#i do like dragon ball so fair enough

[felassan]

June 14th 2024 Developer Q&A (from the official BioWare Discord) - Complete transcript

Under a cut due to length.

Update: This post has now been updated into a word-for-word transcript.

[Link to video recording of Q&A] | [Link to equivalent post for second Q&A (August 30th)] | [Link to video recording for second Q&A]

Update: This post has now been updated into a word-for-word transcript.

If you would like to listen to the Q&A for yourself in video format, or listen to it again, Ghil Dirthalen recorded it and has now uploaded a video of it here. This blog post is linked in the description under the video. ( ˶´ ᵕ `˶ )

Corinne Busche, John Epler, Matt Rhodes and Community Manager Katey were the devs that were there.

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Katey: Hello!

John: Hello.

Katey: Beautiful, your mic sounds beautiful. How's everybody doing?

John: Excellent. I, just as a headsup, I have some folks doing some service, in the next room so, if I, if you hear background noise, that's what that is.

Katey: No worries at all. Well I hope that everybody who's been waiting in here is really excited, because I'm super excited. I'm Katey. I'm the Community Manager. If you don't already know, you can usually see my name at the top of this Discord server. But I'm joined here with some awesome guests that I'll let introduce themselves. Let's start with Corinne.

Corinne: Can you hear me okay?

John: Yep.

Katey: Yep, we can hear you beautifully.

Corinne: Great, perfect. I'm Corinne Busche, Game Director of Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

John: Awesome. I'm John Epler, Creative Director of Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

Corinne: John!

John: Hello.

Katey: And then we've also got Matt Rhodes, who may be struggling to find the unmute button which is at the bottom left.

Corinne: Our, our resident artist-poet, Matt Rhodes.

Katey: I could unmute him, actually, I don't know if I can unmute him, but if he needs help, he can message me on the side.

John: The joys of being a giant nerd is I spend a lot of time on Discord anyway, so.

Corinne: Well there you go, right?

Katey: Fair enough. Alright, well, we have a ton of questions to answer. We probably won't be able to get to all of them today. You all have sent in so many really really great answers, sorry, questions for us to answer. And if we don't get to them today, we're hoping to be able to do things like this in the future. So without further ado, I'll get started. First question's a bit of a soft ball, I feel. If you could belong to any of the main factions shown in the game, which would you choose?

Corinne: I mean, listen Katey, you say softball, but like, 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, like the ones that capture my vibe, Mourn Watch. Gimme those necromancers.

John: Those are good answers. I have, I have one for fashion, and also for, just general faction I’d like to be a part of. Veil Jumpers. Who doesn’t like a nice walk in the forest, y’know? Even if that forest is filled with horrifying monsters and terrifying anomalies, but yeah.

Katey: I love that. I know that Matt has a few technical issues – oh, he’s unmuted. There we go. Or maybe not. That’s okay, I think we can move on.

John: The Fade has taken Matt.

Corinne: That’s right, that’s right.

Katey: Yes. One quick thing, if you check your settings, the cog-wheel in the bottom left, make sure that your voice, like, your audio is all good. If you’re still hearing the music, feel free to maybe, force-quit Discord and rejoin by just joining the stage directly. And mute the music before you come in. Okay. I can move on to the next question for now. I’ve seen, so this question was from Acra. 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 behind this and will we still get the same companion conversations and banter as seen in the previous Dragon Age games?

Corinne: Ooh, this is such a good question. Thankyou, whoever submitted this one. Yeah, I’ll guess I’ll start and then I’ll turn it over to John Epler. So, first of all, as you saw in the gameplay reveal, this is a much more intimate experience. We’ve 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, right? Like, you’re walking these city streets of Minrathous, you’re looking up, seeing the buildings all around you, you’re a part of this place. So it’s much more intimate, and we believe as the narrative unfolds this creates a lot more immersion. Now, how that relates to companions is in doing this, we went back and forth on it a lot, but we actually found, with this perspective, having two companions, really 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 unleash a volley of arrows, you can only really get that because of that 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 that people are wondering about is, okay, but what about gameplay? So again, this has come about from our testing, working with the internal team, also our lovely Council of players. We just found that when you’re playing in the combat system, when you’re planning your strategies, two really felt like the right number to manage. So keep in mind, Rook has a lot of different types of actions, Abilities, individual attacks that are more fully fleshed-out than ever before. Timing and positioning matter a lot. So this really felt like the right balance to have. 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, I engage with the companions, like 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. That’s kind of like the, we got a two-for-one there.

John: Yeah, yeah.

Corinne: I think that’s a, a great question.

John: So - it’s a great question, yeah. I mean honestly, I don’t think you could actually stop the writers from writing banter. I will say for myself, it’s, it’s one of the more light but fun things to do. You get to write little stories, little arcs between different characters. And I mean, The Veilguard is no different. Banter is still absolutely core part of it. You know, 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. I think it’s, if anything it’s the most we’ve, 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 issues, you know, things like, okay, well I don’t wanna miss this banter. So we’ve even added stuff like some interruptible 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 and banter is a big part of that, so, you still have it, it’s, if anything, like I said, you could not stop the writers from doing it even if we tried, so.

Corinne: That’s right, that’s right. Well, John, you know, 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 between, that, like do I get to see my companions interacting in a broader group more often.

John: Oh -

Corinne: 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.

John: Well, I think –

Corinne: Those are some of my favorite parts.

John: Yeah, and I think, yeah, and actually that’s a, a good call, because I think the other side of it is, we’re not talking too much about your home or anything, but, we also want to make sure that they feel like they have a 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 those interactions there as well.

Katey: Love that. Let’s see. Um, Matt, are we, are we all set, are we good? Yes? No? Okay. I can continue and we can come back to some of your questions. Alright. So that, I loved the answers to those. How customizable is the backstory of Rook? Will we get to determine their past in the Character Creator? And that was asked by Briar.

John: Yeah, so. Absolutely. So, one of, each, Rook has six different backgrounds that you can choose from. Each of them is tied to one of the major factions in The Veilguard and each one sets out who Rook was before they recruited, were recruited by Varric, and. Well that sets out the broad events. As you go through the game, as you’re gonna 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, again, giving them background to ground them in the world but then letting you decide what that means and what that says about you is also a big part of it, so. And again, there are six different factions in this game, two which, anyone who’s played Dragon Age for a while will remember. You’ve got the Grey Wardens. You’ve got the Antivan Crows. We also have, in addition to that, we have four new ones, because we’re in northern Thedas. We have the Veil Jumpers. We have the Mourn Watch. We have the Shadow Dragons, and we have the Lords of Fortune, so. Again, a lot of different options, a lot of different background, and a lot of opportunities to really define what your, who your Rook was, and who they are now, so.

Katey: Amazing. Will crafting return? If yes, has it been improved over the system in Inquisition? Asked by Some Dude.

Matt: Testing.

Katey: Oh hey Matt!

Corinne: “Some Dude”, is that, I’m gonna assume “Some Dude�� is a username. Great question.

Katey: Yes.

Corinne: Welcome Matt, the lovely Matt Rhodes.

Matt: Testing, testing.

Corinne: Welcome, welcome, hello. Alright, so, 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, I’m gonna be a little bit cagey about it, but there might be a mysterious entity that assists you with that that’ll be an important part of the narrative.

Katey: So mysterious.

Corinne: Oooh!

Katey: Matt, I’m gonna actually go back to our first question so that you can answer, so everyone knows.

Matt: Thank you.

Katey: What faction, what faction you would choose if you could choose one for yourself?

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

Katey: I think I’m with you there, for sure. How about this one - this one was definitely asked probably amongst the most in Discord. Axolotl asks, can we kiss or romance Manfred the skeleton?

Matt: Uh, I, I would say, not that skeleton, but we’re not saying no skeletons.

Katey: I love that answer.

Corinne: This is my favorite answer so far.

Katey: Alright, so I’m gonna get back on track here. Alright. What, what were some of the development considerations that you had to take into account to ensure that this new game flows and functions with prior games, and Dragon Age Keep, if Keep is being utilized?

Corinne: Ooh, that’s a good one too. So, first of all, I would, I would point everyone to, we did an interview with IGN that goes into some of the details there, so, like, if you want a deeper dive on it, check out that article. But just to summarize, we have taken a different approach on how you import your decisions this time around. It’s now actually been fully-integrated into the Character Creator, and kinda serves a dual purpose, to be honest. I, I playfully, it’s not called this in-game, but I playfully think of it as ‘Last Time On Dragon Age’.

Katey: I love that.

Corinne: Right? Now, when I talk about its dual purpose, it’s been ten years since the last Dragon Age game released, so it serves as a refresher on critical events as well as allowing you to re-make 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 really 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, like 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, like, look, y’all don’t want the spoilers, but I will say, 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 that you’ve literally never been to before. So that affects some of 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, that’s a factor.

Katey: Peachy asks, will this next game be an open-world game, or is it just contained to Tevinter?

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

Corinne: Yeah, 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 –

John: Mhm.

Corinne: - 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.

John: Mhm.

Corinne: But, I wanna be clear. It’s, it’s a really curated, hand-crafted experience.

John: And just to, just to bounce off of that very quickly. The most important thing for us, to what Corinne was saying about hand-crafted, obviously we’ve talked about how, you know, narrative, story, characters, are the most, are critical to us, and this has allowed us to build these experiences in a way that emphasize that, extremely long, while still, again, tying into the story threads and the story beats, so.

Katey: Awesome. TastefulToxel wants to know - will the companions have unique specializations like Dragon Age II, or will it be the same ones we will have access to as the player in like DA: Origins, or Inquisition?

Corinne: Oh, cool. Hey TastefulToxel. Yeah, so, cool question. 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. Like, for instance, you might be surprised to hear, because she has a bow, but Bellara is, in fact, a mage, and I, I love that. So, some of the Abilities, the bulk of the Abilities of the companions are based on their own unique personality. Like, 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 the mages share, like Time Slow. So we really like the balance there. It’s like a good mix of representing their archetype, their class, and also their distinct specialization or personality, whatever you wanna call it.

John: Yeah, actually, I would actually say the word ‘personality’ is a really great one because that’s, again, each of these characters exists, each of these characters have a history, have a story 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, we serve the needs of gameplay but also allow these characters to breathe and exist as their own people, not just in conversation, but out of conversations, as well.

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

Katey: Lunasoul Darkmoon asks, will The Veilguard have tactical combat still?

Corinne: Ooh, such a good one, such a good one. Okay. Yes! Combat gets quite tactical, like, obviously this is an evolution of the combat system, and I talked about immersion, wanting you, 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 level you go. So like, look, if you’re showing up for a highly tactical experience, I would crank that difficulty level in particular. But I wanna make clear, I’m, super, 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, both in and out of combat, there’s a reason for that. As the game progresses, and you didn’t see this in that opening hour of the game, but it’ll display strategic information on the enemies, so like, what are their vulnerabilities, what are their elemental weaknesses, their enhancements, what are they resistant to? So your type of Abilities, learning into elemental gameplay, matters a lot. I’d also say, this is a long answer, it’s such a good 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, or really devastating – we call them – detonation combos. So, let me give you a couple of examples, because it can be a little hard to visualize, so hopefully this helps. So 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 Arlathan, I like to use Bellara’s Galvanized Tear to pull enemies together, it’s like a gravity well. You then Slow Time with Neve and, 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, like 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 strategy and tactics. Now we did talk about the devastating, like, detonation combos, honestly, that’s probably 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. So when I, when I build out my team and I’m going into a mission, I try to ensure that I have at least a couple of possible synergies, detonation combo synergies within my team. Might be between Harding and Neve, or it might be between Neve and me, or it might be both. So here, I would go into battle, I’d pause time, open the Ability Wheel, get information on the enemy, and the Wheel will actually tell me that there is a synergy combo, you might have seen a screenshot that says “combo available”. It will remind you of those synergies between companions. You can queue both of those Abilities up at the same time, go, 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, it’s so satisfying, I can’t wait for y’all 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, in that moment, 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 cost. I, I could spend the rest of the session talking about this, I, apologies for being long-winded, but this is just one of my favorite parts of, of the game.

Katey: That was a great answer. Can you choose Rook’s pronouns? If yes, being, is being non-binary an option? And also, how detailed is Character Creation?

Corinne: Hell yeah you can select your pronouns! Absolutely. You can actually select both your pronouns and your gender, because those are related concepts, but they’re not actually the exact same thing, so. It’s really cool. Yeah, you can be non-binary. We have they/them, she/her, he/him. Yes, emphatic yes. How detailed is the Character Creator? Oh my goodness, y’all. Like. 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 of 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, we’re gonna, 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, to do that.

Katey: Will there be a Photo Mode in-game?

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

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

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

Katey: A lot of people were asking about Abilities. This one is from Clemmy. Abilities, I don’t think I saw this answered yet, but are we going to be limited in how many Abilities we can pick from the Wheel?

