#here in the spotlight we shine ;; threads

[goodjazzsquares]

closed starter for @sharpayyyyy location: sharpay's apartment

The feedback and opinions he had given on the demos he had listened to of Sharpay’s first album had obviously been ignored, given the fact that she had still gone through and released each and every song shitting on Troy and also Gabriella. It wasn’t a surprise that the blonde didn’t want to listen to him, but it was slightly disappointing. As he had assumed would happen, a riff had run straight through their whole friend group once the album dropped. But that wasn’t even the worst of it, no Sharpay then had to go and perform those songs live at a party the very same day. It was a mess, and so absolutely and completely in character for Sharpay Evans that Ryan hadn’t even bothered to scold her on it all. Instead, he did the only thing he thought might affect her - he refused to acknowledge the stunt or comment on it at all, focusing instead on everything that was going on in his own life and work.

But he couldn’t ignore his twin forever, they both knew that. So after leaving his nightly rehearsal for Grease Live, with nothing else lined up for the evening, Ryan made his way over to her apartment. As the door swung open after a knock, he forced a small smile and raised a hand in greeting. “Hey sis,” he starts, feeling more awkward than he had in years around the girl. Being so busy with all of his different jobs at the moment, he hadn’t really had much time to actually process how he felt about everything Sharpay had done, and now he was realizing perhaps he should have done that before just showing up like this. Then he’d at least know what to say. But as it was, he instead found himself pushing off the inevitable conversation and just focused on getting himself inside the door. “You busy?”

[bodyswap005]

"Switching Roles" Kevin Alvarez and Timothee Chalamet

Kevin Álvarez’s Perspective:

I’ve always dreamed of being an actor. Since I was a kid, I spent hours in front of the TV, mimicking my idols and imagining the bright lights of Hollywood. However, life took me down a different path: football. Now, with Club Am��rica, I’ve achieved something many consider a dream, but deep down, there’s always been a yearning for the cinema.

I remember the day it was announced that Timothée Chalamet would be coming to Mexico to promote "Dune: Part II." My excitement was palpable. Here was a talented young star, acclaimed for his acting, while I was just an emerging footballer, longing to be like him. I spent the days leading up to the match thinking about what I would say if I ever had the chance to meet him. But football was my reality, and for now, it was my priority.

On match night, the stadium was packed. The atmosphere was electric, and adrenaline coursed through my veins. As I ran across the field, I felt alive. Yet in the back of my mind, that voice kept dreaming of acting, of being part of stories larger than myself.

Then, everything changed in an instant. A ball, struck with force, flew into the stands and hit me. When I regained consciousness, I wasn’t on the pitch anymore; I was in an unfamiliar locker room, staring at a mirror that reflected Timothée Chalamet. Confusion and panic overwhelmed me. What had happened? How was it possible that I was in his body?

Facing life as an actor was terrifying. The cameras, the lights, the pressure of being in the spotlight… it wasn’t easy. Every time I looked in the mirror, I saw someone I had always admired, but now I had to live that reality. I had to attend meetings and auditions, and while I initially felt like a fish out of water, I soon began to find my footing.

It was incredible to be in his world, surrounded by writers and directors, but I also felt out of place. The pressure to meet expectations was overwhelming. Sometimes, I wished to return to the pitch, where my skills were clear, and the thrill of the game filled me with life.

Yet there was something magical about the world of cinema. I learned to appreciate the art of storytelling and the dedication each performance requires. In one of those meetings, I remembered why I loved acting and how it had always been a part of me. So, I started to immerse myself in roles, to feel the emotions of characters, and to channel my own dreams through them.

Meanwhile, Timothée, in my body, was discovering the world of football. I could see his excitement and struggle. He trained hard, trying to understand the game and meet the expectations of being a professional athlete. With each match, I felt his desire to succeed and his respect for the sport. That made me realize how much love is needed in both disciplines.

The climax arrived during a crucial match. Timothée had to take a decisive penalty kick, and as I watched him, I felt a mix of nerves and pride. When he scored, a wave of happiness washed over me. In that moment, I understood that although we were in different bodies, we shared the same desire: to be the best at what we love.

Finally, fate brought us together again. In a strange connection, we returned to our original bodies. It was as if an invisible thread had pulled us back, giving us a new perspective on what it means to be an actor and an athlete.

Today, as I look to the future, I know I won’t abandon my dream of acting. I’ve learned to value every part of my journey, to embrace both football and cinema. Timothée and I shared an experience that bonded us in a unique way. Life is a stage, and I’m ready to shine on it, whether with a ball at my feet or on the big screen.

Part two here:

[cantareincminor]

Day 28: Favorite Theory for the End

I haven't looked into many fan theories for the end! But I did write my own version of the end in my longest fic, tying up Project Apple and other political threads.

Spitballing, I think the canon ending is likely to have these elements (rather boring predictions):

Forgers stay together, Twilight is allowed to retire as Loid Forger (there is precedent for this in the lives of real spies)

War is averted, and Ostania and Westalis establish more peaceful ties

All of the Forgers' individual secrets are revealed to each other, and while the journey to acceptance may be rocky (especially between Twilight and Yor), they ultimately forgive and understand each other

The "bad guys"---the political and scientific figures behind Project Apple, plus the warmongers, are defeated

Bonus: Franky gets a girlfriend!

Beyond this, there are more nuanced questions I'd like to explore:

Will Twilight have to leave the Forgers at some point?

This one's 50/50 to me. Having Twilight disappear for a while--whether it's because his cover is blown or because WISE needs him elsewhere--could introduce a lot of active tension and mystery. From a storytelling perspective, if Endo chose not to reveal Twilight's fate or narrate from his POV for an entire arc, it would help put the spotlight on other characters and give them a chance to shine.

It would force characters like Yor and Anya to change the status quo of their behavior, ask questions, hunt for answers. Especially if Anya came clean to her mother about her and Bond's powers and was able to assist in finding Twilight and helping him out of whatever predicament he might be in.

Will Twilight and Thorn Princess have to fight each other, even if just for a few minutes when they're taken off guard?

This one's 75% likely to me. While Endo teased it in Yor's drunken imagination, that could still have been legit foreshadowing of the eventual showdown. There are so many great fics about Twilight and Thorn Princess running into each other on the job by accident that explore this already, I won't go into the potential setup here.

The main reason I think it's likely is because the whole premise of the story is these two extremely competent underground professionals from opposing countries living together and having no clue about the other's identity. It would make sense for them to have an explosive surprise encounter where the house of cards falls apart.

But what happens after the encounter is the main question. Does one of them leave the Forgers? Do they fully come clean or does Twilight continue to lie and try to trick Yor? Does all the trust they have accumulated in their relationship vanish and have to be painstakingly rebuilt? Or will it be a quieter scenario where they each own up to their guilt, and commit to understanding the other? I'd like to lean toward the latter, especially with Twilight's personal philosophy of relentlessly trying to understand every unknown he comes across. As he told Donovan Desmond, he believes that it's worth trying to understand other people even though it's very difficult.

Will Anya be captured/threatened by Project Apple in some way?

75% likely. This again has been explored in many fics.

From a storytelling perspective this makes sense because it would serve as a unifying factor for Twilight and Thorn Princess to work together, and WISE and Garden perhaps as well (or for their best operatives to go rogue, which can be even more interesting).

Anya, and children as a whole, are cast as the beacons of hope and innocence, worth protecting at all costs, throughout the narrative. This is apparent from chapter 1 when Twilight reveals his inner motivation is to make a world where children don't have to cry. It's reemphasized through Yor's own backstory of raising Yuri at great cost to herself; when we see Twilight's own tragic backstory of everything he lost and how he became a spy; when Sigmund Authen says that children are the world's greatest treasure; when Jeeves looks on Damian and his friends and is happy to see him loosen up and be himself, instead of constantly feeling burdened by adults' expectations. All this is to say that, when an author sets up a person/concept like this as "The Precious" in a story, they're likely to threaten it with grave danger as the pinnacle of the conflict--for all the competing sides to give up their differences and come together over the one thing they can agree on.

Will any important characters die?

75% likely. To fuel the narrative, Endo may kill someone off, as is common in longer mangas. The convenient way to do this is with an older mentor figure like Sylvia or McMahon--which leaves their subordinates devastated and lost and looking for answers or retribution. If Sylvia dies, Twilight may be forced to step up as commanding officer of WISE until the parent organization can send a replacement.

Other than that, I really have no clue.

How will Yor and Yuri confront each other about their respective secrets?

I believe this will happen after Twilight and Yor find out about each other. It might come as part of the identity reveal convo, where Twilight discloses this to Yor. He would definitely need to prevent her from giving away any signs to Yuri that her husband is a spy.

Other than that, I really have no clue again, lol

And finally, a less important question, but one I've seen fans debate about now and then: will Twilight and Yor have more children together?

50/50. (This includes both biological children and adopting--to cover the possibility that one or both of them have become infertile due to the demands of their jobs.)

Obviously I do not think this will happen until way later, after all the identity reveals, after peace has been achieved. Endo might conclude the manga with a timeskip to show what our main cast's lives are like (and the overall political landscape), and that might be when we glimpse a Twiyor baby or two.

From discussions with other fans, I think that opinions about the "Twiyor baby" largely hinge on a fan's personal preference for whether they want children in their own lives. Of course there are exceptions, but in general, fans who have or want children of their own headcanon that Twiyor will have more children, while those who don't want children hc that Twiyor will stick with just Anya.

Given that much of this question is speculating on future Twilight and Yor (I'd say at least 3 canonical years after where we currently are in the manga), it's really hard to say where their mindset will be at that point. But, I'd say Yor is more likely to want another child than Twilight. Family life with the Forgers has given her new purpose and joy; she loves being a mom to Anya, and whenever we see memories of her youth, we see her happily taking care of Yuri and treasuring those times with him. Twilight, on the other hand, needs to undergo A LOT of character growth before he'll even consider a question like this. Right now he doesn't even acknowledge Anya and Yor as his family beyond mission purposes, is trying to emotionally distance himself from them, and is still committed to the whole "hero who casts no shadow" business.

Thanks for reading this far if you made it down here!

[lex-loudestwoman]

The Bejeweled Elevator is The Eras Tour

Simply put, the Bejeweled Elevator depicts the timeline of the Eras Tour and the remaining re-records! Let's get into it!

(Quick note: more pictures & links to come, this is just taking forever and I needed to get it posted before we're too far into the London shows! I've had this theory brewing since October 2023 and I'll be damned if y'all don't get to read it before it all comes to fruition.)

