#I got all the event rewards so now I am content to wait until the next WN ... gotta restock my modules though

[throughpatchesofviolet]

Those new IDs sure do give me a lot of power.

[lanawinterscigarettes]

hiii can I request a Kinktober JD x AFAB reader that includes: marking kink (on JD’s end), praise kink for either character, and an oral fixation/face sitting (reader receiving)? all fine if not

absolutely you can! thanks for requesting something for kinktober, I really hope you like it <3

Kinktober Day 15: marking kink, praise kink, and oral fixation/face-sitting with Jason Dean x afab reader

Warnings: smut/nsfw content, marking kink/biting, swearing, praise kink, oral fixation/face-sitting, brief hair pulling, JD gets a little subby towards the end (I regret nothing), implied/mentioned overstimulation

You weren't sure how long JD had spent with his face between your thighs, but it was certainly long enough to both infuriate you and leave you desperately wanting more.

See, the problem was he hadn't actually started eating you out like you'd initally hoped. Instead he decided to mark up the inside of your thighs first, biting and sucking the sensitive skin there until they were practically covered with hickeys.

It was almost as if he was determined to make them match the lovebites on your neck, which was kind of funny considering no one would even be able to see the inside of your thighs except him. Then again, the thought alone of only him knowing about the marks there probably got him off, the possessive bastard.

"Can you just hurry up already?" You snapped after a while, starting to get fed up with his teasing.

He lifted his head up, a taunting smirk toying with his lips as he watched you. "I'm sorry, am I keeping you from something?"

A low growl of frustration formed in the back of your throat as you reached your hand down to grab onto his hair, yanking his head up a little bit more. "You've had your fun messing with me, but I'm starting to get sick of it."

He kept smirking, trying to remain calm and collected, but you didn't miss the way his eyes narrowed somewhat in annoyance at the action of you grabbing his hair. "And just what do you suggest I do instead?"

You could've smacked the smug look off his face in that moment and not felt the slightest bit guilty. "Get up and lay down on the bed," you ordered while letting go of his hair, not being gentle about it either. "I'm in charge now, which means you're going to do as I say."

For once, he didn't protest (but that was most likely only because he thought it was really hot whenever you bossed him around). He did as you told him to, casually laying back with his hands tucked behind his head. "What, are you finally going to repay me?"

It was difficult not to roll your eyes at his question. Of course he would think the only reason you were telling him to move was so that you could give him a blowjob. After all the waiting that he put you through? Yeah, as if.

"It's cute how you always manage to find a way to make things about you, even in situations when they're very clearly not." Your words were an obvious jab straight at his ego, and while they didn't make as big of a blow to it as you'd hoped they certainly didn't miss judging from the way he removed his hands from behind his head. It was as if he was realizing you had no intent at the moment of helping him get off.

"What's your point?" He looked a bit miffed, his tone holding a snippy edge to it as he kept his eyes trained on you.

"My point is that since you've refused to get me off in the way that you were supposed to, I'm having to resort to other measures." You began moving on the bed as you spoke, shifting until you were kneeling over top of his face, your thighs on either side of his head as you stared down at him with a displeased gaze.

He didn't seem at all upset by the sudden turn of events, and in fact appeared delighted to have you on top of him like that, but his pride still hurt a little from the way you so casually dismissed the idea of giving him a blowjob as a reward for helping you get off (something that he hadn't even properly done yet). "So this is your plan, then? Suffocating me as a punishment for not doing what you wanted?"

"If I wanted to suffocate you, I wouldn't bother with using my thighs. I'd just grab a pillow instead. Much easier."

Your direct manner of answering his snarky question caused him to let out an amused chuckle in response, once again reminding him why he loved you. "Fair enough."

"Now, shut up and do the job you were supposed to have done in the first place," you ordered in a stern tone as you lowered yourself down until your wet pussy made contact with his mouth, a soft groan of pleasure exiting your lips as you finally got some of the friction you so desperately needed.

He let out a soft hum, his tongue darting out almost immediately to lick a stripe along your folds. As much as you hated to admit it, he knew what he was doing when eating you out and was really good at driving you crazy because of it. If only he wasn't such a brat all the time.

You let out a breathy moan, slowing grinding yourself down onto his face. The feeling of his tongue lapping at your wet hole while his nose brushed against your throbbing clit made your back involuntarily arch in pleasure.

His hands gripped onto your thighs as you sat on his face, just tight enough to keep your balance steady. You had no idea whether he could breathe properly or not in his current position, but he didn't seem to care much either way.

"That's it, good boy." The words left your mouth before you could stop them. You always felt the need to praise him for doing a good job, even if he didn't deserve it. "Just like that."

Your words spurned him on further, his hands tightening on your thighs as he pulled you closer to his mouth, if that was possible. He seemed determined to please you, if only to hear those words again. He was so self-centered.

Still, you chose to reward his current good behavior regardless. "You're doing so good, just like that- You can be so well-behaved when you want go be, can't you?"

He responded with a muffled hum, one that seemed to shake you to your very core (in a good way). "Oh, God-" Your hands moved to grab onto the headboard as your eyes fluttered shut. It was getting a little hard for you to keep your current balance, which made you grateful for the firm grip he had on your thighs. "If you can make me cum right now, I'll be so proud of you."

That really did the trick of getting him motivated to get you to your "happy ending". As much of an ego he had, your reassurance that you were proud of him was enough to make him forget all about it, if only for the time being.

Swirling his tongue, he began to eat you out fervently, as if his whole life depended on it. Even after your legs began to tremble worse than before, even after a series of pants and moans escaped you in the heat of your climax, even after you all but collapsed on top of him, he kept going until told him to stop.

"Alright, baby. I think that's it for now," you announced while moving off his face, an action that elicited a needy whine from him.

"I wasn't done yet," he insisted with a pathetic looking pout, his hands instinctively reaching for you again as you laid back on the bed, trying to catch your breath.

"You can get so pitiful sometimes, did you know that?" You lightly teased as you watched him plant soft kisses along the hickeys he'd left behind earlier on your thighs. It was hard to stay mad at him when he was acting like a lovesick puppy.

"Can I keep going?" He begged, lifting his head up just enough to be able to catch your gaze, his face resting on your thigh as he watched you.

"Well, since you did so good for me I suppose I can let your little attitude from earlier slide."

No sooner had those words left your mouth did he shove his face right back to between your thighs, lapping eagerly at your aching folds and clit. Your hand moved to gently grip onto his hair, your head tilting back against the pillows behind you as you got comfortable. Something told you he wouldn't let up until you were an even bigger moaning and pleading mess than before, and of course you ended up being right.

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[smokeybrandreviews]

Ziellinie

An Azur Lane update so soon after the last? Unexpected! Well, I didn't expect what happened a day after making that post so we're kind of in the same boat. Finally! Inverted Orthant has come back to Azur Lane! Bro, i have been waiting damn ear a year to make a run at this Event. Apparently, i actually did make the attempt during the original run. When i checked into the Light version of this event, I had already completed the A1 map. Don’t even remember trying this thing way back when but whatever. Who the f*ck am i to disregard a head start, right? In all seriousness, i was starting to think i wouldn’t see this thing anytime soon. I mean, not to sound like I'm complain but this year has been lousy for Iron Blood events and none of them were this Rerun. As a KMS main, i was feasting good these past eleven months but those elusive Orthant ships continued to elude me. Imagine my surprise when i saw the Maintenance announcement and checked the Twitter to see my long sought second chance was going to boot up when i woke up.

Now. I've mentioned this before, but i kill during Events when it comes to the Gacha. I am always concerned with my odds whenever i make a run at a Banner but i do fairly well, enough to have a bit of confidence with my gamble. Not with this Orthant Rerun. I actually found myself rather apprehensive about this Rerun. How much would it cost me in Gold? How many rolls would it take to pop all of these ships? Do i have enough Wisdom Cubes on hand to claim all four of the Orthant ships available? Usually i don’t care about any of these things and just go hard but this was my quest, man. This was the last piece i need to complete my dock, outside of finally catching my unicorn, U-110. All of that apprehension turned out to be for naught. Out of all the Event Banner I've made a run at, this Orthant rerun straight up blessed me.

It cost me exactly twenty Wisdom Cubes and fifteen thousand Gold to unlock Peter Strasser, Weser, Nurnberg. Literally my very first attempt, a ten Cube roll, popped three of the four available Banner ships and i was hype! The sense of accomplishment was real and, more to the point, the very first Orthant boat i built was Strasser! You know i have an undying love for my Carriers and she was the main reason i wanted this rerun. the other was Prinz Heinrich and i dreaded how long it would take to get her. another two rolls, another thirty grand in gold and forty Cubes, i clocked multiple Wesers and Nurnbergs but no Heinrich. Literally the last ship on my fourth roll, the last Prinz sister decided to make an appearance and, just like that my Dock was complete. Mostly. All that’s left now is Enigma and the Shark to somehow find it’s way to War Archives. Until then, i am content with my Dock. It’s also kind of funny how the first and last Orthant boats to pop, were the two i specifically wanted out of this event.

So, four boats down, two to go. I actually already got Z28 earlier this year as a mini game reward during a different Event. Wasn’t even mad about that. Kind of made me want this Rerun even more, actually. The only two ships i needed were U-37 and Z24, both of which are kind of point rewards. Z24 is a straight up Point Accumulation Reward but U-37 can be bought in the Event Shop. Obviously, this mean i have to grind the Event currency, Iron Blood Keys. She costs eight thousand of those f*ckers so that means i get to play all of the maps. That’s fine because, while i grind out these goddamn Keys, I'm accumulating those necessary points and in no time, i have the five thousand to win Z24! By the time i completed all of the Maps, i was sitting on ten grand and change worth of points so i technically had enough to unlock Z24 a few times. Still had a ways to go to purchase U-31 but not by much. Literally bought her when i woke up the next morning because one of the Event specific log in rewards was a thousand Iron Blood Keys, more than enough ti put me over the top to purchase the last Orthant ship available. With that, my quest was over. Every Iron Blood ship available in this game, is sitting in my dock. Except for U-110. She’s being stubborn.

[smokeybrand]

Ziellinie

An Azur Lane update so soon after the last? Unexpected! Well, I didn't expect what happened a day after making that post so we're kind of in the same boat. Finally! Inverted Orthant has come back to Azur Lane! Bro, i have been waiting damn ear a year to make a run at this Event. Apparently, i actually did make the attempt during the original run. When i checked into the Light version of this event, I had already completed the A1 map. Don’t even remember trying this thing way back when but whatever. Who the f*ck am i to disregard a head start, right? In all seriousness, i was starting to think i wouldn’t see this thing anytime soon. I mean, not to sound like I'm complain but this year has been lousy for Iron Blood events and none of them were this Rerun. As a KMS main, i was feasting good these past eleven months but those elusive Orthant ships continued to elude me. Imagine my surprise when i saw the Maintenance announcement and checked the Twitter to see my long sought second chance was going to boot up when i woke up.

Now. I've mentioned this before, but i kill during Events when it comes to the Gacha. I am always concerned with my odds whenever i make a run at a Banner but i do fairly well, enough to have a bit of confidence with my gamble. Not with this Orthant Rerun. I actually found myself rather apprehensive about this Rerun. How much would it cost me in Gold? How many rolls would it take to pop all of these ships? Do i have enough Wisdom Cubes on hand to claim all four of the Orthant ships available? Usually i don’t care about any of these things and just go hard but this was my quest, man. This was the last piece i need to complete my dock, outside of finally catching my unicorn, U-110. All of that apprehension turned out to be for naught. Out of all the Event Banner I've made a run at, this Orthant rerun straight up blessed me.

It cost me exactly twenty Wisdom Cubes and fifteen thousand Gold to unlock Peter Strasser, Weser, Nurnberg. Literally my very first attempt, a ten Cube roll, popped three of the four available Banner ships and i was hype! The sense of accomplishment was real and, more to the point, the very first Orthant boat i built was Strasser! You know i have an undying love for my Carriers and she was the main reason i wanted this rerun. the other was Prinz Heinrich and i dreaded how long it would take to get her. another two rolls, another thirty grand in gold and forty Cubes, i clocked multiple Wesers and Nurnbergs but no Heinrich. Literally the last ship on my fourth roll, the last Prinz sister decided to make an appearance and, just like that my Dock was complete. Mostly. All that’s left now is Enigma and the Shark to somehow find it’s way to War Archives. Until then, i am content with my Dock. It’s also kind of funny how the first and last Orthant boats to pop, were the two i specifically wanted out of this event.

So, four boats down, two to go. I actually already got Z28 earlier this year as a mini game reward during a different Event. Wasn’t even mad about that. Kind of made me want this Rerun even more, actually. The only two ships i needed were U-37 and Z24, both of which are kind of point rewards. Z24 is a straight up Point Accumulation Reward but U-37 can be bought in the Event Shop. Obviously, this mean i have to grind the Event currency, Iron Blood Keys. She costs eight thousand of those f*ckers so that means i get to play all of the maps. That’s fine because, while i grind out these goddamn Keys, I'm accumulating those necessary points and in no time, i have the five thousand to win Z24! By the time i completed all of the Maps, i was sitting on ten grand and change worth of points so i technically had enough to unlock Z24 a few times. Still had a ways to go to purchase U-31 but not by much. Literally bought her when i woke up the next morning because one of the Event specific log in rewards was a thousand Iron Blood Keys, more than enough ti put me over the top to purchase the last Orthant ship available. With that, my quest was over. Every Iron Blood ship available in this game, is sitting in my dock. Except for U-110. She’s being stubborn.

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers: May 15th Part 2

And here’s the next part of the long answer set of the day!

When will OL: N&F take place? Beginnings and Always took place during summer breaks, will now and forever take place during a fall break or will the characters be going to school at the time of the events we play through? 

It takes place over all of the fall season, so school will be happening in OL2. Some events do take place in school, though many times events only start after school is already out for the day, haha.

Hey!! I have kind of a weird question?? I’m sorry if it’s been answered before and I just haven’t seen it but is OL 2 taking place during the same years as OL 1? I’m just curious, thank you for such amazing games!!! 

It’s a similar time frame, but not 100% exactly same.

Do you have any idea when the demo for now and forever will be available? 

Hopefully this fall! But that’s not a guarantee.

Okay the crime show in Step 2: Growing up. Long blonde hair, police station, crime series? Was it The Closer? Because I’m the same age as MC and Cove and my mom was constantly watching that when I was 13. 😂 

Haha, yeah! The Closer and, to a lesser degree, Medium were the kind of shows I was referencing there. My mom also used to watch those back in the day.

Hey um this might be an odd question but if the setting of OL: N&F is  fall/autumn, what country or city will it take because my mind tells me it is either Poland or Canada. Also I can't wait for the game I am hyped 

It’s set in the USA again. We’d like to be able to have cameos and that’s easiest to do if the OL games take place in the same country.

Is it possible for the PC of OL to have non-seriously dated other people in the in between years even if they’ve had a consistent crush on Cove? 

You can causally date Baxter in Step 3 if you get his DLC and then ultimately choose Cove in Step 4. If you mean off-screen people, it doesn’t really come up, but you can certainly headcanon that. The game never says Cove is the only partner you’ve ever had.

Is there going to be a Kickstarter for Now and Forever as well? For like voiced names and stuff again? Didn’t find B&A until after it was released and I’d really love the opportunity to hear my name in the game 🥺 

Yeah, we are gonna have a Kickstarter with getting a voiced name as a reward! Though, it will be more expensive than it was for OL1. I feel bad to raise the price but we realized too late the first time around that it was being super undersold for the amount of work it took, aha.

Do you know how much the remaining DLC for OL will cost? (Step 4, Derek, Baxter) 

Step 4: Free

Wedding DLC: $2.99USD

Derek DLC: $4.99USD

 Baxter DLC: $4.99USD

Has an artist for the new position been picked yet?! I'm super excited for the new game! 

We did fill that spot. Thank you so much for taking the time to apply!

hmmm what would it take to get each of the XOXO jerk squad to feel the need to hug you? 

They’d have to first like you a fair amount, otherwise the most you’d get is maybe a pat on the shoulder. If they were attached, they might hug you if you broke down crying or if you gave them super good news.

Unless it’s Shiloh, of course. If you want a hug you only have to ask!

May i ask how the Derek DLC will work? I believe that there aren’t any memories in step 4 and doesnt derek’s dlc take place during that step? So will the dlc add memories? Thank you! 

Derek’s DLC will add five Moments to Step 2 (a new page will appear on that screen if you get the DLC). Then in Step 4 you’ll have to choose between playing the default epilogue or going through the Derek romance story.

Is the pc version on itch,io different from the steam version? Like an offline one or something? 

Steam has achievements, but that’s about it. Both can be played offline, if you prefer.

I've been wondering this for awhile, what determines if cove winds up with a ponytail in step 3? I've done multiple runs with different MCs with varying hairstyles. Or does it have to do with a particular moment in step 2? 

I’m afraid I can’t say exact choices that determine things. But generally it’s preference based options in the Step before that decide those things.

Any Floret Bond updates? 

No, the artist had to leave the project and it’s been on-hold. I’m not sure if I want to try working just with what we have or replacing it all entirely. The design is a bit too specific for us to easily find someone who could mimic it. Hopefully we’ll work things out later, though.

In step 3 is Cove's plan always to stay in sunset bird? 

Yeah. He is never ready at 18-years-old to make a big life change.

I love your content! If it's alright to ask, you answered in a previous ask about how Jeremy was too particular with what he likes his types to be romanceable with just any MC and it's sort of got me wondering.. What /are/ his types and/or preferences and such? Sorry if it's a lot! 

Jeremy likes stubborn jerks and will not date someone who’s sweet or even generally a decent person, haha.

uh, excuse me if you said this somewhere before, but how will step 4 be actually? Will it he like an actual step and have moments and dlc and all? Or will it be more like a long epilogue of some sort?

Will the step 4, the wedding and extra routes dlcs be paid too? Im just confused, sorry if im asking too much

Step 4 is only an epilogue, so it’s just a long series of scenes one after the other rather than a collection of Moments you can choose from.

The Step 4 epilogue is free, the wedding DLC, Derek DLC, and Baxter DLC cost money.

i’m not sure how much of the wedding dlc you have planned already, or if this would be to spoilery, but what kind of wedding traditions will be included? i keep thinking about how flustered cove would get over a garter toss & was wondering if we’d see a scene like that haha. obviously no worries if it’s not included, i’ll enjoy literally anything cove related 

I don’t know for sure yet, haha. Right now we’re focused on the parts before the big day. We’ll see how many scene alterations we can include for the wedding itself later on.

Hello! Firstly, thank you for creating such an amazing game like OL, and I couldn’t be more excited for OL2! Out of curiosity, are you looking for any writers to come on for OL2 or are you all pretty much set in that department? Just thought I’d shoot my shot haha but I’m still excited regardless ^^! 

We will be hiring writers for OL2 later this year! Thank you for the interest.

Will we be blessed with a spin-off Yandere Cove, like XOXO Blood Droplets? 

Sadly, no. It’s a shame but there’s not enough time to keep making OL1 bonus/spin-off content.

How is Q pronounced?

I’m afraid Q’s full name hasn’t been publicly announced yet so I can’t answer here (Q and T are the first letters of the names for the new LIs in Our Life: Now & Forever).

Question; is the steam version getting a Mac update?  I purchased the dlc there thinking it had Mac support without realizing it and just wondered if I’d need to refund it to purchase on itch.io 😭 

I’m really sorry, you will need to get a refund from Steam. We do hope to have it there for Steam eventually, but have no idea of when it’ll happen. Apple requires special notarization to be an officially accepted app for their devices. We don’t have that. Steam requires having that, Itch will let you release it as an non-notarized third party app. That’s why Itch is the only place that has the Mac version right now.

would you mind posting outfit sheets for Cove in every step? it would make things a lot easier for us artists. it would save a lot of time spent looking for references 

I think we did do the earlier steps when they were finished way back in 2019 (this game took a long time to make, aha), but we can probably repost them sometime!

In our life n&f, will we be able to get into qprs/will there be more options in regards to having deep platonic relationships with the love interests? Because as an aroace individual, it would be great if there could also be emphasis on platonic love so that it's more aspec inclusive. 

It’s a little hard to say at this point. There may not be things like a wedding DLC for OL2 and so the relationship for platonic and romantic feelings might not go as far as it did in the first game. We’ll kind of have to see how much we can do based on timeframe/budget constraints that will only be set near the end of the year. But we will be keeping things like that in mind at least.

hi! i really really like your game and im absolutely in love with it! i cant wait to try your other games like xoxo droplet and future OL NF :))

during the step 3 erands moment i got curious, which fudge flavor is his favorite? it seems like he likes all of them, but which 4 do you think he would like best?

also i noticed that in some playthroughs cove would let me give him a piggy back ride, and in some he wouldn't, how come?

how does your choices affect cove's interests or looks? i replayed the game without changing any choices but i got cove to look different, is it just random?

thank you!

Cove’s favorite flavors are ones with nuts and that are fruity! But he appreciates them all. Whether or not you can give him a piggyback ride depends on if your MC is fit/large enough to hold a muscular 6-foot-tall beach boy, haha.

Cove’s appearance does depend on choices and it’s generally tied to choices that are preference based rather than emotion/action based, such as which key chain you pick in Step 1.

Is it possible for cove to reject MC's proposal at the end of step 3? 

Nope. He’ll always accept.

hi! i was wondering how heavily the side characters will be featured in the our life wedding dlc? obviously it'll be cove & mc focused, but i was thinking it'd be sweet if we could take lizzie dress / suit shopping or dance with cliff at the wedding or something. 

The side characters are there about as often as they are in normal events. So, it’s clearly focused on Cove but he’s not the only person you have any meaningful moments with.

When will responses be sent out to applicants? 

I’m afraid we don’t send responses out to all applications, only ones we’re interested in offering the position to. Not everyone likes rejection emails and the amount of applications is too high to contact them all to say we’re not hiring them. We post updates on the job page when a position has news. Right now we’ve filled every role that was open.

Is there also going to be the option to keep your relationships with the love interests platonic in Our Life: Now and Forever? That's something I really appreciate in Our Life: Beginnings and Always

Yeah! OL will never force you to end up in a romantic relationship with someone.

I was wondering, in the Step 3 Happiness moment, what are the different fishes Cove can compare MC to? I got "you'd be a paradise fish, because being with you is paradise," but my friend got "you'd be an angelfish." Are there more variations? 

He says paradise fish if you’re a couple, angelfish if he’s just crushing, and then a royal dottyback/queenfish/emperor tetra (based on your gender) if he likes the MC platonicly.

Hello! So, in one of the Step 3 DLCs, Cove's arm was gone. I think it was to show him putting his arm behind his back. But if that wasn't the case, did it get yeeted? 

Thanks for letting us know. That was an error we tried to fix a little while back. When did you make the save file you were playing? If it was older that might be why it happened. Or maybe the error wasn’t fully fixed after all.

Asking for your opinion, but do you think Cove would at all be into ABBA? Because all I could imagine during the car trip in step 3 was him and the MC belting to Mamma Mia. 

Haha, yeah, there’d definitely be some ABBA songs he was into.

So throughout the game, Cove can develop different interests depending on the player’s choices; does this mean that he can have different careers in Step 4? Or his is line of work in adulthood never mentioned at all? 

He can have different career paths in Step 4!

Hi!! I'm so so sorry if this has been asked before but I just acquired knowledge about the so famous nsfw dlc for OL and nearly chocked on my bubblegum 💀💀💀 So, my real inquiry is if that specific moment will have any kind of impact at some point of the fourth step OR if it will just be treated as a side-story-ish “what if” scenario.Also, is there any chance there'll be something similar for Step 4? Haha jk,,, unless 😳Questions apart let me thank you profoundly for making the best visual novel I've ever played 😭 Really really looking forward the epilogue and OL2 💕 Have a nice day 

It’s just a bonus side story that’s fully separate from the main game.

It would be nice to have one for Step 4 too, but I sadly don’t see us having time to actually do it. I don’t know, if people are still asking for more OL1 content several months from now it might be doable and worth doing.

I'd just like to ask, when is Baxter's birthday :0 -- I'm really curious esp with their zodiac signs so ;w; 

I don’t know, haha. Maybe I’ll come up with one someday.

Please help!! I bought the Step 3 DLC but I still have no idea how to get to where you can propose to Cove - any tips? 

&

How do I get the option to propose to Cove at the end of the game?

You can click HERE for a discussion on that.

I love that Miranda and Terry are getting together! I'm curious if you have canon sexualities for them? Also just wanted to say how much I love OL and how much joy it brings me everytime I play it <3 

Terry likes ladies and Miranda likes dudes!

ngl Step 4 Terry's design reads like y'all see trans guys as their assigned gender more than you see them as men to me (a trans guy)... like maybe if he isn't heavily dysphoric, I could see it, but everything you've said about him doesn't line up with that. Even then, immediate warning bells go off in my head looking at him. I wouldn't have touched the game if I saw him ahead of time.

I’m sorry you aren’t comfortable with the way the design looks. The situation with Terry is that he’s now open about who he is, but the body he was born with is still physically the same. He only came out recently as an adult and hasn’t gone through any treatments/procedures yet (his chest is flatter because he wears a binder). However, even though his body hasn’t transitioned at the point Step 4 happens, no one treats him as anything other than the guy he is. Having a trans character who’s identity is supported/respected from the start is what we’re going for in this case. But what we’re doing with Terry isn’t the only trans content we’ve ever had/ever will have in the future.

how would baxter react to bae pyoun and vice versa? and can you please detailly explain both love interests personalities from our life 2: now and forever? i was just curious, sorry for dumb question!! 

I imagine it’d be pretty opposite experiences, haha. Bae would initially think Baxter is pushy and thoughtless, but would quickly realize, oh, he’s instead a soft, considerate boy. Very cute. Baxter would first be struck with the impression that Bae is charming and gentlemanly, but then would realize that, no, he’s a sarcastic asshole. And I’m afraid we can’t reveal the personalities for the next game yet.

Sorry if you've already answered this, but I have a question about the patreon exclusive moment you're working on. I was wondering if it's mainly going to be CGs or if it's mostly character sprites + backgrounds with some CGs.

Either way, thank you for doing the Lord's work and not only making Cove, but making this bonus moment as well 😌😌😌

It’s mostly sprites/backgrounds with two CGs!

—– —– —– —–

Thank you again for the interesting questions everyone :D

We released a new FAQ! It answers common questions and we’ll keep adding more to it. Please check there before sending an ask. FAQ   Also, if you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog

[the-modernmary]

my best habit || aaron hotchner x reader (prologue)

Summary: When Aaron Hotchner ended your affair with him, saying that a serial killer was going after him and his family, you were content with the idea that you'd probably never see him again. Two years have come and gone since then, but when you get dragged into an FBI investigation as a key witness, you and Hotch are forced to come face to face with all the things left unsaid.

Warnings: Age gap (15-ish years), smut, degradation, unprotected sex. This story is 18+ older. This is not a story for minors.

A/N: Hello, hello!! I figured that since I've made a writing tumblr, I should post my story on here!! This is a multichapter story, so I am very excited to go on this journey with y'all!! I already have multiple chapters written and published, so these should be coming out VERY quickly. If you don't want to wait to catch up, you can read everything I have on ao3! This chapter starts as a flashback, and then the next chapter and the rest from here on out will be actual plot!

masterlist || read on ao3

“If you were waitin’ on the sunshine, blue sky

Cheap high, lullaby

Then my best habit’s letting you down”

- The Maine, “My Best Habit”

Two years earlier

Your eyes scanned the University Ballroom, your champagne glass practically ignored in your hand. You hated all these alumni networking galas and avoided going to them as much as possible. Old, sleazy lawyers with much younger women on their arm reliving their best cases with each other and expecting all the new law students to laugh when they were able to get their defendant acquitted because of some dumb technicality. It made you sick.

It didn’t help that you were already going in with a bad attitude. Your ex-boyfriend had dropped by your apartment that morning to pick up the rest of his stuff, and he decided that the best person to help him with that was the girl he had been cheating on you with. You caught them together three weeks ago, and you had been so stressed from midterms that you hadn’t even had the chance to go out, get drunk, and have wildly irresponsible rebound sex.

But you had to suck it up for the night, at least until you were able to get the answer you came for. After that, you could go back to your apartment, replace your too tight and too short dress with some nice pajamas, and watch trashy reality TV until you passed out on your couch.

You scanned the room a few more times until you caught sight of a tall man in a dark suit leaning against the bar. Bingo. You set your champagne flute down and ran over to him as fast as your heels could take you. Once you were just a few steps away, you quickly composed yourself and walked straight into his line of sight.

SSA Aaron Hotchner rarely came to alumni events here at George Washington Law School, citing that he wasn’t even a prosecutor anymore and had much more important work to do back at the BAU, but he was going as favor to his old law school buddy. Plus, it was either coming to this or going out to the bar with the team, and seeing as he had just signed the divorce papers with Haley, he wanted to be somewhere he wasn’t going to be profiled all night. The free champagne was also a bonus.

When you saw that his name was on the RSVP list, you knew that you had to go.

“Agent Hotchner?” you asked, giving him your best straight A student smile.

He refused to look up right away, not giving you the chance to charm him. “I’m not currently on duty. If there is a case you would like the BAU to look over, that’s handled by our media liaison,” he said absently, taking another sip of champagne.

You frowned but kept your hand out for him to shake. “That’s not what I’m here for, I-” You took a breath to compose yourself. “My name is Y/N Y/L/N. I’m a first year here- getting a joint JD and masters in forensic psychology. My goal is to become a prosecutor,” you pressed, and you were rewarded when he perked up in interest. He slid his drink on the table.

“Most law firms don’t usually want a prosecutor who’s going to empathize with the person you’re prosecuting,” he mused, and shook your hand, his grip just tight enough to pass as faux politeness.

You shook your head and clasped your hands behind your back, trying to ignore how warm his hands were. “I think the best prosecutors empathize with the defendants,” you admitted. “Isn’t that how you succeeded as both a prosecutor and as a federal agent? That’s actually why I came to you, I wanted to ask you a question... about my thesis,” you added quickly, figuring that the best way to get him to talk to you.

Aaron’s posture changed from half asleep to maybe listening, and your face went red. Sure, you only came to the event to talk to him, but you never thought that you’d actually get Aaron Hotchner to pay attention to you. “I didn’t empathize with the people I was putting in jail,” he told you, his voice ice cold. “That didn’t come until I worked in the BAU, and even now, I wouldn’t call it empathy. Just understanding of how they became the type of person they are.” He leaned sideways on the bar counter and you felt yourself shrink under his gaze. You shifted slightly and felt the hem of your dress move up your thighs ever so slightly. Aaron noticed too, if the lick of his lips was anything to go by.

You took his silence as your signal to ask your question. “You offered Jessica Michaelson a lesser sentence that had her released in just three years despite the fact that she murdered her brother in cold blood in his sleep. You had the evidence, why didn’t you push for premeditation?” you asked, and his eyebrow quirked upwards. “In the case The People vs. Michaelson,” you added unnecessarily, trying to break the silence.

“I know the case you’re referring to. I was the lead on it,” he reminded you, his voice edging on dangerous. “You know, most people aren’t interested in my days as a lawyer.”

You shrugged, hoping to appear more confident than you felt. “I’m not most people,” you agreed, biting down on your lower lip. His gaze was so intense, and it was affecting you in ways you couldn’t have imagined. It was turning you on, you realized with a start. It had been a while since you had last had sex, and it was driving you only slightly crazy. “But that doesn’t answer my question.”

