#but had a great time none da lesse

[drakorn]

Rewriting Veilguard Part 4 - The Veil Jumpers

Rewriting Veilguard Part 3 - The Grey Wardens

Disclaimer: I don't hate the game, I actually think it's quite great given the development hell Bioware went through in those 10 years. This is more of a hypothetical universe where there was less of that behind the scenes drama. Just a fun writing exercise.

Writing an Origin Story Mission for the Veil Jumpers

The Veil Jumpers are…interesting, the way they are presented in the game right now. At first you might assume they are Dalish, but then they are not, or at least not anymore, because they let anyone join their group. Then they all seemingly know about the true nature of the Evanuris and actively oppose them.

I have to admit, when the one faction that strictly deals with matters of the ancient elves and has the most visible Dalish influence, I expected a bit…well…more Dalish behaviour, I suppose. When I saw how Strife and Irelin responded to the Evanuris returning, I had a bit of a “…huh…” reaction. I expected at least some elves to have a crisis of faith, and Bellara contemplating how horrible this is for one or two scenes does not really count in my opinion.

So, in the Veil Jumper origin story we are about to experience, we have to tackle the following questions in a satisfying manner:

Why do so many seemingly Dalish elves allow outsiders into their midst?

Why does everyone apparently know of the Evanuris’ true nature?

Why does not a single elf have any kind of crisis of faith upon learning that their gods are evil?

At least one of these questions is going to be answered with “this doesn’t happen in the rewrite." I’ll let you guess which one it is.

So, without further ado, let us experience a potential Veil Jumper origin story!

Creating Rook

For a third time, let us press the start button. This time, we choose the Veil Jumper origin, and the little blurb text reads as follows:

“You are a Veil Jumper. This daring group explores ancient elven ruins in Arlathan Forest. Initially founded by the Dalish, they now, albeit reluctantly, accept anyone into their ranks who is brave and cunning enough to face Arlathan’s reality-warping magic. As one of their senior members, you are quite familiar with the preserved lore of Elvhenan and are now entrusted with leading an expedition into the unknown. But will that trust be warranted?”

I think the Veil Jumpers are the trickiest faction to explain the “you can play all races” angle. The Shadow Dragons consist of the oppressed and those willing to fight against tyranny, the Grey Wardens literally cannot afford to discriminate, but the Veil Jumpers? They were, quite probably, founded by the Dalish clans who lived in Arlathan Forest. And if there is one thing, one crucial trait the Dalish are known for across all previous games, is the fact that they really don’t like outsiders. Clan Lavellan was one of the exceptions to the rule.

So, for this rewrite’s version of Veil Jumper Rook, I’m going to do some world building to explain just why everyone brave and cunning enough is welcome to join them. Because all the building blocks are right there in DA lore, we just have to use them.

Let us go back to Tevinter Nights where we meet Strife and Irelin. We know they are from Clan Morlyn, Strife specifically having joined it after coming from a city elf background. We can presume that Clan Morlyn remained in Arlathan Forest to study and combat the wild magic awakening in it. Eventually, however, Clan Morlyn realised they were just too outnumbered against this raw power. So, begrudgingly, they chose to expand. At first, they picked up the straggling remnants of some of the other Dalish clans who lived in or traversed through Arlathan Forest, none of them numbering enough to survive on their own. But even that didn’t get Clan Morlyn the desired effect.

Clan Morlyn started taking in former prisoners of the Antaam (who were deforesting the place a few years ago), but that was not enough. By then, however, they slowly began to accept outside help, even share in their knowledge of the elven past. They looked at Clans Ralaferin and Lavellan as examples of what can happen if the People open themselves up more. While it is risky, it also brings rewards.

Eventually, the Dalish and the outsiders all merge into one large Clan Morlyn, of which several members form the Veil Jumpers, a force of knowledge and protection.

Now, as we know of Dalish naming customs, there is the first name, the family name, and the clan name. Rook’s Veil Jumper name is Aldwir, doesn’t sound pretty elven to me. But what if Rook’s name is their first name, then Aldwir, and then Morlyn? But how would that work for the different races being all named Aldwir? Well, here’s how we do it: they are all part of the same family. But how does that work?

Early into this expansion of Clan Morlyn, a Dalish woman, let’s call her Ashara, and a human man, let’s call him Beldon, met, fell in love, and married. Both had lost their previous spouse and found very common and loving ground. The man’s last name was Aldwir so they chose that one for the new union. Here’s how Rook’s race affects this backstory:

If Rook is an elf, they are a Dalish elf, the Morlyn mother being their biological parent from the first marriage.

If Rook is a human, they are the child of the human man who came to Clan Morlyn, again, a result of the father’s first marriage.

If Rook is a dwarf or a qunari, they are the adopted child of the human man who came to Clan Morlyn.

For the sake of this hypothetical playthrough, let us play a Dalish mage here.

So, once we finalise our Aldwir, Varric continues with his narration, pretty much summarising the Veil Jumper backstory I just proposed there. He also emphasises on how perilous and dangerous their expeditions into Arlathan Forest are.  But because of their knowledge to all things Elvhenan, he thinks this is the perfect place to look for the right person for his endeavour.

The Veil Jumper Camp

We begin our story at the Veil Jumper camp, and one thing I’d like to establish pretty early on is that the camp is incredibly mobile. It’s been visually alluded to in the game, but I really would like to emphasise the use of aravels here, showcasing the Dalish origins of this faction.

The opening scene starts with the aravels sailing through the forests, until they reach and make halt at a great lake surrounded by tall trees. In the distance, we can see some amazing elvhen ruins that are surprisingly still intact after all these years.

We’re also going to be immediately made aware of the fact that Arlathan Forest has some strange stuff going on with the Veil as there are just so many floating buildings and other anomalies scattered throughout the woods, the shores of the lake featuring an extensive amount on their own.

A note on the lake itself: This is, of course, meant to be the Arlathan Crater, where the ancient Tevinter magisters waged their final battle against the elves before sinking the city into the ground, or so we are meant to believe. I’m going to announce an immediate change right now and say that we are not going to see the ruined capital city of Arlathan here. Because…reasons. Either it’s sunk into the ground, or…well, something else.

Meeting Irelin

The game starts with us stepping out of our aravel, because yeah we get one, pretty cool right? Irelin, one of the Veil Jumper leaders, wants to see us. This is our big day, today we begin our expedition, and now we actually get to hear what this expedition is all about:

The Veil Jumpers have been observing a cave on a small island in the lake for a while now. It could lead to the ruins of a part of Arlathan itself, which is still rumoured to be sunk deep beneath the waves. Our first task is to head to D’Meta’s Crossing, get our supplies, gather our team, and head off. This expedition, consisting of three people, shall be led by us, Aldwir, Bellara, one our most accomplished elven historians, and…Merrill.

NOTE: For the duration of this prologue, Rook shall be referred to as Aldwir, for the same reasons as stated in the other origins. Also, Merrill wasn’t killed in the events of DA2, allowing her to appear here now. In this World State, she romanced Hawke.

So, with Merrill, I am approaching this from a very simple perspective: If she’s alive, she’s here. If she isn’t, she just isn’t.

Our next immediate goal is to head to D’Meta’s Crossing, where we shall meet Strife and Bellara, who need to give us some additional briefing.

Exploring the Veil Jumper Camp

Before we head to D’Meta’s Crossing, Aldwir has the opportunity to do some exploration of the Veil Jumper camp. At this point, we can have the following encounters here:

We can encounter Myrion, the mage from Tevinter Nights, who escaped the Antaam along with Strife. He’s now a Veil Jumper and one of those in charge of defending the caravan during travels.

If she’s alive, which she is in this case, we can have an early meet-up with Merrill. We learn that she left Kirkwall after the events of Trespasser and wandered Thedas in the attempt to learn more about the Eluvians and the mysterious Crossroads. We can ask about Hawke, but she’ll be very quiet and sad about him, as he’s presumed dead after the events at Adamant Fortress.

NOTE: In this World State, Clan Sabrae survived and Merrill’s Eluvian was restored.

D’Meta’s Crossing

So, D’Meta’s Crossing will have a bit of a different role in this rewrite. You see, when playing DAV, I wondered how such a village could exist in Arlathan Forest, inhabited by both elves and humans and a human mayor to boot. How is this possible?

Well, thankfully, the worldbuilding we’ve done a little earlier gives us the perfect way out: D’Meta’s Crossing is the settlement Clan Morlyn and the Antaam survivors constructed for themselves after deciding to build a community together. This is where the civilised, non-fighting part that isn’t the Veil Jumpers resides.

However, I am going to change the character of the mayor. Instead of a generic slimy human guy, this rewrite’s version of the mayor is an elven man named Venalin, who is also the Keeper of Clan Morlyn. The idea here really is to show just how much the Dalish of Arlathan Forest were willing to adapt due to necessity.

Our goal in D’Meta’s Crossing is to find Strife and Bellara to fully get our little expedition going. But first, we can do some initial exploration of the settlement:

Instead of it being a regular human-built village as it aesthetically is made out to be in the game, D’Meta’s Crossing is a bit of a mix of cultures: It’s primarily Dalish, we can see how the foundations used to be Clan Morlyn. There are repurposed aravels everywhere, and shepherds are taking care of halla on the outskirts. A great vhenadahl stands in the centre, invoking memories of the city elves. But then there are also normal human-made houses, as well as several collections of tents here and there. It’s a fun place to look at! Kinda chaotic, but also strangely idyllic.

We can run into Eldrin, Davrin’s uncle figure, who is the chief halla shepherd here. As we established earlier, all elves of Arlathan Forest were absorbed into Clan Morlyn and the Veil Jumpers, so it only makes sense for him to be here. He can even mention Davrin if we talk to him and wonder how he’s doing, softly setting him up for later.

We hear whispers about the Blue Wraith, who is, of course, Fenris. He used to roam Arlathan Forest and hunt down slavers. But when the time came for the forest’s inhabitants to band together, he left.

Last but not least, we get to meet our parents, in this case our biological Dalish mother and our human stepfather. We exchange in a few pleasantries and can actually establish the family dynamic between us.

NOTE: In this World State, Fenris survived and Danarius is dead, allowing him to fully embrace the mantle of the Blue Wraith.

An Old Friend

When we reach Strife, he is currently in a meeting with Keeper Venalin, Irelin, and, as, of course, needs to happen, Varric Tethras. Strife introduces us as Aldwir, the leader of the upcoming expedition into Arlathan Crater. Here we get to really see that Strife grew up as a city elf. He just has that connection with outsiders that only the rarest Dalish elves possess. Keeper Venalin is, of course, known to us. Since we’re playing a Dalish elf here, he is extra fond and respectful towards us.

Varric, of course, knows Strife and Irelin from the Missing comics. He doesn’t know Aldwir, though. In our exchange with him, we can establish just how Dalish we are. Despite Clan Morlyn now containing non-elves, do we act as forthcoming to actual outsiders, or are we cordial and respectful?

Since Merrill is part of the Veil Jumpers in this World State, however, the two share a heartfelt reunion, and we learn that it was actually Varric who encouraged her to join up in the first place. That will immediately make him a more respected figure among the Veil Jumpers as Merrill is one of the best historians and researchers around, equal only to Bellara. This reunion carries a sombre tone, however, as Hawke is presumed dead, and both can relate to that feeling.

Speaking of Bellara, Strife tells us that she’s already gone scouting ahead and awaits us at the entrance to the cave, where we shall commence the expedition together.

When we announce or readiness to depart, we make our way to an aravel repurposed for aquatic travel and set sail across Arlathan Crater.

Arlathan Crater

As we sail across the great lake that once supposedly hosted the great city of Arlathan, we get some really atmospheric shots of Arlathan Forest and truly get a feel for how magical and ancient this place is. This origin story must really come across as a proper adventure, where we’re hunting for old relics and uncovering ancient history, almost like an Indiana Jones film.

We get to have some conversations with Strife, Irelin, Varric, and Merrill, especially with the latter two. When Merrill wonders what brought Varric here in the first place, Varric dodges the topic a little and promises to tell her later. All he can say is he’s on a search. Another quest for the remnants of the Inquisition, perhaps?

As we pass some ruins sticking out of the water, we get a short history lesson on how Tevinter sunk the city into the ground with their blood mages long ago and we can react accordingly, establishing Aldwir’s personality a little more.

This is also a good point to establish how wild the magic of Arlathan Forest is. Strife and Irelin are specifically coming with us to shield the island we’re on from collapsing back into the waters while we’re off investigating underground.

Meeting Bellara

We then arrive on a small island far out on the lake, and find Bellara’s own, smaller boat. Bellara herself has already set up a whole campsite in front of the cave, which looks more like a looming crack into the voids of the earth.

After some back and forth that shows us Bellara’s sheer excitement for what we’re about to do, it’s time to depart into the crack. Strife and Irelin remain above and Varric asks to come along as the fourth member of our little expedition. Strangely enough, however, Merrill is against it. She seems strangely erratic all of a sudden. She really doesn’t want Varric down there. But she can’t properly explain why. So, here we have our first big choice:

Do we let Varric accompany us as a fourth member to this expedition?

Or do we listen to Merrill and have him stay on the surface?

I’m choosing to play Aldwir as willing to cooperate with the outside world in honour of Clan Morlyn letting non-elves into their midst, and my stepfather being a human man, so that’s what we’re going with. Merrill seems resigned to something but whatever we try to gauge the answer from her, she won’t speak up.

The Crater Ruins

We descend into the crater and soon find ourselves traversing a great selection of underground passages. As we do so, we get to see a few strange and marvellous things:

Hardened glass from Ancient Elvhenan through which we can see into the waters of Arlathan Crater. We do, indeed, see great ruins from days long past, claimed by the millennia-old waters. Fishes and other aquatic creatures make their home here. Somewhere in the distance, we see a faint strange glow through one of the windows.

We come across some ancient murals on the walls, depicting June, the elven god of Craftsmanship. This is either a temple to him, or the house of an elven nobleman who was dedicated to him in particular. On some of the murals, we see what appear to be eluvians, with one great mirror in the centre. It’s very blink and you’ll miss it, but it’s there.

