#and she couldn't do it even by defeating the mage who did it and then leorictus killed himself and THEN there was the huppermage genocide.

[jorisjurgen]

i am 01:34 deep into the 04:21-long animatic. we are so winning

however people will kill me for including random MMO npcs in the 2nd verse im sorry for being really enfatuated with what the mmo implies-- I promise that after the second verse it's all back to normal non-obscure characters.

[duncanor]

WHY IT HAD TO BE EKKO

Don't you wonder why he's ultimately the one who defeat The Machine Herald? They never even met, why out of everyone was it him? Why was he sent to this beautiful timeline while Jayce was sent to Dante's inferno ?

It's because Jayce and Viktor are the perfect opposite of Powder and Ekko. All of them were scientists who shared a dream of helping their people. However, while Jayce and Viktor did everything they could to realize their dream together, going as far as to brave Nature, Death and Fate, Ekko and Powder couldn't bear losing themselves and sacrificing others for their own happiness.

Ekko was sent to a world where he got everything he ever wanted. His loved ones were (mostly) all alive and well, the cities were united, he not only got his childhood friend back but had the chance to learn who she could've become without tragedy plaguing her. He even fell in love with her and had the possibility to start a life anew, here, together. And despite this, he never considered staying. Doing so would've meant sacrificing his reality and he couldn't bear it. So he let her and the dream go, and broke the cycle.

But Jayce and Viktor? They've always been incapable of letting go of each others. They first defied nature, re-creating the inate with Hextech. Then they braved Death with Viktor's resurection. Finally, they fabricated fate, Viktor making sure they always meet. The Machine Herald vowed to end the cycles that plagued humanity, but ultimatly, he as the mage was the one purposefully setting them in motion. Because he couldn't bear a reality where he's alone and doesn't have his partner by his side.

It's egoism vs altruism at its core.

It's also why Viktor and Jayce leave together while Ekko stays alone. It's the price of the sacrifice of self for others vs the sacrifice of others for themselves.

Ekko (and Jinx) was the only one willing to break the cycle. It had to be him.

[lovesim09]

Invisibility and Teleportation

The book has a soft magic system, there is a description of what magic, mana and dead mana are but it is not that detailed. Why did I decide to write about magic? I remember rereading the book and in the comments there were comments about invisibility and teleportation and why the enemies don't use them the same way Cale and his group do.

Why can Cale use invisibility and sneak into enemy hideouts with such ease? Why he can teleport to other places, to other countries without consequences?

The answer to these questions is incredibly simple. Cale has a dragon from the beginning of the book and later another dragon joins him. If we compare it to the game, Cale as a new player got a mythic item on his first roll, an item that has a 0.001% chance of dropping. The dragon is literally a cheat item.

No one expects to meet a dragon, let alone a dragon traveling with a human. Most devices are built to detect middle grade mages or high grade mages. People above these ranks are often geniuses and have ways to bypass devices that detect the use of magic. Raon could teleport and use invisibility in the palace. He could teleport them right to the crown prince's bedroom. Later of course, they tightened the palace's defenses and Alberu allowed his allies to be exceptions.

Few people can notice Raon when he uses invisibility on himself, Bud had his ancient power, dragons are sensitive to magic. White Star is a magician, he has ancient powers and years of experience. Fredo is a powerful vampire, even White Star admitted that he would have trouble fighting him. Rosalyn noticed him because Raon sent his mana her way. Half Blood sensed him but thought Cale was a dragon or half dragon like him. Alberu sensed something, but he didn't know about Raon. At the beginning of the book, he wondered if Cale was human. The Elementals and elves who have never met a dragon thought Cale was under the dragon's protection. Not that the dragon is with Cale. Cale has been mistaken for a dragon many times due to invisibility and how close Raon always is.

When it comes to teleportation, it's pretty simple. It's a complex spell that only stronger mages can use, and even they can have problems. You need coordinates, sometimes you can't find them safely or something is disrupting your mana and preventing you from teleporting to that location. When they were looking for Blood drenched rock, they couldn't teleport to the mountain. The whale house is constantly moving so it's also an impossible place to teleport. Raon never teleported the group directly to the elf village where The World Tree is. Raon couldn't teleport them to dubori territory because of the disturabnce mana tool. Also in the illusion, Rosalyn had the strength she had two years ago, before she began learning from the dragons, and had trouble teleporting 3 people a greater distance. The distance was Harris Village and the mountain where Raon was trapped. When Cale teleported to other kingdoms with Raon multiple times without any problem. You can see the difference between a dragon and a human in using magic. In most cases, people use magic circle to teleport over longer distances. The only time dragons used magic circles was when they were using really complicated or difficult spells. Like teleporting to another continent, setting a permanent magic circle to a dragon's lair. Teleporting a huge castle that was also a dragon's lair.

So the answer is simple why White Star never used these spells in the same way as Cale's group. Cale has the upper hand when it comes to magic. On the other hand, White Star had 3 talented people and lost all of them. The Lich sacrificed his life, Half Blood was captured, and Becrock was also defeated. Half Blood was literally responsible for the teleportation magic scrolls that ARM, Redrika and the bears used. Lich was the strongest and oldest black mage. Becrock was a genius, the dragons themselves admitted that he had talent. And he lost them all, left only with the weaker black mages.

And when it comes to the law, I'm sure Cale broke more than one law with teleportation and invisibility. I'm sure there's a law against teleporting between kingdoms.

[classicanalyzer]

Pokemon Adventures - The Healer: Yellow Analysis

"Call me Amarillo! Amarillo del Bosque Verde!" Yellow

While the Adventures manga didn't age well, the Kanto arcs mainly hold up, and Yellow, an actual White Mage (and a Fisher trainer), is one of the bright spots in the manga. From an unnamed character to one of the Pokedex Holders, Yellow had an amazing journey from being rescued by Red to delivering the finishing move against a recreation of Kyogre. Speaking of which, Happy Late Birthday to Yellow (March 3rd)!

It's crazy to remember that Yellow is an original character of the manga, and not just that, but once an unnamed side character. She is one of the lucky few gifted with healing and psychic powers from Viridian Forest, her home. Her journey begins with a chance encounter with Red, who offers her advice that she takes to heart for the rest of her life:

"Pokémon can be scary...but they're basically kind, loving creatures. If their owners are bad and train their Pokémon to do bad things...then they'll grow up to be bad too. But if you raise them with kindness and gentleness...then they'll always be your friends." Red

By the time of the Yellow Arc two years later, Yellow continues to follow Red's advice as her core beliefs. Despite knowing she isn't a great battler, Yellow agrees to face dangers to save Red and stop the Elite Four. Yellow ended up inadvertently teaching Pika to use Surf, defeating Lance and encountering Lugia, freeing the Legendary beasts, proving instrumental to defeating Pryce with the Silver and Rainbow wings, providing Red with information about Deoxys' origins, and delivering the final blow on the recreated Kyogre (and in the process, coining the term Volt Tackle). It's not bad for a character who was once an unnamed side character.

While Yellow isn't the strongest trainer, she's incredibly crafty and creative enough to overcome impossible odds. By the end of the Yellow Arc, she had become a competent trainer. A lot of villains underestimate her because she usually tries to resolve conflicts without fighting. Her first encounter with Lorelei demonstrates Yellow's abilities and why she's a Pokedex Holder. They also forget that she's willing to fight them if she needs to and if they pose a serious threat. She can go from a White Mage to a Black Mage if necessary. If she didn't prefer to hurt Pokemon, she could've been one of the strongest trainers. Even Sird, who had beaten Lorelei, noted how a pissed off Yellow would've defeated her:

"Why did you suddenly change your plan?!" Orm

"I thought it was too risky." Sird

"What do you mean?!" Orm

"That trainer with the straw hat...I've never seen a trainer synchronize like that with their Pokémon to increase their powers!... Whether you fight her or I fight her...we're likely to get defeated...if we challenge her in an ordinary battle!" Sird

Yellow is defined by her empathic and pacifistic attitude. She spent two whole days trying to catch a Caterpie because she couldn't bring herself to attack Caterpie. This attribute is best showcased with her ability to read the minds of Pokemon and heal them. As one of the few people from Viridian Forest, she utilizes her gifts for good, which stands in contrast with Lance, her foil in every way possible. Her empathy is best showcased when she sees a pack of Mankeys in distress with the loss of their home to industrialization; she chooses to heal the Primeape who attacked them. It's just a sign of what makes her different from Lance.

