#I haven't done any story missions either

[arthursfuckinghat]

I don't know how to explain to you guys that this is the fifth time that Bill has come looking for me since last time when he found me just a few days ago. The fifth time.

[impactedfates]

Okay I have this idea but yes yes anyway [might be long I'm so sorry]

So basically Wanderer practically joined Traveller to journey out to the last 3 regions of Teyvat. But but bUUUUT right now they're at Fontaine and doing some stuff [aka the current available quests]

Once he and the Traveller are taking a massive break over things, him checking out some places to hang out when he saw someone— another puppet, basically

When he approached them, surprise its his younger sibling [aka reader], and they still remember him despite the Irminsul incident one region ago

How would the interaction go from there? I want moar genshin-sibling-platonicness help

— 🫶🏻 Anon with another gift! A Neuvilette An otter with some things! 🦦🐚🪸🪷

A/N: THAT'S SUCH A CREATIVE IDEA ACTUALLY ANOIFENI. More genshin sibling platonic storys yes >:D AND THANK YOU FOR THE MINI NEUVI

W.C: 1237

Genre/Trope: Platonic + Familial

Format: Fic

Warnings: None (I think?)

Extra: Traveller Lumine because she needs more love, also I prefer Traveller Lumine ngl // Scaras a mean but caring older brother // Reader is a young adult // Sorry if this wasn't as long as you hoped, I haven't done any of the side quests in Fontaine :sob: willing to write a pt 2 though // I did not proof read this, I relied solely on my proofreader

Just Like Me - Platonic Scaramouche x Sibling! Reader

“Ahhh…it feels so good to relax”

Lumine sighed tiredly as she plopped herself on a bench. Scaramouche raised an eyebrow at the blonde and rolled his eyes as he stared at the traveller practically melting onto the bench. Paimon doing the same.

“You two are tired already? It’s only 12pm”

“AND we’ve been doing commissions and helping others since MIDNIGHT”

Lumine countered, now laying atop of the bench like it was the most comfiest bed in the world, Paimon nodded in agreement, going to fly over and lay down too but was knocked back a bit by Lumine.

“Go away Paimon…all you did was float around…”

“Hey!! Paimon makes great emotional support”

And all Lumine could respond with was a tired yet sarcastic ‘sure you are’. Scara watched the scene unfold in front of him and shook his head a bit. Perhaps it was because he was a puppet and didn’t get tired as fast as regular humans, but he wanted to continue their mission in Fontaine before they went to the next 2 nations.

He sat on the ground next to the blonde and after half an hour he was bored once again. Groaning a bit as he tipped his head back.

“When are we continuing our little ‘adventure’?”

“If you’re so up for it, you can go explore…look for people to help or ideally…a place to better relax and/or a place to dump Paimon”

“Hey! What’s with you and leaving me alone”

Scara shook his head as the two travelling companions began to playfully bicker, deciding to take the proposal Lumine suggested, he stood up again and began walking around Fontaine for a place to hang out or just someone in trouble. If he’d actually help them? He didn’t know either.

“GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME”

Scara covered his ears at the sudden loud screech, turning to the source of the sound, he saw someone being cornered by some guys, eyes narrowing a bit he quietly walked over.

“Just give us the mora, and we’ll be on our way”

“I’ve told you, I don’t have it. Nor do I have any debt to even be paid”

“Debt or not, we want the money”

Scara rolled his eyes, classical treasure hoarders. Using his vision he floated above them and slashed some anemo at them, pushing them to the ground. The person he saved looked up and tilted their head.

The treasure hoarders attempted to get up but the person quickly slashed them down with geo, knocking them fully unconscious.

“If you had a vision yourself, you should’ve used it”

Scara said, floating down and crossing his arms at the person who just shrugged.

“I was going too, until you came here. Are you a god or something?”

“Ha, could’ve been if my mom hadn’t betrayed me”

He mumbled under his breath, earning a confused look as the person didn’t know what he said. Quickly coughing into a fist he extended his hand.

“You can call me Wanderer, nice to meet you”

“Oh right, I’m [Name]”

They replied, a bit hesitant, taking his hand and shaking it. A bit quickly realising that the hand they shook didn’t feel the same as the others. And as creepy as it sounds, a puppet's hand is quite different to a human's hand.

Puppet?

Both Scara and [Name] looked at eachother, realising that well, both their hands felt like a puppets one.

“A puppet?”

“Seems so, wow I never met another puppet before”

“Don’t get used to it”

[Name] laughed a bit, before eyeing Scara up and down. Something about him felt familiar…perhaps too familiar. Before long they were pretty much staring and Scara was glaring at them as no words had been spoken during this time.

“Ah, sorry…but…Kuni?”

“...What?”

Scaras eyes widened at the name before narrowing again.

“How do you know that name?”

“My mom told me about Kunikuzushi or well…Kuni…he’s my older brother…well I see him as well, I’m not sure what my mom thinks”

“Older…brother…? Wait wait…you’re telling me your mother is Raiden Ei AND that you remember that?”

“Yes and yes…why is there a problem?”

Scara shook his head, this was quite the surprise for him. He had a younger sibling and they remembered him? Or the stories anyways. Thinking for a bit he decided to explain to [Name] about the incident with the ____ Tree.

Before long, he was walking them back to where he last left Lumine.

“Wow, so you erased yourself from this tree and now history has forgotten about you? Like you never existed”

“For the nth time…y e s”

“Sorry not sorry. But that’s just so cool”

[Name] explained, laughing a bit at their brother's tired look from explaining why he’s been pretty much deleted from history. Lumine was up by now and no longer bickering with Paimon, rather she was talking to someone with a smile. A smile that both Scara and [Name] recognised as a fake one.

“I’ll get right on that…yes yes bye”

Traveller waved off the Fontainian and as soon as they were out of sight their smiles dropped and buried their heads in their heads, proceeding to silently scream in them as Paimon attempted to comfort her.

“What have I told you about accepting everyone's request”

“...Not to do it”

“And you did it anyways”

Scara sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose but he had no bad feelings towards Lumine. He knew it could be hard to refuse after being known as such a helpful adventurer.

“Oh! It’s the famous traveller! Hello!”

A voice called out, Lumine turned her head to look at Scara and noticed [Name] raising a brow. Before either Lumine or Paimon could answer, Scara quickly explained.

“Wow so…Ei really made a 3rd puppet?”

“I believe they’re older then the Shogun puppet Paimon”

Lumine answered before turning back to [Name], holding her hand out for them to shake which they happily did. Scara rolled his eyes a bit at the interaction but shrugged it off. Not like it’s bad or anything.

“Hey! Since you two seem to want to hang out together, how about you join the commission Traveller just got?”

“Oh! That would be ni-”

“No”

Scara interrupted, coughing into his fist before looking at [Name] who stared back with a slight pout and a raised brow. Lumine and Paimon sighed a bit, they both internally knew that this was going to be awhile.

.

.

.

And it was! The pair had to listen to the two of them argue about [Name] joining the commission, and as harsh as Scaras words were to try to dissuade [Name] to join, Lumine could tell he just wanted to keep them safe. Unfortunately for Scara, he had been following Lumine to the commission area so…whether he liked it or not, looks like [Name] is joining.

He simply grumbled under his breath as he reluctantly grabbed his siblings arm and began dragging them around as Lumine started the commissions. If he couldn’t stop them from joining, the least he could do was protect them right?

That’s what siblings are for…and they’re also for

“THAT WAS MY SWEET MADAM [NAME]”

“NOT ANYMORE”

They’re also there to have silly arguments with after a long day of commissions, reminding both Paimon and Lumine what they must look like when they argue. Lumine simply laughed at their antics as she sipped her drink. (You wish that was you huh?)

If you want a pt 2 where I probably (hopefully) write Scara and [Name]s sibling dynamic better, please comment! I'll make one as soon as I finish my current requests :>>

[fernsnailz]

Not sure how much meat this question has to it but if back in 2006 you were the one that spearheaded the shadow the hedgehog game, how would you have done it?

i'd want ShTH 2005 to keep the same core energy its final form ended up with, but tbh there's a lot i would have done differently lol. here's my 3 step plan for how i would have directed it previously/would direct any sort of reboot or remaster

1. TIMELOOP!!!!!!

i'm not the first person to come up with this idea and i won't be the last to talk about it, but the gist of this point is that ShTH's story makes WAY more sense when you treat it like a timeloop. you finished a story path and end up back in westopolis? great job, you're at the beginning of the timeloop again. it's a smart way to make this wack story a little more cohesive.

i would LOVE to further utilize the timeloop concept for this game because it could be a very simple addition to add flavor OR it be the core of the game's story and gameplay. small things like shadow going "hey wait, have i seen this before?" when he's going through westopolis for the third time can hint at the narrative, and once shadow realizes he's in a loop he's motivated to find EVERY path in search of the full truth. every new story path could be treated as a new game+ as shadow starts to consistently remember more from previous timeloops, carrying over certain weapons, abilities, and memories from his previous experiences.

one really cool idea i saw a while ago on here (edit: FOUND IT! i'm talking about this post) is someone's ShTH timeloop pitch where after a few resets, silver starts to show up and tells shadow to stop messing with the timeline. this continues, and eventually silver becomes a final boss of some of the paths. this idea has never left my mind since i saw it and i need to find the person that came up with it they mean so much to me

i have more timeloop thoughts but i will move on for now

2. simplify or rework the morality system and levels

this is my big gameplay critique - there is A Lot to do in ShTH and very little of it is consistently fun. i have grievances with the morality system i talked about a while ago, the gist of my opinion boiling down to "the system removes agency from shadow and the story doesn't fit within the morals you choose anyway." i'd either MASSIVELY rework the morality system to make it feel worthwhile or just throw the whole thing away. unfortunately i don't have many pitches for what to replace it with since i haven't played that many games with branching stories - maybe the story paths you go down are based on BIG story decisions shadow makes during boss battles or in cutscenes (?) like choosing which boss to fight, which characters to save, what moves or weapons to use, stuff like that. i just want the stuff that leads to branching stories to be more impactful and a little simpler.

this also applies to the levels, of which there are... a lot. and maybe there should be less? i think it would be smart to cut down or combine some of the levels, then really flesh out the ones that matter. and given the non-linear nature of ShTH, i think a version with levels more focused on exploration and combat would fit the game better than the linear mission-based gameplay of the original.

3. MORE GUN

listen man. they advertised this as the sonic game with guns and in my opinion i think they could've done better. i mostly just want a more fleshed out weapons system with upgrades, a little customization, better controls, etc. just put the merchant from resident evil 4 in there and have him accept rings and i would be happy

-------------------------

those are the big points i would personally stick to, but i do have smaller points i would consider as well, including:

make black doom seem competent

explain who the chaotix are working for and fit it into the story

no more "kill this many enemies to progress" missions. please

super shadow can have a gun now

[pluto-supremacy]

Will there be a part three of the Vi dating femreader at Stillwater where the Reader gets out of Stillwater and Vi makes it up to the Reader after they reunite? Maybe either the Reader gets out on her own and they reunite in Zaun or Vi comes back to get her out like she promised and they are reunited that way and she makes up for all the lost time since she left her there and promises she will never leave her again, that she loves the Reader with all her mind, body and soul. If Caitlyn is there she apologizes to both Vi and the Reader for separating them once she sees them together and how they are with each other and that she should have fought harder to get the Reader out the first time before Vi and Reader have their life after Stillwater, then maybe a time skip or something where we see Vi and the Reader living together and after Stillwater. That part two was heart-wrenching and would love for Vi to make good on her promise of coming back for the Reader like she said she would, so they can be free and live a better life outside of Stillwater.

Vi Fic: Miss Me?

➼ I'm so glad everyone is liking the Vi series! This will likely be the last part, at least for Stillwater. Maybe I'll have little au's as to how the story ends. Have some fluff to make up for what I put y'all through last time

➼ Continuation of Vi Fic: Bye Bye Bun

➼ This definitely diverges from canon, so please keep that in mind. I didn't have it in me to give an angsty ending (this time). Consider this a little fix-it fic for the end of season 1

➼ No beta we die like some random enforcer (I've officially run out of people season 2 come faster)

➼ Warnings: None!