The Basement

The Basement is the period of time between folklore and evermore's surprise releases and the start of The Eras Tour. It begins with a shot of the golden "invisible" string that leads Taylor through the cardigan and willow music videos. We see Taylor scrubbing away at her step-sister's mess, dutifully fulfilling her role as the tired, tacky, exiled wench. Step-Mommy, Alana, Este, and Danielle seem to have taken Taylor in after a falling out with Prince Jack (oh, what a marvelous gift, for which Taylor should be most grateful). They delight in her position as their servant girl and assert their dominance over her, forbidding her from attending the grand ball. Taylor is being locked in the basement and forced to work for people who already live in excess. She clearly resents her step-family and Prince Jack, whose portrait depicts him with her cats, which represent her catalogue of original recordings.

Taylor has been working away on her own project while her controllers are not around, biding her time until exile ends and she can escape (fresh out the slammer, anyone?). With contempt in her eyes and vengeance in her heart, she meticulously sews beads onto the hooded cloak she wore to remain anonymous during the willow music video. A pocket watch appears out of thin air and tells her that her time in exile has finally ended, and she immediately begins her journey back to the penthouse to reclaim the land that was stolen from her.

The Elevator

Briefly, here is my concrete evidence that the Eras Tour is the Bejeweled Elevator.

The Capitol One Eras Commercial that released on the day the Eras Tour was announced depicts all the eras of Taylor gathered in a golden elevator.

The Eras Tour is full of visual transitions called an "elevator cut" where the screen splits in half vertically and slides open, just like elevator doors. I'd bet anything that our film director mastermind knows what that cut is called and that she has full creative license for everything Eras. None of it is accidental! (Twitter Thread here!) The same elevator cuts are used in several lyric videos, most significantly (imo) is Change.

The Eras Tour "takes us on a journey through 18 years of music," just as the Bejeweled Elevator takes Taylor on a journey through her musical career from basement to penthouse.

The Third Floor: Speak Now (Taylor's Version)

In the elevator, Taylor ascends to Floor 3. This represents the spring/summer 2023 U.S. Leg of the Eras Tour, during which she announced and released Speak Now (Taylor's Version). This time period was when Taylor started doing tons of pap walks again and was seen regularly in the public eye. She regained her sparkle, so to speak, and let herself shine in the spotlight. The media became supersaturated with Taylor Swift content - her scandal with Matty Healy & Ice Spice, her frequent public appearances, and the unbelievable success of the Eras Tour. On the 3rd floor, we see her depict exactly this - she struts a runway of dazzling gems, sheds her cloak, and leaves covered in brilliant jewels. You couldn't overlook Taylor Swift if you tried. This level of blossoming stardom and interest in her day-to-day life is reminiscent of the original Speak Now era.

She leaves this floor fully bedazzled, just as she left the August 9th show in Los Angeles in her sparkling purple shirt dress, glass of white wine in hand, formally entering the 1989 (Taylor's Version) Era.

The Fifth Floor: 1989 (Taylor's Version)

Next, Taylor ascends to Floor 5. This represents the Fall 2023 LatAm leg and Spring 2024 Oceania & Tokyo leg of the Eras Tour, during which she released 1989 (Taylor's Version). On the 5th floor, Taylor uses her sexuality to entertain alongside her dark haired twin, Dita Von Teese. This time period was marked by the frenzied consumption of Taylor's newest public relation(ship) strategy. Just like in the martini glasses on the 5th floor, Taylor learns how to embrace her dark side and uses her sexuality and alcohol to entertain a ravenous crowd. We met Vamplor and WAG Taylor on our TV screens as she cheered, brought record viewership, record jersey sales, and a whole new demographic of fans to the NFL. Her social and dating life was the subject of every. single. media outlet. Just as it was during the original 1989 era - every detail of her life was curated for our consumption.

The Thirteenth Floor: THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT

We arrive at The Penthouse, where the Queen's Ball is being held! Taylor puts on the performance of a lifetime for the Queen, using the lessons she learned on the Third and Fifth Floor to wow the royal judges. She sparkles, dazzles, and shines; she leans into the fun of entertaining and shows everyone how talented of a performer she truly is.

This penthouse performance for the monarchy represents the European Leg of The Eras Tour and the release of THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT. The brand new TTPD set on the Eras Tour directly mimics the choreography in the music video.

Examples: The feathered fans surrounding Taylor. The two piece set in ICDIWABH. Lifted overhead. Stage & curtains background.

This leads me to make a few predictions regarding timeline and events for the rest of the tour.

The Kingdom Key and the Proposal

Needless to say, I believe the European Leg of the Eras Tour has more to surprise us with. Taylor is about to impress the Queen in London with this performance and she wins the ball! As winner, she's awarded the title of Queen, a proposal from the Prince, and most importantly to Taylor, the key to her castle.

Prince Jack is forced to propose to Housewench Taylor. This happens in front of a staged archway with tons of paparazzi snapping photos of their every move. Being awarded the key and the proposal are still part of the performance event of the 13th Floor. As soon as Taylor fulfills the requirements: perform, pose, and smile, she vanishes.

The Ghosting: reputation (Taylor's Version)

There will be no explanation. There will just be reputation.

reputation (Taylor's Version) will be announced on the last night of the London show run, accompanied by a shocking break up announcement that fuels the media's relentless speculation on her personal life.

The Castle: Taylor Swift (Taylor's Version)

Taylor stands on the balcony of her castle, surveying her land. This is the same castle that she moved into during reputation era, as depicted in LWYMMD. She's wearing TS hairclips, and has returned home. This scene represents the US Eras Tour Leg Part II, and the announcement and release of Taylor Swift (Taylor's Version). It's nearly dawn, and there is a Full Blood Moon above the castle. Interestingly enough, the October full moon is often called a Blood Moon, and the full moon this October is the day before Miami N1 (October 18th). I've been theorizing that Miami, Florida!!! is her real home for a long time, and TTPD sure did confirm that.

The Dragons: Karma

The final scene of Bejeweled is a wide shot of Taylor's Castle, where we can see three dragons setting the castle aflame. This is Karma - karma is a fire in your house. I'm not sure exactly what form Karma will manifest itself in, whether that's the missing TS6 album, a record label, exposing the industry for how abusive it is, coming out, or something else entirely. But, in the words of our mastermind, Karma is real.

[astarion-dekarios]

I did a live transcription of the Dragon Age: the Veilguard dev Q&A session today.

UPDATE/EDIT: I made a second pass of this and cleaned it up into a full/complete transcript.

Q: If you could belong to any of the main factions, which would you choose? 

Corinne: Listen Katie, you say softball but this is hard. I'm gonna cheat and I’m gonna give you two. So for fashion, the Antivan Crows all day long. their threads, you're gonna love it. For vibes though, the ones that capture my vibe, Mournwatch. Gimme those necromancers.

John: Those are good answers. I have one for fashion and for just general faction that I’d like to be a part of. Veil jumpers - who doesn't like a nice walk in the forest, you know, even if that forest is filled with horrifying monsters and terrifying anomalies, but uh, yeah.

Matt: For me it’s definitely the Lords of Fortune. I’ve had a chance to try out a bunch of them, and I think I’ve finally settled on them, and I think it’s just because pirate barbarian is just such a great combination of elements. Treasure hunting, plus beaches and palm trees and all that stuff, it’s a really good mix, so that’s kind of my default.

Q: I’ve seen a lot of talk about only having two companions in your party instead of three for this game. What is the reasoning this and will we get the same companion conversations and banter as seen in the previous Dragon Age Games?? 

Corinne: Such a good question. Thank you to whoever submitted this one. I'll start and then turn it over to John Epler. As you saw in the gameplay reveal, this is a much more intimate experience. We pulled the camera in. For those that aren't aware, the reason why is we want you to feel like you actually are in this world, like you’re walking these the city streets of Minrathous, you’re looking up at the buildings all around you. You're a part of this place. It's much more intimate, and we believe as the narrative unfolds that this creates a lot more immersion. Now how this relates to the companions is in doing this, we went back and forth on it a lot, but we actually found that having two companions allows them more visibility and presence. We've talked about the incredible depth and focus we’ve put on fleshing out these companions, they're very fully realized, so here you really get to see them more clearly, you get to see them shine. When you see Lace Harding jump into the air and release a volley of arrows, you can only get that because of this more intimate view. So I love the spotlight that’s been put on them. But I think in addition to the banter, one of the things people are wondering about is, ok but what about gameplay. Again, this has come about from our testing, working with the internal team and also our lovely our council of players. We just found that in the combat system, when you're planning your strategies, two felt like the right number to manage. Keep in mind, Rook has a lot of different types of actions: abilities, individual attacks that are more fleshed out than ever before. Timing and positioning matter a lot, so this really felt like the right balance. The number of inputs and actions we’re asking you as a player to take, including directing your companions, is higher than ever before. And I will also say that I engage with the companions, I actively control what they're doing more than I ever have before in any of the other three games. But John, I’ll toss it over to you for the banter.

John: So banter, honestly I don't think you could stop the writers from writing banters. I will say for myself, it's one of the more light but fun things to do. You get to write little stories, little arcs between the characters, and Veilguard is no different. Banter is still absolutely a core part of it. We've got global banter, you know the general stuff that you get in all spaces, as well as mission specific stuff. But yeah. It's definitely still a big thing, if anything it's the most we've ever done for pairings of companions. Beyond that, we’ve also made sure—and I mean, I’ve been on Dragon Age for a while, and I know there’s been an issue, you know, things like, “well, I don’t wanna miss this banter.” So we've even added stuff like interruptable and resumable banter as well, just to make sure that—because again, it’s a core part of the experience. Everyone loves hearing these companions talk to each other. Everyone loves hearing these little stories and relationships develop over the course of the game, and as mentioned before, companions are the heart of this experience. So we still have it, if anything like I said, you could not stop the writers from doing it, even if you tried.

Corinne: Well John, listening to you speak, one thing that comes to mind, maybe people are wondering, with two companions in the field, do I get less interaction? Like do I get a scene with my companions interacting with a broader group more often? And the way you'll gather them around the kitchen table, there's just so many of those moments where they're all interacting with each other. Those are some of my favorite parts.

John: Yeah, and that’s a good callout, because I think the other side of it is, we aren’t talking too much about your home, but we also wanna make sure that they feel like they have relationships and a life outside of just the times you take a certain pair of companions out on the field, so we made sure that they have interactions there as well.

Q: How customizable is the backstory of Rook? Will we get to determine their past in the character creator?