A fact that tends to get overlooked about her is that Yellow is very willing to kill if her enemy proves to be not only irredeemable but a grave, dire danger to the world. In her battles with Lance, she always tried to kill him after he proved himself to be irredeemably evil, whether that be through straightforward Thunderbolts or covering Lance in lava. In her battle with Orm and Sird, she makes the two panic as she demonstrates her rage at Team Rocket and for them trying to bring more fighting to her home again:

"This forest has been...the stage of many intense battles in the past. I don't want it to go through that again! I want you to stop fighting and leave this forest...now!" Yellow

She's the definition of how good is not nice while also maintaining her core beliefs of kindness.

Her relationship with Red is also one of the most wholesome relationships in Pokemon. Witnessing her growth and how her relationship with Red evolves across the arcs is truly heartwarming. It's also funny to see how her juniors react to her being older than them.

Yellow having Red's Pokedex makes her the owner of the oldest Pokedex.

I'm really upset we didn't get a Let's Go Arc because we haven't seen Yellow properly in the manga ever since the Emerald Arc.

I only wish we get to see Yellow in the official games because she's one of the best characters in Pokemon Adventures.

"Pika…that's right! You're Red's Pokemon! We were together for so long…I'd forgotten. But let's…stay like we were before…just for a little while longer…" Yellow

[scribeofskyrim]

Middas, 13th of Frostfall, 4E 201

Tonight I sleep in Tiber Septim's bed!

Well, that's what Eydis the innkeeper says, anyway.

We're at the Old Hroldan Inn, somewhere in The Reach, and I'm thankful my fingers still work. I nearly froze to death getting here!

We left the fort this morning, and the weather hadn't improved any. Still, we kept on, and followed the road as it followed the river's edge.

This whole place has such a close feel to it. There's cliffs all over, with only the barest openings from the road to the peaks surrounding us.

We got to Karthwasten with no trouble, and walked right into an argument.

The man who owns Karthwasten, Ainethach, was arguing with a heavily-armed mercenary named Atar. The mercenaries had taken up residence in one of the two mines there, and were refusing to leave until Ainethach sold his mine to the sellsword's boss, Thonar Silver-Blood. Apparently, they were here because the Forsworn had been causing Karthwasten some trouble, and the Silver-Bloods had "generously" sent over Atar and his men to help clear them out.

According to Ainethach, the Silver-Bloods have been on him for years to sell the place to them. They already own most of The Reach, and have the Jarl in their pocket, but that's not enough for them. They want the whole thing!

Greedy bastards.

I said I'd see what I could do, then went to talk with the others. I was sure we'd have a fight on our hands as soon as we went into the mine, so I suggested a plan. We go to Markarth, sell what we'd picked up so far, and then come back to help. Obviously, we'd pick up more goods to sell dealing with the mercenaries, and we could always go back to Markarth, or just keep on our way, depending.

Even Lydia agreed that wasn't a bad idea.

I said we'd be back, and we went back down the hill, and joined the road towards Markarth.

On the way we came to a crossroads with a bridge to the left and a little house to the right. There were three Forsworn hiding out there, and they rushed us!

We defeated them, then checked the house. There was no sign of anyone, and in fact it didn't look like anything bad had happened inside, so we left everything as we found it. Hopefully whoever owns the place was out, and the Forsworn hadn't killed them.

And then it felt like we got the first bit of good luck all day.

We found Ri'saad and his caravan! I'd much rather deal with him than that grumpy lady at Arnleif and Sons. I did some trading, bought a few ingredients I didn't know much about - Erandur started to lecture me, then just sighed and cautioned me to try them one at a time. "Just pretend it's Orcish Forgewater and pace yourself."

I promised to be good, then we headed back towards Karthwasten. It hadn't taken very long at all, thankfully, but we did have extra trouble on the way back to Ainethach.

We walked past three Thalmor, leading a barefoot, captive man down the road.

By the Nine, I saw red.

I marched right up to them. Lydia and I had explained what happened at Northwatch Keep after we'd come across the Thalmor Embassy, so the other two knew (and shared) my opinion of them. They all quickened their pace to catch up with me.

The lead lady, a mage, sneered when I got her attention and asked if I was actually a mage, or did I just steal my robes? I didn't dignify that question with an answer, and instead asked her what they were doing with that man?

She said that he knew the location of a cult of Talos, and that they were going to interrogate him until he talked, or kill him for being a heretic.

Having seen first-hand that "Interrogation" was Thalmor code for "Torture," I couldn't let what happened to Thorald happen to him.

I asked her what was so bad about worshiping Talos, and she said it was immoral to worship a man, not to mention illegal. A good Imperial would know that, she said, and asked if I had anything to confess?

Behind me, I heard the others draw themselves up, and their feet shift. The two Thalmor fighters behind the prisoner whispered to each other, smirking. I didn't catch the whole thing and I won't write what I did, but just know it was something about Dunmer that would probably get you killed if you said it in a cornerclub.

I stared at the Justiciar for a second, then looked past her shoulder at the bound man.

We made eye contact, and I expected to see - I don't know. Fear, I think? Anger? Desperation?

Not Hope. But it was there; quiet, stubborn and ready to fight.

I gave the head lady a big smile and said, loudly, "Well, you got me! I believe in Talos!"

And then all Oblivion broke loose!

Luckily so did the man. He bolted behind us, so we were able to concentrate on the Thalmor.

I don't know how Lydia did it, but she rushed past them like a whirlwind and we had them surrounded. I was focused on the mage, but I think the other fighters were using magic, too?

As before, the mage was useless against an axe, and she couldn't keep her wards up enough to deflect that AND Flames. I'm almost surprised at how quickly she went down.

While I dealt with her, the others handled the fighters. Once we were finished, the man came back down the hill so we could free his hands. He thanked us, then ran back towards Markarth.

I happily looted all they had, which included some very nice Elven armor that'll fetch a good price. As we were rearranging our packs yet again, Valdimar quietly asked me if I really did believe in Talos.

I do.

The three looked at each other, then back at me. Lydia pointed out that I didn't, before. Erandur asked, "Why the change of heart?"

It wasn't a "change of heart", like he thought. I wanted there to be some sort of grand reason, like a vision just for the Dragonborn or something, but as I put my pack back on I told them the simple truth: His shrines work.

This got a big laugh out of Valdimar, and soon we were all laughing as we turned up the mountain towards Karthwasten. But it really is that simple! I had gotten a blessing from Talos back at the Weynon Stones, when we were first going to Windhelm, and it worked as everyone said it should. Sure, you can make false shrines that just Heal people - I've seen that con before in the Capital - but the Divines do more for you than that.

Erandur nodded. A blessing from Mara makes Healing magic work better, he said, and a blessing from Talos is said to help your voice recover more quickly between Shouts. Of course, this blessing is only really useful for Tongues, like me. "The rest of us have to operate on faith."

Then we got to Karthwasten, and went into the mine to talk to Atar. He plainly admitted that he and his men were supposed to wait out Ainethach until he agreed to sell the mine to the Silver-Bloods. I managed to convince him to leave because no one wanted them there, and honestly, the miners were getting angry.

Pickaxes-and-torches kind of angry.

Atar didn't want to face an angry mob. No amount of money was worth that, so he took his men and left.

Ainethach was glad that I managed to convince him to leave, and rewarded us with 800 gold for our trouble.

Not bad!

So, went back down the hill to keep hunting for Red Eagle's sword.

It started to pour rain. We were all wet, miserable, and I started to freeze. I saw what looked like an encampment, but it was CRAWLING with Forsworn. As in, I think I could see six of them, and I couldn't even see the whole place.

