#and if he did manifest from the Fade what kind of spirit was he. lets say for fun for this post that

[felassan]

What kind of spirit do you think Felassan waz?

Swag

[what-eats-owls]

It matters how you do it

I finished Dragon Age: The Veilguard and had some big feelings about it. Spoilers for basically everything under the cut, and frankly, it won't make sense unless you've finished the game anyway.

First of all: I had a blast with this game. I didn't find Act 1 slow, I did find Act 2 a bit of a whack-a-mole, and then Act 3 kicks you in the kidney (complementary) while insisting it's for your own good.

I've seen some recurring complaints: that it lacks depth/edge/darkness, that it abandons previous lore, that the previous choices don't matter. I don't entirely disagree. To me, it felt like a massive Dragon Age 4 game that pivoted to a different, tighter game after complaints about bloat in Inquisition. The key is that when editing down, there's such a thing as trying to trim the fat and taking a chunk of the roast with it.

I enjoy the concept of Lucanis's character, and the voice actor sold the hell out of him, but the storyline felt like being taken to a museum and allowed to see one (1) beautiful unfinished sculpture. Why did Spite, specifically, work? We know the spirit of Justice became Vengeance by abomination, we knew Solas was Wisdom before he became Pride, so what was Spite before, and why wasn't that tied to Lucanis's own personal arc? (Doubly so if you romance him!)

Similarly, Harding was a delight, and her greenhouse was such a lovely little haven. I would have loved to see more explanation of the connection between plants and the titans, and how Harding's own personal struggles with rage connected to that of the titans. She has every reason to be angry and scared, and the game tells us she pushed that away—but we don't actually see her toxic positivity manifest to that degree, until she abruptly has an angry clone.

On the flip side, I loved the other five character quests, and I felt they had solid, poignant arcs that delivered. I also adored their interactions with the codex—if anything, I wanted to see more of that type of interaction on the screen. You have to fill in a lot of the character work for Rook yourself; Rook has all these interesting potential backgrounds, but I think starting the game playing through those, a la Origins, would have gone miles towards establishing more personal stakes up front and made for a stronger start.

So that's all my nitpicking. But let's talk about the bigger theme: It matters how you do it.

In the first Fade conversation with Solas, he gets so mad when Rook refuses to let him DARVO them about the consequences of his botched ritual. This makes way more sense when you understand he's literally imprisoned by his own regrets, and he needs Rook to have that same kind of regret in order to take his place. His entire arc is about rationalizing binary choices and shitty actions that hurt others in the name of a hypothetical greater good that he wants.

Solas can't engineer every binary choice Rook's forced into, but he uses Varric to maximize Rook's regret. He is trying to quite literally mold Rook into him, and the game is great at presenting this both as a coldblooded manipulation and a broken plea for validation—if you let it. You don't have to give Solas a moment of consideration; you don't have to take time to view his memories, or kill his demons, or listen to those scraps of Mythal still holding onto the good in him. You don't have to do any of it.

But you can. And in the end, it matters.

It matters because for every companion, you can encourage them to either be more nurturing/compassionate or destructive/closed off versions of themselves, and that is frequently tied to continuing or breaking from a cycle. (The exception is either Neve or, presumably, Lucanis, who are forced into the Hardened version depending on which city you save.) These aren't presented as morally opposing choices, just who you want them to be. You can see how the Grey Wardens fucked up bad with griffons and decide they have a better place. You can help Emmrich face his fear by finding deeper meaning in life instead of indefinitely postponing death. You can help them do things differently.

So when you get to the final choice in the game, you may have two options: physically force Solas into saving the Veil, or trick him into it. The kind of binary choice Solas has molded you into making by pelting you with cruelty and manipulation.

Or, if you've taken the time, you can get him to understand he's wrong. You bring out the people who saw the best in him and speak to what he's had to endure, even as you're showing him there's another way. You reach him not as Pride, but as Wisdom. And he goes willingly.

Ultimately, I think DA2 and Inquisition grappled with big questions of oppression and violence, faith and authority. It makes sense for those games to delve into harder, uglier subject matter, and ask you to make binary calls.

But my read of Veilguard is that, at its core, it's about how those decisions are meant to trap you in regret at best, and numb you to rationalizing cruelty at worst. It's why the companion who loses their home city becomes colder, more isolated, in response—more like Solas.

That's why it offers you a third way at the very end, but only if you've worked for it. A better way is possible, yet it has to be more than words. You have to understand where the pain comes from, what maintains and is being maintained by the current cycle. Then, and only then, can you break it.

I can't wait to play it again.

P.S. Utterly obsessed with the Trevisan fish merchant.

[bonefall]

Okok so i rlly did assume that the whole brokenstar is the broken tree thing was 100% custom to the AU but theres apparently actually in story dialogue for that?? Someone apparently says Shadowclan is gonna get punished for Skyclan in the book and brokenstar is implied to be that punishment

Question for you to feed ur family with: Are Hope and Wishkit still named if they were fading kits, if they even still exist in the AU?

You'd be surprised HOW MANY people actually totally forget or miss that Brokenstar being a "manifested curse" is actually not my original idea. That's actually something that comes from Yellowfang's Secret. I did make the idea that he was once the 5th tree at Fourtrees, but "Brokenstar is a reckoning for the exile of SkyClan" is implied by an ancient spirit of StarClan in one of Yellow's dreams.

Anyway,

Hope and Wish wouldn't have been named if they were fading kits; BUT I honestly love their names so much, and ShadowClan is SO ridiculously small, that I'm thinking of just........ nabbing 'em. Putting them somewhere else in the timeline.

I joked around about using the Hammerclaw name for a cat in ShadowClan and I might just do it. This guy who is this TOTALLY uncanny tigerclone, looks JUST like Tigerstar for no reason. Give him Hopekit and Wishkit and bam I've got a free, clean line.

Funfact: BB's cultural expansions would let me use "hammer" as a suffix freely, BUT I'd actually name him after the Yellowhammer. A cute little songbird.

As for Hope and Wish, they could also get full warrior names, which would be fun. Blackstar would be super mean with their titles lmao, "what kind of names are hope and wish. baffling. im naming your children hopenose and wishbone."

[valroyeux]

⪼ 𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐀𝐍 '𝐑𝐀𝐒.

Aridhel's connection to the fade, for a long time is only apparent in its lack. Something so traumatically severed it manifests only in its wound, a void where something should be, yet it's missing. They are not entirely disconnected from the fade, as they can clearly dream, but that familiar line has been ripped out. The exact reasons are unknown to them, as is the loss itself, though it's not exactly a disconnect as much as a "willing blindness". Whatever happened was so traumatic they have unknowingly chosen to cut themselves from it.

Through the first years of their "remembered" life, lingering half-alive as they were taken from Minrathous to Val Royeaux, they existed in a state of half dreaming, lingering in this void until the point they were barely concious. A lot of their memories and identity were lost within it as they nearly let themselves go as well. Their mind craving oblivion as an escape to trauma and pain.

Eventually they returned to "life" sort of speak, a normal child for the most part, though that loss was always felt deep within them. A yearning and a grieving for something that was lost and unremembered. A kind of jamais vu they permanently existed in. A wound that never healed.

He is not a dreamer who has severed their connection to magic. The aja'len did not see themselves as dreamers, and they did not attempt to impose their will over the fade or shape it in any way. They saw the fade as almost an entity in itself, a great expanse where they traveled until it called them to its depths. They were its witness and caretakers, and were care for in turn. They coexisted with spirits, at times forming tight bonds that lasted through their lives. (This is bonds as in close kinship, not magical bonds). And they permanently walked the earth with one eye always on the fade. The two worlds intertwined before their eyes as they stood with one foot in one real, the other in the depths of what they saw as a great ocean, forever unknown.

This, of course, is unknown to Aridhel, as what little they might have remembered from their childhood, was lost in the depths. As a consequence, they never feel comfortable anywhere, not even in their own skin. A child of nowhere. Their body feels dissociated from them, a flesh suit they have managed to master but never fully conenct to. The fade on the other hand, brings up an instinctive rejection they can't fully explain. They are restless spending time in the lighthouse and the crossroads and yearn for the "real world". Though what they reject is in truth an eerily familiarity, like being back in their childhood home and seeing the whole neighbourhood changed and unfamiliar.

It is through being forced to spend so much time there, traveling through the crossroads, that this connection begins to "heal" in a way, or perhaps "stitched" back together is a better word, as the scar still remains, and what's been torn is still torn. Some fragmented memories come back to them unwillingly, they feel as vivid hallucinations, they begin to see things that others do not. And it is this that fills in the gaps and makes "Varric" so real to them. They don't entirely notice a lot of these things, as they don't usually point them out. They might spend a long time sitting in an empty room hearing someone talk when there is no one there, simply looking pensive. It's the caretaker who attempts to hint at the "dreams" they are having within the lighthouse, though Aridhel ignores them and brushes past it, until the truth of Varric is revealed to them.

What finally does it, is killing Elgar'nan. The "all-father" takes their eye and leaves them with half their body scorched to remember them by. A punishment for daring to face the gods. After that, what's left of that connection comes back fully. The true nature of what he once was is destroyed and will never be fully healed, but that eye that can no longer see the earth, instead turns towards the fade.

As their recovery is mostly spent in Arlathan, they are haunted by the dead, the wounds left by old wars, lost lands, blood magic. It manifests in much the same way at all times, worse in those places where the veil is thin, worse even with all that has happened. They might see spirits or they might see what spirits choose to show them, brief traces of things past, scars left behind that quietly linger through time. They cannot walk the fade, or enter at will, but it permeates their reality nonetheless. They may try with all their might to reject it and ignore it, but it never stops. 

[grimmswan]

Dracula in Storybrooke 4

Captain Swan Supernatural Summer

Once Upon A Time/ Emma Swan/Killian Jones

 “Dracula has powers that give him an advantage. One of which is the ability to create his own army.” David pointed out.

 “Those he turned only inherited strength, speed, and of course, the hunger for blood. Very few have more abilities than that.” Smee said.

 Emma thought of some of the vampire movies she had seen.

 “Reading minds? Controlling people? That’s not typical?”

“Those who manifest other skills usually have a hint of such talent as a human. The turning allowed them to tap in and strengthen such skill.”

“So let's hope that if Dracula does create an army, that none of them develop special powers.” Killian sighed.

“Princess Emma has powers of her own.” Leroy reminded everyone. “She’s got magic. All she has to do is send beams of light at the vampires and they can’t get near her. Or anyone that’s with her.”

“You’re forgetting how fast they are. We don’t want a horde surrounding Emma and draining her dead before she has a chance to conjure her magic.”

“Dracula won’t allow any of the other vampires to feed on Emma. He’s kind of selfish and possessive in that regard. No one touches a potential bride.”

“That works in our favor. If he won’t want anyone laying a hand on Emma, then he will most likely always be alone when he goes after her.”

“Not exactly. He’s done it before. He sent some of his female minions to distract the hunting party after him while he seduced Mina.”

“That hunting party was entirely made up of men.” Snow correctly guessed. “We’re not going to be as easily distracted.”

“My, my, my, you have quite the spirit. It would be most enjoyable, I think, to have you as my bride as well.”

Everyone turned, in shock, in the direction of the voice. Drake emerged from the shadowed back hallway of the diner.

“What’s with all of the pretty boys of this town being overly dramatic?” Leroy gruffed with a roll of his eyes.

Ignoring the dwarf, Drake stepped closer. “Immortality would ensure that your loveliness never fades away.”

A ball of white light hit the vampire, causing him to hiss and step back.

“Stay away from my mother, you prick.” Emma warned, holding up her hands that held balls of white light.

“Oh, don’t be jealous, my love. I am fully capable of pleasuring many women.”

But as crooning and seductive as he made his voice sound, he was still hit with multiple beams of light.

“I am not your love. I’m his.” Emma tilted her head toward her pirate. “And even if you were the last man in existence, I wouldn’t be with a creep like you.”

“I warned you. Your pursuit of the savior is ill advised.” 

Dracula shot a glare toward his former minion. “I have no choice in the matter. I require a bride. And only a special type of lady will do.”

His gaze traveled to Emma. His eyes slowly moved over her form. Certain that if a pirate had been able to seduce her, then a powerful vampire noble could seduce her away from the pirate.

He just needed to show her he had more poise, elegance and class then a dirty drunken pirate.

"Her scent is warm and sweet, like fresh honey on a summer's day. It calls to me like nothing else has."

“Such a shame you’re wearing that silver necklace. Your throat is lovely enough without something around it.”

Emma noticed Draked tongue slip out slightly, wetting his lips as his eyes focused too intently on her neck.

Killian understood the draw to Emma’s scent. And a man would have to be blind to not appreciate her beauty. But while Dracula wanted to own Emma, Killian wanted to cherish her.

“Come near her lovely throat and your’s will be severed in half.” Killian growled, pointing his saber at The Count.

Drake was growing frustrated. Not only did the savior not seem at all interested, but she actually seemed to be getting annoyed with him.

The pirate was making things more difficult by insisting on talking.

Seeing that he wasn’t going to get anywhere with so many people around, he took his leave, but with one more word he hoped would entice the savior.

“Think of what I said. Eternal beauty. You will never grow old. You will never die. And you will remain powerful. Forever.”

But Emma was not someone who would allow fancy parting words.

“I think I’d rather die.”

Letting out a huff of irritation that his exit had been ruined, he sped away. 

Charming looked at his wife. “I know we’re usually supposed to help and at least try to redeem the villains we face. But right now, I would much rather just drive a stake through Dracula’s heart.”

Snow, moving closer to her husband, thinking of the perverted things the vampire implied, surprised several people when she said, “I was just wondering if several silver tipped arrows shot at him would do the trick.”

“His pale chest would be an easy target. I don’t know why he keeps his shirt unbuttoned. It’s not like he has any chest hair to show off.” Killian grumbled.

Fighting back her laughter, Emma wrapped her arms around her foolishly jealous lover’s neck, soothing him with a wide grin. “I know, baby. He just doesn’t understand a vampire could never be as sexy as a pirate.”

“I know when you’re mocking me, Swan.” He growled.

But he still smiled at her good natured teasing.

Dracula grew more irritated. He stuck to the shadows as he made his way to his hidden home.

Emma Swan was as hard headed as she was beautiful. Nothing he had said seemed to have any affect on her. 

Drake was determined to have Emma for himself. But seducing her away from her pirate was proving more difficult then he had anticipated.

None of the other brides had given him so much trouble.

He realized that he needed a different technique to obtain the powerful beauty.

An Idea came to him that maybe the best way to capture the savior was to turn her lover into a vampire.

[novankenn]

"Jaune Gets a Gun AU - Day 3" Date-a-Live - Spirit (Angel)

Emerald rushed to catch up to the four that were carrying Jaune away from the Colonial Marines booth. She was worried that the others would try to make further inroads towards capturing Jaune's heart, and even if she wasn't truly attracted to Jaune's male form, she still didn't want to lose her chance at the possibility of happiness. When she finally caught up, Jinx was brushing off Jaune's outfit as the other three were discussing where to go next.

Emerald: How about lunch? That's where we were headed before, you know...

Tiny Tina: I could eat.

Ruby: I'm kind of hungry as well.

Pyrrha: If we're all thinking the same thing, then I guess we should. I'll cover everyone.

Jaune: You don't...

Pyrrha: I'm COVERING everyone. I barely touch all my sponsorship funds, so I want to splurge.

Jaune: I guess... if everyone else is...

Jinx: Jaune, what's wrong?

Jaune: (Pressing his hand against his chest.) I feel... strange.

????: I've finally found you.

Tiny Tina: And who might you be?

Renie: My name is Renie, and I am very interested in you... Jaune Arc.

Jaune: Who? (groans) How?

The girls slowly started to form a protective circle about the beloved blond knight. They stopped their slow advance when Jaune groaned, and as they turned they watched him fall to his knees gripping his chest, agony on his face.

Girls: JAUNE!

Whipping back around Pyrrha, Jinx and Tiny Tina prepared to get answers only to find the woman who identified herself as Renie, was gone, replaced by...

Phantom: It is time, Jaune. Touch this, and all your suffering will cease...

The cloaked figure vanished and reappeared next to Jaune`s kneeling form.

Phantom: ... unlock your potential. Unleash all that they bound inside you.

Jaune: *Groan

Ruby: (Rushing forward with her semblance) Get away...

The other girls were only seconds behind Ruby in their own charge, to end up bowled over as Ruby was sent flying backwards into them. The figure hadn't even moved.

Phantom: Just touch it, Jaune... touch it.

As the girls struggled to untangle themselves, the strange floating crystal drifted downward. Jaune tried to swat it aside, but as soon as he touched it.

Jaune`s scream caused them all to freeze. A pure and utter sense of dread filling their hearts. The light that had been centred where Jaune and the crystal had touched, faded...

Ruby: Okay, what the FUDGE is it with people turning Jaune into WAIFUs!

Emerald: She's kinda cute.

Jinx: She is. Definitely cute, almost like how I'd picture and Angel.

Emerald: I can totally see it.

Tiny Tina: Seriously, you two, J-Baby has been transformed into a GIRL again!

Pyrrha: This is becoming a seriously troubling trend.

Phantom: Finally Angel...

Jinx: Called it!

Phantom: ... has arisen...

Jaune's eyes opened, and instantly zeroed onto Phantom. Pyrrha knew the look on Jaune's face, even if it wasn't his true face. He was pissed. Slowly he rose into the air...

Jaune: Metatron!

Phantom: Sh...!

Girls: SWEAR JAR!

Jaune: What did you DO to ME?

Phantom: I... um... well... it's like... ah...

Jaune: WHAT. DID. YOU. DO. TO. ME?

Ozpin: She unlocked a power that has been buried with in your family line for generations.

Girls: What the F...!

Ozpin: Swear Jar.

Jaune: She must... where'd she go?

Ozpin: (Taking a sip from his mug) It seems Phantom, or Ms Renie made a tactical retreat, as you are rather intimidating in this form Jaune.

Pyrrha: So what is going on?

Ozpin: Ms Renie used a special crystal, a sephira crystal to be exact, to unlock a power that has remained contained with in the Arc bloodline for generations, though it is rather interesting that it could manifest through you, considering you are male.