Corinne: Ah! Yes, yes, yes. So, Ability Wheel does have a capacity. You have to choose which three Abilities you wanna bring for Rook, which three for one of your companions, and which three for another companion. And what I, what I like about this is there is, kind of, an emergent gameplay depending on who you and your companions are coming into the mission with. Now the reason for that is, it actually creates really interesting balance of strategizing, having to do that strategy about your kit, your combat kit, before the mission. And then the tactical decisions once you’re in the field in combat, deciding what to do. But, I do wanna clear one thing up, because, 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 include, you’ll have an Ultimate Ability, associated with your class or your specialization, so there’s variance there. There’s a type of items that you’ll get that function like Abilities, they’re typically like buffs and enhancements in 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 will focus on, but what you might not know is that a lot of the companion gear really synergizes with that directing your companions. When you issue those commands, that too will proc based on the gear they have equipped. Really interesting and strategic effects. They can be more Ability-like, more, like, procced effects, there’s just so much from the Wheel, that once you get in and see everything working together, becomes more and more apparent.

Katey: We have another question from TastefulToxel which is, will Fireball and Cone of Cold be back as skills, or as spells in Dragon Age: The Veilguard?

Corinne: Ohh, I love, all these combat questions, really good. So Fireball and Cone of Cold aren’t specifically back, however, their successors are. Frost Nova and Meteor. So these serve the exact same combat role and function as those other Abilities. I would also say, it gives ‘em quite the glow-up, so. Meteor in particular, like, so satisfying nuking a group of darkspawn with a well-placed Meteor, it’s really wonderful.

Katey: What accessibility features are available? I would love to know if there’s an arachnophobia mode. Will there be 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’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this topic so you can play the game in a way that really works for you. I’m, I’m excited to share that with you when the time is right.

Katey: So this one is from a username named Cookie. How long is the time-skip from Inquisition to The Veilguard? I know we’ll probably get more info on this, but I’m so curious.

John: Yeah, so, 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 long events taking. But, for The Veilguard, we were actually pretty consistent from the start. It’s been about ten years since the events of Trespasser. As you may or may not have noticed, Varric’s become a little bit of a silver fox. I know, I’ve heard, seen, I’ve seen a lot of comments on that on social media, but, yeah, ten years. Solas’ ritual is taken time to set up and you’re kinda coming in at the end of that hunt, so.

Katey: Siddy is asking the hardest-hitting question which is, is Solas still bald?

Matt: Yeah. I mean, if you’ve watched the gameplay thing, we can all confirm, yes, Solas is still bald, Solas is still Solas. We’ve, we’ve, I really, 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-sequitur, but, once you get a chance to play it a little bit more, maybe you’ll see it. In Thedas, ancient elves, they go bald when they’re like millennia old, so. Solas wasn’t always bald. So if you were to end up, end up seeing what Solas looked like in the past, things might be a little different. You’ll have –

John: - Now, now that said, I’m sure some of you are wondering what happened to Solas’ wig from Tevinter Nights. I’m sure he still has it somewhere, so.

Katey: He’s just taking care of it elsewhere.

John: He’s just taking care, it’s, it’s his most important possession.

Corinne: The Pride there, huh?

Katey: I have another one for Matt. This is, will we be able to, will we be able to change companions’ appearances and outfits, or are they fixed, similar to Dragon Age II?

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

Katey: Another one for ya, which is, will we be seeing or visiting Kal-Sharok? It’s, and, Tyrant says that they’ve been obsessed with it forever.

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

Katey: Awesome. MrFightmonster118 asks, will the dialogue wheel slash options be similar to Inquisition and Mass Effect: Andromeda in the sense that it’s more tone-based?

John: Yeah, so, 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 remembers what they look like. In Dragon Age: The Veilguard we have tone wheels which are, you know, again, 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. Investigates obviously return as well, but. We do want players to understand as much as possible what it is they’re going to be picking, and understand, and again, choice and consequence is fun, we wanna make sure the choice is clear, even if, again, one of the best parts about consequence is making sure that’s not entirely clear, so.

Katey: How extensive are Rook’s decision trees for dialogue going to be with the companions and also with NPCs throughout the game?

John: Huge. I mean, again, it’s a Dragon Age game, we wanna make sure you have choices, we wanna make sure you can choose both your roleplaying but also choose outcomes of conversations, choose how events unfold, so, I mean, again, it’s a Dragon Age game, we wanna make sure that 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’re gonna have a different perspective on events than someone who’s not an elf. Sometimes that means different conversation options, sometimes that’s going to mean entirely deep dialogue trees, as well as based off decisions you’ve made throughout the game so, again, making sure that the game feels like it’s noticing what you’re doing is a huge part of how we’ve written out the dialogue wheel, or dialogue trees, in this game.

Corinne: Blueberry has a question for Corinne. It was mentioned that there will be, that we will be able to romance who we like. Does that mean that all companions are romanceable by all player characters regardless of race or gender, as it has been in the past?

Corinne: Yeah, yeah. So, 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 overview. Each of the seven companions have full romance arcs and they are romanceable by all genders, absolutely. But something that’s really important to, to us on the team, so I wanna make sure that we clarify and just double-down on, that doesn’t mean playersexual. And if anyone’s unaware of what we mean by that, it doesn’t mean that they can form or twist their identities to who you the player are, like they, they won’t suddenly have a preference for men or women based on what you’re playing, right? Instead, they have their own fully fleshed-out identities, they are true and authentic to that. So in this game, they are all pansexual, with their own histories of romance. Sometimes you’ll hear about preferences, or 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 honestly, 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, like, what is that ship-name?

Katey: That one just rolls off the tongue, I feel like that works. This next question is from FallenArtesia. What are the markings on the faces of the elven Warden and Veil hopper?

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

Katey: And this is a question for all of you. What are you, what are you as a developer most proud of about the game, and what are you most excited for players to experience when it’s out?

John: Ooh, that’s a good question.

Corinne: Isn’t it?

John: Corinne, you wanna go first?

Corinne: Yeah, sure. Gosh. So I suspect for most of us, myself included, it is really gonna be the depth and authenticity of the companions, journeying along with them on their arcs, learning about their hardships, what they care about, being by their side, that, 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, the way you customize the horns and combine that with the really great-looking hair. Character Creator has to be my, my, like very close runner up.

Matt: Oh yeah. For me, I would say, as far as, what, what I can say I’m most proud of on this one, the, I can speak for the art team. We worked incredibly hard to make the story more visible than ever. Games are a visual medium, but, you know, it’s, 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 in to trying to make sure that every design, prop, character, environment, the VFX we’re choosing, everything, all, all these choices, were putting the story on-screen so that you can really see it unfold. And I think, having worked on all of the Dragon Age games, I would say Veilguard represents one of the best attempts at that we’ve made yet.

John: I’m gonna cheat, because I’m going last and I get to do that when I go last, and kinda combine both Corinne’s and Matt’s answer. Honestly, the companions are, for me, the absolute highlight of, 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 at BioWare in general. Each, each companion has their own story arc, you can go through decisions you can make, they really do take center-stage, and I think, as you play through with them you see the care and love that the team has put into each and every one. I mean there’s, there’s moments in each arc that make you cry, make you angry, make you excited and, and the way that they integrate into the story as a whole is just, for me, something that’s been really fun. Finding ways to bring these characters together, finding ways to make this, this narrative, this story of, you know, you need to put together a team and stop the end of the world, it’s just 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? For me, I’ve been, I mean Dragon Age has been part of my career, 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 like a amazing mix of, novelty but also familiarity. It’s like coming home in a way that I think 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. And going to parts of the word, seeing things we’ve never seen before, and just getting to take this amazing world, this amazing series and expand on it and build on it in ways that have just been, honestly, an absolute thrill, the best part of my career. And I’ve been in games for seventeen years now, this has been the absolute highlight for me, so. That’s what I’m excited about.

Corinne: John, that was, that was such a good answer, and I just, I just wanna “yes, and -” that. It, I so completely agree with you. There’ve been times in the companion arcs where even, knowing exactly what’s going to happen, we work on the game, with some of these decisions, I, I’ve had to set down the controller, let out a heavy sigh and go “oh my god, what am I gonna do here?” Yeah, the depth of them is wonderful. And, I do wanna say, I, I’d be, I wanna put this out there, when we talked about as a developer, what are we 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 heart and soul into this.

John: Absolutely.

Corinne: Anyone from BioWare who’s listening in, thank you so much, y’all are just the best.

John: Hear, hear.

Katey: I absolutely love that. I knew that question was going to have some of my best, some of my favorite answers, and it delivered, so thank you three. This one’s a fun one. Why does Varric have dark hair now? I feel like John mentioned this a little bit earlier, but.

John: Just for [inaudible].

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

Katey: In this question, we actually took from Tumblr, because there were a few really good ones in our ask box. Will the Inquisitor be appearing in the flesh, or are we just choosing their major Dragon Age: Inquisition decisions?

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

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

Katey: Will there be any planned DLC? Just curious, as I always love the DLCs. Oh, and transmog armor. This one came from Lavell.

Corinne: Oh, heck yeah, good question. So, right now, our focus is entirely on the quality of the game. Like, it’s so important at this stage for us to be all-in, all attention on, just, finishing this game and delivering on the quality, the promise of it. So honestly, like, that’s all I can really say about it. We’re 100% focused on this being the most complete game we can make it. I will say, kind’ve related to that though, and I just wanna underscore this, I wanna emphasize it. There’s not gonna be any microtransactions, there’s not gonna be any battle passes, you don’t have to connect online, our focus is making this the most complete singleplayer game we possibly can. Now, this was kind’ve a two-for question, I love when we do that. Will there be transmog? Hell yeah. I’m the kind’ve player that, that believes fashion is the real end-game. Yeah, there’s a transmog system, absolutely, it’s sick.

Katey: And then this next question is from Scott. I was asking if any of the characters will be explicitly asexual, or on the ace spectrum?

Corinne: So good. Such a good question. So, look, I’m just, I’m gonna be really forthcoming with y’all and a little bit vulnerable here. I’m ace, I’m a gray-ace, I don’t mind sharing that, I’m kind’ve public with it. I will say though, that none of our companions this time around are explicitly ace. When we look at the characters, their motivations, who they are, we always assess, like is, is this the right time? This time it wasn’t. But what I will say for everyone on the ace spectrum out 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. Oh, and I do see some questions, you know, some questions, what do we mean by ace? Asexuality. We often refer to it as the ace spectrum.

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

Corinne: Okay. Um, this gets a little spoilery, so let me just say, Rook has some pretty good reasons to avoid blood magic. Rook is not gonna want to 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 –

John: Oh no.

Corinne: I’ve seen, like, can you tell us about the specializations for mage? 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.

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

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

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

Katey: Yeah, I love that, griffons in the chat. Let's see. 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, it’s, it, narratively it, it serves kind’ve 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 that you can adjust. I, I don’t know how much we’re really going into that at the moment.

Katey: This one is –

Matt: But yeah, I would say, it’s like, there’s some, it, one thing I like about it is it definitely does start to feel very much like a home over time.

Katey: Sorry for almost cutting you off there Matt. We have another very hard-hitting question, if I'm, if I do say so myself.

John: I love this one.

Katey: We need to - Same. We need to know, does pasta and noodles exist in Thedas? Thank you.

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

Katey: I loved that. This next question is from Spectre Karro. Are we getting a mabari?

John: 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.

Katey: Honestly, I should’ve pulled this one up to where we answered the first question about the griffon, but, can we pet the griffon?

Matt: You, I’m really sorry to have to be the one to tell you – nah, I’m kidding, yes you can. But it’s not even just petting the griffon. I’ve, this isn’t a spoiler, I think you can actually, I’ve actually hugged the griffon, so, that feels like, even there, a step up. Yeah.

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

Corinne: Can we see, can we see Assan in chat if we wanna see him in the Lighthouse hanging out?

Katey: Assan in chat everybody.

Corinne: Assan in chat, alright!

Katey: I love it.

Corinne: Okay, y’all this was so important to the team too. Like, this is the team’s like, just such huge support for this feature, so props to them.

Katey: This one is from Coriander. Will we get to see any of the Character Creator before the game releases?

Corinne: Yes, yes you will. We’ve got a, you’ve probably seen, we’re laying out a roadmap for, you know, what we’re gonna show and when we’re gonna talk about, so, yes you will see it as we get a little bit closer to launch.

Katey: And then we’ve got this question which is, will we be able to play as a qunari, dwarf, elf, or human?

Corinne: Hell yeah, hell yeah you will. All four, and all four have that full-body customization. I already talked a little bit about, I mean listen, 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, I guess related to this, your lineage gives you a lot of really unique dialogue options, so that’s a really lovely aspect of choosing your lineage as well.

John: Yeah, I would, so to actually just to bounce off that, to an earlier question about backgrounds, each lineage, there, depending on the lineage you choose and the background you choose there are some specifics call-outs to, for example, if it’s the Mourn Watch, the Mourn Watch being a faction from Nevarra of mages, you play as a dwarf, obviously your experience in that faction is going to be different than, say, a human or an elf, so. There are also specific call-outs tailored to those combinations and, with again, giving, the intention of giving each lineage their own little flavor as to how they're, they fit into that faction as a whole.

Katey: Okay, John, I’ve got a question from someone named Joe for you. Where is Barkspawn and is he okay?

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

Corinne: Getting into the deep-cut questions now.

John: Deep-cut questions, yeah.

Katey: Yeah. We are really speedin’ through these. Let’s see. 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, that’s a name generator that can give you a selection of first names. Obviously if you want to make your own first name, that’s definitely something we support as well. If you’re somebody who maybe has a little bit 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, so.

Katey: I definitely always have trouble coming up with what I wanna name my characters, so that’s great. This next question is, when will the voice acting cast be announced?