I'd be safer with a hungry saber cat. I turned us around and we went back to the main road and kept going. It was getting dire. Thank the Nine for Bask and Wolfskin, but I had to stop using Wolfskin because I got too cold and just… Couldn't find the magic, you know?

Erandur offered his flame ability, but it was raining so hard all it could do was keep me from getting any colder for a solid minute.

Still, that minute was enough.

We spotted a building (this place) across the river, just a bit up the hillside, and soon, through the fog, a bridge! There was a shrine to Dibella on the roadside, across from where the bridge butted up to the road.

We crossed the bridge as fast as we could, but I was almost staggering by then. Erandur wasn't much better off. Lydia grabbed me and Valdimar took Erandur, and they managed to half-drag us inside before either of us collapsed.

Once we warmed up, I asked Eydis about getting beds for the night. She offered me Tiber Septim's! She said that Tiber Septim himself had slept right here at the Old Hroldan Inn after winning his first battle to claim Skyrim. And they still had the very bed he used!

Why not? Closest I'll ever get to an Emperor's bed (she'd clearly heard that one before) so I booked that one for myself and the rest for the others. It's not that late, but it's too late to go anywhere, especially in this weather. Right now we're just having some mead and talking before we get some sleep. There's a boy here, her son Skuli, and he thinks it's funny that the dog is named Septim.

Even though it's a bit early for me, I'm eager to see if old Tiber Septim slept well while he was here.

We'll find the sword tomorrow.

---

Back | Next

[idkjustletmescroll]

Warning: if you liked the dragon prince as it is, go right ahead and scroll on by :) this is basically what I would have done differently/liked to see, even if I did really like the show overall

We're just going to get right into it. This pretty much only pertains to act 2. I liked act 1. Anyways!

1: Ezran stays in katolis in season four; sunfire elf plotline rewrite

It's no secret that most people dislike the sunfire elf sideplot, and, despite the fact that janai and amaya are both my fav characters and my fav ship, it doesn't fit in to act 2's overall story. I'd have liked for them to continue the human/elf plotline both through sunfire politics and katolis', as well; there's no way ezran's speech in the graveyard in season 4 just made it a non-issue. Tbh, I didn't feel like ezran contributed much to the gang's journey in season 4, and, considering that act 1 had it be such a major plot point that the kingdom needs its king, I'd have liked for him to stay in katolis and, along with the sunfire plot, develop a plotline about humans and elves not only needing to reconcile, but come together to defeat aaravos (elf magic + human creativity and resourcefulness).

Also, the show mentions janai's grandma, queen Aditi, ALL THE TIME, and then never really does anything with her character--or the orphan queen. Since lux aurea canonically has a massive and ultra-important library ("bookery"), time could've been devoted to research there, too. It would have been a way to work in plenty of exposition.

2: The Terry issue

My issue with Terry is that he's just not important. I don't care about this guy. I spent most of act 2 dreading when he was on screen because I just don't care. Sure, he's sweet, but...why is an elf involved with a dark mage? How does he even get involved with claudia? How does he justify all the terrible things they're doing? I think it would've been interesting to see an elf who not only doesn't mind dark magic but defends it, presenting more issues for the main cast (i.e. callum) to think about. In my opinion, he should have either died or abandoned claudia fully in either seasons 5 or 6. He would have been the last person who loved and supported her unconditionally leaving her, one way or the other, and therefore leaving her fully vulernable to aaravos' manipulations. I'm sorry, but most of what he did in season 7 was centered around getting the gang not to hurt claudia, and it was pissing me off. No, you don't have to agree, this is just an opinion.

3: Rayllum

Yes, I know, I know, it's just a kid's show. Yes, I know rayllum is an audience fav, and even if it's not mine, I understand why people like it so much. It's cute, it's fun. My issue with act 2 rayllum is that it feels like the show focuses a lot more on their relationship than on the individual characters. I'd like rayla to actually explain to callum why she left: she was paranoid, she wanted to make sure viren was gone for good. Could she have finished him off herself, if it came down to it, looking him dead in the eyes and using her swords? There's a question that keeps coming back to haunt her: is she able to end a life? Why couldn't she have let callum and ezran help her? She's failed at everything else (in her eyes). She can't go home, her own adopted fathers either banished her or tried to kill her. She couldn't fail at this, too. She had to do something. That's interesting.

And on callum's side, I think it would have been cool to see him connecting with the ocean arcanum...without the finnegrin plot, bc I didn't like it. He sees ezran growing up, and that's kind of scary, not always knowing what his little brother's thinking or feeling anymore. Callum's growing up, too, and, as much as he loves being high mage, he still wants to explore the world and learn new things outside of katolis; he's getting political marriage offers; his life is going to change soon, one way or the other, and that's scary, and he doesn't really have a parental figure to talk to, with Amaya being away. He can't always control or predict rayla, and he can't control or predict or prevent all of his losses, either. Since that's the ocean arcanum's whole deal, I think it would have been a neat way for him to get it.

There we go, plotlines for individual characters instead of the whole relationship, that still include and effect that relationship. Also, I would somewhat tweak callum's decision to help rayla in s7. First, he would also have his own conflicting feelings about runaan. He agrees runaan should be allowed to go to his home and husband, but insists that ezran will be easily convinced as soon as things settle down, "in a few weeks." Rayla goes through with the breakout anyways, callum's hurt but decides to go along with it, and--and this is very important--HE DOES NOT LIKE RUNAAN. He does not FORGIVE Runaan. Maybe they talk it out, but either way, runaan being the one to have killed harrow effects callum in some way. S7 made it more of an ezran thing. Callum also feels a lot more torn up about betraying ezran, maybe seeing some sibling pairs in the silvergrove that make him think back on his brother.

4: The key of aaravos

Just some resolution to the key, guys. It's been emphasized CONSTANTLY in the show since s1 episode 4. Idk what it would be, I just want it to be SOMETHING.

[rookinthecrownest]

🖊️ + the first oc you created!

Oohh this one's a tough one - I've made so many OC's for so many fandoms so I'll settle for the first real OC I made for Dragon age, and that's probably Iris Trevelyan actually.

Like yes I played DAO and DA2 but I feel like I didn't really start making up intricate headcanons/ideas for fics until I played DA:I.

Iris in my first DA:I playthrough actually romanced Cullen. And I could not tell you how it started, but eventually down the line, I thought back to how much I loved Alistair in DA:O and how excited I was to see him back in DA:I. Then my brain was like 'okay now make them kiss'. Why Iris specifically and not another Inky? Couldn't tell you.

Iris's story is cool to me bc I wanted her to be this really serious researcher/academic. Actually, she was SUCH an academic, I headcanon she was one of the pioneers of early neurology in Thedas. She essentially pioneered research neurosurgery in order to map out the functions of different nerves in the body. The way she did this was she used a metallic probe to conduct little currents of lightning magic to stimulate different parts of animal/human brains, to map out the peripheral nervous system (okay, if I stimulate this part of the brain, the right leg twitches, etc.). She also used the same technique to ablate certain parts of the brain to see what deficits would result if you destroyed certain regions of the brain - localizing where speech, and understanding language, memory, personality, vision, coordination, etc. are stored. She's published several manuscripts on these subjects. Iris had to fight to be able to do said research and spent a lot of time under Templar guard when she was doing her experiments, especially since they usually required live subjects.

And as I was making her I was thinking like, how interesting would it be to see this hyper-focused academic taken out of her little bubble, put up on a religious pedestal, learn to play the game (courtesy of her bffl Vivienne), learn to navigate politics and things on a grander scale than her little laboratory in the Circle tower, achieve all these great feats, and then ... what happens next. When Corypheus is defeated and all is said and done, does she go back to being a mage-scientist? Can she even go back to doing that?

And thus I started thinking about her and Alistair together. And the political turmoil in Thedas post-Corypheus and how to navigate that with an Inquisitor who is so forever changed by what happened. She felt like she had to keep everyone at an arm's length during DA:I in this fic-idea, so she doesn't even end up romancing Cullen (though I imagine he might have pined after her for a bit ... lel).