GIF does not belong to me! All credits to the owner

The days started to blur together. Each passing moment seemed more painful than the last. Vi left you. Left you with that enforcer to rot in Stillwater. Sure she promised to come back, and for a while you were hopeful. Vi had no reason to just leave you behind. That didn't make any sense. Even with the warden saying he could ‘only release one’. Bullshit. Vi should’ve fought harder. She could’ve gotten both of you out, you knew that. If this enforcer needed her so bad then she’s have to do what she asked, even against the warden’s wishes.

While it was hard to keep track of time behind bars, you were certain it had been at least a week. Or it at least felt like a week. Around day three you had lost all hope that your girlfriend was coming back for you. What could take her this long? Nothing. Absolutely nothing in your eyes at least. Vi didn’t even offer an explanation, just that she’d be back. Who does that? Certainly there had been enough time for her to at least say something like 'If I don't go they'll kill me'. Was that even what happened? Or was this the out Vi had been looking for? Had she ever even cared..?

Some days you went with no. Others it was yes. No was the more common answer now. Well hopefully that enforcer was happy with what she had done. What relationship she had torn apart. It was just after lunch when you had been returned back to your cell. Lately you haven't had much of an appetite, the prison uniform you wore hanging slightly looser than usual. It was hard to eat when all you could think about was what Vi could be doing. Fighting. Cheating. Running away. Dying. Of course you only imagined the worst. Never that she was currently racing towards Stillwater like a man on a mission.

Which she was.

The last few days had gone by so fast and so slow at the same time for Vi. Each time she closed her eyes she saw you, she saw Powder, she saw the both of you begging her not to leave. It haunted her, plagued her every waking thought. The guilt of leaving you behind was eating her alive. If it wasn't for how many times she had gotten her ass kicked lately she might've had time to really revel in the fact that she may have lost you forever. She would fix this though. Vi knew that she would. Part one of her plan was already complete.

She had Powder back. For the most part.

After the little dinner party ended with Silco dying, Vi pleaded with her younger sister. Pleaded with her to do the right thing for Milo, for Claggor, for Vander, for her. At the last second it seemed like her Jinx persona had began crumbling away. She dropped the weapon she had built and ran to her older sister, crying and hugging her tight. Catilyn, who had been tied up and gagged by a mask, was relieved to say the least.

After untying both of them Powder handed over the gemstone to Caitlyn. She hadn't wanted it anyways, not really. It was Silco who planted the seed in her head to build the weapon. Every now and then Vi could see Jinx trying to peak through, trying to take over Powder. Maybe one day Jinx would finally go away. Maybe she would always be a part of her, whispering in her ear to turn on those she loved. Either way Vi was keeping her close, not wanting to make the same mistake twice. She promised Powder it would be them again, but with just one new addition.

Now Vi, Powder, and Caitlyn were on the boat to Stillwater. Powder had been asking a million different questions about you. There was part of her, the Jinx part, that resented you. Like you took her sister away from her despite the pair of you meeting when Vi had already been in Stillwater for some time. But mostly she was just excited to see whoever made her sister this happy. The instant the boat was docked Vi ran off, clutching the release papers in her right hand. Caitlyn and Powder were right behind her, albeit a bit slower.

Vi slammed the papers down on the warden's desk with a smirk as soon as she made it up to his desk. "Orders from Councilor Talis to release prisoner 381. Immediately." She stated. The warden wasn't exactly pleased with the orders, but begrudgingly agreed. Mostly since he now had no choice with new orders. That and it would be three against one, and Vi had already put up a fight in the past when it was just her. The one with the blue hair also looked unstable, so best not to mess with that.

Confusion overwhelmed you as the doors to your cell opened. The first thought you had was that this was a trap. A guard opened the doors and was waiting for you to try and escape. That's the only thing it could be. At least until you saw pink hair peaking out from around the corner of your wall. "VI!" you yelled, your feet carrying you forward and before you even realized there was a familiar pair of strong arms around you. "I've got you bun, I've got you" she whispered as she pulled you close, hiding her face in your hair. For a while neither of you said a word, falling into a comfortable silence. At some point tears had began falling down your cheeks, you weren't too sure when. Only this time they weren't sad tears. They were tears of relief and happiness. Eventually you broke the silence. "You came back after all."

Those words hit Vi hard. You really didn't think she would keep her word? Though she couldn't find it in herself to blame you for that. After all, she did just up and leave without running you through what was happening. There just wasn't time in the moment. "Of course I did. I promised I'd come back and get you. I'd never lie to you." she whispered, her grip tightening. "I'm back and we're leaving this place for good. We'll never see Stillwater again."

When you finally pulled away you realized that you weren't alone. There was the enforcer from earlier, Catilyn, and..someone with blue hair? "Who is that?" "That's my little sister, Powder. You remember me talking about her right?" you did, Vi talked about her a lot. Though clearly she wasn't eleven anymore. "I do. You found her?" you asked, giving a small smile and wave towards Powder. She returned the gesture, moving to hold her elbows. "Yeah, that was a few years ago" Powder responded rocking slightly on her heels. "Vi told me a lot about you on the boat ride over. I have a lot to catch you up on." "We both do." Vi added on.

Caitlyn cleared her throat to gain everyone's attention before turning to you. "I wanted to apologize for taking Vi away from you. She had important information about something stolen from Piltover. I did try to get you both out, but-" "Caitlyn, right? As long as you didn't kiss Violet I'll say it's fine." that made her laugh a little, shaking her head. "I promise you I didn't. I wanted to say that both of you no longer have a criminal record, it has been wiped clean. And I wanted to give you this," Catilyn handed over a large pouch filled with money. You carefully took it, examining the pouch. It was a considerable sum, likely enough to rent an apartment in Piltover for a few months.

"Please take that as part of my apology. It should help the three of you find a good place to stay and keep food on the table. Whether you want to go back to the Undercity or move on to Piltover." "Thank you." You handed the pouch over to Vi who tucked the pouch into one of the pockets on her jacket. "Come on bun, we're going to find a place for the three of us. No one," she looked between you and Powder "is getting left behind ever again. Come on" she grabbed your hand and Powder's, walking towards the elevator. You followed along, pulling your hand away at the last second.

"Vi?" "Yes?" Vi responded, nervous for what may come next. "I love you." You said, pulling her in for a short, sweet kiss. Vi was quick to return it, pulling you onto the elevator where Powder was waiting.

"I love you too. Now let's go home"

[purplesoulcollection]

Unnatural Love

Part 13 Synopsis : Name has being transmigrated into the world of I'm Not That Kind Of Talent without ever reading the novel. She's not being reincarnated as a human but as a devil as well. Hi There! I want to let you know that this fanfiction story isn't solely my creation. I borrowed the concept from @quqiwo2. I haven't actually read the novel either, just some spoiler to the end.

I hope you'll excuse my spelling and grammar mistake, because English not my first language.

I can only stare at those notifications. My eyes and cheeks feel intensely burned because of the reason why I can complete these mission.

Finally I get it, all the skill finally be mine.

I feel like I am doing the biggest crime I ever done in my life. But I swear, this is only for the good use.

But, I actually didn't expect it be so good...

COUGH

So this is the good news for me. Yipee!

My love life with Deon finally get the smooth ride. I’m still shy about that fact, but finally I did it. Good job me!!!

And also after that,

Deon is actually being so needy for my affection. He practically begging me for my little smooch every time now.

He craves a warm hug, a kiss on the cheeks, a gentle peck on the forehead, and a sweet kiss on the lips every morning and evening. He'll pout until I provide him with the affection he desires.

He also sneakily kisses my neck to tickle me. So now, my daily way of getting back at him is to give his back a playful smack.

And he also no longer avoid my question, he finally proceed to answer my question.

"Is my look really strange for you? What's do you like? Human or devil form? I think you'll choose my human form right? "

"Adele, I didn't answer your question because I think you look beautiful in every side! "

"If that's your answer, why don't you answer me truthfully! I became to afraid to think that you only like my human who is more beautiful than devil so I have to use this camouflage continuously."

"I didn't answer because I think you look very conscious and insecure to your look. If I said I like the both form of you, you think I lied. Because you're practically obsessed with your human look. "

My mouth felt like it was sealed shut, and my heart ached as if it had been pierced by his heartfelt words. I lowered my gaze and shut my eyes, overwhelmed by the weight of my dark emotions.

He's correct. He doesn't misunderstand the situation. I feel the same way. I despise my demonic appearance more than anything. It's not a pleasant experience to feel like my soul is trapped in this devilish body. Looking in the mirror is something I can't quite put into words, so different.

So, my human form is truly my way out of my insecurities.

As I sink deeper into my endless cycle of overthinking, feeling completely overwhelmed, a gentle kiss on my nose brings me back to reality.

He leans his forehead against mine, and we gaze into each other's eyes from just a breath away. His face is so close to mine. His skin is flawless, free from any acne or blemishes. I can’t help but feel a twinge of envy; my skincare routine costs a fortune, while he has this natural glow.

Then, I find myself captivated by his bright red eyes, shining with a tender positivity that I desperately need. They are truly beautiful and so genuine, unlike those obvious colored contact lenses. Those unnatural colors are not what you’d expect to see on Earth.

And his lashes? They’re incredibly long—could he be the kind of slim, handsome prince straight out of a fairy tale? Because he is the one...

"You're done with your head? " The small question he ask make me snapped from my observation over him.

"Huh? " I blinked, not connected yet with his small question.

"Don't feel too insecure, Adele. You look beautiful no matter what. Even if you're having negative thoughts about yourself, I still see you as gorgeous woman"

I can sense the warmth of his breath as he speaks, making his words feel so sincere that they ground me in reality, make me thinking of myself in the earth.

"… What if I had a different appearance that you weren't aware of? Would you still think I'm pretty?" I'm grabbing his hand and he shifted our finger to be connected and then in the end he was grabbing it instead.

"Absolutely! Show me your other form, and I'll show you just how beautiful you are!" He said that confidently, his eyes stared right into me like he really want to prove it and didn't have a speck of lie.

"… I'm just joking, Deon. Do you really think I have the power to change into different shapes? But I get your point, Deon. Thanks for your kind words." In the end i have no courage to telling the truth now...

"So are you willing to pay my service, dear?"

Price, he's the one who has money between two of us.

"In what? "

"Your love?! "

"You already have my whole love. "

We giggled together and kiss in the end.

But

But there are the cons too after that.

Deon’s becoming more busy with his hero job, so we can't actually spend more time together.

Protect the kingdom from the devil's not so easy job.

But in the end, He finally tell the emperor about his decision to loyal to humanity. So I think the emperor is amused by Deon.

But that's not my concern right now.

My whole worry is after we did that, my worries clearly increased more than before. About Deon and my reluctant to leave him alone.

I... can't stay here.

I can't stay with Deon.

I also can't make Deon give up to side with human. It's the best for him only not to me...

I have to go home to my world too. The world I once knew and longed for.

But he himself also said it's because of me he try to became a good person... Is it will turn bad for him?

Is it possible that I can leave Deon here?

Leaving my love to return to my world? What if he jump right in tragedy again?

"Mrs. You're spacing out again." Someone's word make me realize that i only stare at the brown tea without drinking it. So aesthetic view to be lost in my thought.

"Remember?" I see him in the next to me. Standing graciously like the expert of etiquette.

"You didn't even drink your tea until it's already gone cold. " Remember make a gesture to let me see my cup of the tea again.

I look at my tea, didn't let out some smoke like earlier. Oh he's right. My tea already gone cold and became bitter. I put down my tea cup to the table before remember takes it.

"Are you worried about something?"

"No, I'm not worried about anything." Lie, obviously both he and I know it well.

But Remember having a suggestion for me, "Then don't you want to change your mood by going for a walk?"

"Going for a walk, without Deon?"

"Young master will coming back soon, I will send someone to be your tour guide temporarily." He convinced me in the end, I asked him who's his choice of his guide.

"He is a young man who has the ambition to become Young Master's assistant. He is very talented and works hard. I think he'll be match for your walk today. "

From his description, this young man really like a perfect example of the someone who will success and became rich in the future.

"There's a young man like that around Deon? Please send him. I want to meet him." I asked Remember and then change the clothes to be more casual.

"Let me introduce myself, my name is Dan." greeted a young man, who seemed quite serious and enthusiastic for his age. He's being brought to me after i changed my clothes.

"Miss, there's no need to be embarrassed with him, my impression of him is very good." Remember whispered to me. Probably to not to be heared by Dan.

Then I nodded before I finally stood in front of Dan.