John: So, 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 a bit more over the summer, we’re not quite ready to announce names yet.

Katey: And I think we have a similar answer to this next question, which was, will there be a Collector’s Edition? When can I pre-order?

John: Yeah, same answer, we have, we’ll talk more about the different editions of the game soon.

Katey: Are there any special musical guests writing the sound-track? Will tavern songs return.

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

Katey: Let’s see, are there any – ope, I have just asked that one. What are the required PC specs?

John: Much like the other two, we will have more information on required PC specs soon.

Katey: Saph from the Discord server noticed that two, Dragon Age II’s main theme from the soundtrack brought back much of the iconic thematic material of Origins’ main theme, but I heard less of it in Inquisition’s. Can we expect The Veilguard’s main theme to recall more or less of that original thematic material than Inquisition?

John: So we’re not, we’re not quite ready to talk about music yet in specifics, but in broad strokes I can say the process for us is always the same. Working with the composer, working, figuring out themes, figuring out what kinds of elements we want to keep, tying specific elements to, maybe specific characters. It’s a really in-depth process and a really collaborative process. We have some fantastic audio people on our team that have done an amazing work, 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.

Katey: And this one, I see is also for John, but I think anyone can answer this. When writing the overall story of this game, what themes did you want to have as the prominent focus?

John: I mean again, it’s interesting, so it’s interesting, because when we were writing these games, and this has been true on every Dragon Age I’ve been part of, what you start with and where you end up aren’t always necessarily the same. Sometimes you start writing out a theme, you realize actually it’s more interesting if we attack from this angle, or maybe if we twist it a little bit. I will say for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, from the beginning one of the biggest themes has been regret. How regret’s shaped peoples’ lives, how people deal with their regrets, how people maybe move past their regrets and, each of the characters, you know, the stories as a whole, have elements of this tied throughout. We really wanted to have that thematic, that cohesiveness to the game’s story and the game’s writing so.

Katey: And I know that, you know, we’ve, we've kind’ve already answered this a few times, but can we play as dwarves and does the world react to your race and backstory? Probably be good to just directly answer that one.

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 conversation options based on that, on that backstory and as well as that race.

Corinne: I’ll give you a little nugget here, because I saw it scrolling through real quickly. Do you have beards, like. So when I think about can I play as dwarves I think about, do we have glorious fantastic beards? Hell yeah, we do.

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

Corinne: Just saw somebody say “it’s beard time”, I love it. It’s beard time!

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

Corinne: Oh my good – do y’all just love pain? Do you want us to make you cry? If you go against their wishes, if you make decisions they don’t like, I will tell you, you can piss them off, you can, they might not agree with you and they, they will take some time away. That said, this is the biggest threat to Thedas we’ve ever seen, so they’re, they are always gonna be willing to show up 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!

Corinne: Aughhh, I’ll leave it there, I’ll leave it there.

John: No spoilers.

Corinne: Okay, alright, alright. But they want it!

John: Yep.

Matt: Don’t try to stop me, Smee!

Katey: This one’s a fun one about some inspirations for the game. Dracanmo would like to know if any songs, books, movies or anything have had inspired any of the writing for the characters?

John: I mean, honestly, the thing about art is, 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 to. I don’t think that any characters have what I would describe as, this character was a direct reference or direct inspiration but, I mean, yeah, they’re all inspired by the things that we do, the things, both, again, in the real world, and also in the media we consume. And you’re gonna see elements of characters that, yeah, the things that we’ve enjoyed, the things that’ve shaped us, show up in these characters. I think, for me, it’s, it comes down to, and I, I, writing is a deeply, can be a deeply personal experience, so even if you don’t intend for it to be the case, things, parts of you are going to show up in your character, I think that’s true for all the characters in The Veilguard. And, you know, sometimes it’s, exploring, exploring the, y’know, things that, about yourself that you may like or may not like, and it’s also about exploring things about characters that you like or don’t like, so. That’s kinda my long-winded way of saying yes, it’s impossible to not have that happen when you’re creating art. But I wouldn’t say that there’s one where you can say, oh this is this character, this is this character.

Katey: What was the thinking process behind making Harding a companion this time around? Was she always going to be one or did it evolve into one because she was such a lovable character?

John: Ohh, yeah. So Harding, I mean. When we released Inquisition, it was impossible not to see the love that people had for our murderous girl next door dwarf. She’s always been a fan favorite obviously, but I think beyond that, it’s something that there, that Harding’s writer wanted to explore. There was more of a story to tell there, more perspective, and beyond that, Harding obviously has a strong connection to Solas, and to the, to Varric, and to the events of the past ten 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, I think actually, to piggyback on that, that’s something I hadn’t really even thought about that much, but, 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 he was.

John: Yeah, that’s exactly it, that’s exactly, and yeah, that’s a great way of looking at it too. It also provides you with a little bit of that, that perspective. For players who’ve been around, you know, who played with previous Dragon Age games, but also for new ones, who was Solas? What kind of character was, was he?

Matt: Yeah.

John: Yeah, it’s a great, it’s a great, using characters to provide windows onto the world is honestly one of my favorite things.

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

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

Matt: Yeah.

Katey: And 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 want to make sure that each quest provides either a perspective on the world or perspective on the characters, or feels immediately and obviously relevant to what you’re, what you’re doing here. You’re here to save the world and, again, at the end of the day, one of the things that we heard, we heard loud and clear, was some feedback about how relevant, or in this, in our case, not relevant, previous quests have felt, so for Veilguard, we really wanted to make sure that these quests felt like something that you, 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’ve thing that my hero would do, especially faced with the end of the world.

Corinne: Yeah, that’s, that’s really good John. That’s so right. I would just, again, double-down on how hand-crafted all the quests are, and whether, whether you’re doing, like, the main story, or you’re journeying with your companions, or you’re out exploring and you encounter a mystery. Everything’s handcrafted, intentional. We spent a lot of time listening to what y’all said, and of course everyone has slightly different tastes, but, you know, you’re not gonna be gathering shards in the Hinterlands. Everything is built with intention, and, you know, a dev there lovingly handcrafting the experience.

Katey: 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 because this does start getting into spoiler detail, 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 decision, the choices you make have an impact on how these spaces exist and develop, so, yeah, and again, don’t wanna too many into, into story spoilers, but, your decisions do impact how the world shows up.

Katey: And will we be able to control our companions in combat through tactical mode, or if the PC, or player character, gets KO’d, like in previous games?

Corinne: Right, so. If Rook gets KO’d, your player character gets knocked out, this time around it is time to re-load 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, that’s if you’ve invested in their own progression and what they can do. And that said, I, I mentioned this earlier but I, 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, like that, that interactivity between them, once you play it you’ll see how, just engaged the team is.

Katey: A user named It’s Sarah said, my real most important Dragon Age question is, will Solas still occasionally or dramatically speak in iambic pentameter?

John: You know, I was, 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, 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. Same writer, so, I think, this has been, the answer is, well of, yeah, it’s Solas.

Katey: Will our decision of who in particular was left behind in the Fade be important?

John: So, while that decision does not show up, that – sorry, let me, restart. Not for The Veilguard. That decision doesn’t show up here. Now, that said, that doesn’t mean that’s that’s not a decision that will ever be important in the future, so. Again, not for this one, though.

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 and it just feels like -

John: That’s a, that’s a deep cut!

Corinne: Very, that’s a deep cut.

John: Holy smokes.

Corinne: My goodness.

John: The sound of my childhood.

Katey: Will we have mounts again? If so, any hints to what types we’ll have?

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

Katey: LightningStar asks, how is the side quest design? Will they be mostly story-based, or will there be a lot of radiant quests or resources or Power, like in Inquisition?

John: We talked about it a little bit earlier, but, no, they are all hand-crafted and story-focused. Again, narrative, the companions, not just the companions but the characters in the world as a whole are so much at the core of The Veilguard that, anything other than hand-crafted quests just felt like it would be a disservice to the game we were building.

Corinne: Yeah. And maybe, we can clarify as well, because, like Power was such a divisive mechanic in Inquisition. There’s no mechanic like that that blocks your progression until you fill a bar, right, like that’s just not a thing in this. You have the autonomy to engage in these, these quests as you like. There’s no, like, y'know, grind-out gates before you can progress.

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

Katey: So, it looks like we only have time for three more questions, so I’m going to get through those. With this next one, is from someone named Jason. Will there be a similar system to the War Table missions?

Corinne: Ooh, interesting. So, we haven’t talked much about the player’s base, the Lighthouse. And we’re gonna save that for a beat, 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, we’ll leave for you when we talk more about the Lighthouse, and then when you have a chance to hop in, you’ll be able to see what those unique purposes and functions are.

Katey: If there is dual-wield for warriors, will it rely on dexterity or strength?

Corinne: Ah, okay, yeah, yeah. So we did wanna bring dual-wielding back. It is part of the rogue kit this time. So warriors are really focused on mighty two-handed weapons, can’t wait til you see, when you swing and connect with those weapons, there’s, 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, you can see just, the amount of hits you can get in in rapid succession dual-wielding as a rogue is really satisfying.

Katey: And the last question that we’re able to get to today, is, what have been some of the challenges and advantages of working on a single, on a single game for so many years? How did you sustain the work in yourselves and the process?

John: That is a fantastic question. I will say for myself, I’ve often joked, and I don’t know how much of a joke it actually 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 brainpower freed up. But for me it’s just, you know, it's, the thing that keeps me sustained is just knowing the game that we’re building is the right one. Knowing that the beats 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 that the team has, has been doing. And that really is, I can say, I’ve been on this project since the start, and even today, I see things on a daily basis, I’m like holy – smokes, sorry, I almost swore, I can’t believe what the team is doing, I can’t believe the, how good this looks, I can’t believe. Because it’s a huge game. There’s pieces that I, I don’t see every piece of the game every day so, I get pleasantly surprised on a daily basis and that, I will say, you know, confession, sometimes if I’m having a particularly long day, I’ll spend about an hour late at night just watching cutscenes coming in, watching the work coming together and just, sitting back and being like, holy smokes, I cannot wait for someone who hasn’t seen this every day for so long as I have to experience this and just be blown away by the work, so.

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

Katey: And I wanna say thank you to you three for taking the time to do this. I know that it matters a lot to the community to be able to, you know, get some time with you guys and, you know, make sure that some of their dying questions are, are answered, so thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to do this. For anyone who’s still listening I promise that I’m that I’m working on a way for these questions to be immortalized somewhere. Stay tuned for that so that you don’t have to worry about this, just, you know, disappearing into the ether. So, stay tuned, thank you all for your time. Anything else we wanna say before we jump off?

Matt: Thanks everyone.

John: Thank you. Yeah, I’m super excited to show more of this and, yeah, this is gonna be, hopefully this is the first of many of these opportunities to talk to you all directly. Again, it’s been a while, and getting to talk about this game has been absolutely exciting. I know for myself, as well for the rest of the team, so thank you all.

Corinne: Just thank you, it’s, the Dragon Age community, how much it means to you, how much it means to us, it’s just wonderful to see you all so invested and excited to come here and talk to us. Thank you again, truly.

Katey: We'll hopefully do something like this again soon. Okay, cool, have a great day everybody! Talk soon!

John: Bye y’all!

Matt: Bye.

[source: The dev BioWare Discord Q&A on June 14th]

Update: If you would like to listen to the Q&A for yourself in video format, or listen to it again, Ghil Dirthalen recorded it and has now uploaded a video of it here.

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

Idk if little au concepts would count for drabbles, but i have one :)

Prince and knight au, with either prince Lucio and his favourite guard mc, or royal mc and their favourite silly golden guard. Either one would be equally funny. Saving eachother from things like dragons to the spider that was a little too big to be normal right? Either way you can have free reign with details :3

Yamper anon :3

The Arcana Drabbles: Prince!Lucio and Bodyguard!MC

Keep your friends close, your enemies closer, and your bodyguard next to you in bed -

That's how the saying goes, right? Right?? He's right, isn't he, MC?!

Bodyguards are for making him feel safe. Being little spoon makes him feel safe. It logically follows that bodyguards are for being big spoon, right?!

You're not exactly sure how it came to this, to be honest. First, your prince wanted you to keep watch when he bathed. That seemed fair enough.

After several weeks of complimenting the poses he struck in his lavishly embroidered robe, your prince insisted on you removing your armor and keeping only your weapon when you watched him. The bathroom gets steamy, he said. The metal will rust, he said. You're leaving so much to the imagination, he said. You smiled and obliged, neglecting to tell him that you do maintenance on your equipment every night and that the metal was never at risk.

Then it was sharing his moisturizer with you. You're already in here, he's got more than enough, and you have such a nice face. Here, let him massage it into your skin. That's what princes do, right? They care for their people, right? Right??

Over time, his requests went from demands on your behavior to vulnerable questions about his own.

Does he look okay? Are you sure? Is his crown on straight? As he gets ready to walk into yet another ballroom.

Is the spider gone? Are you sure? Did it bite you? Are you sure? After calling your name so urgently the night watch came sprinting into your room in the servant's quarters while you slept. You couldn't see any trace of a spider, but you could see the fine tremble of a leftover nightmare.

Do you really have to go? Do you think he's a weak prince, if he doesn't want to be alone? When he's offering you the suite next to his, after seeing your room for himself during a surprise morning visit.

