#To have a krogan so protective of you???

[sol-consort]

if Drack is in your team, he defends Ryder when krogans insult you in New Tuchanka

[felassan]

Thoughts on the IGN DA:TV 22 min gameplay - Lighthouse portion

this post is under a cut due to what some peeps may consider spoilers, and length.

This prev post was just some text-based info that I wrote down, mostly based on what was said in the commentary. this post is more of a looking at the visuals with a fine-toothed comb and a bit of theory/speculation stuff mixed in kinda deal. :)

The Lighthouse' Meditation Chamber. It has a comfortable-looking sofa on which to sit or lay down while you ponder and gaze at this fish tank. Back in the day, this would have been Solas' meditation chamber, right? maybe we can go here to commune with Solas via the Solas-Rook connection (whatever it is)? the fish tank gives me fond memories of the Normandy. :') can we collect different fish? do we have to feed them? are they real fish? Fade fish? wisps that are in the form/shape of fish? are they edible? can we eat them? can I swim in there? what would they taste like? I feel like Kargesh, the krogan from Mass Effect who wants to taste the fish from the Presidium lakes 💀 in this room, the light and shadow of the water moving on the ceiling is beautiful. I wonder where Rook's room is?

Top left: quest title referencing the phrase "After the storm". since this gameplay video is set after the siege of Weisshaupt and shows Grey Wardens lamenting what happened there, could the 'storm' here be what happened at Weisshaupt? Bottom left: collectable Codex entry, a tool-tip of some kind or does Rook have new mail? Center: pattern of ancient elven triangles on the wall, arranged like a sun. Right: this looks like a wardrobe. Maybe this is where Rook can change their casual wear? the Inquisitor had a Wardrobe in their quarters. maybe the Meditation Room is also Rook's quarters?

The Lighthouse Library. The seating area on the ground floor is the place we saw the companions gathered together in this group shot. the Lighthouse needs to manifest 4 more seats round the central table for the others hh (Lucanis, Bellara, Rook, Varric). The table has an icon on the mini-map, so it probably has some kind of interactable function. gather the companions? look at the world map?

What have we here, floating in the Library? 👁️ this looks ancient elven, magic, triangle-y and very important. It's not dissimilar to the one floating in Bellara's room, or to this place. The Lighthouse's power source? A strange map? Something that protects the Lighthouse from outside incursion or prying eyes? A model of the Veil and the different worlds? Could this become less broken-looking in terms of the outside 'rock' layer over time, or could more of the triangles light up blue over time as the story and look of the Lighthouse progresses? Does it have something to do with the Lyrium dagger? (the blue and gold color scheme reminds me of the dagger.) Is it connected to the rotating glowing roof of the tower of this part of the Lighthouse, which you can see later on when Rook goes outside into the Courtyard and looks up? I get the impression that the roof spins if this spins.

Left: something which resembles Elgar'nan's headpiece shape in the Lighthouse Library Center left: in the Library, there are books floating suspended in the air and floating upside down bookcases, arrayed around the magical artifact in the center Center right: there is one of these on either side of the Library entrance. they look like places where there were once frescoes or paintings, like what's left is very faded paint. I wonder if these restore overtime or can be restored over time? it reminds me a bit of the Skyhold mosaics. if these walls did hold paintings, I feel like it would have been Solas who painted them. Right: A floating book above a sidetable, from back in the Meditation Chamber

Next we progress into the Lighthouse Courtyard. Could the fragmented Courtyard become less fragmented and a bit more contiguous as the Lighthouse becomes less disrupted? Game Informer's cover story noted that since the Lighthouse is in the Fade, a realm of dreams that responds to your worldstate and emotion, the Lighthouse reflects the chaos and disrepair of Thedas. since the things in it can change, maybe as Rook completes more of the story and helps more of the world it will look less chaotic over time, including the fragmented Courtyard?

Some of the floating chunks have tree roots protruding from the bottoms

What happens to someone if they fall off the edge of a floating courtyard fragment in the Fade hh?

Left: big dog 👍 Veilfire glows in the scone on his chest Top center: this symbol was on the minimap, in front of the Fen'Harel statue. I think it's this one (left), which we saw in the high-level warrior combat gameplay video. it's some sort of collectable in the sort of way that gold/coin is. I guess this is where we go to use or spend this thing perhaps, whatever they are? maybe it's for Lighthouse upgrades? maybe it's what we spend at or trade to the mysterious "enchanter" who helps us with crafting at the Lighthouse? Bottom center: This is the head-shape of Mythal on the exterior of the Lighthouse Library building, like this statue in DA:I Right: the orangey-leaf trees, an ancient elven spaces classic :)

When Rook approaches Davrin's room, the minimap location title changes to "Guesthouse". That's cute 🥺 Is every companion space called a Guesthouse or is that just the name of Davrin's? Or just the name of the area Davrin's is in?

Left: What the glowing 'come talk to me pls 🥺' lamps look like. Some of the room-buildings, like Harding's, have two lamps outside of them though not just one like Davrin 🤔 Center: Rook carries the Lyrium dagger in their casualwear pocket when in the Lighthouse Right x2: Two lil chimneys puffing away, how cute!! Maybe one is the one for the kitchen where the cooking takes place, and one is connected to Taash's room? Taash's room has fires in it that could be forges.

Left: The dev narration tells us that this companion home is Harding's, and it makes sense - there's roots/vines growing up to or down from the ceiling, and the roof has the appearance of glass, like a greenhouse. Perfect for growing things and letting in the sun. There might not be any literal sunlight in the Lighthouse, but as the rooms shape themselves according to the companions, it's just all about Harding and what suits her. Right: I think this is Neve's room. Compare the windows on the front to the windows on the sides in the screenshot of Neve's interior. (same pattern & placement, in a row of 3)

As we can see from when Rook enters there, opposite Neve lives Davrin.

Left: Who lives here? this is next-door to Davrin. Right: And who lives here? this is opposite Harding.

^ the dev commentary at this point mentions Bellara's home at the same time as pointing out Neve's, but I'm not sure which of these two is hers. and this makes 5 homes, I wonder where the other two rooms are? perhaps attached to the main building which holds the Library? btw, how cute is it that the found family basically have their own cozy lil family neighborhood in a pocket dimension? 🥺

At the top of this tower it looks like a lil balcony no? potentially with a door leading out to it? maybe this is the balcony from Rook's room?

This Rook's casual wear has bare feet and triangles on it. Maybe this Rook was a Veil Jumper? I know the Veil Jumpers wear boots or shoes in the field, but this is casual wear. Veil Jumpers also seem quite orange in their color palette.

💜💜

💜💜 I LOVE

Rook standing next to Davrin here gives an idea of how tall it's possible for qunari Rook to be.

There was some debate over whether this room was Davrin's or Taash's. this vid confirms it as Davrin's. (some thoughts on how it reflects Davrin here). in that post I wondered what the green things were - here we can see that they're hanging corked jugs filled with.. sand? :D also interesting to note is that at this point in the storyline, Davrin's room lacks the big monster skull hung over the fireplace in the screenshot. however, it still has the other monster stuff - the skull on the other wall, the spine hanging from the ceiling, the 'horn chandelier' thing. hear me out. what if.. the skull that eventually goes above the fireplace is the skull of the Gloom Howler..? 👁️ if it was your nemesis, and you finaaally felled it, you'd put it in pride of place as your prize, above your fireplace.

Left: in the post about Davrin's room I wondered if the things on the floor in front of the fire next to the armchair were a rug and chew or bone for Assan, and here we can see that is the case. ^^ Right: I think this here in this side alcove is Davrin's bedroll. makes sense that it's tucked out of sight there - it's not visible in the perspective that the screenshot of his room was taken from, so I was wondering where it was.

On the left as Rook exit's Davrin's, we can see what looks like more wooden carvings that he's been working on, like this ogre.

In the Davrin and Assan portion, Davrin and Assan both look so good. I was really happy to see a Davrin focus in this video and Assan is so cute, with adorable animations, sounds and rigging. Assan stretches like a cat before getting up when Rook comes in.. the tail swishes, the ear crooking, the ear twitching.. 🥺 when Rook comes in, it looks like Davrin is warming his hands up by the fire - how do you think the physics of things like temperature work somewhere magical like the Lighthouse? 🤔

I love the purple sparkle effect around gaining approval. :D when hovering over a dialogue line, the wheel sparkles, and when you choose one, it spins. and Rook's name is in purple in the subtitles. its cute!

The Quest Acquired pop-up.

Another quest, this one called "The Price of the Past". A Davrin-associated quest? Davrin's past, or something the Grey Wardens did historically, like what happened to the griffons..?

The purple mist in the dialogue wheel moves and billows, I think that's a cool touch. :)

🥺🥺..

Rook then heads back into the Library.