The angst of pairing her with an Alistair who's Warden love broke up with him before the final battle and then DIED. Too good. When I have time I definitely need to actually write this fic because it's like...haunting me lmao.

I think I love Iris because she definitely has a bit more of a vindictiveness to her than my other OC's. She harbours a lot of resentment towards her ultra-Andrastian family for basically disowning her - going so far as to blame her mage gifts for ruining her younger sister's future marriage prospects, to using her name for clout in social circles once she becomes the Herald. She does NOT take well to that and refuses many of their attempts to reconcile. Girlie can hold a grudge. It gets even worse when they catch wind she might be marrying into royalty and they're trying to get her to find favourable matches for her sisters.

And now I'm thinking of the insanity of potentially throwing Sebastian Vael, Prince of Starkhaven into the mix (among Alistair and Gaspard). Oh man. Someone stop me ;-;

Other things about Iris:

She's TALL! 6ft 1., lanky/athletic build (from training as a Knight Enchanter with Viv), and prefers storm magic when she's not in the thick of the fight.

I'm still debating if I want to keep her hair black. Previously, I wanted both of her eyes to be a bright Fade-green, but I think I'm actually going to change that. Her left eye, the same side as the mark (i think) is like a bright fade-green, her right is grey. She's ... intimidating to say the least. Iris has a fairly commanding presence. I think she's sweet at heart but a lot of that has been lost given the life she's lead.

Maybe a certain King of Ferelden can soften her back up again!

Tysm for the ask <3

[shenzaibird-art]

Sooo I watched all four days of Crufts this past weekend and was possessed by the urge to draw various dog breeds. Child me would be so proud. (I still have the book of dog breeds I was obsessed with as a kid, and I still have an old little paper inside it with a list of dog breeds I wanted to draw... and pretty much all of these were there) Info about all of these people under the cut thingy:

Brelyn: A Grand Augur of necromagic. Probably will replace Morrok as Sellatrix's master and head of their team because I like her. Gentle and easygoing, likes to see innovative projects, hence her being okay with taking Verloren into her team. A powerful mage, much more deadly than she looks. Might be a witch as well or at least respect witchcraft. (Rip Morrok the owl, didn't even get a chance to exist and was already replaced, I might reuse the concept for another char or smth) Silverstrand: Was supposed to be a Grand Augur of necromagic but he has SUCH a geomage vibe that I'm not sure anymore. Either way, he's very serious and strict, and prefers things done "the right way" rather than experimental weird stuff. Basically the opposite of Brelyn a bit. If I make him a Grand Augur of geomagic, then he might be head of Lazuli's team. One of the king's most trusted Grand Augurs, warned him that exiling Verloren was a terrible idea (but got ignored anyway). King Harlin Devandell III of Houndsdagger: Proud and stubborn, likes to show off his power and skills. Grew up hearing that his mother the Queen never did enough, so he tries to do too much. Doesn't know much about magic and severely underestimates it. Ended up killed when Verloren didn't take being exiled very well. Wasn't too old, probably just a bit older than Verloren, so not even 50 yet when he died. Pommie: Finella's personal maid since she was a teenager. Very kind and caring, often felt more like a mom to Finella than her real mother. She's a household-wizard (someone who helps with trivial magic tasks, such as preparing baths with warming crystals and fancy fur potions or lighting up light orbs around the house) and taught Finella some basic magic when she asked her. The only one of this batch that I actually already had a full concept of for a while, even the breed, I just hadn't drawn her yet. Nivenyr: One of Sellatrix's witch friends. He's from the village and not related to the castle or any noble business. He works as a mage, making spells and stuff that he sells in his little shop. Somewhat cryptic. Possibly younger than he looks, I have no idea what's his age yet really. Might be more fit for my other setting that's about edgy emo witches (I mean he has emo hair even on his hands) but I'll try to keep him in this setting because Sella can't be the only witch around. Lazuli: A geomagic augur, friends with Finella. Calm and collected, she doesn't say much but judges everyone silently. Kinda tired of everyone's crap but tries to be non-violent, despite sometimes wishing she could kill some people. Her parents were jewelers and when she learned she could do magic with crystals and gemstones, she became a geomage and also learned to make art with magic crystals. Cyrus: A phytomagic augur. Extremely average guy. Obnoxious with his hate of necromagic. Was married to Finella at one point and he constantly tried to prove her how phyto is so much better than necro (Finella is a necromage, she just tried to ignore him when he went on a rant). When Verloren took over, Cyrus was among the phytomagic augurs who tried to ambush him and take him down, and was defeated and killed like all the others. Finella had mixed feelings about the incident. There were more people I wanted to make, like a pumi guy that I couldn't settle on a design for, and a girl that'll be either a papillon or a spaniel of some kind. But yeah I love dogs.

[soulventure91]

#ockiss25 prompt 2 - first; featuring Mara Leandra Hawke

-

The streets of Minrathous were crammed with the injured, even with Elgar'nan's defeat and Solas's banishment. Mara - though to most that saw her she was 'Rook' - walked as best she could through those streets, ensuring the Blight growths Elgar'nan had summoned were coming down thanks to the Wardens while Veil Jumpers and Shadow Dragons ran healing herbs, poultices, and potions between pop-up clinics. There was a hollowness in her that no healer could treat, even if Mara felt as though her steps were being guided.

The final war of the Evanuris, the Last Blight, was over. But Mara did still have one last battle to fight.

[You are being brash,] the tiny sliver of Mythal that had agreed to fill some of that hollowness whispered against Mara's ear. Out of the corner of her eye Mara could just make out Mythal's crown and sharp profile taking in the damage Elgar'nan had wrought. [This is still a victory, as costly as it was. You ought to celebrate.]

"There's one cost you can return," Mara murmured under her breath. "That was the agreement."

[So impatient! There must be at least one person you can appreciate this triumph with, despite what has been lost.]

Mara couldn't help scrunching her nose at the implication, which drew a soft chuckle from Mythal. She kept walking, managing to wave to Tevene citizens that were pushing through rubble that stopped to call out at the sight of her. If only they knew who she really was.

Her feet led Mara towards Dock Town, which after the initial attack by the blighted Vyrantus was in even more of a shambles now. Here Mara made herself dig in and help with shifting through rubble: clearing passages, pulling free buried valuables, even kicking away dead blight tendrils to get the main feline entry to the Felis Forum cleared. She paused when one of the Forum's residents, a dusty calico whose meow was shaky, rubbed against her leg in thanks, which meant Mara of course ducked to run her fingers over the cat's back. This meant she only heard brisk footsteps and didn't see who they belonged to before their owner spoke.

"What are you doing here, love, I thought you'd be higher up with the -"

Mara froze at that voice. Familiar, as if from a dream - from what felt like another lifetime, even if it was only months ago. The only person that could call her 'love' had likely mistaken her identity, which wasn't hard to do since Mara first began wearing a replica of her mother's armor that the Caretaker had uncovered in the Fade and brought to her. She straightened slowly, even though her chest was clenching with shock and regret, and turned toward the owner of the voice. He was tall and lean, with dark gold hair tied back from his narrow face. His familiar blue and tan robes, finished with a feathery mantle that was immortalized in Uncle Varric's most famous book, weren't hanging off his frame like Mara remembered but rather were comfortably fitted. No longer being consumed from inside by his interior passenger. He stared back at her, and Mara knew he'd placed her the second his nostrils flared and eyes widened - her nose and her eyes.

"...Mara," her father, Anders the apostate mage, Anders the rebel that started the Circle rebellion, breathed. Mara managed a shaky nod before Anders crossed to her in two long strides and embraced her fiercely; Mara held tightly to him as his familiar scent - moss and herbs, without the too-clean itch of Justice - washed over her. "You...how, how, I...I thought you were in Nevarra, that's what you mother said when I woke up from..."

The last time Mara had seen her father had been just after Justice had transferred from Anders to her; Anders himself had been deeply asleep, recovering from the separation when Mara had said her farewells and left Kirkwall. It had been three months later when the War of the Banners had broken out and Mara had fled with Uncle Varric and Lace Harding.