Does the queen hate him? Mumbled quietly into the space between you as you exit the throne room. You don't know if you should tell him about the rare smile Morga bestowed on you, and her roundabout way of telling you she likes who her son is becoming with you in his life.

Eventually, the questions turn into offers.

You can stay, if you want to. Your room is all the way across the hall and his bed is fit for a prince (hah).

You could take him out in disguise, if you want to. He thinks your friends and family outside the Palace sound interesting.

You could practice waltzing with him, if you want to.

You could appear at the ball with him, if you want to.

You could sneak away into the gardens with him, if you want to.

You could kiss him ... if you want to.

Up on her throne with a clear view through the window of the crown prince and his bodyguard, Morga watches her son go straight for the tongue as he inexpertly shoves the two of you into the rose bushes. She hides her smile behind an embarrassed wince and averts her eyes as Lucio indulges his shameless nature as far as you'll let him go.

Keep your friends close, your enemies closer, and your loved one cherished safely in your heart - that's how the saying goes, right?

[tobiasdrake]

One consequence of the DB heroes' anonymity is a lack of organizational interference in their affairs. Compare the Marvel and DC universes, where countless shadowy government and/or corporate organizations are always trying to control, copy, or counter superheroes whose abilities and origins are all public knowledge because they're incredibly famous, justifying themselves (with various degrees of sincerity) with claims that the superheroes are too powerful to go unchecked.

I don't think it's a coincidence that Super Hero, which leans into that American comics iconography, has a plot along those lines.

It's worth noting that the political structure of the Dragon Ball Earth is completely unlike our own.

King of the World, not to be confused with the World-King.

The planet has long been a single monarchist nation governed unilaterally by a king. This centralization of all political global authority under a single throne means Big Picture the world is at peace but Small Picture... the government doesn't seem to do much.

There is a small standing military force that King Furry employs.

They aren't good for much against the likes of Piccolo or Cell (or, in filler, Nappa). But they do exist. This is the Royal Defense Army. They are a thing that exists, and their existence makes the government's inadequacies kinda damning?

Because. Like. Obviously they're no good against Piccolo or Cell. But what about these clowns?

Sure seems like something the Royal Defense Army should probably be doing something about, huh? Has anyone contacted the Earth's King about this?

Do we even have a way to contact the Earth's King? Or are we just paying our taxes into a black void?

...

Do we even pay taxes?

This centralization of supreme power makes the planet's system of governance supremely vulnerable to a powerful enough guy walking in and declaring himself king by way of conquest. It's literally what Piccolo does.

Piccolo marches in, sits his ass on King Furry's throne, and declares "New rule: There are no rules! Let's kill all cops and put Monokuma heads on everything!" And. Like. He can do that. Because any system of supreme authority centralized in a single autocrat who wields absolute power is always susceptible to this sort of coup.

But also. Like. It doesn't seem like the world Piccolo would make if he didn't die this afternoon is substantively different from the world that already exists.

A region of the world is famous for a barbarian warlord who massacres anyone who approaches his mountain and who raids and pillages the surrounding countryside to steal their wealth for himself.

I mean, Goku gets along well with Gyu-mao, the Ox Demon King, but that's because he's an old friend of the family.

But. Like. A barbarian warlord who's been raiding the countryside long enough to become a famous legend sure does seem like something King Furry should be doing something about, doesn't it? The same administration that's Shrug Emoji-ing the Red Ribbon Army also seems disinterested in doing anything about this.

Earth's King has also allowed Fry-pan Mountain to remain on fire for ten years.

So. Like. It seems like, so long as you don't threaten the capital, the Royal Defense Army will let you be. Cynically, though fairly accurate to real-world politics, their only job is to defend the consolidation of power under the throne; Not the citizens.

This is not a product of malice; King Furry genuinely cares about his subjects and even risks his life to undermine Piccolo.

So I don't believe he's just, like, a greedy despot sitting pretty on everyone's tax dollars or something. He's just. Woefully inadequate as the sole authority for an entire planet of disparate cultures and regional disputes. He has no idea how to fulfill the role he's been given.

Could any single person ever responsibly fill that role? It's fair to note that God himself suffers from a similar malady, and even expresses dissatisfaction in his own performance as the Earth's God.

Any time he speaks of his tenure as God, it's only ever with regret for his mistakes. It's hard, whether as a political or spiritual leader, to wield unilateral authority over an entire planet responsibly.

The system of laws that Piccolo would have torn down are defended by cops who aren't only useless against cosmic space aliens and demons. Like, that's understandable. I'm not going to hold it against the police that they couldn't handle Android 18.

I love how these two stand by and watch themselves get robbed. They were putting up token resistance in the form of going "Hey, quit it." But then 16 picks up the truck so they withdraw their objections and hang out.

Sipping their coffee and going off to call the company they work for. Like, "Hey guys, it happened again."

In any case, nothing against the cops for not being able to do anything about that.

They don't prepare you for this at police academy.

But they're also useless against everyday bank robbers and gunmen, of which the Dragon Ball world seems to have in plentiful supply.

That guy has a fucking RPG. Americans aren't even this well-armed. These are two random thugs, and the most the cops can do about them is to phone a high school girl from a couple towns over to please come here in a helicopter and deal with the robbers.

This is, like, Gohan's second day of school. And on his first day, this was happening in Satan City itself.

This is Satan City. Home to the man who defeated Cell. Arguably the most dangerous place to be pulling this, but here we go.

This is just what life is like in Dragon Ball cities, I guess. Remember that time Goku got mugged in West City?

When Piccolo says "Go nuts, there are no laws," how much would that really have changed society? Even in times where "the world is at peace", we're basically living in The Purge.

So. We have roaming warlords and also massive crime problems. But at least the central authority's taking care of the economy and keeping its people fed, right?

Does the world government not have systems in place for global management of public services? Because water is a pretty important public service. I sure hope these people aren't paying taxes.

Hey, remember that time a ten-year-old child was the sole provider for a family of five and had to enter a martial arts tournament so that none of these children starve? Thanks, World Government!

Theoretically, the existence of a King of Earth means world peace and an end to international politicking. We are all citizens of the same nation and have no reason to fight over territory or whatever, and we exist under a centralized government that can step in and take care of disputes.

But in practical terms, the existence of a King of Earth means global anarchy. It's everyone for themselves in the Dragon Ball world because any form of governance or law enforcement is tied to a single monarch in a faraway land who has no idea what is happening in your backyard. The mechanisms of power are one big Shrug Emoji, and the people are left to fend for themselves in every city and every rural environment.

So, overall, I'd say the Dragon Ball world is in the opposite boat as Marvel/DC. Instead of shadowy government forces trying to control all the heroes, we have an extremely hands-off system of governance that isn't just woefully inadequate to protect its citizens from cosmic threats but also utterly disengaged from even terrestrial problems that a government would naturally be responsible for.

[thefreakandthehair]

@eddiemonth prompt, oct 19th: Scifi/tech | Electric Eye - Judas Priest | Bewildered a/n: eddie pov, eddie & dustin friendship, dustin & steve friendship, and an excuse for me to weasel one of my favorite steve headcanons into something. un-betaed because I'm challenging myself to write these in under an hour. read on ao3 + masterpost | tumblr masterlist

After his release from the hospital and the unfortunate news that his trailer had been destroyed, Eddie goes from functionally homeless to having multiple spaces that feel like home. 

He’s been all but adopted by Claudia at this point, an offer extended immediately after hearing the version of the story everyone’s agreed upon— that the ground split open and Eddie nearly ate it pushing Dustin out of the way. It’s not quite the truth, but the theme is the same and anyone who’s willing to sacrifice themself for her son is welcome any time. 

Especially when he’s been called upon to help with Dustin’s science fair project. It’s out of Eddie’s league a bit, the actual science part, but he and his mechanical brain prove helpful. Kinda nice, actually, to use those hotwiring skills for good. 

Of course, it also helps that the government set him and Wayne up in a modest two bedroom house down the road, and that Eddie can practically smell Claudia's cooking when the windows are open. Like Garfield, he’s drawn to the Henderson house with the scent of a fresh lasagna. 

Bellies full and completed project sitting confidently on the kitchen table for tomorrow, they’re watching Star Wars movies in Dustin’s living room, one after another, and he feels just a touch like a traitor. Star Trek will always have his heart and Wayne can never know. 

“How’d you get into Star Wars anyways?” Eddie asks, sprawled across Dustin’s couch. 

“Can you believe Steve actually got me into them?” Dustin replies, curled up on the recliner. 

There’s an infinite number of ways a child might be introduced to the Star Wars franchise— a parent, a trailer before another movie, a carrier pigeon dropping a flier at their fucking feet— and they’re all more believable than Steve Harrington introducing Dustin Henderson to the sci-fi epic. 

“I’m sorry,” Eddie turns with wide eyes and a crooked grin to face Dustin. “What?”

“I know, right? It was uh, okay this is a little embarrassing.” Dustin cuts himself off, justifying some secret Eddie somehow hasn’t been told yet. 

He knows about the Mind Flayer and the Russians, and all the other Dungeons and Dragons lore that’d lived beneath his feet for years. What could possibly be left to make Dustin cringe like that? 

“Oh, do tell.” Eddie raises an eyebrow and gestures with an arm towards the expanse of space between them. “Floor is yours, young Bard. Spin the tale.”

Dustin rolls his eyes and throws popcorn at him. He tries to catch it in his mouth but he’s never been that coordinated. 

“It’s not really a tale. A few years ago, there was this school dance, the Snow Ball. I got all amped up, Steve helped with my hair, and then the night was a total fucking dud. Nancy danced with me which was like, super awesome of her, but I felt like shit after anyways.”

Eddie listens with rapt attention, pissed off that Dustin had such a relatable middle school experience and intrigued at this new sliver of Steve lore. Not that he cares. Obviously. Why would he? The idea of Steve helping Dustin get ready for the Snow Ball doesn’t conjure up words like adorable at all. 

He nods him on. 

“And uh, I called Steve the next day. He came over and we had pizza and he brought some of his favorite movies he thought I’d like. Star Wars had spaceships so obviously, easy choice. And here we are now with Return of the Jedi.” 

Okay, yep, that’s gonna be hard to tamp down the next time he sees Steve. Stomping his ill-advised crush into the ground beneath his Rebooks has been hard enough but now? Motherfucker. 

It’s also not lost on him that Dustin chose these movies today. Eddie feels like he’s stepping into some tradition that doesn’t belong to him, but he can’t squash the kid’s enthusiasm with his own insecurity. 

Instead, Eddie goes for the low hanging fruit.  

“Wow. Gotta tell you man, that’s maybe weirder than finding out about the monsters and shit. Steve’s favorite movie is Return of the Jedi?” 

Dustin snorts and laughs, toothless and free. Happiness isn’t new for Dustin, not anymore, but it’s still nice to see after all they’ve been through. 

“Well, that’s one of them. He always calls it ‘the ones with the teddy bears’, so people assume he means Return of the Jedi. But I know the truth. That dork loves Caravan of Courage.”

Eddie flips through his mental catalog of sci-fi movies and lands on a VHS cover: a couple of humans, a few Ewoks, and something that looks like a machine gun. If he remembers correctly, it has something of a cult following but wasn’t touted as a high point in the series. 

… And it’s Steve’s favorite. The one with the teddy bears. 

“Wait… what?!”

[orions-tears]

Jealousy - Sebastian Sallow

Pairing: Sebastian Sallow x fem!Reader

Themes: Fluff and angy Sebastian

"It's funny, you know," says Imelda as she sits next to Sebastian on the couch.

He had been sitting in the common room staring into the fireplace for who knows how long. He looks over at her and folds his arms. "What's funny?"

"I just thought you'd be more upset," she hums.

He gives her a look a shifts to face her. "About what?"

She laughs and crosses her legs. "(Y/N) and Garreth."

His face drops and there's a hint of anger in his eyes. He puts his arm on the back of the couch and leans in. "What about (Y/N) and Garreth?"

"Well nothing's happened yet, but she's all over him so it's just a matter of time."

He balls his fists and stand, leaning the common room. He has to find you. Honestly, Garreth? He didn't think you'd be into someone so...Ugh. He shakes his head. Where in Merlin's beard are you? He walks into the viaduct courtyard and finally finds you. You're sitting on a bench on the far side, looking up at...Garreth...He's standing over you, one leg up on the bench. You notice the movement and look up to see him.

"Sebastian!" you shout, waving at him and smiling.

Why...? Why must you smile at him like that? It's not fair. He sneers at you turns away, leaving. If you want Garreth that much you can him.

You watch him leave and frown. You look at Garreth and he shrugs.

"What was that?" he asks

You shrug in response.

***

Ever since Sebastian walked away from you the other day, he's been avoiding you. You keep calling after him and he just leaves. What is going on with him? You sit down in the undercroft and rub your arm. You'd just gotten back from helping Poppy free a dragon. A poacher had hit you with Diffindo and your arm was still hurting. Madam Blainey would just tell tell Professor Black if you went to her so you need to try and fix it yourself. You shrug off your robe and unbutton your shirt a bit, just enough to pull your arm out. Thank Merlin that Ominis and Sebastian aren't here right now. You start wiping the blood away and wince a bit. It really got you this time. You hear the gate open and gasp, hiding behind a pillar.

