come from there.” His eyes fell to the boys with curiosity, and then flicked back up to the twins. 

“Uh…we’ll explain later. We really have to talk to him,” Elladan said again, and said goodbye and continued on past the courtyard to knock on the door to his father’s study and then went inside.

Elrond was indeed there, bent over some letters with Erestor at his side. Both of them looked over and Elrond straightened. He probably meant inquire after the hunt, but paused at once when he saw the boys.

Before the inevitable could be asked, Elrohir cut in: “We found them at the edge of the trollshaws alone and lost. No sign of any adults. Um– and I have no idea what language they’re speaking.”

“He tried everything,” Elladan added. “They don’t speak common. Elrohir even tried Khuzdul and Haradi but they recognized nothing.” 

Elrond held up a hand to still them both and slowly came over. The boys had dark hair and light eyes. If he didn’t know any better, he would think they were Elros’ kin. But if what Elladan and Elrohir said was true, then he couldn’t imagine how that could be. 

“The trollshaws?” From behind him, Erestor was incredulous. “What were they doing in the trollshaws? That is a long way from any Mannish settlement in the area.” 

“I imagine we shall find out if we talk to them,” Elrond said evenly. He wished to hear them speak, if only to take a stab at a language root. He sank down to their level (his height was hard to handle for some grown men, let alone two children), and then put a hand to his chest and introduced, “Elrond.” And gestured to the eldest. 

Torin kept his feet firmly planted on the floor, despite the way this man’s presence made him want to cower. He was tall - taller than any man Torin had ever met. His grey eyes looked old beyond his years and when he knelt to Finley’s level with those careful, gentle motions and that disarming tone, a profound sense of unease and acute distrust churned in Torin’s gut.

“Torin. We’re just looking for a phone.” He held his hand to his ear, fingers extended to pantomime it, and searched the man’s face for any sign of understanding. “Phone? Cell? Ring ring?”

Finley shrunk behind his brother. 

Elrond cocked his head. The gesture was completely unfamiliar. The language…he supposed he didn’t have enough information to discern a root, though if he had to guess it might be Rohirric in nature. 

The three questions in quick succession were clearly an attempt at some sort of clarification. Synonyms. But unfortunately he hadn’t the faintest idea of what any of it meant.

He glanced up at the twins, who looked baffled, and then sat back on his haunches and decided on: “Well met, Torin. I am afraid I don’t know how to help you,” because regardless of whether or not they understood each other, he was still going to give him the respect of speaking to him. “But I promise I will do my best to find how.” 

“You don’t know what they’re speaking?” Elladan was astounded.

“Unfortunately I do not. It is a puzzle,” Elrond replied back. 

The only thing Torin understood out of all that was his name. It was swiftly become clear they either had no idea what a phone was, or simply didn’t have any here and were trying to explain that. 

“Fuck,” he said, guessing that was as gibberish to them as anything else in English. If he hadn’t left his damn phone charging in his room they wouldn’t be in this mess.

“Okay, uh, Plan B,” he said, not even bothering to whisper. They couldn’t understand what he was saying to his brother anyway. “We’re gonna get some more food and figure out where the hell we are, and then figure out the real Plan B.”

Finley nodded mutely.

Torin took out the little wrapped bread from earlier and held it up, pointing to it. “Food?” 

At that, Elrond lit up into a warm smile. It was an easily understood question.

“That was going to be my next suggestion, in fact. Food,” he repeated the unfamiliar word. “Yes.” 

The letters were entirely forgotten with his attention entirely diverted onto this new puzzle. Erestor let out a long-suffering sigh and gathered them up into a neat stack. Elrond stood and started for the door beckoning. 

“I’ll go get them something,” Elladan said, heading down to the kitchen. “Terrace?”

Elrond hummed in assent, and started up the walkway to the third floor, Elrohir following behind. 

-

Elrond led them back downstairs, all the way to the first floor of the library. He waved to Iûldis as they passed her desk on their way in. She paid him a polite nod of her head. Elrond led them through the rows of books until they came to the selection of maps. He took one down and rolled it out on the nearest table large enough to accommodate it, took a moment to orient himself, and then pointed to Rivendell.