"...I guess my letter got lost with...everything," Mara stammered as she loosened her hold, enough that Anders could step back and look her over. "Yeah, this was...me. Accidentally caused, definitely fixed."

"Oh, I bet Justice loves the irony," Anders laughed, and Mara felt that inner hollowness echo deep in her chest. Her lack of response made him refocus on her, one hand cradling her cheek. "Wait...I don't sense him, there's..."

"...he's trapped," Mara confessed as the grief and anguish hit again. Justice - the spirit her father had befriended when they were both with the Wardens in Ferelden, and later possessed him (to their, and most of southern Thedas's, detriment) - had always been with Mara, as long as she could remember. The past week without him was ongoing agony that not even Mythal's habitation could soothe. "I-in the Fade, he...he protected me from Solas's blood magic but..."

"Oh, treasure," Anders murmured, gathering Mara up again as tears began to run down her face again. "All right, it's all right...how about this, hm? Let's help here, and then I'll help find him with you. He's still my friend too, despite...clearly not being good for each other. All right?"

Mara felt him press his lips to her head - the first kiss Mara had received from her father, without an echo from Justice. Only him. She tightened her arms around him and nodded into Anders's chest, and wept.

[thievinghippo]

🌻 for all your Rooks!

🌻 How old is your Rook? How do they feel about celebrating their birthday? What gift has meant the most to them?

These will all be when the game starts! It is amazing how many of my Rooks aren't sure of the date of their birth!

Edda is my youngest Rook. She is 23 at the start of the game. At least she thinks she's 23. She never met her mother and her father died when she was a toddler. She was raised by other servants in the noble house her parents worked, and none of them ever celebrated a birthday. So she never did, too. Emmrich is horrified and basically demands she choose a day so he can have a very specific excuse to spoil her. She chooses the day they defeated Elgar'nan. Like, while they're fighting, she tells him that she's decided today is her birthday. As a gift, he gives her one the gold bangles he wears on his left arm, the one he purchased for himself when he was promoted into the inner circle of the Watchers (that's the thicker one with the pattern)

This got long, so the rest goes behind the cut!

Sonnet is 27 at the start of the game. The day that they celebrate is the day she was found in the crypt, not her actual birthday. They don't know the actual day. When she was a child, she desperately wanted a stuffed animal of some sort. One of the orphanage workers made a nug plushie and gave it to her on her birthday. I envision that it was in her pack and sits in a place of honor in her room at the Lighthouse

Isle is 24 and never really cared all that much about birthdays. They were just another day for her. But that changed when she and Lucanis started their relationship. Suddenly, he had a perfect good reason to cook her absolute favorite meal and dessert. I mean, he would do that all the time anyway, just because. But this was an official reason! It's technically not a birthday gift, but Viago declared her a full-fledged Crow on her birthday, which was quite memorable for her

Oanez is 29 and grew up in a really poor alienage in Ostwick. Once their magic appeared, they were sent to the Circle until it fell in the mage/templar war. They fought in that war. (Oanez was all of 19 at the time). They still hate Templars. Yes, even Rana and Tarquin. After that war, they joined the Wardens for reasons they couldn't even tell you at this point. Long story short, they never celebrated birthdays. Just a number to them. After the gods are defeated, Davrin likes to take them on a trip for their birthday. A little family vacation with Assan

Laire is 30 at the start of the game loves birthdays. Loves celebrating them and celebrating her friends birthdays. She ends up making a HUGE fuss over Taash on each birthday they say it's too much, but secretly they're really, really pleased. Laire's best gift was from her mother, also a Lord of Fortune, who gave her her first turret, which completely changed the way she fought on the battlefield

Yichen thinks he's in his late 30s? Before joining Varric's team, he was an enforcer for the Dwarven ambassador's office for almost 20 years, and he was basically an adult when that started. Celebrates his birthday on First Day, because it's easy to remember. After the game, be basically becomes a bodyguard for the detective agency, and Neve gives him a notebook so he can keep his own notes, and they could work on notes together (and he would stop stealing hers). For whatever reason, he found that incredibly romantic

Daahir is another Ingellvar, so another crypt baby, so no idea what his actually birthday is. He's the oldest of my Rooks (because I wanted Harding to have a silver fox. It's what she deserves!) He's 46 at the start of the game, only 12 years younger than Emmrich. I headcanon that his last name is Ingellvar because he was found at the Ingellvar family tomb in the Necropolis. Eventually, he decided his birthday was the 'death day' of the last Ingellvar entombed in that specific crypt. His most meaningful gift was when Emmrich did his corpse whispering thing on that one skeleton that turned out to have rescued Rook when they were a baby. Emmrich didn't even know it was Daahir's birthday. Daahir kept that information to himself

Aahan also has no idea when their birthday is or honestly? Even how old they are. Their best guess is early 30s. They never celebrate an actual birthday until they were with the Veil Jumpers. The team they was out in the field with said they needed a reason to celebrate, so Aahan said it was their birthday. Even though they had absolutely no idea if it was or not. But the team set up a bonfire that night and drank and ate their best rations and had a wonderful evening. After that, Aahan always made sure they celebrated that specific day with their friends. They've only ever gotten one birthday gift, a really nice hair comb from Bellara. They treasure it

[umbracirrus]

3, 8, 12, 15 for Elyse, Ragna and Thorne from the OC ask <3

3. What are their religious affiliations, and how does their worship (or lack thereof) affect their day-to-day life?

Elyse - She technically worships the 8 Divines, but isn't exactly devout beside the very occasional prayer to one or two of them (e.g. a prayer to Arkay when she realises she couldn't escape her execution in Helgen and that their last rites were interrupted, and a prayer to Akatosh to keep her alive as she went to confront Alduin). The only time it really impacts on her day-to-day life is that Balgruuf worships the 9 Divines as opposed to the 8, but she's entirely understanding of the matter and thinks that people should believe as they wish (and she's used to it anyway, her mother worshipped 9 Divines too).

Thorne - she doesn't really have any religious affiliations. She'll on occasion yell things such as 'Divines!' but she doesn't really affiliate with anything. It doesn't really have much impact on her life, though she will get frustrated at Heimskr pretty often over his preaching about Talos. She doesn't even follow Nocturnal, even being a Nightingale.

Ragna - she was raised by her mother to follow the 8 Divines until the incident that led to her family dying and her de facto adoption by the bandits at Knifepoint Ridge, specifically by one called Fenric. When Fenric caught her praying to the 8, he more or less told her 'the Divines won't help you, the only thing that'll help you survive out here is money'. So since then, she's made her belief in the 8 a lot more subtle - money is what controls the sway of her life.

8. What is their favorite kind of food that can only be found in Skyrim?

Elyse - she loves sweet food, so anything sweet really!! In particular she's quite fond of a snowberry crostata - though nothing could beat Lydia's cooking (which is technically only found in Skyrim, and Elyse is very incompetent with cooking so. It doesn't take much to impress her.)

Thorne - She will on occasion indulge on some of Skyrim's different cheeses!! Usually accompanied with some spiced wine.

Ragna - she's admittedly grown quite fond of the meat from creatures hunted in the Falkreath forests. It's quite simple, but it's what she grew used to.

12. What are their prejudices? What groups have they come to think of as 'other'? Mages? Nords? Elves? Lollygaggers?

Elyse - she likes to think that she doesn't have many prejudices, given what her parents experienced in Winterhold being a mage/non-mage couple... But she does have a few, mostly unconscious, prejudices about the opposing sides in the civil war.

Thorne - she has quite the strong prejudice against Altmer, believing them all to be Thalmor or Thalmor-affiliated, after having been a prisoner of the Thalmor for a time earlier in her life, pre-thieves guild. It's mostly out of fear of being tortured again for information that she does not know, but when with the Companions she does try to work on it and move on from some of that trauma.