At one point, Merrill pulls Varric aside and encourages him to leave while Aldwir and Bellara aren’t listening. She warns him that there are hidden dangers down here, which she doesn’t want to expose him to. Varric states that he’s faced Kirkwall and Corypheus, he can handle an underwater ruin.

At some point, we suddenly sense a strange magical reverberation go through the ruins, and we’re attacked by a bunch of ancient guardian constructs. After defeating them, we sense a great surge of magic from deeper within the ruins and follow it, albeit cautiously.

The Great Gate

At some point, we reach a huge gate, which is secured by two complex locking mechanisms. In order to open it, we need to enter two separate rooms and solve the puzzles within. They’re not going to be too outrageously hard, but still enough of a challenge to get one thinking.

The first room features another mural of June and a fractured dragon statue. We have to magically put it back together to access the locking mechanism. The dragon’s shape is strangely reminiscent of Urthemiel, the Archdemon of the Fifth Blight, but in a non-corrupted, beautiful form.

The second room is almost entirely flooded and features a similar puzzle to the first. But this time, the statue we have to reassemble is one of June himself. At this point, it’s clear we’re in some kind of temple dedicated to the god.

Once the statues are reassembled, it almost looks like they’re facing each other across the rooms. But why are June and a dragon that looks suspiciously like Urthemiel connected? Well, those who played the game already know the lore answer, but I’m going to present these connections in a bit of a slower way than Solas expositioning it all to us.

It's safe to say that Bellara is absolutely ecstatic about all this and has the time of her life, while Merrill, whom we know to be passionate about elvhen history from DA2, is surprisingly quiet.

Suspicious Behaviour

As soon as we’re about to enter through the gate, Merrill suddenly looks as though she’s having a collapse of some sort. Tired, she sits down and closes her eyes. Varric is, understandably, worried about her, but a moment later, she’s back to normal. What was that? What is going on? At this point, our Aldwir is getting a little suspicious. First the insistence of keeping Varric out of here, now this. What is going on? Does Merrill perhaps know more about this place than us? Is there something she’s not telling us?

As Merrill starts to slowly break under the pressure, Varric steps in and defends her from our questioning. Had we not taken him along, we might have heard more here. But now, all we can do is press on and watch for anything perilous.

The Hammer of June

As we descend further into this strange Temple of June, we slowly advance to the bottom of Arlathan Crater, where that odd building with the glowing windows could be seen earlier.

We make our way through the remaining passages, fighting a few guardian constructs along the way, until we enter what appears to be some sort of inner sanctum. A large but defect eluvian decorates the back wall.

In a glowing bubble-like sphere, presumably the source of the glow, we see a hammer, and it’s the most magnificent hammer we have ever laid our eyes upon. It’s as long as a staff and infused with lyrium and, since we’re a mage and can sense it, the raw magic of the Fade.

Bellara and Merrill share a historical geek-out moment as they both immediately come to the conclusion that this must be the Hammer of June, the ancient tool the God of Craftsmanship used to build the very foundations of Arlathan, among other works of beauty. If it’s not that, then at least it must be something similar.

As a Dalish elf, we have a moment of absolute reverence that we may have found something that truly belonged to one of our gods.

You can see that I have changed something here: Unlike in the game, not everyone knows the truth about the Evanuris here. Of course, some do, some of the Southern Dalish clans know, some elves in the North know, but not everyone. This is to set up something later in the game.

Now we are presented with another choice:

Do we return to Strife and Irelin and ask for Veil Jumper backup to safely remove the hammer?

Or do we attempt to remove it by ourselves right now? The risk is greater, but oh boy, so is the reward.

Merrill encourages getting Veil Jumper back-up, as does Varric, for wow does he have experiences with ancient things exploding. Bellara, however, wants to remove and examine it right now. As a very curious Dalish elf, we agree with her and choose to try and remove it now. Something about that greatly seems to upset Merrill.

So, in order to free the hammer from this strange bubble, we would have to somehow dismantle this complex mechanism that’s somehow still intact after all those millennia.

Upon exploring, we find a lyrium-infused base. However, in order to fully access the mechanism, one requires blood magic. Since Merrill is with us, she reveals her blood mage powers to us, willing to spill her own blood to open the bubble. Bellara, however, offers to use her own magic to access the intricate system built by the ancient elves (I refuse to call it Technomancy because that just does not fit into the DA setting). Now we have another choice:

Do we let Merrill go through with the blood magic ritual?

Or do we let Bellara tinker around with the mechanism?

So, at this point, my Aldwir is a bit suspicious of Merrill’s erratic behaviour early on and chooses to trust Bellara on this one. Besides, blood magic isn’t exactly great and my Dalish knows that.

Giving our go-ahead, Bellara begins to slowly override the mechanism’s magic with her own. The base flares up, but then begins to crack. Before we can do anything else, the bubble shatters and the hammer falls onto the ground.

However, this unorthodox approach has awoken something as we hear the ground shake. Then, a gigantic construct shaped like an elven warrior appears from below. It bears June’s vallaslin, which begin to glow. This ensues a boss battle, where we have to destroy the Sentinel of June.

During the battle, the entire room slowly gets wrecked and water starts spilling in. In the end, the Sentinel of June is defeated, but we are left severely beaten and battered.

Betrayal

As we struggle to take the hammer and deliver it to the surface, the great eluvian in the back suddenly comes to life. An entire gang of elves bursts through, led by a tall elf with long white hair.

Varric is stunned, for he recognises the man, albeit faintly. “Abelas?” he asks, confused.

Yes, this scene marks the return of Abelas from DAI. Yes, he could theoretically have been stabbed in the back by Morrigan, but there is nothing to say that he couldn’t have survived that wound.

NOTE: In this World State, the Inquisitor respected the ancient ways of the Temple of Mythal and completed the rituals.

Abelas quickly corrects Varric and refers to himself as Revas. He no longer stands for sorrow but for freedom. For he is now the Dread Wolf’s lieutenant, very much committed to aiding him in his plans to restore Elvhenan. The elves we are facing are agents of Fen’Harel.

So yeah…I know the recent AMA on Reddit revealed that Solas broke off contact with his agents a while ago, but…I don’t really like this, I’m gonna be real. Why have this big set-up at the end of Trespasser only to explain it away in a Reddit post?

So, for this rewrite, the agents of Fen’harel are very much active and Abelas, now going by Revas, is their leader.

And it is here where we are hit with a very unfortunate truth: Merrill is an agent of Fen’Harel, sent specifically to infiltrate the Veil Jumpers and get first-hand intel on the recovery of ancient elven artefacts that Solas might need for his plans. And he definitely requires the Hammer of June. This was Merrill’s final mission. When she went dizzy and sleepy earlier, she was actually letting Revas know that they could come along and collect the hammer. And that’s why she didn’t want Varric coming along.

So yeah, if we choose to play the Veil Jumpers as our origin story, we get a much earlier look at Solas’ plans, as the agents of Fen’harel are our direct faction enemies.

Varric is absolutely dumbfounded by this revelation and can only ask Merrill why she would ever join the Dread Wolf, knowing what he plans to do. Merrill begins to break down, but before she can form an answer, Revas interrupts the conversation by claiming the hammer.

We are now engaged in another boss battle, this time against Revas and the agents of Fen’Harel. Had we followed through with Merrill’s blood magic ritual, we would ironically have better odds now as the Sentinel of June wouldn’t have awoken and wrecked the place earlier.

Revas absolutely wrecks us. Then, he offers Bellara and Aldwir, given our Dalish heritage, the chance to join Fen’harel right now and live to see the old world restored. But both of us are too stunned by the fact that the Dread Wolf is among us. Imagine being a Norse pagan in real life and finding out that Loki has returned and is currently planning to kickstart Ragnarök. That’s pretty much what we’re going through right now with our Aldwir.

Before we can even properly contemplate this idea, Varric interjects and chastises Revas and the other elves for wanting to doom the people they share a world with right now. This angers Revas, for he is an ancient elf and shares Solas’ notion that the Veil is a mistake. He uses the hammer to deliver an absolutely brutal blow to us and the whole facility, which begins to finally crumble beneath the weight of Arlathan Crater. The last thing we see before we get absolutely crushed by the water is Revas ordering the elves to retreat through the eluvian, including Merrill. She gives us one last incredibly heartbroken look, and follows through. Revas disappears last and the eluvian goes dark, before shattering.

Aldwir, Bellara, and Varric are swept away by the waters of Arlathan Crater. Bellara is able to cast a spell that shields her and Varric from the impact, but Aldwir is thrown in a completely different direction. We then lose our conscience.

Rescue

Aldwir is faintly drifting in the waters of Arlathan Crater, until, quite unexpectedly, a large fish picks us up and carries us to the surface. There, we are lifted into the air by Strife, who levitates us onto our aravel. The fish jumps into the air and turns back to Irelin, who lands on deck. Yeah…for those who haven’t read Tevinter Nights: Irelin is actually a shapeshifter. No idea why they didn’t include that part of her character in DAV.

Healing

We wake up at our parent’s house in D’Meta’s Crossing, where Ashara, our mother, tends to our wounds.

She informs us that Varric and the Veil Jumpers saved us from certain death in Arlathan Crater. At this stage, we can show Aldwir being a bit vulnerable should we choose to. It’s not often that we get to interact with actual parental figures in DA.

Beldon, our father, joins the conversation and asks if maybe now is the time to take a little break from the Veil Jumpers.

When we head outside, Strife, Irelin, and Varric await us. Bellara is nowhere to be seen and we are told she has already returned to Arlathan Forest, in preparation for a new expedition, as she needs to get her mind focused now.

It is here where we find out that all three already knew that the Dread Wolf has returned and seeks to restore the ancient world of Elvhenan. What we just saw down there is but a fraction of his agents. Varric still can’t believe Merrill is among them and wonders what the Dread Wolf could have possibly done to convince her.

We also learn the true reason for Varric’s visit: he needs to recruit someone in his fight against the Dread Wolf. He was of the assumption that the Veil Jumpers were the perfect place to look. And it seems that he was right, as Aldwir is standing right there.

The implication is clear: we are to leave the Veil Jumpers and join Varric on his quest. We can either protest or accept immediately. Since my Aldwir is very much devoted to the cause, we shall object at first. But then Strife and Irelin let us know that Merrill may not even have been the only agent of Fen’Harel planted amidst the Veil Jumpers. And now they would know who we are if we reveal our survival. Joining Varric is a perfect cover-up, and they would never see us coming.

We are also encouraged to change our name for the duration of this whole affair. And here we get the Veil Jumper origin of our nickname: when we were still a child, we used to play chess in the evenings, on a board our father had secured from outside. The Rook was our favourite piece. This is told to us by our father, btw, causing for a slightly embarrassing scene. So, half-heartedly, we suggest Rook as our nickname. Varric accepts. “The strongest piece on the chessboard. I like it.”

Leaving D’Meta’s Crossing

We are given a bit of time to pack our things and join Varric outside the village. There are a few things we can do here:

We can, and will, of course, give our parents a heartfelt goodbye family hug.

We can talk to Keeper Venalin and maybe risk urging him to look for anything suspicious among the people of D’Meta’s Crossing. But who knows…maybe he’s in on it? It’s certainly a choice.

We can bid Strife and Irelin goodbye before they return to the Veil Jumper camp. They wish us good luck on our journey and hope to see us again soon. We can express our frustration with losing the Hammer of June, but they don’t hold it against us. Nobody could have foreseen what happened.

Once we’re done, we join Varric and express our readiness to leave. Going by Rook from now on, we accompany our new dwarven friend into the wilds of Arlathan Forest. As we reach a small hill, we turn back to view the almost idyllic nightly image of Arlathan Crater, D’Meta’s Corssing, and the Veil Jumper camp in the woods. We turn back and follow Varric into the unknown.

And there we have it! This is my proposed Veil Jumper origin story. Of course, it’s not perfect, not even close, but it’s a start, isn’t it? Let me know what you think! Next time, we shall head to Treviso and explore an origin story for the Antivan Crows. Stay tuned!

Rewriting Veilguard Part 5 - The Antivan Crows

[onmyo-jin]

original prompt, i hope you don't mind.

zyz + zyc = kiss, the others see them.

Thank you for the prompt, I don't mind at all :D I hope you enjoy these two being idiots

Zhao Yuanzhou's lips are hot against his own. He can taste the wine the demon had been drinking on his tongue when he licks into Zhuo Yichen's mouth and flushes at the realisation that the demon can probably taste his own tea as well. Zhao Yuanzhou surrounds him, envelops him, seems intent on consuming him and Zhuo Yichen is considering letting him do just that. He pushes ever closer to Zhuo Yichen, forcing him to step back to keep his balance. Then his back hits the wall. He has nowhere to go, and nowhere he'd rather be.

From somewhere off to the side Zhuo Yichen distantly registers a gasp, which seems unimportant. The snort that follows does seem important enough to distract his thoughts from the all-consuming demon in front of him. He knows that sound: that is their little mountain god– oh no.

"We should… ah, leave, Xiao Jiu," Ying Lei's voice sounds. The surprise of it, of the others seeming him–them– like this, makes Zhuo Yichen push the demon away. Zhao Yuanzhou moves without complaint, and follows Zhuo Yichen's shocked look towards their friends. His smile is nothing short of evil.

"Don't look Bai Jiu, this is not a demon hunting technique you are old enough to learn just yet," Zhao Yuanzhou says, his voice filled with laughter. He tries to lean against Zhuo Yichen again, but Yichen steps away. A quick glance at their friends tells him Ying Lei has at least covered Bai Jiu's eyes, though probably too late. Bai Jiu's jaw is practically on the floor, and he's not even trying to remove Ying Lei's hand.

/

Dinner is awful. It is even more awkward than Zhuo Yichen feared it would be, and Zhao Yuanzhou is making everything much worse by being nice. He insisted he wanted to sit next to Zhuo Yichen, something Bai Jiu argues with him about practically every meal. Then he insisted he pour the drinks, and worst of all: he keeps putting food in Zhuo Yichen's bowl. They're his favourite foods as well, none of the soggy vegetables but only the crunchy ones, the slices of meat that are neither all lean meat nor all fat… Zhuo Yichen is forced to ask himself how long the demon has known what his favourite foods are, and how closely the demon has been watching him to find out.