"Nice to meet you, Dan. I'm Adele." I reached out my hand to shake his hand and he did the same.

"Nice to meet you, Miss."

"Let's go immediately." I finally lead the way to out from Deon's house to the carriage.

So the two of us went to town using a horse-drawn carriage. While waiting to get to town I asked Dan.

"Where do you come from."

"I come from a village not far from the empire."

"What's your village like?"

"My village is quite small, but everyone is quite familiar with each other."

"Why do you want to be Deon's assistant?"

"Because I admire Mr. Deon."

"Woah you're so cool, following someone and working hard to become great."

“This is nothing, madam.”

After we traveling to sightseeing, Finally we rest in the teahouse. I'll tell him to grab our tea before finally sit in the chair.

Pyuh, so tired to sightseeing. This world really need some technology to afford more sightseeing without required more energy.

And then Dan coming with the hot tea. He places the beautiful cup of tea in front of me. “Madam, did you the one whom make Mr. Deon stopped himself from being so ambitious to get the revenge?”

I'm a bit surprised to seeing his exceptional observation. Not everyone will notice it. I drink my tea first before answer that.

“You notice it? Is it that visible to you, Dan?"

“He didn't make the trouble and didn't get into the trouble, if he did he will stressed out already. His expression is also so stable and looks so happy with his life, opposite from his usual face who looks so dangerous and scary. And the most important point is his relationship with his brother is improved to be better, in the past if he see him he will have a bloodlust to him." He became a rapper to only finish that in one breath, so i applause him.

“Wow, Dan. You really have a good eyes to analyze everything. Yeah, you're right. He said himself that he want to change for me. I really glad if he can improve himself to be the better person. It's the sign that he wants to make a peace with his past and his mistake.”

And then his smiley face change to fast to a more angry one “So it's definitely you are the main reason of him not to becoming a disaster!"

Disaster, Why he mentions about disaster...

Thats the prophecy from spellcaster to Deon, why he know that?

Is that means, Dan wants to follow him as a disaster too?!

And then the chill of danger is stroking in my body, I have to get out from here...

But to late...

I already drink the tea he giving to me...

The effect had already done, I having a headache before i finally gone out in Dan eyes...

“What did you say?” Deon elevates his voice, conveying an even more frightening and suggestive anger. The intensity of his fury is unmistakable in Remember's eyes.

He cautiously said what he just said before. “Madam going with Dan at the morning earlier, young master.”

Deon press and scrape his face with his hands. He's so frustrated with this situation right now, is this his fault to not tell Remember about Dan? He didn't know his mistake could finally grow the fruit today.

“Remember, you make the wrong decision today. I will hold you accountable later!” And then he tells Remember to stay here and tell him to reflect his mistake.

“I understand, young master.”

After that he left Remember with his angry step, he was restless. Dan really believed that Deon would be a disaster, but Deon himself has decided to stop vengeful.

Dan who feels betrayed by his prophecy will certainly not miss the chance to disturb Deon's peace.

After all he's crazy himself to want to submit to disaster itself.

He have to find her as soon as possible. But he didn't have any clue where she is?

So who should he ask for help from?

To be Continued

[miaisocool]

Echoes of silence

Business man!Daemon Targaryen x College student reader!

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄: A very short chapter but as the story progresses it will get longer and more exciting i promise and props to @kymopoleiak for making me this collage please go follow her she is also working with me as i write the chapters. This is a chapter two to Succession in the city so if you haven't read that please go do so!! check it out i will provide a link below!

Chapter one: Succession in the city

Chapter summary: You discover yourself entangled in the intricate dance of hesitation. Your Heartbeat resonating with echoes of silence and opportunity as you prepare to take the initiative. You cant help but ponder what will this engagement of communication lead to opportunities or a chapter in your life writing itself away.

At brunch:

As you walked and talked with Mia, there was a sense of comfort held within her presence as she was your childhood friend well, not technically since you only met her your freshman year of high school. she also moved to los angeles to pursue her dream of going to college in california but she wasn't sure what to study. You talked about everything from work to relationships, the conversations you guys usually held between each other flowed easily there was never any awkward silence being held or grudges against each other.

Only the feeling of each others presence comforting the two of you there was a sense of vulnerability in you whenever it came to mia she was the friend who you would come to whenever there was something that you couldn't reveal to others she was the only one that had ever seen tears flowing from your eyes which was all so new to you since sadness was the one emotion you never truly expressed to anybody, not even yourself it was a rare occurrence whenever you would break down either due to stress, sadness or just bottled up emotions of holding everything in for so long.

The streets were filled with horns honking, shoes clacking against the pavement the cool breeze swept your hair into your face, you tucked it behind your ear with a thoughtless, practiced motion, as if you'd done it a thousand times before. Your high heels clacked against the concrete as you and mia walked to your favorite brunch spot that remind you of a similar brunch spot in new york,

During your junior year of high school where your ex boyfriend took you out for a first date you were young, vulnerable and thoughtless. He was whom and what your whole world revolved around you pushed all of your friends away to make room for him causing your social skills to go down although you were very social and a great conversationalist and just a good people person in general. You felt like you were bound to him, the late night phone conversations, talking about wedding plannings and how many kids you guys would have, where you guys would settle down and his answer was usually italy which was a answer you didn't agree with since california was your mission ever since you were a young girl you felt as if he was the only guy you could ever put your trust in.

Even years after the breakup there was slight tinges of heartbreak pulling on your heart strings as you still remembered the contact of his touch the way his calloused fingers from playing guitar for you until you fell asleep would graze up and down against your soft thighs the skin to skin hard and soft contact felt comforting to you, you guys were complete opposites but there was something that spiritually connected you guys together you couldn't remember his face though it was hard to get it out when your heart yearned for him.. But you were alone now not hopeless, alone, broken but you were free, alone, still young and truly yourself.

The restaurant was your comfort spot the warmth of the sun glazed on your face bringing out your dilated pupils as you thought of the man that came up to you in the coffee shop last week. The outside fan blowing a slight coldness to your face fighting against the sunny heat of california, dishes were clanking against each other as waiters were scurrying around the restaurant as if they were rats from ratatouille helping to serve the rush of customers that came in. The modern black leathered chairs bringing out the restaurants not very vibrant atmosphere gave you a weird tinge of discomfort people walking near you and mia as you guys sat down outside listening to the birds chirp and cars pass by. You felt a knot slowly untangle in your throat as you let words flow out your mouth "I mean.. i dont know.. should i call him?" you asked under your breath as you fiddled with the glass you were holding the question hung in the air until, mia took a sip of her water. Ice clinking against the glass and then she brought back the glass down to the table "i mean whats the worse that could happen?" she said nonchalantly. Mia was somewhat right whats the worse that could happen but what could go right and if it did end up going up right what would happen?

"I dont know.. im just scared"

"Of?"

"I dont know.."

"See? you dont even know whats holding you back," mia shook her head at you as she scrolled through her phone before putting it facing down on the table again

"Sometimes, it's easier to do nothing rather than put yourself out there," you whispered the words catching the back of your throat.

"Sometimes it's ok to be the first to reach out" mia gritted her teeth in frustration as her eyes drooped low in dissatisfaction

you nodded your head cause you knew she was right

You take out the business card from your wallet, and carefully dial the number into your phone, trying to steady your somewhat shaking hand. The ringing sounds of the phone echoes in your ear as you look and make eye contact with mia as she takes a spliff of her cigarette between her cherry tinted lipstick staining thumbing the print left by her lipstick as she dusts the idle ash as her eyes connected with yours with a mere look. You feel your heart beating fast as you await to hear someone's voice on the other end.

After what felt like an eternity, the seconds seem to stretch on for an eternity before someone finally answers, and you can hear the relief wash over you as you hear, "Thank you for calling Targaryen Law and associates you’ve reached Alexa how can i assist you today?” Her voice resonated with assurance, triggering a vivid flashback to your own days in customer service. Memories flooded back from when you were just 18, working at a local grocery store. You remembered the feeling of dread each time the phone rang, the pressure to handle customer inquiries. Alexa's composed demeanor stirred those long-buried recollections, reminding you of the challenges you once faced in a similar role you didn’t enjoy it but your coworkers that got along with you made you enjoy it. you had to make a living if you wanted to end up successful or not homeless at least.

With a deep breath, you manage to clear your throat and free it from the tense knot that had formed there. The echoes of the impatient silence you heard on the phone still ring in your ears, causing a dull ache deep within your chest. You feel as if the silence itself had taken physical form.

“Yeah hi this is kiara i was hoping to speak with Mr Targaryen? is he available by any chance?”

"I understand your urgency. Let me see if I can arrange a brief moment for you. Please hold for a moment while I try to get Mr. Targaryen on the line."

You place the phone away from you as you fiddled with it in with your right hand waiting for what you assumed to be his assistant or one of his employees to say a response back quickly as if you knew the next words that were going to come out her mouth but that was a lie you didn't know her at all you wanted to, you longed for the mystery everyone had.. the mystery the people in Los Angeles held in his aura peaked your curiosity.. You take a few deep breaths to release the tension from your shoulders. As you look up, the light from the sun reflecting off the glass buildings surrounding you blinds you for a moment. A cool gust of wind blows past, bringing in the smell of flowers and city life. The sounds of honking cars, people chatting, and the hum of the city surround you, but you feel disconnected from it all being seconds or minutes away daemons presence as you were being transferred right there and on the phone with you knowing you had to take initiative.

“Daemon Targaryen speaking.”

As you heard Daemon Targaryen’s, dominant voice, a palpable sense of authority washed over you sending adrenaline throughtout your heart slowly beating at a faster tempo his words, deep and commanding, resonated through the phone, leaving no room for uncertainty. You couldn’t help but feel a mixture of respect and awe, tinged with a hint of intimidation. It was as though his voice had a magnetic pull, drawing you into his sphere of influence. His confident tone left an indelible impression.

You found yourself in shock by the way his voice flowed through your ears, each word dripping with authority and confidence. It wasn’t just the words he spoke, but the cadence, the resonance that seemed to echo in the very core of your being his words resonating with every chord coming from the music that was blasting in the restaurant. In that moment, you realized you were not just hearing a voice…

you were experiencing a commanding presence that stirred something deep within you.

“Yeah hi this is kiara… you gave me you’re Business card last week in the coffee shop i’m not sure if you remember” In a moment of panic, you found your voice, though it trembled slightly, breaking the silence that followed his powerful presence although he was over the phone and had no physical contact with you showed you how vulnerable you could be in his presence.

“Ah yes kiara i remember you, i gave you my card since i knew once how it was to be working on those weird marketing projects”

His voice had a magnetic pull, echoing into your ears It was a voice of empathy and softness, yet there was still an underlying intensity to it, as if it was trying to hold back the strength of his power. It was a voice that commanded attention and respect, yet it was also a voice that invited tenderness and compassion.

“yeah… studying marketing is weird.. it’s just that i’m struggling with it you know?”

You felt like there was barbed wires wrapped around your throat as words left your tongue when you made contact with the man who had higher power, held such a confident demeanor over you which is what possibly could’ve attracted you to call him he wasn’t ordinary like everyone else but he carried this mystery about his self and it felt like you had the opportunity to break his skin open and crawl inside his body confronting every secret he was hiding the mysteries or grudges he held against the strangers he would come across the interactions he had with a object or just a human in general made your mind wander with curiousity.

“Im available tomorrow since all my meetings were canceled due to.. god knows what.”

 his voice was like thunder sharp and commanding a touch of amusement in it, a glimmer of light that made you feel like you were the most important person in the world. His words held power, but there was a playful note in his voice, as if he were letting you in on a secret that nobody else ever had their ears opened to.

“My companys address is on the back of the card how does three pm work for you?” His deepened voice that sounded like silk against your touch intensified with curiosity that had peaked

“uh… yeah! i can meet that time at three pm tomorrow” You said overlapping the noise of the resturants music so mia could hear you. You couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement as mias eyes widened in surprise and her lips curves into a smile as she patted you on the forearm, her actions bringing back all of your senses as the man’s voice of authority and confidence had blocked out everything from the world and made you feel like there was nothing else in the world except his presence or yours. The thought made your heart race with anticipation. It was a feeling that was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time

“I’m glad to hear that, tomorrow give me a call when you’re here” It was a voice that demanded attention, and you were powerless to resist.

