#We used to have seals! We've been robbed!!

[bywandandsword]

Y'all I recently learned that the Gulf of Mexico used to have a native seal, but they went extinct in the the 1960s, partially due to hunting and over hunting their food sources. They were called Caribbean Monk seals and are closely related to the Hawaiian Monk seal and the Mediterranean Monk seal, both of which are endangered

(Pictured: a Hawaiian monk seal)

[queenofbaws]

YOU KNOW I'm in your inbox asking for Varrihawke. ALWAYS.

"You're cute. And a bit blurry. But definitely always so cute." from the drunken dialogue prompts. Because those two idiots are always drunk.

HAPPY END OF YEAR. And in return I offer you any prompt you want and I'll write it for you.

When all the others had left (friend, foe, and unwitting sucker alike), each one grumbling and groaning and bemoaning their bad luck louder than the last, he let the act drop. Not a moment sooner, either - that was a rookie mistake, the sort of amateurish slip that could get you killed just as easily as robbed, and if there was one thing Varric Tethras was not, it was a rookie.

He sat back with a flourish, all signs of drunkenness dissipating the moment he began counting his - their - winnings. "Gotta hand it to you, Hawke," he chuckled, stacking copper on copper, silver on silver, saving the sovereigns, as always, for last. "Your performance was inspired tonight. I'm not exaggerating either! When we were taking that break between hands and you challenged those Coterie chumps to darts? I really thought you were gonna take that poor kid's eye out! Above and beyond, that's what it is - you went above and beyond!"

He turned to glance her way, and...

Huh.

Her head was still on the table.

Strange.

Varric paused, though only for a beat, unable to keep from smiling. Hawke's grin was, of course, contagious under even the worst of circumstances, and tonight? Tonight was another beast entirely, all laughter and spilled tankards and ill-gotten gains, where lately there'd only been rain, and sand, and rocky caverns full of spiders three times his size. He didn't stand a chance, not with her sitting like that, slouched over the table with her chin on her arms and a hank of dark hair in her face, the warmth of the Hanged Man's fire bringing a flush to her cheeks and nose.

"What?" he asked, laughing, when her only response was to watch him, jewel-tone eyes blinking slowly. "I'm complimenting you, serah. Typically people answer those with, oh, I don't know, 'Thank you,' or 'You're too kind,' or 'No, no, Varric - you're the one who stole the show!' Want to try one of those on for size maybe?"

And Hawke snorted, her shoulders - wait.

Wait, Hawke snorted?

No, hold on, that...that wasn't how Hawke laughed. Hawke's laugh was bright, and loud, and (depending on who you were) just a little bit sharp, promising delight and danger in equal turn. Hawke's laugh was Chantry bells on a crisp, cool morning, or the sound of leisurely footsteps on cobblestones as the sun began to set. Hawke didn't snort. Not unless -

Oh Maker.

Oh, there was no way.

Had she...

Realization dawned, and he quit counting in earnest, hunching down onto his elbows so they were almost level. He tried not to laugh - he really did! - but it was just too, too much. "Are you kidding me?" he asked, seeing nothing even resembling understanding in the gleam of her eyes. "Hawke. Are you kidding me?"

"Certainly not! I could be kissing you, though. You need only ask..." And if all the other clues hadn't been enough, that sealed the deal; her razor wit had been dampened, the edge of her tongue dulled, and yes, the animation of her eyebrows doubled - perhaps even tripled! She snorted another little laugh that quickly devolved into giggling, and as she dipped her head into her arms, there was no denying it.

She was drunk. She was so, so drunk.

"The plan," he reminded her, knowing full well what a futile venture that was, "was that we pretended to drink all night! Pretended! Have you...Maker's breath, Hawke, we've been at this for hours!"

With a very noticeable wobble, she forced herself to sit up straighter (though still propping her head up with one hand), fixing him with an imperious gaze she couldn't hold for more than a moment before snorting again. "Some of us...value...author...authem...autor..."

"Authenticity?" he offered, fighting a losing battle against his own laughter.

"Tha'ss the one. Some of us...value that."