John: Absolutely. So Rook has six different backgrounds that you can choose from. Each  one is tied to one of the major factions in the Veilguard, and each one sets out who Rook was before they were recruited by Varric. While that sets up the broad events, as you go through the game and have conversations either with members of your faction, other characters, you can define not just what those events were but what they meant to you – what was your motivation, what was the kind of person you are as you build up Rook, because again, we wanna make sure that roleplaying is at the heart of this experience, and taking Rook, giving them a background in the world but letting you decide what that means and what that says about you is also a big part of it. And again, there are six different factions in this game. Two which anyone who’s played Dragon Age for a while would remember, you’ve got the Gray Wardens and Antivan Crows. We also have, in addition to them, four new ones because we’re in Northern Thedas. We’ve got the Veil Jumpers, Mournwatch, Shadow Dragons, and Lords of Fortune. A lot of different options, a lot of different backgrounds, and a lot of opportunities to define who your Rook was and who they are now.

Q: Will crafting return and has it been improved since Inquisition?

Corinne: Will crafting return? You can absolutely improve and customize your gear, yes. That is a big part of RPG progression, so yes you can improve and customize it. I will say though, it's different this time around, and it does get into spoiler territory so I'm gonna be a little cagey about it, but there might be a mysterious entity that assists you with that that will be an important part of the narrative.

Q: Can we kiss or romance Manfred the skeleton? 

John: I would say, not that skeleton, but we're not saying no skeletons.

Q: What were some of the development considerations that you had to take into account to ensure this game flows & functions with prior games & dragon age keep, if keep is being utilized? 

Corinne: We did an interview with IGN that goes into some of the details there. To summarize, we have taken a different approach on how you import your decisions this time around. It's now fully integrated into the character creator and serves a dual purpose, to be honest. It’s not called this in game, but I playfully think of it as "last time on dragon age". When I talk about its dual purpose, it's been 10 years since the last dragon age game release, so it serves as a refresher on critical events as well as allowing you to remake those decisions that are critical to you. The thing I love about it is it's very highly visual, it uses the familiar tarot card aesthetic, so it's actually a very visual and playful experience as you go through it. It is very much important to us that it's built into the client, though. You can play this game entirely offline, no connection, you don’t have to link to your EA accounts. That's been a really big request, so the refresher plus make those decisions in client, I think we're all pretty happy about that. I don't wanna spoil anything by revealing what decisions you can import. Y'all don't want the spoilers. But it's been a really interesting creative intersection for us. Because on the one hand, this is a whole new adventure. You're in northern thedas, these locations you've literally never been to before, so that affects what will matter and what we’re not using this time around as far as decisions. But obviously there’s some very very clear connections to existing characters. It’s no secret that the Inquisitor, our dear Inky, is gonna show up, so that's a factor.

Q: Will this next game be an open world game or is it just confined to Tevinter? 

John: Yeah, so you are in northern Thedas, but the game only begins in Minrathous. It doesn't stay there. I think one of the most exciting things for me, and again, I don’t wanna get into too much spoiler detail, but getting to go to and work with the art team, the narrative, the design team to build out these locations we've talked about, places that character have referred to as where they’ve come from, places that characters obviously in previous games have hailed from, has been absolutely exciting. So you do start in Tevinter, you do start in Minrathous, but again that’s not the entire game by any stretch.

Corinne: And the first half of it is, is it an open world game? We've gone back to what we believe delivers the best, most curated, intense narratives. So this is a hand crafted experience, it's mission based. Now these locations can open up, you can go back, solve mysteries, do some really great side content - not fetch quests, not grind quests, some really great side content. But I wanna be clear, it's a really curated, hand crafted experience.

John: Just to bounce off of that very quickly, the most important thing for us and what Corinne was saying about hand crafted, obviously we’ve talked about how characters, story, narrative are critical to us, and this has allowed us to build those experiences in a way that emphasized that really well while still tying it into the story threads and story beats.

Q: Will the companions have unique specializations like DA2 or the same as player?

Corinne: I think the best way for me to describe this is that yes, our companions will have abilities that are truly unique to them, but also the companions do fall into the archetypes of mage, rogue, and warrior. For instance, you might be surprised to hear, because she has a bow, but Bellara is in fact a mage, and I love that. Some of the abilities, the bulk of the abilities of the companions, are based on their own unique personalities. Neve is the only mage that is an ice mage, so you get distinct abilities for her. But because she's a mage, she does have access to abilities that all mages share, like Time Slow. We really like the balance there. It’s a good mix of representing their archetype, their class, and also their distinct specialization or personality or whatever you wanna call it.

John: Yeah actually, I would say the word personality is a great one, because all of these characters exist, have a story, have a history of how they became who they were, and part of that was finding that intersection between narrative and gameplay and making sure that again, we serve the needs of gameplay, but also allow these characters to exist as their own people, not just in conversation but out of conversations as well.

Corinne: I would also say that as part of that core mage kit, healing spells are there. So if your mages, you wanna make ‘em a healer, yeah.

Q: Will the Veilguard have tactical combat still? 

Corinne: Yes. Combat gets quite tactical. Obviously this is an evolution of the combat system. I talked about immersion, wanting to put you in the world like you’re actually living and existing in it, but it is very tactical and I will say we have a robust difficulty system. The tactics are increasingly important the higher difficulty that you go. So if you’re showing up for a highly tactical experience, I would crank that difficulty in particular. But I wanna make sure I’m super clear in my answer. You saw the gameplay reveal. Our pause time tactical mode is not overhead. It stays close to Rook. It does allow you to cycle between targets in and out of combat, there’s a reason for that. As the game progresses, you didn’t see this in that opening hour of the game, but it will display strategic information on the enemies, so what are their vulnerabilities, what are their elemental weaknesses, their enhancements, what are they resistant to, so your type of abilities, leaning into elemental gameplay matters a lot.

I would also say, this is a long answer because it’s such a great question, tactical decision making also takes the form, I would say this is front and center, of coordinating your ability usage between Rook and your companions to create synergies and or really devastating, we call them detonation combos. So let me give you a couple of examples, because it can be really hard to visualize, so hopefully this helps. One of the tactics that I personally enjoy in my own builds, I just recently played as a veil ranger, I love it, it’s one of my favorites. if I'm fighting fade touched enemies in Artlathan, I like to use Bellara's galvanized tear to pull enemies together, it’s like a gravity well. You then Slow Time with Neve – Slow Time affects the world around you, but it does not affect you, so you clump them up, you slow time -- and then with Rook I come in and do a devastating AOE or damage over time spell or ability. And it’s even better if it's a lightning based ability, because the fade touched in Arlathan are vulnerable to that. So there’s so many layers of coordination and strategies and tactics. We did talk about the devastating detonation combos, that's one of my favorite features, because that’s when you’re really leaning into explicit teamwork between your companions and Rook or the companions together. When I build out my team and I'm going into a mission, I try to ensure that I have at least a couple possible synergies, detonation combo synergies, between my team. It might be between Harding and Neve, Neve and me, or both. So here, I'd go into battle, pause time, open the ability wheel, get information on the enemy – and the wheel will actually tell you that there is a synergy combo, you  might have seen a screenshot that says “combo available” – it will remind you of synergies between companions, you can queue both of those abilities up at the same time, close out of the pause time menu, they’ll both execute, both abilities will happen. Then the detonation AOE happens, applies debuffs to all the enemies in a radius of it. It's so satisfying. I can’t wait for yall to see it, but the interesting thing is that too is a tactical choice. I’m choosing to use my companions to do that, and that means I’m not using them to heal me, or to give me that defense bonus, or to knock an enemy off a ledge, so it’s about the opportunity costs. I could spend the rest of the session talking about this, apologies for being long winded, but this is one of my favorite parts of the game.

Q: Can you choose rook's pronouns? If yes, is being non-binary an option? How detailed is the character creator?

Corinne: Well yeah you can select your pronouns. Absolutely. You can actually select your pronouns and your gender, because those are related concepts, but they’re not actually the exact same thing. Yeah, you can be non-binary, we have he/him, she/her, they/them. Yes. Emphatic yes. How detailed is the character creator? Oh my goodness, yall. Very. I don't wanna give away too much just yet but it's very very deep. It has been revealed, it’s out there in a couple articles about the focus on hair, the focus on skin tones that are done respectfully, full body customization, hell yeah, we love to see it. But we’re gonna come back, we’re gonna show you a lot more on character creator, but we wanna make sure we have the time and space to do that.

Q: Will there be a photo mode in game? 

Corinne: That is something we’re actively looking into, we know there’s a ton of interest, so stay tuned on that one, but we are very much looking into it.

John: I can add too, that is a feature that we like, we like the idea of, and it’s not just player facing, but internally it’s a really helpful thing to have that as we’re building things out, so we’ll let you know.

Corinne: Yes, yeah, absolutely. We are as geeked on that possibility as you all are.

Q: A lot of people were asking about abilities. Are we going to be limited in how many abilities we can pick from the wheel?

Corinne: Ability wheel does have a capacity. You have to choose which three abilities you wanna bring for Rook, which three for  a companion, and which three for another companion. What I like about this is there is kind of an emergent gameplay depending on who you and your companions are coming into a mission with. Now the reason for that is it actually creates a really interesting balance between strategizing, having to do that strategy about your combat kit before the mission, and then the tactical decisions once you're in the field deciding what to do. I want to clear one thing up, while there are three ability slots for Rook, there's so much more than that - other actions that you can perform directly from the wheel like you’ll have an ultimate ability associated with your class or your specialization, so there’s variants there. There’s a type of items you can get that function like abilities, they’re typically like buffs and enhancements, in the form of runes, so you’ll control that for Rook and/or the team from the wheel. You may have also seen that you can direct which targets your companions can focus on, but what you might not know is that a lot of the companion gear really synergizes with that directing with your companions. When you issue those commands, that too will proc depending on the gear they have equipped, really interesting and strategic effects. They can be more ability like, more like proc’d effects, there’s just so much from the wheel that once you get in and see everything working together, becomes more and more apparent.

Q: Will fireball and cone of cold be back as spells in Dragon Age: the Veilguard? 

Corinne: All these combat questions, really good. Fireball and Cone of Cold aren't specifically back, however their successors are, frost nova and meteor. These serve the exact same combat role and function as those other abilities. I would also say it gives them quite the glow up. Meteor in particular, so satisfying nuking a group of darkspawn with a well placed meteor. It’s wonderful

Q: What accessibility features are available? Arachnophobia mode? Mod support? 

Corinne: Oh my goodness, arachnophobia. I am wicked afraid of spiders too. My partner always laughs at me, I’m just terrified of them. That said, that's one we're going to save for a little bit closer to launch before we’ll go into full details about accessibility features. But I do wanna assure you we have spent a lot of time thinking about this topic, so that you can play the game in a way that really works for you. I'm excited to share that with you when the time is right.