His voice combined with that sentence sent adrenaline to coarse throughout your veins. slowly coming back to your senses as you take a look at the brunch spot you guys had been at for the past hour and a half the aromas of cooked foods such as eggs, toast, sausages and variety’s of different lunch and breakfast sandwiches.

The not so vibrant interior comforting your skin as you made contact with it slowly turning into a cozy sense of home the home you had back in new york the warmth of the sunlight beaming off of the windows onto your face showing all of your features to your dilated pupils and exposed pores, porcelain skin.

Unfortunately the brunch spot wasn’t in a quiet neighborhood away from the city unlike the other spots you were used to in new york you could hear horns honking the sounds of people chattering and laughing somewhat muffling the conversation you held with mia and the conversation you held not too long ago with the man.. Daemon..

Daemon targaryen

You remembered from his card that he previously handed to you

The brunch spot was perfect for chatting and enjoying the presence of loved ones.

Perhaps even daemon.

if you dared to allow yourself the possibility. But deep down, you knew that was your delusions getting to you. It was best not to set yourself up for disappointment, to keep a clear head and enjoy the moment for what it was nothing more, nothing less. As you sat there, you let out a deep breath, watching the steam rise from your lips and melt into the air around you. For now, you were content to simply relax and let the world pass you by, taking comfort in the knowledge that, in this moment, everything was exactly where it should be.

[utilitycaster]

I haven't seen WBN, so I can't comment on the comparison, but on the subject of Liliana, one of my favorite parts of last night was how Matt anwsered Fearne's question about how Liliana got involved with Ludinus. The whole scene with Liliana was stellar, but that answer made it so clear that is she is in a cult. The way Ludinus found her while she was unsure and looking for answers, mentored her, and showed her the "truth" about Predathos is a classic cult recruitment story. And her reasonings for staying in the cult after having recognizing some of its faults also rang true. She needs to "protect the children", the methods are wrong but the "truth" at the heart of their mission is right, the us vs. them mentality and fear of the exandrian authorities, etc. And I can see how that can make her sympathetic. She was taken in and conditioned by a charismatic, powerful leader. But Matt and the others have also made it clear, including in that scene, that she is complicit, and that the pcs at least recognize that her guilt does not absolve her. The members of the Manson Family who committed the Tate Murders may have been indoctrinated by Charles Manson, but they still killed 5 people in an incredibly grusome manner. The fact that they were following orders doesn't absolve them of their crime. And historically, cult leadership (which Liliana seems to be) who attempt to "fix" a cult either don't make any meanful change, or actually make it worse. I, at least, am very curious to see what will have happened in that regard when she next shows up. In short, people need to learn about nuance, and maybe sociology, and the Liliana scene was fantastic.

Hello anon. Are you spying on my Discord messages. This is not an accusation but I literally brought up the Manson Family there in discussion of how a lot of the WBN fandom in that like, people see wizards of the citadel (rightfully) as The War-Mongering Establishment, but forget that actually, there exist plenty of counterculture groups that also suck and just bc the US Government does horrible things doesn't mean the Manson Family doesn't. What if the Citadel AND a lot of Witches fucking sucked.*

To get back to Critical Role though, YEAH the Vanguard has been hitting every single aspect of a cult, and look. I get that the best way to get people irl out of a cult is to just be present for them when they decide to leave and not cut them off (the same is true for how to help people in abusive relationships) but also once they start murdering I feel that is no longer the move. The Liliana scene made me deeply uncomfortable and unsettled in the best way, namely, I knew they were talking to a cult member who is in too deep for them to get her out right now, and who has done terrible things to innocent people in service to that cult. Which brings me back to the first paragraph: a very true twist on "what if both sides of a conflict sucked" is "what if the victim of a system can still perpetuate the harm of a system onto others". (Also, if we want to throw Midst into the list of things where people have no-nuance no-sociology takes, and talk more about Steel? "what if someone with power within a system can still be a victim thereof."

Like, that is a really consistent set of issues in media analysis, actually. There's a lot of "this is the good side, and this is the bad side," and "this is a victim, and this is a perpetrator" and no understanding of "both sides are bad (or even complicated)" and "wow it's almost like the way systems and especially cults keep running is because everyone except the very top is to an extent a victim, but also everyone is a perpetrator." Very few people are unfettered evildoers doing it just for kicks. You can have sympathy for Liliana and also acknowledge that it's pretty valid for Orym to have no room for that sympathy. Traumatized and manipulated people can still be shitty people.

*I'm neutral-to-faint-positive on Suvi/Ame as a ship but actually "wow both our establishments really suck, how can we make something better together" is a great basis for a ship and "oh my god no witches are perfect and right and wizards are Bad and Wrong you're so correct about everything" is a dogshit basis for a ship which I think is worth highlighting given that we are in fandom spaces here although I may come to regret this when I'm sober.

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

I need to insert my rsv pookies everywhere and since you can finish the main storyline with the spirit world and stuff pretty early in the game, in my mind farmer gets them to collaborate with the expanded adventurers and vice versa. I'm sure there would be ways to convince the heads of each organization, be it Belinda and Rae, Camilla and Magnus, or Marlon and Lance. Magnus has already worked with the ninjas in the past so it's not like they don't know of each other's presence. It could be done since they all want to defeat the evil forces threatening the balance, only maybe using different means. Farmer could act as a mediator, perhaps, and everyone could participate in different kinds of missions depending on what they are.

I know the two storylines will never intersect but a girl can dream 😭😭 In my mind they could be curious about each other and end up with some interesting fun group and even couple dynamics.

Imagine Jio stuck with Isaac on outpost duty. The vibes would be so rancid I just know it lmao. Those two grumpy idiots do NOT trust each other despite their bosses telling them to work together and collaborate. And Daia would love the Highlands, she'd sneak into the diamond cave and take samples for her geology studies, yes, but if she sneaks a couple of diamonds here and there to gift to her besties at Ridgeside... no one's going to stop her 😘✨️ I can also imagine Alesia shocked over the fact that one member of the cult is a trained assassin and a literal CHILD. When she sees her skills on the battlefield she's impressed but still can't help but worry.

Idk Mouse I'm going crazy lmao. Hades2 updated a couple days ago and I haven't even touched it because these idiots have me in a chokehold 😂

Yes, yes, yes! YES!

I've definitely written previously about the relationship between adventurers and mages with cult members, but it's mostly been either an unspoken truce/unwillingness to provoke conflict, or the two groups distrusting each other. As for the almost official co-operation, that's a cool idea, and has huge potential to be both serious fic and crack, hee hee~ 😁 Especially if Isaac and Jio are in the same place, you're so right.

Camilla and Belinda definitely had a past together, and I like to think of them as frenemies - different views on "best for the world" but both very strong, stubborn, and respectful of each other. Daia, with her interest in rocks and gems, would definitely be happy to travel with Lance and do some territory training (and teasing, heh). Alesia would begin to doubt that co-operating with the cult was a good idea, because... a child assassin... was beyond her comprehension. Though has a deep respect for Helen, even if she doesn't always agree with the Cult's methods. Jadu will run after a squeaky Kiwi in order to question the unusual Junimo (until shurikens fly in his direction, lol).

And then there's Jio and Isaac... Oh, that's a separate story. Constant arguments, reaching serious fights, when both sides need to separate these hotheads, complaints that each of them "coped with problems on their own, without outside help". Well, and then - my favorite part - there's the unforeseen circumstances that still made the noxious elf and the equally noxious adventurer work together, and they made a pretty good team. I even thought about starting some sort of romantic relationship, but I don't think it's going to go any further than a crack ship. Buuuuut, I said the same thing for Lance/Isaac... 👀

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

Update on the Arcane mission. I haven't had anybody really step up and say "I wanna habe Arcane friends," and so I decided to try to give this show another go, to figure out where I would personally land in fandom business.

I didn't fall asleep this time and have currently made it about half way through episode 5. So far, I don't give a shit about any of these people. It was sad when the lil' crew of bottom down people died, but I haven't had any attachments formed, though the wee baby Ekko is probably currently the only one in the running for my emotions.

Actually, I'm liking that skinny one-eyed fella. This is my kinda "villain." One with both rage and also some sense. Sevika is my close third.

I am definitely not a Jinx girlie. It makes no sense for smart people to keep bringing her bumbling ass to missions that need precision. She need to take a page outta that one dude on the statue book and just show folk how to do stuff.

And so far, Mel might be lovely, but nothing has happened that I care about her neither. At this current place in the journey, I could see why she hasn't gotten much fans. The creators gave us nothing but an impeccable design. I'm waiting to be gagged.

Vi is the most relatable person for me, but that's not to say that I like her or care about her necessarily. More like I think she's had the most opportunity for us to see different sides of herself and understand her more than a lot of these others who don't have as much story at this point.

Jayce is alright. Victor is mid. I have not yet seen whatever it is the girlies see in either or both of them.

RIP to ol'boy from the bar. Vance? Van? Chile, whatever they daddy name was. He was nice. You knew he'd die from the moment he showed up though. It was simply right there that this would happen.

Who else I done seen... Caitlin. Snoring boring. Actually around where I paused my watch mission to go to bed. Idk if I'm resuming when I get off work in the morning, but I'll resume at some point. This is the furthest I've ever gotten watching this, but now I think that I get why: because nobody grabbed my attention or appreciation and that's one of my things.

[the-blissful-one]

Moana 2

Watched moana 2 with my friend today, and it was better than I expected. Also, in Europe, it's called Viana.

It was rather fast paced and the songs weren't as good as the first one- not bad by any means. But the start of the movie have songs pretty close to each other and then after that- barely anything.

But I did like the direction the movie went with the moral and the importance of family and relationship. Because hollywood and disney have focused so much on strong, independent women but they make them either 1) just having the toxic traits of what is stereotypical fictional male behavior 2) they always choose a path that leaves them distances from their close ones.

I love movies that are more of the found family trope and shows the character go through some shit, but they end up with a bunch of rag-tag people that cares about each other.

It was nice to see that she see needed to solve the main problem, but couldn't do it without her friend and family. I really liked to see that. And it was a surprised to see it come from disney- since we all know that disney haven't been the best in a few years. This just shows that they can make watchable movies if they just put their hearts into it.

It was fast paced, but I think that is kind of the usual thing with sequels. They need to fit characters from the first movie into the new story all the same when they are introducing new characters and plot lines.

I generally didn't think the little sister needed to be there...she's ok as a comic relief in my book. But I felt they just added her, so it would be a bigger internal struggle for viana to leave again. I mean, she did leave her island in the first movie and making her having his struggle in the second movie wouldn't have worked if she had the same amount of family members. But the lil sis wasn't that much of character in the movie...it was more a replacement for the grandmother in terms of emotional well being for viana and again, internal struggle.

I also felt like each small situation our main cast was put through got solved a little to quick. It kind of reminded me of that Gravity movie with Sandra Bullock. Like, she gets out through small situation that needs to be solved before she can do the most important thing- the mission. In Viana- it was finding a crew, then the clam (but that got solved by that bat lady) and then it was the storm and building a new boat (which she didn't even participate in) and then it the final battle. I guess it was a little bit too on the nose for me...since they used it as tool for Viana's and the others growth through the movie. Nothing was between the lines (which I tend to like more). Like, she gets started on a deserted island. One team mate almost dies...but viana doesn't 't talk directly to him about it. She talks to Maui about how she can't complete the mission and be a leader, but when it's over....they have built up the raft, the dude that almost got killed is just fine and she hasn't really done anything for them. I kind of wished we could see her grow thought interaction with them all and bonding more through their shared experience while it was happening.

They did have funny moments, but the jokes were a again, a little too one the nose. But hey, its a family movie..not going to be too critical here. You can also watch it without having seen the first one.

Recommend to watch. Good to see Disney putting out some good suff, because god has it been a long time. I had a good time, but of course there are things i wished could be different. They did also tease a number three, but well....im not as excited for that one right now. I'll probs see it, but i hope they don't stretch the story too far. It's a limit with what they can do with the characters and it still be good.

[xenonsreturn]

In Another Life

A short story of Garrus Vakarian and Commander Shepard

I need to do . . . something. I need to get out of here. If I stay in the battery any longer, I think I'm going to explode. Why does this room have to be so damn small?

But where the hell am I going to go? No matter where I go, I have to bring my head with me. What I really need is to get out of my head.