"You are...unbelievable," he chuckled, taking her other hand in his to press a kiss to her knuckles before shaking his head. "Aaand you're going to be impossible to drag up those stairs."

"And you're very handsome," she interrupted, beginning her slow but inevitable slouch back towards the table even as she flared her fingers to playfully caress his jaw. "A little blurry, I suppose...and you've got a few more ears than I remember, but...awfully handsome, nonetheless."

"Why thank you, madam," he teased, going back to counting out their coin. "Which, again, is how you're meant to answer a compliment. Just for future reference."

[tobiasdrake]

Well, we've met the kids. Now we need to figure out where we go from here. Let's plot some mischief.

"Magic seal" here defined as "Big glob of cancerous Dweller flesh". Can we just hit it really hard with moon and sun beams? I have it on good authority that our magic is stronger than this stuff.

...so the answer is yes. Yes, we can just hit it really hard with moon lasers. Don't even need Zale's help to take out this bottom-feeding scrub of a flesh blob.

Though I'm sure the crystal helped. A little.

Gonna go out on a limb and say it concentrates my moon powers into a solid laser of Fuck That Noise?

Concentrates my moon powers into a solid laser of Fuck That Noise.

Are you kids for hire? I mean, I know you work for Aephorul but fuck that guy. I would love to help with your research. If we'd known you existed, your research could potentially have provided another option for solving the problem of Torment.

Even though we've already taken care of that issue, who knows what other secret Unsolveable Dwellers might be lurking out there. Or in other worlds. If your shit can provide new avenues for Resh'an's efforts then that could be game-changing.

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes

What did I say? What did I fucking say back at the Dweller of Torment? It's almost like uniformity is bad and diversity is good or something.

The biggest weakness of the Solstice Warriors is that we're too insular. There are so many other things out in the world that can benefit us.

I'll be back before you know it.

Alright, team. This is just like Roro's lab.

Plan A: Burglary

Plan B: Civil Negotiation

Plan C: Hostile Negotiation

Plan D: Armed Robbery

We're coming back with that master key. The Watchmaker's level of involvement, willing or otherwise, is going to be up to her.

XD Trying to imitate our time manipulation. These kids are adorable. I want to hire them. The logistics of that would be difficult given their confinement here but I want to.

You know, given that Aephorul himself was responsible for the brickwork, I'm surprised at how much of a shitshow it is. I criticized him before for the fact that he and the Watchmaker didn't understand how each other's stuff works and just did their own thing, but I expected the brickwork to be, at least, good.

That is just a pile of magic bricks. No self-respecting architect worth his salt would leave a pile of enchanted bricks lying around like this and call the structure complete. Have some professional dignity, Fleshmancer.

...okay, she's right there. But I don't think she's noticed us ye--

Holy shit, did you make Wheels!? Is that where I know the name Watchmaker from!? Ma'am, I am a HUGE fan of your game and I--

...am....

...in the middle of robbing you. >.< Shit, Plan A is out.

So. Is that "I will not give you the key because that would be involving myself" taking no part, or "I will not stop you from taking the key because that would be involving myself" taking no part? Centrism can be ambiguous sometimes.

I would remind you that trying to withhold the key from us will involve you in conflict right here in this room, but I think we're still at Plan B so I should hang onto my threats for later.

Okay, it's the latter. No threats necessary. Plan B was a rousing success.

Thank you for the pleasant conversation and nothing else. It has been a pleasure retrieving what we needed from this room while not doing business of any kind with you.

...this might have been too fast for Cael. I hope you'll forgive me if I take a little time to completely fangirl out about your game oh my god I'm such a huge fan.

Can we play a round or two? Please please please please PLEEEEEEASE

._. Okay that's fair.

I would promise to come back later but I'm prophesized to die in like half an hour so I guess this will just have to be a bucket list item never fulfilled.

Yep. Walked in and picked it up off the floor. Piece of cake.

What you got for me? On the scale of "Good" to "Super Good", how loud is this going to make me scream?

Can I see it? I want to see it. I want to know what it does. Tell me tell me teeeell meeeeee.

I want to see it. I wanna seeeeeeee it.