You hear Sebastian walk in and cringe. Why him? He walks closer, muttering to himself, and goes silent when he sees your robe on the floor. He walks over and picks it up, looking around. Standing, he looks around the pillar and sees you, turning a bright red when he realises you're partially undressed. He quickly turns around, apologising profusely, but spins back around just as quickly.

"You're bleeding!"

He moves to stand in front of you and gently grabs your arm. He suddenly gets angry and looks at you.

"Did Garreth do this to you?"

You scoff in disbelief and shake your head. "Garreth? No! Why would he?"

He ignores the question and pulls you down to sit against the pillar, pulling his wand out. You laugh and lean in towards him. "Don't tell me your jealous, Sebastian," you hum.

"I just want to make sure your new boyfriend isn't hurting you," he says through his teeth.

You stare at him, blinking a couple times. Boyfriend? Hurting you? You start laughing and hit him with your free arm. He recoils and looks at you, slightly offended.

"You've been avoiding me because you think I'm dating Garreth? Oh, you're totally jealous!"

He shakes his head and doesn't respond, quiely casting Vulnera Sanentur on your wound. You watch him and frown. He's upset with you and still wants to help you. It's sweet. You lean back slightly and look up at the ceiling. Sebastian has always been very kind to you and you've always appreciated it, but you feel sort of bad this time. No matter how many times you tell him not to worry about you, he does anyway. You close your eyes as he finishes up the spell.

"I don't like Garreth like that. I mean, I do like someone, but it's not Garreth."

He looks up at you, furrowing his brows. "But Imelda said-"

You start laughing. "Really? You believe Imelda on that? You know she loves messing with you."

He looks down and sits back on the floor. He looks up at you, his gaze softening and takes a breath. "Do I get to know who it is then?"

You smile and lean in really close. He looks down at your shirt, seeing it's still undone, and blushes a bit.

"Do you want to know?"

Feeling your breath makes him flush an even darker shade of red. He's usually really good in these situations, but having you this close, shirt halfway off, makes him unnecessarily nervous. He nods, thinking this is it. This is the moment you finally kiss him. Imelda lied and you're finally proving you like him back. He watches you giggle and stand up, fixing your shirt.

"Maybe I'll tell you later, but for now I need to fix my uniform."

He stares at you, mouth open and scoffs. "You're so mean to me, you know..."

You smile and shrug, picking your robe up. He watches you walk out as he continues to lean on his hands. He smiles and all he can think is Merlin...You're perfect...

Tag list!

Let me know if you want to be added or removed! (Also if you want a specific fic or everything please it'll help my organization)

@blueberrydinosaur @kuukimeioo @sometimesidreamthaticanlevatate @tubble-wubble @lonadane @thenerdysimp

[pepper-steam-milkshake]

I forced my friend to watch three hours of BSD in chronological order and then interviewed him about it: The Interview

Feat. my girlfriend and several side tangents.

All questions are bolded in blue for better clarity.

We watched my chronological edit (still in progress) from Fukuzawa and Fukuchi meeting to Dazai picking up Akutagawa post-Dragon's Head Conflict (ALMOST at Dark Era).

-

ME: Okay! (claps hands together) First and foremost, who’s your favorite character so far? I have to ask.

FRIEND: Probably Dazai.

ME: That’s fair.

FRIEND: Bottom masochist.

GF: Gotta love him.

ME: (fighting back laughter) I cannot—I still find it funny that that is just what you’re going with. Like, you’ve only known him for like… an hour, I would say?

GF: Those are his most defining character traits.

ME: I mean yes…

FRIEND: He wants to die—he wants to commit suicide gently. Bottom masochist.

ME: (fighting back laughter again) ...Alright, who—

FRIEND: If he were a switch, he’d be into BDSM, you know, just…

ME: (still laughing) Do you—do you, um, do you have a least favorite character at this time?

FRIEND: He’s written really well, but by just himself, probably Mori.

ME: That’s fair. So, Mori...

FRIEND: He’s written very well, but he’s an asshole.

ME: Yes.

FRIEND: And I feel like there’s something about the scientist guy that I’m probably not gonna like, so we’ll see.

ME: About Shibusawa?

GF: The white-haired scientist?

FRIEND: The one we just saw.

ME: Yeah, so… what you saw with Shibusawa, it’s kind of… we’ll get into that more, but what you saw was kind of… the movie does a horrible job of elaborating on anything. Let me just say, I have the light novel, the light novel does a much better job of actually clearing up everything. The movie, the way it was written���first of all, is very different from its prototype, but it’s a thing. But anyways, it’s interesting that Mori is your least favorite character. What is your opinion of Mori’s relationship with Yosano? Like, how they interacted?

FRIEND: The infinite heal?

ME: Yep.

FRIEND: I mean I think that’s why (he’s my least favorite). He’s an asshole. He’s using her, I don’t why the fuck he was there, but he was there.

ME: What are your thoughts on Fukuchi from the few moments that you had seen him? (…) That was the guy at the beginning who was friends with Fukuzawa.

FRIEND: Kind of neutral. I don’t really know what to think of him? I think he’s… kind of like Chuuya where he’s headstrong. I just haven’t seen enough of him yet.

ME: You’ll get to see more of him, like, a lot later on, like…

FRIEND: Something split between those two (Fukuzawa and Fukuchi). The white hair. Obviously, because they’re different ideals.

ME: Hehe. Ideals. You’ll know why I laughed at that eventually. What do you think of Fukuzawa on that note?

FRIEND: He’s probably a close second for being my favorite character.

ME: (surprised) Really?! Interesting!

FRIEND: He’s just a very cool character, he’s a swordsman without a sword. That’s kind of funny. From the beginning, at least. I can see where the guilt lies within him, but he also still has emotion.

ME: (nodding) Yeah. So, you mentioned that Fukuzawa is your second favorite character with your number one being Dazai. Who would you say is your third favorite?

FRIEND: Probably Ranpo.

GF: (clapping) Yes!!!

ME: As you should! I support that! Because, like… he’s just a silly little guy.

GF: He’s autistic! :D

FRIEND: Their (Fukuzawa and Ranpo) interactions are fun to watch. You have them and then it just goes to “ah, look! More death!”

ME: (wheezes) Yeah.

FRIEND: That’s how Dragon Ball’s like.

ME: I believe that.

FRIEND: It’s like, “oh, peace!” and then they’re like, “okay, cool.” Next year, another tyrant.

ME: What do you think of Chuuya?

FRIEND: (thinking) ...I like him. Funny enough, he reminds me of Bakugo.

GF: Oh, Bakugo from My Hero? Interesting.

ME: I don’t know enough about My Hero Academia to be able to comment.

GF: You know of Bakugo.

ME: Is he the protagonist?

GF: No, he’s the bully. He’s the blonde-haired bully one with red eyes that bullies Deku.

ME: Ohhh. Isn’t he the guy that… he’s constantly shipped, like BakuDeku?

GF: Oh yeah.

FRIEND: That’s the main thing.

GF: That’s my ship. ;)

ME: ...Fascinating. (laughs)

FRIEND: (returning back to Chuuya/Bakugo comparison) Just very, like, doesn’t think about what they’re doing, just is very “I’m gonna do it anyway”.

ME: That’s fair.

GF: I think it’s interesting that Chuuya doesn’t have—in the way that Bakugo has Deku—Dazai is not Deku. So it’s a different dynamic completely, because Bakugo has a power dynamic over Deku from the very beginning. And Chuuya does not have that character flaw.

FRIEND: I mean at this rate, Deku is kind of probably suicidal as well.

GF: Middle-school Deku, yeah, definitely. But not in the same way.

FRIEND: Eh, even adult Deku, I would say.

GF: But Dazai is not a—not crybaby, but you know what I mean.

FRIEND: It’s kind of the opposite. I mean, Chuuya’s probably stronger than him, but he’s got that leverage on him.

ME: I am curious about what you think of Dazai and Chuuya’s relationship from what you have seen.

FRIEND: It’s interesting. It’s gonna be fun to see how… they’re definitely the type to say, if someone called them like “good friends” they would immediately deny it.

ME: (laughing) I would agree with that.

FRIEND: But then, like, an hour into them working together they’re playing a videogame.

ME: I would definitely agree with that. They do have that sort of vibe to them.

FRIEND: That’s what some guys need all the time.

ME: Were you surprised to see Odasaku again?

FRIEND: Um… no, I think I was kind of ready for that to pop up again. I think it’s a character that would kind of be wasted—no reason to make that character and then just not bring him in.

ME: That’s fair. Out of curiosity, how has this format necessarily impacted your viewing of Bungo Stray Dogs so far? You can’t necessarily say compared to how it would be normally since obviously you have not seen it normally, but like… I’m interested to see how… what do you think Bungo Stray Dogs is from what you have seen so far?

FRIEND: From what I can tell, a problem with Bungo Stray Dogs is that if you were to watch it normally, you would get kind of lost.

ME: I would agree with that.

FRIEND: Because you’re going back and forth a lot of times, so I think it’s helpful… now, obviously Dragon Ball, when I watched it the first time, was obviously not in order, ‘cause OG Dragon Ball was not playing on Cartoon Networ—Adult Swim.

ME: Yeah.

FRIEND: I got grounded a few times watching Adult Swim.

ME: (laughing) Of course, as do we all.

FRIEND: So I watched (Dragon Ball) Z first, but then you eventually go back and watched the other. To me, it’s better to watch an anime in chronological (order) because then it’s like, you’re just watching it pretty much…

ME: Like getting everything right off the bat of what’s going on?

FRIEND: From beginning to end, yeah.

GF: I think the only issue with Bungo is that since there are so many characters that are a part for their beginnings—for example, seeing the one clip of Lucy, where like—

ME: “Who’s that?”

GF: “Who’s that” and you’re not gonna see her for another six hours.

ME: (wheezes)

GF: Until she becomes plot-relevant.

FRIEND: And that’s fine though!

ME: It’s interesting because for example with Rimbaud, you know, you saw him at the very beginning of all this more or less, and then he reappeared later. Did that have any impact on your perspective with him—did you realize it was him at the time?

FRIEND: What’s the character again?

ME: He was the guy who had the yellow box ability.

FRIEND: I felt like there was something more to him. It’d be really weird to just have him as a bodyguard, like only one bodyguard in the entire Mafia. I’m like, “you’re also designed unique, you’re not just a normal background character” so there’s probably something important for you.

GF: I have a question. Who do you think the main character of the show is?

ME: (wheezes)

FRIEND: No one yet.

GF: Do you think we’ve seen the main character of the show yet?

FRIEND: No. It’s still too early.

ME: What if I told you we have seen the main character?

FRIEND: It’s the baby. (the one Oda picks up in the beginning of DEAD APPLE)

GF: (laughing) It’s the baby?!

ME: (laughing) The baby?!

FRIEND: The girl.

GF: (laughing) The one that Odasaku saved?

ME: (disbelieving) Kyusaku?! No wait—(wheezes)

GF: The one that Odasaku saved!

ME: Pleeeeeeease!

(laughter for a few seconds)

ME: (laughingly) Yes, how did you know? How did you know a seven-year-old is our protagonist of Bungo Stray Dogs?

FRIEND: Am I actually right?

ME & GF: No.

GF: (is not remembering) I don’t think that character—that was a random-ass kid.

FRIEND: (falling for it) Ah. I just thought, like, maybe the baby grows up to be… I mean, it’s none of the characters. I don’t want to assume.

GF: What’s her name…

ME: Lucy?

GF: No…

ME: Yosano.

GF: Umm… Season 5 little girl. Karate girl. (Aya)

ME: Oh. I don’t have clips for her.

GF: I know, but what’s her name, I forgot her name.

ME: (picturing Teruko) Oh, I can see her…

FRIEND: Steve.

GF: She’s that little girl that Odasaku saved!

ME: (laughing) Oh god—she’s not, but—

FRIEND: You can’t remember her name, so it could be Steve.

GF: Steve. I wanna say Anya but I know that’s not right.

FRIEND: Anya’s from SpyXFamily.

GF: I know… I associate the same name for some reason. (returning to original topic) You’ve seen about ten seconds of the main character of the show.

FRIEND: (jokingly) Oh. Arahabaki.

ME: (laughing) Yes, how did you know!? How did you know?! (moving on) I am curious who you think is the antagonist of the show.

FRIEND: (hasn’t moved on) Wait, is the main character that like, cat guy? The one that turned into a cat?

ME: (panicking internally) ...Maybe!

FRIEND: (immediately) It is.

ME: (wheezes)

FRIEND: I can read body language really well.

GF: Based on the reaction of “I’m not answering that”!

FRIEND: Whenever you don’t answer something, I’m like, “Yeah, okay, that’s the answer.”

GF: Who do you think the antagonist is then?

FRIEND: Not Mori. (thinking) I guess besides from Arahabaki? Because I feel like he’s gonna be a Sukuna situation.

ME: Interesting, interesting.

GF: I’d watch the fuck out of this show more if Chuuya was the villain, I’m gonna be honest.

ME: I mean, that’s fair.

FRIEND: Have we seen, like, a little clip of the villain at all?

GF: Oh yeah, we’ve seen him multiple times.

FRIEND: Oh, a couple times? (thinking) I don’t think it’s Mori. He’s the most obvious one.

ME: That’s fair. He’s very antagonistic, but he does… he has his moments.

FRIEND: He’s giving me weird vibes, because I’m like, “Is the Port Mafia a bad organization or a good organization?”

ME: That’s the question everyone asks themselves!