Where is this coming from? I've been doing fine . . . well, as fine as any turian on a suicide mission can do. But now, I can't seem to think straight. I'm nervous. Which is new for me. I can't concentrate on my calibrations and they seem to go on forever. I find myself pacing. There's a buzzing all over my skin. Maybe I'm sick. I could go see Dr Chakwas . . . no. Bad idea. She'd remove me from duty – or worse, give me medicine.

I'm heading for the mess. Maybe just having something in my stomachs will help me settle down.

When did this start, anyway? Hmm. Illium. No, it was after that. Hell, I don't know. I know I was fine when Shepard and I tracked down Sedonis. I still wonder whether I could have taken the shot. Is that what's bothering me?

No, that's not it. Even if I could have, I saw what Shepard was doing. She didn't want me to take it. Saving me from myself, she said. Hmm. She's done that a couple times now. She's always trying to pull me back. I don't know why she cares so much. It's really irritating.

Still, I have to admit, I make better choices when she's around. And when she's not – well, I turn into Archangel. It's a lot easier to be Archangel, but . . . well, I feel stronger, somehow, here on the Normandy. And it's good to have some familiar faces around sometimes. Joker. Tali. Even Liara for a bit there. Shepard, of course. I probably have more in common with her than anyone else on the ship. Hell, than anyone else in my life. I liked it when she used to come down and talk, before Liara came back. Somehow, she made the battery feel a little larger, even though there were two of us in that tiny space. But now, she and Liara are back together, and she hasn't been around since, and I -

Oh.

Oh, damnation.

How did I not see this happening? And now it's too late, isn't it?

I thought – I guess I thought . . . that she . . . maybe . . . ah, hell.

Can I go back to not knowing what's bothering me? That was better than this.

Great. Now I'm talking to myself. Or hearing voices in my head. Whatever. But I'm right. I can't go into hiding – not from myself. I turn around and get a seat at the end of an empty table.

I'm going back to the battery. I need . . . cover. I do not want company right now. No, Garrus, dammit, you're going to the mess!

I'm not alone long, however. Tali shows up. Great.

"Is this seat taken?" She asks – then, without waiting for a reply, she sits down anyway.

"Uhh . . ." I look the length of the empty table. "Doesn't look like it." None of the other seats are taken, either – why don't you try that one way over there?

She just looks at me. Well, at least I think that's what she's doing. That damn mask makes her hard to read. Actually, come to think of it, I wish I had a mask. Lucky lady.

"What are you having?" She asks.

I pretend to be relaxed. I am sure I suck at it. "I don't know. Whatever Rupert's serving that won't kill me, I guess."

Tali chuckles. "Well, whatever won't kill you, won't kill me, either. Let's split an order."

So much for no company. Back to the battery, I guess. "Actually, I'm not hungry after all," I say, and start to get up.

With surprising speed, Tali reaches across the table and grabs my wrist. Not only is she fast, she's strong. In spite of my shock, I have to admit, I'm impressed.

"Don't. Go. Anywhere. Garrus."

Well, this is . . . unwelcome. I slowly sit back down. I have a bad feeling about this.

"You've been acting . . . strange, Garrus. Distracted."

This is worse than I thought. People can tell.

"Ah, I don't think – "

Tali cuts me off. "Don't deny it. You haven't been yourself since we left Hagalaz."

"Well – "

"I've seen you pacing."

"No, I – "

"Your aim was off on the last mission."

Okay, that's too much. "Now, wait just one goddamn minute – "

She sighs. "Garrus, calm down. It's obvious you've got some knot you're trying to untie, and we feel – "

"WE?" This day just keeps getting worse and worse. "Who's we?"

"Oh, you know, Miranda, Jack, Samara, Chakwas, Gabby."

Just when I think I've hit bottom. At least Shepard's not on the list. And -

"Not Kelly?"

"No, not Kelly. I know it's her job, but . . . well, quite frankly, none of us can stand her."

I don't understand that at all, but I'm really beyond caring at this point.

"Look, Garrus, we just want to help."

Help. Fantastic. Not only can people tell, not only are they talking about it, now they want to help. I'm Archangel, goddamn it.

"Tali. Go hack some other project. Right. Now."

I stare into that mask. She seems to stare back for a moment, then shrugs and stands up. "Fine. I tried. Chakwas said you'd do this." She turns away, but then turns back and says, "Take care of it yourself, then, Garrus. Good luck with that. You need it."

I just look at her until she's gone. I wish I could take some satisfaction in hurting her feelings, but it's clear that she's not hurt. She's just pissed. And also, well, I don't want to hurt her, not really. She's a good person on the team. I like her. It's just . . . don't go trying to get under my skin like that! You're not invited!

"So – " A voice right next to me. I look up and Rupert is standing there.

"What do you want?" I growl. I am kind of pleased that he backs up a step.

"Uh, that's what I was going to ask you, Garrus," he says, a little breathlessly. He holds out the day's menu. "What do you want?"

I take it out of his hands. "Just . . . give me something that will kill me."

It has not been a good day.

Back in the battery. I am, in fact, hiding. I don't want to go out there. Where they know. I just wish, in here, I didn't know. I must have been blind. And now, I wish I still was.

I look around the little space. I don't have much of mine here. Because I don't have much that's mine. I never thought about it, never thought I was missing anything, but right now, I do. Damn, do I.

At my terminal, there's my dad's old insignia from the fleet. I wonder, did dad ever have to deal with this sort of thing? I can't imagine it. But then, we were always so different. He had discipline. I have . . . what? Lack thereof, I guess. I can't help but rush in . . . and maybe that's why I feel this way. If he could have felt something like this, Dad would have damped it down. But I can't. Not anymore.

The only other time . . . well, there she is. Her dog tags hang next to Dad's insignia. Scout Lidia Misuraca. I wish I didn't have these tags. Because that would mean she'd still be alive. She might have been halfway across the galaxy – hell, she might even be fighting us; we are with Cerberus, after all – but she'd be living. I've run it through my head a thousand times and I still don't know if there was anything different I could have done during that raid, something that might have saved her life – but I still wonder. And maybe that's why I'm out here now.

And maybe she's not all. I take off my visor and run my finger over the ten names carved in the frame. Yeah. I had a team. Good people. And now they're all dead. Because of me. Maybe that's another reason I'm in here – because everyone I touch, dies. It's safer. For them. For me.

I look at the message on the terminal screen. Took me nearly an hour to write it.

Commander,

When you have a moment, I have something I need to discuss with you.

- Garrus

Am I giving too much away? My finger hovers over the 'send' key. Do I dare? And then I realize, it's the only way through this. I hit the key.

I am surprised by the fact that I actually feel some small measure of relief. We're out of the holding pattern now, I guess. I took action – just a little, but enough to set . . . something . . . in motion. I don't know if it's the best thing, but at least it's something. And what the hell am I hoping for anyway? I know she's with Liara. There's nothing that will change that. Maybe if I'd said something earlier, before Illium . . . ah, but I didn't know then, did I? Dammit. And anyway, Liara makes Shepard happy. Who am I to stand in the way of that?

But don't you deserve some happiness, too, Garrus? It's odd, but I hear Shepard's voice asking this question. Do I? I don't know. Ask me most days, I'd say…no. I don't deserve it. But when we're together, maybe I feel like I do. Maybe because she's always seen the best in me. So maybe I do deserve some happiness – but just because I might deserve it, doesn't mean I get it. The galaxy is a cold, cold place. It doesn't care what we deserve. It doesn't care for justice. It's just dark. And I guess it's up to us to be the stars, to hold against the darkness. That's what I strive for. And in a different way, so does Shepard. Different, but . . . well, I guess I had an idea that maybe we were just same enough to have some overlap, maybe enough common ground to build . . . something more than this.

And now she could be on her way down here. Right now.

The reality of this hits me like a . . . well, like a missile to the face. Suddenly, I need to get out again. Cursing my stupid finger that sent the message, I make for the door, but before I get there, it opens.

Shepard.

Ah, hell. Here we go. "Ah, Shepard. Guess you, ah, got my message."

Her eyebrows arch. "What message?"

She came down here just to see me, just to talk with me. I feel torn between two emotions – elation, and it's about fucking time.

"Ah, never mind," I say, hoping my voice sounds steady. I'm surprised that it does. "Just something I wanted to talk to you about, but it can wait. What brings you down here?" Because it's been awhile.

"Okay, yeah," she says. "I want to know if you have any contacts that can keep an eye on Hagalaz for me. I know Liara's capable, but . . ." She trails off, and I can see the concern on her face.

"You want a couple extra eyes watching her back," I say, without even thinking about it. Of course she does.

She smiles. "Yeah, something like that."

I love her smile. I hate how much I love her smile. "I know of three guys off the top of my head – one from my days at C-Sec who became a freelance mercenary, and two I know from Omega. All three will do the job for money. But they're good. And once they commit, they'll see it through." I see the relief in her face, in her posture. "I'll send their contact information to your terminal." I want to throw myself out the nearest airlock. But really, what the hell else am I going to do? Deny her help? That's not in me, not for her.

"Thanks, Garrus." She pauses. "How you been? I feel like I haven't been down here in ages."

That's because you haven't. "Well," I say, "you've been pretty busy. No problem, though – you always know where to find me."

She leans up against the door jamb. "Yeah, but I've missed you, Garrus. Things have been . . . well, crazier than usual, but I miss coming down here, hanging out with you."

She is actually killing me.

"I mean, hell," she goes on. "With almost everyone else, I'm Commander Shepard – Savior of the Citadel. It's really . . . annoying." She smirks. "But you know, we've worked together for a while now. It's good talking to someone I know. Someone I trust. There's a hell of a lot less of that in the galaxy than there ought to be."

"Yeah," I say, because I can't think of anything else to say. And then, I find myself saying, "Shepard, you know what we need? We need a bar on this goddamn ship."

She laughs. "Hell, yes! That's a great idea, Garrus!" She looks towards my footlocker. "Hey, that reminds me, you got any of that Batarian ale left?"

I grin. I'm actually starting to relax a bit. She always does that to me. And she's the only one. "Yeah, I might have a couple bottles left."

I get out the bottles and pop the tops with my talon. She was so impressed the first time I did that.

"Cheers," she says as I hand her one. She tips the bottle back in my direction.

I return the gesture. "Cheers to you, Shepard," I say.

"Garrus, when we're off duty, just call me Hera. We've known each other long enough for that." I do not show how much what she just said means to me.

"Okay, Hera," I say, trying the name out. We both tip the ale back. It burns a bit, but man, the flavor is fantastic. It really lingers.

And then, as she lowers the bottle, I catch a . . . tightening in her face. Like a shadow passing over. And I'm not the smartest man alive, but I know where it came from. I could ignore it . . . ah, hell, no I can't. "So, Comm- ah, Hera. You and Liara? You've . . . worked things out?"

She looks at me, the smirk reappearing from the shadow. "You know me too well. You know that, Garrus?"

If it wasn't for the smirk, I'd change the subject. "Well, maybe I do," I say instead.

"Yeah. Yes," she says. "We have worked things out. Very . . . thoroughly."

I kind of want to die right now.

She sighs. "But it just means I'm going to miss her all over again."

And for a moment, my heart breaks a little – not for me, but for her. I don't know what to say, but I come up with, "Yeah, but it's good to have someone to miss. Someone you know you'll be coming back to. It's a good thing . . . a good thing to see."

I glance at my terminal, and I think of the only other one who ever was close to me. And now . . .

She clears her throat. "Yeah, Garrus. You're right. You're right. It is good. Thanks." I turn to see her smiling at me, but her eyes, well, human eyes, you can tell when there's something going on behind them. And I realize, I've just seen her, hurting for Liara, and she's just seen me, hurting for Lidia. The fact that we saw each other in this moment lightens my heart. I feel . . . bold.

"Anyway, Garrus," she says, breaking our gaze. "You said you sent me a message?"

Ah, crap.

"It's nothing, really, I'm just . . ." I set my bottle down and look at her. "You know, I work pretty well alone. I can go where I want, do what I want, when I want – I have focus. No distractions. Just the job. I don't need much. And it's good - I think, working that way, I make some small difference in the Galaxy."

"A lot more than that, Garrus."

I shrug, even though I'm touched by the compliment. "Maybe. But sometimes . . . well, I like to see what you and Liara have. And sometimes, I think, maybe I'd like something like that, too."