Q: How long is the time skip from Inquisition to the Veilguard? 

John: Anyone who's paid attention to Dragon Age, and I can say as somebody who’s been on Dragon Age since Origins, timelines are always a little iffy. They change and they morph over development as we see how longs things are taking, but for Veilguard we were actually pretty consistent from the start that it's been about 10 years since trespasser, as you may or may not have noticed, Varric's become a bit of a silver fox. I’ve seen a lot of comments about that on social media. Yeah, 10 years. Solas's ritual has taken time to set up and you’re kinda coming in at the end of that hunt.

Q: Is Solas still bald? 

Matt: Yeah. I mean if you’ve watched the gameplay thing, we can all confirm that Solas is still bald, Solas is still Solas. I really like how Solas has turned out this time around. I will say, here’s a comment on this specific question that’s gonna sound like a non-sequitor, but once you get a chance to play a little bit more, maybe you’ll – In Thedas, ancient elves go bald when they are millenia old, so Solas wasn't always bald. So if you end up seeing what Solas looked like in the past, things might be a little different. Now that said, I’m sure some of you are wondering what happened to Solas’s wig from Tevinter Nights. I’m sure he still has it somewhere, so… It’s his most important possession.

Corinne: Some pride there, huh.

Q: Will we be able to change companions appearances and outfits or are they fixed, similar to Dragon Age 2? 

Matt: Dragon Age 2 was, we loved how the followers turned out in that, but it was sad given our constraints that we had to keep them with just one basic outfit. We really tried to make some space for them this time around. They have iconic color palettes and things like that, but they do have a wider range of appearances that you can find for them, some are just cool but then there are some  that are tied to directly to their narrative and just kind of what’s happening in their life.

Q: Will we be seeing or visiting Kal’Sharok? 

Matt: What’s been really cool, so in previous games, we’ve kind of alluded to this before, it was a lot of fun to hint at the locations that were off the map, the mysterious places you were not going, and so you could just bring in some props, some characters, a piece of art, things like that. Even Tevinter was only vaguely hinted at and we’d just add drips and bits and pieces, so that stuff was really fun. In the Veilguard we’re actually getting to visit a whole lot of those locations that had only been hinted at for real, so you do actually run around Tevinter and a bunch of the other locations that we’ve revealed. But this also means that we're not completely filling out the map, and that there are new things we can start hinting at and we can start drip feeding. It’s kinda fun, I’d say for what we can show of Kal’Sharok and other locations, there’s more to do.

Q: Will the dialogue wheel/options be similar to Inquisition and Andromeda in the sense that it's more tone based?

John: We have a number of different types of wheels in our game. All the dialogue wheels are based off the same principle, anyone who’s played a dragon age game and remembers what they look like. In Dragon Age: the Veilguard, we have tone wheels which are roleplaying your character picking consistent tone. We also have emotion wheels where you can pick specific emotional reactions, and choice wheels which are, I don’t have a strong emotional or tone tie here, but I do want to make a choice based on what I do. Investigate’s obviously return as well. We want players to understand as much as possible what it is they are going to be picking, we want the choice to be clear even if one of the best things about consequence is making sure that’s not entirely clear.

Q: How extensive are Rook’s dialogue decision trees? 

John: Huge. Again, it’s a Dragon Age game. We wanna make sure you have choices, we wanna make sure you can choose your roleplaying, but also choose outcomes of conversations, choose how events unfold. Again it’s a Dragon Age game, we wanna make sure we also react to decisions you’ve made. So for example, you may be talking to a follower who is an elf, and if you yourself are an elf, obviously you'll have a different perspective on events than someone who’s not an elf. Sometimes that means different conversation options, sometimes that’s going to be entirely new dialogue trees, as well as based off decisions you’ve made throughout the game, so again, making sure the game feels like it notices what you’re doing is a huge part of how we’ve written out the dialogue wheel and dialogue trees in this game.

Q: All companions romanceable by all player characters regardless of race and gender? 

Corinne: Yeah, yeah. We have talked about this in some of the interviews, I’ve seen a few articles about it, so I'd recommend everyone check out those articles, but let me just give you a quick interview. Each of the seven companions has full romance arcs and they are romanceable by all genders. Absolutely. But something that’s really important to us on the team, and so I just wanna make sure and double down on, that doesn't mean playersexual. If anyone’s unaware of what we mean by that, it doesn’t mean they conform or twist their identities to who you the player are. They won’t suddenly have a preference for men or women based on what you’re playing. Instead they have their own fully fleshed out identities. They are true and authentic to that. So in this game they are all pansexuals, they all have histories and romances, sometimes you’ll hear about preferences and things of that nature. And what I really love is if you don’t pursue a romance with them, they’ll actually build their own romances with each other. So in one of the interviews I talked about Lace Harding and Taash getting together. I give that example because it’s one of my favorites. I’m gonna put a question back to the community though. I’ve heard we’re going with Laash for that ship name? You tell me what is that ship name?

Q: What are the markings on the faces of the elven warden and veil hopper?

John: So there’s quite a few, I think more than we’ve done before, tattoos from various cultures. We're bringing the vallaslin back of course but there's a ton of different options, especially when we’re going into these new regions. Each area has its own kind of visual language for that. We are bringing the vallaslin back and a couple characters have them, but we've customized them a bit. They’re a bit more specific to their personality.

Q: What are you as a developer most proud of and excited for players to experience? 

Corinne: I suspect for most of us, myself included, it's the depths and authenticity of the companions journey along with on their arcs, learning about their hardships, what they care about, being by their side. That authenticity is just so good, they all feel like my dear friends. But I have to say, the closest runner up for me has to be the character creator. Has to be. That character creator, the makeup options, the range of sliders... I'm a Qunari fan, so even just the way you customize the horns and combine that with the really great looking hair. Character creator has to be my very close runner up.

Matt: As far as what I can say I’m most proud of on this one, I can speak for the art team, we worked incredible hard to make the story more visible than ever. Games are a visual medium, but sometimes it's easier to do things in text format or written in a codex somewhere or alluded to off screen, but we really leaned into trying to make sure that every design, prop, character, environment, that the effects we’re choosing, all these choices were putting the story on screen so you can see it unfold, and I think having worked on all the dragon age games, I'd say Veilguard represents one of the best attempts at that we’ve made yet.

John: I’m gonna cheat and kind of combine both Corinne’s and Matt’s answers. Honestly the companions for me are the absolute highlight. Just being able to work across all the disciplines, building characters who look and sound and behave in very specific and characterful ways. These are the deepest companion arcs we've ever done, not just on Dragon Age but in BioWare in general. Each companion has their own story arc you can go through, decisions you can make. They really do take center stage. As you play through them, you see the care and love that the team has put into each and every one. I mean, there’s moments in each arc that make you cry, make you angry, make you excited, and the way they integrate into the story as a whole for me is something that’s been really fun. Finding ways to bring these characters together, ways to bring this story, this narrative, of you know, you need to put together a team and stop the end of the world, has been absolutely exciting and thrilling. And again, you see the team's love in every single piece of it. As for what I’m most excited, Dragon Age has been part of my career and part of my life for literally the last decade and a half, I’ve worked on it since Origins, and there's something about the Veilguard that feels an amazing mix of novelty and familiarity, it’s like coming home in a way that I feel is going to be very exciting for people who are existing Dragon Age players, but there’s also so much here that’s just new and exciting for people, new players and old players alike. Going to parts of the world, seeing things we’ve never seen before, and just getting to take this amazing world and series and expand on it and build on it in ways that I’ve just been, honestly an absolute thrill, the best part of my career, and I’ve been in games for 17 years now and this has been the absolute highlight for me, so that’s what I’m excited about.

Corinne: I just wanna yes and that. I so completely agree with you. There’ve been times in companion arcs where even knowing what's going to happen, we work on the game, with some of these decisions, I've had to set down the controller, let out a heavy sigh, and go “oh my god, what am I gonna do here?” The depth of them is wonderful. I do wanna put this out there, when we talk about as a developer what we are most proud of, can we just give a big shout out to the dev team? I am so proud of them. This team has poured their hearts into this. Anyone from BioWare who’s listening in, thank you so much. Y’all are just the best.

Q: Why does Varric have dark hair now? 

Matt: He's been adventuring for a while now. His hair is more gray, but he's been in very dark scenes so far, so we’ll see him in some more contexts.

Q: Will the Inquisitor be appearing in the flesh or are we just choosing their major DAI decisions?

Corinne: Yes they will. The Inky does appear. We've know how attached y’all are to the Inquisitor, we’ve seen the love for your OC. Yes, the Inquisitor shows up. We'd already confirmed that a few places, so let me just say you can also customize them and it includes some of our new customization options. Yeah they’re gonna show up and they’re gonna be your Inquisitor.

John: And I think beyond that, the story of Solas and the story of the Inquisitor obviously are tied together as much as any story, so it would have been strange for us not to bring them in for this one. They’re gonna be a part of this story.

Q: Will there be any planned DLCs and transmog armor? 

Corinne: Right now our focus is entirely on the quality of the game, it's so important at this stage for us to be all in, all attention on finishing this game and delivering on the quality and the promise of it. So that's all I can really say on it, we're 100% focused on this being the most complete game we can make it. I wanna emphasize, there's not gonna be any microtransactions or battle passes, you don't have to connect online. Our focus is making this the most complete single player we possibly can. Now this was kind of a twofer question. Will there be transmog? Hell yeah. I’m the kind of player that believes fashion is the real endgames. Yeah there’s a transmog system, absolutely. It’s sick.

Q: Will any of the characters be asexual? 

Corinne: Such a good question. So, look I'm gonna be really forthcoming with yall and a little bit vulnerable, I'm ace. I'm a gray ace, I don't mind sharing that, I’m kind of public with it. I will say though that none of our companions this time around are explicitly ace. We look at the characters, their motivations, who they are, we always assess is this the right time. This time it wasn't. What I will say for everyone on the ace spectrum on there, I would love to represent an ace relationship sometime in the future when it feels like the most authentic fit for a companion, when we can do it best. And I do see some questions, what do we mean by ace? Asexuality. We often refer to it as the ace spectrum.

Q: Can mage Rook do blood magic? Will blood magic be a skill tree separate from regular magic?

Corinne: OK, this gets a bit spoilery, so let me just say, Rook has some pretty good reasons to avoid blood magic. Rook is not gonna wanna be interested in that. But I will say, the mage skill tree is packed with all kinds of spells, traits, and perks to give you a ton of flexibility in your magic. Gonna go off script just a little bit because I’ve seen “just tell us about the specializations”. I’m not gonna tell you the deets, but there is a necromancer one. There is an elemental one, and there is one that’s actually more of like a combat mage. It’s my favorite.