Top left: two more highlighted interactable scrolls Bottom left: this mini-map icon looks like Varric. :) the dev narration mentions that this video takes place well into the game, and that Hossberg is a later game area. if it's Varric, this means that at this point in time, Varric is still alive and based in the Lighthouse with the rest of the crew, that he doesn't die in the prologue. I feel like this isn't really a surprise as the 'death' flags (at that specific point) in the prologue were a lil.. I dunno how to phrase it, it would have been too telegraphed if that was when? and also if his death is to happen at some point in the game, it will have more of an impact if Rook and new players actually have had a chance to spend time with Varric beforehand. yet, it's somehow still a big relief. :D it's like destroying Bianca was retiring him from active field duty. however, I do feel that he's still at risk and might die later in the game. 😭 just that the moment wasn't the prologue.. 😭 that he's not death-flag free, just that the prologue wasn't the time. btw, if Varric is living in the Lighthouse too I hope he has his own lil area too, at least somewhere to sleep etc. Right: this circle is on one side of the Library walls. it could just be a design on the wall, as it's solid and doesn't go anywhere, and it doesn't look like it goes anywhere at that point on the mini-map either, but idk, the circle has the appearance to me of an entryway and on the outside it has gold with blue triangles like the floating artifact in the Library air. maybe this is a dead end for now, but becomes an opened up/unlocked part of the Lighthouse later?

I wonder what's up the corridor past Varric? there are a few other corridors/places we could see on the Lighthouse minimap but didn't explore in this video, I'm so curious to explore it all :)

Lastly we have the Eluvian Room. this eluvian takes you to the Crossroads, and it's the eluvian we see at timestamp 1:00 in the release date reveal trailer. it sounds like the dev narration calls it the "Vir Revas", which could translate as "Way/Path of Freedom". it's fitting - one lens of Solas' rebellion is Solas as a noble freedom fighter. and it makes sense, an eluvian is a portal that takes you somewhere. on the right is a pretty floating elfy thing.

Eluvian pop-up info, including percentage of the map discovered, how many of the (I assume) treasures you have discovered, and how many (I assume) of the bosses you have killed. Is the symbol at the very top the symbol of the Crossroads? I also love the language of "A path has emerged from the mists of the Fade that leads to a gathering point where all eluvians meet - the Crossroads." it's pretty.

Close-up of one of the magic-gizmos that makes the Lighthouse eluvian work. it's a purple pentagon and inside it it has a pointy shaped thing floating and rotating. these look like the magic-gizmo Bellara is seen interfacing with in the release date reveal trailer, pictured below for reference. (also a purple hexagon with the pointy thing floating in it).

General thoughts/speculation on commentary & such:

I think it's hard to know what qunari Rooks can look like til we see CC itself. ^^

"Willingly or unwillingly" - it sounds like you can agree to take charge of the Lighthouse from Solas after the ritual interference goes awry, and if you don't you end up getting it anyways.

Being able to inhabit, explore and shape the space Solas lived in millennia ago when he first fomented his rebellion against the gods is a dream come true, like I wanna yell. it's so crazy (in a good way) and cool/surreal to think this is the case. I'm soo curious to get in there and rifle around. Rook is the one who leads the band of people living in the Lighthouse now, Rook is the one who wields the Lyrium dagger, Solas sees himself in Rook. Rook is potentially on a path towards inheriting the Dread Wolf mantle as well (that could also be willingly or unwillingly..)

'It shapes itself around your personality' - I wonder if some of the changes in the Lighthouse reflect Rook's world choices and their personality (like dominant dialogue tone) or something?

The glowing companion 'talk to me' lamps is a nice quality of life feature.

Considering that the spaces shape themselves around the companions, I wonder about Lucanis' room. 🥺 maybe he feels safer in a dark open space with nowhere to hide in it so nobody could sneak up on him in there? maybe it's an ingrained tendency owing to the harsh upbringing he had growing up, often going without necessities? maybe he's simply extremely practical and pragmatic, or it's to do with his relationship/history with food and cooking that makes him want to be in the storehouse? maybe this sort of space is familiar, or his room screenshot was taken earlier on in the game before his arc progressed much?

A secret Warden base where people have no idea what goes on there.. this never ends well hh, the Wardens in these sorts of places are always up to something untoward or extreme in the pursuit of their goals of stopping / defending from the Blights. nervous sweating. I wonder what revelations await us there!!

I wonder what could the Gloom Howler be? its name reminds me of the Sandy Howler from DA:I, which was a dragon. if the skull that gets put above Davrin's fireplace is of the Gloom Howler, what clues can we get about the type of entity it is from the shape of the skull? Stalking Wardens and kidnapping griffons implies that whatever it is, this entity has a level of sentience and has plans of a sort, it isn't a mindless beast. what could it possibly want with the griffons? And I wonder when this creature became Davrin's nemesis? Is he a monster hunter because of it? Or was he a monster hunter before it? Also, how does one get mail in the Lighthouse :D

"What's left of the Wardens" implies that the Wardens faced great losses at the siege of Weisshaupt. I wonder, did the First Warden make it? where are they?

Davrin preferring Direct dialogues and approaches makes me curious to find out ingame what the preferences of the other companions are.

Davrin's voice is amazing.

"Turlum", the name for the bond between Wardens and griffons (presumably the one they ride, when the griffon is an adult) moving in unity as one is new lore I think. I wonder what language/culture the word originates from? how does one forge this bond? I can't help but think of Tsaheylu from Blue Avatar dhdjfej

On the gods assaulting the Crossroads.. to take control of the network to assist in their plans for the world? (Briala saw the network's potential of the Crossroads' functional back in the day, for totally different plans tho ofc) you could spread your darkspawn armies all over the world more easily by sending them through the Crossroads. like the Deep Roads, but cubed. or simply to wrest control of it from Rook and the team because they know they are the only ones that can stop them and that that's where they're holed up? and what stops the assaulting enemies from entering the Lighthouse eluvian from the Crossroads? Is it something to do with the dagger, or Solas' own power?

[source]

[mosscreeperarchived]

When Shepard and Kaidan have/adopt kids those are going to be the most protected children in the galaxy.

Their parents are the first two human spectres, one of which curb stomped the reapers and the other of which is one of the most powerful human biotics (or both of which are if you play a biotic Shep)

They have Jack as an aunt, who will rip apart whoever so much as looks at them wrong

Their other aunt is the goddamn Shadow Broker

Uncle James Vega would 100% punch someone out for them

I wouldn’t put it past auntie Miranda to threaten someone for those kids

Tali and Garrus, the power couple who can murder you at close and long range

The entirety of the krogan race

Kasumi

Angry space grandpa definitely calls them crotch goblins and such but also shoots people who are mean to them

I’m not convinced EDI (who is definitely alive because BioWare can kiss my ass) wouldn’t just dox cyberbullies while Joker cheers he her and also shoots at them from a fighter with Steve as his copilot

[thejedipirate]

N7 Month Day 10: Transform

21 June 2185 Normandy SR-2 On route to Omega Station, Terminus Systems

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Shepard-”

“This is my body. I have a right to know what was done to it. I want to see the files from the Lazarus Project, Lawson. Please.”

Miranda hesitated for several moments before relenting. “I will have everything transferred to a datapad and I’ll deliver it within the hour, Commander.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

And so here the Commander was, sitting in this grandiose cabin - with a fish tank - reading through the sordid details of her “reconstruction”. Frankenstein’s monster is definitely an apt metaphor.  AJ sighed as she ran her left hand through her short auburn hair for a few moments before rubbing her face, the sensation of smooth, uncalloused hands sliding across angry, glowing red scars highly unnerving. Who the fuck wakes up two years after they’ve bit the bullet? No one. It’s absolute madness. Sheer lunacy. Something straight out of a cheesy 1950s science fiction movie. She snorted as the thought of her father loving just this kind of movie came to mind.

Yet one of the first things Shepard had done was have Karin do a full medical workup. The results were eye opening: increased speed, increased strength, eyesight and hearing all significantly improved beyond normal human capabilities using research stemming from Cerberus’s super soldier experiments. They’d managed to augment her DNA with Asari genes for biotics, and Krogan genes for improved musculature. 

It didn’t stop there.

Close to a third of her body was synthetic, strewn with cybernetics and biosynthetic fusion to speed along her “recovery”. There were details for additional procedures that had yet to be done: synthetic skin, muscle, and bone weaves to further increase her resistance to damage and injuries.

Frustration bubbling to the surface, energy buzzed in the air as her hands began to glow biotic blue. Oh for the love of… Taking a deep breath, Shepard focused on relaxing, the glow subsiding after thirty seconds.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Wait, you’re a biotic?” Jacob asked. AJ stared at her left fist, glowing with biotic energy. Wilson lay crumpled against the opposite wall, out cold.

“Huh. That’s… new.” 

Gently placing a hand on her shoulder, Jacob grabbed the Spectre’s attention as he motioned onward. “You can talk to Miranda about it later. We need to get to the shuttle.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“According to Operative Lawson’s notes, the explosion that sent you flying from the Normandy saturated your suit with eezo from the drive core. With multiple punctures, you had virtually no protection against a high eezo exposure. You’re lucky your first exposure occurred in utero. Even while… while dying… your body was starting to form the nodes for biotics. All Lawson had to do while rebuilding you was complete the process. You’re in the upper range for a human biotic.”

Shepard crossed her arms, leaning against a bed in the medbay. She sighed deeply, eyes darting back and forth as she tried to organize her thoughts in her head. Finally giving it a small shake, AJ addressed the doctor. “Thanks for the rundown, Karin. I’d like a copy to look through later, and for comparison.”