Ying Lei is looking anywhere but at Zhuo Yichen, Bai Jiu is sitting on the far side of the table barricaded behind Pei-daren, and Wen Xiao's attention is fixed very firmly on her food from where she sits opposite them.

Da Yao tries to put another bite of food in his bowl, and this time Zhuo Yichen has had enough of his games. He grabs his bowl before Zhao Yuanzhou's chopsticks get there, and hisses: "Stop making everything worse, you great bloody demon!"

Across the table, Wen Xiao makes a sound that might have been a snort, had she been any less genteel about it. She finally looks at him, for the first time that meal, and Zhuo Yichen immediately knows why she has been looking away for so long. The laughter in her gaze in threatening to spill out of her mouth, mirth drawing adorable lines around her eyes and scrunching her nose the way she used to laugh when they were younger.

"Xiao Zhuo," she is definitely laughing at him, and what is worse is that she's trying to be nice about it. "Xiao Zhuo, what took the two of you so long?"

Ying Lei guffaws a laugh and quickly hides his face in his rice bowl when Yichen looks at him. At the far end of the table even little Bai Jiu is nodding along with Wen Xiao. "Really, the two of you have been so painfully obvious, tiptoeing around each other for weeks–" Pei Sijing plants a heavy hand on his shoulder to stop the incriminating words. "What Xiao Jiu is trying to say is that… well…" She looks at Wen Xiao for aid, and Zhuo Yichen follows her gaze.

Wen Xiao is shaking with quiet laughter. She sits up straight when she notices that everyone has turned to her, and takes a deep breath to quiet her mirth. And then another one, because one was not enough. "What we're trying to say is that the two of you are the last to notice your mutual attraction." 

"Hey! Come now, Zhuo-daren may not be as perceptive, but I–"

"And when did you notice, Da Yao?" "Uhm," the great demon mutters, and mumbles something that sounds an awful lot like yesterday.

[celestial-sphere-press]

Can you recommend any full-scope resources for getting in to bookbinding, especially rebinding books and the different methods of stitching signatures/folios? I've had a really hard time finding comprehensive resources that kind of have all the information collected in one easy to read/watch place, but I really want to start binding my own books! Any resources for supply shops (I'm not in the USA so online might have to do) would be great too!

Ty 🩷

Full-scope in one place is unfortunately not exactly a thing in this hobby, given the very wide range of techniques & training styles. This is why I've found it helpful to be part of a community (even one that is mostly amatuers). @renegadeguild (the discord especially, but here is the website resource page too) is a great group of people that are always finding new tutorials, books, techniques, & material shops to share with each other - or creating them outright when none seem to exist. The discord hosts the bulk of the resources & is open to anyone 18+. Renegade also has regional servers you can join from the main, including outside the US (there are Renegade Europe, Australia, & Asia servers - I'm one of the Renegade Asia mods), which collect more region specific shops, online listings, & classes.

For traditional bookbinding (case bindings & some in-boards styles, plus explanations of adhesives & other basics), I recommend DAS Bookbinding. He has a lot of videos and focuses on technique. I recommend going through his videos by playlist, but he also has a guide to his video listings in his bio description on YouTube. This playlist talks about different sewing styles. Of the people putting out tutorials I would say he is the most comprehensive.

For exposed sewing styles, I'd recommend Bittermelon Bindery, who has a book called Handmade Books At Home that covers several different sewing styles.

r/bookbinding on reddit has a long list of links under the description's "see more."

There are of course other people out there, but there are also whole books on just endband styles or marbling, so to avoid sending you all over the place...

For rebinding, I probably have less useful information for you, as it's not something I do often, but here's a few notes. "Rebinding" in the colloquial sense currently refers to either of two different things: 1) taking a glued together paperback & recovering it to make it a prettier hardcover, or 2) completely taking apart a book (usually one that was sewn; if not sewn, gluing individual pages to "stubs" which are then sewn together), sewing the pages back together ("rebinding"), often with increased structural support, and either restoring the original cover or creating a new one.

#1 is debatable on whether it increases the longevity of the book (mostly because of paper quality & the glue binding), but it's nice for renovating your shelves. DAS also has a few videos on this type of rebinding, plus another here by Nik the Booksmith that I referenced the one time I've done this. Keep in mind they are using different techniques from each other, so you may need to do a little parsing between what different steps they are using. What a lot of people do too is use the square back bradel cover and act like the paperback is just a regular textblock, which does work for type #1 rebinding.

Type #2 rebinding requires some care in removing the glue & taking apart the original binding, because you want it off but not so much you damage the paper below. I have very little experience with this type of rebinding, but it results in a book that will last longer if you do it right. If you aren't concerned with keeping any of the original cover, once you've got the signatures clean & separated it seems pretty similar to starting from scratch.

I know there are a bunch of other rebinding resources out there, I just generally don't know what they are, so my knowledge is a bit lacking here! My ficbinding to-do list is too long for many rebinds to make it into the mix, lol.

Happy binding & best of luck in your future efforts!

[hellslayersomething]

I feel like I should write out some proper thoughts about my opinions on Veilguard, or at least an outline for the much longer essay that is currently calcifying in my heart. It's a mixed bag of a reaction, and I'm not going to compliment sandwiching any of it--this is all just stream of consciousness, so I'm probably going to snag on the negative and spiral down that pretty quickly. Spoilers, obviously:

I liked the battle system. For the first time in a DA game, it actually felt satisfying to play and had its own identity. I do wish the Pokemon element aspect was a little better balanced among the companions, but overall it was great.

That said, considering the length of the game, they needed way more enemy diversity, especially with the bosses. Eventually I was just fighting dragons, and every dragon had essentially the same moveset, one of those moves being "the dragon trips over her own dick and face-plants on top of Rook", which sure doesn't make the fights feel epic. Even very unique characters, like the Gloom Howler, were just reskinned basic demons when it came time to fight them.

The decision to tie companion approval to companion levels was a mistake. A massive and extremely obvious mistake. No wonder there are no disagreements or tension among the group--the game can't let you lose affinity with your team members, because then it would have to account for you leveling them down. The gameplay design here strangled the narrative design in its crib.

Speaking of narrative design: while I appreciate that the modular approach to companion arcs was experimental, it was extremely weird of them to take that approach in the only DA game where all companions are required. The story doesn't have to be written to account for the fact that you might not recruit some of them or they might die early--so why didn't they write one story about Rook and their seven friends instead of one story about Rook and also there are seven smaller, unrelated stories of extremely varying quality shoved in next to it?

The hyperfixation on the companion quests paired with their complete compartmentalization from each other means that each companion basically has nothing going on outside of their own quest and very few opportunities to engage with other characters' quests.

I was so starved for conflict in this game that I went from Solas-neutral to Solas-positive because he was the only character who the game allowed to be a bitch to me, and I respect him for that.

I do like all the horrid little sons the game gives me. I think I would appreciate them more if there was anything bad or tense happening in the story on a personal level that required some comic relief, but I am a sucker for a funky little guy none the less, and Manfred, Assan, and Spite are the perfect trifecta of funky little guys, as far as I'm concerned.

"We're only going to do character cameos if it's important to the plot." *does what they did with Isabela* Okay, devs.

"We aren't importing player choices but we won't override your decisions either." *several codex entries overriding player decisions later* Okay, devs.

I like the companions, generally. I see their potential. Fanfic will do right by them. Harding, in my mind, is the weakest of the bunch, just truly having no personality to speak of and talking like she was written by a Boomer who thinks that Millennials are still teenagers. (Everyone responsible for her uttering the phrase "Awkward..." like she's a character in 2011 quirky girl sitcom should be tried at the fucking Hague, istg.) And while I like Bellara, it was extremely frustrating to have a character that's just "Merrill, again, but with the edges sanded off". Taash and Emmerich are also glaringly the last additions in the writing process, each belonging to one of the two most underbaked factions and neither of them being tied to any of the game's few "big choices". There's promise in this cast, but I don't think any of them came close to realizing their potential.

Davrin and Emmerich's companion quests felt appropriately scoped to the size of the questlines, had good emotionality, good antagonists, and expanded on the lore of Thedas in ways we hadn't seen yet.

Lucanis's companion quest had potential, but it was too unfocused with three antagonists, too much attention to the boring Venatori shit, and not enough examination on Illario's motives or Lucanis's relationships with either Spite or Illario.

Harding's companion quest was fine, I guess (the people are starving for dwarf lore), but Harding could have been swapped out with literally any other dwarven character who wasn't Sandal and nothing would have been different. (Also weird that the whole quest was basically about Sandal while simultaneously fully removing Sandal from the narrative.)

Bellara and Neve's companion quests were just nothing. Just a whole lot of nothing. And Neve's also suffered from what I like to call "machete editing", where it is glaring obviously where things were cut, changed, moved around, and added at the last minute.

I say, from the bottom of my non-binary heart: Taash's companion quest is total ass. Real nice of Mae to come out of hiding and risk being found and executed by the Venatori to give Taash a Queer Theory 101 class, though, I fucking guess.

Is Lucanis's romance bugged? Apparently I'm not the only one who had that thought while I was playing it, so now I'm wondering. Like, there's no way they made it Like That on purpose, right?

Why and how are the Venatori still a force in Thedas, never mind a force with numbers so great (in spite of lacking a central leader) that they were able to simultaneously occupy the two largest cities in Thedas?

They literally didn't even try with the Antaam. The Venatori are at least theoretically still working to try to restore Tevinter to its former imperial might. The Antaam are just invading countries for literally no reason except ill-defined power grabs. Given the racial coding of Qunari, this writing choice sure is...something. (And that something is racist.)

That said, the revelation that the Butcher did a military tour in Europe and fell in love with the culture and just wants to drink wine and visit art museums now is fucking hilarious.

What the absolute FUCK did they do the Crows. I like the Crow characters from Tevinter Nights/the comics, and Zevran is my favorite character in the whole damn franchise, but they completely whitewashed both TN's mafia take on them and their original portrayal in DA:O. But it also doesn't really retcon anything, making it instead seem like the human trafficking and torture and sexual abuse that Zevran suffered at the Crows' hands A) only happened to him individually, and B) are fine, actually??? Even the very few times that characters express reservations about working with Lucanis because he's an assassin, if you play as a Crow, those concerns get immediately backpedaled, so the Crows end up being so ironed out that the game doesn't even let characters say of the Crows, "Murder is bad," lest it hurt a Crow Rook's feelings. That is how conflict-averse the writing is.

So I guess everyone in southern Thedas is...dead now? Several characters survived long enough to get a mention from the Inquisitor, but by the end, it sounds like Orlais, Ferelden, and most of the Free Marches are pretty much donezo. When Epler said the events in southern Thedas didn't matter, I didn't expect that to mean they were going to nuke the damn place. Even having generally enjoyed VG (in spite of all my criticisms here) that, uh...doesn't leave me enthused about the future of the franchise, ngl.

The layoffs of several writers (and other Bioware employees) before the game's release was obviously heinous. But after that secret ending, I'm now of the mind that of the writers that remain, at least a few of them need to be demoted. Like literally what the fuck was that. That was the dumbest plot point to ever appear in a Dragon Age game, and that is a high bar to clear. If you're not going to acknowledge our past choices, then keep Loghain's name out of your fucking mouths.

[thekingofwinterblog]

How to fix Halamshiral as a Zone

Inquisition is a flawed game.

I don't think there's anyone who is going to argue otherwise.

The only question is wheter you place it higher or lower than DA2.

One of the things I think it does better than DA2, is that it managed to give every place a soul, an identity of it's own, and at least a distinct, if not always amazing storyline.

The emerald graves doesnt have a very interesting plot, but it has some spectacular side quests, and atmosphere, inculding a haunted mansion, which might be my favorite possession based quest in all of DA because it shows much better than others just how dangerous untrained mages actually are to those around them.

The storm coast tells a story of what was once an important dwarven port, and shows how it fell and was repurposed over time.

The Hinterlands shows the aftereffects of the templar mage war, as well as solas stupid plan to give cory his orb, and the mage rebellion and an actually decent time travel story.

I could go on, but the point is, I usually have at least aomething nice to say about every single region.

All except one.

Halamshiral.

Halamshiral was the single worst part of all of Dragon Age Inquisition for me, and every single time I boot up this game, it's always the last thing i do before the temple of sacred ashes, despite how bizarre the game flows as a result.

And the reason is because i hate everything about it.

I hate it's unique attempt at side quests, i hate the characters involved, i hate the Orlesians who inhabit it, and i hate how this section tries to copy what worked so amazingly well with Orzammar and Denerim during the landsmeet section, and fails every single shot it lines up.

The ONLY good thing i have to say about this, is that it's at the very least relatively short.

So here's today's question. How to fix Halamshiral?

Let's begin with the three main players.

Celene, Gasparde, and Briala.

The big problem with every single option, is that they all suck.

Celene and Gasparde are both fucking awful people without any redeeming qualities, they have no charisma, and there is no prospect of the Empire reforming itself under either of them, the way Orzammar would under Bhelen.

Meanwhile, Briala is much, much better, but the problem is that we know exactly what is going to happen here if you support her.

Maybe today elves will have it better, but tomorrow, when Gasparde is gone, or celene turns on elves again as she always does all the progress will be repealed, and reversed, along with a few purged alienages.

Its an old story that's been told before in Dragon age.

In short, there is no reason at all to care about this overall plot. None whatsoever.

There were so many reasons to care about both Orzammar and Denerim in the same situation, and every single character involved had so much more charisma than either of these would be monarchs.

So let's fix that.

Starting with Celene, take the idea of her wanting to reform the empire, and actually take it to the next level.

Celene is genuine in wanting to reform the empire, and has already taken grand, successful steps to make the entire thing much better for everyone, even elves, giving them and serfs more rights, outlawing the practice of chevaliers having a tradition of killing unarmed city elves to graduate.

But the catch is, while she is genuinely making progress, she is doing so within the confines of the great game.

Celene has nonintention of changing the great game, no plans of wanting to remove this thing that holds Orlais back more than any other, this center stone of their nobility and it's culture.