GF: Depends on who you are!

FRIEND: I like how they have the gi—the biggest building in the city.

ME: Oh yeah, no, it’s literally like Yokohama looks normal, and then there’s just this one fucking tower.

FRIEND: Are they a Mafia, or are they just an organization? There’s a difference!

GF: “Damn, where’s the Mafia hideout?”

ME: “I don’t know, guys!”

(laughter)

FRIEND: I would I guess say Mori just because he’s the most obvious one, but it’s probably not him. I don’t think it’s the scientist guy (Shibusawa) either.

ME: Interesting. What do you think of Natsume? That was the guy who had the cane.

FRIEND: The guy who got kidnapped?

ME: Yes, that was the guy who got kidnapped.

GF: During the play, yes.

FRIEND: I haven’t really seen much of him, so I don’t really know. I mean, I know him for two things: being stuck in a carpet and then giving out business cards.

ME: (wheezes)

FRIEND: That’s the only two things I know him by!

ME: That’s fair, that’s fair. What do you think of Yosano from the little bit you’ve seen of her?

FRIEND: Yosano?

ME: She was the infinite healing person.

FRIEND: Yeah. (thinking) ...Traumatized. She’ll probably have more screen time, maybe? She’s pretty important.

ME: What I will say is the majority of characters you have seen up to this point are recurring characters in present-time Bungo Stray Dogs.

FRIEND: I figured, yeah.

GF: You’re getting the backstories.

FRIEND: It’d be really weird if they just, never showed up again.

ME: Yeah, no. Well, as you can see with Fukuzawa for example, he has been a recurring character since the beginning. We saw him when he was a little kid, and then we saw him again in the future when he found Ranpo, and then we saw him again—like, he keeps showing up.

FRIEND: He’s important. (returning to original point) Yeah, I think we just got to see more of her. Really the only time I—I mean, she’s 11 at the time when we first meet her. Well, I mean not technically not when we first meet her. Just in the backstory.

ME: Yeah. So, out of curiosity, do you think any of the characters we have seen so far are main characters, meaning that they are main focus protagonists of the story?

FRIEND: I think Ranpo and Fukuzawa. I think they’re pretty important. I can’t imagine they’d make a duo like that and just not have them be too relevant. Even if they’re side characters, I think they’re still going to be important to the story. Obviously, the duo here, Dazai and Chuuya, I think that’s obvious. Oh, and Mori.

ME: So far, out of the different things that we have watched, different scenes, arcs, do you have a favorite amongst the ones that you have watched over the last three hours?

FRIEND: I’m a big shonen fan, so probably the fight scene against Randou and the boss, technically. I like well-made fight scenes. Even if they’re kind of short. If they’re well-made, I like them.

ME: I can respect that, that’s fair. Do you have a least favorite arc or scene of what you saw previously?

FRIEND: I guess… it’s not even bad, it’s just compared to the others, the war scene? Like the war part? Just feels out of place to me, until I see more of it. Compared to the other parts, it was like “ehh, did we need? The war?”

ME: We did need the war, because the Great War is very important.

FRIEND: But yeah. For right now!

ME: For right now!

FRIEND: Compared to the other arcs it was the weakest.

ME: Out of the antagonists that we’ve seen so far, who is your favorite?

FRIEND: Probably Mori. I can understand he’s the most well-written right now.

ME: That’s fair. I would say that Mori is overall a very well-written character in Bungo Stray Dogs.

FRIEND: That’s why—I think when you watch Dragon Ball, when we get to Frieza—incredibly racist.

ME: (flabbergasted) ...Okay?

FRIEND: Well, Saiyans, you know, they have tails? So what do you think is a slur they call them. (brief silence) He calls them monkeys. It doesn’t help that when they look at a full moon, they turn into a great ape.

GF: Why have I never seen that?

FRIEND: It’s pretty iconic!

GF: I’ve never seen one as an ape.

ME: So, wait, Goku turns into…?

FRIEND: It’s a whole thing. There’s a reason he doesn’t have a tail later on.

ME: Wait, so is the tail the reason they turn into an ape?

FRIEND: Yep. They can’t without it. Saiyans are born with tails.

ME: ...Fascinating.

GF: (goes to look up Goku as an ape)

FRIEND: In OG Dragon Ball, he has a tail. He turns into a great ape—it takes a lot of control. Goku—he doesn’t find out he’s a Saiyan until way later.

GF: (found it) I’ve never seen this monkey before… Like every screenshot and clip I’ve seen of Dragon Ball I’ve never seen a great ape on screen.

FRIEND: It’s more important in OG Dragon Ball and then the beginning of Z. After that…

ME: It’s not really talked about anymore?

FRIEND: No, because they bring in Super Saiyan. Which takes the storm for transformations.

ME: Actually, on that note, you told me you do a lot of power-leveling for Dragon Ball.

FRIEND: Not just Dragon Ball. Everything.

ME: Well, that’s perfect because I’m curious to see what you would rank the abilities you’ve seen so far on screen. So obviously I’ve not conveyed to you everyone’s ability, but from the abilities that you’ve recognized, how would you rank them?

FRIEND: How am I ranking them? (sassy) Do you want me to scale them?

ME: (sassy back) Maybe.

FRIEND: If that’s the case, no offense, they’re block level. Like, city block level. That’s kind of it. They’re not gonna be planetary or anything. Like, Goku as a ten-year-old—and it’s saying a lot—beats them. He was able to blow up the moon.

ME: That’s not very cash money of him.

FRIEND: He was not the one that did it, ‘cause remember, he turned into a great ape, so, there’s only one option they had. The moon gets blown up twice in the show.

ME: Why? How does it get better from the first time?!

FRIEND: Dragon balls. You can make any wish on a dragon ball.

ME: What?! ...And he wished for the moon to come back?

FRIEND: Well, yeah, the Earth kinda needs the moon.

ME: Well yeah, yeah. (mimicking Snapcube Dub) “It’s gonna have like an effect on the tides or something.”

FRIEND: Yeah, and all the astrologists out there. (returning slightly back) The person he was fighting was the same level to blow up the moon, and at the beginning of Z he’s able to destroy planets.

ME: Gotcha.

FRIEND: Pretty easily. A whole level of difference in power. (returning back to original point) Yeah, but at most I’d say they’re city block level. They’re not leveling cities or anything.

ME: That makes sense. How would you rank their abilities in comparison to each other?

FRIEND: If we’re counting to experience, because I haven’t seen Mori’s—

ME: You have seen Mori’s.

FRIEND: ...Is it the medicine girl?

ME: Yeah. Elise is his ability.

FRIEND: So she’s a fucking Stand, from Jojo. (moment of confusion from me) A Stand is like another being that they can control.

ME: Yes.

FRIEND: So he has a Stand. I know where they got that from—that’s from Jojo.

GF: It’s a reference to a very old Japanese… book?

ME: It’s based off Mori Ougai’s written works.

FRIEND: (laughingly) Well, so when was that?

ME: So, basically the whole thing with Mori and Elise is Elise is based off—oh god, I’m gonna say this wrong and I’m gonna get absolutely slaughtered for it when I post this—Mori Ougai’s The Dancing Girl. (I WAS CORRECT)

FRIEND: And when was that? Out? (The answer is 1890.)

ME: It’s old. So, I don’t know if you’ve noticed yet, Bungo Stray Dogs features characters that are named after famous authors.

FRIEND: Yeah.

ME: For example, Yosano Akiko, we have Mori Ougai… she was very briefly there but Kouyou Ozaki, although—

FRIEND: (jokingly) Where’s the J.K. Rowling character?

ME: There is not one! I think the only actual British character we have that’s only really been seen like once or twice is Agatha Christie.

FRIEND: It could’ve been Gordon Ramsay.

GF: Is he—does he count as an author?!

FRIEND: He’s made cookbooks!

ME: I mean, I guess if you count that!

FRIEND: He’s had published books!

ME: So—that’s another thing, their Abilities and their lives are based off of the books that these authors have written, so it’s one of those things where their Abilities are literally named after things they’ve written. For example… (clicks tongue) I’m trying to think of an example…

FRIEND: Is there an Edgar Allan Poe character?

ME: ...Yes.

FRIEND: (immediately) There is.

ME: Yes, there is.

FRIEND: That’s a pretty big author!

ME: He is in fact in this.

FRIEND: (thoughtfully) Does Shakespeare count?

ME: (immediately) Shakespeare is not in this.

FRIEND: Damn.

GF: It’s all authors from the 18 to early 1900’s. We don’t have any, like, historic authors. There’s no Odyssey.

ME: Could you imagine if Homer was in there?

FRIEND: Just a nine foot jacked guy.

ME: The characters that have been shown in Bungo Stray Dogs, there have been Russians/Ukrainian authors, there’s been American authors, Japanese authors… Trying to think if there’s anyone else off the top of my head, but I think… I mean, technically Canadian… because Lucy Montgomery’s Canadian… So there’s a variety. Season 2 is around when you’ll really get to see some of the Americans. Which will be a while, so. It’ll be several hours before you see any Americans. I mean you saw technically an American (Lucy).

FRIEND: Can’t wait to see the Snoop Dogg character.

ME: Please. (sadly) There is no Snoop Dogg character, sadly. (thinking) I’ll give an example. With Edgar Allan Poe, his ability is The Black Cat in the Rue Morgue.

FRIEND: Okay, that’s fair.

ME: That’s his ability. I’m not gonna tell you what it is. You’ll find out eventually. (returning to original point) Basically, it’s different works—it could be poems, it could be stories—Fukuzawa’s ability—which he does have one—is actually based—it’s All Men Are Equal, which actually comes from a treatise encouraging education that he wrote.

FRIEND: Thought it was gonna be the Declaration of Independence.

ME: (laughing) Nooo, nooo, not quite. Which actually, I started reading that treatise out of curiosity.

FRIEND: I thought you were going to say the Declaration of Independence.

ME: (jokingly) “I started reading the Declaration of Independence. Um, I’ve come to notice some uhhh clear exceptions in there?”

FRIEND: (half-jokingly) I mean, I’m fine.

ME: (jokingly) Okay.

FRIEND: Just saying.

ME: (jokingly) I see how it is.

(various threats of kicking occur including one instance where I am called short; my girlfriend asks me how does it feel since I’m constantly making fun of how short she is /affectionate)

ME: I was reading his whole writing about encouraging education, it was interesting because I could see how the character Fukuzawa could be pulled from what he had written about, so it’s cool seeing the different aspects of these characters through their writings. (moving on) Do you have any guesses, hypotheses about what will happen in the future of Bungo Stray Dogs?

FRIEND: (immediately) They’re all dead.

GF: (starts cackling)

ME: I mean! You’re not wrong! He’s right, but he shouldn’t say it!

(all of us laughing)

FRIEND: You said guess!

ME: (laughingly) I was talking more specifically like, “oh, what do you think will happen to characters?”

FRIEND: “Oh, made by Bones? They’re all dead.”

ME: I mean—

GF: He’s not wrong!

ME: He’s not wrong, but he shouldn’t say it!

(friend laughing)

ME: No, but like, what do you think will happen for potential characters in the future, do you think certain characters are gonna show up or not show up again?

FRIEND: I’m not going to be that knowledgeable about authors, so I can’t really say on that one. I think we’ll maybe see more organization leaders, characters meeting—like characters we’ve already seen meeting.

ME: I can confirm that.

FRIEND: I think Arahabaki is probably going to be a big thing for the show.

ME: (in the know) Really?

FRIEND: (not in the know) I feel like there’s something there.

ME: Interesting.

FRIEND: I mean, the chaos was him transforming with the corruption. It’s gotta be something. You can’t just be like, “oh, yeah, there’s like a thing inside of you” and never…

ME: So what I will say with Corruption is it does come up again later in the series, so this is not the last time you’ll see it.

FRIEND: I figured.

ME: It also was introduced in Storm Bringer.

FRIEND: Which technically is before what we just saw?

ME: Storm Bringer came between 15, which was the bit with Dazai and Chuuya, and the Dragon’s Head Conflict. (incorrectly) So in the few months between that period of time—(realization) actually, it takes place a year after Dazai, Chuuya, 15. So at that point, they’re Dazai, Chuuya, 16! :D

FRIEND: Yeah.

(mac n cheese questioning and discussions)

ME: Any final thoughts about Bungo Stray Dogs?

FRIEND: I think it’s good.

ME: (claps hands together) Thank you for letting me put you through three hours of this!

-

He has not seen the entirety of BSD yet. Some other fun things:

Almost immediately called Dazai a masochist bottom. I lost my shit while watching.

We have seen Atsushi once, which is when he's being tortured by Shibusawa (and proceeds to kill him).

He has not seen full-blown Corruption, just the brief tidbit from DEAD APPLE.

I am surprised he didn't mention Fyodor considering how every time he reappeared (Origins of the DOA, DEAD APPLE) he was like "oh hey it's that guy".

We watched two hours and forty minutes. I rounded up.

Yes, I am still working on this. Still trying to put it together + figure out where to put it for sharing.

It's so interesting how the order in which we watch has affected his perspective of character importance. He seems to think Fukuzawa and Ranpo are like, the big father-son duo of the series. Curious to see his reaction once he realizes they're not.

I love that he thinks Arahabaki is going to be this big deal. This is the funniest thing he could've clung onto.

He has not read the manga.