Fine. We'll do this your way, and I can just be surprised. I'm prophesized to die in half an hour so anything other than that is automatically a surprise by default anyway.

[lalekaplanbrody]

Lale was not used to such a vulnerable show of emotion. The men in her life had not often been the sorts to bare their emotions so glaringly and for a stunned moment Lale did not know what to do for him or his tears. Her stomach lurched with painful empathy for his raw ache. She wanted to tell him it would be okay, he'd be okay. However, she didn't thinking platitudes did anyone any favors. Least of all someone she considered a friend. So she said nothing. Wordlessness spread between them and all Lale could do was offer a comforting touch as she did not have the words to soothe the chasm that had opened up inside of Drew.

Lale held him, craddled him close the way she would someone she loved a great deal, her fingers stroked through his hair and she let his cries fall between them with understanding silence. He said he knew how people could die of a broken heart. The words sent a small jolt through Lale, a memory of a doctor giving them medical jargon that essentially summed up to the fact that her father had died of a broken heart. "I know...shhh." She soothed, her face pressed against the top of his head as she spoke in quiet tones. Lale followed him to the steps, sitting beside him she couldn't bring herself to face him just yet. Het stomach lurched forward and the ache of his words opened a million things inside of her that she had worked to keep sealed shut.

"I don't have any words that can make you un-heartbroken." She said after a contemplative moment. "There is no magic answer. I wish there were. But all we have is the understanding that we all feel this raw heartbreak that threatens to turn us inside out and rob us of everything we've ever known to be true of ourselves. All we have is mutual understanding and fancy words that make us feel seen. Not even less alone. Just understood. It's a sick kind of satisfaction to know you're not alone in this awful feeling. To find fleeting solace in knowing others feel like their dying when they lose someone they love. Wishing no one and at the same time everyone would feel this way..."

Lale frowned hard, the lines in her face contorting as the illumination from the pool cast shadows on her face making her appear softer. "Drew that's so sad." She decided on a sigh shaking her head and laying her head on his shoulder a moment. "If you make someone your everything. All you are when they mess up, when they hurt you or leave it feels like dying." She wrapped her arm through his, she'd been with Ben coming up on fourteen years. Soon she would be with him longer than she was without and she wondered if she could ever leave him. Even after his affair she had stayed, he was her family. It was never the same again- she kept parts of herself hidden. Maybe it was self-preservation to prevent herself from ever becoming so twisted into him that she would be reduced to what Drew was should he leave her or cheat again. "Maybe it'll happen. Maybe it won't. Maybe Aly will never come back. You'll be sad for a long time, but you will not be this way forever." Lale set up and took his chin to gently guide him to look at her, "And you're not pathetic. Not for this."

andrew had tried to be strong but as soon as she had reached out and touched him he had lost it. his tears flowed freely now and his breathing had picked up much louder now. andrew had been trying his best to talk himself down from a panic attack he had felt coming on. something he hadn't had since his brother in law had passed away, back when recreational drugs had induced them. he did his breath to take long breaths and breath through the tightness in his chest. andrew wasnt sure how much longer he was going to be able to stand up in the pool as his legs were beginning to feel more and more weak as he stood there. andrew had felt more vulnerable over the last week or so than he had in his own life. aly leaving him had really broken something inside of him.

once her arms wrapped around him he no longer could hold back. thankfully the two were in the water so it had made the larger man a little more lighter for her petite body to hold up. though even through whatever break down this seem to be he did try his best to not do anything to put a strain on her to hurt the baby she was carrying. in any other situation the man would have laughed at her joke but he just couldnt. he couldnt do anything but cry. he had felt literally broken. "i see how people die from a broken heart." the man had confessed in a whisper as he hugged her, "because lale i don't think i can keep going on with the pain i am feeling." he pulled back to let her dry a few tears from his face. then he stumbled back to take a seat on the stairs and then he put his head in his hands.