“Comparison?”

“I’m going to ask Miss Lawson for the files on the Lazarus Project. I want to see if she’ll hide any of this from me.”

Doctor Chakwas gave a firm nod. “Understood, Commander.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

How much of me is even me anymore? Am I just a clone that thinks it’s Commander Shepard? Some elaborate forgery designed to pass for the real person? A sophisticated AI implanted into an organic body?

Tossing the pad on her desk, Shepard let out a long sigh.

“Fuck. I need a drink.”

-The Port Observation Lounge has a bar, Commander.

“Of course it does. We’ve got a fish tank, an AI, why not a bar too?” Getting up, AJ headed for the elevator. “Thanks EDI. ETA to Omega?”

-Four hours, fifty-seven minutes.

The elevator door closed as Shepard pressed for deck three. “Tell Joker to get his crippled ass to the bar.”

AJ was already three shots in by the time Jeff arrived. "You started without me? Really?" Putting her glass down, Shepard poured the pilot a shot of tequila. He shuffled onto the bar stool to the left, quickly downing the first shot.

"Damn, that's not your usual poison." "It had the highest alcohol content. Three shots in and I'm not even buzzed. I may have to switch to ryncol if I want to actually get drunk."

They sat in companionable silence for a while, occasionally refilling their shot glasses. Jeff watched her carefully. "So... what are you chasing around upstairs?" AJ glanced in his direction before lowering her head, staring at her hands on the table.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything. Nothing feels real to me. I'm walking around in a daze, with a face in the mirror looking back at me. I don't recognize it. For fuck's sake, I died, Jeff!" Shaking her head, the Commander kept her focus on her hands.

“Look, you've been awake for a week now. As far as I'm concerned, I got my best friend back.” Shepard turned toward him, meeting his eyes, her own swimming in uncertainty.

“Even with the changes? With all the synthetic parts?”

“It's like the ship of Theseus. The ancient Greeks replaced any boards that were damaged, and over the course of centuries, eventually every plank was replaced. There wasn't an original board left on that ship. Was it still the same ship?”

AJ pondered his words as Jeff continued, “Our bodies are constantly replacing cells. At our age, none of my original cells are left, yet I'm still me. So are you.”

“And the biotics?”

“Are just a bonus power! I mean come on, you can lift things with your mind now! How cool is that?” Shepard huffed. "I suppose you're right. Thanks Joker." "Anytime, though don't make this a regular habit. You know I'm not a people person." Grinning, AJ nudged him with her shoulder. "Jackass." "I try."

[theroomfloor]

HTTYD X ATLA AU

Yes, I will draw them. Someday… I promise

I'm starting from the idea that the 4 nations aren't completely divided, and that benders of the 4 elements live together, as in the case of Berk, although the most common are firebenders. It's become a big mix and that's why it's harder to know who will be the next Avatar

Hiccup: The Avatar. However, when he was born, apparently, He didn't bend any of the elements, considered a nonbender, until find out he's the Avatar.

Astrid: Waterbender. Yes, again using the blue outfit as justification, but I also think water suits her. She and Katara would be besties.

Fishlegs: Earthbender. What I like about earthbending is that it's a completely opposite element to his personality, he's a kind and adorable guy, while earthbending is hard and offensive. But it completely suits him too, because he's protective and strong, and he likes gardening. Bonecrusher likes it for sure

Snotlout: Firebender. Do I really need to explain about this?

Tuffnut and Ruffnut: Airbenders. They're both airheads, so. But seriously, I think the air really suits them, how much they would mess around. Just look at Tenzin's children, or even Aang himself.

Heather: Nonbender. For me, she would be like Asami (and Astrid could be Korra, I'm just saying). Strong and powerful without needing to bend. She would be good with weapons but would also use technology.

Dagur: Firebender. Honestly, it's the most offensive element and it can create lightning, do you want more explanations? But also, I like the idea of him being a Nonbender like his sister. Like, being an heir, they expected him to be a powerful bender, but he ended up disappointing his family and people. So he went through such heavy training that it ruined his psychology.

Mala: She and the entire Defenders of the Wings tribe are Nonbenders. A tribe that lives isolated and without any benders, having a certain repudiation for them, until they meet the Avatar and his gang.

Atali: She and the Wingmaidens are also Nonbenders, but they would be more like the Kyoshi Warriors. Or they could also be like Gliders, so they could "fly".

Now some that I'm just going to throw here and won't comment on

Stoick, Spitelout and Gustav: Firebenders

Gobber: Non or Earthbender (especially Metalbender)

Gothi: Waterbender

Viggo: Non or Waterbender (especially Bloodbender. Thanks @reallyprofoundkryptonite for the idea)

Ryker: Earth or Firebender

Krogan: Fire or Nonbender

There're a lot of characters missing, but I can't think of anyone else right now. The main ones are here. Feel free to give your opinions and headcanons.

[evilwriter37]

From the Immortal Hiccup AU that still does not have a name. 707 words, so I'm putting it under a read more.

The fleet of ships became visible on the horizon as the two flew north, the sun rising to their right. Maybe they would take the excuse that it was still sunrise, that daylight hadn’t truly come yet. 

Or maybe they wouldn’t, and he was in for another punishment. 

He thought of saying these things out loud, but Brenna wasn’t a very talkative dragon. He was more quiet and reserved, but fierce in battle… just like he needed him to be. 

The ships were those of a cobbled-together fleet of Dragon Hunters, different tribes mingling. Viggo was still rebuilding his empire, and had signed treaties (some in blood) to get this navy that he wanted. 

All three of them were standing on the deck of the flagship, painted with Viggo’s crest. That could only mean trouble for himself. 

Though, he did his best to hide any trepidation when he landed and dismounted.

“Are they all dead?” Viggo asked calmly, arms crossed over his chest, peering at him with his one good eye. The other half of his face was badly burned, his left eye glazed over with blindness.

“I wouldn’t be back if there were survivors,” he said, maybe a little too snidely. 

“Yes, well, you’re back late, Hiccup,” Johann criticized, reaching for his helmet and tearing it off. Hiccup didn’t bother trying to reach for it or take it back from him. These were his superiors, his commanders. He couldn’t disobey them.

“Did anyone spot you?” Krogan, standing on Johann’s other side, asked. “Daylight is nigh upon us and you come flying in without a care in the world.” 

“I wasn’t spotted,” Hiccup said, trying to keep up an air of confidence despite the tongue lashing he was getting. 

Johann gave him a smoldering look. “Put that chin down and quit acting so proud.” He held out his hand. “Proof?”

“Ah, I think I should take it,” Viggo said as Hiccup lowered his head in acquiescence. “Havaskjar was my old enemy after all.” 

Johann gave Viggo a sideways glare, but put his hand down. Hiccup untied the pendant from his belt and dropped it into Viggo’s hand. 

Viggo examined it, then let his fingers fold around it. “Good, good. The job is done.” 

“You sound as if you want to reward him!” Krogan cried. “He’s late.”

“However, I do believe that it’s my turn to deal with him,” Viggo said. “Yes?”

“Do not reward him where it is inappropriate,” Johann said. “If you cannot discipline him, I will.”

Hiccup just stood there as these three men argued over him. Someone had come to take Brenna away and feed him, so he was alone. Not that Brenna could protect him from any of them anyway. He was just as much under their thrall as he was.

“You know nothing of my disciplinary measures,” Viggo said, turning to Johann. “Unless, of course, you would like to witness them.”

Hiccup clenched his jaw. The last thing he wanted was Johann watching the things that Viggo did to him, disciplinary or not. 

If he was being honest, Johann was the worst to deal with. 

Viggo came with a softer side to him that he would never show the other two, and that Hiccup was surprised he was privy to. 

Krogan had his own sadism and cruelties, but he didn’t have much to feel personally about Hiccup. His sessions were usually torture until he grew bored, and Krogan could grow bored easily when not being given the responses he wanted.

Johann, on the other hand, had neither a soft side, nor a lack of personal interest. He despised Hiccup, had for a long while now, and it showed in the ways he hurt him. 

A session of punishment with each man was vastly different from the other. Hiccup preferred Viggo, if he was being quite honest. He preferred him for many reasons. 

“I advise not witnessing it,” Krogan said to Johann, putting a hand on the smaller man’s shoulder. “It’s a bit too saccharine for my taste.”

Johann sniffed, brushed Krogan’s hand off his shoulder. 

“Don’t coddle him, Viggo,” Johann said, handing Viggo Hiccup’s helmet. And then he walked off, Krogan following a moment later.

“I don’t intend to!” Viggo called back.

[c-rowlesdraws]

Of course someone doesn't need to see features like their own kind to be attracted to an alien, but it's fun to think some of why a krogan might be into a volus is the shape, and maybe the sense of danger with those atmospheric pressures and poisons.

I'll admit, I hadn't really considered the two species as looking similar to each other before-- krogan are very physically imposing and powerful-looking, like if an ankylosaurus was also a linebacker, and the volus are these short, roly-poly creatures with little blinky eyepieces and little hands. If one got a running start they could probably break your knees, but the official artbook describes their look as "docile", and I'm inclined to agree. But on the other hand, a volus and a krogan do both have a hunched-over posture and convex shape to their back, and, proportionally, a large head and smaller hands and feet... so the similarities are there, now that you got me thinking about it. There's also something to be said for the differences between them being part of the attraction-- maybe he thinks it's cute that he can just pick her up like a medicine ball at the gym.