Meanwhile, Gasparde is a different kind of reformer, one that takes the ideas he had of him claiming to hate the game, and actually doing something with it.

He is far less progressive, has no love for elves, is far more warlike than Celene ever was... But unlike Celene, his ideas of reform isn't going to act within the grand game.

He's going to break it.

Unlike canon gasparde, this gasparde is hated by every single noble family in the entire empire. His only support, and it's a strong one, is the army. The parts of the army that supports Gasparde, and they are a huge part, are loyal to him personally to the hilt.

And he hates them back. He hates the game, he hates the way it cripples the empire, and he wants to change things. Like Celene he plans to break the serfs free of their chains, for the good of the nation and it's power and economy if not for any progressive reasons.

And he'a going to start with Halamshiral.

For this Gasparde isn't merely positioning men to stage a coup... He's planning to kill EVERY SINGLE NOBLE in Halamshiral. Evety man, every woman, every child there.

He's going to reform this empire by wiping out it's cancerous nobility in one fell swoop, and install himself as supreme dictator to see his reforms through, and wiping out the entire Orlesian nobility that might have opposed him, french revolution style.

And thus the Inquisitor has a dilemma.

Unlike Orzammar, where only one side was a reformer, both of these Orlesians are... But you have to choose one.

Do you choose Celene? The more progressive candidate, who wants a more peaceful Orlais going forward? But who is not willing to get ridd of the grand game to do so, thus making it a permanent risk that all her reforms will be undone...

Or will you support Gasparde, and by doing so be complicit in destroying the entire nobility of Orlais, many of whom are not guilty of the shit that Celene and Gasparde here both hate so much? Gasparde is far less likely to create a peaceful Orlais going forward... But he will have obliterated the Grand Game for good and all, a prize that might be worth this Red Wedding style bloodbath.

Meanwhile there is Briala, the elven spy who has enough influence to allow, or prevent Gasparde's plans from going through.

Here there should be another moral dilemma, quite different from the base game.

Do you convince her to aid Gasparde, in exchange for the Elves getting a duchy of their own in Halamshiral? Do you then back her up with Inquisition forces and support, forcing Him to publicly announce her as such, and trust his own, twisted version of honor to actually stick to it going forward(Something he ultimately does), or do you throw her to the Wolves the moment things get rough?

Or alternatively, do you convince her to side with Celene, and bury the hatchet? And if so, on what terms? And similarly, if she actually wants to get something out of this, you actually need to back her up... Something you may, or may not choose to do.

And voila, here you have an actual story of intrigue, massive, lasting political changes as a result of the Herald's actions, and morally grey on grey choices.

Everything that Denerim and Orzammar had in spades.

Now moving on from the plot to the actual place.

Halamshiral has no soul.

It's a french villa on a mountaintop. Whoop de freaking do.

It has no interesting murals, unique art only found there, interesting geography, or anything really to make it stand out.

Compare it to Denerim and Orzammar, and the way they fleshed out the entire city's levels of power and criminal underworlds, and you see the difference.

Denerim is a very realistic, squat, squalid medieval city, with it's buildings built on top of every single bit of available space.

Orzammar is a full on high fantasy dwarf city lit up by a lake of lava.

Halamshiral is a villa presented as a city.

How do you fix that?

There is an artist here on Tumblr who pretty much showcased what Halamshiral could have been, if they had taken the idea of the Dalish(who were the original owners) taking inspiration from native americans(amongst others), and use that to build a truly spectacular city, which has long ago been paved over, but the structure is still there.

Make it a city on the water, like the aztex capital of Tenochtitlan, a marvel of canals and stone.

Make it this Venezia like city, with canals everywhere you look, and the entire city running on water. A marvel of Dalish city building, where they took something as simple as a couple of islands in a lake, and built the most beautiful city in the world.

And rather than just limit you to the palace, instead let you actually explore this city.

Expand the entire event from one night, to a week.

Let the Herald explore the city, meet the players, interact with the nobles, become friends with a few like you could with Ferelden's bans, which in turn makes the possibility of sacrificing them for the greater good hit so much harder.

Let you choose what fancy stuff to wear to the balls and meetings, rather than have this stupid motto of forcing you to wear one, pre determined outfit like this game had for some reason.

Let you discover the places where what little Elven Architecture and art still remains can be found, and talk with the elves who still live here, the descendants after the first elves the Orlesians enslaved.

Make the plotting of Gasparde and the positioning of troops be gradual, not instantly discovered and twarted.

And at the end, if you choose to back Gasparde, you mirror that scene from Dragon Age 2, where the Templars sail across the bay, and you either step aside and witness the bloodbath you just allowed to happen, or you fight them and be recognized by the nobility(most of which are horrible, horrible people) as a hero who just saved the day.

Have the venatori plot be to kill both Gasparde and Celene, rather than their involvement mostly be about handing the player the the easy knife for the knot of which monarch to pick without having to get your hands dirty.

Also have the entire group be gathered for once. Every inner member of the Inquisition just like at Denerim.

Each of whom have their own thoughts on the events.

Who supports who? What is the right thing to do? What is better for the inquisition? Are you staining your honor beyond repair if you back Gasparde? Does the Inquisitor maybe have a breakdown after witnessing what they just allowed to happen and they walk through the gardens or rooms filled with corpses? Maybe have the scene at the end with the love interest be about a moment of them truly comforting their lover in the aftermath of it all, understanding(or not) that as boss, it's your job to have to make the tough decisions. And now you have to live with them.

Or if you wanna go the other way, this could be one of the breaking points like Origins had. If you support Gasparde, Blackwall choses to tell you to get bent, and that he will die as benefits a knight. Defending the week, and calling you out on how you are just as bad as he ever was, a child killer who's going to run away from responsibility, to pretend you are some better person than what you actually are. You're a murder. Just like he was. You are just as responsible for the blood that's flowing as he was with that carriage back in the day.

It would have been a far more impressive reveal moment for his crimes, that's for sure.

Cole probably would be the one who would be second most upset, but wheter he leaves or ultimately stays should probably be depended on your other choices and your relationship with him prior to this, probably have his personal quest be the determinating factor of what he chooses to do.

And i could go on, but point is, this would be a return to Origins choices actually mattering. There were choices that could make or break a characters bond with you. Shale would not budge regarding Caridin, Leliana and wynne would stand against you if you choose to defile the urn, Sevran would choose to betray you for his old friend if he didn't like you enough, and of course the age old choices at the end of act 3 in da2, where you have to pick between templars and Mages, as well as anders fate, and chances are regardless of what you do, at least 1 person ends up dead.

If anyone reading this has any suggestions for how to further improve this storyline, feel free to share, but regardless, i think we can all agree that this is a vast improvement of what we actually got.

[rita-repulsa-ke]

First Cut

Agatha knew intellectually that the right way to deal with her frustration over how slowly travel was going and how her last ritual had been a miserable failure was not to take it out on her brand-new, beautiful lover, who also happened to be Death incarnate. That wasn't actually stopping her, though.

"Would it kill you to actually help me cook?" she groused, slowly turning the spit, already feeling too hot from being this close to the fire.

"You complained last time I did that everything was raw," Rio said, from where she was sprawled next to the fire, staring up at the stars.

"Well, that was because it was raw," Agatha pointed out. "And the time before that, it was charcoal."

Rio shrugged. "I can't really tell the difference? So it's probably better if I don't help. Besides, you know I don't mind if the food is raw."

Agatha couldn't argue the point, but she did want to. If Rio had one problem, it was that most of Agatha's annoyance seemed to roll off her without leaving a mark, which was genuinely great most of the time, probably the reason this relationship was working at all, but sometimes Agatha really wanted to fight and then it was simply no fun.

"Fine, just lounge around and let me take care of everything,” she muttered.

Rio only grinned, looking rather pleased with how this was going. “Okay, Agatha. That works for me.”

“This is a good reminder to only date people who can cook in the future,” Agatha muttered, and she didn’t really mean much by it, if anything she was mortified she’d admitted they were dating, but she saw how Rio stiffened and her smile disappeared. That made her perk up at once, she’d found an angle. “Maybe someone who doesn’t eat raw meat, either,” she added, though actually, that part was rather nice, Rio was easy to feed.

“Agatha, why? You already know what will happen if I blast you.” There was a way she said it, a way she savored the idea, that was mildly unnerving. Agatha had been with Rio long enough to know that her lover enjoyed watching things die, but she had purposefully avoided thinking about how that applied to her.

“Can’t a witch do a little complaining?” Agatha said, the picture of innocence.

Rio crossed her arms across her chest. “Pick something else to complain about.”

“We have been doing this thing for two weeks. You cannot get upset if I imply I might want to be with someone else someday,” Agatha pulled the meat off the spit, set it aside to cool.

“I can,” Rio said.

“Nooo,” Agatha said, secretly delighted to have gotten under Rio’s skin. “It’s weird and creepy. I can date whoever I want.”

Rio made a face. “You…can,” she said begrudgingly. “But don’t talk about it in front of me.”

“Or what?” Agatha said, her bad mood gone, delighted to have gained the upper hand.

Rio considered, then held up her knife, which was so constantly in her hand that Agatha often wondered if it was attached. “I could stab you.”

“…what?”

Rio sat up, toying with the knife contemplatively, really looking as though she were thinking it through. “I could stab you. Would that make you stop?”

“You know, let me think about it. That’s a new one,” Agatha said. “No one I’ve been with has ever asked if they could stab me before.”

“That’s surprising,” Rio said and Agatha wasn’t sure whether to be hurt by that or find it amusing, but she at least acted as if it were the latter, snickering softly.

“Have you dated a lot of people?” she asked Rio. “It’s just, I feel like most people wouldn’t stick around long if you threatened to stab them.”

“Not a lot. But none of them were this annoying.”

“Touché,” Agatha admittted. “But what if I don’t want to be stabbed?”

“Then do what I ask?” Rio suggested, calm, implacable.

“Or,” Agatha said. “I could find someone else to da—“

It was less that Rio was fast than that she was instantaneous, sitting a few feet away one moment, slicing Agatha’s arm with the tip of the blade the next.

Agatha stared at the thin cut, then up at the other woman, who was licking blood off the tip of her knife and then dropping to her knees, bringing Agatha’s arm to her mouth and running her tongue over the wound, leaving unblemished flesh behind.

Only then did she raise her head and look at Agatha. From inches away, Death stared at her, vast, eternal, but also ever-so-slightly tentative, waiting for her assessment.

Agatha’s hand wrapped around the back of Rio’s neck and she kissed her lover hard, hungry, felt Rio gasp against her, kept kissing her for a while, a kiss that carried a demand entirely inappropriate this early in the relationship.

You belong to me, the kiss said and she felt the other woman melt under it.

“Bed,” Agatha ordered when they broke apart and Rio nodded at once, her lips parted but no breath coming out.

“Yes, Agatha,” she said.

This fic is in continuity with First Meeting and The Reveal

[lottiette]

Hi sweetie!! you're very good, I really like Billy fics, would you like to do one where Billy introduces his (still unofficial) girlfriend during a family dinner?

I would love it, hope you have a great day 🫶

luv u

Billy Thunderman X Reader

“What Are We?”

summery- Billy I introduces you, his unofficial girlfriend, to his family.

Authors note: Hey Anon! Thanks for the request. I apologize that this is kinda short and maybe not the best. I couldn’t really think of ideas but I hope you enjoy this. Feel free to provide feedback and advice.

Word count- 833

Warnings- none.

You were with Billy in his room studying for upcoming exams. It was more procrastination than studying but…you know. When you arrived there no one was home yet. It was just you and Billy. Nora went to hang out with some friends and everybody else was somewhere out. Nora came home at some point coming into the room to hang out with yall for a few minutes, then a few hours later you heard the door open and a middle aged woman speak, “Kids! We’re home.” “OKAY!” Billy and Nora yelled down. You and Billy continued to study, mess around, play fight, maybe kiss a few times. Who knows?-

Around 5:30pm another yell came from the middle aged woman. “Dinner is ready!” You hear a bunch of foot steps running down stairs. You huff, “Well, I guess I’ll take my leave now then.” You start collecting your things and Billy stops you, “Why? You don’t want to stay for dinner?” “Well I mean, there probably isn’t an-“ he cuts you off “Nonsense, stay and eat. I know how much you like food.” “I wasn’t really invite-“ “You’re invited! Plus I’m sure my family would love to meet you.” “Are you sure?” “Totally. Come on!” He grabs your hand and starts running down stairs with you(not with his powers)

You both make it down stairs to the kitchen and see his whole family already there. They all turn and look at you. You stand there awkwardly Quasimodo-ing into your self. “Um Billy who’s that?” The woman who you presume to be his mother asks. “Huh? Oh! This is ‘reader’.” “‘Reader’ this is my mom,” his mother shakes your hand “I’m Barb. Nice to meet you.” You nod and speak shyly, “nice to meet you.” “This is my dad,” His father gives you a firm hand shake, “Hank.” “My older brother Max and my sister Phoebe, they’re the twins.” “Hello” Phoebe say pleasantly while Max just gives you a head nod and a “sup” “and you already know Nora, and my little sister Chloe.” “Hi everyone nice to meet you” “When did you get here?” “Earlier. We were studying.” You say sheepishly. You look at Billy with an awkward face and smile. He just smiles back nodding with a bright grin. “So- Are you two dating?” The question catches you off guard, “What?” Your voice a bit high pitched “No- we-we’re not-“ You stumble over your words trying to explain but Hank saves you. He clears his throat “let’s eat lasagna.” “Yes let’s”

You all laugh and communicate at the table you. “So how long have you two been friends?” Phoebe asks you. “Uhh like since the beginning of the school year.” She nods. Slowly as time went on the conversation got less awkward and you actually started having a good time. You ate 3 plates of lasagna and later had dessert. Eventually it was time for you to go home. All the Thundermans wished you farewell. Barb liked you so much she insisted that you come over again for dinner soon. You’re about to open the door to leave, your hand hovering over the door knob but you don’t open it you swiftly run back over to Billy give him a kiss on the cheek “Bye sweetness I love you!” You cheerfully state then run back out the door. Billy is standing there smiling “Bye I love you!” His family stares at him shocked. Max leans to Phoebe, “HAH! I told you they were dating! 20 bucks.” Billy notices his family’s mouths agape. “She does that sometimes.” He says shrugging with a soft blush. “So are you two da-“ You come running back in this time soaking wet and a bit out of breath. They all stare at you. “It is pouring out there.” You’re dripping water. “Are you alright?” Billy approaches taking your freezing hands. Then thunder-monitor comes on. “Warning, tornado watch.” “Well you can’t go back out there” Barb states with concern. Barb continues, “Why don’t you stay here for the night honey?” “Oh I can’t do that to yall Mrs. Thunderman.” “No really it isn’t safe. Please stay till It clears up.” A loud thunder and lightning strike. “Yeah- okay. I’ll stay.” “Here come on. Come to my room.” Billy takes you by the hand and leads you up to his room. “Thank you Thundermans.”