Tiny Tina: And I thought things were messed up in the Borderlands.

Jinx: I still think she's cute, almost adorable.

Emerald: I prefer his Tail-Yellow from, but I completely agree with that statement.

Pyrrha: So, let me get this straight? Jaune's entire family has powers like this hidden inside them? But, now correct me if I'm getting this wrong... only the girls should be able to access this... power?

Ozpin: Right in one, Ms Nikos.

Pyrrha: I need to sit down.

Ruby: So is he a WAIFU forever now? Or can he change back?

Jaune: Yeah, can I change back?

Ozpin: Yes, you can change back. Your spirit power just needs to be sealed, so it's not so overwhelming.

Jaune: And how do I do that?

Ozpin: (Leans in close to Ruby and whispers in her ear.) Kiss him Ms Rose, and you'll get your friend back... and maybe open the door to more?

Pyrrha: (Noticing Ruby's blush) What did you, just...?

Jinx/Tiny Tina/Emerald : Hey! No fair! We call hacks!

Pyrrha just stood there, completely shocked that in a burst of rose petals, Ruby raced up to Jaune's floating form and planted one on his lips. In a flash of light, Jaune was back to normal, and Ruby was weaving on her feet overcome with unadulterated joy.

Ozpin: My work is done, here. I bid you all a good day.

Jaune: I'm starting to feel like someone is playing with my life, just to see how ridiculous it can end up.

Pyrrha: (Taking a deep breath) Who would do that? Who could be capable of doing such a thing?

Jaune: (Rubbing the back of his neck) It's just a feeling I'm getting.

Ozpin rounded a corner and froze. His eyes growing concerned as a very intimidating figure stalked forward.

Ozpin: Glynda?

Glynda: The others will hear about this... tampering...

Ozpin: I didn't...

Glynda: You only informed Ms Rose on how to revert Jaune. It will be up to the others IF you remain part of the shipping-pool.

Ozpin: You can't! Lancaster forever!

Glynda: Blasphemy! Arkos shall rule the day!

Renie: (Hiding a distance away.) That's one... seven more to go, and finally this world will be freed from them...

(Okay, another dumb idea that just jumped into my head. Any way, the NEXT post will be another weapon based one. Hope You enjoyed)

[tenebraevesper]

Five Nights at Freddy's: Obsolete, Night 9: Haunted Reality

''Remember me? I knew I'd find you! This family is broken, what are we going to do? Once more we rise up again, the lights go out, off with your head. We are all prisoners in the end; feel the fear, panic and the dread. You're trapped in mechanical hostility, so make the best of your abilities! You can't escape from this haunted reality! Break the chains and set the spirit free! Set the spirit free…''

 – Haunted Reality by PsychoticFox (Five Nights at Freddy's VR: Help Wanted)

xXxXxXx

''Well, if this wasn't an interesting experience,'' Glitchtrap said to himself thoughtfully, standing on the stage. He grinned, turning towards the audience, which consisted of one figure that was slumped over. ''It seems like Sam is quite determined to learn who we are, or rather, who I am. However, I have my doubts that she would be able to handle the truth considering how she still refuses to put two and two together.''

He shook his head.

''How unfortunate… But, I know that she is going to pull through,'' Glitchtrap added confidently. ''She is smart and is not someone who'd give up so easily, no matter how dangerous the situation is. All she needs is a little nudge in the right direction and once she completes the game given to her, I can finally step in. Or at least, one part of me.''

He gazed at the figure in the shadows. The body was lifeless, dark red and black liquid pooling beneath it. Glitchtrap smirked. He knew that all of the injuries were just a manifestation of the broken mind, and that the body could easily be mended. He had a strong will, and that will would keep him attached to the world of living. The agony that had affected the soul was enough to allow him to return. If that child really believed that they won by making their tormentor suffer, they were wrong. In truth, the suffering he experienced made him stronger. They created a monster they couldn't contain.

''One would think that having your mind and soul being broken would be a disaster, but I can make it work,'' Glitchtrap continued in a calmer, more deliberate tone, clasping his hands together. ''You and I are one and the same, even if we take on a different appearance.'' He observed carefully as the blood on the floor faded, aware that the final part of the process he had set in motion has begun. ''Our desire is the same – to return once more to the world that has forsaken us.''

Glitchtrap suddenly stopped talking as he sensed something faint, only to suddenly sense it again. It was a heartbeat. He placed his hand on his chest, sensing the heartbeat once more. He knew that his other self responded, even if he still remained motionless, reaching an understanding with the part his soul that guided him through the darkness that kept him chained here.

''I had been in denial, haven't I?'' Glitchtrap said, his voice far from the theatrical tone he would usually use. He was unusually calm, having a moment of introspection. ''Despite what I had told myself, my soul cannot rest. I wanted to believe that it was for the best, that this was what I wanted, but I lied to myself. It is impossible to let everything end when there is still something left for me to do.''

He looked up, staring into the pitch-black darkness above him.

''Because…'' Glitchtrap's eyes flashed purple. ''I always come back. Let me OUT!''

xXx

If there was one thing that wouldn't stop bothering Sam, it was Glitchtrap. She had spent the night tossing and turning, trying to figure out what this meant. She had figured that the only way for her to learn more is to follow Glitchtrap's instructions, even if she had a bad feeling about it. Glitchtrap had to have some kind of motive behind her gathering all of the Tapes.

On the other hand, Tape Girl did tell her that she made those Tapes to explain whoever had to deal with Glitchtrap how they should proceed, meaning she needed to gather the Tapes regardless. Then, there was also the fact that she wanted to learn more about the lore of Help Wanted.

In the end, it doesn't matter just how distrustful I am of Glitchtrap, I need to collect all of the Tapes to understand what exactly he is.

Sam was completely lost in her thoughts, not even noticing when Matt had joined her as she entered the school. In her defense, he made no attempt to let her know that he was there. He knew that Sam would eventually turn her attention to him and that it was better for her to finish whatever train of thought she had before she lost it. After all, he too loved to ponder about random stuff and hated being interrupted when he was in deep thought.

''Oh, hey Matt,'' Sam suddenly said when she realized that her friend was following her towards the classroom.

''Hi, Sam, I hope I didn't interrupt anything,'' Matt replied.

''No, you didn't,'' Sam told him sheepishly. ''I haven't even noticed you.''

''It's no big deal,'' Matt replied, shrugging. ''I'd also rather spend more time with my own thoughts than with other people.''

Sam wasn't really sure whether that was supposed to be a compliment or Matt just teasing her. However, considering his nonchalant attitude and the fact that he'd usually leave her alone whenever she was occupied with something, she figured that it was the former.

''So, what is it?'' Matt continued, smiling. ''I doubt that you'd spend your free time thinking about what happened the previous day. Or am I wrong?''

''No, I actually wasn't thinking about Tessa…'' Sam started, only for Matt to cut her off, pointing to the side.

''Too bad, because now, you will,'' he said. Sam followed his gaze, exasperated when she saw Tessa walking towards them with an enraged look on her expression. She had managed to avoid her former friend the day before, but this time, there was no escape.

''How could you do this to me?!'' Tessa yelled at Sam, who just gave her an annoyed look. ''My mum got a call from the principal about having to pay for the cleaning and she took the money from my allowance. I hope you're happy now!''

''It's not Sam's fault that you got punished for something you did,'' Matt responded, stepping up. While Tessa glared at him, Sam was a bit surprised, only to remember the promise he gave her. ''Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.''

''This is none of your business,'' Tessa replied angrily.

''Considering how you're being aggressive my best friend, it is,'' Matt replied, smirking when he saw Tessa glaring at him.

''Your best friend?! I was friends with Sam since childhood. You have no right to claim her as your best friend-''

''Tessa, shut up!'' Sam shouted at Tessa, who turned her attention to the latter. Sam then added in a calmer tone, ''You're causing a scene. Everyone's looking at us.''

Tessa took a glance at her surroundings, noting the looks of disapproval and intrigue some of the students were giving her. They did not forget about the glitter prank nor who caused it. Tessa then turned back to Sam, who continued, ''You have no one else to blame but yourself for having to deal with the consequences.''

''It was just a harmless prank…'' Tessa attempted to defend herself.

''Then why didn't I laugh?'' Sam asked coldly, her voice sending chills down Tessa's spine. Matt gave Sam an uncertain look, sensing that, for a moment, something inside Sam changed, as if a switch had been flipped. It wasn't the coldness and seriousness of her tone, but rather the dark aura he had sensed. Then, it vanished completely, as if Sam suddenly took control again.

The three then heard the bell ring, with Sam glancing at Tessa and shrugging nonchalantly. She turned to Matt, acting as if nothing had happened. ''Let's go, or we'll be late to class.''

Baffled, Matt just followed her. After what had happened the previous day, as well as him sensing negative emotions attached to her, he realized that he had something worth of investigation at his hands.

xXx

Aaron Blackburn was at his computer, fixing a bug in the game he had been assigned to work on, when his smartphone suddenly rang. To his surprise, the call wasn't from a co-worker, but his own daughter. He answered it.

''Hello? Sam?''

''Hi, Dad! I need to ask you something important.''

Aaron's lips curved up into a smile. There were no questions about how he was doing, how the weather was or any kind of small talk. Instead, his daughter went straight to business. It kind of reminded him of Emma.

''What do you want to know?'' he asked curiously.

''When you were working on Five Nights at Freddy's VR: Help Wanted, did any of your co-workers start behaving strangely?''

Aaron's eyes narrowed. He was surprised by the question, wondering why Sam would ask him that. He thought about it for a moment, trying to remember what had happened during that time period, but all he knew was that Fazbear Entertainment was pressuring them to complete the game and fix the bugs. ''Hm… Well, I do remember that everyone was stressed.''

''Did anyone start talking to themselves after playing through the game or complained about having nightmares?''

''Uh, no, I don't think so… At least I can't recall anything,'' Aaron replied. ''Why are you asking?''

''It's something about the game that bothers me and I think someone may have added something that shouldn't be there,'' Sam replied. Aaron rose an eyebrow.

''Sam, are you talking about the official game or the early version I had sent you?'' he asked.

''I've been going through the early version,'' Sam told him. Aaron leaned back against the chair, trying to remember whether anything unusual happened.

''The last person who worked on it was Vanessa, but I don't remember her acting strange,'' Aaron told Sam.

''Vanessa?''

''Our beta tester,'' Aaron replied sheepishly. ''I guess I forgot to tell you her name. In any case, she was sent by Fazbear Entertainment to beta test the game and, after I had told her about you, suggested that I could send you the early version of the game and that she wouldn't snitch on me.''

''What about her? Did she act strangely?''

''She did appear a little stressed, but frankly, everyone was stressed during that time,'' Aaron replied. ''Otherwise, she'd be always chipper and nice, even bringing cookies once to a meeting.''

''Oh, I see,'' Sam replied, sounding puzzled. Aaron assumed that she didn't expect this kind of answer. ''Does she still work with you?''

''No, she actually left about two-three weeks ago,'' Aaron told her. ''She said she'd be working on a different project. However, she did pop up to beta test the DLC.''

''DLC?'' Sam sounded genuinely confused.

''Sam, have you forgotten? There is going to be a DLC this Halloween,'' Aaron told her. ''As a matter of fact, the official version is supposed to come out a day earlier.''

''Wait, Halloween…'' Sam went silent for a moment, with Aaron assuming that she was probably checking the calendar. He then heard a very loud smack, figuring that Sam had face-palmed. ''It's this weekend! I totally forgot!''

Aaron chuckled. ''What? Aren't there any Halloween decorations?''

''Well, Freddy's hasn't decorated anything for Halloween yet, but I guess they'll might do it today or tomorrow,'' Sam replied. ''Honestly, I've been busy with a lot of other things; school, my job… I can't really keep track of everything.''

''It's fine Sam,'' Aaron replied. ''I hope you'll enjoy the DLC when it comes out.''

''Me too,'' Sam said, sighing.

''So, how's Emma?'' Aaron asked.

''She's okay, albeit busy. She said that she would take another trip soon.''

''What about your robot bunny friend?'' Aaron asked casually. He realized that something was wrong when Sam suddenly fell silent. ''Sam?''

''He… He's gone…'' Sam said hesitantly. Aaron waited for her to elaborate, but she didn't. It was clear that she didn't want to talk about Springtrap.

''I'm sorry Sam,'' Aaron told her, wanting to comfort her, but Sam cut him off.

''No, it's fine… I'm okay…'' she said.

''Do you still sleepwalk?'' Aaron asked. There was a moment of silence on the other end.

''Mum told you, didn't she?'' Sam asked, her question followed by a pregnant pause. Not even waiting for Aaron's answer, she continued, ''I'm fine now. I think I was just really stressed out and that affected my sleep.''

''I'm sorry that you had to go through that,'' Aaron replied, feeling bad for his daughter.

''It's okay,'' Sam told him. ''I gotta go now, though. Thank you for the information, Dad. You're the best!''

''You're welcome, sweetheart,'' Aaron told her, smiling. Then, the call got cancelled.

xXx

Sam took a deep breath and turned to her laptop. She hadn't checked her e-mails in a while and after what her father had told her, she realized that she may be missing something, which is why she decided to check the e-mail that had the game attached to it.

Her eyes widened when she saw a new e-mail from the person named nessie97. She opened the e-mail, surprised to see the Halloween DLC inside it. It seemed to have been sent about three days ago. Sam had no idea how she had managed to miss it and she wondered whether she should contact Vanessa, but decided against it. However, she had to wonder why Vanessa had sent her the full game and the DLC. Was it really because her father had told Vanessa about Sam's fascination with the Five Nights at Freddy's games?

Sam shook her head, noting that she'd be dealing with this later on. Her current plan was to go to Freddy's after it closed to talk to Freddy and his friends about what she had found out about Glitchtrap. She didn't have to work today, so she decided to spend the few hours she had by playing another level of Help Wanted. She had figured she'd get at least one or two more Tapes to see whether there was anything

Taking a deep breath, she found herself back in the game. She glanced at Glitchtrap, who just waved back at her and shook her head, deciding to ignore him. Instead, she went to the next segment of the game, Vent Repair.

''Okay…'' Sam muttered, trying to figure out what exactly she was supposed to do. All she knew was that she was inside a vent with three openings and that she needed to repair it. She pressed the button next to her, causing HandUnit to explain everything to her. As she listened to him, she also started looking around for any Tapes, relieved to find one on behind the pipes on the floor to the right.

''Welcome to Vent Repair. Fazbear Entertainment prides itself on having the most comfortable facilities. Each facility is set to a perfect 72 degrees all the time. The 4 active indicator lights mean we have a well functioning ventilation system. Your headlamp should protect you from any critters who may have stumbled into the docks. As a certified technician, you should need no instruction. However, in case of an emergency, it is important to remember that as a vent technician you should never, under any circumstances, attempt to-''

Sam was surprised when HandUnit suddenly started to glitch out. She had to wonder whether it was part of the game or something more… unnatural. Everything turned dark, with the vent in front of her opening. She saw a glowing button and pressed it, revealing a lever. The moment she flipped it, she was startled by none other but Mangle, who was scared off by the light on her helmet turning on. Taking a moment to collect herself, Sam realized that she'd be fending off Mangle while repairing the vents.

''I can't imagine how a person with a fear of being stuck in a vent would feel during this segment,'' she muttered to herself as the vent to her right opened.

She grabbed the Faz Token that was stuck in the gears at the bottom of the second vent and quickly turned to the first vent to make sure Mangle stayed where they were. The second vent started sparking and Sam realized that she may not have a lot of time to fix it. It took her a moment, but she did find a switch at the top of the vent, leading her to opening another lever after she flipped it. She then flipped the lever, quickly turning to Mangle, who was nowhere to be seen. She then heard pipes steaming.

''Now what?'' she asked, reaching out for the valve on her right. Fortunately, this was the right thing to do, as she could turn it, but then she heard more hissing noises, with steam coming from her bottom left. She turned back to the first vent, unable to see Mangle, and then turned the valve on the bottom left. She then looked back up, noticing the steam coming from the panel above and pressed the button on the top.

''So far, so good… Mangle is still nowhere to be seen and I'm still alive,'' Sam muttered to herself as she looked around for the next mechanical issue to fix. The vent to her left slowly opened and she turned her attention to it, while still making sure Mangle was nowhere in sight. There was a box with four buttons on the side, as well as a hatch. Sam opened it, once again making sure Mangle won't come from the other vents, but the sounds she heard made her a tiny bit anxious. She had no idea where the animatronic was and she was completely open to an attack.

She gazed down the hatch, noticing a colour-changing light at the bottom of the vent, figuring that it was connected to the buttons on the side. She gulped when she suddenly heard banging coming from behind her and quickly turned back. However, Mangle wasn't in the right vent. She turned back to the hatch, taking a moment to memorize the colour sequence.

''Green, red, orange, blue…'' she muttered to herself and quickly pressed the buttons. To her relief, the lever appeared and she quickly flipped it. She sighed in relief when the vents closed.

''A perfect 72 degrees, good job. See you next time.''

''That was tense…'' Sam took a deep breath, calming herself down. She had her fair share of experiences with air vents, but she never had to deal with anything like this. After reclaiming her prize, a bottle of Foxy Cove Cooler, she returned to the main hub and selected the next level.

She found herself once again surrounded by vents, but this time, it seemed like she was inside some kind of familiar room, even though she couldn't recall why it was so familiar to her.

''Let's see…'' Sam muttered as she looked down, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do this time. She saw several boxes around her and attempted to open them, only to notice a glowing button. ''Idiot…'' she muttered as she pressed it.

''Welcome to Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental. It has been zero days since last incident. Emergency ventilation repairs may be necessary to reach the boiler room on sub basement G. We apologize for the claustrophobic accommodations of the secondary service elevator, but the comfort of the main elevator is well above your pay grade. Now, let's get to work.''

''Oh, this is Circus Baby's…'' Sam felt a bit embarrassed that she forgot. She shook her head. ''This is not my day.''

She waited for the elevator-like vent to lower, wondering what animatronic she'd be confronting this time. Since it was Circus Baby's, she imagined it would be someone from the Funtime Gang.

''MOTION TRIGGER – BREAKER ROOM.''