She smiles. "Thanks, Garrus. It's good. It is. But you know, it's also . . . complicated." She takes a breath. "Boy, that word doesn't even cover it. I died. She almost became . . . someone else. And both of us thought the other had moved on. When I think about it, I'm amazed we managed to find the space together." She chuckles. "It's really a mess!" She looks at me. "Who knows, maybe you're the lucky one."

"Huh, maybe." I don't feel lucky.

She raises her eyebrows.

I suddenly can't face her and turn away. "I'm glad for you, though. It's a . . . good mess. I never thought I'd say this, but maybe sometimes a mess is better. But for me, well . . . there's no one . . . available. And that's my fault. I don't really know how . . . I spend so much energy keeping people at arm's length – "

She interrupts. "Well, that's certainly saying something."

I turn back see her looking at my arms. I can't help but feel a little thrill go up my spine. "Yeah, I guess it is." I chuckle. How does she do this, make me talk when I just want to shut up? "But maybe I don't do enough to let people in. I just – well, sometimes I feel like I'm alone in the whole damn galaxy. I've been thinking about it a lot lately – maybe I'm a poorer man for that . . . I don't know, maybe I'm just getting old, thinking of where I might be down the relay." I start to feel like I'm saying too much, like I've already said too much. I want to change the subject. "Hell, I don't know why I bother thinking about this. We're not likely to survive this mission anyway."

But – typical Shepard – she won't let it go. "But you are thinking about it."

"Yeah." Dammit. "Yeah, I am." And then I look at her, and I see her being, well, who she is. For me. "Thanks, Shepard. There isn't really anyone else I'd want to talk to about this." And then it hits me, and my boldness returns. She deserves to know the truth. I step right up to her. "You know what I was saying about arm's length? Well, there's not many who've managed to get beyond that. In fact, ah, there's just one. It's good to have someone I can . . . trust." I take a breath and look her right in the eye. "It's you, Shepard. I'm a better man because of you. And I . . . I just . . ."

The words fail me, right when I need them the most.

I see her face soften, suddenly, and I know she knows. She understands.

I can't stand it. I turn my back on her. "Ah, never mind."

I feel her hands on me as she turns me back around. "Hey."

I look right at her. I am certain everything I'm feeling is plain upon my scarred face.

She rests her hands on my shoulders, and I see a thousand emotions playing across her face. "Garrus, I want you to know something. I trust you, too. I don't make a habit of that. And I don't let people get close to me easily or often, either." She pauses. "In this life, you and I are . . . .what we are. And I'm thankful for that." She nods. "But in another life . . ." She looks right into my eyes. "Garrus, yes. Yes."

I can feel something loosen in my chest. I know what she's saying, and although it kills me, I feel a surge of warmth throughout my whole body. She cares, she really does. It's not perfect, it's not the same thing I feel, but . . . I am important to her. I nod, and then I feel a real smile cross my face. "Hearing you say that . . . in this life . . . is . . . almost as good. Almost as good as another life."

[bloodgulchblog]

WHAT HAPPENS IN HALO: OUTCASTS, ZITA?

Hot damn, I haven't done one of these in a while.

Let me get this written down for you while it's still fresh...

(As usual: I cannot guarantee I present events that are happening in the same time in different places in the order the book does, but I do promise the gist of the thing)

Outcasts happens in November of 2559, which is after the destruction of Doisac and before the events of Halo Infinite begin.

Cortana's forces are occupying Sanghelios and attempting to police the population, which makes the Arbiter's position suck out loud: he can't directly confront Cortana without winding up in the same position as Atriox with Doisac. The Sangheili have been trying to figure out what to do without Cortana finding out about any of their plans.

There are also some humans on Sanghelios, among them Spartan Olympia Vale. Vale has become a personal friend to the Arbiter in addition to an important diplomatic contact. (She is pre-emptively sad about how bad it's gonna turn out once the Arbiter finds out the extent to which ONI has fucked him over over the years, but also: Thel actually knows more than she thinks he does and that's kind of fun.)

Anyway.

After a very tense traffic stop by some of Cortana's troops on his way back from a big important Kaidon meeting (this is the part that N'tho 'Sraom and Usze 'Taham are around for), Thel has a vistor: an Oath Warden named Crei 'Ayomuu. Oath Wardens are hired guns who enforce contracts, either by scaring the noncompliant party into following through on their end, or by bringing back their head. This is considered highly dishonorable work and nobody likes Oath Wardens. Thel is not a fan either.

'Ayomuu, however, is here because he has some important information about the contract he is pursuing: a human xenoarchaeologist (Keely Iyuska) who specializes in pre-Forerunner civilizations (or, you know, what trace scraps of those exist) agreed, in exchange for funding, to give 'Ayomuu's client first pick of whatever she finds on a planet the Sangheili call N'ba.

To make a long story short, N'ba is what we would remember as Netherop from Halo: Oblivion. It is a miserable desert world that did have evidence of weird alien technology, but nothing too earth-shattering.

...But the evidence also suggests something far, far more important might be on Netherop: A weapon. A powerful, ancient weapon that once was used to kill a Guardian.

It is, obviously, very important that this not fall into the wrong hands. Cortana is also actively hunting for this human, and Cortana's hands would absolutely be the wrong ones.

It's time to get over working with an Oath Warden and get on the case.

Meanwhile, Vale is also finding out about this elsewhere. She's hearing it straight from the horse's mouth, because Iyuska is an old university acquaintance and is reaching out to Vale for help because ONI may be in fucking shambles after Cortana destroyed Bravo-6, but there are enough pieces still working and she knows Vale still has contacts. And they prrrrooooobably should not let Iyuska's client (or anyone) get their hands on this thing she is pretty sure she's discovered.

Vale agrees, and they set off to the one planet you know makes it a Troy Denning Halo novel: Gao.

In Oblivion the UNSC found a pack of feral children (the descendents of space pirates) on Netherop and those children wound up founding a settlement somewhere in the jungle on Gao. Vale wants to find someone who has been to Netherop before to advise on this mission. She and Iyuska make their way in by pretending to be medical researchers investigating a new prion disease that is infecting people on Gao. (That part is happening on Gao, by the way.) The cover falls apart pretty quick because the locals are deeply suspicious and because Vale is.... a Spartan-IV out of armor, and that shit is kind of obvious.

Luckily things don't turn to violence, though, because they are broken up by Rosa Fuertes. This is the character we knew in Oblivion as local Netherop feral youth leader Roselle. (She changed her name to try to avoid ONI tracking her or something and... honey... you are gonna have to try a lot harder than that.) She was like 20 in Oblivion so now she's like 50, and is herself wasting away from the prion disease. She agrees to go with Vale and Iyuska to help with whatever they're doing, but on the condition that ONI continues to leave her family the fuck alone.

Meanwhile, the Arbiter has snuck off Sanghelios (leaving his most trusted guys to cover for him and pretend he's home for as long as possible to throw Cortana's surveillance off the scent) and gone to Netherop. He has some help from two kaidons for this endeavor: 'Talot and Varo'dai. 'Talot is an old ally of 'Vadam and pretty traditional. Varo'dai is a lot more interesting: She (yes she) originally came from Saepon'kal.

This is some Shit No One Remembers Halo lore, so here's the tl;dr: The first time we ever heard of a NOVA bomb (you know, a planet cracker) was the time in First Strike where Admiral Whitcomb left one as bait for the Covenant to find. The Covenant, not knowing what it was, took it back with them to a fleet rally point. In Ghosts of Onyx, a Huragok accidentally set the bomb off by poking at it to trying to figure it out. This blew up most of that particular Covenant fleet, and there was much rejoicing.

...The planet this happened over was the Sangheili colony world of Saepon'kal. The damage from that big of an explosion shattered the moon and soon enough rendered the surface of the planet uninhabitable.

Varo'dai is kaidon of a new colony world, because she was instrumental to saving tens of thousands of Sangheili. She's a very cool character concept, I kinda wish we saw more of her, but by god if you want an excuse to think about cool Sangheili women you've got her and her handpicked all-female rangers who turn out to be some of the most competent people in the book. (Again, don't get your hopes up too much, they're just kinda there as set dressing. Varo'dai gets to be cool occasionally, but her rangers are the most characterless side characters and please do not buy this book just for the lacroix water flavor of Sangheili women being cool. I just... feel compelled to point out that this is the closest we are probably ever gonna get to Sangheili lesbians.)

Honestly, she's mostly there so we have an excuse to see the Arbiter tell off 'Talot for not treating her with respect because Thel 'Vadam confirmed feminist king.

The Arbiter's party makes it down onto Netherop first and encounters.... another returning Oblivion character: Lieutenant Commander Petrov.

Petrov and a handful of her soldiers were marooned on Netherop at the end of Oblivion because Roselle sabotaged her in order to ensure that Roselle and her gang of feral youths would get to leave the planet instead.

Petrov has, over the last thirty years, made this situation completely fucking insane and on the one hand it's so stupid that my disbelief can't handle it, but on the other hand it's kind of amazing? Petrov's people have continued to fight the war with the Covenant, but on Netherop "the Covenant" is just a literal handful of Sangheili holed up in the tel (ruins of an ancient alien underground city) with the ancient alien superweapon and an apparently infinite supply of food.

That's not the insane part.

The insane part is that the humans had a shit ton of kids expressly for the purpose of "making more soldiers" to fight the Covenant with.

And we thought the Spartan program was fucked up...

Thel manages to prevent his allies and Petrov's weird little unit/family from trying to kill one another and does enough diplomacy with Petrov to be on rough speaking terms.

...Meanwhile Vale, Iyuska, Rosa, and a shit ton of ODSTs try to insert onto Netherop. Most of the ODSTs are killed when their dropships are exploded by a MYSTERIOUS ALIEN SLIPSPACE DEATH BEAM, but the Owl with Vale and friends aboard is built for stealth so it manages to survive landing.

Vale doesn't expect the Arbiter to agree with her about what they're doing here, but he is an honorable man and figures if the UNSC finds the MYSTERIOUS ALIEN SLIPSPACE DEATH BEAM first he will, as a man of honor, let them have claim to it. But also, he's gonna do his damnedest.

Thel and his gang of fellow Sangheili have an advantage because the marooned Sangheili aren't automatically hostile to them, so they go in the obvious way while Vale and friends and ODSTs find a way to dig into the underground city instead.

The marooned Sangheili believe that this is the sanctum of the gods and Nizat 'Kvarosee, their leader, is the most strong of faith so he is the best at weilding the super weapon and used it to destroy those ENEMY HUMAN SHIPS.

Thel's team and Vale's team make their way through the tel, fighting the marooned Sangheili (Thel manages to recruit the former Silent Shadow Ra'ashai to his side, 'Talot and his warriors die) and investigating how the hell this place works. Iyuska determines that the whole place seems to run on extremely advanced nanotechnology, which the marooned Sangheili have become very attuned to (shown by how the place adapts to their desires and needs, creating food they can eat and clothing them and of course giving them control over the MYSTERIOUS ALIEN SLIPSPACE DEATH BEAM.)

Rosa gets separated from everyone (originally because the marooned Sangheili captured her) and has a weird moment with some mysterious voices that call themselve The Nothing and insist that she cannot tell anyone they exist, ever. As a prize for this, she wins having her prion disease magically cured somehow.

(Yeah, it's weird, I don't know either.)

Also, while all of this is going on, Atriox is in space overhead. The book thinks it's slick about Atriox secretly being the one who funded Iyuska's research, but it kind of plays that hand too strongly so you know it's Atriox and it's not a surprise. While the ground team is working on securing the weapon, Atriox is attacking everybody's ships. Nobody downstairs finds out for a long while due to comms blackout.

Thel and Vale's teams finally wrest control of the MYSTERIOUS ALIEN SLIPSPACE DEATH BEAM from the marooned Sangheili and one of them ('Kvarosee's lackey Tam 'Lakosee, did I mention he was also in this one?) shows Thel how to use it just in time for them all to figure out holy shit, the Banished are attacking! The beam detects what you think of as your "enemies" and smites them, basically, so Thel worries about whether his mixed feelings about human involvement here might imperil the human ship.

He shouldn't have worried about it. Thel zeroes in on the Banished and a Forerunner ship he knows is going to report to Cortana. 'Lakosee is horrified that he is attacking a SACRED FORERUNNER SHIP, and grabs for the controls in retaliation. End result: EVERYBODY'S big spaceships get blown up: human, Sangheili, and Banished.