In Billy’s room he gives you a towel, his shirt and some pant/shorts. (It’s your choice if you decide to wear the bottoms.) After you’re dried off and changed you and Billy cuddle up in his bed. You start whining, “My belly hurts!” “You ate a lot.” “It was delicious.” He holds you as he laughs and tucks your hair behind your ear. A movie is playing on his tv and you feel so comfortable in his arms but then your mind starts wondering with a question.

“Billy what are we?” …

[linka-from-captain-planet]

How would you rank the Dragon Age games?

my ranking is DAV > DA2 > DAI > DAO based on my personal taste. More/explanation below the cut if you're interested!

(if I were ranking my favorite DA media I've consumed, The Masked Empire would be #1 with 100/10)

Possibly important context: I played the DA series for the first time in 2024, and I played DAI -> DA2 -> DAO -> DAV in that order. So I have no nostalgia factor at play, and haven't had a decade to ruminate about any particular game in this series.

Veilguard (8/10) This is the Dragon Age game for Me. I think this is largely due to some really competent game design decisions; the quality of life playing this game is amazing, and the way the companions and quests are structured just really worked. It's polished and sleek. The progression worked, the way companions are integrated into the story so none can be fully ignored (I'm guilty of this) worked, the story worked, the whole vibe and spirit worked. It also accomplished what I never thought would be possible: fun DA combat. I actually have saves for the Siege of Weisshaupt and Fire and Ice and the endgame just so I can go back and do these big kickass battles. There's no one part of the game that makes me hesitate to fire up a new file. It takes a few hours to ramp up, but once shit gets real, it stays real. I don't feel compelled to mod it at all (I could nitpick, but I only mod for QOL). This is the game I want to play when it feels like the real world is more fucked than Southern Thedas. It drew out feelings I hadn't felt since Feb 2020. There are a few things I think could have been better (e.g. I think Faction was a weak way to frame the player's allies). After playing, I don't mind the lack of worldstate, but I really only wanted easter eggs and codex entries to begin with.

Dragon Age 2 (7.5/10) I would rather read a short story or novella than a big ass 500-page honkin novel so in this way - impact-per-hour - DA2 is my #1 always. I love the scope limited to one fraught city. I love the personal-political integration. On easy mode, the janky combat doesn't bother me (it's over fast enough) and I find a kitschy charm in the reused maps. It's impressive and also designed very competently for what resources they were given (i've said before - DA2 would never work with a dignified, sweeping story like DAO or DAI with its level of jank - giving the player one shithole city and a small group of dirtbags as companions is the only way its cracks wouldn't become canyons). Hawke is the best DA protagonist due to feeling very defined in their own right (I don't care to create OCs - Default Marian all the way. The drama and chaos of the finale - including having to fight-kill companions I couldn't sway - was top tier. Being pretty contained, I don't feel a big drive to keep playing DA2, like it's not really that "fun" to play for me. It feels like a very immersive book. It's pretty neck and neck with DAV, but DAV just being more *fun* edges it out.

Inquisition (7/10) My first DA! Drops below DA2 based mainly on quality of life. This game is a true slog - I don't think I'd be able to play it without mods when I return to it; the looting animation alone makes me want to rip my teeth out. I find it very impressive for the time it was developed (this game made me like 50% *less* impressed with BG3 actually), but it's very much a more-is-less situation for my taste. That said I love "the Inquisition" as a concept. My first play, I went in completely cold and had no idea what anyone was talking about ever (e.g. no clue what a Warden was, no clue about "circles" or why mages and "templars" were beefing) but still had a blast, and it was some of the most thrilling video game play I'd ever experienced. I felt engaged the whole first run. I also appreciate the variety in quests, companions, and locations. It was a great introduction to Thedas as a whole. The companions were hit or miss; I didn't swap them out much, and running around the ginormous Skyhold base to talk to them for 20 hours each was a colossal bore.

Origins (6.5/10) I hesitated to play DAO basically because of the broodmother, and I would not have played this game if I didn't find a way to skip it entirely with console commands/debugging menu. I also skipped all combat and can guarantee I wouldn't have made it through the prologue if i couldn't. I do find it very impressive for its time, and I try to give it some grace on the extremely mid-00s edgelord aura that makes a lot of the dialogue/dialogue options excruciating to me (note: I also despise Purple Hawke). The story was engaging and while I didn't really care about many of the companions (I never switched out my team of Alistair, Morrigan, and Leliana), I loved the supporting cast and antagonists. The power struggle aspect of the story was incredible, mixed in with the darkspawn threat - it felt very immersive and the stakes felt high. I didn't particularly care for the "gather your allies" part of the story, but this probably would have been cooler if I didn't killallhostiles everything in every battle including the endgame. While this is a very competent (for its time) and engaging game, there's just nothing about it that makes me feel insane. The closest it comes is how sick the Warden Lore is, but there are no characters or story beats that make me want to write a fic or play over and over. Ultimately, DAO comes last because of its grossness about women, being unplayable (to me) without skipping like 30% of the game between the end of the Deep Roads and combat, and just not having anything that makes me feel insane.

[ell-vellan]

A bunch of my random, non-story initial opinions of Veilguard, with the knowledge that I do and will love this game no matter what, because I need somewhere to put them all:

I kind of hate the color customization system?? I cannot figure out the brightness and saturation levels to make the colors I want. Am I just dumb?? What am I doing wrong here that all the blonde options look green

I do love the stylized look of the game, it's different from DAI but it has a unique flavor and the colors are very lush (for once in a DA game lol)

So far, rogue has been more fun for me than mage. Haven't tried warrior yet.

i wish we could have customized Inky's arm/prosthetic even a little

It's so cool that we get body tattoos and scars and we can customized which ones go where. Would have loved to be able to mix and match but I know we can't have everything (sigh).

It's pretty apparent as someone who has background with the games, but it would've been cool to have the tattoos labelled "Dalish," "Dwarven," "Lord of Fortune," "Crows," etc for story reasons (even though I'm sure it only matters to the small percent of us who are into the fanfic side of things lol)

Elven ears are huge again and we can't change that. lol it's whatever i guess

The thing about customizing heads based on 3 different heads is...hmm. It's difficult to get the hang of, but I'm glad that you can customize it so much? Still, it's been hard for me to figure out how to make that look good.

they let us check our character in different lighting and with different armor!! great idea

terrible idea: only 3 previous worldbuilding choices. I got spoiled to this so I was prepared. but what the heck was the point of the Keep? why did we waste our time with all of that if none of it was carrying over? Way to flush the previous 15 years of story down the drain. Who's the leader of Orlais and Ferelden? Who's Divine? Who got left in the Fade? Guess it doesn't matter at all! I'm okay that we don't know where our Hero of Ferelden is, it's been long enough in game that their part is done, but Hawke? boo.

At first I was so excited about the "random" name generator! But it's literally just like 15 pre-made names not sorted by race naming conventions that you cycle through. Could've been cooler. oh well I know most of their demographic just wants to kill things I guess

The elves look like dwarves to me for some reason? like they're stockier now, not lithe like DAI. Just takes some getting used to.

While I kind of miss the open world a tiny bit, just for the sake of feeling like we're truly exploring and less "point A to point B," it's also nice not to feel like i'm wasting hours of my time just walking through open nothingness and getting a million meaningless fetch quests

The voices are all so good

Rook's moves are cool, they're fun to play

Speaking of, why do we walk so slowly?! I'm sprinting 100 percent of the time.

Miss the search function for items, even the highlight/glimmer is faint enough with the lighting of the maps I missed a bunch of stuff the first ten minutes

I wish we had a teensy bit more unique dialogues/reactions based on our background/race, so far it's been quite a small amount

I'm undecided on the whole...armor system thing

the maps are gorgeous

I love how many settings we can customize, it's great. I don't care about combat and I can make that part so much less annoying and save myself a bunch of time spamming attacks to get back to the story, which is what I care about, lol

Solas is so hot like this. wow

[sleepyfan-blog]

Consequences

Author’s Note: Hagiel part three! I hope you enjoy :D first. Previous

Tagged:@egrets-not-regrets @kit-williams @bleedingichorhearts @the-pure-angel @whorety-k

Warnings: none? Ask me to tag something if it bothers you

Summary: You and Hagiel chat for a little bit longer before parting ways. 

Hagiel held you close to his chest as the scouts eagerly chased after the ship that had briefly held both yourself and him captive. The fact that your vacation - which had been a great deal of fun, up until you'd been threatened by an asshole and kidnapped - had been a great deal of fun... But now your vacation had been thoroughly ruined, and by the gratuitous if warranted property damage being inflicted by the young Astartes was anything to go by, you were going to start working now. The younger mer were quick to sabotage the ship, their speed, strength and weaponry no match for the pleasure cruise that was completely undefended. You felt guilty for your fellow innocent passengers, and the crew - dealing with large, furious mers was tricky at the best of times, and with one of their own having been temporarily captured and injured on purpose...

You were glad that Hagiel had indulged you when you asked to briefly stop by the room on the cruise ship you'd been renting, which allowed you to grab your purse which had your phone in it. Astartes weren't known for their mercy when it came to those who would try and kill or capture their people. Blood would mingle with the waters here today. You could only hope that Hagiel speaking of mercy and innocents being caught up in the machinations of the guilty and cruel would carry over to whoever of the older Astartes were coming to deal with this incident. Not all Astartes pods would concern themselves with who was innocent and who wasn't, instead slaughtering all adult humans aboard. Sometimes the astartes would then take the human children to the closest human settlement. 

No one knew what happened to the children aboard such vessels if they weren't returned to human society. No one was brave enough to ask what happened, when the bodies or... bones, depending on the Astartes pod were discovered on a derelict ship, floating for who knows how long, waiting to be found by humans a grisly reminder of why fucking around with Astartes was a spectacularly poor plan. Those such incidents - and others where more pirate-minded Astartes who would leverage the lives of the human crew for whatever material onboard a seafaring ship that they wanted - was the reason behind the creation of your job. You were part of an Astartes negotiation team and had been frantically texting your boss from the moment you'd spotted the scouts.

Hagiel and his younger brothers appeared to be non-chaos, non-renegade Lamenters... You hoped to be able to reach an amicable agreement with Hagiel himself before one of the higher ranking Astartes in either the Lamenter pod or the Blood Angel pod - of which Lamenters were a younger off-shoot of - arrived. The older the Astartes, the less willing they were to negotiate and the more likely they were to go on a rampage - no matter where their loyalties lay. You really hoped that this incident wouldn't attract the attention of a Chapter Master - the Astartes with that title seemed to be in equivalent rank to the head of state of a country. From what you'd heard, they tended towards being incredibly uncompromising when it came to this sort of incident, and extracted very high prices to avoid the rampages that could result from this.

Lamenters tended to be easier to negotiate with - they tended to have noble and kind hearts, though with all Blood Angels and their off-shoots they had very dangerous and largely unknown triggers that would send them into either a blood-seeking frenzy, or a frenzy of howling wrath that always ended in death and copious amounts of human blood shed. The teenage Astartes were hissing at the repair crew, swatting at them as the humans attempted to fix the damaged ship, refusing to allow them to do so. You really hoped to avoid either the blood lust or the black clad fury from descending on the cruise ship, as there would be few to no survivors if that happened.

Hagiel hummed, resting his chin on top of your head, warm red eyes glancing down at your phone as he asked, sounding playful "What are you doing, miss?"

"I've contacted the nearby Astartes negotiation team. Considering what's happened, I'm legally required to tell them as soon as possible, so that they can react in a reasonable time frame." You answer honestly, hoping that the security film on your phone worked to prevent him from reading everything that you were texting to your boss, and what they were telling you. You weren't sure how he'd react. 

Hagiel nodded before answering "I suppose it does make sense to contact them, as it will make processing your fellow humans easier... Ah but the chapter master will want those responsible for my capture to be handed over for justice to be served. He's coming with several of the sanguinary guard."

You swallow dryly at that, knowing that Astartes justice is often swift, brutal and deadly. Especially when it came to the capture of and experimentation on an Astartes. "They also kidnapped me and put a lot of other baseline humans in danger by kidnapping you, considering not all Astartes are as merciful as you and your pod is, Hagiel... Considering that some..." Your voice cracked embarrassingly, and you hide his face in his muscular chest, flustered.

"Considering that some astartes pod slaughter or otherwise punish all adult humans on board such a ship, regardless of their knowledge or participation in the capture and torment of the astartes in question?" Hagiel offered with a wry smile He could see several baseline human children peering over the side of the cruise ship and waving enthusiastically over at the scouts he'd been watching over. three of them stopped hissing at the repair crew and waved energetically back. Two of them began to show off by doing a series of acrobatic flips and spins. Hagiel sighs and calls out "Scouts, to me!" He was faced with many pouty faces, though they did reluctantly obey, swimming over to where he was still holding you.

"So... Are you willing to allow baseline human law enforcement to help sort the innocent from the guilty?" You ask hopefully. Your boss had just informed you via text that the local Astartes negotiators and law enforcement unit h ad been contacted and were already on their way over,, but you were hoping to have Hagiel's agreement, as the Astartes who'd been directly kidnapped and hurt in this incident.