Only one vent opened while Sam looked around for another Tape. She was greeted with four buttons and four fuse boxes in front of her, each connected by a wire. One fuse box had the light on.

''So, I just connect them, right?'' she pressed the button at the end, which turned the light on the fuse box from green to red, causing another fuse box to light up. ''Ah, nice!''

She quickly completed the task, connecting each button to a fuse box.

''Well done,'' HandUnit congratulated her and the vent closed. Then, the vent behind her opened and she found the fuse boxes further down the vent, making it a bit harder for her to figure out which one was which. Still, it didn't take her too long to press the correct buttons. ''Well done.''

Sam squinted as the third vent opened. It was quite dark inside, but a spark of light revealed Ennard hiding way back in the vent. She groaned, ''Oh, great…''

Admittedly, she was fine with seeing Ennard, but she realized that she might be put on a time limit in this case. She had no idea whether the light would work on Ennard and she also couldn't find any Tapes, despite probably being at the end of the level.

''Okay, just stay calm, make no mistake and don't let Ennard get to you,'' she told herself, despite her heart beating rapidly when she saw Ennard being suddenly on top of the vent as she pressed a button. Fortunately, he was still far enough and she used every flash of light to figure out which button connected to which fuse box. In the end, she managed to connect all of them and sighed in relief when the vent started closing.

''Finally… aagh!'' Sam screamed when Ennard suddenly appeared right in front of her, attempting to enter the elevator. ''Go away! Go away!''

Luckily for her, the vent shut down and Sam had to take another deep breath, feeling freaked out. She looked around. ''Now what?'' A feeling of dread washed over her when she realized she was being lowered down. ''Wait, it's not over?''

As she was lowered down, she saw a huge gear turning and gulped. She realized that things would take a turn for the worse in this level. Even though she was just playing a video game, she could imagine what would happen to a person if they got stuck between the gears. Nothing more but flesh, blood and broken bones would be left, grinded to a paste. She looked around, finding another Faz Token in a box and quickly grabbed it.

''MOTION TRIGGER – VENTILATION SHAFT.''

Sam inhaled sharply, focusing on the task at hand. She was surrounded by gears, with all of the vents being open. Her heart almost stopped beating when she saw Ennard peering between the wires and gears, too close for her comfort. He didn't attack her though.

''Okay, Sam, focus! What is wrong in this level?'' she told herself as she looked around again. ''Some… some of the gears aren't turning…'' She found a lose gear on the plate below her and realized she needed to place them in the correct spot, all while she was being observed by Ennard. Hands shaking, she started placing gears from one side to the other, feeling that she was doing the whole sequence blindly. ''Com'n, com'n…''

''Well done.''

Somehow, she managed to complete the puzzle without being attacked. This time, she waited a moment before she celebrated, only to groan when she realized that the elevator was being lowered again.

''Screw this game,'' she grumbled in frustration. She looked around, searching for more Faz Tokens and Tapes, but there weren't any. Eventually, she reached the third level of the game.

''MOTION TRIGGER – BOILER ROOM.''

She rose an eyebrow when the vent opened, revealing pipes with buttons on them and flames surging through the vents. ''Why do I have the feeling that this place is gonna be set on fire?''

The next part had her spending several minutes turning the pipes in the correct order to connect them. She hadn't seen Ennard, but she imagined him lurking somewhere in the vents, waiting for her to make a mistake. After completing the pipe puzzle, she was rewarded with a glowing button that caused fire to erupt in the vent in front of her, followed by screeching.

''I guess this means that I burned Ennard,'' she said, startled.

''Well done, a perfect 72 degrees. See you next time.''

Sam sighed in relief as the vents closed and she claimed her prize, a Bonnie plushie. However, she felt disappointed that she only found one Tape in the whole segment. Finding herself at the main hub, she went to the Tape Room to listen to the Tape 11.

''Today was my last day of beta testing and the anomaly that I've been seeing is nowhere to be found. But after inspecting some of the files, it seems that it's attached itself to these logs. My logs. That can't be an accident. So now I have to make a choice. Do I leave these logs here for you to find or do I try to purge this thing myself by destroying the logs. I've chosen the latter.''

''I see…'' Sam muttered. ''This explains why Glitchtrap wants me to gather the Tapes. He is somehow attached to them.'' Shaking her head, she took the VR headset off and checked the time on her smartphone. She was surprised when only around 15 minutes passed, as the game felt much longer than that. Realizing that she still had enough time to spare, she figured she could continue playing for a bit longer and decided to try the Blacklight Level of the Vent Repair segment. She gazed back at Glitchtrap for a moment, who just waved back and then entered Mangle's level.

When it came to the Blacklight Levels, she would do take a break and then try them after she listened to the Tapes, just to check whether she missed something. She also managed to complete each of them without much difficulty, her favorite being the FNaF 3 Blacklight Level, where she had to play in the burning horror attraction. She did run into a few issues during the PlushBaby and Funtime Foxy level of Dark Rooms, though, as well as having some trouble with Freddy and Foxy during the Parts & Service segment, causing her to almost quit. She still pulled through.

As for Vent Repair, Mangle became harder to deal with, especially considering how all of the vents were open and there seemed to also be a second Mangle lurking inside them, moving much faster. However, that level didn't cause Sam as much trouble as Ennard's level did.

''This is a nightmare!'' Sam said, her jaw dropping when she found herself standing completely upside down. Endoskeletons were staring at her, blocking her view. Sam shook her head, feeling completely disoriented, but was determined to complete the level. As she was lowered to the next part of the game, she was also given a lovely view of what appeared to be a Freddy plushie stuck in the vents. As she progressed, she realized that animatronic parts were scattered all over the place, first being greeted by a Foxy head and then having to deal with Springtrap crawling towards her.

Is it just me or does he look like he's desperate to escape rather than murder me? Sam stared at Springtrap, her jaw slightly dropped as the vent closed. She still kept her eyes open for any Faz Tokens and Tapes, barely avoiding being jumpscared by Ennard. Fortunately, she did find another Faz Token in the eye of a broken Bonnet on the left side as she was transported from the first puzzle area to the second and later on another in the head of Nightmare Fredbear during the descent to the Breaker Room when looking in the middle open panel.

''Yes! I did it!'' Sam cheered when she eventually managed to start the fire, feeling much better now that she found another Tape and took care of Ennard. She then promptly screamed when Ennard lunged at her, the elevator falling. Her heart was still racing as the game ended and it took her a moment to recover. ''Never again…'' She claimed her prize, a Chica plushie, and was relieved when she found herself back at the main hub.

''Hello? Can you hear me?''

''You are really enjoying this, aren't you?'' Sam asked in a deadpan tone as Glitchtrap waved at her. She then entered the Tape Room, noting that Glitchtrap was behind her. Ignoring him, she played Tape 12.

''I can't delete them. By creating a protected area to store these logs apart from the game, I effectively gave this thing a safe place to hide itself. It's in here now. I may not be able to delete it. But I might be able to do something else now that it's attached itself. I have an idea.''

''So, this is how the Tape Room came to be,'' Sam said, glancing at Glitchtrap. ''I wonder what Tape Girl's idea was. She wanted to delete you, didn't she? How did you feel about that?''

She waited for a moment, but there was no response, not even the cheeky 'Hello? Can you hear me?'. Sam rose an eyebrow, giving Glitchtrap a curious look as he stared back at her. Suddenly, the room around her started to glitch out. Sam couldn't move at all, only watching in shock as the room shifted between the Tape Room and the main hub, her surroundings turning purple. Pain surged through her head, but it was lesser than before. There was static, but it was weaker, and the noise was replaced by whispering, but she couldn't understand who was whispering or what they were saying. Grimacing in pain, Sam put her hands on the VR headset, deciding to take it off and end this conversation, when she suddenly heard a voice, a whisper clearer than the ones she heard before.

''I always come back…''

Sam stared at Glitchtrap in pure shock, her eyes wide. Her surroundings turned back to normal, but Glitchtrap was still there, waving at her. The virtual bunny could see Sam's eyes glinting for a moment and her mind racing, trying to make sense of what just happened. Her eyes then narrowed, but she still was in utter shock.

''William…?''

Links:

#Previous Chapter

#Current Chapter

#Next Chapter

#Five Nights at Freddy's: The Untold Story (Masterlist)

[thatanthagirl]

A Love Story.. (it's cause and effect)

"When God considered His idea called man

All things possible went into His plan

Before He spoke, before it began

Not one thing was given to random chance

He counted the cost and gave it all that He had

God Almighty thought "It's about time"

His Majesty, His Grace is in all he creates

So much was enough for Him to decide

Without hesitation or any delay

His timing is perfect and always provides

Where is His will.. there is a way

By the power manifested in me

His Unity, His Will all did agree

In our image we will make Him

So say us three

God Almighty concluded, " It will be good"

Foundations must be laid

Boundaries to extend beyond infinite space

Unlimited imagination on purpose by design

Able to sustain what spilled from His mind

A Beginning to come when He opens His lip's

Comes a hearts desire to share all that is His

With all that is about to suddenly exist

In this unbelievable countdown called time

So, God Almighty took a deep breathe

Pure love was convinced so His will was expressed

Cause and effect spontaneously collide

His Magnificence, His Mystery His signature signed

When God Almighty whispered "Let there be light"

Darkness was shushed its borders redefined

It's confusion and rebellion fled into the night

Into our lungs His breathe gave us life

Free will was fulfilled for the hearts of each kind

While God rested content and satisfied

He looked over His shoulder and what did He find

His truth we did not trust

Not able to stand we fell for a lie

His love is tough so it did what it must

Until this defiance of sin is finally silenced

His Will would still not be denied

Death and decay entered in by its wage

Corruption erupted and bought it's own destruction

What was perfectly good was now heart broken

With it's hefty debt still left unpaid

But God Almighty shouted, "My Spirit shall save"

My Son will find what's lost and gone astray

From this grave their defiance has suddenly made

His great love was unswayed so His mercy recreates

Jesus' Glory will never fail or fade away

His patience, His intentions for this idea of man

Is a love story for us so we are able to stand

God Almighty "Has Proclaimed"

Every tongue will confess every rebellion end

His humanity came, His image was revealed

So it would be known He was here to heal

He gave it all for all debts to be paid

Faith in His grace opens sealed graves

His kindness, His Mercy His humility became King

His Power was released to bring His Spirits breeze

To flame the fire of His love in the new way He has made

His sacrificial will spilled and provided everything

Come whoever will, come whoever may

The willing who believe will be the ones that He saves

His Word endures forever, He has never changed

Our cause and His effect

Is His love story, He created, that will forever remain

Everything in existence bears witness before men

Everyone is invited to His inheritance again

In this love story of His Son, that will never find end

God Almighty declared "It is finished"

In The Fathers fury, His faithfulness was unfurled

The love of His Son has come into the world

Let there be light.. in this darkness unseen

A new beginning for whoever will believe

It was the Son's idea way back in the plan

To save the love story we became

He saw what his Father was doing

So He followed

Gave all that He had.. and obeyed.

God Almighty still speaks in many ways

Through His enduring word in scripture

And through His servants with something to say

We who testify, repeat what He speaks

That His love story now in us will be continued.. Forever "

-- TC

[askthepsychic]

The first thing she notices is that true to Aaron’s word, she is conscious this time. She’s aware of her surroundings and can move about. She sees Aaron looking at her with a satisfied smile on his face, clearly happy that whatever strings were pulled and whatever arrangements were made, it all worked as planned. Looking behind her, she sees Ambrosia approaching while Hades casts his eyes around the arena, seemingly on lookout for something. She turns back to look at Aaron and blinks. Nyx is approaching him. But… was that glance at her? She knows Nyx can perceive spirit minds as some of them emit similar wavelengths to dreaming minds, but a glance?

Aaron notes that Rey appears to have become thoughtful of something before turning to look at Nyx “let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way. You’re angry, you’re confused, you need to hit me as hard as you can or you won’t be able to calm down enough to think.”

Nyx nods, then drives her forehoof into Aaron’s gut. Though he barely reacts as she expected, it does feel good to hit him like that after what he just did. After taking a deep breath and exhaling, she looks at him with somewhat calmer eyes.

Aaron nods “I was planning to inform you of this. But I wanted to tell you in private, like I did Twilight and Rey’s parents. Ambrosia. The elements of harmony bearers. But you out of everyone turned out to spend the least amount of time alone. You thoroughly vexed me and now, we have no time. I have to set this project in motion as quickly as possible or we may run out of time before it’s complete. Here’s the deal. I’m taking Rey to see him. You know who I’m talking about. Vitalia is on her way. You folks have to work together to get her to only repair the damage I did to Rey’s body, not restore her life. It’s going to be difficult to convince her. After the part Rey played in restoring her freedom, she feels that she owes a boon to her. She’ll want to restore Rey to full vitality as a show of gratitude.”

Nyx scoffs. “If I know Rey, she never for a second felt that repayment was necessary.”

Aaron nods “right. But her belief doesn’t override Vitalia’s gratitude. Believe me, I know. I’ve seen similar situations from Rey’s point of view many times. Some folks just want to thank you, feel like they need to thank you, even when you believe that thanks aren’t required.”

Nyx nods, then looks at Ambrosia, circling an invisible point and talking. “What’s the verdict? Did Aaron’s manipulations work?”

Ambrosia nods “so far so good. Just asking Rey to do a few more basic movements to make absolutely sure.”

Twilight smiles, coming to stand beside Nyx “good. I’m glad to hear it. Aaron, please look after her while she’s in your care.”

Aaron nods. “You got it. There’s one more thing I should tell you though. In order for this to work out the best it can, the fastest it can, she won’t be allowed to use the tower to manifest a perceivable form. That would mean that she would have a body of some kind. She must spend this time in full spirit form as much as possible.”

Twilight nods. “I understand. As do we all.”

Sounds of confirmation, followed by Ambrosia declaring the testing complete, with a perfect success as the verdict.

Aaron nods, then looks at where Rey is standing. “Alright then. We’re off. Nyx? Anything you’d like me to tell him?”

Nyx once more takes a deep breath before sighing. “Give him my regards. And tell him… I’m sorry I let him down.”

Aaron nods, then fades from sight, after which he indicates that Rey should follow him “you’ll find that flight in this state is very similar to using your psychic powers to fly.”

Rey nods “thanks for the notice.” She says, starting to fly. A moment later, she’s following Aaron through the sky. Thinking back on the conversation from before, she asks “What did Nyx mean? I’ve never known her to fail anyone before.”

Aaron nods. “Well, it all started when she was off in a different kingdom. Let’s just say that she went through the same thing you’re about to go through, but it wasn’t planned out with her as it is with you. Following that experience, she was employed by an otherworldly agency along with her duties as a knight of Equestria. But eventually, she came to realize she wasn’t able to reconcile her at that time conflicting responsibilities. She decided that her employment with that otherworldly agency I mentioned was what she had to lose.”

Rey blinks “but… that sounds like her so called “failure” is all in her… heh. Whoever you two were talking about, they don’t believe for a second that Nyx failed them, do they?”

Aaron chuckles. “The very idea is utterly ridiculous to them. If anything, Nyx was one of the best agents they ever had. She earned her early retirement.”

Rey smiles then blinks, noticing a golden vortex forming in front of them. “Is that where we’re going?”

Aaron nods. “An entry point that’s been set up for us. It’ll take us out of this world to another called Spirit World. Feel free to ask any questions you may have about the scenery.”

Rey nods “I’ll keep that in mind.” A moment later, they’re flying through a new world. As they go, Rey glances around from time to time. Pink sky above. Golden clouds below, with only a glowing river to break the monotony. “How far must we travel?”

Aaron sighs. “Further than expected already. Fortunately the river is our guide. We follow it, we reach our destination. The terminus of our entrance was supposed to be closer. I’ll have to look into that later. For now, more important things take priority.”

Rey nods, then looks down at the river, then back at Aaron “does it have a name? The river I mean.”

Aaron nods “it’s The River Styx.”

Rey blinks twice “The River Styx? Then this really is the path between life and death?”

Aaron chuckles “after everything you’ve experienced today, that’s what surprises you?”

Rey chuckles “well, it just actually hit me that I’m really dead right now. And yet, I’m not thinking like I’m dead. I’m looking forward to getting back into my body, learning what I’ll gain from this experience. So… yeah. I’m still not fully grasping the concept that I really am dead.”

Aaron nods “completely understandable. Most who experience death don’t normally have another chance to look forward to. You’re a special case, Rey. And if all goes well, your case is likely to remain open for a long time after this.”

Rey blinks “why’s that?”

Aaron smiles “if our efforts to get you back into your body are successful, you’ll have to earn your keep. This isn’t a free opportunity, no matter how many strings are pulled. Nor do any amount of called in favors change that. You will have to repay the good will of the people allowing this to even be possible.”

Rey nods “I see. Yeah, that’s fair. No doubt it’s a bureaucratic headache to work this out.”

Aaron nods “to say the least. Look. Up ahead. Our destination has come into view.”

Rey looks to see a floating island with bridges leading to grand gates in every direction. The island itself is dominated by a massive palace similar in style to the recently built tower of souls in Ponyville. “Wow. Talk about symbols of rank. But all those gates. I always thought there would only be two.”

Aaron nods “you aren’t alone in thinking that. Most people who believe in an afterlife would say there will be two doors in a grand hall of judgment between life and what comes after. If they don’t believe that all souls are treated the same. But in some space times, it’s a lot more complicated than that. This particular space time is an example of the complex version of the afterlife. Here, judgement is meted out based on a multitude of factors concerning your life. And with so many factors and variables being considered, there must be multiple ends, both good and bad. That’s why you’ll commonly hear divine beings in this universe refer to the lands of the dead when talking about the afterlife. They speak with terms suggesting multitudes because there are many different fates your soul may be sentenced to after death.”

Rey nods “I see. Wow. Am I going to remember this stuff?”

Aaron nods “yes. Going forward, you are one of the very few privileged living mortals who know all this. Though whether you’ll always think it a privilege is a matter for the future to decide.”

Rey nods “understood.”