Q: Can we name the griffon? We also have a griffon emoji in this Discord server.

John: Excellent. So, someone in your party, again, spoilers, may have already named the baby griffon, but don’t worry, Assan is a very good boy.

Corinne: All these griffon emojis, y’all are killing me.

Q: Will we have a camp/home/headquarters that we’ll be able to customize?

Matt: Well this time around, in Inquisition you had Skyhold. In this case you have a headquarters called the Lighthouse. More to be seen on that, but narratively it serves kind of a different purpose, but also the same purpose. As far as customization goes, there are elements of it that change over time and some things you can adjust. I don’t know how much we’re really going into that at the moment. One thing I like about it is that it definitely does start to feel very much like home over time.

Q: We need to know, does pasta and noodles exist in Thedas? 

Matt: I’ll take it as a chance just to geek out about worldbuilding. Again, the Veilguard for us is a really kind of dream opportunity to go to places we've only ever heard reference to or we’ve seen in set. In going through the world building process, and trying to build these things out not just as neat things from the IP, but also as, if you’ve read about this stuff, you've got your own version in your head, you’ve imagined what it might be like and you're probably hoping for something spectacular, and our brains are always far better at creating this stuff than any game developer or any artist can really do justice to, so you really have to swing for the fences to make something very satisfying and exciting. That can be everything as big as architecture and landscape and biomes and ecosystems, but it does get into things like art and culture and costume design, and also food. This time around that was one of the many things we did look into to try to catch the character and feel of a place to make it feel believable and lived in. So that’s my really long answer for yeah, I'm sure at least one place does have pasta.

Q: Are we getting a mabari?

Matt: Ooh, that’s a good question. I will say you’re spending most of the game in the north of Thedas. Mabari are not nearly as big of a thing up there, so in this particular instance, no, you will not get a mabari, sadly.

Q: Can we pet the griffon? 

John: You, I’m really sorry to have to be the one to tell you—Nah, I’m kidding, yes you can. It's not even just petting the griffon, I've actually hugged the griffon, so that feels like even there a step up.

Matt: There’s lots of opportunities to interact with the griffon.

Corinne: Can we see Assan in chat if we wanna see him in the Lighthouse hanging out? And hey, y’all, this was so important to the team, too. Like this is the team’s like, just huge support for this feature, so props to them.

Q: Will we get to see any of the character creator before the game releases?

Corinne: Yes. Yes you will. You've probably seen we are laying out a roadmap for what we're gonna show and when we’re gonna talk about it. You will see it  as we get a little closer to launch.

Q: Will we be able to play as a qunari dwarf elf or human? 

Corinne: hell yeah you will. All 4. And all 4 have that full body customization. I already talked a little bit about, I’ve always loved the qunari, I will say in Dragon Age: Inquisition it was hard to get a good looking qunari hairstyle. So yes you can play as them, you can customize them, the horn options are rad, the hair options are rad. And also related to this, your lineage gives you a lot of really unique dialogue options. So that’s really one aspect of choosing your lineage as well.

John: So actually just to bounce off that, earlier questions about backgrouds. Each lineage, depending on the lineage you choose and the background you choose, there are some specific callouts to, for example, if it’s a Mournwatch, Mournwatch being from Nevarra and mages, if you play as a dwarf, obviously your experiences in that faction is going to be different from, say, a human or an elf, so there are also specific callouts tailored to those combinations and, with the intention of giving each lineage a little flavor as to how they fit into that faction as a whole.

Q: Where is barkspawn and is he ok?

John: Barkspawn is safely gnawing on a bone next to a fireplace somewhere in Ferelden. Don’t worry, he’s fine. You may ask yourself, “but John, it’s been so long.” To which I say, Mabari live exactly as long as they need to.

Q: Will Rook have a set of default name?

John: Yeah, so Rook’s last name is defined based on their faction, again we wanted to tie that into your backstory, but also there's a name generator that can give you a selection of first names, obviously if you wanted to make your own first name, that’s definitely something we support as well. If you’re somebody who maybe has a little more difficulty coming up with a name, so for example you name every single character Bob because that’s the only name you can think of, we also give that opportunity for that generation.

Q: When will the voice acting cast be announced? 

John: We worked with a lot of very talented actors on this one. I am super excited to talk about the voice acting cast, we’ll be talking about it more over the summer, we’re not quite ready to announce names yet.

Same answer for collectors editions and preorders, and required PC specs.

Q: Any special musical guests? Tavern songs? 

Corinne: Yeah there are tavern songs and a huge credit to the audio team and performance teams, because they’re pretty great. There’s one at a little tavern in Minrathous called the Swan, and the song you hear there might just be my favorite of the tavern songs.

Q: DA2's main theme brought back motifs from DAO main theme. Can we expect DAV to recall more or less of that original thematic material than inquisition? 

John: We are not quite ready to talk about music yet in specifics. But in broad strokes I can say that the process for us is always the same. Working with the composer, figuring out themes, figuring out what kinds of elements we want to keep, tying specific elements to maybe specific characters, it's very in depth process and a very collaborative process. We have some fantastic audio people on our team that have done some fantastic work, that have done an amazing job working with composers and with the team as a whole to make sure that again, we said earlier about cohesiveness, making sure that the music feels like a cohesive part of the experience.

Q: When writing the overall story of this game, what themes did you want to have as the prominent focus? 

John: Again, it’s interesting. When writing these games, and this has been true on every Dragon Age I’ve been a part of, what you start with and where you end up aren't always necessarily the same. Sometimes you start writing a theme, you realize actually it’s more interesting if you attack it from this angle, or maybe it ends up twisted a little bit. I will say for Dragon Age: the Veilguard, from the beginning one of the biggest themes has been regret. How regret shapes people’s lives, how they deal with their regrets, how maybe people move past regrets. Each of the characters and the story as a whole have elements of these. We wanted to have that thematic, that cohesiveness to the game’s story and the game’s writing.

Q: Can you play a dwarf and does the world react to your race and backstory?

John: Yes, you can play as a dwarf. Yes, the world does react to your race and backstory. And again you’ll have unique dialogues or unique conversations based on that backstory as well as that race.

Corinne: And to give you a little nugget here because I saw it scrolling through real quickly, you have beards. So when I think of dwarves, I think about glorious, fantastic beards. Hell yeah we do.

John: Yeah I can say, as somebody who plays a lot of games, the character creator—I don’t know what magic they did, but the beards, they feel like a beard should feel like, it’s great, they look awesome.

Q: Will our heroes and companions leave us if we go against their wishes? 

Corinne: Do y’all just love pain? Do you want us to make you cry? Um... if you go against their wishes and make decisions they don't like, I will tell you, you can piss them off, they might not agree with you, and they will take some time away. That said this is the biggest threat to Thedas we've ever seen, so they will always be willing to defend Thedas, but yeah you can piss them off and they’ll leave for a minute. As it relates to them showing up to defend Thedas, well yeah they will, UNLESS…

John: No spoilers, Corinne. No spoilers.

Corinne: Alright, alright. But they want it!

Q: Did any songs, books, movies, or anything inspire character writing? 

John: Art is always a synthesis of your own experiences both in the real world but also the art you consume, the art you pay attention. I don't think that any characters have a direct reference or inspiration, but yeah, they're all inspired by the things we do both in the real world and in the media we consume. And you’re gonna see elements of characters that yeah. The things that we’ve enjoyed show up in these characters. For me it comes down to, writing can be a deeply personal experience, so even if you don't intend for it to be the case, parts of you will show up in the characters. I think that’s true for all the characters in the Veilguard. Sometimes it's exploring things about yourself that you may like or may not like, and sometimes exploring things about characters you like or don't like. So that’s my longwinded way of saying yes, it’s impossible to not have that happen when you’re creating art, but I don’t think there’s one where you can say, “oh this is this character, this is this character.”

Q: What was the thinking process behind making Harding a companion this time around? 

John: When we released Inquisition, it was impossible not to see the love that people had for our murderous girl next door dwarf. She has always been a fan favorite obviously. But I think beyond that, it's something that Harding's writer wanted to explore, there was more of a story to tell there and more perspective. And beyond that Harding also has a strong connection to Solas, to Varric, and the events of the last 10 years. So I wouldn’t say it’s always been but I’d say Harding’s probably one of the first ones we settled on as like yes, this is a character we want, and the writer had a story that they wanted to tell with her, so it just made sense.

Matt: You know, actually, to piggy back on that, that’s something I hadn’t even thought about that much and it’s not a huge part of her character, but she tends to be one of the people that have the most insight into who he was.

John: Yeah that’s exactly—that’s a great way of looking at it, too, it also provides you with a little bit of perspective, for players who’ve been around for previous Dragon Age games, but also for new ones, who was Solas? What kind of character was he? Yeah it’s a great, using characters to provide windows into the world is honestly one of my favorite things.

Matt: And when I say was, I just mean in Inquisition.

John: Yes, that’s exactly, yes. Thank you for correcting that.

Q: What approach are you taking to quest and world design in the Veilguard?

John: I think for us it just comes down to relevance and narrative heft. We wanna make sure that each quest provides either a perspective on the world, a perspective on the characters, or it feels immediately and obviously relevant to what you’re doing here. You’re here to save the world. At the end of the day, one of the things that we heard loud and clear was the feedback about how relevant, or in our case not relevant, previous quests have felt, so for Veilguard, we really wanted all quests to feel like something somebody faced with the end of the world would believe was necessary and important. So again, there’s quests of all sorts and sizes, but all of them share that same feeling of, this is the kind of thing that the Veilguard would do. This is the kind of thing that my hero would do. Especially faced with the end of the world.

Corinne: That’s really good, John. That’s so right. I would just again double down on how hand crafted all the quests are. Whether you’re doing the main story or you’re journeying with your companions or you’re out exploring and you encounter a mystery, everything's hand crafted, intentional, we spend a lot of time listening to what yall said, and of course everyone has slightly different tastes, but you're not gonna be gathering shards in the Hinterlands. Everything is built with intention and they’re lovingly handcrafting the experience.

Q: Are there any locations in the game that can only be accessed by making specific story choices? 

John: So I don’t wanna get too much into spoilers here, but I will say that locations can fundamentally change based on decisions you make. Some of the parts of the world that you go to, you can have, the choices you make have an impact on how these spaces exist and develop.

Q: Will we be able to control companions in combat?