Everyone is fucked, they have a matter of hours until Cortana's forces arrive and Banished insertion craft that weren't destroyed are already on the way down. The gang debate about what to do with 'Kvarosee and 'Lakosee, who are both in rough shape. When they refuse to re-integrate with the Sangheili because they believe that Thel and his entourage are clearly godless apostates, Thel and aforesaid entourage leave them to rot.

Iyuska disassembles the MYSTERIOUS ALIEN SLIPSPACE DEATH BEAM, which is unfortunate timing because that really would've helped with all these Banished.

They have to go out and meet/probably fight the Banished, and also figure out what the fuck to do with this superweapon. Thel kinda hates it and Varo'dai's suggestion of the humans and Sangheili each taking one of the two important pieces (a sample of self-propagating nanomachines, and the focusing lens) might be a good idea, but he is a man of his word: the humans did reach the weapon's chamber first when they were fighting their way in, so he will let them have it. Vale, despite it all, is genuinely surprised but okay sure.

....But then Vale gets an idea.

What if they just... give the Banished the weapon? The weapon seems to have pretty much destroyed Netherop's own civilization by being used here, and it would be difficult to impossible to set it up usefully as an offensive weapon. Give Atriox what he wants, and maybe everyone will be able to get off the planet.

(Because it turns out: there are some UNSC slipspace-capable craft that also survived the MYSTERIOUS ALIEN SLIPSPACE DEATH BEAM so it's fine.)

They parley with Atriox, blah blah blah shock and betrayal it turns out that Atriox was secretly employing 'Ayomuu through Atriox's Sangheili lackey this whole time yadda yadda, Atriox ends up leaving with space dust and a focusing lens he probably can't use but he hasn't figured that out yet, at least everyone gets to go home. (???) The most important thing here is that Rosa and Petrov have A Moment to resolve the fact that Rosa caused Petrov to be marooned. Petrov forgives her.

(There's also a chapter of how fucking bad Sloan is doing, you remember Sloan? AI? Meridian? Fenris Dragon Age voice? Anyway, he joined the Created in the hopes of integrating with the Domain and surviving Rampancy, but something about that... doesn't really work with his architecture. He's looping badly, and kind of AI dying. But not yet, not quite yet...)

A lot more stuff happens and there's lots of details scattered through here (some are fun, some are dumb, you know, it's Halo). It 100% does not advance the main universe plot at all, and what the fuck are the Nothing????

But... it was nice to see our guy Thel 'Vadam.

[aintgonnatakethis]

ask game!

#2, #5, #19, #29, #30

Hey @thestorieswesay thanks for the ask! ❤️️ I've actually delivered a response in less than 24 hours! 😲

fic writer ask game

2. a character whose POV you’re currently exploring

I'm currently battling through the final bit of a sex scene from Rush's POV that will complete the Beach Episode fic in the kink series that I started back in *checks* August. Which certainly isn't the longest it's taken me to finish a fic. There's that 6 month wait for an anon's request to be filled that we don't talk about.

It's been interesting moving through the kink series because I can approach the relationship between Rush and Telford from so many different points in their timeline (and I don't have to write everything in order!) I'm not 100% sure if the Beach Episode fits in before or after the First Fight mini-series with Rush's love confession and Telford's subsequent not-love confession, but it's set around that time period so they're a lot more comfortable with one another than if I finally finished the earliest WIP I have for that series which has been sitting around since April 2023…

5. first sentence of the fifth paragraph of an unpublished WIP

I looked through my WIP doc (over 100k words all squashed into one 😈) and picked two stories I think you'd be be into! #1 is a fic we discussed waaaay back when we first started talking in Tumblr DMs: all four of Rush, Young, Telford, and Destiny herself experiencing some form of sexual assault and how the recovery process would look different for each of them. I have 7 chapters written and ready to go (and might even start posting them next year as my completed doc is becoming a little sparse - over the last 2 years I've averaged 2.5k posted words per week on AO3 and I'd like to keep that going for as long as possible) but I have to be in the right mindset to work on it. I've written 2 paragraphs of it this year and the rest of the 32k was done in 2023.

Young is nursing a split lip from Rush's elbow, a bump is forming on his temple where he must have struck it on their way down, but it's his eyes that catch Rush's attention.

#2 was my first attempt at writing the 'Rush dominating Young' anon prompt I received on here last year, but unfortunately what my brain came up with was an 'aliens made them do it' scenario, where the 100% consensual stuff would have appeared in ch3 and ch1 would have some extremely dub-con/bordering on non-con if you weren't not in the know, and it didn't feel right giving that to someone without knowing if they were down with it. So they got ch3 of the 3some fic instead and I got to develop ch2 of 'aliens made them do it' into Telford being a rescue-mission-leading BAMF which was a great deal of fun. My notes say I haven't worked on this since 2023 either, but ch3's reasonably developed towards the point of dom!Rush which isn't where I left it back then.

Young snarled some very unpleasant things at the aliens that they gave no indication of understanding, though he was also wary of the sharpened bolts, not beginning to struggle in earnest until they attempted to remove his briefs.

29. how easy is it for you to come up with titles?

It's not too difficult! I've got a doc where I save any lyrics I come across that might make good titles/quotes-at-the-start-of-fics, and titles that aren't lyrics are usually pretty simple. Now, writing summaries? That's a while different ball game! They cause me so much emotional damage 😣

30. share a fic you’re especially proud of

It has to be a memory, a distant echo. I crafted that baby with my bare bloody hands and am incredibly pleased with the way it turned out!

19. the most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic

During the pandemic, I researched pangaeas and continental drift and was planning the next bit of my 450k Lockdown fic to have an Ancient trap where if someone with a specific gene went to this one planet, magnetic forces would reform the pangaea, causing massive earthquakes and sickness in people with an active Ancient gene. Have 869 words below the cut!

Telford's eyes searched out Young, who was leaning heavily against the DHD but thankfully also on his feet. He was holding a clipboard and checking people off as they lined up to evacuate, several unaffected soldiers dotted along the path doing the same. Dozens of boxes of equipment were lying outside the buildings, obviously left when it became clear it would be all hands on deck just getting the people out. They'd put so many resources into this place; if they lost this planet to enemy forces it would be a disaster. He dragged himself over to Young; as he neared the gate his radio began to crackle and hiss, a word here or there audible in the mess. It sounded as if it was Command trying to contact them without success. "I sent Collins through with the sitrep," Young said, a slight slur to his words. "He was affected but not too bad. Needed Vala to help." He gestured towards the stretchers being carried to the gate, losing his balance the moment he took his hand off the DHD. Telford surreptitiously steadied him, watching as stretchers were laid at the base of the gate and then shoved through. There weren't enough people on their feet to carry them all through. "Look at this," Young continued quietly, half turning towards him and extending his wrist. The compass built into his watch was spinning wildly. Telford checked his own, feeling uneasy. "An EMP wouldn't do this." "Earthquakes," came from behind them, an out of breath Rush appearing out of fucking nowhere. "Localised around the ruins. One of your soldiers stood where he could feel it with one foot but not the other. Park said natural earthquakes don't act that way." There hadn't been any hint of seismic activity in the reports and they'd been occupying this planet for months. Telford didn't like the coincidental timing of its sudden appearance at all. "You should get through the gate," Telford told Rush, trying to make it an order without it sounding as such. "No, no." Rush shook his head and spread his hands in an obvious attempt at appearing reasonable. "I need to go back. There are enough of my team for us to keep working." Telford opened his mouth to impress on Rush just how very much that would not be fucking happening, but Young beat him to the punch. "You're fucking kidding me," he snapped, jerking his head towards the evacuation efforts. "Get back to it." Rush ground his teeth together audibly, the sound cutting violently through Telford's ears. "This is a unique opportunity. Who knows why the quakes are happening? We should be taking advantage of the situation."

There was a brief moment of silence that Telford could well recognise as Young biting his tongue against saying something he would later regret. "We are under attack," he finally gritted out. "I will not send civilians back into harm's way on your word." The glare on Rush's face could've stripped paint off a car it was so sharp. Hilariously, he looked to Telford, apparently thinking he might get some support, only for Young to raise his voice suddenly, "You don't look at him! You look at me!" Young always got loud when he was hurt in high stress situations. When it was someone else he was the steadiest commanding officer you could wish for, but Telford had a very vivid memory of having to pull a handful of shrapnel shards out of the man's thigh in the field and being called every name under the sun in the process. Rush took a decidedly aggressive step forwards, sneering. "You can hardly fucking stand. Who the fuck's gonna stop me?" Jesus fucking christ. Telford stepped between the two men, getting a good grip on Rush's vest and only now noticing he couldn't feel the arm he was using, which unfortunately made his attempt at shaking Rush rather unsatisfying. Even worse was the casual way Rush brushed him off as if it was nothing, causing him to lose his footing and stumble. He barely caught himself, hating the lack of strength in a body that was usually so reliable. A loud grunt informed him that Young's response on his behalf had been to barrel straight into Rush, though without any balance or finesse of his own it just ended with them in a tangled heap on the ground. Rush, possessing all his faculties, manoeuvred them so he was on top with so much ease it made Telford feel even sicker. Rush, also being a right fucking bastard, punched Young hard in the face and raised his fist again even as Young's eyes rolled in his head. Telford was still trying to get his legs in working order when Vala appeared and bodily hauled Rush up and away. It was funny in a way to watch as Rush turned in her grip, ready to fight, only for his enthusiasm for such an endeavour to flag when he realised it was a woman holding him. Vala didn't shake him, but her eyes were tight with the obvious desire to do so. "Relax," she told him, a fair deal more calmly than Telford would have managed.

[aotopmha]

On my Sonic revisit, I'm now almost done with Sonic Mania, I revisited some of Sonic Adventure 2 and I haven't really been able to get back to Sonic Advance 2.

Firstly, I just haven't been able to get back to Sonic Advance 2 because I've wanted to play other games more. I absolutely like Mania and SA2 more, even if Advance 2 was fun in its own right.

Secondly, I love Sonic Mania aside from a couple of annoying bosses (the Flying Battery boss in particular) and some of the later stages starting to feel a little bit too long. It's not wholly original, but it has such strong gameplay identity between all of the stages.

And this strong gameplay identity between stages is what still keeps me interested in trying Sonic Superstars (despite how annoying some of the bosses look), some of the stages themselves look really good. I just hate that Superstars is still so expensive and it doesn't look like they've ironed out any of the jank.

There are sales here and there so I think I will eventually get it via those, but it's still crazy how you can get Sonic Mania for 6th of the price and not have kind of a mess of a game on your hands.

I do, however, wish for them to iterate on Superstars, just like Frontiers so I could maybe get their better, more polished sequels. They at least seem to have strong foundation to build upon even if I actually haven't played them.

Thirdly, I made it to Mission Street in the Sonic story of Sonic Adventure 2.

The Sonic stages of Sonic Adventure 2 are still evergreen. Every single one has been a blast to play and replay.

I also think there is something very evergreen about the awkward, poorly acted (and this absolutely is direction because Heroes sounds much better to me), but very fun and sincere story. It's great anime cheese.

I also actually don't mind the shooting or treasure hunting stages at this point. Treasure hunting is annoying because of the horrible radar, but all of it controls fine.

Shooting can even be a bit fun with the targeting combo system. I just rather would've had everyone have Sonic-styled stages with their own touch. I really do value how Sonic stuff tries to keep it fresh, but it's always in such imperfect ways.

The Adventure games are such wild games because I think they have the most discrepency out of all Sonic games I've played on which parts of the game I engage with after the first playthrough (that I actually like, I think the Wii version of Unleashed technically fits this, but in hindsight I do not think any of it was beyond alright, with Sonic stages being really simple and barren and the Werehog stages just overwhelming regular Sonic gameplay with just really standard platforming stuff).

I spent hours on the Sonic stages in SA1.

And I spent hours upon hours replaying the Sonic and Shadow stages in SA2.

They alone made the game worth it for just how evergreen they were to me and for just how much I played them.

In SA1 at least there were fewer stages for the other characters, so the less good characters also had fewer stages as a result, but it isn't even a 3rd of the game in volume in SA2 because the later treasure hunting stages can last so long.

But I have fond memories of these games because I had so much fun with this one aspect.