And yes, the sense of danger-- he might be the more physically powerful one, but she has a different sort of power that's more than a match, just by not being the one in the protective spacesuit. He's evolved for Tuchanka, big tough guy from an irradiated monster-filled wasteland, but that doesn't matter here; the atmosphere she breathes would crush him like sparrow's egg even before he could start suffocating in it. That's probably kind of hot.

But in this fiction about them I'm improvising as i go, I think this particular krogan was mostly attracted to Siwa because she made him laugh.

[revive-the-fandom]

Johann's villain arc was piss poor writing

tbh I don't come to RTTE for good writing, I go here for mediocre writing with flecks of greatness in it. But Johann's villain arc is a stinking pile of shit muddying the waters of the rest of the show and I'm tired of seeing people praising it.

If you're writing a twist villain the truth needs to make more sense than the lie. and Johann just has so many inconsistencies and plotholes and godawful dialogue. He feels more fake as the villain than he ever did as the Comic Relief Plot Mover.

What is his end game?

So he gets the King of Dragons, now what? Do what with it? Is he selling it to Drago through Krogan? If he does this then he loses the King of Dragons, his Allies, and the Dragon Flyers?? Then why does Krogan need Johann of all people?

What does he bring to the table that Krogan and the Grimborns haven't already provided?

Krogan brings the Flyers, an air force, and he's an accomplished fighter with an exotic style that the Archipelago is unfamiliar with. He's also bringing the Buyer and the Funds.

The Grimborns bring the Hunters, a naval force highly skilled at capturing Dragons alive (something Berk, the Outcasts, and the Berserkers couldn't manage after 300 years of experience) and selling their parts. They also bring the Dragon Eye - it's a decades (maybe even centuries) old artifact created by the Hunters for use by the Hunters.

Then why do Viggo and Krogan work for him?

No fucking clue! It doesn't make sense! He's been undercover for at least 15 - 20 years (the man recognises by sight the gift Valka made for Hiccup, which he threw into the ocean when he was a toddler). Any reputation he had in his homeland or even the archipelago is void.

Johann is also rarely ever shown fighting, and when he does fight he loses, so he's pretty shit. He loses to Hiccup twice, and he loses to Viggo. He's not inspiring confidence or fear so what the fuck is even his deal? How is he gaining loyalty?

He doesn't bring knowledge, or hell even an insider perspective of the Riders. Viggo has the information on the Dragon Eye and how to use it, Krogan has the information on what the King of Dragons looks like and acts like from Drago.

Johann throws out his one and only advantage, his alliance (and spy status) with Berk, the Outcasts, and the Berserkers, as soon as he starts to really need it (the Hunters are defeated and absorbed into the Flyers. Ryker, a highly competent general, is dead. Viggo is horrifically injured. The Shellfire is defeated. Krogan, his main general is combative, impulsive and desperate. The Flyers are loyal out of fear not camaraderie. Hiccup has a second Dragon Eye. etc).

He doesn't even have any good reason to hate dragons for christs sake!

Stoick lost his wife.

Gobber lost his limbs.

Drago also lost his limb.

So did Hiccup.

Astrid lost her uncle.

Fishlegs' ancestry is built on dragon hunting.

Mildew is a bitter old man clinging to his culture and influence (power).

Alvin wanted power through the Dragons, but didnt really hate them in the first place, just assigned them: enemy.

Johann just hates people allied with Dragons for the sake of it. It's never expanded on. It's his whole motivation for betraying Berk and it's not. explained. He's evil for the sake of evil. Johann the Trader at least could use the tribes of the archipelago for protection and profit, but Johann the Criminal Mastermind sacrifices this relationship for Viggo's Dragon Eye Lenses at the drop of pin. Why? Plot convenience and piss poor writing.

Johann's foreshadowing is another pile of shit to pick through.

His first appearance he sells poisonous flowers to Mildew.

This should be his first attempt to kill off Berk's Dragons, but he lists Breakneck Bog as his first attempt. His role in this plot is almost nonexistant - he delivers a custom order to Mildew and just, fucks off.

You could even argue that Johann, should he know what the flowers do to Dragons (which it's implied he doesn't) put the answer right into the Berkian's hands. The botany book he sells Fishlegs identifies the Blue Oleander, and because of it they're able to make a cure. Arguably this could be Johann's attempt to covertly save the Dragons.

And if he wasn't trying to covertly help, or he was in on it with Mildew from the beginning, then why on gods green earth did he even allow that book to be sold?? He sabotaged himself! If anything this is points against him as a "mastermind" bc it's a really fucking stupid move.

Johann kicks that one dragon

This is for all those people citing Johann kicking a Dragon away from his food/merchandise as proof that "there was evidence all along".

RoB spends half its screen time showing Dragons as pests, stealing food, burning shit down etc. That's the entire reason Mildew is able to succeed as much as he does.

Half of Berk is still violent to Dragons at this point. Johann is acting accordingly as Vikings are violent and angry culturally, and they get pissy at the Dragons for steal their already limited food and housing.

Breakneck Bog is apparently his first attempt to off the Riders.

So you're telling me that the grand, overarching, final villain, mastermind's plan to kill off a bunch of kids, at least two of whom are pretty crap fighters, and all of which trust him entirely, and all of which are fucking children! was to sail directly into Breakneck Bog, watch the Smokebreaths haul his big ass ship into a tree (all of which seemingly abandoned all of its metal wares ?), then swim into the ocean and HOPE that Berk would send specifically the Riders who again, are CHILDREN, to search for him so he can send them into a hoard of metal eating (not flesh, metal) dragons????

Does no one on the writing team remember that it was STOICK and GOBBER along with Hiccup who initially went searching for Johann? Hiccup went against Stoick's wishes to take the Riders out searching for Johann, it was PURE DUMB LUCK that Johann encountered the Riders at all!

Johann then proceeds to help berk and Stoick and Hiccup by smuggling them into Outcast Island on his own ship

If he wants Hiccup dead why even do this? If he wants the Dragons gone why even do this?

The only reason I can come up with is that he wants to remove the competition: Alvin. Which again, backfires horribly when he allies with Stoick. Great track record this mastermind has for felling his enemies. Really fearsome, round of applause.

Johann is saved by Hiccup during a freeze

He does very little in this ep aside from being fucking hilarious, but he is yet again rescued by Hiccup. Great motivator for hating him.

Johann then (accidentally) delivers Smokebreath metal to Berk

If he's doing this on purpose to help Dagur, rather than just getting tricked because he's the gullible Comic Relief Plot Mover, then why does he stick around to confirm Hiccup's theory? Just leave or lie, he's supposed to be an expert in deceit right?

All of Johann's RoB/DoB appearances consist of him doing something vaguely dodgy or stupid and then getting bailed out, or should he be a villain, hindered by Hiccup. If he's just a Trader, that's fine, he's here to be stupid. but if he's secretly The Villain of the series, then he's a really, really stupid one with no motivation and a habit of self-sabotage. Which I guess could be an interesting route if they played into his stupidity, but no, he's the ultra mega smartypants villain.

Dagur stealing his ship

Johann is a Trader of course he visits Outcast island. He's also Mr Comic Relief Plot Mover. He is the ideal choice for this type of Shenanigans.

But if Johann is the mastermind, then I guess he supposedly paid off that one Outcast guard? The same Outcast guard who then didn't direct Dagur to the ship or anything? So that he could sit and again HOPE that Dagur picked his ship instead of any of the armed and armoured Outcast ships docked nearby, which like, Dagur just defeated an entire prisons worth of guards singlehandedly after stewing in a tiny cell for what 3 years? and then he let Dagur throw him overboard so that said mastermind could once again mysteriously survive being lost at sea? What kind of supernatural powers does Johann have that allows him to swim in an arctic sea for days on end??

and on top of that Johann just decides, hey, lets warn the Berkians instead of maybe like, playing ill for a bit? so that Dagur doesn't get more than a few days headstart to raise an entire Armarda, bc ... fuck him I guess?

So, release the guy who you want to have kill Hiccup and the Riders, then set said Riders on this guy at your earliest convenience so they can swoop in and reduce his chances of doing the thing you want him to do??

Giving false information to Heather

Johann straight up tells Heather he can't confirm Dagur's whereabouts after his last tip, and that Dagur is on his way to get arms. It's not a big stretch to think Heather had good info, but bad timing.

otherwise this is one of the only solid points the Johann twist has going for it: send a single rider so that Dagur can get some practice killing them.

Johann distracting the Riders while the Hunters invade

Like the above point, not really a red flag, but also does hold up okay after the twist. As Johann did manage to fend off the Dragons proving he has some competence. but i say again, Comic Relief Plot Mover is much more likely given his track record.