A moment later, they’re standing in front of the palace gates. Rey can sense Aaron reaching out with his mind, and can’t help but feel shocked when his efforts lead to his mind brushing against hers. She knew he had to be a truly ancient being from how wise he often shows himself to be, but… she never imagined he was as ancient as that touch revealed. Countless trillions of years of existence weigh heavy on that ancient mind. No… more. Rey suddenly realizes that there is no known number capable of being applied to him in terms of his age. (Unbelievable. If what I felt is true… just what is he? Truly?) she thinks to herself, but further speculation is denied as the gate opens to allow them entry into the palace.

Rey finds herself immediately bombarded by how crazy busy the room just inside the palace is, with what she guesses are workers running all over the place, some shouting details of events that she assumes concern the newly deceased. Stacks of paper and books are carried around at breakneck speed, and Rey is frankly amazed that no one crashes into each other or her and Aaron as the two of them are now moving through that insanity towards a hall on the other side of the room. Aaron strides forth confidently, but she’s keeping her eyes open so she can evade anyone who gets close to crashing into them. “Is it always this crazy here?” She asks at one point, her jaw dropping when Aaron replies that it’s usually worse, and that it looks like they’re having a slow day today. She looks past Aaron towards the hall, which seems to be terribly far away in this madness. “Couldn’t we just fly over to the hall?”

Aaron laughs, looking back at her “we’re here to meet with royalty. That would be a rude gesture, don’t you think? Don’t worry, this place has existed almost since the beginning of this universe. They’ve had eons to get their groove, and a small disturbance like us won’t change a thing.”

Rey blinks, but nods understandingly. A few moments later, she sighs in relief as they make it into the hall. “That was terrifying. Amazing, but terrifying. I could barely make sense of how none of them ran into each other. And you said it looked like a slow day?”

Aaron nods “yes. And I wasn’t kidding. I’ve seen it ten times as crazy in there.” After a few more moments, he turns to look at a door they’ve arrived at. He looks at Rey “you’re about to be presented with an important choice. Consider your options carefully.”

Rey nods. “I will.”

[hochmvt]

“You're remarkably terrible at getting other people to sniff it, you know that?” Isaiah chuckled and leaned back, thus declining the very charming offer of the man across from him, sipping his coffee and taking the photo in his hand. If they had been sitting in the diner where his mother worked back home in Greenville, she would certainly have shaken her head at the fact that her son was sitting here at 3 a.m., still drinking coffee, even though his head was never still anyway. She would’ve urged him to go to bed and continue what he was doing the day after. But he couldn’t. Even as he sat there, staring at the photo, he could feel his brain reaching to the very corners of vastly different theories and ideas. All of this didn’t make much sense to him, thus refusing to let him settle on just one thing. It wasn’t just curiosity — it was a relentless need, like an itch he couldn’t scratch. 

The more he stared at those golden eyes, the more his thoughts spiraled, making connections between things that might not even exist. Maybe he needed to start somewhere else. The paper itself was old, the kind one didn’t see much anymore. He ran his finger along the edges, feeling the texture, the thickness. It wasn’t a particularly cheap paper. Whoever had taken this photo knew what they were doing and they spent money on it. And the grain of the picture revealed, that it wasn’t a cheap film stock either; very delicate and fine, the colors (despite their abscence of it) reminded him of Vision3 — and yet the ISO was low, meaning it had been taken in good light. No flash, no harsh shadows. And yet, it was dark, but it didn't feel like it was due to underexposure. The quality of the image, despite its motion blur, suggested it wasn’t recent. Maybe the late '70s, early '80s. Daylight, but not direct sun. If he had to guess, he’d say late afternoon, the kind of light that softens everything just before it fades into dusk. He could almost feel the air in that moment — cool, still, and charged with something unspoken.

These eyes however, burning gold, weren’t just watching — they were waiting. Anticipating. Hunting. He didn't think it was a demon or a spirit, nothing ethereal or fleeting. This felt physical, grounded in a way the supernatural rarely was. Something with form, almost crouching, hunched over like it was stalking its next move, waiting for the right moment to strike. Like a predator. The blurry surroundings only fed into the sense of danger, of something hiding just out of reach.

Isaiah felt anticipation and enthusiasm rise in his body, a feeling deep and instinctive, telling him this was no ordinary creature. It wasn’t just lurking in the shadows — it had manifested, brought into this world somehow, as if the environment itself had called it into being. The more he stared, the more he was certain: whatever it was, it wasn’t here by accident. And it waited to be found. ”So, where did you find all this stuff?” Isaiah asked as he pulled out his laptop, his legs becoming restless again. He alternately tapped the tips of his other fingers with his thumb. First the index, then the middle, then the ring and finally the little finger. Then backwards. Then starting again from the front. ”So, I usually start at missing people. When there’s something out there, usually people go missing or have... accidents. Cold cases are a good point to start, too. All of this feels— old. Ancient. Dunno, it’s a gut feeling, but it’s�� something.”

A laugh left Dipper's throat. “That really is a compliment,” he replied, still chuckling as he looked up from his notes. He wiggled his eyebrows and looked at Isaiah through his eyelashes. But his question made him sit up straight and lean back on the bench for a second. He thought about his words. Then he shook his head. “Nope, not at all. Not that I know of. But that just makes things more interesting.” His eyes sparkled with action as he leaned on the table himself and looked deep into Isahai's eyes. “Do you have any idea what this could be?” Of course Isaiah asked first, but perhaps he already had something in mind. As Dipper knows, this man had traveled much more than Dipper himself and had seen things far removed from what was in Dipper's journal. But it also worked the other way around. Dipper might have seen things that Isaiah didn't know about now. He only thought of Bill in that one moment before he gently shook his head and broke eye contact to look at the evidence they already had. 

He bites his lips from the inside and lets his brown eyes wander over the photos, which weren't helpful at all, a few hairs in a small plastic bag, some newspaper articles and - of course - a handful of witness statements. 

“In a world where we have the first bunch of AIs, you'd think people would have learned how to focus on a camera by now, right? Or the video function?” He wasn't angry at all, but sometimes it would be easier if the photos didn't look like they'd been taken with a toaster. He grabbed one and placed it in the middle of the table between them. Then he looked up at Isaiash's eyes again. “It could be anything. A man, a deer, a pumpkin on a stick, or a bunch of gnomes in a trenchcoat. And the photo itself could be taken anywhere. In the forest or in a desert. Only the colors tell me it wasn't on a beach.” He chuckled softly and looked down at the photo. The only tiny clue that what they were looking for actually existed. Whatever this thing was, only its eyes were imaginable. Large and yellow or gold in color. A little hard to make out, since the photo itself only showed shadows and blurry trees and bushes. 

"Do some spirits have those kind of eyes? Or a demon? Oh, please. I hope it's not a demon. I've never dealt with anything like that before." Dipper sighed and reached for his cup of coffee. As he put it back on the table, the waitress came and refilled their cups, looked at their papers and walked away with a shake of her head. Dipper raised an eyebrow. ‘I made a guess,’ he said, looking from the waitress to Isaiah again, ‘We're not the first ones to sit here in the middle of the night looking for what this is.’ He pointed at the photo again, pushed it aside and picked up the bag of hair. 

Following a thought, he opened the bag and sniffed it carefully, not trying to inhale anything but the smell, and flinched almost immediately. "Oh damn, have you ever sniffed that before? Disgusting. Definitely not human. It reminds me of the sewers, but what the hell would voluntarily live down there?" He held the bag out to Isiah, not sure if he was going to sniff it or not. Dipper wiggled his nose, trying to get rid of the odour, but of course it didn't work. 

[hey-hamlet]

BNHA AU Ideas : Your blessings are your curses.

Also on AO3

TL;DR:

Dead All Might acts as a guardian angel to this heroic quirkless kid he runs into. Izuku gets put into a dangerous situation and turns out – DNA wasn’t needed to pass OFA. Just intent. Izuku gains the ability to see All Might along with the ability to use his quirk.

Sadly, AFO notices.

Now Izuku is on the run with a ghost for a guardian after AFO’s goons kill his mother.

Your blessings are your curses:

TL;DR: Dead all might, acts as a guardian angel to this quirkless kid he runs into. Izuku gets put into a dangerous situation and turns out – DNA wasn’t needed to pass OFA. Just intent. Izuku gains the ability to see All Might along with the ability to use his quirk.

Sadly, AFO notices.

Now Izuku is on the run with a ghost for a guardian after AFO’s goons kill his mother.

So – In the fight between All for One and All Might six years before canon, All Might loses.

Not horribly. All for One is still left almost dead and retreats into hiding, but All Might falls unconscious never to open his eyes again, later dying of sepsis in the hospital. His eyes may never physically reopen, but he does awaken – translucent and noncorporeal.

For a while he doesn’t know if it’s a latent quirk, or maybe something All for One did as a final blow, but no – it’s One for All. One for All has a mind of its own and refuses to disappear until Yagi has found a successor. Not that Yagi knows that.

His old haunts are too painful to hang around, the whole nation is grieving for him and seeing that pain on his old friend's faces burns something fierce. So he does what he’s always done. He helps.

Midoriya Izuku is nine when his favourite hero dies. He sees how the nation is grieving and his desire to be a hero only burns brighter. The bullying he suffers worsens, hate crimes against the quirkless and those with ‘villainous’ quirks uptick. Japan isn’t a pillar of safety and security anymore – crime rates have risen to match or overtake worldwide averages.

Still, he feels almost, safer? He gets luckier – the book his classmate stole shows up in his bag by the next period, bullies trip more often, and sometimes as he runs from villain attacks or classmates with their quirks popping against the nape of his neck, he feels a broad hand push him forwards, giving him an extra burst of speed.

He decides it must be the All Might charm he bought the day before the news of All Might’s death broke. A small solid plastic charm meant for a phone with a bright yellow bell attached, along with a tag reading “I AM HERE”. He fills the bell with scraps of paper so no one can hear it ring as he holds it tight in his hand when he gets nervous.

Midoriya Izuku is nine when he is almost killed.

With All Might gone, organized crime spikes. Quirk trafficking rings spring up – very rare, but no less real. It’s one of these such rings that kidnaps Izuku on his way home from school. He awakens, sore and blurry-eyed in a warehouse with a half dozen other crying children. One by one they are forced to show off their quirks, to gauge their value.

Izuku has no quirk to show. He has no value to these people. They growl at him to stop playing around, to stop pretending to be a hero (his All Might charm is almost cutting into his hand from how hard he holds it. He needs his luck more than ever please all might save me one more time - ). He can't bring himself to shut his eyes as a flaming hand reaches towards his face.

For a moment it feels like he's being held. He feels safe.

A shockwave levels the warehouse, leaving he and the other children untouched, the villains buried in the rubble. Green sparks sink into his skin, dancing over the rapidly purpling bruises decorating his arm. He runs.

He comes back to himself in a park, sobbing and shaking, arms wrapped around his shaking form and an oddly familiar voice murmuring apologies and praise as a broad hand runs gently through his hair.

It seems One for All never needed DNA, only intent, to pass itself along. With the passing of the quirk, Yagi should have dissipated, but he refused, clinging to the child he’d accidentally burdened with his legacy, the same quirkless child he’d been playing guardian angel for all this time.

When Izuku sees All Might he freezes. It’s not All Might as he knew him, rather – this is the All Might that died. He’s translucent, faded around the edges, with a tattered and bloodstained costume, thick padded bandaging over his stomach hiding stiches staining to close infected wounds, doing little to stop the blood oozing through. Still – All Might’s eyes are bright blue and kind and his smile is as it always was. Izuku throws himself onto his hero and sobs.

All Might – Yagi, as he insisted Izuku call him – led him to the nearest police station, as he tried to explain what had occurred. It wasn’t easy considering Yagi didn’t seem to be sure himself, but Izuku was pretty sure the quirk he’d been accidentally gifted was sentient.

Izuku held his arms up to the sky, stretching his fingers to the pinpricks of light in the night sky. Sparks of glittering gold, green, white, blue and red jumped across his skin, like the static shocks he’d get when he wore his wool socks in bed, but less painful. They almost felt playful.

“What are they called?” Yagi looked at him, confusion clear on his face. One of his spikes of hair drooped, and if Izuku could ignore the dust and blood that ran through it it would almost be funny.

“They? My boy, do you mean the sparks? If so, they don’t have a name.”

Izuku frowned, letting his hand drop. He could feel the sparks gently brushing his injuries, almost soothingly. “No, I mean your quirk. They should have a name, they’re so nice to me.”

Yagi coughed, dark blood spilling from his mouth, never to hit the ground. “One for All. It’s called One for All.”

Izuku’s frown deepened.

“All Might, mama says it’s rude to call someone an it.”

Inko is reunited with her only mildly injured son, now excitedly gushing about a quirk he’d somehow manifested. She privately thanks whatever spirit finally decided to smile upon her son, even if it took so long.

Their happiness doesn’t last long. Days later Izuku receives a summons to the head office. He freezes when he sees the police officer, Yagi’s comforting hand on his shoulder the only thing that keeps him from running.

It was a villain attack, the officer says with kindness so forced Izuku wants to cry. Yagi looks angry. If you’ll just come with us so we can get you to the safehouse with your mother –

Yagi almost growls with rage. “She’s lying.” He whispers, habit enforced despite the fact Izuku is the only person alive that can hear him. “Follow her out of the school then run” Izuku does exactly that, quirk sparking up his legs and pushing him forwards, down the familiar path to home. He takes the stairs six at a time, quirk chipping the edges of the concrete as he hurls himself forward.

Their apartment is in shambles, bookshelves tipped, small objects laying scattered on the floor, a pale arm laying limply from a half-open bathroom door.

Yagi pushes him out of the apartment and confirms the identity himself. He urges a sobbing Izuku to say his goodbyes to his mother’s corpse as they quickly gather all the money in the house, a few spare clothes and whatever food and water Yagi could knock down from the pantry shelves for him. Izuku crams it into his backpack as he sobs, Yagi guarding the entrance as he boils with rage and guilt.

He didn’t think All for One would find Izuku. He didn’t think he would even be looking. He was wrong and now his boy was paying the price.

So starts his time on the run.

He meets Shinsou first, saving him from some rubble in a villain attack. He meets him again later, battered and bruised – not from a villain, but from his foster parents. Shinsou joins him, no matter how Izuku explains hes in danger. Shinsou wants to be a hero, and if the only way he gets to be a hero is stubbornly keeping Izuku out of trouble? That’s not a bad trade-off, considering izuku was the first person to save him.

A little while later the two run into Shouto feverish and badly burnt and try to nurse him back to health as best they can. A few days in Touya and Toga run into their little camp guns blazing, expecting them to have kidnapped Shouto only to see Izuku patiently trying to feed him rice porridge with a veritable pile of ‘liberated’ fever reducers on the floor beside them.

They apologise but Shinsou and a still feverish Shouto refuse to talk to Touya or Toga for like three days bc they made Izuku cry.

They refuse to leave no matter how Izuku explains he has a centuries old villain after him. These kids are ride or die. So Hitoshi, Shouto and Izuku are like 9 and trying to learn what they can from libraries and newspapers, never settling down for too long. Toga (12) and Touya/Dabi (14) try and keep them all alive by working or stealing what they need to live. It doesn’t take long for them to evolve into a mini vigilante group.

Aizawa becomes familiar with the messy group of short vigilantes that seem to bounce from prefecture to prefecture every second day, to the point that the force is pretty sure one of them has a teleportation quirk because they don’t seem to have any kind of home base. He’s completely uninterested in trying to arrest them in the beginning – they aren’t hurting anyone and are not half bad at what they do.

That changes when he meets them.

Battered and bleeding out in a rainy alley with a villain looming over him with a knife, Aizawa is pretty sure this is the night he dies. The knife swings back, glinting in the streetlights as he tries in vain to scramble backwards with heavy limbs. It never connects. The villain jerks back as a brilliant blue plume of flame cuts him off, burning the tips of his hair. Not expecting backup the villain bolts. Aizawa feels small hands helping him into a sitting position – his stomach starts to sink. When the short masked figure with curly hair speaks he feels his heart turn to ice. The figure couldn’t be older than 11, probably closer to 10.

He wakes up in the hospital and he makes it his mission to save these kids.

Ghost All Might is having a rough time. His boy is in danger and the best he can do is rattle windows and trip sprinting villains. He can’t help them enough.

He has a plan though.

He warns Izuku that he’ll be gone for a while and to keep safe without him and he goes out scouting. Being invisible and impermeable is normally a curse but when trying to find a paranoid 200-year-old super villain? It’s pretty damn useful. It takes months but eventually he’s not only tracked down All for One’s main hideout he’s also memorised his schedule. It’s nothing impressive considering the man is still mostly bedbound after what All Might did to him, but he won't be a pushover. It’s a start, though.

Izuku cries tears of joy when he sees All Might again and cries even more when he shares what he found. It’s do or die time. He offers every one of his friends the chance to split now because there is a good chance they’ll die, but none of them wants to leave him. With that, he starts planning.

They’ll need Eraserhead, no bones about it. Without him, there would be no way to strike the final blow. They spend a few weeks refining their stealth then they seek Aizawa out.

They knew he’d have a price for helping them, but they never expected it would be so high, but simultaneously so kind. In exchange for his help and a vow of silence he wants each child to let him help them, to find them a safe place to live, a school to go to – a future. Izuku has spent his whole life being told he doesn’t have a future, from when he was diagnosed quirkless to the almost 2 years spent on the run from Japan’s most dangerous villain. He’s still not sure he’ll have one, even with All for One dead, but he knows he wants his friends to grow up happy and safe.

He accepts.

With Aizawa’s help, with Dabi and Toga clearing the way and Shinsou standing in the wings as the last resort, Izuku kills All for One as he sleeps. Nothing flashy, nothing fancy, just quiet footsteps, a sharp knife and shaking hands.

Aizawa is horrified this child just killed someone in front of him, but Izuku is sobbing and All for One is notorious in underground circles so he keeps his quirk up until the blood stops flowing from his neck. He takes the children and flees.