“We’re here. Rivendell.” He then traced over the mountains to: “Dale,” then downward, “Rohan,” further south. “Gondor. Minas Tirith.” And finally, back over the mountains, being sure to trace slowly all the way west. “Bree.” Then, “Ered Luin.” 

Torin may not have been a geography whiz, but he knew a map of world and knew this sure as hell wasn’t it. 

“Are you fucking joking?” Torin shook his head. “You don’t even have a real map. That’s grand. Fantastic. Fuck!” He grabbed the map and threw it off the table like the useless piece of garbage it was.

Finley flinched and shrunk back, worrying at his sleeves, stiff with shoulder hunched up to his ears. 

Torin pointed an angry finger at Elrond. “Tell us where the hell we are!”

“Riv–” Finley tried to say Rivendell. He’d picked up that much. Not that he knew where or what Rivendell was, but it was where they were. The word couldn’t form. It tangled up in his mouth. “Ri–”  Rivendell. Rivendell. Rivendell. It was right there caught in his throat behind a lump of anxiety.

Elrond took the outburst in stride. He watched the map drift to the floor, and then returned his attention to Torin.  Iûldis had crept over at the commotion and was leaning around to glare at them all disapprovingly from around the bookcase. He shot her an apologetic smile and bent to retrieve the map. Thankfully, it was not damaged.

He rolled it up and reshelved it.

“Rivendell,” he repeated, because the question was clear and Torin’s little brother’s answer was also predictable. “That is where you are. And if you dislike the map we can look at others, but I am not sure if they will be of any use to you.”

He had begun to radiate a gentle flow of calm through the floor, if only because he could feel how fast the little one’s heartbeat was. It also may help keep the surrounding books intact. 

Torin couldn’t pinpoint how, but he got the sense Elrond was trying to calm him down and that only put him further on edge. “ Ireland. Europe. British Isles. Dublin. Any of that mean anything to you?!” 

He couldn’t tell if this was an elaborate act of if they really were that disconnected from society. For concerning recent events, the cosmic phenomenon they experienced yesterday had nothing on the presence of these pointy-eared bastards.

-

Elladan and Elrohir decided to go upstairs and get some sleep. They had slept little on their hunt, especially the night before, and it was beginning to catch up with them. On their way in, though, they stopped to check on the boys. 

“Torin screamed at Ada,” Elladan muttered with a laugh. “Everyone’s talking about it.”

Elrohir’s eyes grew wide. “He’s lucky Erestor wasn’t there. He would have put him over his knee. Ai, I can still remember the first and last time I ever did that.” 

Erestor had never done anything of the sort, of course, but the scathing disapproval had hurt just as much. He’d been in the room at the time. Ada had simply taken it in stride, asked him if he was finished, and then sent him to study a corner of the nursery for three hours. The boredom had been another kind of pain.

-

(Glorfindel arrives with Neil and Deidre, and they go to "reunite" with the boys but uhhhhh it does not go well... partially due to the language barrier but also due to the shitty family dynamic which the elves have no way of knowing about)

Celebrían led the boys upstairs. Elrond and Glorfindel came in before they could make it all the way to the terrace, meeting them in the hall. They had to sorely bedraggled adults with them who, Celebrían guessed, looked quite a lot like both boys. 

“Glorfindel! It’s good to see you back!” she shot him a bright smile.

Glorfindel’s smile that he gave her in return was radiant as ever. “It’s good to be back.” 

Torin froze. His body went stiff and he planted his feet. No. No, no no.

There were their parents, tired, with muddy clothes and tired eyes. Relief washed over their faces at the sight of him, but Torin didn’t share the sentiment. He knew it was a lie.

“Torin!” His mum went to hug him and he shrugged her off. His dad placed a hand on his shoulder and he stiffened. 

“We’ve been looking for you for over a day. We were worried sick.” 

“Yeah I’ll bet you were,” Torin grumbled. 

“Where’s your brother?” The concern carried a nearly imperceptible edge.

Torin looked to his side. Finley was gone. Fuck. His eyes turned to his dad’s with a sharp glare. “What do you care?”

Neil sighed, like dealing with a petulant child, and tried to ask after Finley. “The smaller one? Finley?” He indicated the height, hoping one of the strangers (and they truly were strange) could help.

No one knew what to make of the strange encounter. This was not how they had expected it to go. Torin did not look glad to see his parents. Elrond began to wonder if it had not been an accident that they had been separated. 