Aaron grabbed a champagne flute from a server walking by, and shoved it in your direction. You grabbed it cautiously. “Did you read the police report on the case?” he asked, and you nodded wordlessly, taking a sip of the champagne. The alcohol was making you bolder, and you stepped towards him. “Then you’ll know that there was very little physical evidence tying her to the muder. We chose to offer the charge that would have stuck instead of risking her being found not guilty.”

You gritted your teeth together in an effort to calm yourself down. “She murdered four people within the six months after she was released from prison,” you reminded him.

That seemed to have struck a chord with Aaron, and his steely persona seemed to fade ever so slightly. He sighed exasperatedly; you were obviously getting on his nerves. “The prints and DNA that were collected and put into VICAP when she was in prison are what got her caught in the end, and that was the evidence needed to lock her away for life. We wouldn’t have gotten those prints without her original charge. It all worked out.”

You groaned and threw your hands in the air. “You couldn’t have predicted that, though,” you argued. “And people have been found guilty with way less evidence than you had in the original case. I think you just felt bad for her, considering her brother was a real piece of shit.” You were being difficult now, you knew that. But there was something about Aaron Hotcher that was pulling you in, and you wanted to see how far you could push him.

Aaron gave you a predatory grin and he stepped towards you ever so slightly, finishing his drink. He must have had multiple drinks too, judging by the soft flush on his face. “Oh, you do?” He seemed amused now. He slowly raked his eyes from your face, down your neck, and down the rest of your body, and you forgot how to breath. You knew that it was inappropriate and that he was a highly respected FBI agent, even if he was kind of an asshole at the moment. You also knew that the two of you were crossing lines that neither of you should have even been close to, but you shivered under the weight of his gaze all the same.

You shifted back and forth, your brain trying to process what was happening. “Yeah, I do. And I know that you transferred to the FBI after Michaelson was arrested again, which makes me think that this case was your breaking point,” you ranted, your hands becoming more and more animated.

Aaron chuckled, but there was very little amusement behind it. “Are you sure you want to be a lawyer?” he asked, cocking his head to the side. “Because you’re starting to talk like a profiler.”

You arched an eyebrow at him. “No thanks,” you said firmly, and he just shrugged before making a move to walk past you. You sidestepped in front of him, effectively blocking him from going anywhere. But it was obvious that he was done talking about this.

In your mind, you had two options now. You could keep pushing him about a case that he obviously didn’t want to talk to you about, or you could switch gears in your brain and have him help you solve your... other problem. Aaron was attractive, and you were getting tired of guys your age. You noticed the distinct lack of a wedding ring on his finger, but there was still a tan to show that it had been there. So either he was recently separated or just trying to cheat on his wife. You wanted to not care whichever it was, but a pang in your heart told you to be considerate. Besides, you did not want to get involved with another cheater.

“Must be hard to be at these events without your wife here to scare off all the lonely female law students,” you mused cautiously. You didn’t want to come on too strong, but the alcohol in your system was slowly clouding your ability to be subtle.

Aaron cleared his throat, obviously taken aback by the sudden shift in conversation. “I’m not married,” he said, too quickly and too defensively. So he’s separated, you thought, and you stepped closer to him.

His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to figure out your endgame. “Well, I would love to discuss your work as a prosecutor more when there are less… distractions around,” you whispered, your words breathy. “Tell me Agent Hotchner, do I make you nervous?” You sounded a lot more confident than you felt.

Aaron just smirked and grabbed your free hand, covering it in both of his, and the action was surprisingly soft, even if it was way too late for him to try acting suave. His eyes, on the other hand, told a whole other story. His pupils were so dilated that his eyes were practically black. “I face the worst people in society on a daily basis. Desperate law students don’t make me nervous. In fact…” He stepped towards you, looking around to make sure nobody else was looking. Aaron leaned in close, his lips brushing against your ear with every word. “I think that I make you nervous. And more than nervous, I make you very excited.”

Your breath hitched as he pulled back, a smug smile gracing his lips. You yanked your hand back to preserve what little dignity you had left, but it was too late. “Now, if you would like to discuss my prosecuting career more in depth, then you can set up a formal meeting with me at the BAU,” he continued, obviously proud of himself and the effect he was having on you. He pulled out a business card and upon further instruction, you realized that it wasn’t even his. Jennifer Jareu the name read. “Our media liaison will be able to help you organize that. Now if you don’t mind, I am going to retire for the night.”

Aaron finished the rest of his drink and brushed past you while you were still trying to get your thoughts under control. “Oh, and you’ll make a wonderful lawyer someday, I’m sure of it,” he called over his shoulder, and that snapped you back into action.

You followed, running around him and cutting him off. “And if I don’t want to discuss your prosecuting career?” you asked, batting your eyelashes at him. “What if I was interested in a… less formal meeting?”

That was all the permission he needed. Aaron grabbed your hand and pulled you out of the ballroom, the two of you moving so fast that nobody in the room even had a chance to put two and two together. There was an empty hallway just next to the entrance of the room and Aaron pulled you in that direction, pressing you against the wall and kissing you fiercely the second the two of you were alone.

There was nothing gentle about the kiss, but in a strange role reversal, he let you take the lead. It’s certainly not what you expected from Aaron Hotchner who, until now, had been controlling every aspect of your meeting. You realized then that this was his way of making sure you were okay with what was happening- giving you a chance to back out and change your mind. You just answered by tangling your hands in his hair, pulling so that he was at just the right angle to kiss you.

Aaron dug his fingers into your hips, hard enough to make you gasp out. You were definitely going to have bruises the next day, but you couldn’t be bothered to care. He shoved his leg in between yours and tugged on your lip with his teeth, which made you whimper involuntarily. He smirked against your lips, obviously proud of the noises he was drawing from you. You pulled on his hair harder as a sign of irritation, but that seemed to only make him more amused as he pulled away to laugh into your neck.

“Are we just going to make out against a wall like we’re back in high school, or are you going to actually do something worth my time?” you breathe, fighting to keep your voice even and light. It only halfway worked as he dragged his tongue up your neck to your pulse point. And then he bit down, hard.

It took everything in your power to stay quiet, especially as he softly kissed the newly forming bruise. His attack on your neck was relentless as he pulled your hips and back forth against his thigh. You whimpered as you desperately tried to get any friction from the simple movement. Your skirt was now dangerously close to being pushed so far up your legs that you would be completely exposed.

You pulled away first- you had to or your legs were going to completely give out from under you. You desperately tried to get your breathing under control and, to your annoyance, he looked perfectly composed. The only thing giving him away was his slightly swollen lips.

His fingers trailed up your thigh, getting so close to where you want him. “What would you like me to do then?” he asked easily, his voice almost sounding bored. You were speechless, like your brain had just short circuited. There were a lot of things you wanted him to do, but the words were lost on the tip of your tongue. “If you want something, you have to ask for it.” That was a demand, and he punctuated it by pressing his thigh further into you. You were sure he was going to have a wet spot on his slacks. He took the hand not in between your legs and grabbed your jaw forcefully, his thumb resting on your bottom lip. “Use your words, little girl.”

You realize that the two of you were standing on the edge of a cliff, and you had the power to decide whether or not to jump over. It gave you a strange sense of power. Logically, you knew it was a bad idea. He was too old for you, obviously going through some sort of relationship trauma, and wasn’t somebody you could talk to your friends and family about. But the less rational side wanted him so badly it hurt. You wanted him more than you’ve wanted anything or anyone in a long time.

You noticed your strawberry colored lipstick was smudged ever so slightly on the corner of his mouth, and that’s all it took for you to jump off the side of the cliff. “I want you to drag me into the empty classroom just down the hall and fuck me senseless. I want you to use me,” you moan before taking his thumb into your mouth and sucking.

The look on his face is something you’ll never forget. There was a mix of shock and arousal, but also something primitive; His eyes darkened when you told him to use you, and there was a fluttering in your stomach. You couldn’t tell if it was from excitement or dread. Maybe even both.

He removed his hands from your mouth and legs, only to place his hand on the small of your back. He began walking towards the classroom you had pointed out, much too slow for your liking, but he knew exactly what he was doing. “You’re going to regret asking me to use you,” he practically growls in your ear, each word increasing your arousal. “Are you one of those lonely female law students you warned me about? So desperate and needy for a real man to bend you over a table and fuck you until you can’t walk straight? Ready and willing to whore yourself out for the first man who gives you a second glance?”

Your breath hitched as you stuttered out your answer. “Y-yes, Agent Hotchner,” you whispered as he opened the classroom door and guided you in.

As soon as the door was shut and locked, he was back on your lips again, lifting you so that you were sitting on one of the desks with your legs wrapped around his waist. “Call me Aaron,” he mumbled in between kisses, and you were all too happy to oblige.

You were a moaning mess at this point as his hands pushed your dress up to your waist. His hands and lips were somehow everywhere at once and you were so hot and all you could think about was getting your damn dress off, but Aaron seemed to have other plans.

He ran his fingers up your lace covered slit and he just chuckled into your lips. “You’re so wet for me, already,” he groaned and you let out an embarrassingly loud moan. “And I’ve barely touched you. Do my words really have that much effect on you? Do you like it when I call you a whore?”

He hooked his fingers under the waistband of your panties and quickly pulled them down. You could feel his bulge pressing against you and all you could think about was how badly you wanted it. How badly you wanted him. Your hands moved down his chest to make quick work of his belt, and his pants followed after.

“Please, please Aaron,” you begged, desperately trying to create some friction against him. His fingers tangled in your hair and he pulled your head back so that you were looking at him.

“You’re so pretty when you beg.” His fingers slowly ran up your slit, not enough to give you any pleasure. He was teasing you and enjoying every second of it. “And I wish I could take my time with you. The things I want to do to you…” Two of his fingers entered you and you cried out loudly. “But somebody could walk in on us at any second. I’m sure they can all hear you moaning like a dirty whore, all for me. But you’d like that, wouldn’t you? So desperate for my attention and approval.”

His words turned you on more than you would have liked to admit. “Yes, Aaron yes. Please-” you were cut off by Aaron curling his fingers, hitting that spot that made you want to scream out in pleasure. But all too soon, they were gone.

He inspected his fingers, which were now covered in your juices, before bringing them to your mouth. “Suck,” he ordered, and you eagerly complied, wrapping your lips around his fingers and moaning at the taste of yourself. “I’ll just have to fuck you quickly here, and then you’ll be begging for more next time,” he groaned and finally- finally- entered you.

He didn’t give you time to adjust to him, thrusting roughly into you. He removed his fingers from your mouth and brought his hand to your neck. He didn’t put any pressure, but he wanted you to know that he could and would if you decided to get mouthy with him.

Your hands gripped the edge of the desk you were sitting on, your knuckles turning white. Your eyes started to close in pleasure as his hips slammed into yours, but they shot open as he tightened his grip on your throat. “Look at me. I want to see you when you cum,” he ordered, and you nodded the best you could.

“Yes sir!” you cried out, unsure of what else to say.

Seemingly satisfied with your answer, Aaron released your throat and moved his hand down so that he was stimulating your clit. You could feel the coil in your stomach tighten as your legs started to twitch. Aaron took this as motivation to slam into you even harder, relishing each time you gasped out his name.

His pace was unforgiving, leaving you gasping for air. Keeping your eyes open was a challenge, but you were able to do it with his soft mutters of praise. “Even brats like you can be good girls,” he groaned, his thrusts becoming erratic. “You just need somebody to fuck it into you.”

You were unable to respond coherently, so you just settled on begging even more, although you weren’t sure what you were begging for exactly. Aaron seemed to know, and he sped up his fingers against your clit. You wanted to scream out for him, but your voice wasn’t working. “What did I say before?” he asks roughly. “If you want something, ask for it.”

“Please… please can I cum?” you cried out, feeling yourself getting close to the edge. “Please let me cum around your cock!”

He nodded in approval and you had to muffle yourself in his neck to keep quiet. He fucked you through your orgasm, the overstimulation almost too much, but it wasn’t long before he was moaning your name, and you felt him fill you.

The two of you stayed like that for a few moments, both breathing heavily as the situation started to sink in. You just let a guy almost 15 years older than you that you just met fuck you in an empty classroom, and you really enjoyed it. Aaron, on the other hand, looked like he was going through a full crisis.

He pulled out of you slowly, and you winced at the feeling. He pulled up his pants quickly. “Fuck,” he muttered under his breath, looking around the empty classroom. “I don’t have anything good to clean you up with.” A box of kleenex caught his eye and he grabbed a few tissues. It was better than nothing.

You chuckled nervously and waved it off. “It’s fine,” you promised, your voice coming out shakier than you expected, but he ignored you. He wiped the mess dripping down your thighs. You were cold. He must have noticed, because he took off his suit jacket and wrapped it around your shoulders.

“Are you okay?” Aaron asked softly, and it was a full 180 from the way he had just been talking to you.

“I’m great,” you admitted honestly. “Seriously, that was… great.”

Aaron smiled at you- the first real smile he had given you all night. “It wasn’t too much?” he confirmed, and you suddenly remembered what he had said to you earlier. ...then you’ll be begging for more next time. Was he planning on a next time? You wouldn’t have minded it.

You shook your head and slowly slid off the table. You took one of the tissues and wiped up the mess that was left on the table. “Not at all. In fact, I could take more. Next time.” Your voice was light and airy. Aaron watched as you picked your underwear off the floor. There was no way you were putting those back on, not when you had no idea when the floor was last cleaned.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” he teased, eyeing you carefully.

“Well I can’t keep it if I only have your media liaison’s number,” you reminded him, your eyebrow raised. Aaron chuckled and pulled out another business card, except this time it was his. You plucked the card out of his hands and inspected it carefully. “I’ll call you sometime. You can do all those other things we didn’t have time to do.” You were on your tiptoes now, whispering in his ear. “You know… my mouth can do a lot more than just ask for things.” As you spoke, you slipped your panties into his back pocket. You just laughed as you heard a soft gasp escape his lips.

You made your way towards the door, your legs wobbling dangerously underneath you. You were sure that you looked like a mess, but you didn’t care. All that mattered to you was Aaron Hotchner’s eyes glued to your ass. “Get home safe,” he told you and you let yourself smile. Maybe it was a bad idea to start sleeping with a recent divorcee, but the sex was great and you both knew where you stood with the other person. No feelings, just fucking out your frustrations and stress.

Oh yeah, coming to this event was definitely a good call on your part.

[snailsgoingdowntown]

Mihoyo getting reeeeaaaaallllllyyyy greedy aren't they?

I'm not going to stop playing the game since I like it too much. But I do understand why some are. When genshin impact was a relatively new game, they listened to the players, they also gave out more generous gifts too. But now that they're a bigger company and their game is really popular, they got greedy. That's how most games are unfortunately, they bite more off than they can chew.

The reviews are negative and it went down to 2.0 in ratings in the play store. Many uninstalled it too, and a lot of p2p players won't be spending any money on the game until they improve the content + listen to the fan base again.

The character stories for the women are always "uwu they're overworked. Let's get them to take a break uwu" 90% of the time now. Mona's was fun, and so was Klee's. Noelle hangout event and Barbara's was all about them being overworked. It was cute, sure, but it didn't really feel as engaging as the ones with the boys.

Diona's was cute though, I actually really liked it, especially when we went into the Hilichurl camp and it was refreshing to see a spunky female character after Mona's quest.

Jean's story quest was just her... Being overworked. While it did show us her character, how much she values Mondstat, it was a common theme that would pass onto different female characters from there on out. Ganyu especially, her idle animation is her falling asleep. Jean wants to stay awake forever just to get her job done. Noelle is working towards literally nothing because Jean does not plan on making her knight anytime soon, since she fears Noelle is not ready for the outside world yet.

Kokomi, while I haven't played her quest yet, I have seen it. She falls asleep and tries to keep herself awake. She tries her best to help but her character to me at least, is a bit... Boring.

It's just the common theme of "uwu overworked waifu uwu"

Don't get me wrong I do like these characters and I do like their personalities... Most of the time.

But the male characters, their personality is explored more. There's actual lore with them 90% of the time, more lore than with the female characters. There's really not a common theme with them unless I haven't noticed it yet.

The female characters who don't meet the "uwu overworked" themes that I can remember off the top of my head is Beidou, Keqing (probably) Ningguang (probably), Hu Tao, Klee, Qiqi, Yanfei and Eula.

Eula is a 50/50 for me in some ways, in terms of being overworked. Hu Tao is just unique when it comes to her job and seems to enjoy it. Klee is well, Klee. Qiqi... I'm not too sure. I mean it seems like she's content with where she is, while being used by Baizu(?) For his research.

And the rewards... I keep hearing the rewards haven't been officially announced yet for in-game. The rewards we have now is a log in event that comes with the moon chase event currently going on.

There's some who say that anniversary rewards are the web event but I don't really participate in those, so I can't say anything about that.

Now they don't even listen to their fan base. They ignore and block any proper criticism. My main complain with Mihoyo is how they treat their fan base. They ignore them now, and block them out.

The writing for the last arc was also a mess, rushed and everything. While I do think it's because they're trying to pump out new content soon, I would rather wait for a bit longer than just... Do Inazuma 0.2.

And I am a bit upset at how, suddenly, Ei is accepted by the traveler. Like???? Excuse me, she is the indirect reason Teppi died, she indirectly killed people. Maybe that wasn't her intention but her actions is what caused it.

I think they could have done better with her is all.

And Signora. Oh my god. They wasted her in my opinion. They also wasted Sara, but who knows, maybe in the new update they'll bring them back and do better with their characters.

But... Signora. I am really disappointed. She was a plot device and nothing more, her character was interesting and everything. But she was killed in the end.

I'm just saying. Mihoyo could have made a lot of money If they made her a playable character. I hope they bring her back in some type of way because she added a lot to the story. She was smart. But she was also a tragedy.

Both in how they used her and her back story.

And... My fucking god. I hated how Kokomi just... Accepted help from an unknown third party. Yes I understand she probably thought it was for the best and all, but at the very least try to figure out who the third party is?????? Don't blindly accept things like that.

And that's the end of my complaining. Sorry about the rant.

[ladyeliot]

PS I LOVE YOU

This One-shot is for @mostly-marvel-musings’s “600 follower challenge.” Thank you for doing this! 

Pairing: Tony Stark x Fem!Reader

Summary: After Tony's death he decides to create a "plan" to say goodbye to you.

Warnings: Fluff and Extremely Sad.

Word count: 2593

A/N: I cried a little bit writing it. Sorry for my spelling and grammatical mistakes, English is not my native language, I am learning.

This is perhaps the saddest, as well as the most romantic, story you will ever read. Yours. The fantastic, like the quotidian, was in your day to day life. You made the most important decision of your life, to give your heart to the one you loved, even though you knew there would come a day when he would break it. Tony Stark was not an ordinary man, in any sense, but he was the man you wanted to share your life with, the man who drove you crazy in every way, but also the man who made you smile every morning when you woke up next to him.

Like other married couples you had your ups and downs, his work at Stark Industries took up a lot of his time, but what really bothered you was his second job as Iron Man. Every time he put on that suit, your heart would crack, and it wasn't until he returned to your side that it would be forged again. Fear took over as the years went by, but all you could do was support him 100%, because it was his choice.

After the snap, you realised the opportunity that had presented in front of you, an opportunity among millions that the vast majority did not have, you were together, to move on and to have a new beginning. But still a wide guilt rolled around you, “why us?” The years passed and though you chose to drastically change your life, to move away from the big city and find a nest of love and peace, you knew that Tony's mind was still working, searching for an answer and a solution, realising it when the group of avengers came to ask for his help.

A considerable period of time has passed since all these events, but you know that it was this that triggered you to find yourself standing in front of the lake with one of Tony's closest friends right now.

"Before he left for his mission," Happy began, "he asked me to give this to you if anything happened to him.

You wiped away a tear that slid down your left cheek before you looked at him. Tony had made his choice and you supported him all the way, but you never believed that the pain could consume you like that. You focused your gaze on a small device Happy held in his hands, it was tiny, metal and had a small button. 

"What is it?" you asked, taking it between your fingers.

"I'm sorry, I have no idea Y/N."

You took a deep breath and pressed the button lightly. Instantly a hologram of Tony appeared before the two of you. You almost lost your balance in surprise, you didn't expect to find him in front of your eyes, sitting in a chair, in his Tom Ford suit.

"Hi honey!" said little hologram Tony waving his hand. "I hope you're not watching this, but in case you are, that means Happy has delivered it to you and I'm not with you right now."

You put a hand to your face trying to hide the pain you were feeling as you listened to him speak again. Little Tony was also silent for a moment.

"Anyway," he got up from the armchair he was sitting in. "I have a plan! I couldn't leave for the mission without saying goodbye to you, well in fact I just did and quite well, right now you're in the bedroom trying to pull yourself together— " Tony flashed a half smile and shook his head.

You couldn't help but smile at those words.

"Well, on to what we're going.Honey, I hope this doesn't get into your hands, but if it does, I have a thousand things to tell you and it's impossible for me to do it right now. I was hoping to have enough time to tell you for the rest of our lives, but it's not going to be possible," he sat back down and clasped his hands together. "Listen, ever since the guys came to pay me that visit and we realised we could turn things around, I couldn't get the idea out of my head that something might go wrong with the mission, and you know how I am when I get an idea in my head."  Tony laughed and it brought a smile to your face.  Tony laughed and it brought a smile to your face. "I've been planning this ever since, I've thought about all the things I'd want to tell you that I haven't told you and all those special dates I'd love to spend with you that I won't be able to. So I have a plan! And I need you, honey, to help me," the little hologram got up from the couch again and put his hands in his pocket and approached the camera. "First of all I need you to wipe the tears off your face and show that beautiful smile to the world, and Happy too, but except for the smile thing," you both let out a small laugh between tears. "Secondly, I hope you're wearing that black dress I like so much, the one with the back slit, you know," you rolled your eyes and nodded, you were wearing it."And thirdly, I wish I didn't have to ask you this, but I need you to go to the lab, in the safe you'll find a letter, it's the first of several that will be coming to you."  Tony lowered his gaze. "I can't tell you when you'll get more, but I promise they'll arrive when you least expect them.By the way, the password you already know what it is, on our wedding day— " 

In the background, your voice could be heard, urging Tony to return to the room.  

"I'm coming honey!" after he responds he turned his attention back to the camera. "Sorry, my beautiful wife claims me," you smiled and sighed approaching the camera, meeting Tony's face in its fullness. "Honey, you know you're my only weakness. I love you."

Just as he had appeared the hologram disappeared and a void formed again in your heart. You took a deep breath trying to undo the lump in your throat and taking in every word he had said. You looked at Happy who looked as puzzled as you were.

"Did you know about this?" you asked with mixed feelings.

"I promise I didn't," Happy held up his hands in innocence. 

You quickly walked away from the lake and headed towards your cabin, people had left a couple of hours ago, but Happy had chosen to stay with you. You opened the door quickly, followed by your friend and you both walked down to Tony's lab. His things were just as he had left them a couple of weeks ago, as no one had gone in there. You made your way to the safe, hidden behind one of the works of art, and entered the password.

Just as Tony had said, there it was, a white envelope with your name on it, next to a set of clothes, waiting for you to take it in your hands and open it.  Before you did so, you looked at Happy who seemed to be anxious to discover the contents as well. You didn't know what Tony's "Plan" was, nor if it would be beneficial or painful for you, but that mattered little at that moment, because all you needed was to see him, to hear him, or in this case to read what he had written.

You opened the envelope and read it:

"Hello honey, 

I guess if you are reading this envelope you will have seen the holography and I guess it is the "day", so I have a surprise prepared for you, read carefully. What I need you to do is to get everyone out of the house, Happy can stay, take off that dress, Happy won't be there when you do that, and put on the clothes I've left with the letter. 

When you're ready, just tell F.R.I.D.A.Y. to brief you on the use of your armour. I know, I know you've never been in favour of it, but you need it. F.R.I.D.A.Y will explain everything you need to know, you just let go, trust me. Go out and free yourself, eat the world.

PS I LOVE YOU"

That was one of the first letters Tony had planned for you. As time went on, they came to you once a month, as well as on special days, such as your birthday, his birthday, your anniversary, etc. He had planned every minute of those days. Tony knew you so well that he knew what you might be thinking, or how you were feeling. On the one hand, he covered the loneliness you felt without him, but on the other hand he made you feel even emptier and reminded you that he would never be with you again and you could never spend those moments together.

At first it was rewarding, but as time went on you realised that it was impossible to evolve, you had entered a loop from which it was impossible to get out. You spent your days waiting for a letter that might not arrive, and wondering when his "plan" would come to an end and if you were ready for it. Happy was supportive in that sense and tried to keep you grounded, as you both knew Tony best.

One evening you were doing what Tony had instructed you to do in the last letter you had received, the one for your fifth wedding anniversary. Along with it Tony had sent you a black dress along with a pair of high heels, informing you that you were not to leave the house before 8.00 p.m. and to head for the lakeshore when you were ready.

Happy was sitting on the couch trying to hide his concern about the situation that had dragged on for two years. After finishing your touch-ups you said goodbye to him and complied with Tony's details. You had no idea what you were going to find, but as you left, you could see a small square table in the distance, decorated with candles, waiting for you. As you arrived you noticed that a faint song began to play through a small speaker hidden behind some flowers, your song.

"I guess thanks for that, F.R.I.D.A.Y," you said looking at the diamond bracelet Tony had given you when you got engaged that was connected to his AI.

"It was me," you turned around to find Happy's voice behind you.

You frowned and looked at him, realising that he was holding a pair of white envelopes in his hands. A state of nervousness and confusion took over your body, and without being able to say a word you pointed to his hands.

"These are the last of them," he whispered, stepping in front of you and handing them to you.

You smiled, finding tears gathering in your eyes, and nodded, taking them in your hands.

"I'm sorry Y/N," Happy said with a shake of his face. "He made me promise not to tell you anything, and I couldn't refuse to help him either. Even if I wasn't totally on board with this crazy plan. You know how he is."

"I know," you bit your lower lip smiling and wiping the tears from your eyes.

"They're the last ones," he repeated again. "After today, you'll have to move on without them."

After those words Happy went back the way he had come, and instead of taking a seat at the table you approached the edge of the lake. You had before you the last words Tony had written to you. One of the letters read "To the love of my life", while the other read "To that person". Puzzled, you opened the one that said "To the love of my life" first.

"Hello again honey.

How is everything going, is Happy still keeping his nerves under control in this situation? I hope he is and that he has delivered this letter to you.By the way I don't know how the situation has developed, but don't be angry with him, I made him promise not to tell you anything until it's all over, and as you can see that's the point.

The thing is, I'm not going to be able to write any more, today is the last day before I leave for the mission, and if you've finally been getting all the letters, this has to be the last one. I just made you the recording that Happy will give you if things don't go as planned, and you are begging me to come back to our bedroom with you. 

I guess everything I needed to tell you I haven't been able to do, you know there are a lot of things I'm good at, but in expressing my feelings in words I've never really excelled.

I'd love to know what you're thinking right now, or how you feel about the "plan" I've created. Although I also don't know if you've been able to make it this far, or if you've decided not to go through with it anymore. Happy has orders that the moment you say "enough" it's all over, I don't want you to suffer. 

I just want you to be happy, I want you to be as happy as I have been by your side, I want you to show your beautiful smile to the world, I want you to get everything you want.

My honey, I'm going to dedicate these last words to tell you how you changed my life, how you offered me everything I was missing, without even knowing it. You agreed to marry me, you made us a family. And that's what I want for you.

Even though you may feel sad and insecure right now, I need you to show that you are the strongest woman I know and move forward. May you live that wonderful life you wished you had, may you do crazy things, may you meet people and fall in love. May you feel love again, may you rediscover it with someone who makes you happy and may you start a family again. 

Please don't be afraid, I am well and I will be well. Don't think of me, think of yourself, and if you think of me, know that I will be watching you and taking care of you every day. I want you to know that I couldn't leave our house without thinking that you will never feel that way about anyone again, in case I don't come back.

Having said that, honey, it only remains for me to leave you a new letter, a letter for that person who restores your faith in love, who I know you will find one day. I just want you to give it to him or her when you are sure.

So sweetheart,

PS I LOVE YOU"

Requests/Taglist Open (DM)

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[ethrenisnotthehero]

@hogwartsmystory is a predator (final)

If you haven’t read the other parts of this callout, I encourage you to start here. As in both previous posts, the normal tags are not included in order to allow this to reach as many people as possible. Potential triggers are listed below, and the main content is hidden to keep sensitive individuals from being unintentionally exposed.

TW: Pedophilia, Abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual Assault, Self Harm, Suicide, NSFW Topics, Faked Illness, Faked Mental Illness, Faked Death, Victim Blaming

Originally, I intended to craft this final part to you, the reader, as an emotional appeal. To be wholly honest, there’s only so much evidence that can be utilized without either forcing Jill to relive unnecessary trauma or exposing deeply intimate or personal parts of her life. Until now, everything I’ve told you and everything I’ve shown you is what was enough to convince me when Jill first reached out to me. If you, the reader, don’t believe the factual information that’s been presented so far, then I don’t think that you will. If you, the reader, believe Jill and her story, then no further evidence is going to magically make her story more true.

However, I don’t have to. Instead, I can let the friends-- the family--that Ren created on his website speak for themselves, and show you with their own testimony just the kind of person he was. Jill wasn’t the only person that Ren hurt. Jill wasn’t even the only person Ren preyed on as a sexual predator. Many people on staff, and many people outside of it, knew Ren and grew to have what they thought was a close relationship with him. People regarded him as someone to look up to, to find comfort in, to aspire after, to lean on; people thought of him as a friend and a hero in his community.

On April 12, 2021, at 9:57 AM Greenwhich Mean Time, the current administrators of Advanced Scribes issued a statement addressing Ren’s actions and his faked death. An additional announcement was made the following day. While the announcements themselves and the replies (including moderator statements) are publicly available, I have saved a print-to-PDF versions on Google for you to browse at your leisure. 

I intentionally waited until the initial panic and outrage died out a little to let the most important statements come to light. Included in the PDF are sentiments that I personally thought were the most important sentiments; edits have been made and pages have been deleted, so you can see the current state of the conversations by visiting them directly. You can find the first discussion at https://advanced-scribes.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=42100#p1454263 and the second discussion at https://advanced-scribes.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=42107#p1454361.

Before you continue reading, please look over the statements and replies. The words of former staff former friends say more than I can ever hope to about Ren and the kind of reality that he stood for. Additionally, Jill herself has added to the conversation (username Rakuen), so you can read a bit from her perspective by looking into these announcements. After you’ve taken a look, continue below and I will sum up my final thoughts on this predator and his legacy.

Advanced Scribes • Our Statement (PDF)

Advanced Scribes • Change (PDF)

The Act of Grooming, Part 3: Entrapment

One of the reasons that predators get away with their crimes for so long is because they trap their victims. When they gain access to and successfully lure in their prey, they then engage in entrapment behavior to separate victims from other people and build reliance. The reason why kids are so prone to predation is because of how vulnerable they are. Young people just want to belong. They just want to have community, security, and affection. When they can’t get those things in their lives, they seek it out and take it where they can get it even when the situation is obviously bad. Kids can’t be held accountable for being smart because they’re kids. Jill was vulnerable. She wanted belonging and support. She fell into Ren’s lures, and he trapped her. He used his affection as a tool to solicit sexual favors and pictures from her, but never shared his face with her. She was always chasing his love, and all the while he was simultaneously preying on other individuals in the community. For God’s sake, this man had a selfie thread where underage girls would send pictures of themselves publicly on the site for him to look at, and he even intentionally disabled the website’s COPPA features.