[i-literally-cant-with-this]

Some head canons

Teen hanma

also can see him being the type of guy who picks video games over studies

He watched tv once (horror movie)

with kisaki and it ended up with kisaki wacking him in the nuts

He has a thing for saying "fuck it" alot after risking something stupid

Hanma has a thing for clinging up your window and knocking on it at 4am

timeskip hanma

Hanma has a whole collection of watchsHe probably kisses his s/forehead while softly speaking to them about the, plans for the day every morning

homeless hanma befriended a lot of street cats and when he finds money he buys the cats food instead of buying himself food

Hi Kat, thanks for another ask (I'm absolutely lovin' this)!

C/W ::: Mmm, nothing really. More sweet Shuji.

︽ I can definitely feel the whole play before studying. If he studies that night at all. Shuji isn't stupid. He's not necessarily book smart, either. But he figures he's made it this far. What more does the world want from him?

︽ I feel like Kisaki gets really impatient with Hanma (especially) sometimes and feels like there's no other option but to whack him on the balls. But to be fair, Kisaki feels like that about a lot of people.

︽ He DOES say fuck it. I think before doing stupid shit, too. Sometimes, that's the last little push he needs from himself to get the (crazy) job done.

︽ Hanma totally goes to your window at 4am. On nights when he just can't stop thinking about you and how nice you keep being to him. You're one of the first people that doesn't treat him like an absolute asshole (that he secretly feels like??? Is that so much of a stretch?)

︽ He is so vain sometimes! But he would argue there's "nothing wrong with taking pride in your outer appearance." Whether it be with clothing, jewelry, watches, hair ... the man probably has a regular place he gets his brows done, gets facials, and has regular full-body massages. I just see him as someone who likes to be papmered. So what if he has to do it for himself. He's earned it (lowkey not really, though, but he has that mentality that he "deserves it").

︽ When you and Hanma spend the night together, it's usually at his place. He likes the added security of his boys being nearby if anything happens. He can send you off with them or have them stay with you there (he might not even have to wake you up if there's anything eventful happening in the middle of the night), and he won't need to worry about you getting hurt over some stupid shit he started with Toman or Black Dragon. But he totally wakes you up with sweet, soft, minty kisses all over your face in the morning because he's already been up for 2 hours, drinking his coffee and catching up on shit. He brings you a French pressed coffee (a latte, with your favorite flavor or syrup. I think he drinks it black usually, but you've gotten him to sway/experiment with his tastes a little here and there.) And he'll sit down on the bed next to where you're laying and discuss what each of you will be doing that day and how you're coming back to his place again tonight - because he said so.

︽ HANMA. IS. A. CAT. PERSON. I'll say it again. HANMA. IS. A. CAT. PERSON. His landlord/lease doesn't allow pets, so he has to do without. But! But! But! There's a dumpster out back that the complex throws their trash away in, and it's become home to about 15 strays. He saves his table scraps for the "little beggars" when he has something tasty to eat (and by save his table scraps, I mean he saves his food for them to nibble on). He only recently told you about how he helps these kitties out. You think it's the sweetest thing for such a tough guy like him to do, and you know better than to make a big deal about it because he'd get embarrassed and then he and the cats would suffer. And there's enough suffering in the world. You also slip about 6,000 ¥ into his wallet and coats once every couple of weeks or so when he's not looking so you can help feed him AND the cats. You're a big softy for general wellbeing. He's always so surprised to find the money, "Oh what? Look what I found, hana! Shit, I'm lucky. The happy look on his face is so worth it for you because you know deep in your heart of hearts that he's thinking first of the cats and then he'll get whatever he can with anything left over.

Taglist ::: @sjsjkkalatjejejskal @arlerts-angel @viburnt @darkstarlight82 @kazutora-kurokawa

I love your HC's, Kat! (And welcome! We're always happy to have more of us join the ranks! ONE OF US, ONE OF US! ;))

[daddy-suguru]

dragon!Suguru ✘ overstimulation

anonymous - asked a question!

it’s not a common monster fucker thing but dragon!suguru + overstim if possible! :)

✑ tags: explicit, monster fucking, incubus!reader, dragon!suguru can take on a half human looking form, suguru lust has a taste, breeding, dragons are possessive which means suguru is possessive over you, mindbreak/overstimulation, pussy drunk!suguru, suguru has a pleasure/pain kink, talk of suguru’s monster dragon cock, degradation, HUGE SIZE KINK, hentai logic, suguru cock is big enough it can hold you in the air

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 ⇝ I would love to do more fire dragon!suguru, I feel like he hoards books, wine, wilted flowers, art, tea and soft blankets and pillows. Would start hoarding your favorite things as well - reposted and deleted off my other blog

Suguru says, “It is true what they say about an incubus. You’re bodies can handle anything sexual. Fuck I was hoping your tiny pussy could take my fat cock. Nnnn such a fucking perfect little incubus taking so much cum.” While he pushes you down on his cock.

Every time you try to form a thought one of the three knots of his thick cock tugs on your pussy. While he pumps your body up and down his length, like a cock sleeve.

The rounded pointed tip of his upturned cock roughly hitting of your pussy. Before pushing past, sending a new mind numbing wave of pleasure throughout your body every time.

Your only thoughts are of the bittersweet taste of his lust, dark chocolate and pomegranate, like hell’s sweet. And the way his cock feels when he is deep inside you. And you are stuffed full of all three of his fat knots, one bigger than the other getting closer to the base of him. Which when it slips inside of you, your mind goes blank.

The intensity of the pleasure from being so full overcoming you. While you gush around his cock. Your aphrodisiac pussy juices dripping down his balls. Which ache and tingle, f wanting to spill more cum and to cum some more.

Lifting you off his cock, till only his thick head is between your puffy lips. He purrs, “Too cock drunk to speak? That’s not fair I’m getting high of your pretty little pussy, yet I’m still talking to you.” He quickly pushes you down and lets you go. And you stay there stuck in the air held up by his fat cock buried deep inside of you.

Your legs dangling, and your arms tied behind your back. Over your cute little ass with feels so soft pressing against him. After you take all of his cock, which should be psychically possible due to the size difference. But he can feel your pussy squeezing all him.

Suguru groans. “If only you could see yourself right now. You have so much of my cum dripping out of your pussy.” Wrapping his hand around your body, his fingers touching his palm. Which keeps his poisonous claws from threatening you.

Finally you form a sentence pleading, “More warm cum!” His cum always made you feel so warm, and tingly, chasing away any sense of cold. And making your body feel floaty.

He slowly lifts you up, watching his fattest knot tug at your pussy unwilling to easily slip out. While he groans, “Such a greedy slut for this monster cock aren’t you?”

m.list / dragon!suguru hdcs

[rosegoldorigins]

MCYT Halloween Gift Exchange 2024

For VoidRatWrites!

Happy secret gift exchange @voidratwrites! I hope you like this! :D

@mcyt-halloween

Notes:

Boo! I hit you with the fluff! (And a dash of angst like sprinkles on a sundae)

I don't know how spooky this is >~< I got carried away playing with your prompts so forgot this was a spooktober fic.

Prompts:

DreamSMP - SBI (Dark SBI optional) - Fae AU - Shapeshifter Tommy - Give some power back to Tommy. Don't let him get bullied.

Title- You Got Too Close (And That's Not Fair. I Fell For You)

Summary- Shapeshifter Tommy got himself in a mess with the Fae.

He could admit it was his fault!

The forced contract was expected. The love and care they gave him was not...

Maybe that wasn’t such an issue for humans. Tommy wouldn’t know, he didn’t masquerade as one often, but as a shapeshifter he get into deep trouble fast just by shifting into the right form and passing security.

-----

Tommy’s problem as a shapeshifter was he was always so curious.

He’d done it again. He’d slipped past initial impressions and modified his form to copy exactly what was in front of him. Even… even magic.

This was his biggest con yet he thought as he met the eyes of a fae. His bright pink hair and sharp red eyes made the world around him look more vibrant when Tommy stared at him head on.

Tommy was doing that too… He imagined the powerful creature was seeing a dazzling blonde fae with mesmerising blue irises, light shifting around him to highlight all his best angles.

Tommy wasn’t a fae. He wasn’t anything even close to a fae and though the ancient being before him could sniff his kind from a mile away Tommy was fooling him. He’d copied too perfectly. His magic smelled the exact same.

Tommy grinned flashing his sharp teeth. The fae sighed rolling his eyes as elegantly as royalty.

“How did you get in here?” Techno asked.

“I’m a mastermind!” Tommy teased. “A stealth artist and a-“

“Thief.” The fae supplied.

“I haven’t stolen anything!” Tommy refuted.

“Not yet.”

“I ain’t no thief!” Tommy shouted throwing his arms out and making magic sparkle around him.

God that didn’t happen for lesser fae, he checked in on Techno and saw his eyebrow raise. He’d noticed too. Tommy was ‘powerful’ by fae standards.

“I came to see what all the fuss was about! A ball? And I wasn’t invited?!” He acted appalled.

“You are nothing here.” Techno turned his head away dismissively. “You hold no land and no title why would I invite you?”

“I’ve got titles! Plenty of titles!”

“Like?” Techno tilted his head just enough to catch his eye over his shoulder.

“Like- like I’d tell you.” Tommy crossed his arms.

He knew anything he said would catch him out. Fae social classes were nothing like a dragons or racoons. You didn’t fight like a savage to get what you wanted, you spun tales and found loopholes to break your enemies apart.

Techno scoffed walking away.

“Hey!” Tommy shouted. “I wasn’t done talking to you!”

Techno ignored him as he traveled smoothly down the hall.

“You’re being rude!”

The fae froze like a spell was cast over him. As Tommy caught up the tension in Techno’s shoulders fled and he looked him over meaningfully.

“Apologies.” He said automatically.

“You don’t mean it.” Tommy bared a fang with a hiss.

The fae blinked at him, surprised by the feral sound. He turned slowly and bowed slightly keeping his eyes on Tommy.

“I am sincere in my apologies…” Techno said carefully. “I merely felt your lack of cooperation in the conversation was…” He considered his next words.

“Lack of cooperation?” Tommy spat. “What on Earth are you talking about?”

“Your titles.” Techno replied testily. “You didn’t share them.” He stood with a flourish of his hands. Tommy was jealous on how he could settle his clothes and hair so easily, even his copious amounts of jewellery didn’t jingle unless he commanded them to.

“Look Techno.” Tommy glared at him. “You didn’t greet me properly when I entered your territory, you called me a thief and you’ve been dismissing me for months now on the basis that I don’t meet your standards.”

He could feel his eyes heat up as magic fizzled in the air, this wasn’t something a shapeshifter was able to do. Sure he could copy visuals, pick up culture and language in a cinch but magic was always meant to be basic. This wasn’t basic. The fae’s eyes widened minutely. Tommy was presenting as powerful.

“Have you ever considered that my lack of cooperation stems from your behaviour?” Tommy growled. “If you treated me nicer maybe we wouldn’t be butting heads all the time!”

The fae bowed deeper making Tommy’s magic fizzle out in shock.

Techno never bowed… Sure the small one he’d done before was given to a million fae to appease testy lords and ladies. Even his swift dry apology was commonplace but a deep bow?

“I atone for my sins.” Techno said hurriedly. “It is a dishonour that I couldn’t pick up the strength of your power. You are clearly remarkable-”

“As all the others.” Tommy huffed crossing his arms. He taped his finger with a frown. He didn’t like this new behaviour in the fae, Techno bowed to no one… least of all a shapeshifter.

Techno looked up in surprise. Tommy’s magic was gone. He’d let it disappear into the aether.

A shapeshifter’s magic only worked for short sharp displays. It was all visual. All a lie. Techno straightened.

“Are you…” He cleared his throat. “Would you like to join me?” He waved down the hall.

Tommy’s eyes widened as he looked to him.

“I was heading to the training grounds.” The fae said awkwardly. “Balls were never quite my thing…”

Tommy lit up. “Sure big man!” He bounced up beside him. “Lead the way!” He laughed.

The simple earing in his right ear jingled at his swift movements. Techno’s eyes drew to it for a moment.

“Alright…” Techno began walking again.

“How good are you with a sword?” Tommy asked. “I’m the best.” He puffed his chest out.

“Really?” Techno deadpanned. “Do you not know who I am?”

“Enlighten me.” Tommy teased. “The legends have slipped my mind.”

Techno was widely popular for his strength in battle. He bowed to no one because he could kill faster than a fae could mutter a curse. Tommy knew all this. The fae was dangerous and for some twisted reason it drew Tommy in more than it warned him away.

 

Tommy got what he wanted. He was fighting the fae known best for his bloodshed.

If Tommy thought too hard he couldn’t pinpoint why he wanted it so bad. Why his curiosity urged him to test the boundaries of the strongest creature alive.

Tommy threw Techno’s attack off, swinging his sword and deflecting every blow.

The fae was smiling. Tommy couldn’t remember ever seeing him smile. Not with other powerful fae, not with the High King or even with the soldiers he trained.

Tommy forced Techno’s steps to slide back and he twirled around his opponent to test his reflexes.

The fae was fast, smart, he didn’t take the bait and body slammed Tommy as he got too close.

Tommy kept his footing even as the fae charged forward and he saw the glint in Techno’s eye that he was enjoying the challenge.