[edenmemes]

hades sentence starters

❝ somebody else came through earlier. you should have seen the look on my face when it wasn’t you! ❞ ❝ let’s forgive each other and forget, go back to how things used to be? ❞ ❝ right now i wouldn’t talk to me if i were you. ❞ ❝ i’ll have to pick up the pieces somehow, and figure out how to get on with my existence. ❞ ❝ we have caused such violence in the intervening time, that we must take this as a real victory. ❞ ❝ i’ll wait for you however long it takes. ❞ ❝ i’m sorry. but this is something i have to do. you wouldn’t understand. ❞ ❝ the only one responsible for all of this is you. and i thought even you would have understood that by now. ❞ ❝ i don’t like it when you’re quiet for too long, what’s on your mind? ❞ ❝ what is it with you gods talking behind the backs of all your friends? ❞ ❝ the world you seek out there...it’s even crueler than the one you know. ❞ ❝ look, i don’t hold grudges, you know that. ❞ ❝ i’m worried you’re going to burn yourself out if you keep pushing yourself past your limits. ❞ ❝ your lapse in judgement here is not so easy to forgive, yet easily punished. ❞ ❝ i didn’t mean to lose my temper with you. ❞ ❝ the fates are pretty mean to keep on doing this to you. ❞ ❝ i hardly think this is the time or place to indulge your overwrought imagination. ❞ ❝ for our sparring practice, there's no teacher than the real thing. ❞ ❝ they say a lot of things about me; and they’ll tell you, ample caution is in order. ❞ ❝ either your limitless power has considerably waned, are you are up to something. ❞ ❝ i risked everything by helping you out there. ❞ ❝ my voice is nothing but the crunch of gravel underfoot compared to yours, which soars as though on wings. ❞ ❝ to doubt is an important instinct. without it, we could not conceive of better circumstances than the ones we know. ❞ ❝ let’s not set a bad example for the family. we’re better than all that, they’ve many bad examples as it is. ❞ ❝ you are persuasive like your mother, and determined like your father. ❞ ❝ if you think for an instant that i shall go easier on you, you’ll soon learn otherwise. ❞ ❝ is clinging to a memory what keeps the soul from fading? ❞ ❝ don’t know what it is about you, but i feel like i can be me with you, you know? ❞ ❝ war, much like the heavens and the sea, can be considered as a force of nature. ❞ ❝ if you know that you could only see me for but a moment’s time...would you still make the journey for me? ❞ ❝ i, too, wish for a lot of things. unfortunately there’s no unraveling the fates’ patterns. ❞ ❝ i left when it was necessary. i thought of you and hoped you’d understand. ❞ ❝ all of which you think you have achieved was merely handed to you. ❞     ❝ the past me, it’s as though...it wasn’t even me. this is me, now. ❞ ❝ in war, one must take sides, and you had best choose mine. ❞ ❝ i do not act by whim or by mistake. ❞ ❝ i just don’t understand. why keep on being nice to me, like this? ❞ ❝ you’re so much more than what you said. i wish you could see that. ❞ ❝ it’s really nice, sometimes...knowing somebody really cares about me. ❞ ❝ my father? he’d not a one redeeming quality. ❞ ❝ we can learn from our mistakes or we can keep repeating them. ❞     ❝ there’s nothing you can do to hurt me. ❞     ❝ soon doubtless it’ll be your portrait hanging on that wall back there. ❞ ❝ just don’t go starting any wars you don’t intend to finish. ❞ ❝ you do something for me, in the meantime: don’t give in to what you’re feeling now. ❞ ❝ it is not often i attempt to kill someone and they survive. bravo! ❞ ❝ why does the soul remain, after the body bleeds, and dies, and turns to ash? ❞ ❝ all gods and goddesses are to be feared. ❞ ❝ what more could i have even done? could i have swayed you, in any other way? ❞ ❝ i tried, with all my might, with all my heart, you must know that, and still, it never was enough. ❞ ❝ i’m pleased to see your father’s stubbornness is manifest in you as such determination. ❞ ❝ i’m really starting to hate you. you know that? ❞ ❝ know that i am grateful for the outcome. even if i fail to act like it ❞ ❝ i’m with you every step. then i will probably ignore you like the rest. just warning you ahead of time. ❞ ❝ i only wish we met sooner, though i’m grateful to have met you at all. ❞ ❝ you work too hard. live a little. ❞ ❝ i warn you: i shall hold nothing back. ❞ ❝ that’s something very private that you’re asking... ❞ ❝ use caution with the tone you take with me. ❞ ❝ if you have any sense remaining in that head of yours, i caution you not to discuss this here and now. ❞ ❝ you saw something in me i never knew was there. in turn, with you, i felt....calm. whole. ❞ ❝ i only know that i was filled with rage. ❞ ❝ the fates decided this for us, i guess, and so...who are we to complain? ❞ ❝ i pray the fates not ruin all your dreams as they did mine. ❞ ❝ what’s the worst that could happen? ❞ ❝ they left their mark upon the world. shall you? ❞ ❝ your mockery of me may temporarily embolden you, but achieves nothing useful in the end. ❞ ❝ what exactly is it that makes you feel entitled to show me such disrespect? ❞ ❝ i’ve got to admit, you are really frustrating, you know? ❞ ❝ i seem to have this whole ‘easy-to-underestimate’ thing about me. ❞ ❝ you seem a little quieter than usual. dare i even say a little somber and remorseful, for some reason? ❞ ❝ it’s because i like you. in case you still have some misgivings about that. ❞ ❝ keep following that heart of yours. it’s good enough a guide, believe me. ❞ ❝ you always seem in good spirits, though. ❞ ❝ i cannot change the past. and there is only so much i can do about the future. ❞ ❝ a loving heart is a forgiving heart. ❞ ❝ just in case it hasn’t been made clear as crystal lately, let me tell you: when presented with the opportunity, don’t ever reject me. ❞ ❝ you know, i got to say i had a few concerns when we first met, your father being who he is and all. ❞ ❝ i like it when my prey bites back. ❞ ❝ my attempts at making peace are going to be rather subtle for your tastes. ❞ ❝ you'd best not take for granted my affection yes, i’ve lots of it to go around; but i can just as easily rescind such privileges. ❞ ❝ don't be messing with my feelings. my loyalty's hard-won and quickly lost. ❞ ❝ the truth is i’m a lover, not a fighter. ❞ ❝ if i may say? you’re a hell of a guy. ❞ ❝ you truly take me to the best of places. ❞ ❝ death shall come. either to your enemies, or you. ❞ ❝ a mortal’s life is short, and fraught with pain; is that truly the life you yearn for? ❞ ❝ you think you are superior to me? you are a fool. ❞ ❝ even i have doubts, from time to time. ❞ ❝ i wasn’t expecting to make any new friends here anytime soon. ❞ ❝ i grow angry merely thinking of your situation. ❞ ❝ i wanted to apologize for when i pried about your past. ❞ ❝ nobody gets out of here, whether alive or dead. you think i jest? you think i haven’t tried? ❞ ❝ they got me, finally, of course. but not before i broke them first. ❞ ❝ you are immortal, but in a manner, you can die. ❞ ❝ you have a lot of nerve --- but little else. ❞ ❝ oh, you look terrible, if i may say. ❞ ❝ you’re either naive or you’re much too kind, or both. ❞ ❝ despite whatever difficulties you’ve encountered, again and again, you have never yielded. ❞ ❝ though, that war? don’t ask me about it again. all right? ❞ ❝ you may not make your father very proud, but it is just the opposite with me. ❞ ❝ even i’m beginning to fear you, i think. seems i don’t know you as well as i thought. ❞ ❝ you have a worried look about you. spare me your thoughts? ❞ ❝ names are there to be forgotten. ❞ ❝ it’s not your fault. you couldn’t have known. ❞ ❝ i know it’s not been easy for you. ❞ ❝ you honor me...i have done nothing to deserve this. ❞ ❝ oh, how i hate to fight with you like this! ❞ ❝ follow your heart? that’s odd advice, especially from you. ❞ ❝ the fear of death keeps mortals well in check. you’d best learn to fear something yourself. ❞ ❝ you are going to get me in a heap of trouble before all is said and done. ❞ ❝ i'll hear no more such wicked lies, half-truths, or quarter-truths. ❞ ❝ well, if you won’t say it, i’ll say it. good-bye. ❞ ❝ i know of no one, nothing stronger, other than the love we share. ❞ ❝ i’ve some memories i’m not quite ready to give up on, yet. ❞ ❝ you seem less warlike than the rest. ❞ ❝ can’t always trust what feelings say. ❞ ❝ my temper i shall keep in check, but only barely so. ❞ ❝ i am unmade, unwhole, here in this place, alone. ❞ ❝ my past is not really worth mentioning. ❞ ❝ you may not really need me, but i will take these opportunities to help. ❞ ❝ you sound a little tongue-tied. just like you always used to around me. ❞     ❝ you should be ashamed of yourself, and learn your place. ❞ ❝ this look like a shoulder to cry on to you? ❞ ❝ ...you know who you sound like right now, don’t you? i can’t believe this. ❞     ❝ i think, deep down, you are still that inexperienced little godling that you used to be. ❞ ❝ i always had doubts the gods were listening. that they could even hear. ❞ ❝ i was just checking up on you, just...let me know if you wanted to talk, for any reason. ❞ ❝ if there’s one thing i know, it’s that the three fates always get their way. ❞ ❝ hey, you’re not alone. you’re not alone, ok? ❞ ❝ you're not exactly easy to approach, you know. ❞          ❝ i grieve for you, my friend. ❞ ❝ are you lecturing me about healthy relationships with family? your family is the most broken and corrupted in the history of the entire concept. ❞ ❝ you think you can just walk away from me? ❞ ❝ how about it, then? care for a drink, with me? ❞     ❝ you are entirely too young to have had meaningful experience with loss. ❞ ❝ something the matter, there? or have you come to torment me some more with idle chat? ❞ ❝ you will find me waiting for you once you get here. every single time. ❞ ❝ men worship ares willingly; they are so much like him. ❞ ❝ while love’s the force that brought me and countless other’s low in life, it also brought me and countless others strength. ❞ ❝ others shall always doubt me. you may doubt me. ❞ ❝ beware the narrow distance between hastiness and swiftness. ❞ ❝ a crashing wave or thundering tempest are nothing to a broken heart. ❞ ❝ think back on when you started all of this. you now know so much more. are capable of so much more. ❞ ❝ as ever, you think only of yourself. ❞ ❝ this is where you belong. you feel out of place? where would you even go? your place is here. ❞ ❝ your path is yours to shape as you see fit, regardless of the fates’ design. ❞ ❝ you’re no god! you’re nothing but a piece of trash, born into all of this. ❞ ❝ you seem to have me all figured out. and here i thought we were still getting to know each other. ❞ ❝ are there truly no depths to which you would not stoop? ❞ ❝ leave me be, and don’t think you’re going to be so lucky next time we meet out there. ❞ ❝ you have the tendency to ask too many questions. ❞ ❝ i smell the blood on you. you are severely wounded. ❞ ❝ don’t be messing with my feelings there. my trust is hard-won and quickly lost. ❞ ❝ if you wish to test the fine relationship we’ve built, why then, i can confirm you’re testing it, all right. ❞ ❝ don’t ever take me for some thoughtless nymph to be manipulated. ❞ ❝ don’t get on my father’s bad side like that and you’re going to be fine. ❞ ❝ how’s your endless toil treating you? ❞ ❝ i’d never trade my bow for all that pomp and armor. but, to each their own. ❞ ❝ let me see you now for what you truly are. ❞ ❝ was i deceived, in thinking this of you, of us? ❞ ❝ i get what i want around here. ❞ ❝ don’t you understand i’m trying to fix the problems you caused? ❞ ❝ the gods are on my side, not yours. ❞ ❝ don’t you dare look at me like that. ❞ ❝ life isn’t particularly fair. i’d have expected you to know as much. ❞ ❝ i’m leaving. try and stop me. ❞ ❝ you have no concept of which impulses to act upon, and which to keep in check. ❞ ❝ when i inevitably, inadvertently trample all over your feelings at some point, please tell me, all right? ❞ ❝ you don’t even know who i am. who i was. ❞ ❝ won’t you come back to me? when you are able, please. come back. i shall be waiting here, however long it takes. ❞ ❝ never met a god that bleeds like you. red. like a worthless mortal. ❞ ❝ i got to hanf it to you. you don’t back down. you don’t ever back down. ❞ ❝ i’ve a tip for you: don’t be slow! ❞ ❝ you can’t escape your problems. you have no choice but to confront them, and work through it, sooner or later, one way or another. ❞ ❝ i knew you had a more sinister trick at play, because your fighting style certainly is of no concern just on its own. ❞ ❝ i...feel awful. i...i have to go. ❞ ❝ once people set their minds to certain things, it can be difficult to show them other possibilites exist. ❞ ❝ there’s something that i’ve wished to tell you: there’s no shame in your upbringing. ❞ ❝ i have known too many far too proud to accept help, even when it was sorely needed. ❞ ❝ may you yet come to your senses. ❞ ❝ i have virtually done everything within my powers to prevent this. all of it...for nothing. ❞ ❝ you can’t be serious. you’re going to pretend as though it never happened? ❞ ❝ seems i’m left to thanking myself, since you’re too proud to do it. ❞ ❝ fight like i’d fight out there. ❞ ❝ what have i done to deserve such scorn? ❞ ❝ you left, without so much as telling me good-bye. ❞ ❝ you’ve such weak blood, and such a temperament... ❞ ❝ i am very, very sure i haven’t murdered anyone. ❞ ❝ i am truly blessed simply to have made your acquantince. ❞ ❝ you wish to take advantage of my pity? ❞ ❝ it comforts me to see how far you’ve come. ❞ ❝ i’ve always wanted to kill a god. you’ll have to do. ❞ ❝ you don’t have to give me something in return, it was a gift! ❞ ❝ you know i’d take you if i could. ❞ ❝ you shut your mouth right now, with that. ❞ ❝ it’s never been an easy time for me. ❞ ❝ why do you think i keep on showing up? ❞ ❝ who might you be, wandering all the way out here? you’re trespassing on private property, you know. ❞ ❝ i’d rather have you as a friiend than as a foe. ❞ ❝ really, you’re kicking me out? why? ❞ ❝ you’re funny, but you’ll break. they always do. ❞ ❝ you must think that i abandoned you. you think i had a choice?❞ ❝ you’re stuck with me forever. remember that. ❞ ❝ you know these heroes by their deeds, not by their character. ❞ ❝ some would question the destruction which you sow, but i shall never do so. i fully understand your impulses. ❞ ❝ you’re quite effective at locating me, but not so good at leaving me in peace. ❞ ❝ you don’t need me & i don’t need you. ❞ ❝ you lived through all that? ❞ ❝ my heart soars, knowing you live. then it breaks, that our time together was so brief. ❞ ❝ you’ve only me. and i have only you. ❞ ❝ sulk in your chambers all you like, for i care not. ❞ ❝ where did you go...? what did you do...? ❞ ❝ monster! you have no bearing, grace or courage! ❞ ❝ you’re beneath the notice of the gods. i have earned their favor. ❞ ❝ your youth provides you with a certain mindless strength. ❞ ❝ wait. i don’t think i owe you any favors, here. ❞ ❝ you appear to have grown stronger since when last we interacted. ❞ ❝ please...it was never my wish to hurt you. ❞ ❝ death is your only family. ❞ ❝ i too was born of darkness, but i chose the path of light. ❞ ❝ don’t know how come everybody doesn’t sing. lightens the mood, passes the time. what’s not to like? ❞ ❝ you come from the bowels of hell. this is not your place. ❞ ❝ heroes? mere mortals, same as all the rest. ❞ ❝ offend me, and i’ll drain the last traces of colour from your cheeks. ❞ ❝ punishment is not the path to rehabilitation. ❞ ❝ you’re nothing like your father. i mean that as a compliment. ❞ ❝ i just hope that their intentions are as pure as they appear. ❞ ❝ don’t be sad, pretty much everybody dies sometime. ❞ ❝ i’ve done some things that maybe aren’t great. ❞ ❝ actions beat intentions. ❞ ❝ look! i’m grinning ear to ear! ❞ ❝ my fits of anger come and go just like the tides. ❞ ❝ you know, i’d rather have my eyes put out, but thanks for offering! ❞    ❝ you will need to face your fears someday. ❞ ❝ true wisdom only comes with age. ❞ ❝ something has stirred within your heart. i can always tell. ❞ ❝ or...wait...what is this, did you just ask me out? ❞ ❝ i’m getting awful sick of seeing your smug face, time, after time, after time. ❞ ❝ your humility is matched only by your perseverance in the face of adversity. ❞ ❝ your stubborness shall only bring you pain. ❞ ❝ sometimes, our hearts become so full that they could burst. if only you could see how much i care. ❞ ❝ let’s see if you’re as skillful as you think. ❞ ❝ wait, you’re not serious. that famous sense of humor shining through. ❞ ❝ i’m surrounded by my family, but i always feel alone. ❞ ❝ i shall make myself quite clear in one respect: i fear i have a lack of patience for discussion. ❞ ❝ thought i might find you all the way out here. although, quite frankly, i’m surprised you’re still alive. ❞ ❝ absolute silence is my general preference. it may not be yours. ❞ ❝ i just like to see you menacingly smile. ❞ ❝ don’t tell anyone about this, understand? ❞ ❝ i told you i don’t need your help. ❞ ❝ you’re much too modest for someone with such a number of heroic deeds to their name. ❞ ❝ if anybody asks, we’re even. ❞ ❝ we had a lovely time getting to know each other. we laughed, we cried! ❞ ❝ what’s the matter, you gone soft or something? ❞ ❝ be sure to add those to the list of words you’ll eat someday. ❞ ❝ you know i’d do just about anything to aid you. ❞ ❝ you again. i told you to stay clear of me. ❞ ❝ in spite of all your efforts, it is probably the case that you still have a long and painful road ahead. ❞ ❝ you’ve always cared for me. i can’t ever repay you for that. ❞ ❝ i just thought i’d say, that was well fought back there. ❞ ❝ hush, it’s the god of trash, come once again to filthy up this place. ❞ ❝ changed your mind yet, or looking for more pain and suffering? ❞ ❝ maybe get some sleep or something? you look pretty beat. ❞ ❝ look, i’ve got a reputation to uphold. ❞ ❝ your father’s quite the big shot around here, but that means nothing to me, understand? ❞ ❝ you don’t have what it takes. nobody does. ❞ ❝ there’s no returning to the way things used to be. ❞ ❝ can i offer you some words of advice? get over yourself. ❞ ❝ fear is for the weak. ❞ ❝ you now what i like about you? the way you bleed. ❞ ❝ may all the death you bring become the stuff of legends told in fearful mortal whisperings around the world. ❞ ❝ i just happen to think you deserve better than you’ve got. ❞ ❝ no love without pain. ❞ ❝ failure is the greatest instructor of all. ❞ ❝ i think you feel like you have some sort of fearsome reputation to uphold. ❞ ❝ you know what? i think we’re finished here. ❞ ❝ i know you’re not in a good spot right now. ❞ ❝ what you’re attempting is impossible. ❞ ❝ i’m not your practice partner, fool. ❞ ❝ i know you don’t mean any harm, but it just isn’t something i discuss with anyone, ok? ❞ ❝ first you defy me openly, and now you lie. ❞ ❝ admit it. you can’t stop thinking about me. ❞ ❝ i’d like to be alone again, so you go on ahead. ❞ ❝ maybe this might numb the pain a bit. ❞ ❝ something’s troubled me a little, about you. ❞ ❝ your failure is quite easily imagined. how often it recurs! ❞ ❝ found this, thought of you and all that, so...here. ❞ ❝ how i love these unexpected little run-ins with you. ❞ ❝ what brings you back around this way again? ❞ ❝ now what’s the matter? it’s like you’ve been up feasting day and night, you’re barely standing, everything ok? ❞ ❝ first i found you, i was certain that you had no chance at all. ❞ ❝ if it wasn’t you proposing it, i’d like to call it madness. ❞ ❝ i'll sleep when i’m dead. ❞ ❝ thank you for not forgetting about me. ❞ ❝ you must see plainly, then, what your birthright amounts to: you’re no better off than any of us here. ❞ ❝ i’ll do my best. for both our sakes. ❞ ❝ the world is not all lies and deceit as you make it out to be. ❞ ❝ you fight so desperately. at first i thought you simply lacked in patience. but now i see it’s urgency that drives you. ❞ ❝ you don’t know who or what you’re dealing with. ❞ ❝ who are you to judge, you misbegotten, shameful, unfilial maggot? ❞ ❝ you’re getting real predictable, you know. ❞ ❝ no one can avoid taking sides forever. but you can take the more sensible side, at least. ❞ ❝ ahh, so you are taking pity on me, then? ❞ ❝ thank you for making me feel welcome in your pleasant home. can’t say the same for most places i’ve been lately. ❞   ❝ i would very much prefer to think we both know better than to let old grudges stew forever. ❞ ❝ nothing is ever perfect, right? no matter how hard you try. ❞ ❝ while i know what you meant, i don’t want you to say such things again. ❞ ❝ look at you, you’re hurt there pretty bad. ❞     ❝ i can’t be completely sure but, what you said just now i think contained some of the component pieces of a compliment? ❞ ❝ don’t fall for mortals. use them if you must, but do not waste your love on those who waste away. ❞ ❝ you’re stubborn. however, so am i. ❞ ❝ you think me cruel, yet know nothing of cruelty. ❞ ❝ you just stick with me, i’ve always time for you. ❞ ❝ you look a little down and so i was just wondering, would you perchance fancy a song right now? ❞ ❝ i get the feeling we’re starting off on the wrong foot. ❞ ❝ a harsh winter is coming for you. and i’m afraid you’ve brought it on yourself. ❞ ❝ i was unkind last time. forgive my indiscretions there...or don’t. but i wished to apologize. ❞ ❝ don’t suppose i can talk you into fighting back this time? ❞ ❝ go occupy yourself someplace else. ❞ ❝ don’t feel bad! it had to happen! but if it’s any consolation, it’ll probably happen again! ❞ ❝ you’re running from yourself. ❞ ❝ wine does have a rather special way of making everybody look even more beautiful than ever. ❞ ❝ i am not interested in having company, especially from you. ❞ ❝ my faith is prone to shakiness sometimes. ❞ ❝ you’re not your father, thank the gods. ❞ ❝ i’d ask you to join me for a drink, but i know you’ve a task ahead of you, and liquor dulls the senses. ❞ ❝ you’re more stubborn than your father. i never thought that such a thing was possible. ❞ ❝ remember, next time, that on my whim i can take everything from you. ❞ ❝ haven’t we had more than enough of each other by now? ❞ ❝ i get the feeling i’m being watched. ❞ ❝ you’ve berated me repeatedly and often. ❞ ❝ you ever lose somebody dear to you? ❞ ❝ as you grow long in years, perhaps you shall learn better judgement as to whom to trust, and whom to never, ever disrespect. ❞ ❝ sometimes things weigh heavily on me, but then i hear from you, and it’s like i don’t have a care in the world. ❞ ❝ stay focused on the hunt, and it’ll help keep the pain at bay. ❞ ❝ you are just so spontaneous, and i’ve a liking for that sort of thing! ❞ ❝ no one gets out of here, whether dead or alive. ❞ ❝ what is it that you’re after, really...? ❞ ❝ don’t take my silence the wrong way, all right? ❞ ❝ that’s terrible...wish there was something i could do to help. ❞ ❝ your unpredictability is one of your assets. ❞ ❝ do not throw away your life as i did mine. ❞ ❝ you do not take all your defeats to heart, do you? that’s good. ❞ ❝ the fates can twist intentions. i don’t want to take the risk. ❞ ❝ sometimes you make me feel alive again. ❞ ❝ why...i was much stronger once, than this... ❞ ❝ sometimes i wish i knew more about your past. ❞ ❝ you shall not goad me into anger with a petty insult such as that. ❞ ❝ we’ve been through a lot, and i think we’ll be going through a lot more yet. ❞ ❝ feelings we shared...they faded, with time. ❞ ❝ learn well to shut that foolish mouth of yours, or i shall shut it for you. ❞ ❝ i knew so many warriors who would throw away their lives for glory, believing that the gods were on their side; refusing to consider that their opponents felt the very same. ❞ ❝ you didn’t need to vent all that inner turmoil onto me throughout my life. ❞ ❝ swear to me that you shall never repeat what you are about to hear. swear it! ❞ ❝ sometimes i wonder what’s going through your head. ❞ ❝ i can do this. i can do this. i can do this. ❞ ❝ i heard you got yourself into another mess that needed cleaning up. ❞ ❝ you have a good heart. keep listening to it. ❞ ❝ you picked sides, and things are not the same. ❞ ❝ all the terrible choices i’ve made. by the time you have existed for as long as i have, pray youo will have made fewer. ❞ ❝ i must admit i have grown fond of you. ❞ ❝ please open your mind to the fact that there are those who care about your wellbeing. ❞ ❝ i know you mean well. from the bottom of my heart, i thank you truly for the thought. ❞ ❝ how can somebody be so brash yet hate to take unnecessary risks? ❞ ❝ i know we can’t exactly change the past, but we can try to move forward. ❞ ❝ you didn’t answer my question. though, you know something? forget i asked. ❞ ❝ just checking in on you, but i’ll be on my way again shortly. ❞ ❝ you would speak to me of foolish mistakes? ❞ ❝ do not question my power. ❞ ❝ there is no point in doing it but pride. and pride is dangerous. ❞ ❝ i must admit, your strength of will is quite inspiring. ❞ ❝ i don’t hate you. i don’t think i can ever hate you. ❞ ❝ i've decided not to kill you. no sport in cornered prey. ❞ ❝ i never thought i’d hear you talking about looking forward to working. you feeling alright? ❞ ❝ it has been far too long. although, the passing of the time was very kind. ❞ ❝ i have been thinking on this for some time, and i’ve a declaration i must make: i shall hear no more of your silver-tongued lies. ❞ ❝ oh good, somebody’s here to save me from myself. ❞ ❝ i wonder how much more insulting you could be. ❞ ❝ may i have this dance for old time’s sake? ❞ ❝ no matter how far you run, it doesn’t make your problems go away. ❞ ❝ i ever tell you you’re a real sweetheart? because, if not, i’m telling you right now. ❞ ❝ oh don’t worry, i’ll be back in fighting shape in no time. ❞ ❝ it’s not that i’m upset or anything. you know i’m not, but truthfully i’m a bit annoyed. ❞ ❝ you’ve got quite the fighting spirit in there, i have to say. ❞ ❝ ...answer me something. what am i to you, exactly, as of late? ❞ ❝ if you’ve not anger enough for it yet, you’ll learn, i promise you. ❞ ❝ i shall bring desolation upon those who wrong you. ❞ ❝ you know nothing of tempers if mine is your frame of reference. ❞ ❝ let me save you lots of future suffering: i happen to be the jealous type. ❞ ❝ i was really hoping we could change the subject. please? ❞ ❝ finally you cleared the mess you caused. ❞ ❝ i never grew accustomed to the air, up here. it gusts senselessly whichever way it pleases. ❞ ❝ i need your help with something. as i’m about to risk it all. ❞ ❝ love tends to blossom in the strangest places at the strangest times. ❞ ❝ normally they grovel, then they scream. they shut up eventually, but not you. at least, not yet. ❞ ❝ you know, you ain’t near as bad as i’d heard! ❞ ❝ so now you know. but, only half the truth. ❞ ❝ you are and always will be an insufferable brat. ❞ ❝ they say both gods and mortals are notoriously poor at estimating how long it takes to get anything done. ❞ ❝ flattery never got me anywhere with you to begin with. doesn’t mean i won’t keep trying. ❞ ❝ i’m warning you, i’m not susceptible to bribes. many have tried. ❞ ❝ by my estimation, you have slain at least a thousand souls. ❞ ❝ everyone’s saying i went easy on you. ❞ ❝ no, on quite the contrary i’ve been under no impression that avoiding conflict is an option here. ❞ ❝ you really won’t tell me anything about you? you’re just going to leave me to speculate, forever? ❞ ❝ fears, i think, are born of ignorance. ❞ ❝ i don’t exactly know the ways of mortals. ❞ ❝ it’s not just you swept up in all this nonsense now. you didn’t ask for me to get involved but what did you expect? ❞ ❝ if only i had wisdom such as yours, so that i was more capable of picking up on subtle jabs and insults such as that. ❞ ❝ did i detect some hesitance on your part just then? perhaps you knew that you were making a mistake. ❞ ❝ i need you in my life! how can you just...turn me away like this? ❞ ❝ no. no mournful speeches. now get out of my way. ❞ ❝ you needn’t lavish me with your faint praise. ❞ ❝ our memories are warnings. when you have lived as long as i have, you come to understand your weaknesses. ❞ ❝ you speak none of this, to anyone! ❞ ❝ it seems to me your strength outweighs your smarts ❞ ❝ you’re really too much for me sometimes, you know that? ❞ ❝ you speak as one who’s not experienced war. ❞      ❝ you’re looking kind of down. normally you’re all smiles, for whatever reason. ❞ ❝ your heart shall never carry you astray. ❞ ❝ it almost sounds as though you’ve broken up with me. ❞ ❝ come now, i don’t think that’s anything to be concerned about. ❞ ❝ where did you steal that kingly blade you’re brandishing about? it seems ill-fitting for one such as you. ❞ ❝ you overstep your bounds with me. but i shall make you fall right back in line. ❞ ❝ if there’s one thing i’ve learned since we met, it’s that the trust we share is at the very foundation of our relationships. ❞ ❝ it is woefully infrequent that i’ve cause for this, but i do have to thank you. ❞ ❝ so you’re realizing now that your entire image of me came from your imagination, is that it? ❞ ❝ sorry, my lips are sealed. how about we change the subject? ❞ ❝ you mistook me for someone who blindly follows orders without considering the implications. ❞ ❝ you, in a healthy relationship? why yes, that i have to see. ❞ ❝ you won’t tell me anything about you? you’re just going to leave me to speculate, forever? ❞ ❝ oh, would you look at whom i found, all by their lonely self. ❞ ❝ sometimes our tempers get the best of all of us. you’re fortunate mine didn’t get the best of you back there. ❞ ❝ you really need to learn to stop meddling in others’ affairs. ❞ ❝ was just thinking about you. ❞ ❝ the mortal concept of what constitutes as a hero is absurd. ❞ ❝ i may not be the one to kill you. but i’ll soften you up for whoever does. ❞ ❝ i have been waiting for a special moment to confess my great appreciation for your deeds. this moment’s special enough, isn’t it? ❞ ❝ all mortal life is fragile; it simply is a struggle to survive. ❞ ❝ it wasn’t any of my business to pry into your personal life. i should have asked. ❞ ❝ what do you say we deal some death together? ❞ ❝ the more you step away from your responsibilites, the less you shall want anything to do with them. ❞ ❝ what we were once, i wonder if it’s but a falsely ringing memory of mine... ❞ ❝ in all your boundless intellect, i’d have expected you would know i see through your intentions, plan as day. ❞ ❝ ii shall not lie to you again. that much, i swear. ❞ ❝ oh, i don’t have the heart to keep exacting vengeance on you. ❞ ❝ privileges are earned, not begged for. ❞ ❝ i thought we had an understanding. but, this wouldn’t be the first time i was wrong about someone. ❞ ❝ i have every confidence you’ll someday clamber from the shadows into the light. ❞ ❝ no paradise awaits you. ❞ ❝ did you miss me? i thought i’d steal away a bit and that together we might make up for lost time. ❞ ❝ when blood is spilled and death is dealt, i simply cannot remain discontented for too long. ❞ ❝ unlike my present company, i do not ask too many questions. ❞ ❝ what’s life without a little pain. ❞ ❝ i would do anything that you would ask of me. ❞ ❝ such a waste, all for your foolish pride, that you should care more to be remembered by those you shall never know than to be loved... ❞ ❝ look, if you don’t feel the same way about me at this point, i would rather know. ❞ ❝ you chose to die in glory, not to live in peace...and all for what? ❞ ❝ what’s the matter there? gone awful quiet. did i hurt your feelings? ❞ ❝ please, if not for your sake, then for mine...do not return. ❞ ❝ you blame your ancestors for your own weakness? ❞ ❝ i still grow frustrated with myself quite often and don’t always know whom to turn to. ❞ ❝ i’ll just remain here, comfortably at rest, for some untold millenia. ❞ ❝ the world has a limitless capacity for pain. ❞ ❝ well, if you do require some emotional support, know that i likely shall be standing over here. ❞ ❝ you’re not fooling anybody with your feigned benevolence, you know. ❞ ❝ i'm just an old killer, yet you treat me like i’m the one who’s royalty around here. ❞ ❝ life and death are inextricable, and war is often what connects the two. ❞ ❝ someday or night you shall look back on this, and thank me. ❞ ❝ i can no longer tolerate my life here in this place. ❞ ❝ they said you were headed this way. i said i’d stop you. ❞ ❝ if you were being too pushy, you better believe i would have put you back in your place, royalty or not. ❞ ❝ i am leaving, even if it kills me. ❞ ❝ hey, can’t ever be too careful when it comes to people’s past and feelings and stuff, right? ❞ ❝ should you ever go to war...do look me up. i imagine i would take your side. ❞ ❝ have you given any thought to just...leaving me alone, and going back to wherever it is you came from? ❞ ❝ and here i was beginning to think we had something special going. ❞ ❝ i’m worried you’re going to burn yourself out if you keep pushing yourself past your limits. ❞ ❝ whoever it was you used to be, i believe you’ve changed. ❞ ❝ i’m no mere mortal. ❞ ❝ i suppose this must be what it’s like to be a god. being shown affection such as this. ❞ ❝ admittedly i was quite good at it, but i was nothing other than a killer. ❞ ❝ no need to get emotional, is there? i’m not the sentimental type. ❞ ❝ all that pent-up rage behind your smiling words... ❞ ❝ don’t ever fall for mortals. use them if you must, but do not waste your love on those who waste away. ❞ ❝ i was never terribly fearful of gods. they seem to have their struggles much like mortals do. ❞ ❝ i would ask you to think of your well-being for the time, not mine. ❞ ❝ must say you’re very good at hiding your worries. ❞  ❝ anger fades. anger burns hot, then burns out. what’s left is a dull ache. ❞ ❝ you have much to be proud of. you’re a great warrior. a great instructor. a great friend. ❞ ❝ you must know the seven types of love by now, don’t you? why, i have several types of love for you! ❞ ❝ sometimes i fear i shall develop some sort of grudging respect for you. ❞   ❝ as you grow long in years, you gain more burdens and responsibilities, until they bind you. ❞ ❝ you’re being very nice to me, and that makes me suspicious, understand? ❞ ❝ you like me? i never thought, i...don’t know why that sounds so strange, coming from you. ❞ ❝ just know that...if you feel the way i do...you know where to find me. ❞ ❝ i still have feelings for you, i think. ❞ ❝ you’re a god. i’m telling you to learn to act like one. ❞ ❝ we were invincible together, weren’t we? though, i have never missed those days... ❞ ❝ i like being on my own and all, but it’s been nice, talking to you like this. ❞ ❝ you’ve done more for me than i’ve any right to expect, from anyone. ❞ ❝ the heart can make us do the strangest things, can’t it? ❞ ❝ i would never have been remotely prepared for everything i’ve had to face, if not for all your guidance. and i don’t just mean the violent stuff. ❞ ❝ you’re not so bad, you know that? careful with that, or you’ll undermine the ruthless reputation you have. ❞ ❝ well, for all his failings, i’m thankful that he did not teach you how to hate. ❞ ❝ i don’t know that i hate anybody, really. ❞ ❝ why am i never proud of you? don’t take it personally. i’m never proud of anything. ❞ ❝ there are a myriad of tales to be told, of both great deeds and of vainglorious defeats, and this has been a tale that falls somewhere in the middle. ❞ ❝ why your path keeps on crossing mine, i’ve not the slightest clue. ❞ ❝ there is no replacing your presence. i felt that before we ever met, and now i know for sure. ❞ ❝ mortals are so bent on clinging to their lives, that many among them would gladly kill for it. ❞ ❝ listen to me. i don’t know how else to put this, but, i want you to come home. ❞ ❝ i think we understand something of loss, now, don’t we? ❞ ❝ hey, look, i can tell you’re struggling right now... ❞ ❝ you must know i often hunger for destruction, almost uncontrollably at that. ❞ ❝ you still have no idea how to be up front with me, do you. why don’t you tell me why you’re here, and what you want. ❞ ❝ the destruction you have sown, the sheer carnage...nothing can surpass that. ❞ ❝ i do not think i ever would have asked for help, at any point, because...i don’t entirely know how. ❞ ❝ but hope alone is worthless without action, is it not? ❞ ❝ as bloodshed has become somewhat of a necessity in my situation, i am very grateful that you’re with me in this. ❞ ❝ many mortals strive for greatness all their lives, never quite realizing there is no existing formula for it. not even a specific definition for it. ❞     ❝ there are aspects of my country that i miss, from time to time. the stark, bright beauty of that strange, wondrous land. ❞     ❝ pride is perhaps our family’s worst trait. ❞ ❝ i think for many of us, it can come as a surprise to learn that love and war often go hand in hand. ❞ ❝ you don’t have what it takes. ❞ ❝ had a feeling i would find you all alone out here. ❞ ❝ quit messing with my heart. ❞ ❝ swear something to me. that you’ll discard your fears about our bond. ❞ ❝ each time we fight...i think i learn a little more. ❞ ❝ you’re nothing to me anymore. ❞ ❝ say, you must know a lot of big shots, don’t you? other gods and all that? ❞ ❝ i trust, from time to time, you stop to ask yourself how come you choose to fight. ❞ ❝ you cannot change the course that has been set. try all you like. ❞      ❝ we don’t all share the same demeanor, nor see eye to eye. though all of us, i think, wish you the best. ❞ ❝ i’ve known great men throughout my life, and i can always tell when someone’s better than their circumstances. ❞ ❝ i am quite capable of making your life plenty difficult. ❞ ❝ i bet whoever it is that loves you...it’s because of who you are. ❞ ❝ i lay the blame entirely upon you, yes. who else? ❞ ❝ i think, deep down, you are not the heartless harbinger of retribution that you want everyone to think you are. ❞     ❝ in my domain, you either find your place, or you learn your place. ❞ ❝ you have no idea how good you’ve had it here. maybe someday you’ll come to understand. ❞ ❝ do not mess with me right now. ❞

[intangibly-here]

if I'm let go now (i’ll just fade to blue)

xiao x gn!reader

⁃ scenario; 1.7k words ⁃ forest child!reader ⁃ angst ⁃ hurt no comfort

————————————————————

he holds your heart (warm red, steadily beating) in his palms without even knowing.

title from chevy - floating.