Corinne: If Rook gets KO'd, the player character gets knocked out, this time around it is time to reload your save, or better yet, the companions have really interesting progression. You can spec them out to be able to revive you, but that’s if you’ve invested in their progression and what they can do. And that said, I mentioned this earlier but I personally spend more time in the nature of this combat system when everything comes together, interacting and directing the companions than I have in any of the other games. So like that’s interactivity between them. Once you play it you’ll see just how engaged the scene is.

Q: Will Solas still occasionally or dramatically speak in iambic pentameter? 

John: I actually spent a little bit of time trying to figure out if I wanted to answer this question in iambic pentameter, and then I very quickly gave up. Massive kudos to Patrick who always writes Solas so well. Again, Solas is a returning character. It's the same Solas you know and love or hate depending on who you are. The same writer. So I think this is, the answer is yeah, it's Solas.

Q: Will our decision of who was left in the fade be important? 

John: While that decision does not show up—not for the Veilguard, now that said, that doesn’t mean that’s not a decision that won’t ever be important in the future. Not for this one.

Matt: I’m glad to hear you say that, John, because one of my favorite stories was Bob getting stuck in the web in Reboot.

John: That’s a deep cut! The sound of my childhood.

Q: Will we have mounts again? 

Matt: No, mounts were, they addressed a need in Inquisition that we don't have in Veilguard, and you’ll see why when you get to play.

Q: How is the side quest design? Will they be mostly story based or will there be a lot of radiant and quests for power like in Inquisition? 

John: We talked about this a bit earlier, but they are all hand crafted and story focused. The narrative, the companions, not just the companions but the characters and the world as a whole, are so much at the core of the Veilguard that anything other than handcrafting quests just felt like it would be a disservice to the game we were building.

Corinne: And maybe we can clarify as well, because with power was such a devisive mechanic in Inquisition, there’s no mechanic like that that blocks your progression until you fill a bar. That’s just not a thing in this. You have the autonomy to engage in these quests as you like, there’s no grind out gates before you can progress.

John: That’s right. Again we want to make sure that doing this content feels as natural and part of the logical flow of the story as possible.

Q: Will there be a similar system to war table? 

Corinne: We haven't talked much about the player's base, the Lighthouse, and we're gonna save that, but what I will say is that the Lighthouse, your headquarters so to speak, it has its own unique purposes and functions this time. So that's an area that we'll leave for you when we talk more about the Lighthouse and when you have a chance to hop in, you’ll be able to see what those unique purposes are.

Q: If there is dual wield for warriors, is it dex or str? 

Corinne: So we did wanna bring dual wielding back. It is part of the rogue kit this time, warriors are really focused on mighty two handed weapons, I can’t wait until you see, when you swing those weapons there's a real heft to it, and then of course sword and shield. So we’re leaving the dual wielding to the rogues, but you can see, the amount of hits you can get in in rapid succession dual wielding as a rogue is really satisfying.  

Q: What have been some of the challenges and advantages of working on a single game for so many years? 

John: That is a fantastic question. I have often joked, and I don’t know how much of a joke it is, that when this game is out and I suddenly don't have to keep all these pieces of game and lore and story and everything straight in my head, I'm suddenly gonna be able to speak Latin or something because there’s gonna be a ton of brain power freed up. But for me it’s just, the thing that keeps me sustained is just knowing the game we're building is the right one. Knowing that the pieces are coming together, and knowing just how much people care about this franchise, care about these games, and how excited people are going to be when they get to see the fantastic work the team has been doing. I’ve been on this project since the start, and even today I see things on a daily basis that I’m like holy smokes I can't believe what the team is doing, I can’t believe how good this looks. It's a huge game and I don't see every piece every day, so I get pleasantly surprised on a daily basis. Sometimes if I’m having a particularly long day, I'll spend about an hour late at night just watching cutscenes come in, watching the work coming together, and just sitting back and being like, holy smokes, I can’t wait for someone who hasn’t seen this every day as I have, to see this and just be blown away by the work.

Corinne: It's been very real, hasn’t it? I will just say speaking on behalf of the dev team, everyone's working so hard and putting so much passion, so much of themselves into it. This is a franchise they truly love and seeing your support cheering us on has meant a lot to them. So let me just say thank you to all of you.

[goodjazzsquares]

Humming softly at the explanation that was given, Ryan found that he didn’t actually believe it to be the complete truth. Of course Gabriella’s reappearance likely certainly played a part in whatever was happening, there was no doubt about that, but it simply didn’t seem to be enough for Troy to be so bothered. The mostly one-sided rivalry between the two girls was something almost everyone in their little sort of friend group was more than used to by now. It definitely wasn’t something any of them really got all that upset about anymore - not unless Sharpay severely crossed a line. But Ryan was pretty sure he would have heard about that happening. “Right… right,” he agrees before raising an eyebrow and staring down the other boy. “And how are you feeling about Gabriella being back?” Really that was likely where the real answers hid. However Troy was acting around his former flame was probably what had his sister so upset.

Between the dinner party and finding out about the lyrics that Kelsi saw, Troy definitely didn't know what was going to happen next. He was sure that Sharpay would have said something to Ryan by now, especially if she was writing songs about him. He didn't want to just expose what happened between him and Sharpay if the blonde was keeping it from her brother, though. Clearly, she didn't want a bunch of people knowing, at least until her songs got released. "Fair point," Troy agreed with a chuckle, hoping they can just brush it off like a casual thing. A normal, regular Sharpay and Troy thing. Maybe he could use Gabriella's return as an excuse, instead. "Well, I don't know if you've seen her around yet, but Gabriella's back, so I'm sure you can guess Sharpay's feelings on that."

[jjuniewizzy]

✨️The Spiral Repository is OPEN! ✨️

After some VERY hard work from some of us over here in the Creative-End of the Wizard101 Community, we are proud to present the opening of The Spiral Repository Discord Server! The Spiral Repository serves as place to join and share lore, headcanons, characters, and more regarding your favorite aspects of Wizard101 and Pirate101!

Consider joining us today for fun aspects like- ✨️A wholly SFW space for everyone of all walks of life! ✨️Friendly staff who’ll be able to answer and help you with any questions or needs you may have! ✨️Engaging community discussions through character polls, art, and much more! ✨️Organized Threads for you to post all your OCs’ info in! Doesn’t matter how many you make, keep ‘em coming! ✨️Multiple roleplay channels that everyone and their OCs can play around in! ✨️Character/story competitions to shine a spotlight on everyone’s creative works! ✨️Monthly events where everyone can team up, quest, farm, and much more in-game!

[andscene-if]

HOW L ALVAREZ'S MYSTERIOUS PERSONA CAME TO BE

L Alvarez, the Lumina-nominated star, made a jawbreaking entrance into the acting world during the tail end of their teens, swiftly establishing themselves as a formidable talent. Time and time again, they've faced down challenges with resilience and prowess, conquering every cinematic hurdle—except, it seems, when the heart took centre stage.

Yes, dear readers, Alvarez found themselves caught in the spotlight of a very public heartbreak. Picture this: once the glittering half of Hollywood's most iconic duo, alongside actor-girlfriend and former co-star, Jolie Fontaine. For three riveting years, #Lulie/#Loulie held the public in clutches, a love story spun from the threads of stardom. But, as the saying goes, not every gleam is gold.

The gritty details of the explosive breakup? A mystery, with whispers from close sources blaming infidelity. Jolie's swift dive into post-breakup flings and L Alvarez's sudden plunge into the neon-soaked abyss of nightlife only fuelled the flames of speculation.

After the breakup, L Alvarez rose to become the undisputed star of Hollywood's singles scene. But hold your applause—they didn't exactly embrace the bachelor/bachelorette title. To this day, Jolie Fontaine remains the sole chapter in their romantic saga.

And what about the aftermath of the separation? Alvarez underwent a transformation. They became less talkative, and more withdrawn—not the same lively presence we once knew, even at award shows and on sets where they used to shine, as noted by ex-cast members.

Despite the chaos, they've been serving up A-list performances like there's no tomorrow, and mark our words, they're not stopping anytime soon!

Whew, that's the scoop for now. No need to worry though, as the seasons change, we'll be right here, ready to keep you in the loop with all the latest gossip with PinkCelebTea.

Stay glamorous, and until our next update. XOXO.

***

COMING UP: Take a wild ride down memory lane with us as we dish out the Top 10 most jaw-dropping #Lulie/Loulie shots that had everyone talking!

[darkfictionjude]

My Dearest Jude,

I find myself spellbound, utterly captivated by the worlds you weave. Every word you write is a thread that pulls me closer to the stories that live within you, stories that feel so real I could almost touch them. I’m here, waiting on the edge of these pages, aching to walk with you through the tangled secrets, the haunted alleys, and the faint glow of dreams barely out of reach.

When I think of We Wretched Creatures, my heart races — how can I not feel for someone like Crown, caught between the pull of a past they can’t shake and a town that seems to breathe its secrets through every crack? I can almost feel the chill of those darkened streets, where each character is another facet of the town’s warped soul. I’m entranced by Imre, that golden boy with hidden shadows; by Nia, who once held something tender for your protagonist, but now holds herself just out of reach; by Lorcan, simmering with anger and resentment, a flame too hot to touch but impossible to ignore. I can picture every glance and gesture, every layer of tension between them, and it’s intoxicating. You’ve written not just a mystery, but a deep and consuming fever dream of small-town life, and I am lost in it.

And then there’s O! Your Heavenly Stars! I can already feel the dazzling, searing energy of 1938 Hollywood, the spotlight’s heat as it shines on a soul who’s all too familiar with shadows. I think of your protagonist, caught between the public’s gaze and the private terrors within, and I find myself holding my breath, afraid they might break before reaching the final scene. I am enchanted by the tension in this story, by a heart that beats desperately to be seen and known but fears what that may bring. You write about fame with such truth — the blinding light and the haunting darkness — and it’s stunning, the way you pour such rawness onto the page.

And Excellent Cadavers — oh, the allure of it grips me completely. It’s thrilling, the way you pull us into a world of ruthless choices, a life where a glance means as much as a gunshot, where survival is almost an art. I find myself drawn to the danger, the sense of strength and desperation, and I want to sink into every word, to feel that heartbeat of a world so unforgiving. It’s a bold and unapologetic plunge into the depths of what it means to survive, to face the darkness without flinching.

You, my beloved writer, are crafting worlds that thrum with life and heartbreak, with ambition, and with truth. Each story feels like a glimpse into your own soul, a glimpse I am both grateful and desperate to savor. You are magic, a sorcerer of words, and I am helplessly under your spell. I’ll be here, breathless with anticipation, for each turn of the page, for every new secret you reveal, and every breathtaking line that only you could create.