Before Hagiel could respond, a huge dark red mer with shimmering blond hair and piercing crimson eyes breached the surface of the swelling waves, joining you and Hagiel in the air as the scouts parted before him. "If Hagiel was the only astartes who had gone missing in this area, perhaps your request would be entertained. But Hagiel, temporary though his capture was, isn't the only astartes who's suspected to have been captured by baseline humans. in this region. A word bearer and a thousand son have also gone missing in this area under suspicious circumstances as well."

"Oh... I hadn't known that..." You respond as your fingers frantically text that over to your boss. This could be shaping up into an Actual Incident and could get really ugly, as there could potentially be multiple different kinds of astartes pods involved in this... Why did this have to happen while you were on vacation? You'd been accused of being unlucky before... But this was downright abysmal.

The massive red mer rumbled wordlessly in amusement before Addressing Hagiel "Return this baseline human to the nearest beach close to a human settlement, then take the scouts to the lar ger pod.... Unless, are you in need of an Apothecary?"

Hagiel shook his head "I'm not in immediate need of medical attention sir, though I should probably be checked over sometime today." He shifts how he's holding you in his arms and asks "Is there anything else on that ship that you need before we leave?"

You shook your head "No." You were going got be leaving behind some clothes and toiletries, but nothing that you couldn't replace. That and from the impassive stare you were getting from teh fuck-huge red ast artes behind Hagiel, you got the impression that the larger mer wasn't going to take any delaying shenanigans well... Or, possibly, at all.

He nods and flies you over to the nearest beach - the scouts trailing the two of you in the ater, occasionally making silly faces up at you.  

He sets you down on the warm sand, smiling softly at you, a contented purr rumbling in his chest "Thank you for your help, miss."

"I am glad to have been able to help you... And thank you, for coming to my rescue. I hope that the issue with the cruise ship will be resolved peacefully, and that the other astartes are found." You murmur earnestly.

"I am sure that Chapter Master Soloniel will be able to sort things out quickly. It's one of his strengths of his commander, to be able to see into the hearts' of others and divine the truth from lies." Hagiel rumbles cheerfully. He lets yo u go and starts to leave. He pauses for a moment before saying "I hope that we will meet again under better circumstances."

"I hope that we meet again in a better way, too." You respond.

Hagiel smiles warmly at you for a moment before diving off ito the sea, chasing after a couple of the scouts who'd followed the two of you from a distance. You watched them swim and play in the surf until they vanished from yoru sightline with a soft sigh. 

[jaimebluesq]

always found it interesting that despite the fact he clearly wants the sect to remain in the family, nie mingjue literally never made any attempts at continuing his bloodline, foisting it off on huaisang instead along with the sect leader title. what if it was he couldn't have had kids even if he wanted to, because taking up baxia too early caused him to become sterile? and admitting as much would have been too humiliating? anyway, brotherly scene where he's forced to come clean about it, and whether it ends in a decision to adopt or huaisang agreeing to take up a political marriage in the future just for heirs or whatever is up to you.

Oh Anon, you have no idea how close this idea is to my heart because of my own life experiences. I love that you came up with it, and thank you for sending it to me... now let’s see if I can do it justice.

~ ~ ~

Nie Huaisang stood outside his brother’s office, his hands twisting upon his closed fan. He’d been anxious for days, trying to figure out how to broach a particularly sensitive topic with his brother – had practised with both Nie Zonghui and Jin Guangyao to try and get his words just right. Oh, it was something he’d tried asking many times before, but his brother had always brushed him off and directed him to the training field for saber practice.

Not today. Today, he would get an answer whether his brother liked it or not.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he knocked on the door and entered when his brother called out. He was careful to close the door behind himself before approaching his brother’s desk.

“What is it?” Nie Mingjue asked tiredly, his fingers rubbing at his temple. “Isn’t it time for-”

“Saber practice was this morning,” he replied, “and I actually attended today.” He’d attended only to leave one less thing to anger his brother on the day he came to seek answers – though Nie Mingjue’s fatigue made him wonder if he should have chosen a different day. But then, his brother looked tired most days since the end of the war.

“If you’re asking about-”

“Da-ge?” He waited until his brother finally looked up at him. “I... wanted to talk to you. About something important.”

Nie Mingjue looked him over, then picked up his papers and set them aside. He sat back in his chair, hands on the arms and fingers drumming along the cherry wood, waiting for Nie Huaisang to speak.

The first thing Nie Huaisang did was sit down to face his brother. “I heard from Zonghui that you received a request for an alliance from Yao-zongzhu,” he began, wanting to ease into the subject he wanted to address.

His brother sniffed. “He’s trying to pawn off his sister to anyone who’ll have her, all to tie himself to one of the great sects. I’ve no desire to ally with the Yao.”

“But what about the He,” Nie Huaisang prodded. “Or the Lan – Er-ge told me he has a younger cousin that’s quite lovely and kind and would make a wonderful furen. Or the Jiang – I know Jiang-xiong doesn’t have any blood relatives, but he has some promising lady disciples that would-”

“We don’t need another alliance,” Nie Mingjue ground out through gritted teeth. “Is that why you’re here? To harass me about getting married? Leave it alone – it’s none of your business.”

It was the same answer he had given Nie Huaisang before – but it was one he could no longer accept.

“But Da-ge... it is my business,” he said with a shaky voice that grew stronger with every word he spoke. “It’s my business because this is the reason I’m your heir, and I have the right to know why.”

Nie Mingjue narrowed his eyes, his face turning dark. “If this is just another argument to get out of saber practice-”

“I don’t want this!” Nie Huaisang’s voice broke mid-sentence. He tightened his grip on his fan. “I don’t want to be sect leader one day, you know this. And the Elders don’t want me either – you’ve heard what they say about me when my back is turned.”

“If you would only practice your saber more-”

“It won’t do a thing, Da-ge, because I’m not meant for this!” He took in a shaky breath. “Please, Da-ge, don’t make me do this anymore. You, me, the sect, we all deserve better, don’t we? Please don’t tell me you genuinely think me being heir is the best thing for Qinghe Nie?”

“This sect must be led by a member of our family’s main line,” Nie Mingjue insisted.

“Then why haven’t you started a family to inherit the sect?”

“Because I can’t!!!”

Nie Huaisang felt glued to his seat. There was something in the tone of his brother’s voice... it wasn’t anger, not just anger, but it was painful to hear. And then his brother’s shoulders dropped and he brought a hand to rub at his temple, and Nie Huaisang could have sworn he saw a glint of wetness in his brother’s eyes.

“I can’t,” Nie Mingjue repeated, slower and a little calmer.

When Nie Mingjue looked up, their eyes met. The two of them breathed heavily for several moments, broken only when Nie Mingjue picked up a document and threw it across the room. Nie Huaisang heard a rattling nearby; he glanced over to where Baxia trembled lightly in her stand.

“When one of us becomes sect leader,” Nie Mingjue explained, “there are many different rituals and sect secrets we learn from the Elders and other sect officials. And one of the very first things they tell us is that we need to work immediately on birthing an heir. Because our lives are so short, and one never knows when we’ll be taken out by a Yao or a qi deviation, or some tyrannical sect leader who doesn’t like being opposed.”

Nie Huaisang swallowed hard. His brother had only been fifteen when their father had died... he couldn’t imagine being told he had to become a father when he was only fifteen.

“None of the other sects helped me try to bring evidence against Wen Ruohan for what he did to A-Die, and I certainly wasn’t going to ally with any of them.” Nie Mingjue grimaced. “It was suggested to me that we find someone outside the sect, someone completely apart from the cultivation world, who wouldn’t have known enough to vie for power. I... I had no idea what to do, who to look for. All I’d ever done before was train, and when I did have tender thoughts, they weren’t about the girls they brought before me.”

This didn’t surprise Nie Huaisang – he’d seen the looks exchanged between Nie Mingjue and his ‘sworn brothers’. He nodded.

“So we finally settled on someone to try with,” Nie Mingjue continued. His voice already sounded lighter than when he had first begun explaining, and Nie Huaisang wondered if his brother had ever told this story to anyone else before – if Er-ge and San-ge even knew. “She was kind, and patient. The agreement was that if she became with child, then we would officially bring her in as a concubine. But after a year of trying once a week, every week... nothing happened. And then the Elders insisted on trying with another woman because the problem ‘obviously’ wasn’t with Nie-zongzhu, and before I knew it, I had four women I didn’t want that I had to lay with, all to try and do my duty to my sect.”

By this point, Nie Mingjue was no longer looking at Nie Huaisang, but rather staring out the nearby window. A part of Nie Huaisang wanted to tell his brother to stop, to tell him he didn’t have to say anything more – but the other part of him really wanted to hear the answer, to understand what had gone wrong, both for his brother and himself.

“After another two, three years of nothing, the Elders called in a highly respected physician. He looked me over, did a few tests, and then the Elders discussed the results. And then they told me that I was a rare case – that training so aggressively from such a young age may have made me stronger than anyone else in our sect, but it also had the side-effect of rendering me... barren, so to speak.” He sighed. “We called off the women after paying them handsomely for their efforts, and we helped them find husbands who would honour them properly. And then I named you my heir permanently.”

Nie Huaisang’s shoulders felt heavy even as he tried to roll one of them back. “Why didn’t you tell me, Da-ge?” he asked softly.

Nie Mingjue snorted. “Your voice hadn’t even begun to change when all this happened. The only things you knew about such matters were from spring books – and yes, I know you’ve had them since you were twelve, I’m not an idiot. There was no way I was going to lay this on you.”

“I may have been young, but so were you.” Nie Huaisang tried to offer a smile when his brother finally faced him again. “And... this is something we’ve needed to discuss, for the good of our sect. After all, I’m not a boy anymore.”

“You’ll always be a boy,” Nie Mingjue countered with a wistful smile. “The tiniest little thing that Xiao-Niang brought out to me and told me to protect it for the rest of my life.”

“Da-ge,” Nie Huaisang whined, mostly to break the seriousness of the moment.

Nie Mingjue let out a chuckle. “Well, you know now.”

Nie Huaisang nodded. “And now we can figure out what to do about it.” His brother’s eyebrow lifted. “Because the way I see it, the moment you die – which you’re not allowed to do, by the way, not without my permission – this sect will immediately undergo a challenge to leadership, because there are far too many people who don’t see me as a proper leader. And quite frankly, they’re right. So... I’m presuming adopting is out of the question, or else you would have done it already...” As he spoke, he began counting off fingers from his hand.

“Ideally, the leadership would remain in the main family line,” Nie Mingjue explained tentatively.

“Well, I suppose that leaves us with only one option left,” he concluded with a nod to the growing confusion on his brother’s face. “The only question is, do we work to ally with another sect, or find someone outside the Jianghu? Because I don’t mind getting married or taking a concubine, but I do not want anything to do with Yao-zongzhu’s sister. Just because I enjoy pretty ladies does not mean I want a part of that mess>”

“You can’t be serious!” Nie Mingjue huffed. “You’re just a boy!”

“I’m the same age as Jin Zixuan,” he countered, “and he’s marrying Jiang-guniang in a few months.” He absently chewed on his bottom lip. “And just the other day in Lanling, I was chatting with Madame Qin – she is very much not in favour of Qin Su’s little crush on San-ge, by the way – and she was trying to encourage me to ask her to walk in the gardens. She is rather pretty, and-” He paused at the stare his brother gave him.

“You don’t have to do this,” Nie Mingjue sighed. “Just because I can’t do this, it doesn’t mean you have to give up your life like this.”

He met his brother’s gaze in a way he never would have done as a boy. “I’m a Nie,” he explained, “and we both know we have had to fulfill our duties to our sect. I know I can’t fulfill mine on the battlefield – I was never meant to be a soldier or even a cultivator – but I can do this.”

The corners of Nie Mingjue’s eyes crinkled, and he nodded. “Qin-zongzhu’s daughter does seem like a good choice,” he finally agreed, “but the girl is still enamoured with A-Yao no matter how he has tried to dissuade her.”

“Then I imagine San-ge would have a vested interest in helping her get over him,” he grinned, “don’t you think?” Nie Mingjue nodded. Nie Huaisang stood up and stretched out his back. “I’ll go write him a letter and see what he has to say, and we’ll go from there.” He began walking to the office door, but stopped at his brother’s voice.

“But for the record,” Nie Mingjue announced, his tone steady and strong, “you and the Elders are wrong. You might not be meant for the battlefield, but... a sect needs a different kind of leader in peace-time, and you would make a good one.”

Nie Huaisang swallowed through his suddenly tight throat. He made no sound, nothing to indicate he’d heard his brother’s words, and continued on his way out the door.

But his heart flooded with warmth at one of the few compliments he’d ever received from his brother.

[pinayelf]

6 hrs in and some thoughts

disclaimer: all critiques abt racism/orientalism/etc is valid, these things are outside of that because I agree with those crit

i'm genuinely enjoying the game, it's fun

i think it's beautiful. environment is gorgeous

my biggest crit is i feel like (so far) the companions agree so easily on everything - less friction etc. don't get me wrong i don't want it to be like da2 where it was so stressful if you had anders/merrill/fenris with you, and one of my crits of da2 IS that none of the companions ever developed with their rs with others. a happy medium would be best

this is personal, i dislike the combat, mostly bc the games i play are largely point and clicks and side scrollers (Save for like, DA lmao and mirror's edge). the combat is so overwhelming for me and i'm struggling so i turned off death. however if you're someone who does like combat this is plus!

i love bellara sO MUCH i already knew i would

i think the magic tech thing is cool bc i always wondered how magic + tech would come together once ~society got closer to our modern adjacent times"

the armor ain't doing it for me sadly

i love the parkour-ish elements!!! i always wished da would have some stuff that was in mirror's edge and it's great that its there

i so far genuinely like the game, which is know is an unpopular opinion lol. to me da is like chicken nuggets, it has to be horrendous for me to hate it

[scotianostra]

Scottish pop singer/songwriter Dean Ford was born as Thomas McAleese on 5th September 1946 in Airdrie.

You wait all year for a Scottish singer/songwriter to appear, and two come along at once. Dean Ford was one of the most underrated artistes Scotland ever produced.

Tom, as he was still known as back then first began singing in public accompanying a jazz ensemble at the local Whifflet parish church dance hall. He formed his first musical group The Tonebeats at age 13, one of several he hooked up with during his teenage years. By the time he left Clifton High School in Coatbridge at age 15, he had been gaining more exposure as a featured singer. His break came after a performance with the Monarchs at the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow in 1963, where he was seen by members of the popular east Glasgow band The Gaylords and subsequently invited to join the group.