Ragna - she's very much of a 'everyone is an enemy' towards anyone who isn't in her closest circle of associates. She was simply taught by Fenric not to trust anyone. But money can change her prejudices pretty fast... And Siddgeir pays her enough to keep her on-side. It's admittedly quite useful for her job as a housecarl - it keeps her alert and on her toes.

15. How do they feel about consorting with daedra? Do they collect their artifacts? Are there some they would never interact with vs. some they would consider calling upon?

Elyse does not like daedra, end of. The closest thing to a daedra she trusts is her own conjurations (i.e. Spectre the wolf and her weapons). She's aware that Hermaeus Mora keeps trying to pull the strings to have her as his champion but she refuses any of his boons and will not carry out any of his tasks. The only thing in Hermaeus' favour she has done is defeat Miraak. She also has a distinct dislike for Mephala over what the Ebony Blade did to Balgruuf and his family.

Thorne is a Nightingale, so she is technically under Nocturnal... But she took what Karliah said to heart about it being little more than a contract, so that's all she sees it as - a contract. She wasn't happy about signing away her afterlife though, and doesn't want to make other such sacrifices so won't associate with any other daedra as a result. She's got a storm coming with Hircine then lol

Ragna hasn't associated with any daedra, beyond watching Sinding escape the Falkreath jail from her own cell. She's probably not the sort to associate with them, given her attitude towards others as mentioned in the previous question... But she wouldn't say no if she happened to get hold of any of the artefacts (the chaos she would cause with the likes of Mehrunes' razor would be funny though so maybe uh. Maybe I'll find a way to help her get hold of that...... Maybe a gift from Falkreath's new Thane, aka the not created as of yet dragonborn from her reality.)

[fangsandfeels]

Oct 01 - Introduce your Hero of Ferelden

Bernadette Cousland.

Champion/Berserker.

A young noble, trained to fight with sword and shield. A doubting Andrastian (if it wasn’t for the visions of her family during the trial, she’d be a 100% non-believer) who stopped going to Chantries and is rarely seen praying. Beloved daughter, hardened by the trauma of losing her entire family in just one night. Lethally determined to avenge her loved ones. Can be a good friend to you, but her mission comes first. No matter how kind-hearted her decisions may seem, they are driven by cold pragmatism more often than not:

Killed Branka and destroyed the Anvil because the weapon was going to be used by Orzammar only and she refused to be one responsible for giving something so potent and dangerous to the people who couldn’t even handle their own damn politics.  

Saved Connor without killing Isolde because she needed Eamon’s full support - even if it meant doing things the hard way.

Supported the mages in the Broken Circle quest because by the end of the day, mages contributed to Uldred’s defeat considerably more than templars who couldn't do shit against anything out of their routine, and were a much more powerful asset against the Darkspawn.

Convinced Zathrian to remove the curse – she understood his pain greatly, but those who destroyed his family were long gone and now he was hurting his own family, not just outsiders. Also werewolves wouldn’t be very reliable in terms of fighting the Darkspawn – who can guarantee they won’t lose control and attack other troops?

Sided with Harrowmont against Bhelen because she only wanted a predictable ally against Blight – Bhelen didn’t look very trustworthy to her and she had no time to think whether or not he’ll be true to his promise.

Recruited Stan and Zevran because she needed more people – initially had no sympathy for them and considered them expendables, but changed her opinion after fighting back to back. Became really good friends with Zevran, got Stan's respect after beating the shit out of him when he tried to take over. Is very aware that she would kill Stan without hesitation should he come to Ferelden among Qunari invaders. Wouldn't have hard feelings about it.

Kept the Ashes of Andraste safe. Didn’t do it out of reverence though. Her faith hadn’t been the same since that dreadful night. But if the Ashes had the healing properties, she’d rather keep them as they were instead of listening to a bunch of mad-eyed cultists.

Killed Howe eagerly, but spared Loghain – but not because she forgave him. She never did. In fact, she still thought he deserved to die for practically approving her family’s execution without even looking for proof of their guilt. She initiated him to Wardens to make him share the same doomed fate she was subjected to because of him and Howe. And when he volunteered to deal the final blow to the Archdemon, she didn’t stop him.

Hardened Alistair and made him marry Anora to have at least some of “her” people among Ferelden rulers.

Refused to let Morrigan do her ritual. Despite her being rather open-minded about mages and not supportive of Circles, despite her friendship with Morrigan, Bernadette didn’t think that preserving an Old God’s soul will be of any good.

Would go full John Wick on anyone who dares to hurt her mabari, the only family she has.

[sacred-stanning]

Chapter 12 Part 3: Disembarking Difficulties

Evidently Ephraim and his army forgot their passports, because they are having a lot of trouble getting off the ship into Grado.

Seth starts us off by looking at the damage he can do to these two guys. He can finish off the one below him, and that guy has 2-range, so I have him take that one out over the one to his right.

Franz comes over to help out. He's a bit faster than Seth, maybe because of his base speed, but also probably because he has an iron sword, unlike the heavy iron blade that Seth has.

Duessel takes care of the cavalier above.

And this clears the way for Ross to get at the mage, and to get a level up in the process. He also gets to B axes! He can use that axe that Dozla showed up with last map now!

Over on the left side, we have these gargoyles floating over the water. One of them has a horse slayer that it'll drop on defeat. Fortunately, none of my horses went over to the left!

Vanessa takes this cavalier out of the way, but I try to keep her low since she'll be part of a wall to block off the gargoyles.

Getting rid of the cavalier also allows Lute to run up and absolutely destroy this mage.

LUTE!!!!!

This is the wall I make. Actually, only two of the gargoyles can reach. The bottom-right one is out of range of everyone.

Lute went at the mage she destroyed from 1-range so that she would be in range of another mage who's further up. She can take that guy out during enemy phase then.

And that's just what she does! And she gets a pretty good level up too!

Over on the right dock, Ross takes out another mage with his hatchet. I had him use it during player phase even though he was at 1-range at the time just for this reason.

So after enemy phase, this is where we stand. We've got a mercenary and cavalier coming down the left dock, and two mages coming down the right dock, with two spiders just behind them.

Those archers above the ship aren't going to move on their own, so we can ignore them for now.

Neimi does the bow thing and blasts the gargoyle out of the sky.

You can just see it in the left photo, but funny enough, the gargoyle who couldn't reach anyone actually just didn't even move at all.

I check out the mercenary and cavalier to see what we're dealing with up that way.

The merc has a "cut down horses blade". It's called a Zanbato in English, which is actually the reading of the Chinese characters in its name, so they didn't translate it at all for the English version.

The cavalier has a lance reaver.

"Lute, be careful!"

The pegasus rider frowned at Lute and flew in front of her. "Don't you see those two at the end of the dock? What were you going to do, face them all by yourself?"

"Titania, thank you for the book. And thank you for distracting the gargoyle."

"Huh? What are you talking about? We have things to worry about right here right now!" Then the pegasus rider's expression softened a little. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. But please focus on the battle at hand. I don't want you to get hurt."

Lute felt a little confused. She had expected Titania to be happy at being thanked, but it seemed like maybe Lute's timing wasn't so good.

"Also, did you call me Titania again? I'm Vanessa! Titania is my pegasus!"

"Oops", Lute thought. She closed her eyes and visited the pegasus rider section of the library in her head. She filed away the names there.

Titania -> the pegasus

Vanessa -> the pegasus rider with the green hair

Eyes still closed, Lute grimaced. "That's not quite good enough", she thought.

She edited the entry:

Vanessa -> the pegasus rider with the green hair who is nice and gave me the interesting book

question requiring further data: Why is she always looking out for me in battle?

On the right dock, we have these spiders behind the mages. They can do a fair amount of damage, so I'm a little cautious about moving up to attack the mages.

I also still have the guys on the right. I check out this javelin toss from Franz. The hit rate is not great, but it would be useful if Franz could hit this guy, get rid of him, and then be able to counter all of the other 3 enemies on enemy phase. If Franz uses a sword here, he can definitely finish off the pirate, but then he won't be able to counter the other 3 in enemy phase.

What to do...

While I think about that, I put Duessel, Seth, and Ross in place to take hits and counter the mages on enemy phase without being in range of the spiders.