So focused were they all on the conversation that it came as a terrible surprise when Torin’s father (whom Glorfindel had introduced as Neil) asked about Finley. Before Elrond could register what he meant, Celebrían frowned, looking around. 

“He was just here–”

Ah. Finley was the little one. And he had gone missing in a matter of seconds. Elrond’s heart jumped. He craned his neck. Sure enough, Finley was nowhere in sight.

He shot Neil an apologetic smile and said, “I will look for him. Celebrían, could you have Lindir make up a room?” 

A little shaken, Celebrían nodded. She couldn’t imagine how Finley had been so quiet, nor so quick, that no one had noticed him disappear. 

Elrond set off. Glorfindel took it upon himself to introduce: “Lady Celebrían, this is Neil, and his fucking cunt Deidre.” He said it cheerily, gesturing between the two of them, looking very proud of himself for picking up on the word for spouse from all of their bickering. 

Celebrían shot them a smile and touched her hand to her chest and inclined her head. “Well met. Celebrían,” she introduced herself. 

Deirdre, however, squawked in offense and, before Neil could stop her, slapped Glorfindel. “How dare you!” 

“Deirdre!” He reached her a moment too late. 

“You heard what he called me!” 

“You really think he knows what that means?”

“Well– Well then it’s your fault! He must have picked it up from you!”

Meanwhile, Torin burst into laughter the moment Glorfindel said it. “No, no.” He gave a thumbs up to Glorfindel and pointed to his mum, still laughing. “His fucking cunt.”

“WIFE! I’m his wife!” Deirdre screeched. 

“Torin.” Neil shot him a warning glare, but then those eyes flicked around their company. 

Torin, knowing his dad couldn’t do shit in public, just shrugged and gave him a shit-eating grin. “You said it first.”

Glorfindel was so surprised by this entire thing that he froze. Celebrían’s eyebrows rose. She put her hands on her hips, ready to lash out at Deidre despite her being a guest because they most certainly did not allow anyone to strike anyone in her house– but at Torin’s reaction and Deidre’s apparently correction, the situation became clear.

“Glorfindel– I think that doesn’t mean what you think it means,” she said slowly.

Glorfindel looked between Torin, Celebrían, Neil, and Deidre. “He called her that the whole time!” 

“Maybe they don’t get along as well as you thought,”  Celebrían said with a thin, albeit amused, smile. 

Glorfindel blushed and ducked his head in Deidre’s direction. “I misunderstood. My deepest apologies.” 

Deirdre huffed, but accepted what she hoped was an apology. “Does anyone here speak English?” she demanded. 

“Nope,” Torin said. “No English. No phones. No maps. We’re fucking stranded with these weirdos in this godforsaken larping compound.”

-

(one last little snippet here, after Finley bolts to get away from his parents, Elrond goes off to find him).

Elrond set off from the group. When he turned the corner in the hall, he stopped, shut his eyes, took a deep breath, and blocked everything out to attune to the floor beneath his feet. 

Sure enough, it was faint, but there was a tiny heartbeat some distance away, racing at breakneck speed. 

He followed it down to the second floor, past the rows and rows of guest rooms, hardly saying hello to anyone as he passed them. It grew stronger and stronger until he came to his study. The corners of his mouth twitched. Silently, he slipped in and padded over. The source of the heartbeat came from behind his desk. 

If Finley’s first reaction upon seeing his parents was to hide, that was a bad sign. Torin had, really, reacted no better. Elrond was in no hurry to return Finley to them at present. More than likely it was only out of anxiety that they would be angry with him for running off, or getting lost, or any number of things. But this was such a strong reaction that Elrond worried it might be something more than that.

He sank down to the floor to sit on the other side of his desk, resting his back against it and reclining. 

“Finley, is it?” 

He was glad that he finally knew the little one’s name. He kept his voice soft, hardly above a whisper, and began to radiate a gentle pool of calm, hoping that Finley might come out on his own. 

Finley wasn’t sure how he got here, or where here even was. His arms wrapped around his knees, squeezing so, so tight; he felt he might crumble into a million little pieces if he let go. He couldn’t stop shaking, his head was spinning, his chest wound tight, and he could barely breathe. 