Before Jill, there was Buttercup. Buttercup was also an admin, and she was also 13 when she met Ren. While Ren was a minor during he and Buttercup’s relationship, his behavior with her was just as predatory and Buttercup attempted to warn Jill via PM before she ended her relationship with him.

The picture he sent Buttercup wasn’t even him.

The entire time that Ren was convincing Jill that Buttercup was evil, and jealous, and a spiteful, hateful person, he was manipulating her the same way he was manipulating Jill. Ren is a predator who knows what he’s doing; he always has. He draws in his victims and makes everyone hate them so that he’s the only person they have. He makes them so desperate for his approval that they let him screw them over time and time again, and for what? Just to see his face. Think about what you read. He didn’t just do this to Jill and Buttercup. He did this to every person he cheated with or got close enough to get a grip on. Even if he didn’t sexually exploit someone, he emotionally did. An entire community of people suffered through this over and over and over again. Read the statements again. If you only read the live version, read the PDF. 

I also want you to bear in mind that everyone on staff was equally a victim as they were an enabler. It doesn’t erase their responsibility, but their roles in this story or more nuanced than “moderator bad, burn the witch!” Some of Ren’s supporters were as young or younger than Jill when they met him. The two people most notorious for standing at his side right now were both “rewarded” with a relationship with him in the fallout of his faked death.  

At some point, this man looked at his behavior and not only decided that he didn’t need to take responsibility, but that his victims daring to try and claim some kind of ownership over their own story was a personal affront to him. 

Ren is a monster of his own creation. He chose to be that monster again, and again, and again.

What makes his enablers equally to blame is when they became adults and made a conscious choice to ignore what was happening, which brings us to the next topic.

Finally... How Old Was Jill?

Despite everything I’ve said and shared so far, I still get this question in my inbox.

How old was Jill? Did she lie about her age? Is she free of guilt because she was a kid? Did he know how old she was? Was she legal in her country?

I gave you all everything I had. There were some things I just couldn’t confirm because there was no proof either way. However, all of that changed when the announcements were released. I now know exactly how old Jill was when they began dating, exactly how old she was when people knew about their relationship, and even that Ren was public with all of this information. I also know that staff knew everything, and chose to do nothing.

As you can see in the screenshots above of Buttercup’s message, it was sent on Jun 17, 2015. At that time, Jill was 14 years old. By Buttercup’s estimation, they had been dating for around a few months, which is how I was able to discern the previous exact age of 14 years old at the time they began dating.

However, Ren himself refutes that fact in a Valentine’s post for Jill. As pointed out in the “Our Statement” thread, the post that user amnesia. references includes very sexual and disgustingly graphic descriptions of Ren’s activity with her. It also says this:

As per the timestamp of this particular post (as seen below), Jill was 16 at the time. Ren, a man claiming to be twenty-five years old at the time, was proud to admit that he had been with Jill since she was 13.

You can view the full PDF of this post to see what else he said here, but please be warned that his descriptions are NSFW and absolutely disgusting. 

Warm Fuzzies Post (PDF)

No adult should talk about a kid like that. In the statements, several staff members admit that they knew that the two were dating when she was 16, and that it grossed them out. But none of them did anything. To amnesia.’s credit, they claim they tried to pursue legal action but found no viable routes. 

From the discussions and statements, we can discern five things:

1. Jill was 13 when she started dating Ren. 2. She did not lie about her age. 3. Ren did not lie about her age. 4. Ren knew how old she was. 5. Staff knew how old she was.

Jill’s feelings and her opinions on staff and their behavior are separate from my own. She does not share my beliefs here, and I need to make it very clear that what I’m saying next is entirely my own opinion.

To everyone who was staff at that time: shame on you. It’s one thing to be a victim yourself and to not understand how or when to stand up for what’s right, especially when you’re young; it’s another to become an adult and to have let something like this permeate your legacy and your community for all this time. From what I understand, none of you are completely innocent in this. Ren wasn’t secret, he was loud and proud and he didn’t give a shit what anyone thought. Everyone who was an adult then and is an adult now shares some responsibility for that. Those of you who mean your apologies, thank you, but those of you who are using this event as a stepping stone to make that website into your own personal playground know who you are. Stop. There’s an entire generation of kids between AS and CS who have lost years of their childhoods to this shit and the only right thing at this point would be to turn the site over to the police so that Ren can answer for his crimes the right way.

To everyone else: protect the people around you. People like Ren don’t think about how other people think or feel. They don’t care who gets hurt or who they trample under their feet. Look around at your community, and ask yourself if those who interact with you know that you are safe. Inevitably, someone is going to get hurt. Are you the kind of person that they can come to when it happens, or are you the kind of person who will turn your head away? 

Be the person that everyone knows they can come to, because, eventually, someone’s going to need you.

[poeticandors]

Only For You

Sugar daddy!Cassian x F!reader 

Summary: Being a sugar baby has its rewards, but when the dynamic between both you and Cassian changes after one night, you want to know where it leaves you. Do things change for better or for worse?

Word Count: 5478 

Warnings: 18+ Smut, oral smut (female receiving), fingering, light pussy smacking,  

A/N: Sugar daddy!cassian is on my mind always 😈

GIF belongs to @nomoregoldfish

The light patter of rain hits the window of your bedroom— it’s a soothing sound mixed with the quiet of your room. It was the perfect time to get a start on the book you had been meaning to read. Laying along your bed, your mind is too transfixed as your eyes trail along each word. Mixing with the peaceful ambience, the scented candle whose wick flicks alive as the flame dances helps produce the relaxing scent that completes the tranquility of the room. 

Suddenly, the chime of your phone pulls your attention from the book laid in front of you, and you glance over at it. The way your heartbeat quickens is expected when you see the name on your screen, and you pay no mind as the book closes and you lose your place as you grab your phone. 

Cassian: Are you home? I have a gift for you.

Gift.

You’ve received plenty of those since Cassian appeared in your life. From a weekly “allowance”, to new furniture for your apartment… gift was definitely a funny word in this situation. It was an arrangement you agreed to, well, in a way. 

As you get up to prepare yourself for Cassian’s arrival , your mind goes back to when he came into your life about almost a year ago.

Cassian happened to meet you while you were finishing up a late double at the diner you worked at. He seemed intimidating at first, but was easy to talk to once you poured him his first cup of coffee. You made it a habit to talk to your customers— they seemed to appreciate a friendly smile and small talk— so making conversation with him was easy. 

After introducing yourselves, he asked about you and about your personal life. You weren’t sure why, but you told him pretty much everything: how you were picking up doubles on the weekends just to make ends meet while still going to school full time. He listened intently, as if really interested and concerned. You didn’t think much of it, but then when you saw that he had left you a five hundred dollar tip in cash you were in a state of panic and confusion.

You didn’t know what to do at the time. All that ran through your mind was that it had to have been a mistake and he might’ve meant to leave a ten and… accidentally left the remaining four hundred and ninety. Of course, you did take it but only because you weren’t about to leave all that cash sitting on the table. It definitely had to be a mistake, so the next day after Googling him and finding out that he was a big time businessman, you made your way to his office in hopes of returning the money.

If he was surprised to see you, he didn’t let it show. He gave you a friendly smile, one like he gave you at the diner, and motioned for you to sit down in the seat across from him. He tried to make small talk, asked how you had been, but you went straight to the point and pulled out the cash from your purse. When he stopped you and explained he meant to leave that for you, you were puzzled— no one in their right mind would leave some random waitress this sum of money. Apparently he wanted to. 

And he didn’t want to stop just at that five hundred dollar tip. 

No, he kept coming back to the diner after that incident. But he didn’t leave an atrocious amount for a tip either. Instead, after getting to know you more, he offered you something quite unexpected. He offered a way for you to not have to worry about school or rent or any bills, by simply being his companion. 

In your head, you weren’t sure what he had in mind by “companion”, but when he explained he just wanted someone by his side at company parties, galas, and fundraisers, you were finally able to understand. He was offering a weekly allowance in exchange for being arm candy at such events. 

“So like… you want me to be your sugar baby?” You had teased, only to realize that was exactly what he wanted. 

Cassian didn’t pressure you— he realized how it sounded, someone offering money just for company. He made it perfectly clear that you did not have to sleep with him in any means. There would be no physical contact like that, or any you didn’t want. He simply just wanted to help you out, no strings attached.

After a moment to think you agreed— to both his and your surprise. But you made it clear that you would only stay as his companion until you weren’t at least struggling anymore, which he understood. Seemed easy enough.

Until you got to know more of him, and realized that he was probably one of the kindest people you had ever met. 

Being around him was different then what you thought it was going to be. He only bought you things if he thought you absolutely needed them, such as necessities for your apartment or books for school. Occasionally, at least in his terms, he would buy you random gifts. A few pieces of simple jewelry here and some fancy clothes there— he would also surprise you with a few books you had talked about reading with him. You tried telling him it wasn’t necessary, but he insisted. He always insisted.

Cassian also never left you alone at the events you attended alongside him, and he always made sure that you were comfortable whether it be the situation or the dress he bought you. But you didn’t just attend the galas or events with him. He would continue to visit you at work, or there were a few times he invited you over to eat dinner at his house or just to hang out. The more you spent time with him, however, the closer you became.

You thought you were doing good, keeping your feelings at bay— this was just a simple situation in which he was helping you out. Cassian did not show any advances or try to pressure you in any way, either. Everything was going fine, at least until a few weeks ago. 

It was a normal night, Cassian had asked if you wanted to come over for dinner and maybe watch a movie. You accepted, of course, as you always did. After finishing dinner and resting on the couch with a content stomach, you joined Cassian on the couch. You tried enjoying the movie, it was one of your favorites, but the only thing your eyes drifted to was Cassian’s thigh near yours. 

You tried to play it off that you didn’t notice— he probably didn’t even realize it in the first place. Plus, you didn’t really mind. It was a nice added bit of warmth since the room was slightly chilly. No… you didn’t really mind. 

But when a particularly funny scene played on the screen, you happened to let out a laugh and when you turned to Cassian, you noticed the way he was staring at you. His dark eyes bore into yours in a way they hadn’t before, and you would have given anything to know what was going through his mind in that moment. And the next thing that happened, you remember so clearly to this day: the way his eyes trailed down to your lips and how for a moment you could see how he was leaning towards you, and you wanted nothing more than his lips upon yours. 

When his phone rang, he made sure to pull back as if you had both been walked in on, and he was quick to get up and answer his phone. You’ll never forget the way your heart beat uncontrollably, and how cold your thigh—how cold your entire body— suddenly felt as you realized… you’ve wanted this for a while. 

Your phone beeps again and that’s when you pull yourself from your thoughts, seeing Cassian had messaged you again.

Cassian: I hope you’ll like what I have for you.

A smile tugs at the corner of your lips as you reply.

I’m sure I will, and yes I am home.

Cassian: Can’t wait to see you.

It was a little ridiculous the way you felt by just a simple text— the fact he said he couldn’t wait to see you had the warmth in your chest bursting like a chain of fireworks. You knew holding these feelings in would only make it more difficult, and you had to believe he felt something for you as well. Things between you had become different, not only had you begun to spend more time together, but the looks and small touches became more frequent. 

You had thought long and hard about this, and you believed that he had to feel the same way you did as your relationship slowly blossomed. Maybe taking the first step was what you needed to do. 

Standing up, you decide that you need to ready yourself by refreshing with a shower and a change of apparel. You already had the perfect set in mind that was sure to say how you felt without you having to say anything.

++++++

Cassian looks down at the simple red rose— the petals seemingly perfect in every way, bursting with immaculate color along with the strong stem to hold it all together. It was beautiful, but he knew it would only come second to you the moment it was in your presence. 

He wondered if he was making a mistake, admitting how he felt about you. Not that he didn’t want to express how he felt, but rather he didn’t want to scare you off. All of this started off as an arrangement, one you both agreed would come without any sexual favors, and was simply about companionship. 

That however went all the way down the drain after one particular movie night. 

Obviously nothing physically happened, but god knows Cassian wanted nothing more than to feel your lips on his and feel how soft your skin was. How was it he didn’t know until that moment that he longed for your touch? Not only that, but he longed to hear you say his name as it was now his favorite sound— a melody he wanted to play over and over again.

If he admitted his feelings, how would things change between you? Would it complicate things? Of course, he was the one to come up with the arrangement, and he did tell you that you could back out any time you wanted to. 

But if you felt the same way, would you still want to keep up the agreement? You would never once demand the weekly allowance he was giving you. If anything, you seemed to want to do was try and limit it to at least every two weeks or once a month, but Cassian never minded. This was all about helping you be able to live comfortably without any worries for the time being. 

The elevator dings as it makes its way to your level, and Cassian straightens, before making his way to your apartment door, knocking and waiting patiently. There would be time to figure out what would happen afterwards, now it was time for him to face the truth— whether it ended either with heartache or delight. 

“Come in,” he hears your voice on the other side of the door. Cassian wastes no time, holding the single rose behind his back as he steps inside. 

It’s quiet, Cassian wondered if he interrupted anything in particular as he didn’t see you in the living room. He calls out your name, but stops when he turns to see you sitting on the counter in the kitchen. Not only that, but you’re wearing a simple black robe and matching color heels with red bottoms underneath. You made sure to have the robe revealing much of your chest, and Cassian swore you were leaning forward so he could catch a better glimpse of your cleavage. 

“...Hi.”

“Hi…” Cassian steps forward. “What… what’s going on?”

You take your bottom lip between your teeth— scared that you may have made the wrong choice in displaying your feelings. But it was too late to turn back.

”I… there’s something I need to talk to you about.” Jumping down from the counter, you slowly walk up to Cassian. He stays in place, and when you glance down you take notice of the beautiful red rose in his hand. 

“...Is there?”

“Yes. Something important— sorry. Is that the gift you bought for me?”

“It is.” Cassian holds the rose up to you. “I just… I saw it and thought of you. I thought that you might like it.”

You take it from him slowly, admiring each vibrant petal on the flower. He saw this and thought of you— your heart pounds loud and quick like a drum, imagining the idea of Cassian looking through flowers and thinking of you as he laid his eyes on such a gorgeous flower. 

“...Thank you.” 

He nods, clearing his throat. “You said you had something important to talk about?”

“Yes, um…” you hand him back the rose and he watches you with interest as you slowly pull the tie from your robe. Letting it fall, the robe pools at your feet, and Cassian stares at you. 

His eyes trail along your body— taking in every inch of you as you stand in front of him wearing a simple black lingerie set. You watch as he slowly makes his way up, from the garter belt around your thighs, to the lace thong, all the way up to the black sheer baby doll top. 

You only wonder what’s going through his mind, if you have taken it too far or if it was just the right push to say what you’ve held in for so long.

“...I bought this with my own money.” You finally say, and Cassian’s gaze lifts to your eyes. “I… I saw it and I thought you might like it. I just didn’t know how else to… I thought that by showing you, it would be easier to… to explain how I feel.”

Something seems to click in Cassian’s mind— his eyes light up in realization and he nods. He takes a few steps towards you, backing you into the counter. He reaches behind you to set the rose down. 

“And… how do you feel?” He asks, his voice deep and you can’t help the way it sends a shiver down your spine. Taking a daring breath, you place your hands on his chest, feeling the soft material of his dress shirt.

“You know I’m not good with my words, but… can I show you?” 

He nods, and you lean forward, pressing your lips softly to his. Cassian is quick to return the kiss— his tongue glides against your lips as he deepens it, so eager to express how he feels as well. You feel his hands on your hips, and he pulls you closer so your chest is now pressed against his. 

Your body is so warm, like a fire bursting throughout out after igniting it with that single kiss. When you pull back, that feeling is still there after just staring into his dark eyes. 

“...How long?” He breathes out, and you know exactly what he’s asking.

“Since movie night. But… I suspect even before then.” 

Cassian nods, sliding his hands to the middle of your back. You don’t want him to stop touching you, and you suspect he doesn’t want to stop either. 

“...I know we still have the agreement, but—“

“Shh…” He shakes his head. “We don’t have to talk about that now.”

“But—“

“I have a gorgeous woman standing in front of me, right now. One that I wasn’t sure shared the same feelings. I’m not wasting anymore time.”

With that, he pulls you close, and kisses you again. Your hands are everywhere— on his chest, moving up to his neck, until you’re grabbing his face to deepen the kiss. His shoulders roll back as he takes his jacket off, and soon he is back to grabbing your hips and helping you onto the counter. 

The motion is fast and quick, and he stands between your legs as he trails his kisses from your jaw down to the middle of your chest. His hands are flat on your thighs, but you feel the pads of his fingertips digging into your flesh. When he slides his hands up, they are now closer to your aching cunt, and you don’t want him to stop inching closer. 

You’ve dreamt of this— feeling Cassian between your legs, his hands gripping you to keep you in place. It’s all finally coming true, and you only want to feel and taste more of him. 

He pulls back after sucking on your neck, and you slam your lips back on his. You begin undoing his buttons, but he grabs your wrists and pins them down. He steps back, and you stare at him with lust-filled eyes as he slowly begins to unbutton his shirt.

“Look at you,” his demeanor is suddenly different— his voice deeper and laced with a hunger for you. He tosses his shirt to the floor and makes his way back, pushing your thighs apart. “So impatient.”

“Cass…” you gasp as he pulls you closer to the edge of the counter, and begins to continue kissing his way down until he is on his knees in front of you. 

He looks up at you, as his hands slide further up your thighs once more, until his fingers start brushing your covered clit. You’re already soaked even by the simple touches, and you don’t want him to stop. You watch Cassian lean forward, and his nose carefully hovers against yours until you catch your breath. 

“You have no idea how much I’ve thought of this,” he mutters. “How many nights I’ve dreamt of you in this position.”

He flicks his tongue flat against your covered pussy lips and you can’t help the small whimper that escapes you. He looks up at you, sliding his arm underneath your thigh and around to pull your underwear out of the way to expose your glistening folds. He licks his lips, waiting to taste just how sweet you are. You watch as Cassian delves in, and your head falls back as you moan in pleasure at the feeling of his tongue.

Cassian groans as well, taking in every bit of your sweet slick. You tasted divine— as sweet as honey— and Cassian was lucky enough to be the one to taste you. Your hand moves to the back of his head, your fingers tangling with his perfectly combed hair as you try pulling him even closer. 

Cassian pulls back, but not before taking his tongue flat and slow against your cunt, and he rips off your underwear. Gasping, you watch as Cassian returns between your legs, and looks up at you as his hand comes up to rub slow circles on your sensitive clit. Biting your bottom lip, you stare into Cassian’s eyes as he touches you— a sensual image that only edges him more. 

A jolt of pleasure goes through you as he gently slaps your cunt, and you can’t help but jump. Cassian holds you down so your movements are slightly stilled. He goes back to rubbing slow circles, before once again slapping his hand down. 

“F-fuck, Cassian,” you whimper. “Please—“

Smack, he slaps your pussy again, this time with a little more force, and you feel as if you’re about to burst. 

“Tell me what you want. You’re all dressed up in this outfit for a reason. Tell me.” 

He wants you to beg, and fuck if it wasn’t the hottest thing. You knew Cassian was always one to take charge, but the fact that he was being this way for you has you thirsting for more. 

“I want to cum… please, Cassian. I want to cum so bad…”

Cassian hums, before he slaps his hand down again. A small cry catches in the back of your throat, and your nails grip into the edge of the counter as he goes back to rubbing your clit. The pace he moves at is excruciating, you just want to feel that release, but Cassian is going to make sure it’s on his terms. 

“I’m not quite convinced,” he says, moving his fingers down, and teasing the entrance of your pussy. You try pushing your hips forward, but this earns another good, wet slap from him. 

You cry out once more, and he moves his fingers back, teasing your folds. 

“Tell me. What do you want?” 

Your mind is a mess— you can barely focus as Cassian continues to tease you, and all words are non existent at this point. Suddenly, as an act of encouragement, Cassian pushes a finger in and you let out a moan. He doesn’t move it, and although you try rolling your hips it’s no use: he watches you as you sit desperately, waiting for him to do something.

“What. Do. You. Want?” He asks between small, feather-light kisses against your thighs. 

“Cassian, fuck! I want you to make me cum. I want you to fuck me until I can’t walk anymore. Please!”

His mouth turns up into a devil-like smirk, and he stands up to press his lips hard to yours. His lips carry the faint taste of your slick, but you don’t mind. If anything, it turns you on even more.

“Okay, since you asked so nicely.” When he moves his fingers, you let out a relieved gasp, and he suddenly moves back down to his knees.

Cassian wastes no time in pushing his mouth back to your clit, and you throw your head back as his tongue flicks against you. With every roll of his tongue, and pump of his fingers, you feel yourself slowly reaching that euphoric bliss and in no time, you're coming all over Cassian’s mouth and fingers as you cry out his name. 

Cassian doesn’t let you off easy, when he removes his fingers, he wastes no time in gently slapping your pussy as you still try coming down from your high. Each slap has you twitching with more pleasure, and he helps you ride it out until you’re left an absolute mess. 

When you open your eyes as you catch your breath, you’re still in a daze. Cassian stands up, and you watch as he takes each of his fingers to suck your slick off of them, like it’s a sweet treat for him. The sight has you clenching your thighs together, and Cassian takes notice, stepping towards you. 

“Come here,” he cups the back of your head, kissing you hard as he pulls you off the counter to stand. 

He tilts his head, dragging his hands down to graze against your breasts, trailing all the way to your hips. Biting your bottom lip as he pulls away, he quickly turns you to face away from him, and pushes you to lean over the counter. 

The feeling that flows through you is exhilarating— you’re more than ready to feel Cassian fuck you. The sound of his belt as he pulls it off and the way he slowly pulls his zipper down has you shifting in your spot. Soon, you feel his hands on your hips again, and he trails down to your thighs.

Snap, he pulls the strap connecting to your garter and watches you flinch slightly at the contact. Cassian soon presses up against you, his hard cock poking against your ass cheek as he leans down to kiss the back of your neck. His hand comes up from the garter and soon brushes against your wet folds, and you exhale shakily as you lick your lips. You just know the bastard is smirking now, watching every movement you make as he teases you. 

“Do you want me to fuck you?” He whispers— his voice deep and thick as he slowly moves his fingers up and down at an excruciatingly slow pace, making sure to purposefully brush just under your clit.

“Yes. Yes, please, Cassian,” you whimper, pushing back against his cock. 

He hums, and although you let out a whine when he pulls his hand away, your eagerness soon shows as he pushes your legs apart with his knee and you stick your ass out. 

Cassian drags a hand flat along your back as he positions behind you, and you feel the head of his dick push into your cunt. You both seem to let out a breath of relief— the feeling of you finally coming together like this was one long awaited from each of you. 

Cassian slowly pulls out, only to slowly push himself back into you, earning a quiet moan from you. You’re left with your fingers trying to grasp onto the smooth granite counter, but it’s no use. With every motion, you’re left with a dizzy spell taking over you. 

You feel Cassian’s hands grip onto your hips as he speeds up, thrusting even harder than before. He feels so good, even better than you’ve imagined. His cock brushes hard and deep inside you, trying to pull your orgasm from you. The rough pads of his fingers dig into your skin, as he pulls your hips against his with each thrust. 

The room fills with moans and grunts coming from both of you— skin slapping skin, it was an erotic sound. You feel Cassian’s hand move up to grab onto your neck, squeezing lightly as he leans forward until his chest is pressed against your back.  The new angle has him hitting your burning core, and you only cry out his name over and over. Your body presses hard uncomfortably against the edge of the counter, but you don’t care— you just want to feel nothing but Cassian at this moment.

“Does this make you feel good?” He growls, turning to nip at your ear. “Do you like when I fuck you like this?”

“Yes, f-fuck… Cassian!” You all but scream. You don’t even care if your neighbors can hear you because he is making you feel so fucking good.

“Is this what you’ve thought about?” He asks after a hard rock of his hips. “Because I’ve thought about this. I’ve thought about fucking you so many times. In your bed, in my bed… on my couch that night.” 

He lets out a moan, his breath hitting your skin, and you wonder if he is close behind you. With every push and pull of his dick as it hits that sweet spot inside of you, you’re sure to be coming all over him soon enough. 

“Cassian, please… I’m so close.” 

“Are you?” He hums. “Are you going to cum all over my cock? Because that’s what I want, too. I want to feel you squirt all over me.”

The words coming out of Cassian’s mouth only urges you on more— never did you think such filthy things could be said to you, and never did you think that such things could have an effect on you like they are now. He continues whispering things in your ears, come on and that’s it as his hand reaches around and starts rubbing fast circles on your clit. With his dick pumping in and out of you mixed with that, the sensation is too much, and soon you’re tightening around him as your orgasm hits you hard. 

White clouds your vision, and you’re not even sure what Cassian is saying to you now because the rest of your senses seem nonexistent. He helps you ride it out, still continuing his pace so as to reach his own high. The room fills with your moans and the filthy, demanding words of Cassian edging you on. Cassian curses behind you, and with one last thrust, he pulls out. 

Looking over your shoulder is a sight to behold— Cassian pumping his dick with his hand as he grips your hip with the other. He looks so beautiful coming undone like this, you think. You watch as he bites his bottom lip, holding back a moan as ribbons of cum shoot out onto your ass, and you can feel the beads drip down your ass, to your cunt and legs. 

His head falls forward, and he pants heavily, trying to catch his breath. You slowly turn to face him, and he lifts his gaze. It’s quiet now— the room that was once filled with the sounds of skin slapping skin and cries of pleasure now sits silent. 

Your name comes out as a whisper from his lips, and before he can say anything more, you press yours to his in a quick, passionate movement as you kiss him. Cassian pulls you to his chest, deepening the kiss— like you, he didn’t need words to express how he felt — and in that moment his touch spoke clear revelations.

When you both pull apart, breaking the kiss, you stare into each other’s eyes for a moment, until finally one of you finds the courage to speak.

“This changes things,” Cassian states. Which, of course, he is right. But in terms of how…

“I don’t care. I just want you, Cassian.”

He stares down at you as you reach up and cup his cheek. It’s a comforting concept, and he leans into your touch, and you revel at the simple movement. 

“I don’t care about the arrangement anymore. I never… never really was in it for the money. You have helped me in a way that… well, I’ll forever be grateful for you helping me with my loans and rent. And I loved the gifts, don’t get me wrong. But all I cared about and actually enjoyed was just being around you. Spending time with you.” 

HIs hand comes up to grab yours, and for a moment you see a sense of relief in his eyes— as if he had been waiting to hear that from you for quite some time. 

“I think…” he starts, pulling your hand down to kiss your knuckles, “I only offered it just to be able to spend time with you. I also enjoyed it, presenting you with gifts and helping you financially. But, I knew things would change between us since that night.”

His thumb brushes the back of your hand, and you glance down to the rose on the counter. Grabbing it, you bring it up to your nose, the wonderful scent taking over your sense of smell. Your eyes flicker up to his, and you give him a small smile.

“I think this is probably my favorite gift from you.”

Cassian smiles, a soft, tender one as he tilts your chin up, and presses a sweet, chaste kiss to your lips. You pull back, and the smile you gave him does not falter as you stare up at him. 

“I want to be with you, Cassian. Which means... I have my own arrangement.” “That so?” His brow raises, intrigued as you set the rose back down. “You’re making demands with a businessman, now?”

“I sure am. First off, I don’t want to be your sugar baby anymore.” He chuckles, amused. “Because of your help, I am already ahead of payments, which means I can handle them on my own.”

“Alright, fair enough. Anything else?”

“The gifts—”

“Hold on. I still want to give you gifts. There’s no getting out of that.”

“Cass—”

“Isn’t that what significant others do for each other? They spoil their partners.” He kisses your temple. 

“Fine… I have one more demand.”

“Which is?”

You take a step back, grabbing his hand. “I want you to join me in the shower. I believe we both need one.” 

He smiles, and you don’t believe you’d ever get tired of seeing the simple act. “Okay, but first…”

Cassian pulls you close, and delivers one more kiss to your lips— one that seems to hold a different meaning now. And then he pulls away, following you to the shower, where you soon fell together again as your bodies slid against each other as the water dripped over you both, and your moans echoed against the walls. 

[peralta-guaranteed]

(I misread / misunderstood an anon prompt a while ago and it did NOT sit right with me... especially since I had an idea for the original meaning of the prompt. SO here it is, Amy and Jake sharing a bath at cop con:)

“It’s me, babe!” Jake shouts into the empty room, as if anyone else would just enter their shared hotel room anyway. But they’ve had their share of drunk pranks at cop con, so it’s best to be prepared.

“In the bathroom!” Amy shouts back, and Jake toes off his shoes, slips out of the stupid tie he still has to wear even if Holt isn’t even there this time, and drops his flannel on a chair before following her voice.

She’s sunk deep into the bathtub, surrounded by foam mountains, her hair floating on top of some soap bubbles, her eyes closed. Beautiful, he thinks, like always, and is reminded of some painting they’ve seen on yet another documentary she made him watch. But that one didn’t have too happy of a story behind it, he recalls, so maybe it’s best not to associate it with his naked girlfriend in a bath.

“Hey babe.” He sits down on the wide edge of the hotel tub, scratching along her hairline in lieu of a hello kiss. “How was your afternoon?”

Amy hums deep and dissatisfied, her closed eyes scrunching up even more. “Doesn’t matter. It’s bath time now.”

Jake eyes the empty glass and bottle on the floor next to the tub.

“Seems like it’s wine time, too. You know the party isn’t until tomorrow evening, you don’t have to pre-game that hard.”

“Ssssshshshsh.” She waves a hand and splashes some water on the ground. “Bath time.”

“I take it the discussion panel about Women-Led Mini Task Forces and the talk about Organisational Improvements in Evidence Tagging weren’t what you expected?” She’d ditched their little squad group this afternoon for these ‘really interesting’ events that none of them could fake interest for, especially not if a hall full of cool cop gear was calling their names.

“I don’t wanna talk about it. Bath. Time.” She insists once more, and he accepts that, getting up to bring the glass and bottle out of danger-range once she gets out of the tub.

“Do you want more wine? I think there’s a red one in the mini bar, too.”

“Mmmh, we can share it later.” She answers, and slips a wet finger through his beltloops to prevent him from leaving. “You’re too far away.”

“I’m right here, Ames.”

“Too far.” She pulls on his jeans again. “C’mere.” She tries to pat the water like she would the mattress beside her, which - doesn’t quite work. Jake huffs a little laugh before pulling his under-shirt over his head.

“Alright, scooch forward.”

She does so while he gets rid of the rest of his clothes and slips into the very hot water behind her, trying hard not to yelp. Amy loves to boil herself alive, somehing he’s learned from their shared showers as well, but it’s a bit easier to stomach if it’s just a steady stream from a showerhead and not a full bath enveloping them.

He waits a minute, until enough water has flown out to not soak the entire bathroom floor if he moves, to pull her back against his chest, feeling her sigh and melt against him immediately.

Beautiful, he thinks again as he gets a slightly skewed bird’s eye view over her hair-splayed shoulders, the foamy water sadly high enough to cover her chest, and her dainty knees poking out between his own a bit further down. 

“How was your afternoon?” She asks quietly, close enough that he’d hear her if she whispered.

“Pretty good, but I don’t wanna hold it over your shit day.” He swipes her hair away from her back, plants a little kiss right there against wet skin.

“Mhh.” She hums again, drawing idle circles on the side of his knee and up his thigh with her fingertips. “Distract me with it.”

“There’s just so much cool gear we’re probably never gonna get.” He reaches over for the peeling glove she’s brought along, because Amy Santiago travels to a two-day-convention with her entire bathroom ensemble, and he kinda loves her for it. “They had that sonic sound blast thingie again. I think Charles might be permanently deaf in his left ear now.”