"i don't know, a while ago?" andrew should have know the day, the time, the moment however it had all been a blur. "i dont even know what day it now." the man confessed. "it has been a week or two.. or three." he went on. "she has been gone for a while and i can't take it any more. i don't want to take it anymore, i don't want to feel this way and i don't want to be without her. she was my life." he said as he gasped for a deep breath of air before speaking again, "i have been with her over half of my life. there is no andrew without aly. i have no idea who i am and i am nothing without her, lale... nothing but a weak, pathetic excuse of a man." it was apparent just how disgusted with himself he currently was. "i just want my wife back."

[thelittlesttimelord]

The Littlest Timelord: The New Doctor Chapter 16

TITLE: The Littlest Timelord: The New Doctor Chapter 16 PAIRING: No Pairing RATING: T CHAPTER: 16/? SUMMARY: With the Doctor newly regenerated, he and Elise must now navigate their new relationship. The Doctor is an old man and Elise is a headstrong young woman. She is no longer the scared little girl the Doctor saved all those years ago. Will Clara be able to keep them from killing each other?

They exited the duct and came to a corridor with a round vault door.

“Right, vault. That's clear. What's not clear is what we do now,” the Doctor said.

“Hey. You okay?” Clara asked.

“No, I'm an amnesiac robbing a bank. Why would I be okay?”

“Because Saibra...”

“What? Saibra is dead, we are alive. Prioritize if you want to stay that way.”

“Oh, is that why you call yourself the Doctor?” Psi asked, “The professional detachment.”

“Listen. When we're done here, by all means, you go and find yourself a shoulder to cry on. You'll probably need that. Till then, what you need is me.” The Doctor walked towards the vault.

“Underneath it all, he isn't really like that,” Clara told Psi.

“It's very obvious that you've been with him for a while.”

“Why?”

“Because you are really good at the excuses.”

The Doctor found a case in an alcove by the vault door. “Another gift from the Architect. Shall we unwrap it?”

Psi plugged himself into the case and downloaded the information. He walked over to the computer alcove and started pressing buttons. “Right, the system looks like it's time-delayed. There are twenty four lock codes I need to break.”

Growling came from the end of the corridor.

“Doctor? It's coming. We're trapped,” Clara said.

“Psi, how long?” the Doctor asked.

“As long as it takes,” Psi told him.

“It's locked on to one of our thought trails. We have to split up, minimize the brain signals.”

“What happened to your professional detachment, Doctor?” Psi held out his hand and the Doctor handed him on of the shredders.

“No, no,” Clara protested.

“In case it finds me. It's my choice,” Psi said.

“You don't use that, okay? Promise me.”

“Time to run.”

Psi sat down as the Doctor, Clara, and Elise started running.

“Separate,” the Doctor said.

Clara and Elise went one way, while the Doctor went the other.

The creature entered the corridor.

Clara tried running past the creature and it grabbed her with its mind.

“Clara no!” Elise yelled, “Let her go!”

“Come on! Come and find me!” Psi’s voice yelled, “Every thief and villain in one big cocktail. I am so guilty! Every famous burglar in history is hiding in this bank right now in one body. Come and feast! Clara? For what it's worth, and it might not be worth much, when your whole life flashes in front of you, you see people you love and people missing you. Well, I see no one.”

The creature roared and Clara and Elise ran back to the vault.

The vault door was still closed.

Clara tugged on the bars. “It's not opening. Psi. He died for nothing.”

The Doctor sonicked the computer. “Multiple locks. Last one still in place.” He opened a panel nearby. “Atomic seal. Unbreakable, even for me. The Architect would know that. He wouldn't bring us all this way for nothing.”

“And get two people killed.”

“Exactly. There must be some logic.”

“Some logic?”

“Come on, Architect. What else have you got?”

Thunder crashed outside.

“Of course!” Elise said.

“A storm. The storm's tripping the system. That's what he's got, a storm,” the Doctor said.

“How would he know when a storm would hit?” Clara asked.

The Doctor laughed. “Of course. Stupid, stupid Doctor. Of course, of course.”

“Of course, what?”

“Whoever planned all this, they're in the future. This isn't just a bank heist, it's a time travel heist. We've been sent back in time to the exact moment of the storm, to be in exactly the right place when it hits, because that's the only time the bank is vulnerable.”