I shouldn’t have run. I shouldn’t have run. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m sorry. 

The words filled his thoughts to the brim like swelling pressure against a frail dam. The door opened. His whimpers silenced and he pressed against the corner of the wood. 

I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Go away. Please go away. Please don’t–

The footsteps stopped on the other side of the wood. A pause, then a voice. That wasn’t his dad. He felt like he should know who it was, but couldn’t remember through the screaming mess in his head. Whoever it was, he had a gentle voice. Finley felt the air come back into his lungs. Tears sprung from his eyes. 

He opened his mouth, but not words would come out. They all tangled up in his clenching chest.

It was quiet for a long time, save only for the sound of Finley’s still-racing heart, his sniffling, and the little sounds of distress he was making every so often. Panic. Elrond’s chest twisted. He briefly considered going to fetch Torin, but that might mean alerting Finley’s parents that he had been found. He had no intention of doing so until Finley was calm and they had a chance to…

…what, talk? They couldn’t. Elrond bit the inside of his cheek, frustrated. He squashed the feeling as soon as it rose before it could bleed out of him.

Finley neither spoke nor came out from under the desk, though his heart did slow somewhat. Elrond fished out a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully reached behind him to set it at the corner of the desk, within reach without forcing Finley to come out before he was ready.

After another long stretch, an idea occurred to him. It was risky– especially in the state Finley was in– but there was a chance they might be able to communicate.

Tentatively, with the upmost care to be gentle, Elrond reached out and brushed Finley’s whirring, anxious mind with his own. 

‘I am not here to make you come out,’ he told him, hoping that at least something would be intelligible, ‘don’t fret.’

The voice, or… impression of a voice, was warm. It felt the same as the calming presence that had begun to ease his fear. Not banish it, but lessen it at least. What he imagining things? He figured he must be. His dad said his grandma used to hear things that weren’t there. 

Whatever he was, a real or not, Finley’s thoughts tumbled back to him.

‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have run away. I just got really scared. I don’t know where I am or if Torin’s okay. He was probably so mad and it’s my fault. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have run away. I’m sorry.’

The response was remarkably clear, for all its rushing current of fear which choked the words. Elrond let out a relieved breath.

‘Torin is well. He is safe,’ he told him at once. ‘And to my knowledge no one is angry with you. Only worried.’ 

Finley buried his face in his knees and pulled them closer to his chest, biting his lip so hard he tasted blood. ‘No. No he’s angry. He’s really really angry and it’s my fault. It’s my fault because I ran away and now he’s gonna hurt Torin and it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have run away or hid the rings or taken the rings or anything. I’m sorry. I’m sorry!’ 

“I’m– I– I– I’m s–” the words stumbled weakly out of his mouth. “‘m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Elrond shifted, rounding the desk to settle down once more a fair distance away, within Finley’s line of sight, but neither blocking his exits nor forcing either of them to look directly at each other. 

‘No one will hurt Torin in my house. I will not let them,’ he replied back, firm and steadfast, but still gentle and warm. ‘is it your father that scares you so much, tithen pen?’ 

Finley didn’t look up when he moved around the desk. He kept his face buried in his knees, but nodded, just a little. 

‘He was really angry, ‘cause I took something I wasn’t supposed to and now we’re here and it’s my fault.’

Elrond tilted his head, still radiating that flow of calm and relieved beyond words that this was working. 

‘predicaments so unfortunate and tangled as this are hardly ever any one person’s fault, let alone someone so small as you. And in any case I am certain you did not intend to cause harm. And a second I promise: I will not let anyone hurt your brother. Neither will I let anyone hurt you. No matter how angry they might be.’ 

Finley couldn’t say why he believed him, but he did. He was just one of those people who made you feel safe. Finley was scared to look up, because he wanted so badly for him to be real, but was so scared he wasn’t. 

It took a few minutes to muster up the courage to lift his head and open his eyes. 

There, sitting on the floor, was Elrond.

He was warm like summer and had a presence so much bigger than Finley’s dad, but so much kinder. 

--

anyway, that's the gist! I know that's quite bit more than a "line or two" but this will likely never go up anywhere, since we don't plan on finishing it. It's a fun idea, but we wound up doing a similar thing with the same characters a little to the left, and we like that better.