McAleese adopted his stage name (a moniker he coined by combining the names Dean Martin and Tennessee Ernie Ford) and The Gaylords were re-christened Dean Ford and the Gaylords. With hopes of achieving more commercial success, Ford and the band relocated to London in 1965. The bands name came from a notorious post war Chicago Gaylords street gang.

Although the band were very popular and despite being crowned ‘Scotland’s Top Group’,they struggled to break through into the big time. The band changed their name in 1966, but although they were well received , they still struggled to make progress, this was despite Jimi Hendrix describing their 1967 song I see the rain, as the 'best cut of 1967, it did however make it to the top of the charts in The Netherlands!

Things started to go their way that year though when they played as Pink Floyds support at London’s Marquee Club, they started mixing it with the likes of The Who, Joe Cocker, Traffic Gene Pitney and The Tremeloes.They still lacked that chart success and CBS threatened to drop the band if they didn’t deliver soon, they famously rejected the song, Everlasting Love in 1967, Love Affair took the song to the top of the charts! Eventually the band had a hit with Lovin’ Things the following year, their follow up fared less well but in 1969 Marmalade became the first Scottish group to ever top that charts with Lennon and McCartney’s Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.

Marmalade went on to have 8 more top 40 hits over the years, my favourite was written by Ford and band member Junior Campbell, Reflections of My Life. Marmalade continue to show up at these 60’s shows but as far as I am aware none of the original band remain.

Dean lived in Los Angeles for much of his later life, but never forgot his routes, recording and releasing his final album, This Scottish Heart just two months before his death, the album of course having a Scottish theme with tracks like Glasgow Road, Bonnie Mary, Made in Scotland and For MacDougall included in the 30 songs, which also featured a remake of my fave Marmalade song, Reflections of my Life.

In 1998 Dean and Campbell were awarded a Special Citation of Achievement by BMI for attaining radio broadcast performances in excess of one million in the U.S. alone.

Dean, Thomas McAleese passed away suddenly on Hogmanay 2018 in Los Angeles, at the age of 72.

The song is Bonnie Mary by Dean, a song about our tragic queen, Nary Stuart.

We'll remember Bonnie Mary Queen of Scotland and Queen of France All the poets spoke of her great beauty And they say, she loved to dance

She married Darnley and they had a baby Oh, too soon, they took wee James away Then they chased our Mary out of Scotland Never to come back again

So they took a boat across the Solway Stepping on to England's northern shore She wasn't safe with Elizabeth in London Her fate was sealed forevermore

So it was to be, she was held a prisoner For eighteen years They shuttled her around Then one day, she called out to her maker Mary's head fell to the ground

So we remember Bonnie Mary Through it all, her dignity still shows All the poets spoke of her great beauty And our love for Mary grows Oh, oh, our love for Mary grows

[heaven-s-black-box]

Red at Night- Fukumori

Return to File

Recovery date: Feb 2nd, 2022

Description: Fukumori secret marriage

Notes: N/a

Word count: 1 153

Back to directory

Fukuzawa Yukichi, as Kunikida had come to learn, had a great many secrets. Some were inconsequential, like the man's incredible fondness for cats, and some were a great deal more important, like his former acquaintanceship with the port mafia’s boss. But Kunikida had come to understand that if it was important to the safety of the agency or Yokohama, the president would disclose any necessary information.

So when a bouquet of flowers was delivered one morning, addressed to the president, Kunikida brushed it off as just another simple secret. The colors were warm, and he couldn’t help but think of an old adage Kenji had told him: Red at night, sailors delight, red in the morning, sailor’s warning. It was likely a coincidence, but the yellows and reds painted the picture of a violent sunrise so early in the morning. But it was none of his business.

Fortunately for his curiosity, Dazai had no such filter.

“Kenji-kun!” Dazai called across the office once the delivery man had left. “What do those flowers mean?”

“Hm?” Kenji asked, perking up from where he was hunched doing paperwork.

“The flowers that were just delivered, what do they mean?”

“What makes you think they mean anything?” Kunikida snapped, not once looking up from his laptop. “Not to mention it’s none of our business.”

“Aww, Kunikida-kuuun, you’re no fun. Besides, call it a detective's intuition.” He posed, index finger pressed against his forehead and eyes closed pensively.

Kunikida just rolled his eyes.

“Hm, I think they were zinnias, carnations, and peonies. Yellow zinnias mean daily remembrance, and magenta zinnias mean lasting affection, but in a family kind of way. The other two are romantic, dark red carnations mean romantic love, and red peonies love, honor, and respect.”

“Wow, you know alot about flowers,” Atsushi commented in awe.

“That’s because I help the old lady a few blocks over with her shop sometimes, actually I think that delivery guy was from her shop.”

Despite his determination to leave the president's private life alone, Kunikida had two takeaways from that conversation: one, the sender was likely a lover, and two, the flowers were sent from a relatively cheap shop nearby.  A third less important takeaway was that Dazai was still as nosy as ever, not that he’d ever doubted that.

And so concluded the mystery of the flower delivery.

Until the following week when the same delivery boy delivered the same flowers, this time at the end of the day.

The office was still busy as Kunikida and the other agency members filled out paperwork given to them by the gifted special division in the aftermath of the guild conflict. Once again, Kunikida was reminded of the old adage.

A soft scoff sounded from Rampo’s desk where he sat munching on a box of pockies, but Kunikida wasn’t paying attention. Instead he noticed, as the president came out of his office to accept the floors, that the previous bouquet sat wilting in a vase on his desk. It wasn’t strange that they had begun to wilt, but it was quite the coincidence that a new bouquet arrived just as the last started wilting.

It was almost as if the sender knew they’d begun to wilt.

And so the case of the bouquet deliveries was once again reopened as Dazai called out-

“Another bouquet, president? Whoever sent them must really like you, maybe you should send some back!”

Kunikida’s shoulders hunched in as he grit his teeth. Dazai truly had no tact.

“Da-”

“Yes,” the president cut Kunikida off, stopping in front of the door to his office. He gently held a few petals as if examining them, a smile barely resting on his face. “Perhaps I should. Now get back to work, you still have a report on our partnership with the port mafia to finish.”

Dazai let out a groan at the reminder, sinking further into his chair, while the president reentered his office and closed the door behind himself.

“I still can’t believe you kept that from us,” Kunikida grumbled.

“What?”

“That you used to be a part of the port mafia, an executive no less! It never once occurred to you that that may be important information?”

Dazai just shrugged, and Kunikida was so busy scolding him for withholding such important information that he missed the amusement dancing in Rampo’s eyes. After all, if Kunikida thought Dazai had been withholding important information he’d blow a fuse when he found out who was sending the flowers.

And he did. Far sooner than Rampo thought he would, afterall the detective never expected Mori to show up so soon after nearly killing Fukuzawa.

But as the door to the agency opened and Mori Ougai, boss of the port mafia, stepped in, the entire agency jumped to defensive positions. All except Rampo, who continued sucking on a lollipop with his feet kicked up on his desk. He was glad Yosano was out for the day too, as even though she kept her mouth shut he knew she’d rather see Mori dead.

“Tired of sleeping on the couch?”He called, grinning at the confusion that echoed through the office.

“Yes, unfortunately it seems my words alone are not enough and so I have decided a proper apology dinner may be necessary.”

“He’s in his office.”

“Thank you, Rampo-san,” Mori nodded before slowly passing between the desk, wary of any attack that may be sent his way.

He reached the office door without incident, and as he reached for the handle Rampo waved Kunikida and Dazai down. Just as the two stepped closer to Atsushi and Kyouka’s desks, Mori opened the door and ducked as a knife was chucked out.

“I deserved that,” Mori said calmly before righting himself and stepping in.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Dazai turned to Rampo.

“Really? Tanaeda-san sent me to my ex-boss' ex-husband?”

“Ex-hus-husband! What on earth makes you think they were married?!” Kunikida hissed as the other agency members rushed over to convene at Rampo’s desk.

“Mm,” Rampo took the sucker out of his mouth and waved it towards Fukuzawa’s office, “technically they never got divorced, that’s why Mori-san started sending flowers again when we teamed up to fight the guild.”

“The president was married to the port mafia’s boss?!” Atsushi yelled.

“What do you mean again?”

“Why are you so calm about this!”

Using his sucker to point, he went through each question.

First Atsushi’s. “Yes.”’ Then Tanizaki and Naomi’s. “Back when they were together Mori would send flowers all the time, usually I would get a box of sweets,” he pouted, “hey I didn’t get treats this time.” And finally Kunikida. “Because I was a witness.”

“And you never thought that was important to share?”

Rampo shrugged. “It wasn’t my business.”

“Since when do you care what is and isn’t your business?” Kyouka asked.

“Since watching Kunikida blow a fuse is funny.”

[fatehbaz]

[M]onk seals continued to live in large herds along the largely unexplored Atlantic seaboard of northwest Africa. It was not until 1434 that Portuguese explorers landed on these [supposedly] untamed coasts, and discovered thousands of monk seals. Almost immediately, an intensive and lucrative trade in skins and oil was established [...]. Constantly vying with Spain [...], Portugal was determined to increase its sphere of influence in Africa. While Spain eventually became preoccupied with Columbus’ elusive vision [...] [and] his celebrated 1492 expedition [...] Portugal’s colonial influence in Africa was reaching its height by 1500. The first expeditions to Africa’s Gold Coast were recorded for posterity by an official chronicler, Gomes de Zurara [...]. In his book [...] he relates how the Portuguese Infante [royal prince], eager [...], dispatched explorer Afonso Gonçalves Baldaya in a cargo vessel to make contact with the mysterious “moors” or “pagans” who were believed to inhabit the region (Zurara, 1437).

“But these are people, no matter how beastlike they may be,” proclaimed the Infante, “and they need to be governed... I command you to penetrate this land as far as you can and that you work in order to learn about those people, perhaps taking one captive, so that you may become acquainted with them.”

It was in “the year [...] one thousand four hundred and thirty-six” that Alfonso set sail [...]. [T]he barinel eventually reached the shores of the Gold River, the Rio de Oro, situated at the Bay of Dakhla in the western Sahara. [...] Afonso and his crew sighted their first seals. Literally thousands were suddenly in their field of vision. [...] “Upon seeing on a reef at the mouth of the river a large number of sea-wolves,” relates Gomes da Zurara, “which, according to the estimates of some, amounted to five thousand, he ordered killed those that could be killed and had their furs loaded onto the ship [...].” Despite the windfall in skins and oil, Afonso was still dissatisfied, having failed to take captive any of the elusive natives. He therefore ventured a further 50 leagues “to see if he could capture a man or at least a woman or child in order to satisfy the will of his master.” [...]

---

[In] 1437 [...] another Portuguese ship was dispatched to the Gold River to fill its hold with the furs and oil of the sea-wolves. [...] In 1441, [...] the Infante ordered his young wardrobe keeper, Antão Gonçalves, to captain a small ship and return to the Gold River. [...] “[T]he reason for this voyage, as instructed by his Lordship,” writes da Zurara, “was none other than to load that ship with a great quantity of hides and oil from those sea-wolves.” It appears to have been a lucrative undertaking. “ [...]

Antão Gonçalves had fulfilled the command of his master, his ship’s hold brimming with hides and casks, but the young man was eager to pursue his adventures rather than return home as ordered. He assembled his 21-man crew on deck, and addressed them with a rousing speech: “Friends and brothers, our cargo is complete, as you can see, so the principal aim of our mission has been accomplished, and we could well return should we wish to limit our toil…” He then proposed an adventure that would gladden the men’s hearts, providing relief from the laborious and tedious task of hunting, skinning and melting-down seals - a hunt for native slaves [...].

---

These first tentative expeditions to the Gold River paved the way for hunting on a more intensive, industrial scale, with 15th century Portuguese explorers dividing their time between lucrative massacres of seals and the equally profitable slave trade [...].

Indeed, within a few years of the sea wolf discovery, a purpose-built installation to process seal hides and oil had been constructed on Ylha de Lobos [...] in the estuary of the Rio de Oro [...]. Around Cap Barbas [...] no less than three sites once bore the name of the sea wolf [...]. [T]he [French and British] colonial plundering of the region [in the early twentieth century] [...], like [...] [Portuguese] conquest before them, were also portrayed as essentially idealistic endeavours. Just as the conquest of the Rio de Oro by massacre and slavery [...] “proves anew that the pursuit of disinterested geographical knowledge [...] were never the only motives of colonial conquest, so the slaughter [...] [today] would today be called “rational exploitation” [...]”,

---

All text above by: William M. Johnson. “Monk Seals in Post-Classical History: The role of the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) in European history and culture, from the fall of Rome to the 20th century”. Mededelingen 39. The Netherlands Commission for International Nature Protection. 2004. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Presented here for commentary, teaching, criticism purposes.]

[therappundit]

***The Rap Pundit Picks: My Favorite Music of 2024***

2024: one of the greatest years for rap music in Hip-Hop history.

Agree or disagree, if we could separate the music and artists themselves from Hip-Hop culture in general (which depending on who you ask, may not be an acceptable option - and I do understand that), 2024 was filled with arguably the widest range of different styles that rap music has ever heard. From the traditional to the genre benders, from the thoughtful writers to the lucid vibers, to me the notion that "Hip-Hop is dead" just means you're failing to adapt your methods of finding new music.

2024 was a year that featured a new single from Nas & DJ Premier (and the promise of their long-awaited album collaboration), and the potential of a new JAY-Z album (by year's end, we are hearing far more concerning headlines), both of which, not too long ago, would be hovering near the top of the highest billed album expectations of the year. But by the end of 2024? Mostly forgotten. Yes, plenty of veterans like Snoop, LL Cool J, Ice Cube, and Common left their footprints in 2024, but over the past year, some significant waves were made from less celebrated sources.