Her hum turns into a low, continuous noise of content as he starts rubbing across her arms and shoulders, soaping up her back and massaging the spots he knows always tense up on bad days.

“They’ve got this weird robot dog too, I think the NYPD might be getting it. It’s so freaky. I think some googly eyes would make it seem friendlier, but that’s probably not what they’re going for.” He continues, answered by another hum, and he’s pretty sure she’s only half-listening during her massage, her hands shifting up and down his thighs and squeezing once in a while.

“I think Rosa missed you, though.” He smiles as he thinks back to their friend, who’d never admit that out loud. “She kept turning around to show off something cool and would look at me and Charles all dissappointed.”

“Aww.” Is the first reply he gets. “I’m not gonna ditch you guys tomorrow, I promise.” She reaches her arms up to link behind his neck, finally giving him a good view of her frankly perfect chest covered in suds, and he decides that her back is more than clean enough to focus the peeling glove on her front. He’s rewarded with a definitely tipsy giggle as he kisses that spot right behind her ear, too.

“You want me to do your hair?” He asks when he’s pretty much slathered her front in soapy bubble streaks, and she growls.

“Yes, please. But don’t tell Charles.”

He laughs as he clambers up to perch on the back of the tub, for a better range to reach her head.

“Don’t worry, babe.” He shampoos her hair and starts trying to emulate what he remembers from hairdresser appointments, digging his fingers into the back of her neck and her temples, earning himself some very low groans and hums, so he must be doing something right. He also tilts her head back and holds a hand over her hairline when he rinses the shampoo out, to make sure none of it runs into her eyes, and it’s these tiny, barely there things he does to take care of her that make Amy’s heart flutter, even after a whole bottle of wine. Maybe especially then.

She turns around and sits up on her knees when he’s done, enjoying the soap-covered show of him on the bathtub edge as much as he probably enjoyed the view earlier, and grins.

“Your turn, babe.” She purrs, but he only snickers and shakes his head.

“I’m all good. Probably gonna take a shower later, anyway. After, you know.”

“After?” She tilts her head in question, despite knowing exactly what he means.

“Yeah.” He pulls her up for their first proper kiss today, and he makes sure it’s a proper one. Her toes curl only slightly under the water. “After.” She feels whispered against her lips.

(He makes sure to towel her off, before carrying her to the incredibly comfortable hotel bed, so they don’t soak the sheets. At least not with soapy bath water.)

[nevilles-insinuations]

Home Is Not A Place - Pete Davidson

Requested by Anon: Hi can I request a fic where the reader and pete davidson have a kid and it’s just a day in their life to

Warnings: Little bit of swearing, mostly fluff Word Count: 999

The alarm screamed at you. Barely awake, you grabbed for your phone. Because you could swear you had just closed your eyes.

It was the last day of the week when Pete wasn't that busy. He would get up early with your son, so they could spend some time together and you would sleep a little longer.

Eventually making your way downstairs, you were greeted by the sight of your boys chilling in the kitchen.

"Well, where did you put your blankie?"

You couldn't help but laugh at Pete gently interrogating your son. He was crouched, eye level with your son, who was clinging to his arm.

"Blankie!"

Scotty babbled at him, making grabby hands, trying to be picked up.

"I don't know why I'm trusting the memory of a baby- I'm sorry you're 17 months"

His father scooped him up, placing him in his high chair. Content chilling there, while Pete started cooking.

"Hi bubba"

Scott smiled at the sound of your voice, banging on his table to get your attention.

"Is Daddy being funny again? Huh?"

You asked softly, smiling back and running your hands through your his curly hair. A few step to your left, Pete was stood at the counter, grabbing your respective mugs and contemplating cereal.

"Hi-" Interrupting himself, he planted a kiss to your lips "He laughs at everything so he's very bad for testing material"

To prove his point, he stuck his tongue out and your son laughed like it was the best thing in the world.

"But I am the funnier parent so-"

He trailed off and you scoffed in response. Pete shot you an intrigued look, placing a bowl of fruit in front of the toddler.

"That is not true"

Shaking your head, he wore that look once more, waiting for the explanation.

"I'm hilarious. Wait till my special comes out"

Your warning had little impact, watching as Pete could barely reply for laughing.

"Okay. Sure"

He managed to get out, turning back to the counter in failed attempt to hide smile but you could still hear it.

"Don't laugh!"

Your eyes met his brown ones but you were close to laughing yourself.

"What? You said you were funny!"

Pete shrugged and you glanced over at your son for some support but he was completely distracted, practically glued to his bowl. Sighing, you propped your head on your hands. You weren't going to win this one.

"How long until you go to read through?"

He glanced at his phone before replying "4 hours", not missing the hint of disappointment in your voice.

The debate about what your Netflix special would be called dragged into breakfast. Well, you and Pete were having breakfast, your toddler was making a mess. In a few minutes, he was covered in fruit. You weren't intrigued by the amount of banana on his arm and face. By now you had learnt that kids were just like that. Mess would be made.

The decision to do absolutely nothing and relax in the garden soon followed. Warm sun streaming through the window, beckoning you to the outside.

Scotty was absolutely ready, once he was cleaned up. Dressed in his bucket hat and dungarees, the envy of all the Instagram babies. Adorable. But maybe you were a little biased.

"We made that"

Pete rested his chin on your shoulder, hands finding their way to your waist.

You hands on top of his, leaning into his touch.

"I still can't believe it"

The pair of you in awe, watching your tiny human do nothing and still manage to be cute.

Grabbing a few essentials, you headed outside. Drink that was mostly ice cubes, oversized sunglasses and the fabled blankie, which was found almost swallowed by the couch.

Trying to get sunscreen on a toddler was a struggle. He kept trying to wriggle away, so Pete was holding onto him. You couldn't help but laugh at the determination etched on his chubby face, pouting until you were finished. Finally free from Pete's grasp, Scott wasted no time. His tiny legs carrying him round the garden at top speed. Not caring when he almost tripped because the smile on his face was too wide.

"You tired now, buddy?"

Pete asked your son, who was still giggling when he plonked down next him after 10 minutes.

He shook his head, refusing to admit defeat. Not because he was tired but because he wanted to, Scotty settled comfortably back into his dad's arms.

The three of you lay there on the picnic blanket, for what felt like forever. Staring at the clouds and pointing out random shapes. You didn't have to focus on anything else, except your boys.

"Shit. I have to go"

Checking his phone once more, he sighed. Number ticking down in his face. Looking down at the scene, he didn't want to leave. Scott’s head was resting on your stomach. He was busy rambling about the clouds, you agreeing whole heartedly that the one over on the right was a dinosaur.

Pete got up to leave and Scotty immediately attacked him with cuddles, ending up in his lap. Trying to convince him to let go was a event, like it always was.

"No!"

It was starting to become his favourite word. Bargaining with him took a little time, his grip eventually loosening. The promise of ice cream was enough motive for you to peel him off of his father. Pouting baby now in your arms, Pete kissed you goodbye, making his way back through the house. After numerous "I love you's" and yelling a final goodbye, you heard the front door shut. Still resigned to spend the day, chilling it the garden. You got comfy on you the blanket once more, only to be interrupted by that same little voice.

"Mama, ice cream!"

Your toddler was looking at you expectantly, waiting for his reward. Shaking your head, you laughed. Thinking about that ice cream which would no doubt make more mess.

[buggy-d-hoe]

1-25 all evens for the new ask game

Oh you........the amount of love I have for you...... I'll skip 6 since I already answered it tho :o

2) what work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

The best part is...I DELETED IT >:) It from when I was in high school and wrote this Eragon story that was a complete nightmare...in the sense that the canon characters were borderline OOC. It's been a good while since then, who knows if I will ever update the doc I have for it. I am afraid of opening Pandora's Box with that one.

4) favorite character you’ve written

hmmm....I think it would have to be Violet because she was the first character I wrote and made content for after my 4 year hiatus. I was aware of the OC community back in the day but had no means to make manips or publish it until I got a new laptop. Pixelmator was the first software I used until I eventually got Photoshop from school, in which I eventually bought the monthly subscription to it TT_TT. I binged Umbrella Academy when it first came out and I remember writing the first couple of chapters during lectures and it brought back this nostalgic feeling I had when wrote back in high school because I finally had the means to publish again. That's why Violet is so precious to me.

8) favorite genre to write

Definitely something on the fantasy, sci-fi, romance angle. Action is definitely hard for me because I feel that writing those scenes are a hit or miss; it has to flow naturally and not read so choppy. Still learning on angst because I need to better understand the term in order to portray it properly.

10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?

A little bit of both? I HAVE to listen to instrumentals if I write with music because lyrics distract me and I end up pausing the damn song to write in silence. Instrumentals help me build the mood and just inspire me overall. I tend to listen to soundtracks from whatever fandom I'm writing for or just typical trailer music. If it's a song that serves as an inspiration for the story, then I tend to leave it on repeat (i.e. All I Want by The Offspring or Confusion and Frustration in Modern Times by Sum 41 for Divided We Stand).

DEFINITELY ALONE. I can't stand people looking at me when I'm typing. I tend to type really fast and loud and there was this one time my coworker came over to where I was writing and started reading out loud what I was typing. They kind of made a comment that struck me and I got self-conscious as a result.

12) your weaknesses as an author

I never update and keep coming up with too many stories/characters. I write one chapter and move on to the next obsession, depending on my muse. I am horribly inconsistent and I have a lot of docs that are like 80% done that need to be updated/published, but because I am drained and never confident in my writing. 

14) do you make playlists for your current wips?

Not really? Maybe I’ll find a song or two that fits the story (the pairing’s song and just a random song that matches the aesthetic. See Q10 for a better response hahaha). 

16) are there any characters who haunt you?

I’ll give two instances:

A character who haunts me for the way I wrote them: Definitely my Eragon OC: Illisimé. This was when I didn’t know how to write a well written character, and she was a complete Mary Sue and OOC for someone in the setting. I have updated her considerably since, so I think she’s a little more tame now. Hopefully I can come back to her because she is my first precious baby. 

A character who haunts me because of the story I have planned for them: Daphne McConnell, my IT OC, because of the story and canon mature themes. If you have read or seen the movies/tv series, you know exactly what themes I’m talking about. If not, don’t worry about it! One of the themes that Daphne will experience is something I’m trying to find the courage to undertake. 

18) were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they?

A couple people actually (please click on their underlined names to check out their FF profiles): 

My Weeb Besties: Ashley influenced me that slow burn isn’t boring/tedious and that it’s sometimes needed for events to play out perfectly. You want the story to get to certain events naturally so the end reward is well worth the wait. Kim influenced me in a way that description and putting effort in how a character is portrayed makes for interesting writing. Taking time to do accents, description that paints a picture in your mind, etc. Nikki influenced me that it’s fine to be adventurous with your writing and there shouldn’t be any shame in indulging in your kinks. Smut and well written stories/one-shots can go hand in hand together. 

20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?

Before my hiatus, I used to just sit and write for hours on end. I could get a chapter out within a day or two. Since I came back, it’s been increasingly difficult to just stay focused and not over think it, hence why I now write in spurts. 

22) are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?

For the sake of my followers, I won’t mention it here, but there certainly are some subjects in which I will be “NOPE” to. 

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

Maybe some medical related things. I come from a family of medical workers, I trained in some areas in caring for my grandma, and even went to LVN school so I know how some procedures go. I haven’t written these topics yet, but at least I have a good knowledge of how it will be 

[yungidreamer]

Changes

Yunho discovers more about himself when he goes through with a little change and she and Mingi decide to reward him with a little attention. 

wordcount 7.4k

content warnings: Oral sex (male receiving), anal sex, blindfold, light restrains, sensory deprivation, emotionally charged sex, cuddling, aftercare, emotional bonding, coupley rituals, self-discovery

Yunho stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom just staring at himself. When he looked at the mirror, it didn’t feel like the person he saw was the real him anymore. His brown hair, in the same cut he had the last two years of high school, it just didn’t fit him any more. He wanted a change.

She walked into the bathroom behind him, coming to brush her teeth before bed. “What’s the serious look for?” She asked, coming up to give him a hug from behind.

“Nothing really,” he shook his head and gave her a little embarrassed look. “Just wondering if it’s time for a change.”

“Change can be good,” she agreed. “What were you thinking about?”

“What would you think if I dyed my hair,” he said tentatively. 

“Is that what you want?” she moved beside him to get a better look.

“I don’t know,” he sighed. “Seonghwa looked really nice as a blond. Do you think I could pull it off?”

“I bet you would look amazing as a blond,” she decided, pushing a little bit of his shaggy hair out of his eyes.

“You think so?” He gave her a smile, reassured by her support.

“Yeah,” she nodded, pulling his face down to her for a kiss. He smiled shyly into the kiss, holding her hand against his cheek.

“I’ll think about it,” he hedged.

“Okay,” she nodded, watching him walk out of the room.

                     Saturday, 1 o’clock, meet me at the car

Yunho flipped the paper over in his hands as he leaned against the drivers side door of his old car. It was five minutes to one and he was still waiting. She was almost always early, giving him a reason for the moment’s doubt, had she forgotten? At two minutes to one she came jogging up the curve of the road towards their house.

“Sorry sorry sorry,” she panted as she came up to the car. “I lost track of time a little getting things from the library.” She lifted the arm full of books she was carrying to demonstrate what had made her almost late. “Let’s get going.”

He opened the passenger door and let her in before getting into the drivers side himself. “Where are we going?”

She took out her phone and put an address into maps, hitting the button to start the driving instructions. Yunho gave a laugh, shaking his head as he pulled out of the driveway. He obediently followed the directions, weaving through the suburban blocks to a little strip mall that the phone indicated was their final destination.

She popped out of the car with a smile, meeting him on his side and taking his hand as she led him into some place called Mane Events. He still had no idea what they were doing here.

“Hey we’re here for a color and cut for Yunho at 1:30.” She said to the person on the other side of the reception desk.

“Great,” The other woman said with a super cheery tone. “Yep we have you down. Take a seat and we will call you back in a moment.”

“Thank you,” she smiled back at the receptionist before walking with Yunho back to the seats in the waiting area.

“You got me a haircut,” he chuckled. Honestly, he had figured that she had forgotten that little conversation they had had before bed that night not so long ago. But, of course she hadn’t. He had still been debating with himself as to whether he could pull it off. He wasn’t gorgeous like Seonghwa or his literal model boyfriend. What if he looked silly; as if he was trying too hard?

Welp, here we are, he thought, I guess we’re here and we’re doing it. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach and he squeezed her hand tighter.

“You ready for a little change?” She asked him, squeezing his hand back. “If not, we can cancel.”

“No no,” He paused, realizing his answer was a little muddled. “I’m ready to do this, I mean. I...I don’t know what cut to get though.”

“Did you want to see my ideas?” She scooted closer and pulled out her phone. “Here,” she pulled up the gallery on her phone and flipped a couple of pictures back until there was a picture of just a headshot of a guy with a clean, modern hair cut, and another, this one with a little more volume on the top, and another, a little bit longer. “Okay now this one was just an idea, but I think it's a little more daring...maybe for next time.” She showed him the last picture with a guy in a stylish swept over undercut.

“Yeah, I think next time maybe,” He covered his mouth and let out a shy laugh. “I’m not sure I’m cool enough for that yet.”

“I think you would look so hot in that,” she looked meaningfully into his eyes, making him blush. “But, what do you think about this one today?” she flipped back to the tapered hair that faded into a clean, close cut just above the ears. Yunho nodded, feeling like it was simple enough, but also a little more adult. He just hoped it would look good on him.

“You are going to be such a beautiful blond,” she looked up at him, hearts in her eyes, and he suddenly felt like he could do anything. He cradled her face and pulled her into a gentle kiss.

“Yunho?” Said a cheery voice from near the receptionist desk.

“Yeah,” he responded, standing up.

“Hey I’m Mandy,” the stylish brunette stepped forward and extended a hand to him. “I’m going to be cutting and coloring your hair today.”

“Great,” he took her hand and gave it a firm shake.

“Come with me,” she motioned over her shoulder towards the salon area. “We’ll get you started.”

“Can my, I mean,” he looked back as his girlfriend, still standing a little bit back in the waiting area. “Can my girlfriend come, too?”

“Oh yeah sure,” Mandy nodded. “Come on, we are going to color these cute locks first.” Yunho held his hand out to his girlfriend. She took it, and together they followed the stylist back to the chair where she would start her work. Yunho took a seat and she put a cape over his shoulders.

“So what sort of color were we thinking today?” She asked Yunho.

“Blond,” he replied.

“Okay well since we are starting with pretty dark hair, we won’t be going platinum or anything,” Mandy ran her fingers through his hair, testing its weight and texture. “But we can probably get you to a nice dark blond. How does that sound?”

“Yeah, sure,” Yunho agreed.

“Have you ever dyed your hair before?” She asked.

“No, I haven’t,” he admitted. “Does that make it harder?”

“No, if you haven’t had much done to your hair before it should be stronger,” Mandy explained. “I’ll have to give you some info on caring for your hair after this, but if you take good care of it, we should be able to keep your hair in good shape. Let’s get started, huh? I’m going to go mix some lightener and then we can get started. Be right back.”

Yunho watched her head to an area further back before turning to his girlfriend for reassurance. “I’ll look okay as a blond, right?”

“You’ll look amazing,” she agreed with complete confidence. “I am sure Mandy will do a great job with it.”

“I just...what if I look stupid?” He whispered, the tips of his ears going a little pink under the fringe of his hair.

“You won’t,” she promised, hopping off the empty chair she had been sitting in to come up beside him. “You are going to look so cute.”

“Yeah?” He asked, sliding one hand out from under the slick fabric of the cape.

“Cross my heart,” she went up on tiptoes and gave his lips a quick peck. Mandy returned, tools and gloopy lightener in hand.

“Aww, you two are so sweet.” Mandy declared as she set her things down in the work space. “How long have you two been together?”

“A little more than a year,” Yunho answered, giving her a smile.

“You two are so young!” She sounded surprised. “Are you like high school sweethearts or something?”

“Something like that,” Yunho shrugged.

“That’s so cute,” Mandy clucked. “Okay so what I really want to do with your color is just give you a good medium blond, with some highlights and maybe keep it a shade darker up near the roots; something that looks really natural; like you spent your summer hanging out at the beach.”

“Okay yeah, that sounds good,” Yunho like the sound of it, even if he had trouble picturing what that would look like.

“What sort of cut were you thinking about?” Mandy followed up running a comb through his hair to bring it off his face.

“Honey, can you show her…?” He looked to his girlfriend who nodded and pulled out her phone. She leaned over and showed her the picture they had been leaning towards. Mandy nodded with excitement.

“That is going to look so good on him,” Mandy enthused to the other girl. “Good taste, girl. Let’s get him looking like the hottie he is under there.”

Mandy set to work putting the lighteners in his hair and chatting with the pair as she worked. The conversation was light, mostly discussing school and the area, keeping it pleasant as she worked. Soon she took Yunho back to wash and condition his hair after the lightener had done its work.

“How about if your girlfriend waits for you in the reception area so that we can surprise her with the final product?” Mandy suggested, wanting to get to see the happy, surprised face she was sure her work would inspire.

“Sure, sure,” Yunho agreed and Mandy disappeared to escort the other girl back to the waiting area. When she returned, she took him back to her work area and turned him away from the mirror.

“I want to surprise you, too.” Mandy grinned at him. “So what made you want this change?”

“I don’t know,” He admitted. “I just wanted to do something different, something more adult, I guess.”

“Well with that baby face you have, I totally understand,” she nodded. “You are growing up, going to school and all that.”

“Yeah, I don’t really feel like that kid I was back home,” he shrugged. “I want my outside to match a little better, I think.”

“That is the best reason to change your style,” She gave him a wink and set to work. She was fast, the zipping click of her scissors filling the air as she clipped, trimmed, and shaped his hair. She combed the hair off his forehead and worked some product into it as she ran her fingers through to the ends to make sure that everything was even. Satisfied, she pulled out the hairdryer to blow it dry into the final style.

When it was done, she pulled a few hairs down into his face, giving the final look a sort of devil-may-care air. Finally satisfied, she stood back, telling him to wait and resist the urge to turn around until she got back. Yunho agreed, watching as she went to go get the girl waiting to see the final look in the reception area. They came back, laughing together, Mandy with one hand in front of the other’s eyes as they drew near. Yunho was suddenly nervous for the reveal. Maybe she wouldn’t like it, then what?

“Alright everyone, here you go,” Mandy lifted her hand up, letting the other girl see him for the first time. Even before she could see him, she was already excited, biting her lip in anticipation of the vision of the boy who would be presented to her. She cracked her eyes open and her jaw dropped. He looked like he had gotten three years older in the half an hour the styling had taken. With his hair styled back, his dark brown eyes stood out and she would have almost sworn it made his cheekbones sharper.

“Babe, you look soooo good,” she breathed, bringing her hands to cover her mouth. Yunho finally stood up and turned to see himself in the mirror. He almost didn’t recognise himself in the reflection. He loved it and he just felt pretty. Reaching up, he touched the well styled locks, admiring the golden, honey tones she had managed to bring out. It was softer than he thought, not held stiff, but still staying out of his face.

“Can I show you what you need to get this look at home?” Mandy asked, grinning from ear to ear at how pleased they both were. 

“Yes please,” Yunho nodded, eager to keep it up. Mandy escorted them to the wall of products the salon both used and sold, giving him a conditioner, mousse, a light wax, and something to use when he washed to keep his hair from taking on any discoloration. They headed to the register laden with products but very pleased.

Yunho reached for his wallet, only to have her stop him. “This was my treat.”

“I can pay,” He insisted, but she shook her head and passed the receptionist her card as he spoke. With everything paid for, and all the products bagged up for the trip, they headed home.

Mingi was sprawled out on the couch waiting for the both of them when they got back. He perked up when he heard the growl of the old car engine pull into the driveway, eager to see them since they had been gone all afternoon. She had left earlier in the day, needing to pick up some things from the library for classes next week, not coming back before she and Yunho went to do whatever it was they had planned. She had refused to tell him what her plan was, only saying that he would get the surprise when Yunho did. He had to admit that it was probably fair. He wasn’t really good at keeping secrets between all of them. Sometimes he forgot something was supposed to be a surprise, and sometimes words just fell out of his mouth before he thought about what it was he was saying.

When the door finally opened, she poked her head in, a wide grin on her face.

“Hi love,” she greeted as he moved into a sitting position. “Can you close your eyes for me, real quick?”

“O...okay,” Mingi nodded, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. He heard footsteps enter the room and a few things being put down on the coffee table in front of him. She took a seat on the couch beside him, he knew it was her by the smell of their favorite perfume of hers coming to tickle his nose as her hand came to cover his eyes, just to be sure.

“Yunho, ready?” She asked, amusement dancing in her voice.

“Yeah,” He replied, an odd mix of confidence and shy tones coloring his voice. She took away her hand and Mingi opened his eyes. It took a second for him to focus and for his eyes to travel up to look at Yunho’s face. When his eyes landed on his hair, he felt a twisting in his stomach and felt, more than realized, that his jaw went slack. He looked...so good. 

Without thinking about what he was doing, Mingi came to his feet and went to the other boy. His hands went to his face, tilting it to the angle that let their lips meet. He pressed his plush lips to Yunho’s perfectly shaped cupid’s bows, pressing as he felt the other boy smile into the kiss.

“I take it you like it?” Yunho chuckled shyly, when Mingi pulled back.

“Fuck, you look so good,” Mingi whined, touching it gently, not wanting to mess up the style. “Blond?”

“The color is okay?” Yunho asked him, entwining his fingers with the other boys’.

“You look hot,” Mingi grinned.

“Doesn’t he?” She said coming up beside them. “I have an idea.” She took their entwined hands and led them down the hall, the boys looked at each other, a thrill of anticipation moving between them. She brought them into the bedroom and sat Yunho on the edge of the bed.

“Mingi, can you undress him for me?” She asked, a dark sparkle in her eyes. “You should strip, too.” She added as she crossed the room. Mingi nodded, letting his hands go to the hem of Yunho’s t-shirt. Pulling it off over his head, Mingi kissed along the other boy’s collarbone, his soft lips flitting over it. Yunho shivered, his hands going to the other boy's waist to hold himself steady.

As his lips continued to travel over Yunho’s neck and shoulders, Mingi’s hands traveled to the band of Yunho’s jeans, following the line until his fingers reached the button. Yunho bit his lip, letting Mingi undress him was the softest torture. He loved it. Mingi’s long fingers hooked into the waistband, pulling them down his narrow hips.

“You look like an angel,” Mingi whispered against the shell of his ear. “I want you so much.”

Yunho let out a breathy sigh. Mingi was usually more prone to showing his affection than speaking about it. The words sent a spiral of desire through Yunho, and he pulled Mingi’s lips to his own, his thumbs caressing his cheeks as he held his face. Yunho stepped out of his jeans and underwear without breaking the kiss, the taste of the other boy only feeding the fire inside him.

“On the bed,” Her soft command came as they drew apart finally. Yunho nodded, one hand going to cover his growing erection, feeling exposed. He noticed that she had been busy as he and Mingi had been engaged with each other. She was carrying a few things in one hand, but he wasn’t sure what aside from the fact that they seemed to all be made of black satin, soft, shiny and long.

“Do you trust us?” She asked, giving him an admiring look that raked up his body and landed on his face. Yunho blushed but nodded. Behind her, Mingi stripped, quickly and eagerly, leaving his discarded clothes in a messy pile. “Okay, give me your hands.”

Yunho swallowed but put his hands out to her. Putting what was in her hands on the bed beside him, she took his hands in hers, pressing a soft kiss to the palm of each before turning them over. She picked up what looked to him like two loops of black satin and pulled apart one loop with the recognizable ripping sound of velcro.

“Neither of you have looked into what I had in that box, did you?” She chuckled when his mouth made a cute little O when he realized they were soft restraints.

“I forgot about it,” Mingi admitted as he tucked himself behind Yunho.

“Me, too,” Yunho conceded as he watched her small hands wrap the shiny satin around his wrists. Taking a step back, she started to strip, leaving Mingi and Yunho to watch on the bed. Mingi enveloped Yunho in his arms as they watched her slowly remove her clothes. His fingers danced over the other boy’s skin, raising goosebumps as he stroked along the flat planes of his stomach and his chest.

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she,” Mingi whispered in his ear. “Just like you.”

Color rose on Yunho’s cheeks and a giddy giggle escaped his lips at the compliment. Yunho turned his heat to meet Mingi’s lips as he brought his bound hands up to hold the hand Mingi had pressed against his chest.

When she was stripped bare, she returned to the bed and picked up the last scrap of material left on the bed. It unfurled softly as she picked it up and Yunho finally realized what it was. It was a satin and lace blindfold that sparkled with little beaded embellishments. She gave him a reassuring smile as she lifted it to his eyes, tying it comfortably and securely over them.

“He does look beautiful like this, doesn’t he?” She praised. “He should be worshiped like the darling that he is.”

“How?” Mingi asked breathlessly. He loved the idea. He wanted to shower Yunho in adoration and he looked like a fallen angel, blinded and lightly bound.

“Help me get him to the middle of the bed,” she instructed. Yunho was surprised by how much the simple restraints and the blindfold threw him off. Mingi guided him to the middle of the bed where Yunho sat back on his heels, feeling oddly on display for the two of them. He felt the long frame of Mingi curl around behind him a moment before he felt her hands brush over his thighs. In his lap, his hands fidgeted, unsure of what he should do with them. As if she sensed his hesitation, her hands slid up to cover his before she leaned in to kiss his lips.

“Mingi, can you take his hands; keep them up on the back of his head for me?” She requested in the silence of the room. Yunho’s breath caught as he let her guide his hands up and over his head until he felt Mingi’s hands catch his wrists and guide his hands to the back of his head. He interlaced his fingers to help hold the position more comfortably .

Mingi pressed a kiss to his slender fingers. “Good boy,” He murmured, forcing him to lean back against him a little. Yunho let out a shuddering breath as he heard her shift in front of him and felt her put a little more weight on the hands she had splayed over his thighs. He jumped as he felt her soft lips brush over the tip of his erection. Behind him Mingi let out a sound of approval and Yunho felt one of his hands work around his waist and come to rest on his stomach below his belly button.

“Does it feel good?” Mingi asked him, voice low and sultry. “Her lips look so pretty on your cock.”

“Yes,” Yunho whimpered.

“Do you want more?” Mingi teased, letting his fingers on Yunho’s stomach move slightly on his skin.

“Yes,” a shade of tension in his voice as Yunho confirmed.

“What do you want?” She asked, her voice traveling up from somewhere low on his body.

“Taste me,” He asked, color rising on his cheeks as he did.

“Like this?” As she asked, she took the tip of him in her mouth and swirled her tongue around it. Yunho couldn’t answer, but drew in a sharp breath through his nose in response. “I’ll take that as a yes,” she gave a low snort before bringing her mouth back to him. The flat of her tongue brushed along the underside of his cock as she slid it into her mouth. Yunho let out a choked sound, the sensation more overwhelming behind the darkness of the blindfold.

“Her mouth is already so full and she hasn’t even taken that much of you in it,” Mingi observed, loving both the sight itself and being able to tease his other lover with the narration of what it was he was being denied sight of. “Do you think she can take more?”

“I...I don’t know,” Yunho felt himself twitch at the thought.

“Do you want her to try?” As Mingi asked the question, he let the tip of his pinky brush along the base of Yunho’s erection, focusing his attention there all the more.

“Please,” Yunho mewled. He felt her smile around him as she drew back to the tip. He could feel her adjust her position, then her mouth sunk down his length further. The tip of his erection brushed the back of her throat and he felt her gag slightly around him. His body twitched involuntarily and he felt her slide her mouth back off him, wet sounds filling his ears as she did.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” he chanted, feeling like he had done something wrong, despite not having moved.

“You’re doing so well, love,” she praised, her voice slightly rough. “I bet your arms are getting tired, aren’t they?”

“I’m okay,” He rushed to assure her. They were getting tired, but he didn’t want this to stop, and he could endure if it meant the pleasure would continue.

“Let’s make this a little easier for you,” she soothed. He could feel the both of them move, urging his hands forward and helping him move forward until his hands met the solid material he recognized as the headboard of the bed. He leaned forward, letting some of his weight rest on his hands as he remained on his knees. Mingi moved up behind him, prompting him to spread his legs slightly so that he could kneel between his legs. Yunho could feel how aroused Mingi had become with what he had been watching. He bit his lip at the feel of his erection brushing the curve of his ass. He could hear her move into the space below him, squeezing in among the pile of soft pillows there.

“Is that easier?” She asked him as she took him in her hand.

“Yeah,” he had to admit it was much easier on his body.

“Good,” She placed a kiss against the tip of him. Yunho gave a little gasp and arched his neck back slightly.

“You look so tempting like this,” Mingi ran his hands down Yunho’s sides to rest on his narrow hips. His large hands held him in place as he ran his thumbs over the soft flesh of his behind. Below, she swirled her tongue around him and dipped her head lower over his length again. Their combined touches made his back arch, wanting to be able to move into both their touches, though it was an impossible contradiction.

“Do...do you think you could take me?” Mingi asked from behind him, sounding unsure for the first time that afternoon.

“Yes...maybe…” Yunho answered, both excited and intimidated by the prospect. Neither of them had tried that before. It wasn’t that they had rejected the idea, just that there had always been other things they had done instead. He felt Mingi pull back and move off the bed as she continued to use her mouth on him. The warm cavern of her mouth felt so good and the little sounds she made were almost enough to keep him distracted from trying to picture what Mingi was doing. He heard the swish of the bedside table drawer being opened, then rustling and the crinkling of a condom wrapper; a sound he had become more familiar with than he would have credited. 