————————————————————

your first memory is one of a forest.

the emerald green canopy of draping leaves, the mossy trails dotted with mushrooms. the singing of birds, small sparrows and rounded bluejays, filling the skies. the dry bark pressed against your back, but a small form nestled in the hollow of a tree stump.

you are a child of the forest.

and as a child of the forest, one without origin, one without mortal ties, one that only knows itself and it’s own longing - you know deep inside your soul there is only one thing you’re looking for.

what that thing is, you’re unsure of;

nonetheless,

you must look for it.

and so you pick yourself up and travel.

-

distantly, you know you’ve lived these lives over and over again.

the very first one was as a sand-built traveler of the desert, born encircled by a patch of cacti. in that life, you had searched for an oasis, a single child by your side.

the child spoke of a land where plumes of magic spiraled through the lands, where islands remained suspended in time, hovering over grounds unchanging.

you smiled and patted the child on the head.

upon arriving at the oasis and returning the child to their family, you felt a tug. the tug was not one of great strength and painful efforts, but one of a  gravitational force that exceeded physical abilities of all kinds.

you followed it, retracing your steps back to the ring of cacti.

where everything begins, everything similarly ends.

you crumble and dissolve into golden pools of sand.

-

of the endless trail of lives you’ve lived, most have become inescapably forgotten, merged into a blur that made them indistinguishable from one another.

the most memorable would be the one you’d lived last, as a wisp of a spirit clinging to the shoulder of an ethereal woman.

though in the midst of war, she remained a gentle, kind, innovative soul, always seeking to change for the better.

she was stunning.

and as you watched her live her life out, eventually (inevitably) returning once more to the field of glaze lilies, lain on the flowering plants to drift away, you wondered.

wondered how immortal beings could care so much about loss, when endings were only the relieving path of entering the cycle of reincarnation. the path to wipe clean the slate of life and start anew.

staring at the regal man kneeling by the goddess’ side, silent tears running down his face, you disappear with the wind.

-

as you travel, you slowly realize the world you’ve manifested in is not one of roaring vehicles nor bustling machinery like several before, but of the last one you’d visited, the one of the goddess and the heartbroken man.

you make your way back to the same land, where once stood a ruined fortress now stands a flourishing city. you can see how stalls line the sidewalks, even from where you stand on the cliffs of the outskirts, paved pathing making for a guide towards the entrance of the harbor.

as you’re thinking about how far this city has grown since you last walked the land, you catch sight of a quick-footed figure, alert and patrolling the vast land that is liyue.

this is who you’ve been looking for.

-

at first, it was just an obligatory interest. one that is duty-bound, directed by a play-writer hidden behind the boundaries of the world and tied together by the strings of fate.

then, as the weeks, months, and then years go by, you find yourself watching the little things he does, inadvertently noticing things you wouldn’t have realized without paying even closer attention.

the way that he protects the city both day and night, even when there are hundreds of other adventurers like yourself (a side job you’d picked up where you’d complete commissions whenever you were free) to do that.

the way he lets his short hair flow loose and untamed, the mark on his forehead only drawing out the elegance he exudes.

the way he’s quiet, caring even in the silence when he still suffers. the hope that you can ease his pain, even if only for a moment, with a comfortable silence.

it all makes your mind spiral out of control, your emotions coming undone from the container you had them sealed in.

you wonder what it is.

(you might have an inkling of the answer already.)

-

“today’s your birthday?”

you turn around, brightening slightly at the sight of the adeptus. you could get lost in the mirrors of his eyes if he would let you.

maybe he would let you.

“..something like that.”

you’d only revealed it last year when mrs. goldet had asked. it’s been a few years since you’ve made your way to this inn when you think about it.

he shifts where he stands for a moment, maybe a little nervously, and then presents you with a neatly wrapped gift box. he must’ve taken time with it.

“may i open it?”

he gives you a brief, confirming nod of his head.

when you undo the ribbon and carefully open the lid of the small box, you come to see a finely weaved butterfly of leaves.

you lift your gaze from the tiny creation, and xiao immediately looks to the side.

“take it. it’s an adepti amulet- staves off evil.”

you look at the reddened tips of his ears and the defensive scowl on his face and file it into the archive of your memories.

“thank you, xiao.”

-

“please hand this to xiao.”

you look at the packet the geo archon (zhongli, you learn he’s called) presses into your palms with utmost sincerity.

“it’s... to relieve his pain.”

your eyes soften unconsciously, and you dip your head in silent agreement. now, to look for him.

-

ah, so this is where he was.

your heart aches, the feeling of an overwhelming, all-consuming urge to cry rising up in you.

the wind picks up, tree leaves swaying in the breeze, following the movements of the two figures residing in the hollow of the forest.

a safe place for just the two of them.

you are intruding.

the longer you stand, watching, staring, unable to look away no matter how desperately you wish to, the more your chest throbs, the bone-deep ache of wanting to disappear spreading throughout your body.

the sound of a flute, clear and sweet, floats through the air, slim fingers smoothing over the sides and playing with skill you could never imitate.

the figure you’ve been looking for, upright and powerful and all that you have ever seen (all that he has ever allowed you to see), is relaxed for once. you can see it in the way his shoulders slump, the way his spear is left untouched, rested upright against the trunk of a tree at the edges of the clearing.

you do not belong here.

then, to the sound of the flute, xiao begins to dance. the field of flowers blooms with his gentle, languid movements, petals surrounding him as he flows around the serene space.

it is exactly as he’d described to you once before, that his sweet dream would be to dance in a field of flowers to the sound of a flute.

his dream has become a beautiful reality.

you cannot dream that it would be you he dances with anymore.

as he spins around, a stunning dance that displays his years of experience with agile movement, he turns, takes off his mask, and smiles, the genuine kind that is both awkward due to disuse and tooth-rottingly sweet at the same time. a full blush covers his face warmly.

you should’ve realized long ago whose flute he was imagining.

you blink once, twice, and the tears start to fall, ones you never thought you would cry.

if you could, you would offer your entire being up to him, your heart, these thoughts, these new feelings, on a platter for him to keep, stored away from where anyone could ever reach them. it is not theirs’ to see, only his. it would never be anyone else’s, only his.

(he does not need them, not your heart, nor the medicine.)

the pain in your chest doubles over.

(he does not want them - except it’s only your heart he does not want.)

you understand now what morax had understood hundreds of years ago, where you as an immortal spirit did not.

(he does not want you.)

your gaze tilts upwards from where you stand in the shadows of the greenery, watching the picturesque scene in front of you unfold.

you are a child of the forest, but for once, this forest is not for you.

-

the moment you walk back to the inn, you feel the otherworldly tug.

how convenient.

(oh. you love him.)

it’s to be expected. your time here is up.

you smile at the owner, and maybe she sees something in your eyes because when you hand her the packet (“give this to xiao when he returns, please.”), she nods and says nothing.

(love, love.)

and so you return to your forest, steady footsteps over hills and plains and lakes and rivers. the blue of the sky melts to orange-reds, then to navy-blacks, then back to orange-reds once more, and the cycle repeats over and over and over again.

(lovelovelovelove-)

the moss greets you first, shifting under your feet in semblance of the way his eyes would whenever you met his gaze.

then, it’s the birds, singing slow melodies you know he loves, their clear song a reminder of how he would hum familiar tunes.

finally, it’s the trees, their leaves falling and submerging you softly, like how you would to him with blankets when he fell asleep out on the balcony, tired from the weariness of an immortal life.

you too, are now tired.

for one last time, you sob your heart out, sitting on the forest floor with nothing around you but the animals and plants.

what do you cry for? the birth of these painful feelings? the lack of reciprocation?

(you’re unsure.)

(maybe it is for your unimportant existence.)

you blink your eyes closed for the final time, and your body falls to the ground with a thump.

the butterfly of leaves drifts out of your clutches and fades with a desolate glow.

where everything begins, everything similarly ends.

(may you stay asleep for eternity so you don’t have to remember.)

you disappear.

[blind-alchemists]

Meta-Analysis of the Rift Mage Specialization

I said in February I was going to do it, and it only took me seven months to follow through!

Anyway. Analyzing game-play elements for narratives purposes has become somewhat of a hobby of mine ever since I really got into GameLit. Then, I started "fangs" and felt that my fight scenes were boring, so I build ability trees reminiscent of DA:I's for my OCs. You know, as you do. During that process, though, the lack of banter acknowledging several choices struck me as odd. Especially regarding specializations. Especially when it comes to Solas'.

We’ll be taking a look at (in order)

1. Description

2. Codex Entry

3. Skills

a. in comparison to DA: II’s Primal & Force Mage

4. Specialization Dialogue with Solas

5. Conclusion

Disclaimer: I talk a lot (this post might have about 2.5k). And, I promise you, you'll be tired of seeing 'the Fade this' and 'the Veil that' at the end of it.

Description

“These mages draw upon the force of the Fade, either pulling matter from the Fade to attack or twisting the Veil itself into a weapon to stagger or crush their enemies.”

[source – DA wiki; bolding mine]

So, lore-wise, mages do ‘draw upon the Fade’. Sure. But do they ‘pull matter from the Fade’? Absolutely not.

Physical things and the Fade rarely mix well. Plus – this is mainly my theory – the way magic is utilized (the 'drawing upon the Fade part') requires it to pass through the Veil. Magic being a form of energy, and thus not physical, does not constitute to ‘pulling matter from the Fade’.

That's the first thing other mages (read: Dorian, Vivienne, possible the Inquisitor) should (or could) have referenced in banter/dialogue.

The rest of the sentence ('twisting the Veil into a weapon') is also highly interesting, since there is little known about the Veil. Nobody knows how it works. And, thus, nobody should be capable enough to manipulate it consistently enough to use it as a weapon. But considering it's Solas who gets this specialization - well. He knows the Veil well enough, don't you think? (Which is why I think Rift Mage should have been Solas' personal, individual specialization like Fenris' Lyrium Ghost, but I just really like personalized skill trees in general.)

However, having answered that question, connecting magic so closely to the very thing can be described as a “magical vibration that repels the Fade”, I'm curious about how it would work. Since, you know, mages are inevitably tied to the Fade. Wouldn't the Veil repel a try to manipulate it by a mage? Is using mana the same thing as drawing energy from the Fade? If so, it would be straight-up impossible to actually use such a method for any ordinary mage (read: not Solas). If mana can be used without the Fade, it would be possible, but is such a thing feasible? Can you switch between spells and Veil quickly enough without horrific consequences such as possibly tearing yourself apart?

Very interesting topic. Would love to go into it more, but at that point, I'd become subjective, so let's end it here.

To summarize: Rift mages do things (physically pulling things from the Fade plus using the Veil) normal mages don't do. There is also a chance, logically speaking, that no one else but Solas (or mage!Inquisitor) can accomplish such a feat without dying a horrific death.

Codex Entry

From "Power Bleeds: Harness the Flow." Your Trainer's words make one passage stand out:

There are no tomes dedicated to this manipulation. There has been no time for academics, only the practical—and not in a manner that mitigates risk. Power in a raw form has found an outlet, both visible and in ways that only we of arcane proclivity can sense. The risk is great.

An account:

From this page forward, these are the notes of Thelric. They began as the work of my mentor Julion, and I will continue in the research she began, as she cannot, because she is dead. The rift we were examining did not react well to her last investigation. We believed ourselves prepared for demonic manifestation. We were not prepared for how the energies we expected would be encountered. Well-versed in the forces that magic can produce, my senior was surprised by an alteration, a deviance. That which previously had to be coaxed is now a flood that must be staunched. The same amount in different intensity, quick to expose fault in the way it is accessed. She drew too much, expecting resistance. There was none, and her form suffered the brunt. Tread carefully in studies of new matters, for I cannot unsee the end of her.

Scattered symbols and sketches follow.

[source – DA wiki; bolding mine]

Apparently DA:I has a thing for hiding the true horror in Codex Entries and off-hand comments.

Here, we learn one key fact: The school of Rift Magic is relatively new ('no tomes dedicated to this manipulation'). I think it's safe to assume the possibility - and thus research concerning it - emerged around the time the Breach appeared. So it's new, people have no idea what they're doing, but it somehow works. A little like the whole time magic thing, funnily. (That brings me back to a lot of questions I have about the Veil: Just how powerful is it? Just how deeply is it intervened with Thedas?)

Reading further, the entry seems to (only) stress how dangerous Rift Magic is. Who would have thought! No, really, it's a fair point to empaphize. I'm not certain the Trainer and his previous teacher (or anyone else but Solas) know what kind of role the Veil plays in this, and so of course experiments are going to get ugly. The Veil holds a much greater importance than the people of Thedas realize.

And, in a very similar vein: The people of Thedas don't know much about directly interacting with the Fade through, say, a rift, which poses another risk. The wiki entry establishes two things in particular that are relevant here: Using spells (in the Fade itself) has unpredictable results, and one can draw unprecedented power from it while sleeping.

The codex entry cited above proves that. A rift is a direct connection to the Fade, and thus unpredictable ('She drew too much, expecting resistance. There was none') and that power is too much to handle ('her form suffered the brunt').

My theory is that, while a certain flunction is natural to the Fade, the Veil also plays a role here. Which I'm not sure. But it has one.

Personally, I wouldn't be sure the risks of a horrific death outweigh the benefits of power, but let's look more in depth at that!

Skills

Which brings me to the abilities themselves.

The first two you can choose from are Veilstrike and Stonefist. (Which I think should have had their names changed but, oh, well.)

Veilstrike: “You recreate your own fist from the essence of the Fade and smash nearby foes to the ground.” (Upgrades being Punched Down and Wounded Veil, but they don’t have anything interesting for this analysis. Note the names, though.)

Curious here is the 'recreate [...] from the essence of the Fade' part here. On first glance, it sounds like a rather ordinary spell, right? But it's not. That's just the 'hiding in plain sight for the first playthrough' aspect of Solas' character.

Mages do shape their spells with energy from the Fade (as far as my assumptions go). Maybe they can also recreate something. I'll give them that much. But the essence of the Fade - the inherit, unchanging nature of it - can't be manipulated by them. I think that's specifically a trait only Dreamers can have. (More evidence for my 'Rift Mage should have been Solas' personalized, individual specialization' hc!)

There is an argument to be made if this already constitutes for 'pulling matter from the Fade', but this isn't even the funkiest part yet.

Stonefist: “You summon a boulder from the Fade and smash it into your target, sending them flying.” (Upgrades being Shatterstone and Unblockable Force.)

'Summon a boulder from the Fade', you know, as in, bring physical matter from the Fade to the other side of the Veil. A thing that is pretty much unheard of. Remembers what happens to spirits when they pass violently through the Veil? There is an entire game dealing with that. (I mean, stones won't hopefully turn into demons, but my point is that bringing things through, usually, is not a wise idea.

Another thing someone could have commented on.

Passives: Restorative Veil, Encircling Veil, Smothering Veil, Twisting Veil.

Unfortunately, neither of these descriptions give me much, but they all have the ‘Veil’ component in their name, so that’s interesting.

Upon closer inspection, the Veil can function in a variety of ways: speeding up mana recovery, further weakening enemies, boosting your own damage. (Veilstrike being an example of a means of attack.)

Now, my question here would be: Do over mages notice changes in the Veil? Do they feel it shift and bend? If not, well, that's one thing. if they do, even subconsciously, I'd want banter. (I want a lot of banter, though. Just generally speaking.)

Pull of the Abyss: “You create a tiny rift that pulls enemies toward a central point.” (Upgrades being Shaken Veil and Devouring Veil.)

I can live with never hearing anything about everything else. Sure. But this one? This damned skill? You're telling me I read that the first time I played the game, nodded, and that was it?