Smuggling the Riders into the Auction

Why on God does Johann not warn Viggo or Ryker, who he is apparently in charge of, that the Auction is about to be sabotaged? Krogan is in the Auction too. If Johann is vying to sell the King of Dragons then impressing that guy should be priority numero uno or else his whole plan withers away. Instead he just licks Viggo's boots and stays quiet?

the whole Submarriper debacle

Johann, by your own admission you are currently in charge of Viggo and Ryker. Why are you sailing straight into Viggo's Submarriper Trap?

Also, why is he being nice to people he knows are about to die? He knows the Submarriper, so even if he's just like, idk scoping out the trap to check all's good then no need to a) be that close, or b) be fake friendly to your sacrifices?

The end of Season 4 is probably also the original end point, as they only had 4 seasons planned and they got given an extra 2. My theory is that Johann wasn't planned to be a villain until season 5 because they'd wrapped up 90% of the plot in Shell Shocked and needed a new threat.

Sandbuster

Ok, again, this is ok. He's just leading them into danger again. which I will still say could be Comic Relief Plot Mover shenanigans, but doesn't get in the way of his twist villain plot either.

Krogan invades the Edge

Again, this is ok. Lead Hiccup and Astrid away from the Edge so Krogan can now invade. But if Johann knows about Hiccup's secret project (Dragon Eye) why didn't he go to further measures to destroy it? Without it the race for the Lenses can never happen.

Getting the Lens from Heather

this one is ok. I guess. Makes the most sense out of all of them but it's also the ep where Johann is revealed to the audience (not the riders. I think this is called dramatic irony but don't quote me on that) so its gotta fit within the laws of the episode at the very least.

The Reveal

Just, why Johann? Hiccup has The Most Loyal Dragon who also happens to be The Most Intelligent Dragon. Hiccup is also the Dragon Master who can train/deal with any dragon and you choose to confront him in a Dragons lair that he already knows about and has escaped from before?

And I haven't even touched on the bullshit "evil smile in the background but only AFTER the audience has been handed the twist so it's impossible to deduce the truth before this moment"

Season 5:

Season 6:

This is the most dumbed down, babyish shit I've ever seen. I expect this from Cbeebies not Netflix. How many kids' shows these days are doing better than this!? (Adventure Time, Steven Universe, Over the Garden Wall, to name a few).

Like yes we get it! Johann is your twist villain. Except he wasn't even a good twist because it wasn't a twist, it was a flat out surprise attack with no clues and no warnings. It's not fun if you can't go back and connect the dots! which I've just spent maybe 1000 words proving you can't!

I just hate it! He has no clear motive, he has multiple actions that contradict his eventual reveal, most of his plots fail miserably, most his plots rely on complete and total luck, he brings nothing of value to the villain roster and yet he's our Leading Villain??

If Mildew is more convincing than your main villain, then something's gone horribly wrong with your writing, and maybe you should rethink this choice?

[reallyprofoundkryptonite]

What do you think of "yandere" Krogan?

It depends entirely on the AU, and I feel like he could definitely fit into the “obsessive” and “Insane” categories if given the correct circumstances. But it entirely depends on the specific circumstances and context of what made him like that because mainline, I feel like yandere doesn’t fit him because of the trauma I give him. He is innately clingy in my opinion, but most likely not… stalker like. Krogan himself seems to be extremely introverted and therefore extremely avoidant of people, in my opinion. So it would possibly take… a lot for him to get to this point.

He is innately capable of violent acts, though, so hypothetically we could absolutely transfer that aspect over that Krogan is absolutely just extremely paranoid about people from a survivalist aspect. But if you add feelings into the mix of Krogan liking/caring very deeply for someone and throwing those same paranoid feeling of distress of ther people being dangerous, it could possibly work, considering Krogan’s paranoia could and would absolutely leak into violence towards others in the name of protecting him and his prospective significant other.

Therefore it is an innately complex topic. I have never quite been a fan of blatant yandere, especially for Krogan, simply due to the fact that I personally don’t see him having some of the traits that are typical for a yandere, especially since it would negate the trauma I give him in some cases, HOWEVER, if done correctly I could figure it out, probably, like in the manner I listed above.

[sarnai4]

Ever The Chief

I think an underrated skill of Dagur's is his leadership.

Something I love was Dagur's interaction with the Riders in the episode "Gold Rush." Easily, he could have just acted like a side character and gone along with whatever they wanted to do, but that's not what happened. Immediately, Dagur goes into leader mode. They get on the island and he says they should split up to cover more ground. When they try to take down the structure that's actually the gold, he is up with an idea again. The same thing goes on when the Riders (minus Fishlegs and Heather) get captured. I like that he's not pushy though. Dagur isn't trying to force his idea on anybody, but he knows that it could work and mentions it again when what they tried before failed. This makes a lot of sense to me because he's the only one there who is officially a leader. Note the word "officially." Hiccup might lead the Riders, but Dagur is a chief and that shows here. A consistent thing with Dagur is that he's never been afraid to take charge.

Honestly, I think that Dagur is one of the best leaders in the series. Now, I will 100% admit that he made a load of mistakes and wasn't a leader I would want when he was evil. So, I'm specifically saying post-redemption Dagur is ne of the best. That said, I do feel like he really wasn't even the worst bosses of the villains. Compare him with Viggo and Krogan. One of the Hunters literally had to steal money for food. The Berserkers haven't gone hungry. Dagur was even shocked to hear that the Hunters were deserting them and that Viggo considered his people expendable. Krogan is just as bad and even kills one of his people who decides to leave (not to mention when a bunch of people died trying to get the Dragon Eye and he couldn't have cared less). It's made clear that Dagur doesn't feel this way.

As a hero, we see Dagur help protect his people against their enemies and there's another fun moment in the last two episodes. Dagur is shown to jump into his leadership position again when the Flyers and Hunters are approaching. He's got an idea I think is deceptively clever. The chief's plan is to wait for the Flyers to get close and then fire the catapults. The other Berserkers think he's crazy (which is funny, sad, and a bit nice when he just acknowledges that they're right), but he still goes through with it. At first glance, if you don't think it's a dumb plan, you might think it's a simple one. Despite that, it involves a lot. By waiting, it uses the information Dagur already has: that dragons can't fly close to the island. Why attack the ships when the Singetails are in the way? They'll either blast the boulders, saving the ships, or get hurt which would be bad since they're innocent in this. So, Dagur waits. Waiting fixes two problems. It gets the dragons close enough to get discombobulated AND allows easy access to sink the ships.

I wish we got to see more of his leadership in the show. I absolutely adore it, but there's just not a lot. Still, I enjoy the little that we do get. (Not even going to lie...I think good Dagur is a better leader than Hiccup. One of the two DIDN'T lose all his island's gold, not search relentlessly to find it, and have all his Vikings evacuate their home of 400+ years for a relatively minor threat compared to what they're used to..just sayin'.)

[ghoulangerlee]

Your dnd characters 👀

i will always be down to talk about my d&d boys!!!

I don't....actually have actual photos of them because I cannot draw, and so they live vividly in my mind. I Will Eventually commission someone to draw them though I think. ANYWAY.

Jamir - he's a half-dead (as in, that is his race, homebrewed myself) ranger who isn't wise enough to multiclass (his death took away some of his wisdom). He was human before his death--not the best sort of human, joined the army at a young age because that's all he could do, really. His parents well. He made a deal with someone not so nice and in exchange for their souls, he gained the ability to perform magic; simple things though, nothing too crazy. A few cantrips here and there.

Along the way, the faction of soldiers he's with are sent out to aid a dragonborn clan that's having issues of their own with infighting.

This is where he meets Elias, eventually, and they hit it off pretty much immediately. Jamir is of course, jaded all the hell, he's been fighting for half his life in an army of soldiers who just seem to be making things worse.

Elias gives him a way out, a chance at freedom, because Elias was also looking to somehow distance himself from all the fighting. They make a pact to leave together.

Until Elias's brother Arjhan catches wind of this and kills Jamir.

I can't go too much into Elias's backstory because I haven't delved much into it during the campaign and ofc both my players follow me here haha! But, Elias takes Jamir's body and finds a necromancer, makes a deal with her to bring Jamir back.

She readily agrees and makes sure he understands the consequences of this, of what could happen. The possibilities of Jamir coming back wrong.

Elias accepts these consequences readily.

And he does, of course, come back wrong. He's no longer human, smells of rot and decay and has to constantly drink potions to keep his skin from looking too pale. He has aches and pains despite being practically unkillable now. But, along with his new chance at life, he's also gained more access to magic.

Elias [Redacted] is a dragonborn paladin (he has a family name ofc but it's unknown for now, for a good reason)

is the son of a monarch, a clan leader, and he hates it. His clan is constantly at war with each other, with other dragonborn. with humans. you name it, they have a distrust of most other races, for good reason of course.

Long ago, a curse was placed on this clan, meaning that any children born to them would die. There is no known way to reverse this, until, one day, Elias's brother Arjhan was born.

Arjhan, he had not succumbed to the curse, and no one knows why, but this makes Arjhan a very popular target.

Elias had, for years, felt like he had to protect his brother from anyone. From the weird scientists and magic folk that their father had hired to test Arjhan to see if there was something about his blood that made him different, to the older kids that the two of them grew up around.

Arjhan was, in a way, viewed as the savior of the clan, much to the distaste of Elias.