Something hit his leg just before he heard the drawer shut and the bed moved under Mingi’s returning weight. The soft caress of Mingi’s hand on the small of his back as he returned to the space between his legs, sent shivers through Yunho.

“Tell me you want this,” Mingi encouraged. 

“I want you,” Yunho affirmed.

“Promise me, you’ll tell me if it hurts,” Mingi implored as his hands gripped and massaged the soft muscular curve of Yunho’s backside. Yunho nodded. “I’ll go slow.” Mingi promised before reaching for the bottle of lube that was resting against Yunho’s calf on the bed. There was a familiar click as he flicked the lid open and Yunho finally figured out what had landed near him from the drawer. Of course, he smiled to himself.

He tensed in anticipation, his mind battling to focus on the gentle feel of her mouth on him and waiting with bated breath to feel what Mingi would do next. In a moment he felt a cool wetness spread between his cheeks, spread by two of Mingi’s long, blunt fingers. The lube warmed to his body quickly as Mingi made slow and deliberate circles around his tightly puckered entrance. Yunho bit his lip. The movement felt good, especially combined with what she was doing on the other side of him.

“Relax,” Mingi kissed his back as his free hand caressed his waist on one side.

“Sorry,” Yunho gave an apologetic laugh, realizing he was tense. It wasn’t so much fear as anticipation and not knowing what to expect. He took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on the sensations of pleasure he was receiving from both of them. Mingi kept up his gentle circles but below him, he could hear her shifting. The top of her head brushed against his chest and he heard the soft plop of what he guessed must have been pillows hitting the floor.

“Hi,” her voice drifted up from slightly higher on his body and she placed a gentle kiss against his chest.

“Hi,” he said back, his voice more airy than he expected. She put her hands on his hips and took the tip of him into her mouth, sucking it lightly like the whirl on the top of a cup of soft-serve. At the same time, behind him, Mingi had worked the tip of a finger in him and was slowly moving it in circles to spread him wider. Yunho concentrated on the gentle friction, stopping himself from tensing at the intrusion.

Her lips slid lower, the new position allowing her to move on him more comfortably, and she moaned around him. The sound and sensation traveled over his nerves and he let out a shuddering breath. As he felt his tip brush against the back of her throat, he felt her fingers grasp his hips more firmly and she pushed further. Her throat spasmed around him and he let out an almost pained moan as she pulled off with a surprised choke.

“Are...are you okay,” he asked, feeling Mingi still behind him as well.

“Yeah,” her voice was slightly hoarse and she cleared her throat before continuing. “Just working things out.”

“Are you too big for our girl?” Mingi teased, moving his fingers again. “Her poor mouth can’t take all of you.” Yunho let out a whine at the image that flared in his mind; her small mouth open, lips circling his length, as she struggled to take him in. Pleasure pooled in his stomach and he gripped the headboard harder.

“Is she as pretty as I imagine?” Yunho asked the other boy as he felt him work in a second finger.

“Prettier,” Mingi breathed in his ear. “Her lips are so pretty and pink around you.” She sank down on him again as Mingi said it, sending a shiver through him. “Are you ready for me to come inside you?”

“Yes, please,” Yunho nodded, feeling a desperate anticipation.

“Don’t move,” Mingi directed him, taking his fingers back and putting more lube on both Yunho and the condom. “If you do you might hurt our girl, so keep still.” Yunho nodded, stiffening slightly as he felt the dull head of Mingi penis press against him. Shhhhh, Mingi soothed, bringing his hands to Yunho’s waist, one still slick with lube. Yunho nodded and took a deep breath. He let his head hang down and concentrated on relaxing into the slow intrusion. She had paused what she was doing, instead soothingly running her palms over his tense stomach and chest. Mingi moved with excruciating slowness, sliding in a bit and pausing as Yunho fluttered around him. When he finally felt the other boy's hips press against him from behind, Yunho let out a shuddering laugh. Mingi felt so big inside him and he had a moment’s sympathy for their girl. She was so small and yet she welcomed their intrusion into her body so happily.

“You okay,” Mingi asked from behind.

“Yeah,” Yunho nodded. He felt like he should be doing something, an impatience rising in him as both of them touched him lightly but remained still otherwise.

“You’re ready for me to move?” Mingi asked, pressing a kiss against his shoulder.

“Please,” Yunho begged, all his pride gone as desperation and desire rose in him like a tide.

“Okay, just keep still.” Mingi said, giving a nod that was obviously directed to her, he felt her shift to take him in her mouth again as Mingi held his hips and slowly pulled back. She enveloped him as Mingi slowly slid out of him until only the tip was still inside. The contrasting sensations sent a shiver through him and he sucked in a breath. Mingi’s member slid back in filling him as Yunho felt himself fill her mouth, his tip brushing the back of her throat again. Her throat twitched against it and Yunho couldn’t help but let out a tense moan.

“Do you like this,” Mingi asked, letting his hips snap into Yunho with more force though he kept a firm grip on him to keep him still.

“Yes,” Yunho confirmed. He felt breathless and exposed, but at the same time it was like he was at the center of this private world. They both were lavishing their love on him and he could only let them. In the darkness behind the blindfold, he could only feel their affection and hear how they responded. Wet sounds tantalized him as she took him in her mouth and mixed with the rough breaths Mingi gave in time with his thrusts. It was almost overwhelming, being forced to only experience their love, his hands bound, stopping him from reaching for them to return it.

“You feel so good around me,” Mingi whined against his ear, one arm moving across Yunho’s chest to hold him against him as his hips started moving faster. “Do we make you feel good?”

“Yes,” Yunho confessed, tears pricking the backs of his eyes for some reason he couldn’t quite express. “Please don’t stop.”

“I love you both,” Mingi rumbled against his neck. “I could live in this moment forever. Tell me what you want.”

“God, I want you to fuck me as I cum down her throat,” Yunho admitted, desperately tense as the words spilled out of his lips. “I want the feel of both of you in me and around me. I want to get lost in this feeling and never come back. Please, please, please.” He felt a hot tear escape the corner of his eye only to be absorbed by the fabric covering them. He was grateful it hid the welling of emotion for him, coming from somewhere inside him he hadn’t known was there.

Yunho let out a keen as he felt her take him deeper in his mouth, ignoring the tug of her gag reflex as she pushed herself. Mingi thrust faster as he held Yunho, back to chest, murmuring words of encouragement, telling him how good he made him feel. Low in his stomach he could feel his orgasm coming, it clenched like a knot and sent an electrical tingle through every nerve in his body.

“I’m so close,” he choked out between clenched teeth.

“Me too,” Mingi nodded against his shoulder, making his thrusts harder but hitting as deeply as he could. Yunho bit his lip between his teeth until it hurt. He heard her take a deep breath and then felt her take him again, her tongue sliding wetly along the bottom of his cock. She angled her head and slid him down deep into her throat. It clenched around his length and he suddenly stiffened as his orgasm hit him. Yunho let out a breathless sob as it snapped inside him and he emptied himself into her.

Behind him Mingi sped up, his movements becoming uneven and rougher. Yunho could tell when his own orgasm hit him as his fingers clawed at his hips and chest. Mingi held him close as he felt himself fill the condom, desperate to fill his senses with Yunho as pleasure rushed over him.

It was all too much and Yunho suddenly felt a smothering wave of emotion hit him. A sob escaped him and his hands dropped from the headboard, startling her as they caught the back of her head, still bound.

“Sorry,” he managed to get out, still overcome, when he heard her exclamation. He could feel them both panic around him as Mingi pulled himself out, still keeping hold of Yunho as she quickly unbound his hands and removed the blindfold.

“Did I hurt you?” Mingi asked, pulling him back to sit between his legs, pulling the other boys head back to rest on his chest.

“No,” Yunho shook his head but let out a shuddering sob even as he did. “It was just...it was so much.” He tried to put it into words but couldn’t find them.

“Hold him,” she instructed Mingi before getting off the bed and going into the bathroom. Yunho let himself melt into the embrace of the other boy as he muttered sweet nothings in his ear. Mingi told him how beautiful he looked, how wonderful he made him feel, how much happiness he brought into his life.

They were so absorbed in the whirlwind of emotions that they didn’t register the sound of the water being run into the large tub until she returned, softly asking Mingi to help her get him into the bath to clean up. Mingi nodded, sliding off the bed and putting an arm around Yunho, under his armpits, to help steady him as they walked to the bathroom.

“Get in first,” She instructed Mingi, letting him slip into the warm, scented water before she let Yunho get in afterwards.

“What about you,” Yunho reached out for her as he sat between Mingi’s legs.

“I’m just going to clean up a little and order some food,” she promised. “I’ll come back in a minute.” Yunho let his hand drop and relaxed into Mingi’s hold. After she left, closing the door gently behind her, they sat in silence for a moment, only the drip of the bathtub tap joining their breathing and the gentle lap of the water when one of them moved.

“You promise I...or we didn’t hurt you?” Mingi asked again, turning Yunho’s face to look at him. There was a sheen of pain in his eyes as he asked.

“No, you didn’t, neither of you,” Yunho swore, bringing up a wet hand to caress Mingi’s cheek. “I don’t know how to put it, but it felt so good that everything just hit me all at once. I love you both so much and…” he trailed off but felt another tear escape and turned his face to try and hide it.

“Don’t look away,” Mingi gently turned Yunho’s face toward him. “Can you smile for me?” He held Yunho’s face and ran the pad of his thumb over his cheek. Yunho laughed, looking at him with sparkling eyes. 

They relaxed for a few more minutes in the water until she came back in. Her hair was damp and she was dressed in one of Yunho’s old oversized t-shirts. She had obviously showered and changed while the two boys had lain in the tub together.

“Are you two ready to get out or do you need a few more minutes?” She asked, kneeling down beside the tub. Yunho nodded and sat forward a little as she got up and retrieved a towel off the nearby rack. Yunho stepped out of the bath and she wrapped him up in the soft terry cloth, gently rubbing it against him to soak up the droplets of water on his skin. Yunho stepped to the side, letting Mingi get out of the water and open the drain, then receive the same warm care she had given him.

They followed her out of the bathroom and realized they must have been in there longer than they thought when they looked at what she had done with their room. The curtains were drawn over the window, hiding the darkness that had drawn down on the cool fallish world outside the window. The room however was warm and inviting. She had lit candles and placed them on most of the surfaces in the room, illuminating it with their flickering warmth. The bed had been remade with fresh sheets and the smell of their favorite perfume hung in the air. It felt like home.

“Here,” she brought them both to the foot of the bed where they found pyjamas waiting for them to put on. They slipped off their towels, putting their pjs on while she hung the damp towels back in the bathroom. The two boys climbed into the bed, sinking back into the pillows as they waited for her to join them.

“The food will be here soon,” she explained, slipping out and leaving them in the quiet of the room. They settled back into the pillows and Mingi reached out, taking the other boy’s hand. Candle light made the shadows in the room dance and Yunho let his mind wander. Today had been a good day, he felt warm and light as Mingi’s fingers played with his own.

“Are you okay?” Yunho asked Mingi when the silence stretched out between them.

“I think I want to cut my hair, too,” he said in response. Yunho turned to face him and let out a joyful giggle.

“Yeah?” Yunho queried between peels of laughter. “You want a change, too?”

“Yeah,” Mingi gave him a joyful grin. “You look so good with your blond hair and of course our girl always looks hot. I don’t want to be left behind.”

“No, babe,” Yunho shook his head, rolling closer to give his lover a little kiss. “You are so handsome. But if you want a haircut...I know a place now.”

“Was it fun?” Mingi asked, wrapping his arms around the other boy as he laid his head on his chest.

“Mandy was pretty cool,” He admitted. “And she did a great job. I bet she could do wonders with you.”

“You think so?” Mingi smiled down at Yunho’s face where it rested on his chest.

“Oof, I’m going to have to start worrying about competition for both of you if you two get any prettier than you already are.” Yunho teased.

“Mmm, maybe,” Mingi joked back. “Too bad for them, I’m already taken.”

“Yeah?” Yunho giggled, caressing his cheek. “Lucky us, nabing you first.”

“Yeah, lucky you,” Mingi gave him a confident look. “You got this gorgeous face...the body isn’t so bad either.” She came back into the room as Mingi finished his boast with a pleased, face splitting grin.

“Damn straight,” she said to both of them as she returned laden with bags of delicious smelling food. “You both have amazing bodies and I’m lucky enough to get to play with them all the time.”

She joined them, cuddling in beside them on the bed and they tucked into the food together. When they were all sated, they cleared the bed and curled up under the covers. Yunho passed her the book they had been reading together from the bedside table before he curled up against her, head resting on her chest. Mingi lay down on the other side of her, curling up with his head on her lap.

“The beach was full of completely white sand.” She read aloud. “The bay was like a half-moon stretching from one headland to the other, and it formed a trap for all that the winds swept round the island towards the leeward side. Driftwood lay piled up at the high water mark…” Her voice filled the room, its warmth matching the light of the candles that surrounded them. It was their favorite time of the day and a ritual they had begun over the last few weeks. She read through the chapter, finishing it before they brushed their teeth, blew out the candles, and slipped back under the covers to sleep. They all curled up together, limbs entwined, holding each other as they closed their eyes.

“Thank you for everything today,” Yunho whispered into her neck as he kissed it, nuzzling into its softness.

“Did you really enjoy it all,” she asked him quietly.

“It was amazing,” he confirmed. “I feel like I’m finally getting to be who I’m supposed to be with you two. I’m so happy you both picked me.”

“I’m so glad we found each other,” she stroked the arm he had thrown over her.

“I love you so very much,” he told her. “Maybe tomorrow I can put the blindfold on you and show you just how much you mean to me...to us...”

[irwinkitten]

black cat magic | l.h

notes: look i am alive! things have been hellish but i got this out for the writers collab event that @maluminspace and @h0tsos created! since i had to bow out for the last one, i was determined to do this one and had an idea inspired by this comic strip. despite life being particularly shitty, i still enjoyed this idea. also not using my old tag list because effort to find it all and go through, so my apologies. warnings: none? just injured kitty who gets some love. word count: 2k prompt:  Person A finds an injured black cat, and takes it home to take care of it, not knowing the cat is actually a shapeshifter

donate to my ko-fi?  

-

There was a legend from days of old, when warlocks and witches ruled in tandem with the fae and shapeshifters. ‘Should you want to meet your match, then try to befriend, or trap, or catch, the black feline that lives where the grey door is told, to be a secret gateway for jewels and gold. But do not fool the cat with thieves or you shall pay with your misery.’ It was a legend that no one ever learned if it was true, but the house with the grey door was never sold, never had any kind of people live there in the years. 

Many attempted to rob it and those who had tried suffered in life with struggles which left them with nothing but misery. Most ignored the black cat with startling blue eyes as it watched the world go by. But not you.

The first day you greeted it, you were slow, knowing better than to trust any kind of animal that could bite or claw you. 

It purred once your fingers threaded through its fur, content to let you stay there and pet it. 

“Aren’t you a handsome kitty?” You crooned, scratching under the cat’s chin. As it tilted it’s head up, you glanced underneath it to read the tag on it’s collar.

‘Luke’

“Luke, huh? Are your owners in or do you just roam freely?” Not expecting an answer from the cat, you chuckled when he meowed back at you before hopping off the wall and heading to the door.

“See you soon, I’ve got to get back to work.” You weren’t sure why you were reassuring the cat, but you headed back home, with your thoughts drifting to the black cat that had startling blue eyes.

On one of the sunnier days, you chose to bring one of your books with you and you’d found a small hill beside the house that had tall ivy plants hugging the walls. Atop of the hill was a tree that gave you good shade to hide from the heat of the day and as you sat down and studied, it wasn’t much longer until you had a visitor in the form of a black cat.

“Hi there Luke.” You greeted the cat as he came up for fuss. It made you chuckle how he settled himself in your lap, content to sleep whilst you read on, occasionally biting your hand gently when your eyes grew sore.

“You must have a sixth sense or something.” You murmured after tucking the book away, switching to one for pleasure instead. 

This time, he maneuvered himself under your hand so that your fingers were running through his belly fur, purring non stop, making you chuckle.

“Maybe I should bring some toys with me for you to play with. You’re more likely to turn my hand into a scratching post should I pet your belly for too long.” You laughed at your own joke, but he simply meowed in return and stayed sprawled across your lap on his back.

Ignoring all instincts that told you to stop petting him, you carried on, surprised at the lack of teeth or claws, and when you next looked up from your book, you found him fast asleep under your ministrations.

“Weird cat.” Was the soft murmur from you as you carried on reading until it started getting dark and you had to make your way back home.

You found yourself returning until the day you found him on the side of the road, the pitiful whines breaking your heart as you realised he’d been run over.

“Oh my poor boy.” You whispered, carefully scooping him up. He seemed to know you were there to help him, claws digging into your shirt as you cradled him. “Let's get you to the vet and make sure that they can help you. If you’re still fighting to hold on, they’re not gonna give up on you.” 

The journey to the vets was harsh with his painful meows ringing through your soul. But he behaved as the vet helped him, biting the technician only once when they caught him unawares. 

You’d been right in your assumption, however. They weren’t willing to put him down because there was still the chance he would survive. So you made the decision to nurse him back to health.

The first few nights were tiring. They warned you it wasn’t going to be easy, but it was also the most rewarding watching as he snuggled down into the bedding on the first night.

It was weeks of falling in love with the cat, knowing that it wasn’t yours. Despite the owners not seemingly answering, there had been a letter in your post, with money to cover costs and a small thanks of taking care whilst the owner was currently away. 

You had wondered how they’d found out, but in the small town, news travelled fast and more often than not, everyone knew everyone, so someone had to have informed the owner.

When he was allowed to walk again, you found yourself with a small black shadow, almost like he wasn’t willing to leave you alone. And this didn’t bother you, but it didn’t help with the heartbreak that you had, knowing you couldn’t keep the furball of joy that was changing your life.

After six months, he simply vanished one evening and you wondered if he’d made his way back home and part of you felt your chest ache, but you knew you couldn’t keep him. He wasn’t yours and you had to remind yourself that constantly as you carried on about your evening and settled into bed.

That was the first night you’d had a strange dream, a man with golden curls and bright blue eyes sat with you under a familiar tree as he talked about an old tale that you’d heard from your great grandparents when you were a small child.

“The lore is as old as the town itself. I wanted to find someone worthy to share everything with.” That pulled your attention, even in your dream state.

“You wanted to? Then wouldn’t that make you like, well over two centuries old?” He laughed and you wondered if it was real or not because it sounded beautiful.

“Three and a half actually. Time has no essence when you’re immortal though.” His lips were curved up into a smile as he shifted so that his head rested in his lap.

The dream felt familiar as you threaded your fingers through this stranger's golden locks.

“But you look so young...” You trailed off in confusion.

“Benefits. I could choose to grow old, but I want to be with someone who I love. Maybe then I’ll grow old. But I’ve waited for so long now, I shouldn’t be bothered waiting any longer.” 

You hesitated.

“What’s your name?” This made him chuckle as he turned onto his back, his eyes holding yours as your fingers slowly stopped.

“Luke.” And then you noticed the familiarity of his bright blue eyes.

You woke up with a gasp, glancing at the clock as you did so. The numbers read three am, and without even thinking, you wrapped yourself in your jacket, barely remembering to collect your house keys before stumbling along the streets towards the old house that had sat there for centuries.

The lights were on when you reached the home and you felt uneasy for a second before pushing open the gate. Before you could knock on the door, you heard the meow.

“Luke.” Your voice was quiet as you turned, studying the cat who was sitting underneath a window. You watched as he stood on all fours, turning tail to head around the corner of the house, and in the dark, you could see his bright blue eyes shine against the lights of the house and without thinking, you took a step forward, only to be stopped by the door opening.

Your heart left your chest as the very same man from your dream opened the door, a kind smile on his lips as you felt like a deer caught in headlights.

“A spot of tea, perhaps?” His voice was exactly as it had been in your dream, and it had jolted you back into reality as the wind picked up and you shivered. “And maybe an extra blanket?” He sounded amused as he stepped back to let you in, and you felt your skin tingle.

“So you were telling the truth in my dream?” He smiled.

“Lets get your coat off and get some tea for you, love.” You didn’t hesitate to follow, part of your mind concerned, but a larger portion thinking you’d follow him anywhere if he asked.

You both sat in silence whilst he was making the tea and you couldn’t help but stare at him. He was exactly the same in your dream. Part of you wondered if this was real.

“Are you really a cat?” Finally came the question as he set the tea in front  of you and you looked away in embarrassment when he laughed.

“Not the first question I expected, but I expected it.” His answer was encouraging as you glanced at him and watched as his entire body began to shrink and then suddenly Luke, the very black cat that had slept in your bed, sat on the table in front of you.

He shifted back and you felt your body slump as your eyes rolled backwards and he lunged forwards to keep you upright.

When you next woke, the scenery was different. You were in a lounge of sorts, the still hot tea, resting on the coffee table.

“That was a lot of you to take at once, I’ll admit. Are you feeling better now?” Luke crouched in front of you and you didn’t stop yourself as you reached out, your fingers touching his face.

His skin felt real and you watched as his eyes fell shut at your touch, a noise of content escaping him.

“Holy shit this is actually happening.” You finally whispered and he smiled, letting your hand drop from his face. 

That was when you noticed that you had a warm blanket thrown over you and the comfort that it offered was reminiscent of the nights that Luke the cat had spent curled up with you on the harder days.

“It’s a lot to take in, but I’ve got all the time in the world for you.” His smile was reassuring and you took in a deep breath.

“Reckon I can sleep with Luke the human?” You finally asked and he grinned.

“I think I can do that.” 

You could feel the couch shift underneath you and you realised that the back was moving so that it lay flat. Glancing at Luke in surprise, he looked unconcerned as pillows zoomed down the stairs, followed by a heavier quilt and then the couch cushions seemed to meld together and turn soft.

“Magic. Right. I’ll probably have more questions in the morning, but I certainly need more sleep.” You muttered and Luke laughed as he climbed under the covers with you, his arms pulling you against him and suddenly everything felt better, for just a moment.

“Everything that is mine is yours should you so wish it. My things, my home, my heart.” He whispered as you cuddled closer and although it felt like a lot, you also knew in your heart that you weren’t going to let him go.

“I’m happy with just the last one. The rest are bonuses.” You sleepily murmured before succumbing to your dreams once more. 

“And that’s why everything I have will be yours, love.” Luke whispered quietly before he too, followed off in the land of dreams.

When you woke the following morning, you knew in your heart that you weren’t to be parted from Luke. So when one day the house suddenly vanished from sight, those that grew up with the lore, silently toasted to the one who had won the sorcerers heart. 

-

@sexgodashton, @loveroflrh, @maluminspace, @h0tsos, @cashtonsangel, @mermaidcashton, @malumsmermaid, @5-secondsofcolor, @devilatmydoor, @lashtonswildflower, @karajaynetoday, @calpops, @rosecolouredash, @goth5sos, @cakesunflower, @calmlftv, @spicycal, @talkfastromance4, @wildflowergrae, @wildmichaelflower, @pinkbubbles-and-bigtroubles, @superbloomirwin, @superbloomed-c, @ashtonlrwin, @colormekaykay, @thecurlsofgod, @treatallwithkindness, @kiwijulia​

[dgcatanisiri]

Welcome to DG’s Listing of Wish These DLC Existed, where I theorize, speculate, and just kinda generally throw ideas at the wall about DLCs for games I love that never happened and never will happen, but damn, I’d like to see them anyway.

Because I have ideas, I can’t get them made as mods, I don’t have time to make them into fic, and they’re never going to happen anyway, so why not put them up in a public place? After all, they’re tie ins to games I have no control over anyway, so it’s not like I’ll ever make money off of them anyway. And, as I’m not bound by any hardware limitations in terms of crafting ideas, or production cycles dictating when the game’s endpoint is, these can and do go on a great deal longer than the standard lifespan of a game.

A review of the format: There will be a name for the DLC, a brief synopsis, a reference to when this hypothetical DLC would become available/if and when it becomes unavailable, and then an expansion/write up of the ideas going in to them. Some ideas will have more expansion than others, because I’ve just plainly put more thought into them - in a lot of cases, I wrote them down just on the basis of ‘this idea seems pretty cool,’ and then gave them more context later on.

Feedback is welcome! Like an idea? Don’t like an idea? I welcome conversation and interaction on these ideas. Keep it civil, remember that these are just one person’s ideas, we can discuss them. Perhaps you’ll even help inspire a part two for these write ups! Because I do reserve the right to come up with more ideas in the future - these are the ideas that I’ve had to this point, but the whole reason this series exists is because I come up with new ideas for old stories.

So I HAVE actually been working on my ongoing series of hypothetical DLC to games that I love over the last year (it was the end of January 2020 when my last one of these got posted, this is going up at the beginning of May 2021). Which, yes, some is pandemic related because *screams* but... I was looking over what I’ve been working on, and realized that I was at about the combined length of my first two of these in my present examination, and I was only about a third of the way through the ideas that I had. I could either keep going and do these all at once in a massive post in like another year or two, or I could break it up into chunks.

So instead of waiting, this is going to be Part 1 of (I hope) 3 in an examination at ideas and possibilities of what additional content could have been made for Mass Effect 2, which for some is considered the best of the series. Me, I’m a little more critical of it. To me, this game is a textbook example of bridge syndrome, of the plot spinning its wheels to hold off on the payoff until the third part of the trilogy - the Collectors are, in practice, an entirely separate threat from the Reapers, even acknowledging the connection in the plot. We see this in the impact that the ME2 characters have in the next game - most are in side missions, all perform roles in the plot that literally can have them swapped out, even if it’s to the ultimate detriment of your War Asset count.

So in my mind, there’s a lot of room to make these DLCs, these glimpses into further areas of the world of Mass Effect at large. Because for me, what ME2 SHOULD have been was about making the alliances with the galaxy at large, rather than the big set piece of the Suicide Mission. We got some of this in ME2 proper, but that’s where the core of my focus and attention is with these DLCs.

Admittedly, I am aware of the difficulties of working around ME2 having both optional companions (Thane, Samara, and Tali don’t have to be recruited at all, Zaeed and Kasumi are DLC, many missions are available before you necessarily pick up certain companions...) and the ability to hold off on doing the DLC until after the Suicide Mission, where any or all of your companions may end up dying. However, for simplicity’s sake (because these things are long enough as it is without having a dozen variations apiece), we will assume that all companions are recruited and alive for the sake of plot advancement. Minds greater than mine can figure out how these would work without a given character – me, I tend to clear out the quest log before the Suicide Mission (aside from Lair of the Shadow Broker and Arrival, both of which are minimal on the squadmates from the rest of the game) and rarely let myself lose someone on the Suicide Mission, and since these are my ideas, we’re working in my framework.

Also, timeline note: Like ME2′s actual DLC, the fact that these would unlock at certain points in the game’s timeline does not necessarily reflect when they would best be played in the in-game timeline. Like Lair of the Shadow Broker and Arrival are (as I mentioned above), at least in my personal timeline, post-Suicide Mision content. BUT, they both become available to play after Horizon. Just because they unlock at certain points in the plot, that doesn’t mean that they best fit the timeline in that point. It was just a convenient way to organize things in my notes. So there will be ones that unlock at plot point A, but probably play best after plot point B. Players would be able to decide where they fit as it works for them.

Ghost of the Machine

A phenomenon is spreading across colonies in Citadel space. Machine cultists are cropping up on planets. Shortly thereafter, these colonies go dead quiet – often overrun by husks. To Admiral Anderson, this sounds like Reaper tech, and there’s only one person who he trusts to investigate the truth of the machine cults...

(Post-Freedom’s Progress)

So back to the machine cultists. In our last installment, there was Evolution, which featured them. Here, though, we’re looking at something that kinda resolves this little storyline. Y’know, since ME3 isn’t really going to have the time for this sort of thing. Which, sure, I’m saying this becomes unlocked before you can unlock this game’s machine cultist sidequest, but shush – just because it unlocks at this point doesn’t mean it has to be played at this point. This time, it’s not just about learning about the problem, but we’re also going to see what we can do to understand it, especially since we’re now acknowledging that this is a recurring problem within the universe and maybe we want to find a proper solution to it before stumbling blindly into it gets more and more people killed.

So this takes Shepard to a planet that’s making its first steps at colonization, yet again (because I am trying to be cognizant of what practical realities exist in the game development, even acknowledging that this is a hypothetical thing anyway – early colonization means limited extras wandering around out in the open and a self-contained area to play around in). Those seem to be the places where these devices mainly get uncovered, so that’s why this is here.

Of course, we have a situation where the devices are known about, so there’s an immediate lockdown, and the reason that Shepard and crew are getting sent out is because Reaper experience is needed – in the event that this colony can have anyone saved, who is it and how do we get them out safely?

I kinda look at this as revealing the process – the previous encounters were the parts that told us the existence of the metaphorical monster of this story, here we’re getting to see the “monster” properly in action. And I feel like this should be about also introducing some of what will become ME3’s foot soldiers among the Reaper armies – we know about the husks from ME1, now we’re going to encounter another for the first time. Probably the marauders. Given that they and the cannibals (who are so numerous in part because of the batarian worlds being first in the invasion path) are the most numerous in ME3 aside from husks, we should at least get to see them be pre-established because of their involvement ahead of time – they don’t get any proper introduction as is in ME3, just accepted as being there.

The honest general idea in this one is tying off this thread that was seemingly built, by way of being a repeated thread in both ME1 and ME2, but goes entirely unmentioned in ME3. Obvious reasons are obvious, but that’s why these hypothetical DLCs “exist,” to address things that the games didn’t have time for. (And that’s a big part of a lot of these, so... buckle up.)

Obviously, we have some of the supplementary material to work off of here – I’m specifically thinking of the Illusive Man’s comic series, Evolution. (Side note, TIM’s involvement there should probably also be part of the reason he’s quick to send Shepard in here – he knows what these artifacts can do.) You can read the wiki page as easily as this, but to quickly detail the important part, we know what these are through them, artifacts meant to ease the way for the eventual arrival of the Reapers by doing the huskifying work ahead of time, without the need for things like the Dragon’s Teeth (which... I want to bring these into this in some fashion, considering they seemed to have importance in ME1, but as the numbers of husks increased in the later games, they fell by the wayside – ME3 claimed that they were basically just to increase a subject’s adrenaline and spread the Reaper tech through the victim’s body quicker from the fear of impalement, and that seems like a lot of effort for little reward, since nothing indicates a way to come back after infection anyway).

So why are these on far-flung colonies, especially when the husks definitely don’t have the mental capacity to control ships and spread out that way?

Since, again, there’s no way to come back after infection anyway, that’s going to be one of the core questions. This seems like a highly inefficient way to set about conquering the galaxy. Why spread this if there’s no reliable method of getting it to go beyond any singular world? (Obviously, the original idea seems to be a) BioWare shock value and b) something to horrify the audience with no reason attached – so it’s time to add that reason). What is the purpose?

So that’s going to be a running thread, probably the major subplot of the story. Obviously, though, the first priority is Shepard trying to escape getting caught up in this colony that is descending into Reaper control. Also, since I said we’re introducing the marauders here, I think we need a turian contact on the ground – I almost said make them a female turian, introduce them to the world of Mass Effect well ahead of the DLC for ME3 (a-HEM!), but I also think that we’ve got another situation of seeing them get infected and die as a result – it IS a consistent point in this series that coming back from Reaper infections Is Not Done. And repeating that here makes it a consistent theme, considering Nyreen.