Beneath the shadow of a historic feud between some of Hip-Hop's heavyweights, a tide-pool of exciting artists were releasing noteworthy music at a furious clip. Long since faded are the narrow lanes separating underground from mainstream, as are the traditional routes for "breaking through". Today you're more likely than ever to find a rap music fan that listens to Mach-Hommy and Playboi Carti than you are to find a rap fan that just listens to what's in heaviest circulation on Hot97. None of this is a new development, it's just becoming more of the reality all the time.

I don't know if my favorite music on these lists today will be in heavy rotation by this time next year, but I'm fairly certain most of these MCs and Producers will still be there in some capacity. There's so much to look forward to, from indy veterans to newer talent, I can't come close to naming everyone, but I feel like something would be missing from this list if I didn't give special recognition to artists like Previous Industries, Child Actor, J.U.S, Jay Cinema, dp0mmy, No Label, Cavalier, shemar, Mutant Academy, Maassai, Mike Shabb, Semiratruth, Spice Programmers, Reco, Halal Boys, Quelle Chris, Nappy Nina, Errol Holden, 7xvethegenius, Sideshow, Futurewave, HOODLUM, Conductor Williams, MIKE, Ox Omni, Jaeychino, Mach-Hommy, Black Chai, Wordsworth, Teller Bank$, Chuckyy, Rome Streetz, Boldy James, Earl Sweatshirt, Sleep Sinatra, Wiseboy Jeremy, Defcee, Wavy Da Ghawd, Myquale, Big Flowers, Blu, JUNE!, Sasco, Silky Southern, Phiik, Joshua Virtue/RAMA, LUNGS/Lonesword, August Fanon, Certified Trapper, Jeph Early, Nick Satchel, Stu Bangas, NEW AGE COLLECTIVE, Yonaa, Westside Gunn, Baby Stone Gorillas, Myles Clayton, Che Noir, BRISTACKZ, Tokyo Cigar, Knoweye, Noqh, Chow, Kadeem, Valee, Messiah Musik, AKAI SOLO, MESSIAH!, Bossman DLow, Rei The Imperial, Nino Paid, Reiiki APOLLO, Bub Rock, J Words, Navy Blue, Armand Hammer, Doechii, Rich Jones, Rapsody, Grafh, BabyChiefdoit, The Alchemist, YUNGMORPHEUS, Alexander Spit, Ol' Burget Beats, Ronday, TiaCorine, LaRussell, Jaysanityy, Chuck Strangers, CJ Fly, Ovrkast., Jiggs, STAR BANDZ, Pink Siifu, and Bruiser Wolf, Nolan The Ninja, and many, many more...for providing 2024 with some great reminders that Hip-Hop is still in good hands.

And R.I.P. to Ka, one of the greatest writers that the genre has ever scene.

I tried to only represent one release from each artist here, in an effort to represent as many different folks as possible; however, a lot of MCs released multiple projects this year, so if I felt like they had more than one release, and two of those releases were neck & neck with being their best work of the year, I tried to make room for both.

s/o to all of these artists for sharing so much great music with their fans, critics, and hopefully any soul that discovers them through lists like this one...and a toast to what we can only hope will be a happy & healthy New Year (we could certainly use it). 🙏

************************************************************************

*TOP SONGS*:

100. "Rerock The Hook" - Drakeo the Ruler feat. Icewear Vezzo

99. "CULLINAN GANG" - Nasaan feat. Icewear Vezzo

98. "Bear Fruit" - Kadeem feat. Rugby LoSport & FUNERAL Ant Bell

97. "Beverly Drive" - Erick The Architect

96. “Humpty” - Semiratruth

95. "Vertino" - Conway The Machine feat. Joey Bada$$

94. “Bonnet” - TiaCorine

93. "PANDURICANE" - Conductor Williams & Rei The Imperial

92. “BUMBO” - CJ Fly & Stoic

91. "live like this" - Jiles

90. "H.Y.B." - J. Cole feat. Bas & Central Cee

89. "Witness" - Certified Trapper

88. "Ray Wop" - Ray Vaughn

87. "30 (Freestyle)" - JID

86. "NOT FINE AT ALL" - Killian Fonlon

85. "Whqtthe" - Noqh feat. chasay, Kzoba & Jaysanityy

84. "Difference" - YN Jay feat. Tay B & Kash Doll

83. “Colors” - Remble feat. Mozzy & Stoneda5th

82. "HIGHJACK" - A$AP Rocky feat. Jessica Pratt

81. "Ya Don't Stop" - DJ Premier feat. Rick Ross, Big Sean & Lil Wayne

80. "9 LIVES" - R2R Moe

79. "A Damaged Wraith" - Vic Spencer feat. Rockness Monsta

78. "FREE SMURK, BIG EDDIE & CAM" - YTB Fatt

77. "Cruise Piff" - Jay Cinema & CHoW

76. “Super Rufus” - Rufus Sims & Billionaire Boyscout

75. "?" - Big Yavo

74. “THAT’S HARD” - Anycia feat. Cash Cobain

73. "SINCE THEY TOLD ME I'M A LEGEND" - Jeph Early & Gios4ma

72. "Bill Belichick" - Mg Sleepy feat. Bfb Da Packman & Myaap

71. "It's Us" - BabyFxce E feat. Luh Tyler

70. “place i rep” - Remy Banks

69. "Grandmother's Lessons" - Your Old Droog

68. "Doughboy Daisy" - WB Nutty feat. HBK Kid & Payroll

67. "ZYDECO" - Ronday

66. "HOO" - LIFEOFTHOM & Stoic

65. “Banded Up” - Chief Keef feat. Tierra Whack

64. "Hurry Up & Buy" - Bruiser Wolf

63. "Top Dawg" - Yonaa

62. "Killing Em'" - Reco feat. Gorgeous Jefe, Solute, Lord Ra & Ilxtus

61. "Still Praying" - Westside Gunn feat. Stove God Cooks, Benny The Butcher, Conway the Machine & Boldy James

60. “Rotation” - BagChaser Reke feat. 2Real

59. "See The Sunset" - Nick Satchel & dp0mmy

58. "Me vs Me" - Jaeychino & SlimeGetEm

57. "Memoriam pt. 2" - Sleep Sinatra & bloomcycle feat. Desde

56. "Local Anastasia" - Kenny Segal & K-The-I??? feat. Open Mike Eagle

55. "Days Before Juneteenth" - HALAL BOYS

54. "Omakase" - Nappy Nina & Swarvy feat. Maassai & Stas Thee Boss

53. "4Slime" - Young Nudy

52. "proper vertigo" - mynameisntjack feat. Sol ChYld

51. "Up Now" - Mustard feat. Lil Yachty, BlueBucksClan & 42 Dugg

50. “Black Girl” - Che Noir feat. Rapsody

49. “Penmanship” - Kooley High & Tuamie

48. "RIO FREE" - Rio Da Yung OG

47. "Water" - BRISTACKZ

46. “I.S.D.A.M.L.” - Boldy James & Whothehelliscarlo

45. “12:50 In New York” - Chuckyy

44. "Wrist Buss" - Myaap

43. "mikealstott" - Blvck Svm feat. eeryskies & Boldy James

42. "Trippin" - Bossman DLow

41. "Words2LiveBy" - El Cousteau feat. Earl Sweatshirt

40. "Complications" - Reiiki APOLLO

39. "Syrup Sandwiches" - Cordae feat. Joey Bada$$

38. “Type Shit” - Future & Metro Boomin feat. Travis Scott & Playboi Carti

37. “INFORMATION AGE” - No Label [Ahk Sair, Amiri Mikel, Yo OG, Funk Shway, buddy.not.bud]

36. “Custard Spoon” - Cavalier

35. "RENEE (MAY DAY)" - Sideshow

34. "Money Problems" - Nino Paid feat. Lil Gray

33. "Don't Do Drugs" - J.U.S. & Squadda B

32. “Curtis Jackson” - C Stunna feat. Skrilla

31. “Rocafella Chain” - Grafh feat. Freeway, Peedi Crakk & Memphis Bleek

30. “PAYMEAGRIP” - Ovrkast. & Cardo Got Wings

29. "Detroit" - Tee Grizzley feat. 42 Dugg

28. "From The Dirt" - Phiik & LUNGS feat. AKAI SOLO

27. "California Dream" - Ab-Soul feat. Vince Staples & Kamm Carson

26. “I’m G (OMG)” - Blu & Shafiq Husayn feat. Chuuwee & Born Allah

25. “SINCE I WAS LIL” - JasonMartin & DJ Quik feat. Curren$y, Bun B & Jay Worthy

24. "Short Stories" - Jawnino feat. MIKE

23. “LIBERATION” - Mutant Academy feat. Quelle Chris

22. “Pedal tha Ave” - Wiseboy Jeremy & Kirti Pandey

21. “DUMMY” - JUNECINEMA feat. RoBB, Chow & rivan

20. “Psalm” - 7xvethegenius feat. Jae Skeese

19. “MESCALINE” - LaRussell & CAM CORTEZ

18. "coolin fr" - Jaysanityy

17. "mukbang" - Nolan The Ninja feat. Fatboi Sharif

16. “Lost Angel” - Blu & Evidence

15. "Frosted Flake" - DJ Rude One feat. Valee

14. “Gank Move” - Big Hit, Hit-Boy & The Alchemist feat. HitgirlLENA

13. “Dream Blunt Rotation” - Rich Jones & Sleep Sinatra/SINAI. feat. AJ Suede, Qari & J.U.S

12. "ALL OVER" - JUNE! feat. Israel Jones, $hyyguyy & Radicule.

11. “Zayre” - Previous Industries [Open Mike Eagle, Video Dave, STILL RIFT]

10. “SONJE” - Mach-Hommy. feat. Hephzibah

9. “The Harder They Come” - YUNGMORPHEUS & Alexander Spit

8. "Yea Yea" - STAR BANDZ

7. "Sword Lilies" - Cavalier & Child Actor feat. Quelle Chris

6. “expensive piss” - shemar & Child Actor

5. "Collection Plate" - Ka

4. “Hey Now” -Kendrick Lamar feat. DODY6

3. "Sage" - Rome Streetz & Daringer feat. ScHoolboy Q

2. "Doves" - Armand Hammer feat. Benjamin Booker

1. "Free Jesus" - Mike Shabb

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*TOP ALBUMS*:

*Honorable Mention (absolutely belong in my top 50 as well, but this year was soooo deep)*...

Keep Holly Alive by Mutant Academy, The Grand Design by Philmore Greene, DREAMDROPDRAGON by AKAI SOLO, From Vallejo With Love by LaRussell & Cam Cortez, the First to Make Contact When We Dap by R.A.P. Ferreira & Fumitake Tamura, WATCH THE THRONE by Jaeychino, My Story Got Stories by Bruiser Wolf, The Tonite Show The Sequel by Curren$y & DJ.Fresh, Day Shift, Vol. 1 by Lil Tre, Pigmen In the Vitreous by Knoweye, Alchemy by Jay Cinema & Chow, All Infinite by Kooley High & Tuamie, Slant Face Killah by Conway The Machine, Personification by Maxo Kream, I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU by JPEGMAFIA, Chiraq Mogul 2 by ZMONEY, Things I Should've Said When I Was Awake EP by Reiiki APOLLO, OTHERWISE A BLUR by blackchai & August Fanon, Marciology by Roc Marciano, Alligator Bites Never Heal by Doechii, OPERATION FLAMETHROWER by Conductor Williams & Rei The Imperial, Flint 2 Detroit by YN Jay, Being The Bigger Person Sucks by Vic Spencer

50. Zombie Love Kensington Paradise by Skrilla

49. REVELATOR by ELUCID

48. The Pride & Glory by Teller Bank$ & Ed Glorious

47. CHROMAKOPIA by Tyler, The Creator

46. Above All by Myquale

45. Keep Me Company by Skyzoo

44. Brown in America by HOODLUM

43. Pinball by MIKE & Tony Seltzer

42. Two Kings by Stu Bangas & Wordsworth

41. BLUE LIPS by ScHoolboy Q

40. BTTRSWT by NEW AGE COLLECTIVE

39. Transatlantic Shit 2 by Spice Programmers

38. Black Box: JOSHUA IS DEAD by Joshua Virtue

37. SOLACE by Marco Plus

36. A Foresaken Lover's Plea by Chuck Strangers

35. Still Praying by Westside Gunn

34. MMCHT by Nickelus F

33. Save The Bees by Big Flowers & Messiah Musik

32. CHUPACABRA by JasonMartin & DJ Quik

31. Black & Whites by Big Hit, Hit-Boy & The Alchemist

30. Nothing Is My Favorite Thing by Nappy Nina & Swarvy

29. CINE by Cavalier & Child Actor

28. IS THIS A SAFE SPACE? by Psalm One & Optiks

27. The Skeleton Key by Roc Marciano & The Alchemist

26. DECON$TRUCT!ON by Maassai

25. Deathtape 2: We Gon’ Need Each Other by Quelle Chris, Cavalier, and Denmark Vessey

24. This Too Shall Pass by Yo OG

23. Black Blues Brothers by HALAL BOYS

22. Soul Burger by Ab-Soul

21. Halfway There by dp0mmy

20. Bag Man Julio by Jaysanityy

19. 74: Out of Time by Ol’ Burger Beats

18. Carrot Season by Phiik & LUNGS

17. Memory(ummm) by Sleep Sinatra & bloomcycle

16. Almighty So 2 by Chief Keef

15. WAKING UP AND CHOOSING VIOLENCE by YUNGMORPHEUS & Alexander Spit

14. i'd rather not by Nolan The Ninja

13. PERSEVERANCE by Jay Cinema & JUNE! as JUNECINEMA

12. Death of Deuce - 7xvethegenius

11. Sour Dub by Rich Jones & SINAI.

10. F.U.N. T.O.Y. by Sideshow

9. GNX by Kendrick Lamar

8. 3rd Shift by J.U.S. & Squadda B

7. Los Angeles by Blu & Evidence

6. Different Type Time by Cavalier

5. Service Merchandise by Previous Industries [Open Mike Eagle, Video Dave, Still Rift]

4. sunscreen by shemar & Child Actor

3. The Thief Next to Jesus by Ka

2. #RICHAXXHAITIAN by Mach-Hommy

1. Sewaside III by Mike Shabb

See you in the '2-5...