I haven't played the 360/PS3 version of Unleashed either, but I suspect I would feel the same with that game because the day stages look so much fun, but they're so uneven in terms of playtime.

Hoping for an eventual good PC port, seeing as how much of a mess the Colours port ended up being (and also did not end up entirely fixed) and also how imperfect the SA2 port is (still very fun to me, tho).

All of this said, looking at upcoming Sonic stuff, I think Shadow Generations looks really good as a game, but it's also once again fairly expensive, especially for a remaster with an addition to it that is supposedly not as long as the original and for a game that wasn't a full-priced release to begin with when it first released.

(This time it at least makes much more sense than with Superstars, however, considering they got a movie tie-in element with *Keanu Reeves* in it out of all actors. I actually still find it wild he's voicing Shadow in the third movie.)

I also expected Superstars to be really good and that absolutely came with its own issues that made me not want to get it right away at release price, so expensive or not, I'm just waiting for impressions.

Generations is probably my favourite 3D Sonic game, though. The Adventure games control better, but Generations is a game I really enjoy all the way through with the exception of maybe the last stage being too long and the final boss not being that good.

It's short, but sweet: a collection of infinitely replayable stages that are really fun to perfect and speedrun.

(Now do that, but with Adventure controls.)

So this is a game I really hope is really good and justifies its price (and also stops the series of janky rereleases).

Finally, I also watched the newly released animation for Shadow Generations, which was really good because it leaned into the sincere elements of Shadow's character as in SA2, rather than the unfun Shadow the Hedgehog stuff. (I even actually kind of liked some of Shadow's stuff in the 06 story more than anything in ShtH.)

If they somehow make any of that work better in hindsight, I'll applaud them.

[ash5monster01]

Lessons of You Part 7

Pairing: Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw x FemReader

Warnings: fluff, mentions of depression, mentions of smut, broken reader, 18+

Summary: Blake Parker was used to running. When life got hard, she’d run. The idea of sticking around to end up broken was scarier then she’d like to admit. So she hid away, cut all ties, and lived contently on her own. She was done running because no one could find her there. That is until a Navy Pilot runs into her life, and she learns allowing yourself to love can be scary, but hiding from it can be even worse.

a/n: I’m soooo sorry it’s been so long. I dropped that smutty chapter and literally dipped. The Fourth of July is the busiest time of the year for me so I was preoccupied with that but here is the newest chapter. sadly our story is coming to a close, I have a feeling the next chapter will be the last. thank you so much for coming on this journey with me and reading along xx

word count: 1,871

Intro, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Final

Masterlist

It had been two days since Blake had heard from Bradley. She tried not to worry but it was hard. Going from a week of Bradley texting her every chance he got to being in her bed the night before he left, it was hard to go to complete radio silence. She tried to remind herself she knew nothing about the mission. Bradley never once mentioned how long it would be, how many days it could take, how far away it was, nothing. She prayed that it just meant he was still busy and serving his country. She had no other way to contact anyone to make sure he was alive. She kind of knew Phoenix but she didn’t have her number, and she could go back to the Hard Deck but if they had lost someone why would they have any need to be celebrating at a bar? So she waited and prayed that if she ever did recieve word it would be good news.

After her night with Bradley she had texted her Mom informing her she was ready to move back. Her Mom had already found an apartment, searching before Blake had even decided. It was a perfect little place and it reminded her very much of the one she was in now. The minute she gave her Mom the go ahead they got it all worked out, her Dad already fixing things in the apartment that it needed. So now Blake's life consisted of boxes, not many considering she didn't have much, but there was still stuff to be packed and taken with her on her self discovery journey. The idea of being home was exciting and nerve wracking all at the same time. She just hoped that when it was time for her to go Bradley will have returned.

"Almost done packing as we speak" Blake told her Mom over the phone as she looked at the living room stuffed with boxes. Her apartment had come completely furnished so majority of the boxes was clothes, bedding, and some dishware. Considering she did the same thing every day and didn't socialize much that wasn't even a lot either. Majority of the boxes were filled with books. Once she had finished she was surprised to realize what a small mark of hers she had left on San Diego, it was as if she took up no space at all.

"Are you excited, we can't wait to see you" her Mom cheered on the phone and Blake smiled, because she was excited but nerves twinged in her stomach over Bradley.

"Yeah, I can't wait" but her Mom heard it in her voice, and she knew something was wrong. She prayed she wasn't changing her mind.

"It doesn’t sound like it" Blake sighed and pressed a hand to her head.

"I am Mom, I promise. It's just I haven't heard from Bradley and last I knew he was picked for some dangerous mission. I will be more enthusiastic once I know he is safe" her parents knew of Bradley, considering he was the only thing to happen in her life recently that was worth talking about. The attractive Navy pilot with a heart of gold who brought their daughter back to them. They would be forever indebted to him for that.

"I'm sure he's fine sweetheart, he's trained for these type of things and they wouldn't of chosen him if they didnt think there would be a chance of him not coming back home" Blake nodded because she knew her Mom was right, she just needed to hear his voice. One last goodbye with the guy who made her whole again. He was a life lesson she needed, the one she was waiting for. The thing about life lessons though was usually after you learn them you don't need it anymore. That thought terrified her, because Bradley is the only reason she had felt something for the first time in years.

"I know, I just worry that maybe something did happen and not a single soul knows to contact me. Maybe he didn't make it and I would never know and have to come back home wondering whatever happened to the Navy Pilot I kind of fell for" this was Blake's first time admitting to any feelings at all, but Bradley was the first person to make her heart start beating in a long time and she couldn't just leave without knowing if he was okay.

"Blake honey, people are meant to be in our lives for a reason. Whether it's forever or only for one reason. Bradley met you for a reason and maybe you weren't meant to see him again, but it you are you'll know. Now don't worry so much, he is a professional after all" Blake sighed as she said this before nodding despite the fact her mother couldn’t see her.

"I'm gonna finish packing, I'll call you later Mom" Blake told her, not wanting to cry because she knew her Mom was right. Her Mom was trying to not break her heart if Bradley did never return. She would just have to remember him as something good that helped her through a rough patch of her life.

"Okay, be safe" her Mom responded and Blake ended the call uninterested in hearing anymore of letting Bradley go. She just wasn’t quite ready to pretend that the short time spent with Bradley was just that. A small shared moment between two broken people who helped each other learn that life goes on and it is as good as you make it.

It didn't take long to finish packing. She didn't have a lot and once she shut the last box she realized that there was nothing more to occupy her time then worry about Bradley. So even though she had told the publishing company she needed a few days she grabbed her latest shelf read and made her way to the porch to try and finish it. The sound of waves crashing, seagulls cawing, and kids screams from the beach was able to drown out her thoughts as she escaped into a different world. That was until she noticed the male lead in the book was an awful lot like Bradley. Dark and mysterious yet so full of love.

"Here I was thinking you'd be waiting at the door for me, worry all over you face, and instead I find you out here reading. Typical" Blake dropped the book in her hands, whipping around to see the beautiful mustached man standing in her doorway. She must've not heard the front door.

"Bradshaw!" without even realizing tears fell down her cheeks as she rushed towards him, him instantly engulfing her in a hug. "I was so worried, I didn't know what to think or who to call"

"It's okay, I'm here now" he comforted her, a hand running down her back and he instantly felt guilty knowing what had just happened on his mission.

"Was everything successful?" she asked, now backing away and holding his face in her hands.

"Yes, of course there were a few hiccups but we didn't lose any lives" he told her, afraid to tell her the hiccup was him pretty much sacrficing himself. Yet Blake saw all the guilt all over his face, her eyebrows instantly drawing together.

"You almost didn't make it?" she whispered, a thumb pressing out the crease in his forehead.

"Uncle Pete, Maverick took a hit for me and his plane went down. I couldn't just leave him so I went down after him" Blake gasped just slightly, possibilities running through her head like wildfire.

“You could have died” Blake fought the tears that threatened to run down her face, she didn’t want to be upset because he was here now. Right in front of her.

“I know, I know. I wasn’t thinking, just I saw him get hit for me. I thought I was a goner, and then I realized that when he went down for me that was the last family I had and if I didn’t do something I’d never forgive myself” Bradley told her, hands gripping her wrists as he tried to tell her everything was okay.

“Is he okay?” she asked and a smile cracked across his face.

“Yeah, lucky bastard and a little help from Hangman later but we both made it” he grinned at her and she chuckled, just knowing Hangman would hold that over him forever.

“I thought if you died I’d never know, I had no one to contact. I wasn’t sure what to do with myself while you were gone” Blake finally admitted and a tear rolled down his cheek at her confession.

“I gave Phoenix your number, she had specific instructions to call if I didn’t make it and give you any information you needed” Blake drew her eyebrows together in confusion.

“But you went down, they thought you and Pete were dead. She never called” Bradley chuckled through his tears, smile on his face.

“She knew I was still out there, I’m a tough asshole” Blake chuckled and shook her head as she pulled him back into another hug.

“Okay enough death talk, I’m just glad you’re here” she told him and he nodded on top of her head, arms wrapped around her waist.

“I saw the boxes in the living room” he said, immediately noticing the house was emptier than before when he arrived.

“Yeah. I um, found an apartment back home” she said pulling back, her eyes searching his face for a reaction.

“When do you leave?” he asked and Blake sighed, knowing it was too fast, that they only had such little time together.

“Tuesday” Two days. That was it. Two days and then she would be halfway across the country.

“Wow” was all he could bring himself to say, letting the information sink in despite the fact he wanted to pretend she’d be here forever.

“I know we only got a short time together but you taught me that you can lose people at any moment, life is full of regrets, and one of them shouldn’t be staying away from loved ones when you still have a chance to love them” Bradley smiled, happy he was able to give her that. Even if they knew each other for a small period of time, they still learned so much from one another.

“I’m happy I could show you that, you helped me too you know. I probably never would’ve allowed my Uncle back into my life if it wasn’t for you. So now when you leave I still have someone here for me” Blake smiled and hugged the boy tight again, knowing that this conversation felt final. Knowing that despite how hard they try, being across the country from each other wouldn’t keep them together.

“So, what’re you doing for the next two days?” Blake asked, her voice vibrating against his chest and Bradley chuckled, a wide smile spread across his face.

“Spending them with you, if you’ll let me” he told her and Blake smiled, her head tilting up to look at him.

“You don’t have to ask for permission anymore big B”

Taglist: @emma8895eb @aemondssiut

comment if you want to be added to the tag list :))

[lets-try-some-writing]

since you're reacting to stuff, i hope you don't mind reacting to ocs!

here's fogwing, a very,very old lady from earth, one of the few predacons that survived earth from megatron's mission in that regard she absoulty desipes megatron for abandoning her, and very much veiws predaking as a brat.

she very hefty and bulky, so she circumstantiate that with a fog like substance that she produces from her body to confuse the enemy, but this fag uses energon to make and is tiering for her and has rotating chainsaw like teeth for extra damage. but she's slow and her eyesight isn't the best.

fogwing is grumpy at best and doesn't see the conflict as very important, and sees that optimus should just kill megatron and get on with it.

surprisingly, she has a soft spot for sparklings and organics, and funnily enough, is very protective of starscream against megatron's bullshit, but keeps his pride and ego at bay.

she has babies but i haven't drawn them yet lol

she's bigger than predaking, he has mixed opinions about her

This is supposed to be a writing blog, but whatever, here we go. Reaction time.

First off, as writer myself, I can say Fogwing's backstory fits well enough. I don't have a ton of deep context so I can't say much else besides the fact that I can see her story being possible in the Transformers universe without disrupting the plot too much.

You've done an excellent job creating abilities for her. Often times oc's can end up being too overpowered by accident or too needy. Fogwing seems to not fall into either of these categories thankfully based upon what information you have given me. Her skills are evened out by weaknesses, like her fog production using energon and her sight being poor despite her size. All very good weaknesses to even out her strengths.

Her personality doesn't have any notable issues at first glance (writing wise that is). I can see why her personality is the way it is and I like it. Her care for sparklings and organics is a nice touch and her somewhat random attention to Starscream is a fun addition to her personality. I quite like her views on Predaking, even if he is technically her ruler. Overall, a good personality for the character type you seem to have gone for.

Her character design is also fantastic. I love the art! Gorgeous really! At the moment I have no real criticism for this oc. She makes sense and I see nothing that could point towards her presence in TFP being detrimental to the plot overall.

Good work!