The campaign actually begins with Elias and Jamir recruiting people to help them find Arjhan haha. At this point in time, there is still no cure to the curse and Arjhan is practically hated by the party (minus Elias and begrudgingly, Jamir--but also like wouldn't u also hate the person who killed you???)

ANYWAY. Elias and Jamir are in love, they are my mid-thirties baby boys who are just tired soldiers who want to rest their head somewhere but can't because they keep getting pulled into bullshit!

(also if you vaguely guessed that Elias's family story sounds eerily like the Krogan Genophage from Mass Effect then u would be correct. Elias is based on Wrex and Jamir is based on male Shepard but with a lil gay twist LMAO)

[sol-consort]

Consider how funny it is for Kaidan to go from Rahna, a delicate and fragile spring flower with the sweetest heart who got scared by him protecting her.

To Shepard. Especially renegade Shepard.

It's like two opposite extremes.

That's super soldier, first human spectre, made out of steel and titanium Shepard. First human to attend a krogan rite and beat a thrasher maw on foot. First human to kill a reaper time after time after time.

And like no slander on Rahna, she is obviously a very different person with different traits, she sounds very sweet and kind hearted.

But it is hilarious that he went from playing knight in shining armour for a damsel in distress, to getting carried fireman style on Shepard's back multiple times and having Shepard scream commands at him during shootouts. Like Shepard's presence is just so dominanting by itself, imagine a renegade Shepard who puts everyone at their place at every turn.

Home boy thought he'd go for a slightly more adventurous person, not realising he signed up to be the squeeze stress toy for the Atlas of the galaxy carrying the world on their back as the most famous human alive.

That's six-pack Shepard with a sculpted god-like body. That's always in military uniform with everyone addressing them with the utmost respect Shepard. That's knowing how to use every rifle type known to mankind and nerves of steel Shepard. Powerful and dangerous.

That's short-temper and always yelling loud enough over the sound of gunfire and explosions Shepard. That's ordering people to stand down and obey them without question Shepard. That's requiring absolute devotion from their crew and somehow earning it every time they get assigned a new crew Shepard.

Can you imagine how different his life would've been if Rahna just didn't reject him? He would've had an average marriage with the most stereotypical gentle strong husband and delicate sensitive wife relationship. Got an office job maybe or something instead of signing up for the military, rarely used his biotics or just joined C-sec as an officer if he was feeling a little adventurous.

Instead of you know, standing at Shepard's side during war negotiations with admirals to face the reapers. Being taken to cure the genophage, resolve a war that's almost a thousand years old, visit the asari's most sacred temple and witness Shepard stand in front of a reaper like it's nothing while stepping away from the burning laser beam storming their way.

Man that's wild. Kaidan really didn't know what he was in for when he thought his new commanding officer that Anderson introduced him to, is kinda cute and maybe he'll hint at liking them and see if they want to spend some shore leave together. Why not step out of his comfort zone and try a slightly different type than Rahna you know? What's the worst that could happen?

[ferusaurelius]

Turian Culture Meta - Ferus Style

Yeah so -- ready to descend into crazyland? 

We’re gonna dive into some meta thoughts I have about what sort of cultural educational and military system would produce the interesting client-state relationship between the turian Hierarchy and the Vol Protectorate.

Disclaimer: The opinions of the author (me) are naturally my own and are not intended to argue for or against anyone else’s ideas. This is not even intended to be an interpretation of canon, in point of fact. Canon doesn’t have much to say about things that actually interest me. -shrug-

This is my ‘plausible’ version of conceptual options and social structures that canon either glosses over or fumbles entirely. Because it’s just not interested in these ideas, really ... BUT I AM. :D

If you find any of these concepts compelling? Fantastic, please liberate them! Go and use them in any or all transformative work with or without attribution.

I really Do Not Want to be the only one writing this stuff, so... be welcome!

Full post (long) underneath the cut.

The Situation

The turian Hierarchy makes first contact with the Citadel some 1000 years after the volus have drawn up the Unified Banking Act (300 B.C.E.) and have a thriving economic network of colonies after discovering FTL travel. The volus in point of fact have more than a millennia of advanced experience in working with multi-species ventures and are a pillar of the galactic economy long before the turians finish off their brutal Unification Wars.

If you took just the game’s on-screen hints as fact, none of this is evident in the galaxy by the time Shepard encounters volus on the Citadel. They’re treated as a sort of minor curiosity in comparison to the turian characters -- whether because of the mask, or just because economics is “less interesting” in a AAA-shooter. OH WELL.

Another interesting element is that the volus are “accepted” as a protectorate of the Hierarchy around 700 C.E., shortly after the Krogan rebellions.

To my mind, this is translation for: the Hierarchy’s war economy in the aftermath of the Krogan rebellions would have collapsed without the intervention of volus administrators, economists, logicians, and other bureaucratic types. What the Hierarchy DOES have of a peacetime bureaucracy was likely or nearly entirely trained and reformed by the Vol Protectorate’s extremely professional civil service. Fight a series of wars and warlords in the colonies for around 1000 years while someone else is running the galactic banking system ... and you’re probably woefully behind the curve in that area, just saying.

When you’ve “elevated” one warlike species (the Krogan) and then been surprised that they’ve gone on to aggressively contest the rest of Citadel space, it even seems likely/possible that this was a grand strategic bargain on the part of the Citadel species to avoid the turians becoming a “second” Krogan incident.

A values-driven and rules-based collectivist civil society that managed to transition to a peacetime footing without an accompanying economic collapse would be a much more stable galactic force ... plus you get the opportunity to fill in C-Sec ranks, develop a galactic security fleet (employing turian Dreadnoughts), and use those related tasks and duties to bring turians (an otherwise very militaristic society with a historical doctrine of total war) into better compliance as galactic citizens. In essence: the Vol Protectorate gives the Hierarchy something to protect rather than conquer.

Naturally, turian cultural perspectives on the purpose of the Hierarchy and the relative values of the culture probably run the gamut from the more imperialistic Unification and pre-Unification end of the spectrum to the more socially/galatically communitarian version of the Hierarchy, itself, as a participant in creating civil society within the Milky Way.

When in doubt? I prefer to view individuals on a spectrum or continuum of different possible viewpoints -- and to prefer that a full spectrum of interpretations be available to my characters. So that’s the type of environment I’d use as backdrop for, say, a fic.

Education (Given: The Situation)

Which takes us back to the Hierarchy’s mandatory service culture and boot camp at age 15, with mandatory service from age 15-30.

“Public service” as opposed to private industry is more a matter of organization and aims than it is a limitation of ‘choices.’ Take, for instance, the example of ‘national’ industries owned by a state. Any state-owned enterprise might conceivably count toward ‘public service’ citizen credit. These enterprises could include everything from arts museums and public art projects (ala the Works Projects Administration of Roosevelt Depression-era US policy) to industrial fabricators, dockyards, and other collectively owned and operated institutions.

Note that I also don’t equate state-owned industry to CENTRALLY-PLANNED industry! You might, in a turian society that prizes both individual accountability AND public service, have for instance a federated system of local control within a centrally-organized public works or other department.

Fair warning: this is my professional bureaucrat side talking. There are MANY aspects of infrastructure, particularly public works infrastructure, that are site- and context-dependent. Central planning of these features quite literally doesn’t work outside of administration and funding (which you WANT organized in larger packages if possible, to secure the best possible loan terms). 

I also imagine that a public service-oriented society would work on incorporating the economic fates of its outer colonies into the trading lanes and patterns of the central Hierarchy (in order to secure greater loyalty and collective bargaining power, alongside the Vol Protectorate’s economic management engine).

So what would education in a “man-of-action”/”public service” society look like? I’d think more a system of apprenticeships and practical qualification or on-the-job (OJT) training and certification where available! 

A boot camp experience is usually important both for training in values and standard procedures, so it’s less likely to vary appreciably between any one place and another beyond basics related to climate and environment. I’d expect boot camp training to be purposely standardized -- individual accountability doesn’t necessarily lead me to conclude that turians would be keen to judge themselves on anything other than “demonstrated merit” (and testing would be ONE part, but probably not the most significant -- outside of genuine performance on practical tasks, and the ability to produce measurable results!).

Pre-boot-camp education would likely be designed to expose juveniles to as many professions as possible -- there’s a bit in the codex about the turian respect for “knowing one’s place” and finding a comfortable place where the individual best serves the community (rather than individual prestige or economic gain). This would also track with turians being ‘poor’ entrepreneurs (i.e. less inclined to start their own businesses for profit, or with less opportunity when they’re in State-mandated service) ... and account for some of the distrust of ‘merc-born’ turians who chose to opt out of the traditional Hierarchy structure.

I’d also expect a classical turian education to include emphasis on health, community values, and being able to communicate in a general way with their volus partners/collaborators in areas that are less often viewed as strengths of turian culture (aka: economics and business, anyone?).

If turian culture is truly militaristic and communitarian, both, and formed around a sort of military hierarchy, that society will also be shaped by what doctrine views as effective deployment of force and possible missions and required capabilities In military terms, this would be defined both by a theoretical ‘ideal’ force structure and various desired concepts of operations.