“Vault unlocked.”

The door swung open.

“The bank is now open.”

“Vault unlocked.”

“Come on.”

They stepped inside a golden vault lined with safety deposit boxes.

“It explains why we're not here in the TARDIS,” the Doctor said.

“Sorry, what?” Clara asked.

“The solar disruption would have made navigation impossible. The one time the bank is vulnerable is the one time we can't just land.”

Clara pulled out a little card. “Doctor? The code. The code that was in the last case. Look. Tech.”

“Technology. 251. Find it.”

They searched the vault until they found it.

“Tech,” Clara said.

They found the box and the Doctor opened the small case inside.

In it sat a hypodermic needle.

“It's a neophyte circuit.” The Doctor hit a button and it lit up blue. “I've only ever seen one once before. It can reboot any system, replace any lost data.”

“Psi. That's what he came for, his reward.”

“So what did Saibra come for?”

The next code on the card was Org 339, which had a small bottle.

“Gene suppressant,” the Doctor said.

“She wanted to be normal,” Clara said.

“Everyone has a weakness. So the big question is this. What did we come for?”

“PV.”

“Private vault. Karabraxos's own fortune?” He rounded the corner and ran straight into the creature.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They were taken to an office.

Two guards flanked the trio. One with a helmet and one without.

“Intruders are most welcome. They remind us that the bank is impregnable. It's good for morale to have a few of you scattered about the place, preferably on view,” the manager told them.

She walked up to a wall of monitors showing the poor souls inside the cells. “Are you ready for your close-up? If you're thinking of ways to escape, the Teller will know before you've even made a move. You'll never be bothered by all that thinking again.”

“Useful species,” the Doctor commented.

“Last of its kind, and we've signed an exclusive deal.”

Last of its kind. Those words echoed in Elise’s head at all times, being one of the last living Timelords.

“Must be noisy inside its head. Painful to listen to so much chatter, so many secrets. Must drive it wild. How can you force it to obey?”

“Oh, everything has a price tag, I think you'll find.”

Thunder crashed.

“The storm's getting worse. The customers are leaving. Director Karabraxos will be concerned. Our jobs will be on the line.”

“You're scared.”

“Oh, I'm terrified. I have the disadvantage of knowing Karabraxos personally.”

“If you don't like your boss, why stay?”

“My face fits. Now if you'll excuse me, I must take the Teller to its hibernation. You two, dispose of our guests.”

The manager and the Teller left.

The guards pushed Clara, Elise, and the Doctor up against the wall.

“Don't do this. I'm having a very bad day, and I do not want to be pushed around,” the Doctor said.

“You're wrong,” the guard without a helmet told him.

“Wrong?”

“It's not that bad a day. And you're being very slow.” The guard started to uncuff him.

“Why are you undoing my handcuffs?”

In a second, the guard was Saibra.

“Saibra?”

A very familiar voice came from the other guard. “It looked like death.” The guard took his helmet off to reveal Psi. “It was actually a teleporter.”

Clara hugged him as Saibra undid Elise’s handcuffs.

“Good, eh? You think we're dead, so the Teller thinks we're dead, and we play the creature at his own mind games,” Psi said.

“No, no. Wait, wait, wait, wait. What? Sorry, sorry, what? You, you, you're, you're alive?” the Doctor asked.

“Yeah, we're alive. Look at us. We're all alive,” Saibra said.

“No, no, no, no. Not dead. Alive.”

“There's an escape ship in orbit. Takes you right there. Oh, and there's this big blue box. Is that yours?” Psi asked.

“The TARDIS! Yes!” Elise rejoiced.

“Well, this is good, I suppose. You'll be able to resume the mission,” the Doctor said. He handed Saibra her reward. “Gene suppressant. Antidote for your condition.”

Saibra took the bottle and the Doctor handed Psi his reward. “Memory giver. All your yesterdays.”

Psi took it.

“There you go. Job done, paid in full. Clever old Architect.”

“Very clever,” Saibra said.

“I still hate him.”

“Me too.”

“How were you paid?” Psi asked.

“I don't know. There's something in the private vault.”