Next time: More trade-equipping silliness

[dragonspined]

"what?" devani's head instantly tilted in curiosity. "but you're human." of course modification of biology was possible, and it made sense given red blood would have given carol away, but for some reason she'd imagined it a temporary thing. did that affect carol's ability to exist in an oxygen environment? kree were built for more nitrogen if she remembered correctly. not that an ill fitted atmosphere seemed to slow them down. gaze flicked toward the beeping sound, neck swiveling to orient exactly where it came from. a few miles off. an easy flight.

when a visual of the ship wasn't offered, they went for the window. "you carry me you lose a hand." with all the grace of a predator devani tipped headfirst out the window. the shift started before legs were even completely out, instantly replacing skin and scaling up mass to well over the largest land creature. momentum carried them back up over the apartment complex on outstretched wings much to the dismay of many birds and persons below. their route is unnecessarily circuitous, but carol didn't need to know that. earthen cities weren't made for such large beings making it difficult for devani to be in natural shape as much as they craved. increasingly small areas of nature left little places for them to roam.

they swung up and around the ship, circling it in lazy rings before landing with a light thud. large head immediately stuck in the entrance. devani carefully maneuvered in after carol save for the occasional stop and sniff. "do you have a cat?" except their companion was already gone-leaving them free to poke around. the kitchen was first and disappointing. nothing for them to snack on that they could eat let alone something for a decent meal. it would be rude to steal anyway as a guest. the bed was decent, soft on white forehead. they straightened at the sound of carol returning, sniffing the box.

she laid by the table, tail curled slightly around one hind foot. long flexible toes picked up a tablet and set it on the table. clearly it was meant for someone significantly smaller than a dragon. but if she could design delicate lifesize glass flowers, she could work a stupidly tiny tablet. it took a couple tries to figure out just how it functioned, thick brows drawn over large eyes in annoyance at the technology. more than a few were irrelevant. other planets or old military commands, shipping orders. "why don't the rusnbek have google on these things?" she grumbled and nudged away another slate for a new one.

it felt like it took hours but was probably only one at most. devani was completely focused on the screens, reading and swiping methodically until she came upon something familiar. then she fumbled in shock, almost dropping the tablet. talons gripped it hard before letting it drop onto the table. tail that had only previously been twitching minutely at the tip started to truly wave, verging on a lash.

none had known what was going on below their mountains. no dragon of any flight wanted to risk going down to check. all they could see from above was explosions, fire and bursts of light. the kree had been systematic. their notes detailed how they'd come from the south where there was less resistance. taken the smaller towns first, easily overcoming resident mages who often did little more than heal a broken bone or boost crops. there were sightings of unicorns and nothing more, the horned ones too fast and wily even for alien invaders. devani was proud of that fact. bases were established quickly to allow kree to spread out. at least one ship was taken down by a flurry of gryphons defending their nests. dragons remaining hidden in their caves hadn't kept their existence a secret.

their exodus was marked as both a triumph and defeat. moving that many at a time made a great big target but that was a one time opportunity. why they hadn't gone east instead, devani still couldn't figure out. flying out over the ocean was substantially safer than by land where they were easily spotted. it had been an absolute mess. a massacre. fire against metal, claws against guns. devani had dug bloody lines in her father's shoulders with the strength of her grip, tucking her head into his back as if it would block out the shrieking. her mother had cleared them a path, breathing heavily but alive.

devani stood without warning, tail sending the tablets flying as they whirled around. wings raised half unfolded as high above their back as the ship's ceiling would allow. their jaws parted with hissing tongue. bright orange lit their chest from within. "this was a mistake."

"i bleed blue, so," she mumbled, a bit awkwardly. she seemed so miniscule now in comparison with the fucking dragon who stood in front of her. now carol noticed how her body language was a bit different than other humans, although hidden well. she wondered what dragon powers exactly came out and when; did they breathe smoke when they were irritated, scratch talons when afraid? was it painful to transform back into a dragon? she had so many questions but tabled them for now; there were more important things at hand. (that didn't erase the excitement that still shone in her eyes, though.)

"that's okay," she started to explain, waving her hands. "i can fly, obviously. my ship's not parked far." despite living on earth not, she tended to drift her ship around sometimes; old habits died hard, and she HATED hotels. she'd parked it just outside the city, hovering above with its cloaking on. she raised her arm again, a soft beeping coming from the technology on her wrist as she turned off the cloaking (and probably scaring some people standing near it, although they must be used to weird earth shit by now). "it's just outside the city. you should be able to find it. not sure if you want to... fly or not." she tried to resist the urge to geek out even further at that statement. "or i can carry you, but i'll never assume that."

whatever the case, they eventually found their way over to carol's ship. once close enough, she opened the back entryway, which led directly inside of her ship. from there, the main area had everything she needed in one giant room -- her kitchen, her bed (on the far side, near the giant side windows, and admittedly unmade) and the console in question. it sat in the center of the room, on top of a table in a little divot in the floor. most of the ship was bare of her own personal belongings (most were at her house now). "make yourself at home," she said once they were inside, giving devani -- her new dragon friend, how fucking cool was that? -- a chance to look around. "i'll be right back."

she entered the small door near the left side of the ship until she was downstairs, in the control room/weapon storage room that was just as bare as the rest of the ship. popping open the panels below the control panel, she sorted through for a while until she found what she was looking for. the specific kree files she remembered stealing were virtually stored on a series of small tablet-like devices that sat inside of a box near the back of the storage space. she grabbed them all and headed back upstairs. hopefully this had was devani was looking for. as a woman of earth, she didn't really know what it was like to have your entire civilization be lost. as an ex-kree agent, though, she DID know what it was like to have the kree take everything from you.

"this is all of it," she said once she was back upstairs, setting the box down. "you may have to power these back on. set them down on top of that table and they'll charge up and turn on automatically. i hope you find what you're looking for."

[befuddled-calico-whump]

i dare you to write a drabble or something based off of that dream

Dare accepted. (the aforementioned dream)

cw: beating, broken bones, mean friends (lol)

"Why can't I go with you?" Even as the question passed his lips, Romulus knew how stupid it was to ask.

He wasn't the newest member of the Order of Ruin, and he sure as hell wasn't the weakest. He'd even wager he was the Order's best mage; at the very least their best evocationalist. But none of that changed the fact that he was the grandson of a lord. Even disinherited, his education had been the best money could buy, and his surname granted him a facade of respect in most cities, at least until people figured out who he was working with these days.

"Six people's already pushing it. Seven would be damn near impossible," the leader of their little group, Meryn, said in reply, not even glancing back at him. She was sat on a fallen log, shaping a wrist-thick oak branch with a dagger. "Besides, I have a job for you."

"Oh?" Rom cocked his head, feigning interest, though he was already wary. Only the gods could've counted the number of pointless details he'd been sent on, seemingly for no other reason but to temporarily get rid of him. "What kind of job?"

"Infiltrating Dusken Keep is only half the work," she said, a sliver of bark taking flight as she made a rapid slice down the branch. "We still need to get Sir Gilean and his merry band of nitwits to show up."

"I take it that's where I come in." It sounded useful at least, and even had the potential to be fun. If he played his cards right, maybe he could impress the rest of the team, and the Order would stop letting his talents go to waste. "What were you thinking? I could cut off the roads. Start a storm. Herd them towards the keep and force them to take shelter. Or--"

"No," Meryn cut him off. "They've overcome obstacles before, and I don't like our odds of facing them head-on. The only way to defeat Gilean is by springing a trap on him. " She cast a smile over her shoulder. "And you'll be the bait."

Naturally. Rom couldn't quite hide the scowl that darkened his features. "I see."

"Oh don't look so upset, Hart. Your role is essential."

"What am I to do?" Rom snapped. "Wave my arms, fire a few lightning bolts at the sky, and hope they'll chase me all the way to Dusken?"

"I had something smarter in mind." At last, she spun fully around. Good. If she was hell-bent on giving him stupid orders, she should at least have the decency to look him in the eye throughout.