Yours, completely and unreservedly,

♡♡

Nonnie, this sounds like a declaration of love 😭

I appreciate the time and effort for this letter and I like how you took time to give your opinion on all three wips, very kind and very well written 💜

[follows-the-bees]

How negative space shows Ed a hopeful future (Part 2.5)

I want to continue on the Ed negative space theme from Part Two.

Particularly this Ed's back center-framed shot that I kept out of the last thread. That is because this shot is the exact opposite meaning of the isolation in Part Two: How center-framed shots of Ed's back show his emotional state.

In part two, I broke down these shots into three different categories: Stede's absence; when Ed switches into character (Jeff the accountant, innkeeper); and when he is alone while shuffling on the Kraken part of him for protection.

In this shot from 1x4, Ed sits on the couch, shot up from mid-back. The focus of the negative space around him doesn't show isolation but instead hope and a future.

This is one of the rare shots where someone else is actually in the shot when Ed's back is center-framed, and it's no coincidence that it's Stede. The camera placement gives the audience Ed's view of Stede's excitement at being able to show off his cabin and connect with Ed.

It is also a contrast to Ed's captains quarters. Stede's are a rich brown, with lots of shelving for books and trinkets, art. (A fireplace and two chandeliers!) It is warm and inviting.

On the other hand, Ed's cabin on his ship is dark: in lighting, mindset, and aesthetics. Full of items like skulls that reflect the persona of Blackbeard, who is shot with mainly his side and back as the main focus. The light shining through in streams hit him like the thought of Stede broaching Ed's dark thoughts and demeanor as Blackbeard.

Back to this shot.

The lighting in the cabin is rich, warm, welcoming.

Light is a running motif of hope in this series, especially between these two. (Stede's colors are gold/yellow, Ed's are red and purple.) Here, we have one of the large chandeliers shining down on them, particularly Stede, and there is a reflected light right above Ed's head. Like a halo or spotlight, reflecting that joy and hope in front of him. The top of his head and shoulders glow.

Stede's outfit contains three facets: the burnt orange pants that blend in with the aesthetic of the cabin, the white shirt that stands out from the background and draws the eye's attention to Stede, and the black cravat, which we know the importance of the rest of the season.

The curtains framing the shot on each side give the allusion of Stede opening his world up to Ed. And Ed looks at this stage, how his life could change for the better, and he is presented with hope and light, with Stede. The openness of the space isn't negative but positive, just like Ed's future.

Part One: The use of greenery in negative space in episode 1x7: This Is Happening

Part Two: How center-framed shots of Ed's back show his emotional state and isolation

[goodjazzsquares]

The moment Kelsi agreed to pizza, his notes were placed on the table and his phone took their place in his hand as he pulled up the app to put in their usual order. “Yeah, I think we’re on a good roll tonight,” he agreed, always the optimist. Because what harm came from hoping for the best? Even if they didn’t actually get a full rough draft done tonight, they’d made decent progress on it and would only get further and further along the longer they worked. With their pizza ordered, Ryan was ready to take an actual break and put his brain on a bit of a rest when Kelsi asks another question about their storylines. Picking his notes back up, he glances over what he’s written down so far for the outline of the story and gives her suggestion a thought. “Maybe… You know, that might be good, actually. When do you think we should reveal it instead?”

continued from here | @goodjazzsquares

“You sure about that?” She whispered to herself before Ryan could prove her right. Already, Kelsi had been looking over the notes, fine-tuning any details that got lost in her rushed handwriting. Though she was the one to suggest a break for food, Kelsi wasn’t really up for ending the night early just yet, “Pizza, for sure. I really think if we worked hard enough we could get a solid draft for act one finished by dawn. Don’t you think?” Her own optimism varied from night to night, depending on how wired she was into the process. Thankfully, their work tonight had made good headway already but that only fueled her to keep going. Staying up for a couple more hours didn’t seem too bad of an idea anyway once she completely ignored her shift at Lava Springs the following day - or rather, later today. Despite just agreeing to take a pause, Kelsi couldn’t help but keep looking over her notes, ���Are you sure we shouldn’t save the Gabe reveal until later? It feels like we find out kind of early on.”

[goodjazzsquares]

closed starter for @sharpayyyyy location: hyperion theatre

The first ending bow on a show’s opening night brings a feeling that almost nothing else can compare to. A sense of accomplishment and a rush of adrenaline as the crowd claps and cheers over the show you and your cast have put so much time and effort into creating for them. It’s always been a magical moment for Ryan, but tonight felt different than ever before. Maybe it was because it had been a few months since he’d put on a performance or perhaps it was because he just starred in a show with an international popstar as his co-lead, but he felt as if he were on top of the entire world. And nothing was going to bring him down. Not even his sister.

He really hoped that Sharpay would be supportive of him and be able to look past herself and the differences in their current career status… but he wasn’t about to bet any money on that hope, knowing the blonde girl far too well to not expect at least something to happen tonight. Of course he knew she would be happy for him on some level, but Ryan worried that his success was only going to make her realize the lack of her own. So it’s with a bit of hesitance that he pulls away from the bear tight hug his mother had him in and approached his sister. The family had been waiting for him in his dressing room once he’d finally come back after meeting some fans at the stage door. “How’d you like it?” he asks as he goes in to give her a hug of her own.

[mapoeggplant]

compilation of old ikoku nikki threads (chapter 46 to 54)

hi guys :) I know I published some ikoku nikki analysis here before, but there are some that were only published on twitter. so here's a compilation of all of them!! thank you so much for reading

(mind you, none of these were rewritten or revised. I decided to leave them exactly as I wrote for the first time. so I'm very sorry for every grammatical mistakes)

chapter 46 (published may 9, 2022)

i absolute LOVE how the chapter is open with the phrase "the path "I" walk on, the "you" walking ahead of me and the "you" following behind me are all connected somewhere" because it sums up the relationship between asa and makio beautifully.

and the phrase gain even more power when we combine with the chapter itself, since we follow asa having trouble with her future and what she wants to do with her life while having this close conversation with her past self.

the image of her talking with makio and her mom being separated by just one page makes her doubts even more dense and palpable. it's her past and present trying to reach for her future self, while trying to understand how she got where she is now,

moments like this really accentuate the feeling that asa has that she never really knew her mom, that every question she always asked were put aside. how could she believe the phrase "mom loves you" when mom wasn't even able to know what SHE wanted in life?

how much is she connected to her mom and her mom's choices? does the fact that her mom gave her a name that simbolizes freedom but never once proclaimed her own liberty will forever interfere her life?

asa is the one she was, the one she is and the one she'll be. her mom is her past, but makio is her present and future. it's too late to understand her mom now, but she can understand herself and the wolf while there's time

chapter 47 (published june 9, 2022)

“(…) things you thought you’d never forget for your whole life, you’ll gradually keep forgetting.” so what are you forgetting about, makio-san?

once again, yamashita-sensei did what she’s known for: created a bittersweet nostalgic scenario linking makio’s life to asas’.

for me, what shined the most was how she managed to connect two very fond memories of them: asa performing an original song versus makio being exposed as a writer for the first time. and although we can read just as it is (aka memories), what we need to put focus on is the way these memories were triggered. this was something that makio once thought she would forget, same as asa, who think this is “just another thing adults are going to say about teenage years”. they are both memories filled with a bitter undertone.

asa sang something that came from her previous doubts. makio had her beautiful memory mixed in with her ongoing war with her sister. both trying to say something more than they are showing, both carrying more depth than they think they do.

this is why ikonikki is so beautiful. because it manages to play with its own narrative and how two people with such different lives can have similar paths. both of them created memories with the same person present in both of them, as a form of mother and sister. makio carries the memory of her first big writing spotlight with her sister not caring about her passion. asa formed this new memory with a song she wrote because of things her mom left behind. using asas’ core memory to trigger makio’s is genius and delicate, as it should be.

they have each other now. makio can watch this small asa as she continue to grow. makio can learn how to love her dog without knowing she already know how to

chapter 48 (published october 9, 2022)

ikokki comes again with a class about writing, non linear narratives and how to transform feelings into words.

this chapter is really a play with narrative, changing points of views about the same relationship and same people. this all to explain that, even if people are so different and experience things differently, can’t they be tied by the same core? we don’t have much of minori, because she’s not here to tell her story. what we can manage to understand from her is thanks to the diary she left for asa and for the glimpse of memories we get here and there. are we seeing minori by who she really were or by what she wrote?

what we also have here, dissolved between the “light and carefree” conversation between asa and makio and the glimpses of minori’s memories, is a discussion about loneliness. minori was always surrounded by people, always being taken care of (she’s surrounded at the hospital, she’s always with friends, her mother understand her, she can relate to her husband) while makio was always the lone child, the one who could never be alone as long as she was left with a book. makio was the lone one, minori was the cared of. but who was, in fact, lonely?

if things were simple, minori would never feel depressed or alone. she finally managed to have the family she always wanted so…why does she feels like this? why does she feels the need to write? why does the feeling of disappearing one day never leaves her alone? the relationship and differences between makio and minori goes beyond what they liked, how they acted or what was so different about them. what made tem so incapable of relating to each other was how they saw loneliness. makio was never alone, minori was never with people.

minori is strong (minori is actually really frail). makio is a problem child (makio actually really had her way with life). if we could go back to the past…would they be able to love themselves even knowing that they would lose each other one day? if makio could go back knowing what happened, would her love for her sister feels fake now, since she knows her sister will die first? is the past really something that need to change just to soothe our present selves??

ikoku nikki is a masterpiece, a gem, a beauty in writing. ikoku nikki is a study, a metaphor, a concrete evidence. ikoku nikki makes me remember why i chose to be a writer in the first place :)

chapter 49 (published november 9, 2022)

““nothing” had me frozen with fear” finished with “that “nothing” will be proof of my freedom and become a sign”. what i’m building now is the foundation of my future, but just because i have “nothing” now, doesn’t mean i’ll never have something.

such a beautiful chapter about how society pressure young teenagers to chose their ultimate future when they can’t even decide what they are going to study first. yamashita uses her narrative power again on her favor, easily blending past - present - future together, but also mirroring the lives of the adults and the teenagers. while focusing the eyes of the reader into the girl talk, she plays with the message by the borders, with the pressure to turn the “nothingness” into something more, into a path that can be walked on.

while asa is talking with the girls, she’s also thinking she’s supposed to decide her whole life now, but has no talent whatsoever; while asking makio if she’ll ever be able to forgive and forget, she’s blaming her “nothingness” into her parent’s death; while she’s wondering if she’ll ever blossom, she’s thinking of she was ever “born” in the first place. and, when we focus on the adults, we have the question being answered: there’s questions we don’t really need to answer or we won’t even ever have the answer to.