So while I still say there should be female turians making their appearance among the turians of the colony, our turian buddy is going to be a guy, just for the sake of not stuffing another named female turian in the fridge. I’ll get to a more proper introduction of a female turian later, promise. (And, I like to imagine, with the number of DLCs I’m writing up here, there’s some kind of ability to retroactively introduce female turians into the crowds in the base game as a “patch” through at least one of them, as well as into ME3 proper... Hey, this is all fantasy as it is, let me have that one.)

Anyway, the turian contact is going to be frosty with Shepard – he (I don’t have a name for him at this point) not only doesn’t trust Cerberus, he was also friends with Saren, making him distrust Shepard. While Saren was a traitor, it’s got an element of ‘guilt by association’ to have had close ties to him, so Shepard’s kind of a living embodiment of the hit to his good name. Even if he didn’t do what he did because of Shepard specifically, they’re still associated. But he is still on a mission and Shepard is here and willing to assist him, so...

That said, he’s a Cerberus contact – Cerberus may be human first, but, given the ME2 crew, they can cultivate non-human contacts and aid, and under the circumstances of this colony, being a joint endeavor of humans and turians (probably throw in some callbacks to the last edition of these hypothetical DLCs and mention Ambassador Goyle and the Planet of Peace story). He’s been influenced by Cerberus operatives because hey, it’s good for humanity and turians to make peace if there’s a greater threat, right? Shepard meets with him on the outskirts of the colony proper – in order not to be influenced, they’re acting as much outside of the colony as possible. (Come to think about it, it might be a good idea to make recruiting Mordin a pre-req for this, at least handwave him having come up with a measure meant to protect from Indoctrination and the effects of these artifacts.)

The artifact is already influencing colonists, of course, and our turian friend is ready to write them off immediately – they’ve read the reports, and indoctrination can’t be reversed. I picture a brief discussion about how horrible indoctrination is as a weapon, making the Reapers enemies into their servants, and so warping their minds and perceptions that they’d never be able to trust that any thought they have afterwards is their own, even if they could be saved. Because seriously, that’s one of the most unsettling things for me in this franchise.

The idea is, of course, to get in to where this artifact is and destroy it unseen. That probably means a stealth segment through this colony – honestly, do it like the batarian base in Arrival, I don’t think that it would be so bad. That offered some nice variation, if a little spare on interactable things. Here are going to be some interactable things, things you can get to if you’re good, pay enough attention to the line of sights and such, but will still risk discovery.

Those interactable things are going to be some of the background of the artifact and what’s the whole deal – y’know, codex stuff, things that aren’t essential to the story but good background. Lay some groundwork for the idea of what the Reapers want out of these things being left behind.

Stealth section comes before the inevitable action section, of course. Here, the artifact is in underground caverns (like normal) and our turian buddy sets out to make some quick scans, get the information they need. And, of course, it activates at his approach, zapping him with energy. He tries to shake off any effects but... Well, I already said that he was gonna get infected and die.

So here’s where we start seeing the husks show up. It’d be really nifty if we could get them in varying states of their evolution (or devolution, depending how you look at it), some people just having glowing eyes, others being full on huskified.

And, of course, our turian contact is now in the process of becoming a marauder. I’m thinking we’re having something of the same thing as with Saren here – now that the Reapers made contact with him, they’re framing him as their “herald,” the one who’s going to act as their instrument. Shepard rightly gets to point out the comparison, which does at least get some hesitation – he’s being indoctrinated, is in the process of becoming a pure Reaper tool, but isn’t all the way there yet, the process isn’t 100% immediate.

Also I figure this is a good time to really establish (in terms of ME2’s plot) that the Reapers are so interested in Shepard and why. Like, yeah, sure, we do get Harbinger’s whole thing, but that’s not really a dialogue where we get to ask questions. It’s not even an interrogation where Harbinger demands information. Harbinger just spouts out dialogue of “this hurts you” and such. That’s not really telling us anything. So, yeah, there’s the basic “Shepard defeated a Reaper,” but hey, let’s just get a little more out of it.

I mean, we can intuit what Shepard means for the Reapers, sure, but if it’s important enough to be a major motivation, it’s important enough to say outright, you know? So Shepard is a pinnacle for this cycle – they killed a Reaper, delayed the advancement of the cycle for a few years, that’s a bit of a big deal when it comes before the harvest proper starts up – and the Reapers (like Leviathan will later) want to better understand what makes them tick. If this is unique to Shepard or the human condition, and, if it’s the later, how to break this down to its basic chemical composition and make it their own.

Turian buddy is also here to mouthpiece the explanation for what the Reapers even expect to gain from this. Slaves who can’t operate the mechanisms that they’ll be using are poor servants. I figure it’s as much an intimidation matter as anything – prompt the effective burning of a colony without deeper investigation, sow some fear about the unknown and keep people staying to the comfortable and familiar areas of the space that they live in, corral them in the familiar patterns. It’s a plan with the intent of intimidation – it isn’t until the harvest that they need the servants, so until then, they just want the borders firmly established.

Seems simple enough, sure, but this is still a mystery as far as the game proper is concerned, and I am trying to work within the established structure of the trilogy, rather than come up with some massive reveal that changes our understanding of everything – if I WERE just going to rewrite the franchise, I could do that, instead of writing up synopses of add-ons to the main game, y’know?

Of course Shepard’s gonna get free – I’m thinking that it’s a rescue effort by some of the other crew on the Normandy (because it really bugs me that, when the game is focused around Shepard gathering up the “Dirty Dozen” for their “Suicide Squad” (look, I had to get that out of my system), they only take two members out on missions at a time, so hey, look, they get up to something while Shepard’s busy doing the dirty work. This being ME2, we have to shoot our way out even further to get back to the artifact, which is where our turian ‘friend’ waits.

Paragon/Renegade choice here – do we try and reach out to him, get him to help us blow the artifact to hell, or just jump straight to the boss fight? By this point he has some additional help, by way of our introduction to a harvester – these were dropped into ME3, on Menae, with no exploration, and non-Reaper ones were meant to be enemies during the development of this game, so call this the natural evolution of matters. We’re introducing the marauders and the harvesters ahead of time, explaining the lack of fanfare that these enter the “proper” storyline with. The difference is if our turian friend is aiding us or the harvester, the harvester being our big end boss for this DLC.

The harvester gets killed, the artifact is blown up with the turian (he chooses to remain if Paragoned, a reminder of the permanent effects of the indoctrination process and how this is something that can’t be fixed – hammer home some of the fear and anguish that will be impacting those left behind from the inevitable fighting). Shepard returns to the Normandy for a debrief (I do kinda picture Miranda being involved in that, because, again, squadmates get additional dialogue here, and she IS the ranking Cerberus officer). Also some set up about discussing about Cerberus efforts to better understand indoctrination (foreshadowing for Henry Lawson’s experiments on Horizon next game).

Post Game Followups:

ME3: Indoctrination has seen further study, providing a war asset. Dialogue changes to reference Shepard having encountered marauders and harvesters before.

 Commander Shepard

The Suicide Mission is coming, and the Illusive Man has asked for all of Shepard’s companions to have their heads cleared. Now it’s Shepard’s turn. Their burdens have remained – the loss of the Normandy, the death on Virmire, and their death at the hands of the Collectors. The rest of the team has to clear their heads, and now so must Commander Shepard.

(Post-Horizon)

Yeah, why is it that, while we’re dealing with having to clear the heads of our crew, our PC, who has canonically been killed and resurrected, does NOT have to do this? So, yeah, Shepard needs a good head clearing. (For the record, I have written a fic of this: Lazarus Risen, and that’s effectively where I’m going with this, so if you’re so inclined, check it out instead of reading this, since while the recap is shorter, the fic itself is not too long.)

So, if you don’t want to read that, my idea when I made the fic was to explore both the idea of “Commander Shepard’s loyalty mission,” or the one where Shepard clears their head, AND the thought of just what the heck required Shepard to take all their companions on a mission and leave the Normandy vulnerable to the Collector attack after obtaining the IFF. Now, I’m saying that this mission unlocks after Horizon, but in my mind, that’s when and where this mission takes place. I just don’t know how to implement it within the game design that presently exists, so we’re gonna leave that open to player interpretation.

So the starting point of the fic (and thus, this DLC – like I said, that’s effectively where I’m going with this) is that Kelly Chambers, in her role as the Normandy’s official unofficial counselor/therapist, has recognized that Shepard has a lot of trauma associated with their death and resurrection they have not worked through, and so that’s gone into her reports to the Illusive Man. Mister Illusive contacts the Normandy, declaring that Shepard’s going in to a Cerberus facility, along with their crew, for a full psychiatric workup – the mission is too important to not have all these issues dealt with before going into things.

A bit of fun with this, on the basis of it being why Shepard is taking their whole squad off the ship, is that there’s the opportunity for some banter and genuine crew interaction, something that is sadly missing from the base game itself. Since I’m me, and this is about what I want from these, this is also an opportunity for some character stuff with Shepard, both playing referee (maybe getting a chance to recover some of the loyalty divisions from the confrontations if need be?) and getting to be able to better build and display the growth these characters are going through from seeing their loyalty missions resolved (cuz you DO resolve all the loyalty missions before activating the Reaper IFF, right?). The whole point of doing them was to clear their heads, encourage growth, and the thing is, we don’t get much of that forward arc in ME2, with ME3 just catching us up later. At least half the point of these is some retroactive continuity to smooth out the trilogy’s edges, after all.

Moving on. The arrival at the Cerberus Station (I am assuming this is the same one from the early part of the game, the one Miranda and Jacob take Shepard after they escape the Lazarus facility, though it doesn’t have to be, just a convenient use of model reuse) is uh... complicated. After all, Shepard’s motley crew is not exactly Cerberus approved (even if TIM authorized it – remember how Brooks in Citadel will mention that “Cerberus was a human organization bringing in aliens”?). There is a stir. A handful of situations have to be defused before everything properly gets under way.

This isn’t in my fic because that was focused on the one thing, while, as DLC, this would have to fill out some additional content to justify the time spent and the resultant price tag players spend to buy it, but I kinda figure this is where we can start seeing where the dissent is for Miranda in particular (probably Jacob too), given her Cerberus loyalties. This is a Shepard-focused mission, but I do see Miranda having a relatively decent role in any sidequests, character bits, and dialogue, given that we presently have in her a Cerberus loyalist right up to the point that she sees the human Reaper in the endgame. Especially if she isn’t part of the endgame squad, I feel we should have some material that connects those dots somewhat. I mean, I expect all the characters SHOULD get some, but Miranda in specific is the one with the almost explicit arc of taking her from Cerberus loyalist to her “consider this my resignation” remark to the Illusive Man at the endgame.

The Cerberus station director (my fic said her name is Doctor Nuwali, so we’ll be going with that) tries to organize the chaos that is Shepard’s squad (Shepard being as helpful or obstructionistic as the player chooses to allow, because Cerberus and authorities figures are always fun to poke at, and we’re getting both of those rolled up in one). Building off the above point with Miranda, there’s also clearly tension between her and Nuwali – Nuwali is, in many ways, a reflection of who she was at the start of the game, the pure, uncompromising believer to the cause and the results-driven focus without acknowledging the human cost, while Miranda has been in the position of growing and developing and questioning (Like I said, connective tissue for her character arc).

Nuwali directs Shepard into a private room for their psych evaluation, insisting on the separation of Shepard from the squad. (Just go with it, it’s for plot purposes.) Within is a prothean artifact, and it begins to react at Shepard’s arrival. It flashes-

-and Shepard finds they’re now in the Virmire facility. This is the requisite combat segment stuff that I can brush past during the recapping. The point is that they’re making their way through the geth to the area where the bomb was deployed, to find Ashley or Kaidan, whoever was left behind on Virmire (even if they were left with the distraction team and Shepard didn’t go back for the bomb, Shepard is guaranteed to have been at the bomb site, not the other area, so...).

They assist Shepard in clearing out the geth and then go into confrontation mode – “you’re working with Cerberus now, what the hell?” You know all the fan debates about why is Shepard working with Cerberus, given the horrors they uncover in ME1, especially if you roll a Sole Survivor (and, considering that is the default Shepard background, that’s clearly BioWare’s preference, so it’s not even like this shouldn’t come up – DLC is better than nothing, you know?).

Yes, we’re doing a “defending your life” style thing here. Hey, the game could use that, considering how Cerberus is the bad guy and we’re working with them. We deserve a more critical examination of this concept.

It’s a bit of a verbal joust – Ashley/Kaidan question what Shepard’s doing, their purpose in working with Cerberus, why they aren’t just leaving, how they could have tried to turn them in to the Alliance and the Council after they were given the Normandy and use the information in the ship’s databases as evidence of the Collector threat? There were ways for the story to progress that weren’t this deal with the devil. Shepard gets to acknowledge their points, struggle to justify what they’re doing. Emphasizing that this IS a deal with the devil, and if Shepard doesn’t find a loophole out of it, they’ll be condemned alongside Cerberus as well – not blowing them to hell in the here and now can make them culpable for their future activities, especially if Cerberus tries to bank on the idea of “Commander Shepard worked with us” (like they do with Conrad Verner in ME3).

Call it “preempting the ‘we should have been able to side with Cerberus’ discussion” that cropped up after ME3 – people, we ARE talking about a xenophobic terrorist group, how were they EVER gonna come out of this series looking like the good guys in the final analysis?

The ultimate point is that this is not a good situation – whatever good might come of Cerberus in general, Cerberus cannot be trusted. Ashley/Kaidan point blank ask can Shepard truly justify staying with them, doing the Illusive Man’s bidding, regardless of their good intentions. And I don’t really think there’s a good answer here – again, in my head, this plays as the mission Shepard’s on when the Collectors attack the Normandy, and, because I make sure to do all the loyalty missions before going to the Collector Base, Shepard is about to cut ties with Cerberus by way of a massive explosion (because I’d never trust the Illusive Man with the Collector Base), this is basically laying groundwork for that moment.

If you don’t do things that way... Well, sorry, but this is my hypothetical DLC, so we’re playing things my way.

Anyway, this sends Shepard on their way to the next installment of “defending your life.” Because we’re absolutely following the Rule of Three here, so there’s more than just the one segment. More requisite combat stuff happens, this time fighting through the Citadel tower again. At the end is Saren. Because why wouldn’t we have an encounter with him when Shepard is doing questionable things in the name of defending the galaxy?

He, of course, is rather smug about the fact that Shepard is allying with the devil in the name of fighting the Reapers – to him, it comes across as something of a victory, because here Shepard is, the person who came after him for his alliance with Sovereign, having made his own deal with the devil. If Ashley/Kaidan were the angel on Shepard’s shoulder, the voice of their conscience, telling them that they are making a mistake working with Cerberus, Saren is here to be the devil on the other shoulder, pointing out all the value there is in working with them, in doing whatever the mission calls for to put an end to the Collectors and the Reapers.

One would hope that this kind of rhetoric from the villain of the first game would make it very clear that Cerberus are the bad guys. As if to drive the point home, Saren also brings up that Shepard was rebuilt by them – with what is certainly Reaper tech. Shepard has begun the process of ascending to the Reapers level, what’s some more, melding more with their tech, bringing that melding, that joining, that unification of organic and machine, to the people of the galaxy, of doing the Reapers a favor and acting as their instrument in raising up galactic civilization?

Things of course descend into a firefight (because we’ve got to have our action quota). This time, Shepard gets to pull the trigger and personally kill Saren – sure, I get satisfaction out of persuading him to shoot himself, and I can always take the other options if I’m really pressed to face off against him, but I want the visceral satisfaction of having Shepard standing over Saren themselves and pulling the trigger.

It’s the little things, you know?

Anyway, because Rule of Three, this proceeds Shepard to the third point. They are back on Lazarus Station. No combat this time, just proceeding through the halls until they find themselves in the spot where they met Jacob in the prologue. Here, they see Miranda and Liara, discussing the act of giving Shepard to Cerberus to rebuild. While at first they’re talking to each other (whether or not you want to interpret this as Shepard somehow having heard the conversation or this just being Shepard’s interpretation, that’s up to you – we’re already in the center of Shepard’s mind here, does that really need explaining?), eventually, Shepard gets to speak, raise concerns, raise their voice.

Shepard gets options – do they understand and appreciate what was done to them, the resurrection and effective drafting into Cerberus? Or are they angry and pissed off – they were dead, and then someone else comes along and decides not to let them rest. For me, this has always been an issue of bodily autonomy, where, with Liara using the reasoning, and I quote, that she “couldn’t let [Shepard] go,” SHE is the one deciding what to do with Shepard’s body. Whatever you might say about what that did to make the galaxy a better place... Was it what Shepard would have wanted done with their corpse, to be handed off to a terrorist group culpable in acts of horrific deeds so that they could play Frankenstein with it? This is, in the games proper, just completely ignored – the one option to be angry is about Liara hiding this from them, not about her DOING it, and in ME3, Shepard – without player input – frames Miranda and the Lazarus Project as “giving them back their life.”

Yeah, no. I can forgive Miranda’s actions, given her characterization is actively about her going from looking at Shepard as a resource to be tapped to a friend (or possibly lover). It’s not perfect, but it’s still part of her arc, and she does at least make an apology (even if the writing doesn’t focus on the part I want it to, that ME3 conversation being focused on her wanting to implant Shepard with a control chip).

But I NEED to be able to express anger at Liara in some way just to like her, considering her canonical reason for doing this is all about HER – not that she considered Shepard the only one in the galaxy who could stand against the Reapers, but that SHE couldn’t let Shepard go. When in my games, she has no right to that. She’s not the one my Shepard’s are in a relationship with. So what those who romance her probably see as an act of love and devotion, I, not romancing her, can’t see it as anything but an act of obsession. And, even if I have to limit myself to a mental simulacrum of her, because there’s not a better place to include such a thing in these DLCs, it will help me, because it’s at least acknowledgement that hey, maybe Shepard is kinda pissed about people making decisions about them for them.

*ahem*

Right, so, where were we? Right, the reaction to Miranda and Liara discussing what to do with Shepard’s body. So as Shepard reacts, this prompts appearances from Ashley, Kaidan, and Saren, all of them playing Greek chorus about the decisions made about Shepard and how Shepard is reacting to them all. And yes, now we have both Ashley and Kaidan, regardless of who was left on Virmire, because why not – if we have one of them showing up for this DLC, why NOT include both of them? You’d have both actors in the studio anyway, so... Basically this is the big character confrontation where they all make the points that fans can debate and nitpick over when they bring up this topic, until finally the question gets put as, effectively, “well, however you feel about it, it has been done, so what are you going to do now?”

And to answer that, Shepard has to reenter the room they woke up in. Because we’re not quite done here yet.

Yeah, that whole conversation piece? THAT was the third “fight” or “combat” scene of this sequence, done in dialogue. Think the Atris confrontation in KOTOR 2, a verbal standoff. The actual interaction that Shepard has to face in the operating room... is themselves.

And their mirror image is offering similar questions, now wanting Shepard to respond, rather than having other characters voice opinions for them. How do you play Shepard’s reaction to their death and resurrection? To the fact that they are spending this game working with Cerberus, who is responsible for a traumatic event in roughly one third of all Shepard histories? Who Shepard uncovered multiple instances of their mad science in ME1 that crossed every ethical line? Who have it repeated rather consistently, is a humanity-first organization who will put human interests (and Cerberus interests, claiming they’re the same) ahead of galactic ones? If the Collector Base has (or is) a Reaper weapon, do they legitimately trust the Illusive Man with this power? Does Cerberus or the Illusive Man REALLY deserve any loyalty from Shepard?

Think of this as “stage two” of the verbal boss battle.

So, the confrontation with themselves concludes with, effectively, Shepard making their decision for going forward – the idea is that it has all been a mental debate, Shepard talking to themselves and coming to a conclusion that they needed to make. The general idea probably is one that, if you’re an obsessive fan with a penchant for filling in the gaps of canon (hey how are you?), you may have imagined these kinds of thoughts and discussions and conversations happening, but isn’t it more satisfying to actually have them take place on screen? And two, Shepard confronting themselves is, in and of itself, always a big deal. As I said at the beginning, this is Shepard’s loyalty mission, done to clear their head. How could it not result in Shepard facing themselves and asking themselves these big questions directly?

When Shepard officially makes their decision for the forward march, you know, figuring out how to handle Cerberus from here on in, which basically come to, effectively, use them for their resources and cut them loose at the end of the crisis or cut ties now and let the chips fall – since, after all, aside from Miranda and Jacob, whose loyalties to Cerberus are already wavering, Shepard has a squad full of the most dangerous people in the galaxy, so they could handle a mutiny of any kind (and, on the player end, there’s the knowledge that, while all this is taking place, EDI is getting unshackled and effectively is capable of running the ship) – they’re kicked back to reality.

And yes, those are the only two results of this, because, just to hammer it home, Cerberus is NOT. THE GOOD GUYS. The Illusive Man is not secretly good, he’s just using the “humanity needs protection” line to justify his actions and attitudes that are about seizing power. And anyone who thought that we would, should, or could side with Cerberus come ME3 was kidding themselves.

Granted, with this line of thinking, I’m not sure what the motivation would be to give Cerberus the Collector Base at the endgame (I mean, I never have, so...). Maybe the idea of “indoctrinate yourself, get taken in by the Reapers, you bastard,” but... That doesn’t seem right for Shepard’s characterization. Eh, like I said, much of this is based in how I play in the first place, so if you want to try and figure that out, feel free, but my list, we go by my way of approaching things. Because that’s just how I roll.

So I haven’t explained what, exactly, this prothean artifact is. Well, it’s effectively nothing more than a plot device, but let’s say there’s a note that becomes interactable, that basically talks up the artifact as being what I’ve called it so far, something that is meant to allow the user a chance to directly interact with themselves, face the truths they deny. Again, this really is a plot device meant to allow the circumstances of the plot, and while I could go into the details of how I assume it works, it really just needs to exist, but that’s my handwave excuse to justify how it worked. It works very well, thank you for asking. The reality is the how is less important than what it brings up.

So, Shepard is back in the physical world, and sets about putting the ideas into motion – the Illusive Man wanted them here? Yeah, no. Not doing that anymore. Shepard gets their crew out of there, upsetting doc Nuwali (giving the impression that there were some sketchy ideas in mind for Shepard’s companions when they were alone themselves, invasive procedures that they’d knock them out and see if they could take them apart and put them back together, now loyal to the Cerberus banner that sort of thing) and has a brief chat with Miranda as they fly back to the Normandy.

...You know, which, based on my time table, is currently under Collector attack. Fun times!

Post Game Followups:

ME3: The artifact as a war asset, reports about Nuwali being captured by Alliance officers while in the process of having attempted some of those ‘sketchy ideas’ she’d meant to enact on Shepard’s companions.

The Lights of Klencory

The planet Klencory is rumored to hold secrets regarding ‘the machine devils.’ Admiral Hackett of the Alliance has suspicions these are references to the Reapers, and has been secretly investigating these. Now, a team of Alliance soldiers have vanished out there, and he’s calling in Commander Shepard as a specialist, along with an old friend...

Bonus Companion: Ashley Williams/Kaidan Alenko

(Post-Horizon)

So back on the old days of the BSN, before Arrival came out, the speculation was, after Lair of the Shadow Broker, that the successive DLC would feature Ashley or Kaidan, give them the same treatment Liara got by featuring them in a DLC. One of my favorite ideas featured the concept of the “machine devils” of Klencory. You know, the planet blurb from ME1 where a volus is digging into a planet in search of evidence of “lost crypts of beings of light,” the indication being that he’d had his mind scrambled by a prothean beacon. So, hey, guess where we’re going?

I mean, obviously Illium, duh.

Actually, that’s not a bad starting point. Illium in general seems to be fairly neutral territory – sure, technically a planet in Citadel space, given its an asari world, but with many Citadel laws relaxed, it makes for a place where “an Alliance operative” will meet with Shepard (We’re starting by way of a letter from Hackett, for the record) without it being considered suspicious behavior by those looking in who are not in the know about the tacit support that both Hackett and Anderson are offering Shepard. There’s a lot of questions coming into this on Shepard’s part, given that, at this point in time, they’re not really an Alliance officer, and yet this is apparently something that is getting them called on? Probably means Reapers.

It gets complicated once Shepard arrives for the meeting and finds Ashley/Kaidan is their contact.

So, before we go further, I want to acknowledge, by the nature of having any real contact between Shepard and Ashley/Kaidan between the encounter on Horizon and the opening of ME3, I am effectively breaking one of my cardinal rules for these, namely the idea of not screwing with the pre-existing structure of the games’ plots in allowing Shepard and Ashley/Kaidan SOME form of genuine contact and communication, to the point of a chance for a legitimate conversation about things and where they stand with one another (Yes, the previous entry was bending that rule, but this is an outright breaking of it).

Thing is, this is one thing that really SHOULD have existed in the games proper, I shouldn’t have to have built something up to include here, and I will 100% die mad about it. Ashley and Kaidan got shafted by BioWare’s handling of things, and I’m not willing to forgive it (if you follow my liveblogs of replaying the games, you’ll know I frequently complain that Arrival really was gift-wrapped to serve this function, and yet it doesn’t so much as mentioned Ashley/Kaidan). So yeah, we’re having an opportunity to address this stuff right off, it’s taking place in the game “proper” (for a given value, considering all of this is made up, but...). I’ll get into how this will impact their interactions come ME3 in the “Post Game Followups” section, for now, we’re just going with this.

Also on the “to note” element, I am mostly going to refer to Ashley/Kaidan in the sense of swapping them into place for one another, since, obviously, they are mutually exclusive at this point in the trilogy. But I do want it understood that I am not viewing them as interchangeable characters but as individuals. Just... If I stop to explain all the little differences of how they interact with Shepard in this, the variations of what they say and do on the character level, I’d basically be writing this out twice, which this is going to be long enough as it is, you don’t need to read the plot summary twice, and I certainly don’t need to write it twice. Assume that, even if not explicitly indicated, there ARE differences in behavior and dialogue that are reflective of them as separate characters and people, even if the overall plot must go forward regardless of how differently they’d react as individuals.

And you might want to pay close attention, since there will be a lot of use of “they” pronouns ahead, since Ashley/Kaidan is more awkward to write and I make it a point to not address the player character (in this case, Shepard) by one gender or the other in these write-ups, given that that’s variable, so things might get a little confusing if you’re not paying close enough attention to the context.

So... The meeting with Ashley/Kaidan begins... awkwardly. They’re uncertain how to really react to Shepard – sure, the encounter on Horizon means they know that Shepard is back, but now they’re really having to deal with this particular reality. So they’re going to aim to jump to business. Alliance intel has intercepted some messages from mercs hired out near Klencory, which got Admiral Hackett paying attention to things happening out there – like Shepard will acknowledge, between the circumstances of this meeting and the quick summary of the reason for the mercs all being out there, this sounds like it’s connected to the Reapers. Hackett wants to have Shepard as a “special consultant” as the Alliance has someone (re: Ashley/Kaidan) investigate (“consultant” since Shepard may not have had their Spectre status restored, so it gives them legitimacy either way). It could, potentially, just all be a massive coincidence. But since when are things ever “just” a coincidence?

Ashley/Kaidan are willing to use the Normandy as transport – Hackett figured that, between the stealth systems, and the lack of official Alliance authority in the area, the Normandy is the better option for getting there without being told to get lost. The bigger question is how they’ll be received – it’s not like merc gangs take well to outside interference, and the Alliance having any jurisdiction out there is questionable at best. But they should at least TRY to go in with civility. If this volus billionaire spending all this money on this (his name, for the record, is canonically given as Kumun Shol, so hey, less work for me, having to come up with a name!), then if he hears from someone who seems to be taking him seriously, it might get them invited in explicitly.

Obviously, though, if they’re hitching a ride on the Normandy, if things remain unspoken, the trip out there will be very awkward and seem longer than it is. So they have to address Horizon. They’re not going to apologize for not joining Shepard – Shepard is still operating on a ship flying Cerberus colors, even with good intentions, that is a betrayal of their oaths to the Alliance, Cerberus are terrorists and xenophobes, who want to secure human dominance. But they will acknowledge that they reacted to Shepard’s return in a way that wasn’t their best. I am not going all the way to “they admit that they were wrong,” because based solely on the information that they had, they handled things as best as they realistically could. But they will regret that things ended on the terms that they did.

Shepard gets to respond to that – are they accepting that it was a bad reaction to unexpected information, do they still hold a grudge, whatever. The conversation continues to a point of conclusion – Ashley/Kaidan don’t trust Cerberus, they want to trust Shepard, but the connection between the two at the moment makes that difficult, and they don’t know how to bridge that gap as things stand, but they’re going to try this.

We will be coming back to this, never you fear. But, of course, that’s more for the ending than it is the beginning, and this one conversation is far from the end.

Klencory is a world with a toxic atmosphere, so they first have to gain access to a semi-decent landing zone near where Shol has established himself. Because, naturally, he’s not interested in visitors – the brief communication we get with him is him effectively talking himself into the idea that Shepard is “the agent of the machine devils,” which... I mean, considering the prothean beacons and communications with the Reapers, it’s not crazy that he goes there, even if (by the rest of his actions), Shol’s gone a little nuts.

Shooty shooty bang bang, fight through the exterior guards and into the facility proper. Ashley/Kaidan are a little uncomfortable about what’s gone on – this really isn’t how they pictured things going, given the legitimate credentials they were supposed to be coming in with, and they can recognize the fighting is because of Shol not giving them an alternative, but it does still make them feel like they’re acting as little more than the thugs they’re dispatching.

Call this a reaction to the fact that Shepard doesn’t exactly get much of a differentiation in the game themselves. Particularly when they can call out looters on Omega while swiping whatever’s not nailed down.

This is another conversation that’s going to be part of that “coming back to” thing – assume there’s some kind of tracking metric for all of this in the same vein as how ME3 tracked how Ashley/Kaidan responded to Shepard as a lead in to the confrontation during the coup. Just, I’ll get to how that all plays out at the end.

Because a band of mercs aren’t enough to hold off Shepard, Ashley/Kaidan, and the third companion (yay party balance), they reach Shol’s central command. He’s a little batty, but it finally gets through to him that Shepard is not the agent of the machine devils. He is skeptical of Shepard being the savior from them, though. Instead, he wants Shepard and company to do something for him.

There is a vault. A vault none of his men have come back from. Shol declares that, if Shepard can enter, learn its secrets, and survive, then they will have proven themselves to be salvation from the machine devils. Since this is the advancement of the plot, Shepard will have to go ahead with this, even with the natural objections of Ashley/Kaidan (and, probably, Shepard themselves).

Another pause for a dialogue – Ashley/Kaidan are skeptical of Shol’s motives, and believe it may be too dangerous to just do what he says. Especially considering that he’s clearly not entirely stable. This is a situation that really calls for calling for backup. But there’s really not the option of waiting, because if they don’t do as Shol says, he’ll throw all his mercs at Shepard – even if we’re assuming that Shepard versus countless mercs ends well for Shepard (because, after all, it’s Shepard), it’s just a senseless loss of life.

Going in is a set piece of suspense. Think the Peragus mine, with a dash of Korriban for good measure, from KOTOR 2 – lot of littered corpses, this creeping and foreboding unease and feeling of being watched, this overbearing expectation of SOMETHING appearing down every dead end... Build the tension. This is a place that, the littered dead aside, no one has entered in thousands of years, it should absolutely be a place that could chill you to the bone. The examination of anything should feel like it’s disturbing the dead.

You know there’s some ancient security device active, right? I mean, something’s killing the people who trespass here. Obviously, it has to be something that will put up a fight as our end boss, and it needs to be something that is able to last a long time. I’m thinking an ancient robot (my mind is going in the direction of something similar in design to the ancient droids of KOTOR’s Star Forge), a last defense, left behind by a precursor to the protheans.