"You'll guide them there personally," she said, "and ensure they don't veer off course."

"Guide them? You don't think they'll recognize me?"

Meryn rolled her eyes. "Not everyone knows or cares who you are, Hart."

"Gilean's seen my face. He knows I'm with the Order," Rom protested.

"So you'll tell him you've had a change of heart." She sheathed her blade, flicking a residual chunk of bark off the makeshift club in her lap. "That you've 'seen the error of your ways', and wish to redeem yourself by leading him to a secret meeting at Dusken Keep."

Not only did she want him as bait, she wanted him to play a traitor. The insult wasn't lost on him. "I'd never betray the Order," he said indignantly. "Even someone as thick as Gilean will see right through that lie."

The corner of Meryn's mouth quirked up. "You're right. He'll never fall for it, not unless you've dressed the part."

Before he could ask what she meant, the newly-carved club struck him in the stomach. Rom doubled over, more surprised than anything else, and dumbly remained there as Meryn cracked a second blow into his ribcage.

In his peripheral, he could see the rest of his teammates emerging from the treeline, surrounding him, but by then his initial shock had worn off. The incantation for a shielding ward was on his lips; the familiar buzz of lightning sprung to his fingertips---

"I thought you'd never betray the Order."

---and immediately fizzled out. Damn it all, this was how it was going to be? He could fight back. He knew he stood a chance, even six to one, but he also knew that was what Meryn wanted. One blow, one move in self-defense, and she'd have a reason to kick him out. The only way to avoid that, to prove all of them wrong, to show that he was serious, that he belonged here, was to shut up and take it.

So Rom did.

As the blows hit him in a flurry---the unskilled kicks and jabs of the mages, the sharper punches from the group's muscle, the bone-cracking swings from Meryn's club---all Rom did was try to protect his face and not bite off his own damn tongue.

Even when he dropped to his knees, then to his side, curling up to protect his abdomen, the attacks didn't cease. The world was a blur of boots. A haze of pain, spiking white-hot whenever someone scored a lucky hit and he felt something break or give in a way it shouldn't.

The beating went on beyond logic, zipping right past 'because it'll look more believable', right into 'because we hate you'. Rom tried to pretend the tears distorting his vision were only because of his probably-broken nose, and dully wondered if a real betrayal was part of their plan. If they wanted him to call it quits and actively turn against the Order. Hell if he would. He wouldn't give up so easily, he'd show them--

"Enough." Meryn's voice rang out above the soft thuds of boot on flesh, and for a moment the clearing was quiet, the only sound Rom's shuddering gasps.

He whimpered through clenched teeth, aware of every inch of himself, how the pain throbbed like an uneven heartbeat, how it drove spikes through his chest with every breath.

Meryn's fingers tangled themselves in his hair, forcing his head up. Not gentle, but not overly rough either. Rom tried to hold her stare, but the world spun around him.

"There. Think that's enough to fool him?" she said, still half out of breath.

Rom didn't try to answer. He knew anything he managed to say wouldn't be coherent anyway.

"Gilean's party will be traveling through these parts in a day or so," Meryn said, releasing him. He didn't have the strength to hold himself up, and went face-first into a cluster of dead leaves.

A day or so. Gods, was she just going to leave him here? Was he supposed to drag himself through the woods, calling for help until Gilean maybe stumbled upon him?

She must've wanted him to protest. To give up, to go home. To cry, and beg her not to make him do this.

But he wouldn't. He'd show her, show them. Romulus Hart was worthy of the Order of Ruin.

When he said nothing, Meryn shrugged. "Well. You know the plan. Bring them to Dusken Keep. We'll be waiting."

Her boots crunched over dead leaves as she walked away, leaving him alone.

[nhularin]

OT7 ★

crack! headcanons

bf! Text messages

bf! Text messages pt.2

bf! insta stories

enha as newjeans songs

SOUR PROM

SERIES

hey reddit! AITA...

hyung line x reader

→ in which four idiotic lovesick men try to find comfort in a shitty app after their break up. but! what happens when you find their burner account?

HEESEUNG ᵎᵎ

Hes cool! But...

→ OR : three things that make you question your relationship

cool with you

-> you loved him, and always will.

do you get deja vu when shes with you?

-> nothing hurts more than seeing lee heeseung doing the stuff you both used to do with another girl. Watching him wrap his jacket around her, playing the same song you both liked around her. everything, from the way he touches her, gives her gifts, was a carbon copy of your relationship. does he get deja vu when he’s with her?

HEADCANONS

boyfriend heeseung who...

BLURBS

hee with an idol s/o

JAY ᵎᵎ

HES COOL! BUT....

→ OR : three things that make you question your relationship

im not gonna be the one to get hurt

→ right person, wrong time, and a lot of miss communication

1 step forward, 3 steps back

-> you had to describe your park jongsaeng in one word, it'd be unpredictable. he was a gentleman, absolutely selfless when it came to his loved ones. somehow you seem to be the only exception. you didn't understand then, and you sure as hell don't understand now.

downpour.

JAKE ᵎᵎ

Forever, always (soulmate! au)

→ In this tale of destiny, two souls longed for that extraordinary connection

SHAME GAME

smau, coming soon!

→ yn has no ambitions. Except for graduating and getting as far away from this mess of a town as quick as possible. With too much free time and an oh so annoying teacher coming at her back, she signs up to be the broadcaster of the Basketball club. Only problem is: she suffers from chronic shit talking and Jake Sim is having none of it!!

you dont even know my name do ya?

-> in which jake is head over heels with that cute barista

HEADCANONS

hes COOL! BUT...

-> OR : three things that make you question your relationship

SUNGH00N ᵎᵎ

Perfect duo

→ when sunghoon forgot his lines, you just know what to do

WHATS YOUR ETA?

→ your friends have warned you about him, will you listen to them now?

GET UP

written series

→ A mage who struck himself and a heroine who couldn't defeat her inner monster

ENOUGH FOR YOU

-> you tried everything, you really did. as the school's hottest student, park sunghoon was in constant spotlight, might it be with classmates or being the light of the party. and for that, you did your best at making your presence worthy in his life. but deep down, you knew you couldn't compete with the girls who seemed much better than you, people who are enough for him

DRABBLE

Bloodlust

HEADCANONS

boyfriend sunghoon who.....

SUN00 ᵎᵎ

oh my, oh my god!

→ your friends are curious about the mysterious guy you've been seeing. well! today's not the day!

JUNGW0N ᵎᵎ

WHATS AFTER LIKE ?! y.jw

Idol SMAU !

→ Life is not easy as a rookie and you know that! After going viral with your fancam you have gained not only the attention of the public but also that of Enhypens cat like leader. What happens if you wake up one day with your names trending on twt ?!

late night shenanigans

→ two lovers enjoying their presence in the glistening moonlight

breezy mischief

-> you and jungwon spend a summer evening with joy

oh, say it ditto

→ you love him, you really do, but does he feel the same? or in which you hope for his words of affirmations

Yang Jungwon's goal of being Employee Of The Month

-> the two of you have always been competitive. from the moment you both started working at taco bell, there had been an unspoken rivalry: who could wrap burritos better? who could handle the most customers during rush hour? with your good for nothing manager announcing a new incentive to boost team productivity: the employee of the month, a race between you and your oh so annoying co-worker begins

HEADCANONS

BOYFRIEND JUNGWON WHO...

NI-KI ᵎᵎ

perfect sacrifice

→ niki realizing that despite the hardships, he will alwas have someone by his side

oceans away

→ young love doesn't always last, but the memories do

you got me looking for attention

→ you had done all you could to subtly show your affection, and yet, it seemed he remained oblivious to your efforts

EGOIST

-> "show the world whar a real egoist looks like, nishimura"

TUMBLR.COM

smau, fluff

-> being a writer is hard, especially when you're a hardcore stan on tumblr.com. so when the legendary niki writer disappeared out of the blue, the readers were naturally heartbroken! but! what happens when their beloved nishirikithinker got revealed as THE yn of the hot new girl group?!

HEADCANONS

boyfriend niki who...