“nothing is happening”, but she’s deciding her future. “nothing is happening”, but she’s questioning her past. “nothing is happening”, but…is it really like that?

chapter 50 (published december 9, 2022)

WHAT WAS THAT CHAPTER OH MY GOD what a BEAUTY in writing, in character development, in DEVELOPMENT OF THE PLOT!!!!!!!! every time i think sensei will stop surprising me, she does a 360 and surprise me even more. WOW WOW.

it’s amazing how we start a chapter entirely dedicated to asa and her thoughts about future with makio showing how she accepts her entirely as a human and as a life partner, not as “someone who’s living here for a while”. asa, who thinks she won’t have a home in a near future, is surprised with her name displayed side by side with makio’s. and that little simple detail is what sensei uses to open a huge debate about future and home on asa’s mind. it’s beautiful, impressive even. it’s the nostalgia of something that is waiting for you in the future, making you blond for the things on the present. and, in any given moment, asa says out loud to makio that she wants to stay because “saying things mean giving them life, making it real”.

if she finally admits to makio what she’s thinking/feeling, the idea of not being able to live there anymore will take a shape big enough to gain life. and, her only support of a possibility in staying there, aka being makio’s family, isn’t a very good ground to stand on, since she knows makio’s perception of family is different from hers.

gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous chapter about being seen, about being heard, about future and past. about making things alive even without the same blood. i can’t wait to see what 3rd year asa is going to show us.

chapter 51 (published february 9, 2023)

“loving itself is an act of overcoming fear”. despite the last chapters having a hiding grief, with asa’s future becoming present, we’re shocked with a chapter about…love

there’s no one in the narrative that knows makio like kasamashi; there’s also no one in the narrative that doesn’t knows makio like kasamashi: that’s how his satellite is able to navigate around the woman who challenged him the most. and, in return, makio is giving him his whole heart in a silver plate, talking about fears she doesn’t even understand. was she ever able to feel love? was she ever able to know love? was she ever able to let herself be loved? what emotion divides self preservation and rawness?

makio left a permanent mark on kasamashi, it’s undeniable. he, who never felt love form his parents, fell in love with the most mystical creature he could fine. she, on the other hand, didn’t even noticed her presence on his life. and, using their relationship to parallel with makio’s relationship with asa is genius.

kasamashi never questioned loving someone. makio never questioned her loneliness. that made her blind to all the scars she was leaving behind. and what now, when she’s the one being scarred? asa appeared on makio’s life to teach her how to open herself bare. she, with her little quirks and uniqueness, managed to change the life of someone incapable of love. she, with her young age, managed to force makio to create her first satellite ever, just to circle around her.

she’s scared to love, scared to be someone to miss. scared to be someone who will be missed when she’s gone. scarred of holding dear the one who carries her sister’s, the one she hates the most, dna. scared of finally being able to care deeply for another human. makio, the one who wanted to be left alone, now fear that she one day won’t be there for asa. asa, who had her whole life turned upside down, now have someone to call home. what they have to do now is open up their hearts for each other

chapter 52 (click to access)

chapter 53 (click to access)

chapter 54 (click to access)

[theofficersacademy]

TOA ZINE: "Another Chapter" Now Accepting Submissions!

Hello TOA! Reflecting on these past five years, we've come quite a ways as a community, haven't we? Many of you have been here long enough to remember the [last zine] we created together. Others, meanwhile, may be newer to TOA, but are no less part of the family.

Think of this, perhaps, as kind of a yearbook as we celebrate The Officer’s Academy’s fifth anniversary! What fun memories have you made with your muses over the past five years? What unlikely friends have your muses made? What kind of trouble did they get into? TOA is a place where muses from all different continents can come together and interact, and we would like to shine a spotlight on this particular aspect.

Here are some details on the zine:

This zine will feature both art and writing! We are accepting old pieces you have already created as well as any new ones you’d like to make. This includes any drabbles you may have written for class mastery and snippets from threads.

The zine is planned to be A5 in size: this is roughly 5.83 x 8.27 in, 148 x 210 mm, or 1748 x 2480 px. Art must be in portrait orientation, but we may consider landscape if it fits within the spread. If you are submitting older art, we will do our best to have it fit within the page’s borders, but keep our dimensions in mind as resizing images can affect image quality. Written pieces have a 3000 word cap. Autographs should not take up more than half of the page: 4 x 3.5 in, 101.6 x 88.9 mm, and 1200 x 1050 px would be the maximum size for both length and width. Autographs can be hand-written by you as the muse or you can type a message with a hand-written font and submit it as a transparent image.

Art featuring in the previous TOA Memories zine is ineligible for submission.

We plan to split the zine into different sections with their own topics, and they are as follow:

-Portrait Day & Characters in Officers Academy uniforms -Mission Boards -Daily Life in the Officers Academy (includes class-changing) -Lore Events (ie. Lock & Key, Labyrinth, Unlocked, Unscripted, etc.) -Non-Lore Events (ie. Midsommar, Floralia, BOEL, Fleeting Snow, etc.) -The Ethereal Ball -Autographs

All contributors will be credited with their in-group name and their social media handle if they choose to share one. Both past and present TOA members can contribute content related to their muses. Content for dropped muses can only be submitted if said muse remains unclaimed and available.

Submissions must be entirely your own work, OR, if commissioned, must be submitted alongside the express permission of the creator. This requires the original creator of the commission to DM Mod Key or Mod N stating express permission. Commissioned works will only be considered if they were created by members of TOA, current or past.

We will not be capping the type nor amount of submissions you can make, but we will be curating these submissions and picking which ones enter the zine. This means that if, say, you decided to submit 20 pieces for whatever reason, not every piece you submit will be necessarily be in the zine, but we encourage you to submit whatever you are willing to share!

The zine will be free to download. This is not for profit, just for fun!

The submission phase will be open until October 8th at 11:59PM EST. Please let us know about any questions you may have!

If you are interested in contributing, you may submit your piece(s) [ here ] or via Discord (dm Mods N or Key!). Please take note of the submission guidelines.

Thank you!

[acornsandoaktrees]

Tolkien OC Week, Day 6: Background Characters

this entry was originally going to be for day 4, as a bonus to an old Thalanes fic (my Thranduil's wife OC, certifiably a gap/ghost), but it ended up steering very much towards Haerel and even day 1's worldbuilding instead, so here we are.

within AaOT, Haerel plays the part of spokesperson for the average soldier. he has ties to the main cast, but he doesn't get much time in the spotlight. his only shining moment is a brief (for elves), uneventful stint while Tauriel is AWOL. but it isn't uneventful for him ;)

[nikerym = captain]

>---|-

"Mae govannen, nikerym."

Releasing a shallow breath, Haerel flipped the blade over in his hands a few times. Winter had yet to move on; the golden crossguard stung his skin even through his gloves, and the leather scabbard cracked as it shifted. The shining white jewel set into its pommel glistened like the last of falling snow.

"I do not know if I am ready to bear this weight," he confessed, voice wavering on the precipice of tears. The cairn ahead of him blurred. "Neither of us ever expected it to fall on me, but it has, and I have no choice."

Legs growing heavy, he let his knees bend, and sunk to the ground. The snow was gone, but a young frost still hugged the moss, unprepared for the coming dawn.

"So many left us in the battle. And Tauriel - she had a choice, but she left us, me, too, not for Valinor but for Men. She leaves me with this."

Haerel lifted the blade as if Thalanes could see it through the cairn's thread to the afterlife. It was an heirloom of the station of Captain of the Guard; maintained and passed down through the eons, from a time even the great Oropher had not known. By now, it was too fragile to be anything but ceremonial. It remained as heavy as a soldier's sword.

"It should be yours. Please," Haerel begged, unsure what he was expecting to result of it, "Please take it from me."

@tolkienocweek

[bxldrsdraumar]

As the evening has progressed and the entertainment has been had, either by you or your hosts, you eventually find your way to your seat (assigned or stolen) - the table has been set with all manner of lush dishes in a family style setting, and you sneak glimpses of portions of the foods that you all have prepared dotting the tables. But the chef and your hosts have been hard at work preparing the main course for you, and when there is the slightest lull in conversation Sigurd gently taps the tines of his fork against his glass and stands, clearing his throat.

'Greetings, all! To begin, I want to ensure you all know how grateful I am to have you here - my sister and I both. We thank you, truly. This would not have been possible without all of you.'

The shining man seems born to be in the spotlight, and his face is all smiles as he looks about the room, raising his glass in toast to all of the faces looking back at him.

'Secondly, we have a further surprise for you - a dish! The main dish, in fact, that we've remembered from our own childhood. Why, I remember our steward made the most delectable spread, but one year our father Byron - bless his heart, the man - attempted to deep fry the thing in oil as one might a besieging army!' He laughs for a moment as though this is the height of comedy before he sees some distant looks of horror, clears his throat, smiles charmingly. 'But I digress.

"This is a delicacy that some might remember from harvest feasts of their own, or something new to them entirely - oh, and fear not! Those who have indicated to us their dietary preferences, we are not here to exclude you, or trick you. Our chef is a genius, and has recreated this in *plant form* - it's truly the most astounding thing, I believe he's taken - oh no, my apologies, there I go again.' He laughs again.

'I will pass it off to my sister to say a few words, and then she and I would like to give back as you have given us - and we will be going around to all guests to serve, and in our turn, to remind you for all that we are grateful.'

Ethlyn rolls her eyes as Sigurd finally finishes his speech and the attention of the room is directed toward her.

“Don’t worry,” she teases, “I won’t keep you long. My brother has always been the more long winded of the two of us.

“I might not be a Chalphy anymore,” she takes a moment to smile at the man seated to her left and gives his hand a quick squeeze, “but I hold the traditions of the land of my birth close to my heart. It means the world that I am able to share them again with both of my families and also with you, my dear friends. So, please, enjoy! And, for Baldr’s sake, eat! There is so much food here!”

A Big Thanks!

Today is the final day of the inaugural Baldrs Bounty feast!

As a special thank you to all who replied to the interest check, tches and Erica will have Sigurd and Ethlyn going around - so check your inboxes! Feel free to continue with your threads at your leisure, but the event post with prompts will no longer be pinned on Sigurd's page as off 11.59 EST to mark the end of the event.

We'd really like to thank everyone who participated in this, our first event! We learned so much, and we really couldn't have pulled this off without you guys. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to contact tches or Erica!