Yeah, it feels like an underwhelming result to me too, but it makes logical sense all the same – we have some evidence of things from prior cycles, not just the prothean cycle, making it through to the next ones, not the least of which is the plans for the Crucible. Seeing as how that bit of intel is just dropped into our laps come ME3, this is at least making it functionally foreshadowed, if indirectly, by actually showing us ancient technology that is still functional and viable even after more than fifty, a hundred thousand years. Plus the foreshadowing of things surviving to this cycle in the vein of Javik. Things lasting this long in forms beyond just ruins at least makes all of that happening in ME3 at least have some groundwork laid in these prior games – otherwise, we only have a few codex references to ancient civilizations, as opposed to it being an actual component of gameplay, things that the player MUST interact with.

But yeah, the threat may be underwhelming, but the payoff is what it guarded – the last remnants of this ancient culture. The corpses have been preserved, given that it’s a bunker into the planet’s mantle – the toxic nature of the atmosphere now came about because of the Reapers, though, of course, this is only spoken of in the material available as “the machine devils.” There could be a great wealth of information among this stuff.

Thing is, now that the threat’s dealt with, Shol wants his prize. He spent years of his life and a great deal of his money on this, and now he wants to use it – and, because he still is a paranoid bastard, he’s not particularly inclined to uphold his end of the bargain, having expected to have Shepard and the “guardian” of the tomb (for lack of a better term) kill each other. He just wants all of this to increase his own fortune – he’ll sell everything within to the highest bidder and damn what the Alliance, the Citadel, anyone might be able to get from the archives. Giving it to private collectors – like, say, the Illusive Man, or even any interested faction of capital-c Collectors (as in “the enemies we fight throughout ME2”) – will enrich him and it doesn’t matter what that information might do to help make the galaxy ready for war against the Reapers.

Now, normally you would think this would lead to a Paragon/Renegade choice. BUT, instead, we’re going to have a variation moment for Ashley and Kaidan. They’ll deal with Shol, but in unique ways. Ashley, having marine hand to hand combat skills (as she mentions in character discussion during the first game), manages to get close and disable the volus’s suit enough to render him unconscious, while Kaidan uses his biotics to get the same result. So they get to have a moment of protecting Shepard (not necessarily “saving” them, because a volus getting the drop on Shepard would certainly be an embarrassing way to go, but definitely helping them sidestep a situation).

NOW’S the time for the Paragon/Renegade choice, dealing with Shol himself. He is an obstacle, considering that dealing with the legal claim to this cache of information leaves the door open to some sticky situations as a result – the last thing they need is to have anything that might be useful be wrapped up in the legal battle. But he DOES have a valid claim. Just unilaterally taking this place from him is questionable at best – even if Shepard’s still a Spectre, are they REALLY able to just come in and declare the location to no longer be the property of the individual with the legal claim on it? Likewise, there’s a lot of sticky issues with the idea of killing him – after all, as mentioned above, he does have a bunch of trained mercenaries on hand, and it’s reasonable to try and walk out without adding to the bloodshed. But if it’s made clear that his madness has overtaken him (which, I mean... it kinda HAS), then there’s room for the Citadel to be able to legally seize his assets, including his claim on Klencory and its vault. But this still means institutionalizing a person because they’re inconvenient.

That’s the choice – institutionalize Shol and seize his assets, despite the subsequent legal battle that he and his kin can draw everyone in to, or cut through the red tape preemptively, kill him, and claim what amounts to squatter’s rights, since with him dead, no one else is there to take charge of the archive, whatever it contains. Ashley/Kaidan are going to say they have no intention of letting Shepard kill Shol (because that would certainly always be a line for them), but there will be a Renegade interrupt to take that choice out of their hands anyway, and Shepard can make an argument that, if they don’t do SOMETHING, Shol’s men will come in and try to kill them, while if he’s dead, that denies them their paycheck (because for one time ever, can we just have the mercs give up and run off once the source of their paycheck is dead?!). Shol certainly isn’t going to tell them to back down, and “survival instincts” have never been at the top of their hiring priorities.

Ashley/Kaidan will have some words about the decision Shepard is making, but they can be swayed to understand Shepard’s motivations, at least, in the moment, though any disagreements they have are more in the “waiting for a more opportune moment” than “what you say goes, Commander.” More on that shortly. With that matter resolved, Shepard calls for a pickup.

Back on the Normandy, Shepard and Ashley/Kaidan are having an informal debriefing in Shepard’s cabin (save the jokes for the end of the scene everyone, we’ll get to that). They do a brief discussion of what the likely followup will be – the fact is, the Reapers are probably already uncomfortably close at the moment already, so there’s not likely to be much opportunity to examine this place too much before they show. Still, every little bit is going to help.

The big thing is going to be how Shepard’s handled things through to this point. This was an accumulation metric (in the same style as Aria showing mercy on Petrovsky or not during Omega), so the various Paragon/Renegade decisions through to this point will lead to their reaction. Paragon Shepards get Ashley/Kaidan acknowledging that Shepard is still someone they respect, and that perhaps this whole Cerberus alliance was one of necessity. Renegade Shepards are leaving them questioning what Cerberus is doing to them, and are they really the person that they once were.

That leads to the question of where they stand if they’re a romance – like with Liara in Lair of the Shadow Broker, this leads to a romance rekindling, but only for Paragon Shepard, because that’s the version that has shown that Shepard is still the person they followed to hell and back, still the person they loved.

Yes, while I try and offer reasonably similar options for both Paragon and Renegade versions of Shepard, this is dependent on that. Because it’s about setting their concerns at ease, about listening to them and allowing them to be angry and upset and come around. Renegade Shepard will have shown they don’t care about that, so why WOULD Ashley/Kaidan take them back?

Anyway, insert “debriefing” joke here.

And, y’know, a reminder that, in these DLCs I’m writing, we’re going with the assumption that Ashley and Kaidan both were bisexual romance options back in the first game, and it’s an option to rekindle for both gendered Shepards.

After the interlude (however it plays out), there’s the discussion of what’s coming next for Ashley/Kaidan. They’re returning to the Alliance, of course – with Shepard’s official ties still in limbo, taking them out of the official chain, Hackett has made them a floating troubleshooter at points where he suspects Reaper involvement in some fashion, be it machine cultists and husks, Collectors, or what have you. However they feel about Shepard, Hackett is still seeming inclined to trust them on this, so they expect that the intel will still reach Shepard as they do their work. They make it clear they expect this to be the calm before the storm, and when the fight starts, they know Shepard will be on the front line. Paragons get them promising to back Shepard up when the time comes, Renegades get them hoping that they’ll still be on the same side when that happens.

Post Game Followups:

So here’s the part where, typically, I’d talk about how this impacts War Assets for ME3. But this is giving the ability to resolve the major Ashley/Kaidan element of ME3 before we even get there (like we should have in the first place...) and that means we have to deal with that. To that end, I obviously have left the door open for the lack of trust by way of Renegade Shepard, and that’ll go through things as they are, the same as if this DLC didn’t exist (I mean, it doesn’t exist anyway, but... You know what I mean!). The alternative for a Paragon completion is that there will be a distinct lessening of the tension between Shepard and Ashley/Kaidan in ME3, leading to some serious dialogue changes on Mars – more of an acceptance, instead of distrust.

I’m also thinking that, with the air cleared, there’s no moment of hesitation among them during the Citadel Coup, that it basically defaults them to trusting Shepard, regardless of how much they interact with them in Huerta and “clear the air” of Horizon. After all, Shepard already allayed their concerns with their practical involvement, gave them the chance to see them as the person they were, rather than the possibility that they were no longer the person they trusted. This changes the dynamics of their earlier interactions, and if you have rekindled the romance during the debriefing (no I’m not going to stop using that gag), then the dialogue will have more romantic undertones, the conversations more focused on matters of both them and the future together, trying to figure out if they even have a future, what with the invasion commencing, let alone where they stand with one another in that future.

I feel like I should have more done here, really, but I am really, genuinely TRYING to remain within the basic structures of the games as they are with this, because I totally could trash them and rebuild them from the start, but that’s defeating the purpose of this as additional material to the games, so that’s the most I’m offering on that. I want to do more, Ashley/Kaidan deserve a bigger and better role in ME3’s plot (which I’ll be trying to address further when we get to the ME3 hypothetical DLC, but that’s not here), but I’m trying not to totally rewrite ME3 as it is, that would probably be its own long involved project, and this is already ongoing. The original version of events can still be involved in the game proper, as the Renegade version, but that won’t be the only version any more.

Oh, and, we’re getting some war assets out of the place we discovered. That feels like an afterthought here, though. This has been about Ashley/Kaidan and their relationship with Shepard, more than anything, and we really did deserve this as much as Lair of the Shadow Broker.

 The Omega Heist

An old contact of Miranda and Jacob’s draws them – and Commander Shepard – back to Omega, where, with the merc bands decimated, an old threat they thought they’d dealt with long ago has reemerged. With Commander Shepard’s help, they must try their utmost to put this genie back in its bottle before it’s unleashed on the whole of Omega – and, potentially, the rest of the galaxy!

(Post-Horizon)

Considering Omega’s status as the dark reflection of the Citadel, the answer to it in the Terminus Systems, I just really want to explore it some more. Tie in to that, Miranda and Jacob have great prominence when they’re literally your only crewmates, but the second you start picking up the rest of the crew, they start falling off the map. Given that they’re our viewpoints into Cerberus as an organization, this feels like a mistake. Cerberus spends both the preceding and following game as enemies, and I think we need to spend some time at exploring why either of them would even fall under Cerberus and the Illusive Man’s sway.

It begins with Miranda asking to speak to Shepard. I’m gonna assume that, considering the unlock pattern of loyalty missions, this is most likely going to be played post-loyalty mission for both of them, since they’re both the first to unlock. Just to firmly establish where the characterization is going in to this. So both of them are at a point where they’re starting to question their loyalty to Cerberus (hence why I’m considering it a default that, in particular, Miranda’s loyalty has been obtained).

She’s heard from a contact on Omega about something that she wants to get Shepard involved in. The meeting moves to her office, where Jacob joins them. This concerns a mission they’d both undertaken shortly after their first mission together (see Mass Effect Galaxy, the mission Jacob talks to Shepard about having lost his faith in the Alliance over). They had an assignment to dispose of a biological sample – their assignment had been not to ‘get curious’ and investigate what it was, just get rid of it. The orders had come directly from the Illusive Man, so they were actually obeyed.

Jacob had been suspicious of the whole thing – when you’re moving something that you’re not supposed to investigate, it’s usually something that could blow up in your face. He opted for a little extra security monitoring, with Miranda agreeing and having kept track of it. That’s why this is now coming to her attention. They still don’t know what this was, but they can’t imagine that it getting let loose where any idiot could stumble across it would be a good thing.

So we’re returning to Omega. Personally, I’m disappointed that there’s no real change in Omega as ME2 carries on, even though you have to both clear out merc gangs and an active plague in the course of the game – recruiting Garrus and Mordin are mandatory quests, after all, so their joining the crew, their recruitment missions, these have to happen regardless of anything else Shepard may decide to do. So we’re getting another hub area on Omega besides Afterlife and the Gozu District market place. If Omega is the Citadel of the lawless Terminus Systems, then it can certainly fit in more of this (plus give more life to this place that, we know, will have people threatened come ME3 and the Omega DLC there).

Our central hub sector will be a safehouse established near the Kenzo District (picked because beyond existing as where Garrus had his run-in with Garm, we know nothing specific about it, so it can be used however the plot needs it to be). Under the circumstances – meaning “since we stored dangerous material on Omega without even speaking with Aria on the subject” – the idea here is stealth. Shepard, Miranda, and Jacob arrived via a transient shuttle rather than via the Normandy, and did so hopefully with some element of stealth. It’s not that Aria is going to be a threat here, just that she wouldn’t be happy learning about this going on under her nose and Cerberus is trying to cultivate some of her resources (sort of tie-in to the Cerberus takeover of Omega come ME3).

Their contact is my chance to get that female turian I mentioned a ways back into things – a turian trader who I’ll name Naevia (what, I’m a Spartacus fan and the reference makes me smile). The biological sample has fallen into the hands of a gang that’s trying to take up the space left by the biggest gangs of Omega losing their leadership (I’m thinking one of the gangs from our last edition of hypothetical DLCs, from “The Clean-Up,” because continuity!).

It’s around here that Shepard does ask the most important question on the subject that I think we’re all thinking – why the hell was this dangerous and hazardous sample kept rather than destroyed? Naevia admits she thought the same thing, but she was paid enough not to care, just to watch it. Miranda states that there was a possibility of using it for something in the future – this is a sign of her beginning to waver, because she can’t really justify the use of this sample, the fact that, though they’d been told to get rid of it, the “disposal team” had kept it, and were keeping it in a place with a population.

Granted this is a long standing tradition with dangerous science, but still, it needs to be called out.

The important thing is that it’s there, on Omega, and in particular when the station is already in the recovery process of a plague that targeted every race except humanity – there is still a lot of anti-human resentment on Omega, and the last thing that Cerberus should want is a human-spawned crisis breaking out (because no matter where the sample came from, a human organization, known to have a humans-first bent to it, was the group that stashed it here on Omega). Hence our presence.

We’re gonna have plenty of time to talk with Miranda and Jacob, so assume character conversations sprinkled here throughout (much as I cite it as reason that I don’t particularly care for their loyalty missions in comparison to others, that their loyalty missions also only have one ending, that once you start the mission, the only resolution is obtaining their loyalty, makes for a useful method of characterization trajectory here). This is here for the sake of exploring and deepening their character arcs, their division with Cerberus from the endgame, given that they’re both set against Cerberus come ME3, so we’re going with that.

We also get to spend some time with Naevia and getting a new perspective with the turians – she is a free agent, sort of like Vetra ended up being in Andromeda, in the sense that she’s a rebel to the status quo of turian military discipline. She’s looser and less rule-bound. She lives on the fringe of society and that shapes her reactions. She has no need for the turian rules of combat and prefers to take preemptive action – the rules of combat are a great idea in theory, when you have enemies who will respect them. But the Terminus is full of people who won’t. And, while she hasn’t been read into the Reaper matters, she is clearly picking up on the undercurrent between Shepard, Miranda, and Jacob.

Now if you’re assuming that this is leading to Naevia turning out to be involved in matters with this sample... Well, that’s definitely going to be a thing to follow, but let’s just keep going for now.

And yes, I have been cagey about what this sample even is. Remember, that’s because it’s a mystery even to Miranda and Jacob – they were still in a point where they were willing to listen to the Illusive Man’s orders without questioning them. The assumption was that the team they were giving it off to was a proper disposal team, and the failure of either of them to investigate it beyond his word. Y’know, the idea being they’re both starting to push themselves to look beyond the word they’re officially given by their boss and question him.

So… investigative work. We’ve already been over how in these summaries, that’s not where I focus on, not having a layout or anything to work with and such. So I’ve given the core ideas of character work and plot that plays out over the course of things, let’s cut to the climax.

The sample is being held by one of the gangs and a member of the Cerberus disposal squad. Because hey, look at that, a Cerberus agent went rogue and started killing all their guys, Commander Shepard, can you take care of that? He explains just what this sample is – a contaminant that can devastate a planetary atmosphere, hence why it was being kept on Omega, a space station. Of course, the problem with it is that it won’t discriminate and a rapid atmospheric dissolution will kill human lives as well. This is one of those things that it’s actually entirely justifiable that the Illusive Man didn’t want to use... y’know, if it weren’t for the fact that he still kept it, but...

Anyway, here’s where we come to Naevia’s sudden but inevitable betrayal, citing the profit to be earned – it’s easy enough to live on ships instead of a planet, so she’ll come out of this fine. Shepard gets the chance to shoot her with a Renegade interrupt, and look at that! She WASN’T betraying the team, just pretending to in order to slide a knife in the bad guy’s gut. It doesn’t kill him, and it still leads to a fight, but it’s easier if you don’t take the interrupt (because as much as I like the interrupt system, I think there should occasionally be consequences for taking a quick and reflexive response rather than the more considerate and thoughtful and examinative approach to a situation).

A multi-stage boss fight ensues – basic ground troops, interspersed with standard LOKI mechs, a YMIR mech joining the fight with reinforcements, and then a gunship. Maybe the gunship peels off midway and lets in another YMIR mech, just to really hammer the ‘boss fight’ element, or at the least let that be a higher level difficulty challenge. I mean you can only do so much with the mechanics of the game to create boss fights, right?

Anyway, Naevia is either dying, laughing at how her turncoat act was too effective, or she’s made it through with a few scratches and is patching them up as Miranda and Jacob are recovering the sample. Here’s the expected Paragon/Renegade choice of destroying the sample or storing it somewhere else – I can even see a reasoning for keeping in the idea of ‘once knowledge exists, it can’t just be destroyed, we need to study this to be able to devise a countermeasure.’ It’s a sucky one, for the record, but it’s a way to justify the Renegade stance.

This is where you see the culmination of Miranda and Jacob’s development. Jacob is open about wanting to correct their prior mistake of leaving this sample around to be used by anyone who might try to actually use it. No matter what, he sees no possible good coming from it and wants it destroyed. Miranda is conflicted. Her trust in the Illusive Man tells her that it would be right to hold on to this, it’s a weapon that could protect humanity if the aliens were to attack them – which is something that can’t be discounted as a possibility, considering the batarian hostility and the general aggravation of other races like the turians (see the previous Hypothetical DLC entry for more expansion on why I consider that a thing gets brought up). But she also knows that if this exists, then there’s a chance humanity can’t control it. She is looking to Shepard for guidance on this – she’s not turning to the Illusive Man’s standing orders here.

When the group returns to their safehouse, they find Aria there. Because this has been happening on Omega, and it’s her business to be fully aware of what’s happening on Omega. She thanks Shepard for disposing of that little business – if the sample was spared, she does imply that she knows about it, but, so long as it’s leaving Omega, she’s not going to be concerned about it. After all, she only cares about Omega’s interests. But, as a reward for what Shepard’s done for Omega, from the plague to Archangel to this (plus, potentially, dealing with Morinth, given that was the presence of an Ardat-Yakshi on Omega), she is offering a reward for Shepard – a penthouse suite.

Yes, I’m letting Shepard get an Omega apartment. I mean, okay, having one right before the Cerberus takeover of Omega come ME3 is not exactly the most prime real estate, but hey, Shepard deserves a place to relax, right? Plus it also comes with access to a special Omega market, a place where Shepard will be able to purchase any weapons or upgrades they might have been missed in the course of their missions (and any that get added through the DLC, including these). Because really, we should be able to have access to those things somehow, as in the game as is, if you miss it, it’s gone forever.

Anyway, Miranda and Jacob will also have follow up conversations when they return to the Normandy, discuss the way that things have played out and how they’ve evolved as people in the course of the game. Because as I said at the start, the two of them, in terms of their character development, kinda falls off the map in the course of the second half of the game. So they get a little additional content that helps fit them into the big picture of their character arcs.

Post Game Followups:

ME3: If Naevia survived, she’s an available war asset in regards to her underworld connections and such to send help Shepard’s way. If it’s kept intact, the sample also has some benefit for Alliance scientists in the study of reversing its effects and how to restore ravaged worlds. Also some additional content in the Omega DLC, though I’m not sure about the details of that right now.

And, y’know, since Naevia’s existence means that we have a female turian model built and developed circa ME2, this SHOULD mean that there are female turians scattered throughout both further DLC (as in ‘assume their existence in further installments, even if it goes unsaid’) and (because now they’d “exist” prior to the release of ME3) there would be numerous turian females in ME3 as assorted extras and such. Should go without saying, but I’m saying it. There will still be a few important female turian NPCs I introduce in further installments, but these are now part the standard background NPC collection.

 Battle Scars

Alliance officers on shore leave have been disappearing from the Citadel with no trace. Ambassador Anderson suspects there’s more to this than the standard dangers of a space station that’s practically its own world. Though Shepard is in a questionable position among the Council, they’re the one person Anderson can trust to solve this.

(Post-Horizon)

The Citadel being so limited a space in ME2 always bothered me. Y’know, I get the thematic idea, that ME2 was about exploring the darker underside of the galaxy at large. But I liked the Citadel. There was a lot about it to explore, all things considered – we’re talking about the galactic hub of politics and commerce. This really should be a major location, no matter the game. And as I’ve said elsewhere, there could be a whole game set on the Citadel with room for more. So yeah, we’re doing this here, exploring an area of the Citadel that we never got to see before.

There are Alliance officers going missing and Anderson gets Shepard involved. Obviously, the synopsis covered that bit. The idea here is that we’re going into areas of the Citadel that normally, Shepard has no business in, and in areas that are more like vacation areas. You know what this means? It means we’re going to have non-combat segments, in the same vein as Kasumi’s mission. There’s gonna be an extended sequence of Shepard out of combat armor in this one, because Shepard is not being called on to be a soldier but to infiltrate and be seen as a civilian more than a combat fighter. (I’m thinking this is going to involve a new casual outfit as well.)

And we’re gonna say that this is happening at an exclusive resort, meant to be a location that’s relaxing – a resort on the Citadel, effectively. It’s primarily a place for Citadel-aligned soldiers (Alliance and other races) to recover after combat, a therapeutic place for soldiers to get treatment for their PTSD (think a place where they’d probably have sent the PTSD asari in ME3 to if there wasn’t an existential war on). It’s why it’s a popular place for these Alliance soldiers to be, and we’re also going to rate it as having the highest success rate as a psychological and therapeutic facility in the known galaxy (because, being on the Citadel, why wouldn’t a place like this have a reputation of being the best, given how the Citadel is effectively the metaphorical center of the galaxy) and it’s a bit of a mixing bowl of Citadel culture, which allows for the rest of the party to come along.

I’m going to stick with mandatory companions here for a handful of reasons – one, Shepard’s got an eclectic band, and I feel like if they walk around a Citadel resort with Grunt and Legion, for example, that’s probably going to blow their cover. For two, I like the idea of mandating some pairings and developing the relationships more. Last entry was about Miranda and Jacob. Here, I’m thinking... For a resort, I honestly lean towards Samara and Kasumi, characters who, respectively, can blend in with “high society” and can pass through unseen by others. Kasumi, of course, does her cloaking to accompany Shepard – she does prefer going unseen. Samara, though, is playing at being a Matriarch – given the setting, let’s say that she’s pretending to be looking for a facility for her rambunctious daughter who is ‘disgracing’ the family name – sort of playing on her own history with Morinth (because Samara’s method that way), while still being a role she plays.

Yes, I’m aware that Kasumi is a DLC character, not everyone necessarily has her, but hey. If you’re playing DLC in the first place, you’ve probably collected other DLC, particularly a new companion, we’re just gonna roll with it, because I’m not going to develop an alternative without her, so consider them connected – I don’t know, say they got packaged in a sale together or something. This is all hypothetical in the first place, remember, does it REALLY matter that she’s not in the base game?

Shepard, of course, is going in as what they’re looking for, an Alliance officer looking for leave. This way there can be a solo segment, and the tension of “will Shepard run into trouble they can’t handle on their own before their companions come to their rescue?” Obviously, there does have to be some addressing of Shepard’s fame and notoriety, but it’s not like Shepard’s not doing other things that are putting their famous mug in places they shouldn’t be, particularly when it comes to involving Kasumi (The Hock heist, anyone? How, exactly, was the most famous human in the galaxy supposed to keep a low profile there?). So we’re just gonna handwave that, like you do.

As always when these are investigative sequences, I’m just gonna gloss over that part for the sake of convenience – the basic facts are that we have a lot of suspects with no clear motive at the outset of things. You know, get your basic archetypes wandering around – look at any show that features a recovery center, you’ll find them, I’m not gonna go into detail on the incidental characters.

The trick is that Shepard is going to be doing their initial investigating solo – they have to get entrenched before their companions show up (given that Samara’s cover is going to have her supposedly only there to look the place over, rather than sign herself in as needing “treatment” and Kasumi is going to be cloaked, searching for the things that Shepard can’t get access to – yes, for the record, I’m setting up for a Big Damn Heroes moment, I would think that would be obvious). They’ll meet with the above mentioned archetypes, learning details.

The details are more for the flavor – how well does Shepard figure out the scheme (which I’m getting to) before the villain shows up to explain in a monologue? Because, y’know, what villain doesn’t love explaining their nefarious deeds with a monologue? Shepard figuring out more and more of the plot before they confront the bad guy will impact the way the end fight goes down – figure it all out, you can sidestep the big final confrontation, figure most of it out, the fight’s significantly easier, stick to the bare minimum, it’s the hardest it can be.

This of course gets Shepard caught by our villain of the piece. So, what’s going on? Well, it’s an attempt by one of the doctors at this facility at cooking up the same shady shit Cerberus has, in the form of cyborg soldiers – the soldiers who have been kidnapped have been converted into these cybernetically enhanced soldiers. Problem is, they’re mindless automatons – higher brain functions didn’t survive the implantation process. So while these six million credit men are superior soldiers for combat, able to shrug off the kind of injuries that would cripple any other organic soldier, probably even have like nano-tech that speeds up any kind of healing and recovery process, they’re ONLY for combat, there is no human mind, no individual still alive in these shells – they’ll do as ordered because of the computer control chips in their heads, but only because those chips fire off the impulses needed.

“No glands, replaced by tech. No digestive system, replaced by tech. No soul. Replaced by tech. Whatever they were, gone forever.”

This is a point that I wanted to bring up in Miranda’s chat about “disposable soldiers” – the concept of soldiers being disposable is the kind of thought that cleans up war, something that the very idea is MEANT to be “dirty.” When you have these disposable soldiers, something that replaces the flesh and blood troops, you’re now in a position where going to war is not a difficult choice – you’re not sacrificing anything in the fight, because your best and brightest are safely out of the line of fire. When you don’t fear war, you’re going to turn to it as the first option, not the last. And, as pointed out by the use of Mordin’s quote above, at some point, your “disposable soldiers” become exactly what the Collectors are, mindless automatons who perform the duties of their masters, and, because of that distance, their masters’ own humanity erodes, because they never have to get their own hands dirty, while their servants are incapable of arguing with the orders.

This is when we get the aforementioned Big Damn Heroes moment, where Samara and Kasumi rejoin the party – since I’m assuming Shepard is being restrained at the moment, we have Kasumi Overload the controls and get them loose while Samara covers her by biotically handling the guards (because there are always guards).

So we get to that ending of how the boss fight can go down – Shepard gets to argue about the whole “disposable soldier” thing, bringing up and expanding on the above argument. If they uncovered all the details of the plot prior to the point they’re found out and taken captive, they can talk the doctor out of the inevitable fight (they still can choose to fight, of course, but the option is there to avoid a fight altogether) and have them shut down the project, effectively take their “prototypes” of these cyborg soldiers off life support and let them all die out (because, again, it’s the cybernetics that are even keeping them alive at this point), they can try and fail because of a lack of information, or they can actually agree with the idea, just that this doctor isn’t the one to be controlling them – it’s a valid choice, after all, to have a viable standing army to face the Reapers with.

I did debate making that last an option, just because I am morally opposed to the idea, but I am trying to respect that the Paragon/Renegade division was meant to be more than “goody-two-shoes versus puppy-kicking-monster,” and approach it from a level of “win with morals versus ends justify the means” – if you’re looking for something that can face the Reapers, like Shepard is aiming for throughout the trilogy, then a pragmatic approach says “we can use this resource, and I’ll deal with the moral weight of it later.”

Thinking about it, this does kinda make a flaw of the Kasumi-Samara team, because I do struggle with seeing how they’d just casually go along with Shepard saying “zombie cyborg army? Sign me up!” But maybe the Justicar code says that, regardless of origin, their existence has purpose and use, while Kasumi is horrified at the idea of using – and defiling – the dead like this. Basically, I want there to be a shoulder angel-devil scenario here, but I may not have selected the right companion pairing for this. Still, I’m not going back and rewriting this to make that work, so we’re just going to acknowledge that and move on – they’re both on the team, and there are other Renegade choices Shepard has available that they both just accept, so we’ll accept that.

And, y’know, I have a personal preference for Paragon at these decision points, and would probably stick to choosing to wipe out the zombie cyborg soldiers myself, and these are my ideas so I roll with what works for my decision making process, so nyah.

This still leads to the question of what, exactly, should be done with this facility – this is the head of the place we’re talking about as being responsible, with them out of commission (either being killed by Shepard or taken into C-Sec custody, depending on your choice), it’s entirely possible the place will be shuttered, or at least in chaos for a time, and that means all of its current residents are going to be kicked out – this is one of those “well intentions doesn’t change negative results” scenarios. Of course, Anderson will try to step in and do something, but... He can only do so much. Especially with having to clear out the devices and secret lab material and such, there’s a lot in this that just... is not going to have this place in a condition to be what it’s meant to be. Especially if things turned into a fight with the doctor and trashed the place.

Shepard themselves can only do so much – they can make a recommendation, but ultimately, there will be a board decision. They can offer a suggestion, a way for the staff to try and focus going forward, but it’s going to mean downsizing their care in some fashion – either they focus only on the immediately at-risk patients, going in the way of ‘if you’re not an active threat to yourself or others, you have to find somewhere else to seek treatment,’ or they limit themselves to just the care of a single species, because the psychological experts for multiple species is a resource drain.

And this one is NOT a Paragon/Renegade choice. It’s player’s best take on the subject, because there is no “right” choice in this scenario. Either way, someone is getting screwed over. You can hope sending the not at-risk patients won’t exacerbate their conditions, but you can’t be sure of that – especially when it comes to people who have been there for some time, PTSD and other conditions won’t just go away, they need to be managed and treated, and if you go from one facility and one medical professional to another, that can throw off your recovery. And you can specialize in the treatment and wellness of a single species, but what about the members of the other species? What about the “melting pot” nature of the Citadel and how, realistically, reinforcing those barriers between species only makes it harder for these species to get along with one another?

It’s a “no good choice” scenario, and I think it’s worth a discussion with Anderson at the end (rather than back on the Normandy with all the companions, just because I don’t think the game can really account for everyone there having an opinion). Though let’s also give a follow-up conversation with Kelly – y’know, the therapist – and let her have more to do in this game.

Post Game Followups:

ME3: If the doctor was taken in to custody, they’re among the Cerberus scientists during the mission on Gellix – Mister Illusive stepped in to get their work under his banner, and, like Gavin Archer, Shepard’s involvement eventually made them hesitate to do his bidding. If the cyborgs were kept on, they’re a decent strength war asset.

 The Batarian Connection

A Cerberus vessel goes missing out near the batarian border. While the Collectors are still the first priority for Commander Shepard and company, the Illusive Man is concerned this may be the first stage of a batarian incursion of Alliance space. He tasks Shepard and company with recovering the missing ship. The batarians, however, have other ideas...

(Post-Horizon)

We hear a lot of talk about the batarians making slave grabs throughout the first two games, and the Colonist background has this as a part of the things Shepard has been through. But we don’t actually see it. And we probably can’t manage to see the absolute worst horrors of the batarian slavers, but that’s not the full point of this.

No, the point is to start showing another face to the batarians. See, we’re going in with the idea of the batarians slavers we’re after handing off the captives they take – of various races, though krogan and turian are not likely, given their own, more aggressive nature (maybe useful in gladiatorial rings... We might be coming back to that before these DLC are done), and the quarians aren’t going to be as numerous, that still leaves humans, asari, salarians, and other batarians. And we know from Mass Effect 3, having the Cannibals being introduced in the first segment of the game, the Reapers have access to a lot of batarian genetic material, so they’ve already spent a lot of time developing how they intend to repurpose the batarians into the servants they need to wage war in this cycle.