Military Doctrine (Given: The Situation)

So, what capabilities would be valuable for the turian Hierarchy to provide to the galaxy? What are its internal needs? What are the needs of its closest allies and partners?

We already know (or suspect) that Dreadnoughts are one sign of military status. These immense warships are required to secure and hold space stations and other important remote outposts, alongside the smaller cruisers, frigate wolfpacks, and other space Navy-type forces.

We can also consider C-Sec (civil and criminal investigation on the Citadel, security for ports, anti-smuggling operations, etc.) as a separate civil branch and outgrowth of skills are learned and taught within the Hierarchy and something of a stereotypical (and desirable!) turian job outside of Hierarchy space.

Other valuable services provided by the Hierarchy include staffing and operating a force (32 fleets!) large enough to secure not just Hierarchy space but also to protect the Citadel. Turians canonically value combined arms and disciplined maneuver warfare, decentralized command-and-control, and are also the primary military arm and security force for the rest of the galaxy.

In summary: the turians are so good at staffing and maintaining fleets that the rest of the Council species seem to prefer handing these civil functions over to the turians in proportion to their relative expertise and cultural strengths.

All of the above implies that turian culture would need to be an extraordinarily flexible (structurally) society, if individually somewhat set and rigid in expectations and values for fulfilling assigned duties.

I’d believe that assignments, once given, were equivalent to anyone else’s ultimatum! I’d also imagine that turians would find it VERY personally important to seek out roles where they could fulfill all potential assignments to the best of their individual abilities, and that ‘finding’ that place/role in society would be akin to a life path.

Amateurs Study Tactics

A short aside that warfighting ability, alone, at least on an individual level, is a minor strength in comparison to building an effective collaborative combined arms force. The organization required at an individual level? Not much! Just personal training and supply.

Problems mount as soon as the force expands in size, complexity, and desired mission capabilities. I could see volus economists and logicians, as well as military scholars, being the preeminent organizers and administrators of turian force structures. I could see the volus economic influence being a quite effective force multiplier for the turian Hierarchy, in terms of creatively organizing fleets and their sub-units into autonomous mission-capable interchangeable “parts” which all know how to work together and communicate to achieve complex adaptability and integration of vastly different forces, hardware, and weapons systems at a variety of scales (from galactic, to orbital, to low-orbit, to planetside ground).

Which leads us to ...

Professionals Study Logistics

This is just the study of the application of “effective force.” What makes a force effective? It needs to be supplied with personnel and materiel such that it can accomplish its assigned mission -- preserve the capability of the force through the supply of the necessary tools at the right time, alongside the ability to maintain, repair, replace, or rotate those tools as needed.

A force that has been improperly positioned (is too far forward of supply lines, or too far in the rear to be applied at the right time) is by definition an ineffective force. It is unavailable to accomplish the mission.

There’s a long, rich tradition of economists studying the choice behaviors of nations seeking war, the application of deterrence, and the conditions of victory and defeat on a multitude of different battlefields in different historical and cultural contexts. We get just about NONE of this (barring some high-level generalizations) in Mass Effect, proper!

If we did, we might have seen a bit more nuance in illustrating the Vol Protectorate as not just the economic backbone of Citadel space, but also the preeminent experts in military grand strategy and supply. They’re likely the most closely associated Citadel species and have the most experience collaborating with turian systems of organization! The volus would be just as good at turian military history as turians are, if not BETTER observers and critics on the logistics/economics side, in terms of patterns of thinking and history!

At some point I’m going to have to write the “lessons learned” memo on the First Contact War from the point of view of an eminent volus logistician and economist (ala Thomas Schelling).

Because I’m a nerd, and if the FCW was a failure due to logistics and supply errors? You can just BET the volus were kept out of the First Contact loop as a some sort of power play on the part of less-qualified frontline personnel... no, they’re not salty about that, why do you ask?

-

HATE ME YET? Yeah, I can’t stop thinking about this stuff, either ... and now you know why my fanfiction is the way it is. :D

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 2 replay, Thane’s loyalty mission:

-Bailey says they don’t get many drell.

Logical enough. There aren’t many drell to start with, and presumably many stay close with hanar. Considering hanar are aquatic, how many enjoy traveling to terra based societies?

Those that visit the Citadel are likely on political business and would go to the presidium.

-“Duct rats” are a nice touch in world building. Of course the poor kids would play in the vents, and of course there are numerous ways for that to kill them. But who’s going to force them to stay out of the vents?

-Why do keepers maintain protein vats? Bailey just casually throws out their existence… Is that the raw material used to clone more keepers?

-I’m not fond of Bailey, but I respect his willingness to assist Thane because Thane is trying to save his kid.

-Thane: You didn’t tell him that kolyat plans to assassinate someone.

Renegade Shepard: I also didn’t tell him what you do for a living. Do you normally discuss assassinations with the police?

Good line.

-Mouse: I got some quarians that can strip the copy protection.

What’s the story here? Quarians on pilgrimage? Quarians on the fleet with a side hustle?

-Mouse turned around and saw a known assassin and the dead savior of the citadel. That would strike fear in anyone.

-The renegade interrupt is pretty brutal. You just go straight to beating the information out of him without even trying to talk him into it.

Given his history with Thane, that’s pretty shitty.

-There’s an extra layer of tragedy in that Mouse got Kolyat the assassination job as a favor to Thane, and that he refuses to tell you how he knows Thane because Thane hasn’t told you.

Mouse is far more loyal to Thane than Thane is to him.

-I’d argue that the upper right option to persuade Mouse is better than the blue paragon.

Blue paragon leans on his fondness for Thane to freely give the information.

Upper right, you pay him so he can get off the Citadel to somewhere safe.

-Mouse thinks Kelham will kill him for telling. He’s probably right.

If you go renegade, he asks Thane to kill Kelham if Thane has any fondness for Mouse.

And Thane… Never takes any additional steps to help Mouse. Considering the lengths Mouse goes to help him, you think he could repay him by pulling some strings to get him better work or the like.

-Bailey is so damn corrupt. Of course he takes bribes.

He acts tough and world weary and insists you need a strong hand to police a ward, but he doesn’t have the conviction to follow through.

-The interrogation room has a torture chair. What kind of “interrogations” does C-Sec normally perform?

-The whole interrogation is silly. Shepard should lead with that they’re a spectre. That should not require a high level of renegade.

I suppose it can be argued that the Council told Shepard to stick to the Terminus space, so they’re trying to avoid using their spectre status on the Citadel.

-How does Khalim not know what a spectre is and that they can operate outside the law?

That seems like criminal 101. He should be actively avoiding spectre attention.

-Renegade Shepard: I’ll cut your balls of and sell them to a krogan.

Another really good line.

-Khalim uses the insults frog and tadpole for drells.

-The reasons for anti-human sentiment that Bailey gives probably work better in a run where Shepard killed the Council.

Why did a human fleet guard the Citadel for months? Are you telling me the turians couldn’t divert one of their fleets to do so?

The increased number of humans in C-Sec is also a baffling. The presidium was attacked in the Battle for the Citadel; do you expect me to believe that’s where most C-Sec recruits come from?

Recruiting after the battle should have been normal for any post-crisis situation. The only reason I can come up with is that prior to the battle the number of humans on the force was restricted, and that was removed/relaxed after.

-I dislike paragon Shepard’s line about Talim being elected: If a majority votes for him, like it or not, that’s how the system works.

That is beyond naive. Plenty of elected officials have down awful things.

-I’m not fond of this part the catwalk part of the mission. I’d like to see all the outcomes to dealing with Kolyat, and that requires replaying the entire section.

-One of Talim’s campaign platforms is C-Sec corruption.

Since the Shin Akiba enclave opened, there’s been a 24% increase in racial crimes despite 116 more officers being assigned. Most of those are human, and human officers will turn a blind eye to human crime. Don’t expect a captain to behave any differently.

Khalim runs the Shin Akiba enclave, and he bribes Bailey to turn a blind eye to him.

Corruption does inspire more corruption. Even if Bailey treats everyone equally – and we have no proof that he does or does not – watching him take bribes sends a message to his people that ignoring regulations is okay.

-And of course, we immediately learn afterwards that Talim is also corrupt.

I wish he wasn’t. That dilutes the impact of his criticisms of Bailey. Which is probably the point.

-Why does Talim sprint at one point?

The section from the krogan intimidating the human shopkeeper to the bar where the barkeeper is shaken down is bizarre. There’s no reason for Talim to run through the ward. What message does that send to voters?

-Does Kolyat have any kind of plan? It looks like he positioned himself to shoot Talim in the back then make a run for it. That’s awful. The krogan bodyguard could just shoot him.

-No matter how you handle Kolyat, he’s obviously not an experienced criminal.

He’s very lucky Thane came to save him. The prison system or the underworld would eat him alive.

-You can feel the spite and anger when he speaks to Thane. Good voice actor.

Why did he even want to become an assassin? That’s never said. He’s furious at Thane; did he become an assassin to spite him? In hopes he might run into him if they’re both in the field?

I don’t think he wanted to be like Thane. At least not consciously.

-A running theme through this mission is that Thane is tired of violence. He’s not happy if you beat up Mouse, he’s not happy if you beat the target’s name out of Khalim, and he questions the morality of killing Talim to prevent Kolyat from doing so.