'You can create a tiny rift-' I'm sorry, do you what now? After a good a couple of hours of learning just how bad rifts are?

And the upgrade names. Shaken Veil, Devouring Veil - is there anything this thing can't do, except for becoming more and more horrifying and giving me bad vibes ofr whatever DA4 will do with it?

Firestorm: “You summon flaming meteors, raining fire down upon enemies all over the area for the next several seconds. This ability consumes and is powered by focus.”

This one is ... honestly, I don't like it being here. It's an AOE skill, which does fit in with the rest, but it's fire and it seems rather randomly assigned compared to other focus abilities with a more personal note (Haste, Rampagne, Cloak of Shadows, Mark of the Rift).

Doesn't give a lot here to analyze, except that raining down flaming meteors is the level of (global) destruction I can see happening in the future if Solas isn't stopped. So. That's fun.

(It's the ultimate skill in the Fire/Ice tree in DA:II, or at least the ability there has the same name.)

DA: II Comparison

Nearing the end, I'll take a brief look at the Force Mage specialization from DA:II and the Primal base skill tree for mages. Both have some interesting similarities.

First, Primal.

Stonefist: “The mage hurls a stone projectile that strikes with massive force.”

It's only the name and the effect, honestly, but it is curious to see it in a skill tree that focuses exclusively on the elements earth and lightning. (Because Pride demons also use electricity ... yeah, yeah. I'm reading too much into this.)

Petrify: “The mage entombs an enemy in stone, leaving the foe temporarily unable to move. However, the target becomes more resistant to damage for the duration of the spell.”

This has nothing to do with Rift Mage, but in light of Trespasser, I'll just leave it here for your consideration. Petrifying people is neither new nor exclusive to Evanruis.

Now, onto Force Mage.

Fist of the Maker: “The mage slams enemies into the ground with incredible power, against which armor is no protection.”

The effect sounds like Stonefist (Primal) and Veilstrike.

Pull of the Abyss: “The mage conjures a maelstrom of energy that draws enemies to its center while slowing them to a crawl.”

This one is similar to the Rift Mage skill with the same name, so it might have served as an inspiration (or base).

Overall, though: nothing much to say here. Maybe I could talk more about Rift Mage being focused on crowd control, but that is probably for game-play balance. I could connect that to Solas' character and analyze every little thing to death. I'm not doing it, though.

Specialization Dialogue

Solas: You have begun practicing new magical forms. Interesting. You seem to be drawing upon the raw substance of the Fade, likely using your mark as a catalyst. I use similar techniques, although it took me years to learn that. Why did you choose such an esoteric area of study?

Inquisitor: (if chosen) I hoped that studying such magic would me help better understand the Fade.

Solas: While our fight affords little time for formal study, the wise can better themselves even in the midst of battle. Perhaps especially then. I hope your new studies serve you well.

[source]

Let’s go through this slowly.

‘You seem to be drawing upon the raw substance of the Fade-’ Alright, we’ve talked about that. Makes sense he’d comment on it. ‘likely using your mark as a catalyst’ Sorry? The Inquisitor is doing what? I’m not saying it’s not possible, I’m just saying it might not be an overly smart idea to use the Anchor in that way. Because it’s attached to the Inquisitor’s arm. And because the Inquisitor knows what happens if it snaps out of control. So, purposefully doing something that might cause you agonizing pain? Mh. Yeah. No, thanks.

Also. The 'drawing upon the raw substance of the Fade' part makes me think that the Anchor does give the Inquisitor Dreamer-like abilities. Forcefully, and possibly difficult to control, and the Inquisitor might not be aware of it, but. That would be an interesting aspect to explore.

‘I use similar techniques, although it took me years to learn that’. Well. Yeah. Mostly a sound response, except I’m not really sure it's true. Why does he say years? Because he didn’t go right to sleep after creating the Veil, or because he studied such methods theoretically beforehand? I doubt he refers to the time Inquisition spans, because it’s not that long, cannocially, (isn't it like ... a year? I forget what the devs said), but … I don’t know. It doesn't sit right with me. Solas never truly outright lies, so there is probably some merit in it.

‘Why did you choose such an esoteric area of study?’ That’s … an interesting way to ask. Sure, there is a very small group who has this specialized knowledge, but it feels a little like deflection.

The rest of the conversation doesn’t give much for me to analyze.

Conclusion

TL;DR: There should have been banter. Or Rift Mage should have been a personalized, individual specialization.

Pull of the Abyss is the funkiest skill in the entire game, from a meta-perspective, because tearing a hole into the Veil is the opposite of what the Inquisitor is trying to do.

There are also many more questions than answer to take away from this regarding the Veil and the Fade and how Solas manages not to blow his cover, but I believe there are theories about at least the two former points out there.

I thank you very much for bearing with me for this long!

[hxllblazer-a]

high fantasy au write up part 1

This portion’s mainly targeted towards a specific series, in this case Dragon A.ge but kinda adapted from Dark Knights of Steel because I may or may not have caught a brain worm thinking about this at work.

General portion coming soon ™  but for now here’s This Shit...

Born in Qarinus before being displaced to Minrathous under the vain hopes of one Thomas C.onstantine hoping to punch his way up to Magister, though succumbing to the despair from the death of his wife, a young John’s life was plagued by the hardships and abuses from being seen as nothing more than a parasite that couldn’t do anything right but kill those around him. When he was old enough, and finally his magic had manifested, he was immediately shipped off to Neromenian to apprentice under Magister Logue as a teenager. Rowdy, arrogant, John seemed to fit in nicely in his new life and even took to his master’s research in crossing the Veil at whim.

What he hadn’t known about was the darker side of his research involving old grimoires dug up and brought back from a Nevarran burial site that were rumored to contain much of the secrets of the mysterious Moralitasi, the infamous death mages who were said to be necromancers and bound the spirits of the fade to the mummified bodies of Nevarra. See, Logue knew little on how to bind demons with blood magic and had a theory that maybe, if they could implement the work of the death mages, then Tevinter could create the ultimate army.

It was when John realized that young Astra was being used in his experiments that he had tried to stop the research. Unfortunately, with what knowledge he already had, John had an idea that maybe he could bind his own demon on this side of the Veil to end Magister Logue’s work. And it worked… mostly.

Magister Alex Logue was indeed dead by the creature that was brought forth, but in delving too far into magics he had no control over, Astra was unfortunately lost to the Fade. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the soldiers to come down, and John soon found himself tossed into the hands of an even worse Magister by the name of Huntoon who happened to be very familiar with Alex Logue’s work.

It was decided that John would be bound to the demon that he had summoned as penance for his crimes, a creature of Pride with a name long forgotten to all, though the whispers of Nergal sounded familiar. Though it was less a penance and more a case of ‘lab rat’, as Huntoon would turn John into his own experiment in hopes of picking up where Logue had left off.

Tormented, tortured, broken, any hope of escape seemed vein until he found himself being dragged out of the basement one day to be brought before a strange noble from Nevarra who simply gave his name as Jefferson. Originally, he had come to barter for the return of his family’s grimoires, but after hearing the story of what had happened with the books, he demanded that John be given to his care.

And Huntoon? Well… by this point it seemed like the demon was dormant, so he had lost interest in John as an experiment. So, he relented and let Jefferson take the young man with him back to Nevarra.

Here, in their little settlement outside of the Capital, things began to be different. Jefferson had given John shelter, stability, taught him stable spellworks to keep from relying too much on blood and the things he learned that could potentially reawaken Nergal. He even managed to arrange a meeting with the Motalitasi themselves where John could learn more about the specifics behind the binding magics in the books and if he caught their attention (which he did), apprentice in something that could hopefully help. And all Jefferson wanted in return was for John to remain by his side as an advisor.

Theirs was a budding little settlement, one that Jefferson hoped would be a budding example of peace and prosperity in Nevarra, and John knew that he would never be able to repay his beloved Lord for his kindness.

SOME LITTLE THINGS!

Primarily a fire mage, though he secondaries in electric based magics.

If in Skyhold he will almost always be found sitting on any part of the fortress walls or even in a window.

Does have a habit of showing up when you least expect him.

If he’s in Val Royeaux he’ll almost always sneak off to the Grande Royeaux Theater. He happens to be very attached to a certain black haired female performer there, though he’ll never explain why.

Cannot be trusted with Antivan wine.

Approval guide!

[wolf-and-bard]

Resigned To Fate

Prompt: Memory Alteration / Gaslighting

Relationships: Guxart/Vesemir (from one of the witcher-centric cards), Lambert/Aiden (background)

Rating: M

Content Warnings: heavy angst, suicidal tendencies, grief, mild gore, self-harm allusions

Summary: In the aftermath of the betrayal of the Cat school, Vesemir has not only his own school to hold together, but also a traumatised lover to care for. In which: Vesemir is strong and Guxart is weak and they find it hard to meet in the middle.

Word Count: ~2k

@witcher-rarepair-summer-bingo​

I.

Witchers survive.

Witchers endure.

Witchers outlast.

No matter the tragedy that befalls them or how difficult the contract. When they're being persecuted and beaten, starved and denied basic human decency. There's always a way forward.

Survive. Endure. Outlast.

Those are the thoughts Vesemir clings to, each sentiment falling as a whisper from his cracked and splintered lips to puddle at his blood- and gut-soaked feet, each word accompanied by the low wheeze of his shovel penetrating dry earth.

He couldn't fight for them, has to bury them. All of them.

He doesn't cry like the pups do, they haven't yet understood.

This is no genocide. This is merely a manifestation of what has been a long time coming, a natural course of history.

Vesemir cradles that truth tight to his chest. He survives, endures, outlasts. It's his birthright, duty, privilege, honour, burden, curse, cure, calling, punishment. It's a law of nature, the first one the new recruits learn when coming to the keep.

Nothing breaks Vesemir.

II.

When the wolves all sleep, the living in bed rolls pushed together in the great hall, the dead in their forever resting places of hard-packed dirt, the new day is already sloshing over the horizon in waves of muted scarlet. Vesemir finds no beauty in that, he doesn't think he will find any beauty in and around Kaer Morhen ever again. All that was tranquil about this place has been soaked in blood and so, it seems, has the sky. He fills a pack with their sorry dinner's leftovers - stale bread, hard cheese, dried berries - foregoes the soup and the spirits. Two deerskins of water and a faded quilt blanket. It smells like cinnamon and honey, like comfort he hopes. It's not cold enough to warrant any kind of coat yet, but halfway across the courtyard, Vesemir finds himself shivering. He unpacks the blanket and wraps it around his own shoulders, then briskly walks out of the keep's enclosures, the sun a cool caress on his stained cheeks. He's never hated her more than in that moment.

III.

She follows him even into the dingy half-dark of the outpost's only bedroom. The curtains are drawn, the room lit by a single artificial torch, but Vesemir finds another echo of the red horizon in Guxart's eyes as they meet his across the few paces that separate them. Seeing him is somehow still a bit of a surprise.

Guxart doesn't look haggard and wrung-out the way Vesemir knows he himself does. In the wake of their shared misery - the imprisonment, the wait, the release to find their schools in ruin and their charges mostly dead or mutilated - Vesemir aged a century while Guxart is frozen in time, barely more than a shell of the witcher Vesemir begrudgingly fell in love with.

His salt-and-pepper hair falls in curls just below his ears and his greyed beard looks freshly groomed, obscuring the permanent tremble of his lips, pressed together to contain the creature of mourning that grows in his chest. His slitted pupils are constantly thin so that they nearly drown in the red hue of his irises. There are but two things about Guxart that have changed in their trudge through agony - in physicality that is. He is pale now - almost as pale as Vesemir, who always used to look like a wraith next to Guxart's light-brown skin - and his voice has lost all its natural thunder. A husk, yes. But not irrevocably so.

Guxart may be broken, but Vesemir is barely more than cracked and he can hold it together for the two of them.

"Ves," Guxart croaks from his perch on the bed and Vesemir doesn't pretend like this is a happy meeting. He draws the door shut behind himself and opens the curtains with a precise blast of Aard. The light that filters in is grimy still and Guxart turns his back on it. It's the only thing he can do. In an act of protection, born from love, Vesemir had to shackle Guxart's wrists and ankles, just so the other witcher wouldn't hurt himself. Last time, Vesemir was nearly too late and that is not something he will stand to experience again. It's a precarious arrangement, temporary, but Vesemir didn't know how else to help either Guxart of himself. Bringing him to the keep would have been certain death for them both.

"I brought food."

"I'm not hungry."

Vesemir puts the pack down by the window and slips out of his boots, then crawls up on the bed and drapes the quilt over both their legs. The sight of it puts his gut in a twist.

This is where he used to let go. Relax his shoulders and drop the teacher, the torturer. Just be. Guxart gave that to him and he to Guxart. Had he any imagination, he would let his head fall to the brick behind himself and close his eyes, imagine it's just another morning after a night spent tangled up in each other, relishing dawn's kiss and each other's presence.

Vesemir is exceptionally bad at self-delusion.

"Will you have water?" he asks. Guxart shakes his head, remaining in his strained position, even when Vesemir jerks his chin to the side in an invitation to sidle up to him.

Guxart, for his part, is exceptionally bad at accepting love and pain at the same time.

"I'm not thirsty."

"Fine," Vesemir replies and they look at each other. It's not a staring contest like they sometimes held across the training fields when their students were locked in combat. It's searching for some remnant of joy and coming up short.

"There's dirt under your nails," Guxart murmurs without breaking the eye contact. "You buried them."

"I did."

"Mine also?"

"They took them back to the Camp."

Vesemir can still hear the hisses of cats, wolves, and swords alike as the witchers collected the bodies of their fallen comrades to separate and honour them. Vesemir suspects that what he feels for Guxart will be the last love ever lost between the two schools.

"It's all my fault."

"Come here," Vesemir says, keeping his tone levelled, understanding. He opens his arms a fraction, a more blatant invitation.

Finally, Guxart slumps against Vesemir, a heaving dead weight. Vesemir brings his arms around Guxart and presses his face into his curls. He finds little comfort there and lots of reminders to all that he lost at the hands of Treyse and Radowit's damned mage. Guxart presses into Vesemir with all the strength his restrained body can muster. They don't fit together quite so well anymore.

"They gave me a choice," Guxart says. "They gave me a choice."

"What choice?" Vesemir asks, mouth dry. He blinks rapidly as he rubs soothing circles over Guxart's sharp shoulder blades. In a moment here, he will have to think about how to feed the other witcher against his will, a painstaking process. Why keep at it?

Because he has to.

Nothing breaks Vesemir.

"They took me away one night," Guxart continues. "When you were asleep. They took me away and told me how I was to arrange it. Their death sentence. And they gave me a choice."

"What. Choice."

"They said they would spare them. All of them, all of our beautiful pups and kittens. They said if I throttled you, they wouldn't make me act out the treaty. It's why we were put in the same cell after that first week."

No such thing happened.

Vesemir knows.

He feared for their schools during their time in Radowit's dungeons, but his mind was sharp always, awake and waiting. Even then, he knew of Guxart's tendencies to slip from reality into madness fashioned by others. A consequence of the meddled-with cat mutagens perhaps, or a personal disposition. Doesn't matter. What does is that Vesemir was awake in the cell opposite - never sharing, never touching - watching his lover pass from one fever dream into the next as they kept him drugged, whispering to him, sentiments Vesemir himself managed to deflect when the guards - or his own mind - threw them at him.

This is your fault.

You brought this upon them, mutant scum.

They will die for your sins.

Nothing. Breaks. Vesemir.

"A lie," Vesemir sighs and presses his lips to Guxart's scalp. The other witcher shudders and the worst part about this is that he knows they will have this conversation again. And again. And each time, Guxart will believe a little less.

"They were our children, Ves. They were our children and I betrayed them. Traded their life for yours. If you had been given the same choice, would you have been strong enough?"

They both know the answer to that. If it had been between Guxart and his wolves, Vesemir wouldn't have hesitated to kill his lover. But that is entirely beside the point.

"There was never such a choice and what happened is not your fault."

"But it is. My fault. I spared you. And then I went on to kill them all. Treyse, he tried to stop me once we got out, but I gave the command anyway. We could have stood together, could have flattened all Kaedwen to dust, but I was greedy. I wanted you and the reward. I wanted... I wanted..."

Nothing ever. Breaks...

"You're talking nonsense. We were only released after the massacre took place, remember? Treyse was the one to commit treason, he gave that command."

"I have to die," Guxart says numbly. He doesn't listen now and his bound hands paw at Vesemir's thighs. "I have to die. You have to kill me."

"No."

"Please, I cannot live with this pain. Knowing it was all my fault, I cannot... how can you?"

Vesemir closes his eyes. Nothing. Nothing has yet broken him.

IV.

There is no containing Guxart forever. Vesemir knows this, Guxart knows this.

He waits, tends to his lover until such a time that he feels he's coaxed Guxart away from the brink of self-destruction at least. At the end, most of what hangs between them is fatigue and resentment, indistinguishable from the scraps of nostalgic affection they yet harbour. Vesemir does not remember what it felt like to love without care. He has to let go.

"I'm sorry, Ves," Guxart says when it's time to part, a whisper over Vesemir's lips in what will likely be their last ever kiss. "I know you mean well, but I cannot believe you. I have to repent."

There is no penance for a crime uncommitted. The only forgiveness you should want for is mine once you leave me here to grief on my own. You will wander and you will weaken and you will wither. Nothing will break me like you will, the moment you fade from sight.

Vesemir bites down on these thoughts. They're silly, selfish, and he is neither.

"Take care of yourself."

Guxart nods and turns and walks away.

And Vesemir doesn't break.

V.

Decades pass.

Vesemir fixes up whatever fissures did sneak up on him, he remains whole, he moves on.

Guxart may be out there, he may not. Vesemir will never know what fate Guxart has resigned himself to and that is acceptable.

It is acceptable.

Until the day Lambert comes home, announcing that he has given and lost his heart to a young cat by name of Aiden. He howls through the night and Vesemir holds him, the way he himself needed to be held back then perhaps, and he understands that all the glue he has been applying to his own heart was a sorry fake.

Vesemir has been broken for a long, long time.

And once he accepts that, he feels the years fall off his shoulders like leaves from an old tree, preparing for another winter. Possibly its last.