Codex material speaks of how the Collectors want certain specific types of people to collect, and that is going to be what’s happening here – while the Collectors main focus in the game is to gather up humans to turn into Reaper slurry, we’re also looking at the other races, because there’s a history of the other races being taken by the Collectors for various unknown reasons. It wasn’t clear if there would have been an intent to build additional Reapers out of the other races – an asari Reaper, a turian Reaper, etc. - or if they’d just be left to rot, possibly slurried alongside the humans and just put in the same shell. To build off the idea of “organic preservation” of the species who consist of a cycle, I’m going to assume that they would be fused into a Reaper of their own, though there’s room to argue they were going to just be pulped into the same Reaper or left as the Collectors of the next cycle. But my ideas, my interpretation of things. And if BioWare wants to fight my interpretation, hey, should have included it in the game.

So yeah, the batarian slavers we’re coming across were going to offer the Collectors more of those captives of various races and such. The idea here is to not just have a look at the horrors of batarian slavery, but also an upfront acknowledgment that the batarians do this to their own people as well. The crappy situation for your average batarian is reduced to codex and one-liners, so we don’t actually have this knowledge available for the common players, and this is a thing that needs correcting.

We’re also going to have an encounter with a different Collector ship (just to avoid too much of the whole “small universe syndrome” of the same ship dogging Shepard for two years – it wasn’t until ME3 and James’s backstory that I got the impression that the Collectors had more than the one ship, since they made this one ship out to be this major force). Because, really, if the Collectors taking colonies was something of a plan B when the Citadel didn’t open, then they should be readying themselves for more than just humanity to be taken.

Among the batarians is a sense of distrust – batarian propaganda says the galaxy hates them, and, because we get the slavers and mercs running around in the games, the audience is probably not inclined to disprove that theory (particularly if there’s a Colonist Shepard doing the run – because I say so, there can be plenty of statements from them on the subject that fit the background specifically, because it’s nice that these are all theoretical and I can throw in whatever I like). Still, the general idea is that Shepard does feel a moral responsibility to save them, even if, as in the case of Renegade Shepard, it’s just in the name of preventing the Collectors get their claws on them.

But, thing is, ME2 offers no ship piloting mechanic, and I’m not bringing that in. And, y’know, I still get war flashbacks of getting ambushed by Sith fighters in KOTOR. So that means that the Normandy heads off, Shepard ordering them to find help (we’re gonna say that this is taking place somewhere near the batarian-turian border, so the Normandy can go find a few turian ships – going back to my idea of “shaking up companions” concept, I don’t have any particular choices to go with Shepard this time, but this makes it almost mandatory for a companion other than Garrus to come along, since Garrus can sway the turians to come to the rescue of alien nationals – and this ship ends up crashing, with Shepard and companions still on board – as are the freed slaves.

And we’re not crashing on a habitable planet. Because while there’s the helmets and all, I feel sometimes like the franchise as a whole underplays how much the atmosphere of planets being conducive to life as we know it is kind of rare. So while the cargo hold, settled in the heart of the ship and surrounded by the various additional decks of the ship, makes it through, there are portions of the ship that have been vented into space.

And the Collectors are coming.

Shepard gets to make a Paragon/Renegade “inspiration” speech to the captives, recommending that they get to trying to save themselves. Paragon will get a majority on their side, Renegade only a particularly brave soul. This one would be the Paragon’s contact/coordinator, just so that I can have a clearly identifiable person to turn to. And, yeah, we’re punishing Renegades here, but here’s the thing about this – we have stolen people, taken prisoner, made into slaves, about to be handed off to aliens who are only known to the galaxy as kidnapping and experimenting on people who never return, and then crashed on a deadly planet, with their only shelter pocked with holes letting out the valuable atmosphere that keeps them alive. I’m sorry, but being an asshole to these traumatized people? Even in the name of saving their asses from said kidnapping and experimenting aliens, they are NOT going to be ready to take up arms and fight. Read the room.

So, it becomes a game of causing enough losses to the Collectors for them to retreat for the Normandy to arrive with rescue vessels. Cat and mouse combat, with interspersed dialogue with our batarian coordinator (Making a name up on the spot... Kahvahr). That’s giving the expansion on both him as a character, talking about himself – a political exile, he spoke out against the Hegemony’s attitudes and practices, that they are so isolationistic that the necessary trade with the Citadel races, trade that could reduce their reliance on slavery, is killing them, which led to him attempting to leave, an attempt that ended up putting him into the hands of the slavers he argued against, and he’s certain that the Hegemony’s leaders basically gave him up. Talk about the beauty of Khar’shan, as a planet and place, something more tangible for us the audience of this place that we never get to go – he speaks longingly of these natural wonders he doesn’t expect he’ll ever see again.

The aid of the batarians Kahvahr leads can offer some combat segments getting avoided, but I do want to include some elements of the Collector faction from ME3 in combat segments all the same, the Collector Captain in specific. Because these things never appeared in ME2, so let’s remedy that.

And our end boss is going to be some variant of the Collector drones we see in Paragon Lost, which are these giant sized Collectors. So they get some additional tricks and are a clear case that Shepard is now facing the worst forces the Collectors can throw at them. Because I figure you can give them some interesting additional boss tricks.

The turians arrive and the Collectors withdraw, so Shepard gets to pass on what to do with these batarians – treat them as refugees who are seeking asylum in Citadel space or ship them back to batarian space. Because the thing is... batarians in Citadel space are probably not going to have things pretty well. Like there’s a reason we see batarians on Omega but not the Citadel. And a lot of these batarians still have families in the Hegemony. So there’s a very real argument to the idea that they’d be better off going back. It’s probably bull, considering the Hegemony’s leadership (and definitely bull on the basis of the Reapers being about to steamroll the batarians in between games), but... It can be made.

And it also speaks to how well Shepard is responding to Kahvahr – Kahvahr makes it clear, batarian slaves tend to be those who speak out. How much good can they really do going back to the Hegemony? Sure, you can argue that it’s in the name of encouraging rebellion against the Hegemony’s leadership, but realistically? It’s signing a death warrant – if this attempt at silencing him didn’t work, the Hegemony will likely just go straight to killing him.

And maybe Shepard’s okay with that – the whole reason we’re doing this is because the portrayal of batarians through the rest of the series is almost exclusively them as an always chaotic evil antagonistic force. What do they contribute to the galaxy, right? But this whole thing has been to help paint the batarians in a new light – now, shipping these batarians back to their people isn’t a mercy but a death sentence. What can I say, I like that script-flipping. But, as always, it is a choice for Shepard, for the players. Because apparently, people who play these games like the chance to play the asshole. Fine, you can, but you’re definitely getting judged for it.

Post Game Followups:

ME3: If given asylum, a batarian militia will have formed, both the survivors of the crash and of batarian refugees, wanting to aid the Citadel forces, Kahvahr himself as an asset.

 Shadow Dance

Shepard’s connections to Cerberus have not gone unnoticed. A Spectre – Vexx Liranus – has decided that they are a key component to Cerberus plans (not untrue) and that their capture or death would be useful in combatting Cerberus (definitely untrue). With a fellow Spectre nipping at their heels, Shepard has to face what should be a comrade in arms in a deadly game of cat and mouse!

(Post-Horizon)

We meet three other Spectres in the trilogy, and only one of them, Jondum Bau, in ME3, is actually an ally. This is turning that on its head – all things considered, Vexx Liranus should be an ally. After all, we’re talking about a fellow Spectre, working for the Council, and Cerberus IS using Shepard for their plans, so taking Shepard out would make sense.

It’s just Shepard is a good guy, working with Cerberus as more an alliance of necessity, rather than any ideological alignment. And while I’m sure if you had a chance to sit down and talk to another Spectre, they’d probably eventually come around to the idea, well... Where’s the fun in that.

So Vexx. We had Naevia above in “The Omega Heist” as our “first” female turian for the trilogy, though she does potentially get killed. So we’re gonna have another female turian here, just to really sell the “no fridging female turians” concept. She is a badass turian soldier, like I want a planet with an “r” name to say she had a major incident on so that she can be “the Raptor of [wherever].” Because I love alliteration. I picture her being voiced by Claudia Christian (who was a favorite of mine to voice a female turian back before we knew anything about Mass Effect Andromeda, and while I’m absolutely a fan of Danielle Rayne’s performance as Vetra, I still regret that lack, so I’m making this happen here).

As for the actual plot, we’re gonna start on a small waystation location. It’s a standard resupply place, in the vein of like those Fuel Depots or something, a place like the Citadel but smaller. Because I think that space stations are an underdeveloped aspect of the Mass Effect universe. Like in Star Trek, there are Starbases and Deep Space Stations (such as DS9). Surely the various militaries of the Citadel races are doing the same, building their own stations that act as refuel and resupply, as well as standard rest and relaxation – Spacer Shepard will talk about living on ships, but I don’t see a child actually being raised on military vessels. But a space station that acts as a rallying point and home base for a vessel? That I’ll buy.

So this begins with the Normandy pulling in to one of these types of stations. You know, a little bit of a supply run, something simple. Things do not go according to plan, though, because, y’know, why would they, we wouldn’t have a plot if they did.

It begins simply. They settle in for a resupply, Miranda suggesting that the operational crew get a chance for some break time, Kelly adding that crew like Rolston and Hadley should have an opportunity to contact their families. That’s how we get here. As Shepard proceeds to look through the market, we get other angles of Vexx monitoring and observing Shepard. Shepard will begin to get that feeling of being watched, and that’s when she makes her first strike.

Now, yeah, I say right off in the synopsis that Vexx is a Spectre, but in the story proper? This is going to be kept quiet for a while. Sorta like how Vasir gets this intro that kinda clearly marks her as someone who we’re going to have to fight later, Vexx is getting the appearance of being a straight up antagonist. Because in her mind, she IS an antagonist to Shepard. She just believes that she’s the protagonist of the story, specifically because of Shepard’s ties to Cerberus, coming to this place in a vessel flying Cerberus colors, operating with a Cerberus crew. In her mind, she has discovered a threat to the Citadel and the Council.

While I’m still on the “give the companions more of a role” train, in this case, we’re going to see Shepard cut off from the crew – they come under fire from Vexx, they give the command to evacuate the station, return to the Normandy, and get out until they give the signal. Paragon Shepard wants to minimize casualties, Renegade Shepard wants to handle this themselves – Vexx interrupts their leave? It’s on now.

This leads to a chase through the station, and finding that she’s gotten things pretty well set up for this chase – I figure at some point, Shepard comes across like a secured bunker she’d been using as a command base, finds logs that have been tracking them since they landed on Omega at the start of the game. (Timeline being what it is, meaning as variable as it is, I’m gonna say that this is taking place functionally around, say, the Collector ship mission.)

That discovery is also when her Spectre status is made clear. Now, while there’s a good chance that Shepard’s had their Spectre status reinstated (thank you Dad!miral Anderson), well, we still need a plot here. Vexx doesn’t believe Shepard’s claim to have Council approval – after all, she certainly can’t just casually check this out while on a mission, Spectres are supposed to function independently of the Council. And she’s pretty good with the “better beg forgiveness than to ask permission” approach – Shepard helping Cerberus, even as a double agent, is a threat (for a less competent example of why, see how Shepard helping Cerberus in ME2 leads to Conrad Verner preaching Cerberus values in ME3).

The hunt continues. I’m basically picturing this functionally working a lot like a lower-levelled version of Arrival’s Project Base level, just with like security drones and such, and Vexx popping in and out of combat range. This is a hunting mission, on both sides, and the idea is that Shepard (and, by extension, the player) should feel like Vexx or her drones might show up around any corner. If nothing else, call it useful practice and experience.

Now, I said before I wanted to avoid stuffing our first female turian in the fridge. While Naevia could survive, she also could die. So I want to guarantee that at least one female turian of prominence is introduced without killing her off. That means that we’re going to have to find a peaceful resolution, as well as an alternative that allows the bloodthirsty playerbase to be satisfied.

That means an outside agent, a third party, getting in on this. I’m thinking a krogan merc with a grudge and a krantt and a blood oath against Vexx he’s more than willing to extend to Shepard, the Spectres, and the Council – with Vexx, it’s personal, having tangled with her before, with Shepard, they’re in the way, and with the Spectres, they work for the Council, and the Council gave the go-ahead on the genophage, so hey, it’s a good day to be him.

This eventually leads to, after some three-way combat, Shepard suggesting a truce for the time being – the krogan (Vargan, for want of a name) is a bigger threat to them both at the moment, since he’s distracting them and endangering the station as a whole. Vexx sees the wisdom in this and is willing to work with Shepard.

This gives a little more time to explore her, now that Shepard can talk to her. Vargan’s grudge stems from her disbanding his merc pack a while pack – they had ideas similar to the Blood Pack and Clan Weyrloc (re: Mordin’s loyalty mission), just without the aid of any salarian scientists. Maybe they’d sought out Okeer (possibly part of the reason that Okeer became a “very hated name,” as Wrex puts it? I don’t know, I’m spitballing here). Whatever the goal, however, she managed to put a stop to it, enough that Vargan was stripped of his clan name – given the structure of krogan society, I figure that in doing that, a krogan loses all right to even attempt to mate with the females, a big blow to a proud krogan leader, basically leading him to a voluntary exile from Tuchanka. That he still has a krantt after that still speaks to his skill and prowess, but also makes it clear that these are his only allies in the galaxy.

Shoot-y shoot-y stuff happens, yadda yadda... We’ve been over how writing about combat in these write-ups is boring. End result, we learn more about Vexx, develop and establish her further, give her this likeable air now that we’re on the same side, and get to Vargan, taking out his krantt in the process. Now that he’s alone, he is ready to die. He got everyone loyal to him killed, that means he’ll never regain a clan name now. He wants to die.

Typically, Paragon/Renegade decisions are a clear binary of “good means letting people live, bad means letting people die!” But here, Paragon is understanding the krogan mindset – he wants to die because he will never have a place in krogan society if he lives. He got his krantt killed, so he will never be able to gather a krantt again. He will never have that trust again, and so his death is the only way he can have an honorable ending. Meanwhile, Renegade is saying “no, I’m not going to grant you the mercy of death, live with your failure.” And doing that will likely mean he will strike out and go on some kind of suicide run (indeed, I picture that result being a news announcement overheard on the galactic news points).

Because I like the idea of twisting the Paragon/Renegade assumptions around – the idea behind it is supposed to be more nuanced than “good = blue, bad = red,” but in context, a lot of the use of the system through most of the series is a lot more binary. So this is showing the flip side of both ideas’ general attitudes – you are saving more lives and respecting his attitudes and beliefs by killing him, while knowingly leaving a threat to others that you KNOW he’ll act on by keeping him alive.

Vargan defeated, it comes back to Shepard and Vexx. She’s more impressed by Shepard at this point. Paragon Shepard showed an understanding of non-human mindsets, and that more than anything makes her hesitate to paint them with the same brush as Cerberus. Renegade Shepard showed enough martial skill that she’s concerned that things will only reach the point of a stalemate, and likely do too much damage to the station for it to continue operation.

So she offers Shepard what she’s going to call a deal – keep to the Terminus Systems, like they have been, and she’ll let things stand as they are, with the added note that, if their Council reinstatement is genuine, she’ll also send a letter with a fuller apology after the DLC concludes. Yeah, it’s basically going back to the status quo, but one, I’ve been clear that my goal is to make these slot in comfortably with the existing game, and two, back to the in-universe justifications, it also means that she can prevent other Spectres from coming after Shepard – after all, we learned with Saren, the only real way to respond to a Spectre going rogue is to send another Spectre after them. If Vexx is in Shepard’s corner, it prevents other Spectres from coming after them later.

Probably should lead to a line or two in reference to Vexx from Tela Vasir, depending on when Lair of the Shadow Broker is played – alternatively, I suppose Vexx should have some comments about Vasir’s death as well, but I did say above that I see this functionally being roughly around the point of the Collector Ship in the timeline, and I always view Lair of the Shadow Broker as taking place after the Suicide Mission, and my write-ups, my timeline. Moving on.

Shepard has to agree to this, because see above: not fridging female turians when the trilogy is so bereft of them in the first place. We don’t kill Vexx. Because, really, that would mean that Shepard would have killed three of the four fellow Spectres they encounter in the course of the trilogy, and their numbers are said to only go to about a hundred or so. That’s a three percent fatality rate for the Spectres, and a seventy-five percent fatality rate of meeting Shepard. Someone has to think those numbers look bad. So, in accepting the deal, Vexx walks away and Shepard calls the Normandy for a pick up.

Post Game Followups:

ME3: Vexx has a sidequest on the post-Coup Citadel, regarding her work with the unifying of turian and krogan forces. Given Shepard having contributed, she’s asking them to join in her efforts. Complete that and she gets to be an asset and there’s a boost for both of those groups as well.

 Underworld

Illium is home to many elite in the galaxy. It’s called the gateway to the Terminus Systems. But it’s equally a warning that there is as much danger in Illium’s shadows as on Omega. And now a high-profile Alliance official goes missing there. Ambassador Anderson asks Shepard to investigate as he keeps the disappearance quiet, and Shepard gets drawn into a web of conspiracy...

(Post-Horizon)

Illium seems like it should be a bigger deal, don’t you think? I mean, in ME2 we get three hub worlds in Omega, the Citadel, and Illium, but Illium is introduced after Horizon, being locked to (on console) disc two, and, while Lair of the Shadow Broker gave us more of Illium in general... Hey. Let’s explore more. Cuz now we can open up some new areas that can stick around and still be explorable after the DLC ends.

We open with a message from Anderson – “one of our people went missing out on Illium, I’d like you to look into this as a favor to me,” that sort of thing. This official is an ambassadorial figure from the Alliance to the asari (so, for the sake of a name, I’m in a Power Rangers mood right now, I’m gonna call her Kimberly Hart). She’s been attempting to shore up some diplomatic ties – I’d figure this would include matters like getting stronger ties between the asari in the name of gaining access to teachers for Grissom Academy, better relations in the name of biotic rights, that sort of thing.

Illium, being a free trade world, is a place where these kinds of negotiations take place without government oversight – I figure, based on things like the asari on Noveria in ME1 who wants to protect asari patents by getting Shepard to help her engage in corporate espionage, the asari government is extremely strict about their “secrets” while humans, who are still struggling to get a handle on what to do with first and second gen biotics, are willing to take on free agents more than like the commandos and such. Also, don’t want a repeat of Vyrnnus, so the turians are definitely out. It’s “asari free agents” who they’re looking at bringing on for this.

But with her having gone missing, that’s concerning – again, we have the asari being fiercely protective of what they view as their copyrights (which I do want to have a running theme here surrounding the idea “how do you copyright something that has this melding with the life it is bonded to?” – amps working as they do, mapped to biological systems as they are, this seems like it borders on trying to patent people in the process, since they’ll gain full maps of the people those amps are implanted in). Anderson wants Shepard to go in, since they’re off the official books.

Now we return to that earlier concept of mandatory companions. Because of the matter of biotics, this feels like a mission that Jack pushes her way in to – both because she’s been the subject of biotic experimentation, and she wants to ensure that this doesn’t turn in to the Teltin facility all over again, and to help give some foreshadowing for her becoming one of Grissom Academy’s teachers next game. Additionally, I’ll go with Thane as the other companion for this – he’s done work in Illium’s criminal underworld.

Now then, to our central hub of Illium. We’re on a different city than Nos Astra, but it’s going to have a similar flavor to it, in the same way that Azure still felt like it wasn’t all that out of place alongside the trading center. Nos Vidia, I’ll call it (sounds suitably asari, anyway). It’s not as major a hub of intergalactic trade and commerce, meaning that Shepard and company are going to stand out in the crowd.

This is also one of the more “crime” areas, where the black market has moved in. We have Eclipse symbols on the wall and, while they’re not wearing the uniform, many of the people around here are obviously in the gang. Which also makes Shepard stand out. Thane, however, manages to bring up a former contact, someone who has been able to stay alive this long, meaning they’re skilled enough that they’ve survived.

The contact is an asari I’m gonna call Kassria. Kassria has picked up some Eclipse chatter that references our missing ambassador. That means Eclipse has her, but it’s not clear so much if her being taken is because of her getting in the way of Eclipse as a gang or if the Eclipse are working for some asari company.

We pause for some talk about the various asari copyrights, explore that conversation, with Jack having quite a few words on the subject of trying to make people property. That kind of thinking creates situations that create the same kind of science as Teltin. Thane offers something of the drell perspective – he’s the one who argues that he was raised and trained as a weapon for the hanar, and that he was not responsible for the lives he took. Who owns the abilities, the user or the one calling for their use? (I mean, there’s an obvious answer, but Thane’s bringing up the alternative to this – the people who are broken down and made into weapons at the hands of others.)

Like actually, let’s make that aside a point of having Jack and Thane – in Jack’s eyes, Thane’s attitude towards the people he’s killed is much how Cerberus would have wanted her to have ended up, as a weapon for them to point, pull the trigger, and give no concern for the ways that it impacts the person who acts because of that order.

It’s the same argument that we have with Miranda – the idea of “disposable troops” does not make it a matter of saving lives, just a matter of how war becomes easier, having these weapons to unleash upon others with no risk to the people who are supposedly being protected by them. It’s a way of absolving yourself for creating slaves by giving them some higher purpose.

This really is going to be a turning point with Jack’s arc proper, with how it leads to her being a teacher, because she wants to protect the young biotics. It’s not just about her protecting the kids at the Ascension Project from ending up tortured like the kidnapped victims at the Teltin facility. It’s also about reclaiming and maintaining personhood.

And while it’s hard for me to really give the separation theory Thane speaks of (we ARE going to come back to issues of the drell in general a few DLCs from here, so consider this to be foreshadowing and set up for that bit), I’m going to try and offer his point of view – that of “if you hone someone to only be a weapon, to only look at the world from that perspective, is it really on them as an individual that they proceed to see the world from that viewpoint?”

Of course, yes, I’m aware that the inherent flaw of ALL of this is that we’re not talking about drell youths giving themselves up to the hanar in the fulfillment of the Compact or with “different brain structures” to humans. It’s the tangent that they end up on because they’re along for the ride, and Shepard eventually has to get them back on track – finding Ambassador Hart. Whether or not the asari corporations are intending to use people as weapons, the Eclipse sisters presently have her held captive, and this means staging a rescue operation.

I want to take this chance to get a better idea of Eclipse’s organization (which, by extension, showcases the ideas that are moving the other merc gangs in the series). Like, what goals do they really have – Blood Pack are basically chaotic berserkers who want the world to burn (which, fitting, considering the general krogan mindset following the genophage and the vorcha having a complete lack of survival instincts because they never needed to evolve them), while Blue Suns have the veneer of respectability, acting as private security. But when we meet Jona Sedaris in ME3, she’s a raving psychopath, ready to kill anyone in her way. So what does the Eclipse gang want? I mean, besides the obvious of money.

Kassria is a former Eclipse sister, so she offers this insight – Eclipse doesn’t even really know itself. The non-asari members are almost leaning towards biotic extremism, given how the other races tend to mistreat and look down on the biotics among them, which makes them angry and want to lash out at those who’ve hurt them. Meanwhile, the asari who join in are often driven by other motivations, given that all asari have biotics – some are outcasts (purebloods, in pureblood relationships, or people with the Ardat-Yakshi mutation – let’s just assume Samara will have shared about her loyalty mission by the time this mission is unlocked so we don’t have to have the characters explain this to Shepard), others are maidens looking for glory (think Elnora the mercenary from Samara’s recruitment mission), some are obsessed with killing (like Sedaris), and some are just looking for a purpose.

She suggests that, if given something better, Eclipse might be a valuable asset for Shepard – not just in biotics, but also in their mechs. It’d be something to use when the Reapers come calling, not that she knows about the Reapers, just that she can figure that whatever Shepard’s up to, they’ll want an army at their back (because we’re still ME2 here, so this means we don’t know that Aria will be assembling the merc gangs under her banner).

This leads to an assault on the Eclipse base and trying to reach Hart before anyone proceeds to try and kill her or worse. As we continue, we find out that there is a high-ranking Eclipse member among this group – Jona Sedaris.

Yes, that’s right, we’re going to be responsible for her getting locked up come ME3. Obviously, this does mean she’ll survive the inevitable conflict and boss battle, but hey, we’re gonna have other things to deal with in the final analysis, so hold all questions to the end.

The Eclipse sisters and the techs with their mechs are heavy throughout the place, but eventually, we reach the place they’re holding Hart. She’s been roughed up a bit, but she’s alive. She’d made contact with an asari firm who’d claimed to be willing to trade some “asari patents” in the name of cross-cultural cooperation, but Hart got suspicious of what was happening. Turns out, she was being used – the company (a minor company, not one of our major equipment suppliers from the actual games, that she had gone to them in the name of avoiding those big names) was going to give her access, only to revoke it and claim that she had stolen these patents. That would give them an opening to start consolidating biotic patents in a human market, because humans would now be running amps and implants with copyrighted asari material, and, by extension, that would mean the company would own those human biotics.

That, of course, gets Jack’s ire up, and she’s ready to tear the place apart – people aren’t things to be owned. Even Thane’s ready to join in – even accepting his claims of lacking a responsibility for the lives that his employers hired him to take (again, we’ll be digging deeper into this in the future), this is trying to force people to be under the control of this company – based on his reaction when Shepard suggests that the Compact between the hanar and the drell constitutes slavery, Thane’s definitely not on board with that idea. And even on Illium, a planet with legalized “indentured servitude,” this contract is definitely sketchy – but it would be just legal enough that the company leadership would be able to get their foot in the door, and make it harder for human biotics to be able to exist without “company oversight,” giving them access to the human biotics before they have a chance to stabilize their position in human society.

It’s some further asari haughtiness, the idea of asari like Erinya, the lawyer who holds the contract to the Feros colonists, that the asari are “better” than the other races. The asari in charge of this company are of the belief that only the asari “deserve” biotics, and want to keep all biotics in the galaxy under their control. These asari in particular don’t see any race other than asari as even deserving of evolving out of the primordial muck. Not a mainstream view, but one that we do have foundation for existing in the universe proper, and, let’s be honest, it’s not hard to imagine this being a thing anyway based on our world (We’ll touch on these themes in more detail later). And this idea, especially combined with the asari willingness to indulge in “indentured servitude” on Illium, if no where else, gets taken to its natural endpoint – they see human biotics as little more than pack mules, livestock.

Short step from there to going along with batarian or Collector ideas, but really, it’s not like we don’t know exactly where that endpoint is from our history.

Obviously, Shepard is a walking contradiction to those ideas, so combat is the only way through. Sedaris might be an unrepentant murderer, but we do still have to take her into custody – this is where Kassria comes in, taking her down and intending to hand her over to the authorities in the name of getting a slice of the Eclipse pie with her out of the picture. It won’t be a clean takeover, which will justify why Sayn is running things for Sedaris outside of prison instead of Kassria (who would DEFINITELY just leave Sedaris to rot and probably arrange an ‘accident’ for her), but it’s getting her more power.

As for the company, they’re JUST on the side of legality – the efforts of Eclipse on their behalf were by way of verbal contracts, and no lawyer on Illium is going to take the word of a mercenary over those of these high-ranking business officials. Hart swears that she can make things hell for them, lose them some very lucrative contracts with the Alliance. Thing is, that also makes her job all the more difficult, now that she’s been found out having attempted to make these grey legality ties for the sake of “getting an edge” in the biotics market – they have the resources to make this a fight that, meanwhile, would set the cause of human biotics back. (Which, as we’ve been over in other write-ups, actually is a bit of a thing that has some deeper ties in to the overall universe that the people of this setting are still working on figuring out.)

The Paragon/Renegade choice here becomes the rather obvious “do we take the option that handles this cleanly but lets the bad guys escape responsibility, or the messy alternative that may not even get the result we want?” choice. Because the thing about asari litigation is that they can afford to tie things up for decades without concern for the “short term” consequences. So if this DOES go to courts, they can wrap things up and keep them there for a long time – which will impact how things go for the human biotics, the whole idea of ‘owning’ people because they have these abilities. Because then their legality, their agency, their right to choose for themselves would be being litigated, and being done so in the court of aliens.

It doesn’t feel GOOD to me to have it left like this, honestly, but I don’t really see this as something that is supposed to have a conclusion that feels good – we’re talking about issues of corporate ownership of individuals, and the truth is... that exploitation just goes on, it doesn’t resolve itself with a few showy displays of violence. It gets caught up in red tape and paperwork, and people lose, even as they win. And the point of this has basically been, at its heart, to show that the “underworld” isn’t the black and grey markets that scrounge a semblance of society. It’s the businesses who will crush people underfoot then complain about the mess they stepped in. The design of a lot of the locations introduced in ME2 had this cyberpunk dystopia look to them, but only really focused on the criminal gangs – the core of this is approaching the white collar criminal element that was not shown off as much, how it encourages both further street crime and the depersonalization that comes from treating humans as a commodity.

Jack is pissed either way because this is all kinds of bullshit – it’s Shepard who points out that as angry as Jack defaults to, this is, for once, her being pissed at something beyond herself, where it’s not just that she wants to cause mayhem, but that she wants to make things different for others. To do something to protect future human biotics, kids who are in need. It’s her actively wanting to find a way to make a different, not just chaos.

As for Thane, he is still drell, still a proponent of the Compact (again, we’ll be coming back to this issue), but he does understand how easy it is to see something ostensibly done to the benefit of people turns around and is used by malicious actors to take advantage of them. It’s one of those things that he certainly understood in the abstract, but it’s another thing to see in practice. He leaves it on the note that “this has given me much to consider.”

As for Ambassador Hart, she knows that either way, she’s tanked her chances for getting the instructors that she’d been hoping for. Basically, the diplomatic ties she’d wanted from the asari government are off the table, given the combination of asari tied to the company and just general political embarrassment at the fact that all of this even happened – they want to ignore it, paint things over in pastels, and she is a living embodiment of the event to the asari, able to bring up the reality at a time of her choosing. The asari would rather that this go away, rather than have this constant reminder. Still, she’s grateful for Shepard’s rescue – the Eclipse might not have actively been planning on her death, but it wasn’t a good position. And, at this point, she can at least salvage a career going forward. Maybe not with the asari, but there’s a chance that relations with the turians have thawed out some.

Post Game Followups:

ME3: The fate of the company plays a part in War Assets – being tied up in legal red tape, they’re not able to contribute to the war effort, or, in a magnanimous show of “inter-species cooperation,” they’re sharing some patents with the other races. Additionally, Ambassador Hart shows up for a sidequest after the Cerberus Coup, making another go at the effort, now that Grissom is gone and the human biotics are here – might as well make the effort to get these asari instructors anyway, and she wants Shepard to help her out with smoothing the ruffled feathers (since this would still be in that period of time where the asari are still trying to avoid joining the active war effort).

Also, while this wouldn’t really impact anything via saved game import, I also figure this would at least tie in to Andromeda, that several human biotics joined the Initiative in the name of getting away from the corporations who want to hold them as “patented property” and such. Probably would be a way to help at least make Cora’s arc tighten up a little – it’s not just that she thought she’d only be a “useful freak” as a human biotic, as opposed to an asari commando or an Initiative Pathfinder, but that in getting away from Citadel space, she’d be allowed to just be, to find out who it is that she is beyond her biotics, rather than have to have her biotics “registered” with a corporation who’d exploit them and her. Not sure how to incorporate that into Andromeda proper, but it’s something that would be acknowledged.

End of Part 1, link to Part 2 forthcoming.