Thane’s comfortable with violence in his life, but he wants better for Kolyat. Part of that is keeping him as far away from it as possible.

-If you go renegade when speaking to Kolyat, he asks what right Thane had to kill all those people.

Thane: I was six when the hanar began to train me. I didn’t know any better.

Still insisting that you have no responsibility for those murders, Thane?

The cracks are starting to show.

-Thane admits to killing his wife’s killers in front of C-Sec.

Not the best choice, Thane. There’s going to be enough of an uphill battle getting Kolyat off the hook without adding you to the fire.

-I appreciate Bioware repeatedly stating that this does not fix the relationship between Thane and Kolyat. It’s a start, but they’ll both have to keep working to improve it.

-You can lean on Bailey to keep Kolyat out of jail.

Not the most moral choice, but nothing about this mission has been.

Normandy

-Aria gave Shepard’s email address to Diana, Nif’s mother

I am amused that she keeps giving all these random people Shepard’s email address. How does that go? Does she have them brought to afterlife? Does an email with the information arrives in their email box? Does she have a courier send them a datapad?

And they just go, Welp I guess I have to send an email to Shepard now. Don’t want to find out what will happen if I don’t…

-How did Irikah come to terms with Thane being an assassin?

He was still taking work when they were together, so he didn’t quit.

Was she okay with it as long as the targets were only bad people?

-Thane accepted death when he was 12.

That’s also the age where he first killed someone.

I’d love to hear the story of how those two are related.

-Shepard tells Thane that by his own rules he doesn’t need to feel bad about killing his wife’s killers since he was on autopilot.

Thane insists he is responsible since he made the choice to hunt them.

Apparently, the same does not apply to making the choice to accept a commission to kill someone.

Those are some thin lines you’re drawing, Thane.

-Hitting on Thane right after he explains to you how his wife died is rather creepy. I wish Bioware had handled that better. Maybe they could have left the option out of this conversation and given Thane an additional conversation where starting a romance was an option.

-Samara fought Nihlus because he killed an unarmed civilian.

Nihlus eventually got away be creating a situation where she had to choose between letting an innocent die or pursuing him.

Nihlus was definitely a renegade spectre.

-Samara also respects him for using her code against her so well.

There’s a running theme with Samara where she respects strength even if she disagrees with morals.

She regards Morinth the same way.

-As a mercenary Samara killed the rest of her band to prevent them from turning slaves over to collectors.

Samara has always been firm in her convictions and unwavering due to personal connection, even prior to becoming a justicar. It’s probably one of the reasons she made it through the training.

-She also lectures the slaves on strength and the ability to defend oneself, then gave them supplies and released them on the Citadel.

This makes me snort every time. These slaves were probably deeply traumatized, and then this asari who murdered all of her companions gives them weapons and armor, tells them to get stronger, and dumps them on an unprepared city. That must have been an experience for everyone. Did she even warn city officials?

I’m sure there are societies set up to help former slaves adjust to freedom. Samara probably could have found one with chapters in her system if she had run an extranet search.

[reviewinghiccup]

RIDERS OF BERK | HTTYD SERIES | BREAKING DOWN HICCUP

Blog Post Series: Breaking Down Hiccup

Title: When Lightning Strikes

Ep/Season: Episode 13, Season 1 (Riders of Berk)

Premise:

A strange and fierce lightning storm besets the village, and angry suspicions rouse claims that Toothless is to blame.

WHAT TO ENJOY:

HICCUPS HYPER-FIXATIONS He's so fixated on the new perches that he nearly drinks dragon poop infested water. Love how Stoick stops him, knowing that his son is so obsessed over the new developments, he ain't thinking.

Hiccup is an ideas man. In todays age, he could be anything. Software designer, architect, engineer, pilot? I mean, the list of career opportunities is endless.

We know that in the final instalment of the franchise, they set out to find New Berk. I feel like that was indicative of the kind of forward trajectory having a chief like Hiccup would cause. Playing to his strengths is what allowed Berk to modernise and who knows, maybe his style of village / town planning is the kind we see in the old Scandinavian Countryside.

It's possible, all the ideas he intended to build on Berk for the dragons he ended up doing at Dragon's Edge like the landing areas and stables. And it's such a clever way to learn and improve designs in their "mock" village during the RTTE season before implementing the same in Berk as we see in the opening of HTTYD 2.

STOICK'S CHIEFLY ADVISE

Maybe I'm looking too much into it, but I think a lot about what Stoick tells Hiccup are probably lessons on chief-ing he picks up as he goes along. Learning mostly through observation and spending time w his dad.

We know that Hiccup's decision in HTTYD: The Hidden World, i.e., to leave Berk to find new pasture, is because Berk is no longer a safe place for its people. The threat from enemies is endless.

This eminent danger is heightened if you watch the TV programmes. Because apart from Drago Bludvist and Grimmel the Grisley, we have Alvin the Treacherous, Dagger the Deranged, Ryker & Viggo Grimborn, Krogan and Johann. The other more treacherous than the last.

At the end of The Hidden World, Hiccup knows that he must let go of Toothless and all the other dragons for everyones safety.

Hiccup becomes a good chief by virtue of all these little moments w his dad. I can even recall a moment in Episode 7, Season 1 (Riders of Berk) : How to Pick your Dragon where Stoick releases this inner monologue. Maybe that's what caused Hiccup to put the village first in the end.

No doubt Hiccup becomes one of the best chiefs because he has learned from the best. Pick and chosen which lessons to keep and which to improve.

FALSE ACCUSATIONS

When a society lacks understanding, it is guided by fear. The village, after incessant accusations by Mildew, goes on a witch hunt for Toothless. They believe that keeping a Night Fury has angered Thor.

They are in a sense, a deeply religious society. And because they don't understand the science of nature i.e., that metal attracts lightning, they believe any explanation pitted against a certain cause.

HTTYD series conflicts go beyond bad guy v good guy. Sometimes, it is your own people you need to deal with.

AMAZING SENSE OF HUMOUR

I've said it before, I'll say it again. ROB has some of the best comedic lines of the franchise.

A MOMENT OF APPRECIATION FOR THESE TWO NUTT-CASES

AND SNOTLOUT & TUFFNUT'S PAYBACK

I know we've discussed Snotlout previously. I know we all agree he's not all that bad. Just a damaged viking really, with a lousy father. His relationship w Hiccup is very up and down. But, I love how he took revenge along w Tuffnutt, who in a sense are pretty mellow in terms of defending Hiccup, until the series progresses.

AND!!! STOICK'S PROTECTIVENESS OVER TOOTHLESS.

A real point of growth here for Stoick to stand between the village and Toothless.

He's a pretty great dad. Don't you think so?

[fllagellant]

Okay now that I have been An Adult for a few hours and now that the idea has mellowed out ..

Based on what @neonbutchery offered , Wyll is a biotic but completely manufactured.. he wasn’ t born as a biotic but signed up for testing for how well man-made biotics can function when he was 17 , under the eye of lead scientist ( and benefactor ) Mizora . How bad is this for his health ? Very . But he can preform equal to born biotics , and shows that you can give biotic powers to non-biotics , but . Well ,

For him and Ulder … Ulder is definitely high ranking Alliance I think ? Him and Wyll probably had a falling out and that lead to him applying for the testing so he can feel like he was Doing Something .. or he applied for the testing so that he could have a better chance protecting others on the field and Ulder was Very Much against this decision .. they haven’ t talked in years and avoid each other’ s stations and missions Extremely Well …

I think Wyll would be a Spectre honesty ? He’ s got that Commander Shepardness to him that would put him in the Spectre candidate position .. also this could function as Mizora’ s lobbying so she can show off her creations and design and have a human spectre with her “ aid “ in public perception … also it would fit with his folk hero / vigilante thing … Mizora definitely uses his high rank to force him to deal with competition and whatnot . No one can stop him so she can just tell him what to do and he Has to comply

Giilvas . Oookay . He is human , but I did toss around the idea of him being Krogan or Quarian too , and the idea of him being Asari was neat too .. but I think I will keep him human Alliance for the sake of simplicity . Biotic , vanguard specifically , but I think that he prefers being an Engineer to anything else . He can use his biotics well ( do I put him in baat . Audience vote now on your phones !!! ) but he’ s been exploring other ways that he enjoys Far More . Him being a heavy mech operator …. He deserves it

Trying to adapt his personal quest to mass effect is near impossible , but . The closest I can really get is he was a colony kid , colony was attacked , lone survivor sort of thing . Family’ s bodies have been in alliance custody for years and he cannot seem to lobby or demand their return to him so he can begin the burial process . One of the only things keeping him in the Alliance is the possibility he can get to a place that he can force Brass to give up their bodies . Or he gets a chance to throw away his entire military career in exchange for them getting proper burials .. he guards colonies now , mainly

As fun as Spectre Giilvas is , he has too colourful of a background to really make him a viable option for a candidate .. Probably gets assigned as staff lieutenant most of the time , is the stand in CO for most teams he is placed on if needed .. listen he’ s just a big guy with a bigger mech who’ s a literal nightmare for any Brass member they are trying to keep him from doing anything Crazy