[drazavonia]

THE MASTER'S ENDGAME

"THE ETERNAL DREAM OF LIGHT" IMMORTALIZED IN CRYSTAL

The Master of Masters may want to bring REALITY and UNREALITY together, so both realities play under the same rules, extending the reach of his power.

The Master (like Xemnas) wants to create a KINGDOM HEARTS using the hearts of every human in existence, from REALITY and UNREALITY.

Similar to Xehanort's extraction of Vanitas from Ventus or him robbing Sora of his light with the X-blade, The Master will extract all of the Darkness from that KINGDOM HEARTS. 

With a KINGDOM HEARTS of Pure Light in his possession, the Master might do one of two things:

The Master will crystalize his KINGDOM HEARTS. By crystallizing this amalgamation of Hearts of Pure Light, he will immortalize and preserve all of the hearts of pure light. This way Darkness can never penetrate these hearts no matter what.

The second possibility I came up with is cooler and more thematic in my opinion. 

After creating a KINGDOM HEARTS of Pure Light using every heart in existence, just like Xemnas at the end of KH2, the Master of Masters will absorb all of the hearts and Light of KINGDOM HEARTS. Using his God-like power, he will use his light to push the Darkness away to some corner of the world.

After the end of the War between Light and Darkness, the Master will create a world/monument of his own. There he will rest upon his throne and force himself into Crystal Stasis.

What's the point of this?

The Master of Masters is Nomura or his Persona within Kingdom Hearts. The Master crystalized on the throne is his callback to the first Versus XIII trailer with Noctis sleeping on his throne.

By absorbing KINGDOM HEARTS and crystallizing himself, the Master or Nomura becomes the Light of the World and the people.

Because the Master is asleep within his crystal statue he can dream, as well as participate within those dreams (lucid dreaming). All of the hearts within the Master will awaken and continue living within his Eternal Dream World. As we've seen from both Yozora and Xehanort (Yozora transformed his dream using his memories of Shibuya & Xehanort manipulated the landscape of Scala ad Caelum multiple times during his boss fight), the Master undoubtedly has to have "the power of an Architect" or the "power of Reality Shifting". This way he can shape his dream to fit any of his desires.

Why does this make so much sense thematically?

If the Master of Masters is Nomura or his supposed stand-in, then that would mean every character, every world and every possibility for the story of Kingdom Hearts now exists within his Dreams.

To put it more frankly, It's All in Nomura's Head.

How it began,

I've been having these weird thoughts lately… Like is any of this for real, or not?

How it may end,

The Master/Nomura's head is filled with everything and everyone of his characters. This includes everything about them. But because they are sleeping, it's all a dream. 

Which then begs the question, aside from Dramatic Irony,

"Is any of this for real, or not? None of this makes sense to me." I don't really know specifically what that could mean for the Master or Nomura.

The World of Kingdom Hearts Ends with Nomura.

A better example of this would probably be Zanarkand from Final Fantasy X. When the original Zanarkand that existed was destroyed, the souls of the residents of the former, who would come to be known as the Fayth, were sealed in statues (crystalized) and were used by Yu Yevon to dream up a Zanarkand in its original state. This Dream Zanarkand now existed forever as long as the Fayth remained asleep in statues. 

Is this a good or bad ending? 

Is it a good thing for everyone to be subjected to a crystal imprisonment and an eternal sleep they never asked for?

Is it alright for everyone to simply become untethered from reality, even though they may never be able to distinguish between what's real or fake?

However, as we saw in FFX, Tidus was able to manifest as an actual person beyond Dream Zanarkand thanks to Sin.

Then who knows, it is entirely possible someone may find a way to leave the dream of The Master for whatever reason.

(It's Sora.)

Possible Criteria

Similar to how Sora and Mickey needed to be on both sides of The Door to Darkness to lock it with their respective Kingdom Keys, I think the Master needed the Foretellers in REALITY and himself in UNREALITY in order to use KINGDOM HEARTS as a portal or "conduit" to merge the two Realities. 

The Princesses of Heart may be needed, which is why they were brought back into the forefront along with Kairi staying behind in Reality.