Tommy was enjoying it too…

As the fae fought harder his magic turned his aura red. Techno’s hair turned darker, his eyes shifted colour and his clothes looked like the spilt blood of a thousand battles. Even his jewellery shifted in tune to his fighting. Tommy grinned latching onto his power to soak up every piece of magic he could take.

He didn’t realise how it was turning him red too. His eyes and hair changed, his clothes moved with him like a second skin as his sword shone brighter and his teeth turned sharper.

Techno was delighted and Tommy matched him like every shapeshifter was naturally inclined to do.

As the battle progressed the strength of their magic grew. It burst in waves with each hit of their weapons drawing in curious souls.

They gained an audience…

Tommy taunted and bantered parrying the fae’s sword and striking at his openings. Neither of them got hit and it made Tommy wonder how he fought a little too well for his experience.

The realisation made him stumble and Techno took the opening enthusiastically.

Tommy was thrown to the ground and he gasped as the wind left him.

He’d been hit with a magical attack not just a physical one so his form disappeared in a moments notice leaving him raw and open.

He heaved looking up to meet those red eyes that offered him such a tantalising challenge. The fae was shocked and disgusted.

“Shapeshifter.” He growled.

“Tech-“ Tommy wheezed. “I’m-“

The fae marched towards him grabbing the collar of his shirt and lifting him up.

“You dare deceive me?! Do you know who I am? What I’m capable of?!”

“Yes, yes, I do.” Tommy grabbed his wrists weakly. His powers were still feeding off Techno’s. He could feel his form rippling just as the fae shook him.

“Stop that!”

“I can’t!” Tommy gasped. “I’m sorry, I can’t…” He bowed his head.

Within a moment he was the same fae as before. Blonde hair sparkling unnaturally, blue eyes aimed at the floor.

The audience around them were chattering and hissing at the imposter among their midst. Techno had to kill him. This was a display now. A public execution.

Techno rattled a growl as he pulled Tommy closer to his face. The shapeshifter flinched at his hot breath and sharp teeth.

“Why did you do it?” Techno asked quietly.

Tommy shivered as he shifted his grip on the fae’s wrists. “I don’t know…” He closed his eyes helplessly.

“Give me a better answer than that!” Techno hissed in offence.

“I-“ Tommy’s shoulders curled up. “I got drawn in!” He shook his head. “It’s stupid, stupid. I knew it was dangerous. I knew you would get angry!”

“Then why did you do it?!” Techno insisted.

“Because of you!” Tommy admitted. He met the fae’s eyes and his breath caught. The red reminded him of a vampires and it so enticingly held his attention like a thrall. That was the power of the fae. Their beauty enraptured you until it was too late. Until you were too close.

Tommy was too close…

“Me?” Techno replied flatly.

“You… are the best of the best.” Tommy said slowly. “You are the strongest and the most fascinating. Even from a distance…” He swallowed. “I guess I got tricked didn’t I?” He chuckled. “Fell for your charm like every other stupid human.”

The fae narrowed his eyes. “You really are a thief.” He said.

Tommy exhaled losing the adrenaline in his body. “Yeah…” He agreed. “All I wanted was your attention.” He grit his teeth. “I got what I wanted…” He tilted his head to bare his neck.

Tommy had shifted into many creatures in his lifetime. Simple animals, magical entities and proud predators. There was a universal language amongst all of them even when Tommy acted as prey.

Techno’s eyes widened at his submission. Fae were too proud to ever bare their weaknesses for the world to see.

His grip on Tommy’s shirt tightened then within a blink he stepped forward and warped into the castle.

Tommy spluttered. “What- How?”

“You aren’t after my magic…” Techno said curiously. Tommy swallowed as the fae looked him over. “And you have no bad intent…” He said in surprise.

“I-“

Techno dropped him to the floor making him gasp.

Tommy watched as Techno moved to the window. He looked over the crowd in his courtyard, all angry and growling at each other.

“I’m sorry…” Tommy said weakly.

The fae hummed tilting his head as the door burst open.

“Techno!”

Tommy whipped his head to the newcomer. It was the fae’s brother.

Wilbur met Techno’s eye then when their expressions flashed in silent communication he turned his sharp gaze to Tommy.

“Shapeshifter.” He growled in disgust.

Tommy dipped his head. It wasn’t surprising the fae hated shapeshifters, nearly every species disowned and exiled him from their ranks.

The fae’s feet entered his vision and he bowed his head deeper making Wilbur scoff. “Have you no pride?”

Tommy flinched and looked up. “What?”

“I heard you bared your neck to my brother and now you bow your head to me? If there’s one thing you should know about the fae is we hate weakness.”

Tommy looked carefully to Techno then flicked his eyes back to Wilbur. “You… want me to fight you?” He asked.

“I want you to defend yourself.” Wilbur corrected with a hiss. He threw his foot forward and Tommy dodged staring up at him with wide eyes from the floor.

“That’s better.” Wilbur nodded. He turned to Techno and joined his side. “So why is he still alive?”

Techno scoffed looking Tommy over. “He is… strong.”

Wilbur rolled his eyes at his answer. “Always so easily impressed Techno.” He walked over to the window. “Dad’s not going to be happy about this.”

Tommy looked between them in confusion.

“I think dad will be quite happy actually.” Techno jabbed at his brother.

Wilbur shrugged as he kept watching the commotion outside. “You’ve made a mess for me to clean up.”

“You enjoy the work.” Techno sighed.

Wilbur grinned. “Maybe I do…” He conceded. “But I didn’t ask for more fuel to the fire.” He slid his eyes to Tommy. “You’re going to be the talk of the century. I hope you like popularity.”

Tommy shivered.

The door opened again and in came the High King. Tommy bowed his head swiftly freaking out that the most powerful creature in all of fae kind was in the same room as him.

“Your majesty.” Techno mocked as he crossed his arms.

“Techno.” The King said amused.

Wilbur made a dramatic bow. “Evening dad.” He cocked his head. “Wonderful day for some drama don’t you think?”

Tommy paled at the two princes greeting their father. Tommy knew Techno was a general and one of the most highly respected fae in all the land but a prince?

“What do we have here?” The King asked towards Tommy.

“A shapeshifter.” Wilbur bounced over to his brothers shoulder. “And guess who wants to keep him?”

“Keep?” Tommy couldn’t help blurting out. He tensed at the High King’s eyes on him but he was too busy looking to Techno for a sign this was a misunderstanding.

Techno was watching him closely. “You think I’d let you go?”

“You think I’d accept being kept?” Tommy spat. He could feel his magic flaring again. Three powerful fae were in the room and Tommy was matching their energy. His eyes turned black and his aura turned red as his hair floated around his face. “I’m not an animal.” His voice echoed with power.

“Really?” Wilbur hummed. “I thought that’s what your species were well known for,” He smiled. “Filthy little animals that steal and cheat and lie-“

“Wilbur that’s enough-“ The King interrupted.

Tommy shot his hand out throwing a burst of magic at Wilbur’s face. The fae grinned as it flew towards him, Techno’s hand reaching out and intercepting the blow.

Tommy’s eyes widened as he looked to Techno. The fae was shaking his hand out with a frown at him. “So you are using my magic.” He said.

Tommy bared his teeth. “I’m using my own actually.” He growled.

“How does that work?” Wilbur asked curiously.

Tommy’s spine straightened. He was appalled they were having this conversation. He moved his eyes to the High King then pouted at Techno.

“I’m leaving.” He declared.

“Be my guest.” Techno waved his arm out.

Tommy stood and balled his hands into fists. Something was off here. Fae were all about tricks.

“Before you go…” Techno said idly. “I believe you owe me a deal for your deception.”

“I don’t owe you anything.” Tommy growled.

“Don’t you?” Techno acted surprised. “You entered my land without stating your true nature, you sparred me in my own court and used my own magic against me.” His eyes turned dark as he glared at Tommy. “You’ve caused me a mess that needs to be dealt with.” He waved outside to the fae that would be gossiping and jeering at Techno’s behaviour. He should’ve publicly executed Tommy. That was tradition for a non fae infiltrating a court. It was an insult.

Tommy frowned and thought it over.

“I suppose…” He conceded. If he gave Techno his deal there would be no debt. Tommy wouldn’t be hunted down.

It was risky to make a deal with the fae but it was riskier to leave indebted to the prince.

Tommy straightened and let the magic he’d gathered settle properly into his form. He was as honest and deceiving as Techno now. They were on even ground.

“What do you propose?” Tommy asked carefully.

Techno grinned sharply. “Will?” He tilted his head to his brother.

Wilbur happily stepped forward. “We want your name.” He held his hand out. “Just to start easy.” He said innocently.

Tommy frowned at him. “You can call me Tommy.” He replied.

It wasn’t his True Name and Wilbur could tell. He pouted in disappointment.

“Is our deal fulfilled?” Tommy asked.

“Oh heavens no.” Wilbur smiled. “There should be terms. Give and take on both sides no?”

Tommy glared at him. “Your next words will be under contract.” He warned. “Don’t ask for things that do not relieve my debt.”

Wilbur giggled giddily. “Said like a true fae.” He stepped closer. “Well then… Tommy.” He said for emphasis. “The terms are as follows, you get to keep your life and we clean up the social mess outside,” He smiled. “for your returned presence at the castle for as long as you deceived us. Do you agree to those terms?”

Tommy pinched his lips thinking the deal over. Wilbur was a master of words. It was well known that if you wanted to succeed in your end of a deal you went to Techno not Will.

“I do not agree to those terms.” He decided.

All the fae in the room tensed, eyes glowing with magic.

“Instead I offer new terms.” Tommy appeased. “I will stay only for as long as I deceived you.” He stated. “Afterwards I am free without pursuit.” He gave Techno a meaningful look. “During my time in this castle I do no have to do anything you say.” He narrowed his eyes at Wilbur. “I am independent with no influence or magical sway. I will be safe.” He carefully looked to the High King. “And I will be treated with respect. You will protect me from any dishonour fae outside our agreement give me. And in return…” He sighed. “I will help clean up the social mess I’ve made.” He met Techno’s eye. “Do you agree to these terms?” He asked.

Technoblade smiled at him then passed a look to his brother.

Wilbur nodded and Techno stepped forward with his hand held out. “I agree to those terms.” He said.

Tommy took his hand and their contract locked into place. Tommy could feel it in his magic. He was bound to the terms he’d set. He couldn’t leave before his three months was up.

“Great.” Tommy withdrew his hand and rubbed it on his clothes. “It’s an honour and all that.” He rolled his eyes.

Techno scoffed.

“Do I get a room?” He checked.

He technically hadn’t asked for one so it was well within their right to make him sleep on the floor. Then again… would that be a breach of ‘treating him with respect?’

“Ha ha! Already so demanding!” Wilbur laughed as he flourished his hands. “These next few months will be a treat!” He gave a pointed look to his father.

The High King was watching Tommy closely, it was the most terrifying experience to exist under his gaze.

“I suppose I have some basic guest rooms you could use.” Techno drawled. “But don’t expect anything lavish.” He warned.

Tommy crossed his arms. “Wasn’t planning on it.” He scowled at Wilbur. “Fae don’t like shapeshifters after all.”

 

Turns out the fae really liked Tommy. Techno was fascinated by his magic and fighting, Wilbur was interested in how Tommy used his shifting abilities and Phil liked having something new going on in his court. They’d never had a shapeshifter stick around.

Tommy expected scorn and vitriol from the High King and his sons but they didn’t struggle at all with the terms he’d set. They respected him, they defended him against other fae and they made no move to hypnotise or cast a spell on him.

Tommy was having to adjust to them looking after him. They sought him out and gave him all he needed, they gave him entertainment and taught him a thing or two about how fae worked. It was nothing like how he expected things to go. The ‘social mess’ he was tasked to clean up was fixed swiftly in his first week of staying with them. Wilbur knew exactly how to cut arguments off and the power of Phil’s status left no room for the fae to budge on the family’s decision.

It wasn’t up for debate… a shapeshifter had entered their ranks and Technoblade had struck a deal with the critter. No one knew what the deal was but they were smart enough not to stick their noses where they didn’t belong.

Tommy’s only responsibility was staying on Technoblade’s territory until his time was up. It was exceptionally easy and he was waiting for the other ball to drop.

He was enjoying himself… and when he enjoyed himself that’s when things went bad.

 

The last month of Tommy’s stay was the best he’d ever experienced with a group that wasn’t his own species. The fae gave him passing pats, messing with his hair and pulling him into side hugs. They each had a special bond with Tommy and the boy had grown more in his skills and identity than he’d ever done in his whole time on earth.

He was missing them even as he still spent time with them knowing it had to end at some point.

He couldn’t live as a fae… he wasn’t one. (And they knew that. They were immensely accepting of his shapeshifter abilities. He got to be whatever he wanted, when he wanted.)

Tommy couldn’t gather the words to say how he felt. How he yearned to stay with them. How he wanted to keep having what they gave him.

The time came when his contract was up and Tommy left with a swift goodbye. He couldn’t handle doing it slow. He didn’t want to drag out the pain.

They didn’t follow him. Tommy knew they couldn’t but it still stung. This was his decision. Could he risk going back? Could he risk learning that the past three months was a ruse? That they’d never actually cared for him?

Tommy lasted a week. It was all he could do before his loneliness consumed him. He snuck into Techno’s room.

“Techno.”

Techno looked up and locked eyes with him immediately.

Tommy bobbed his head, dropping from the ceiling and shifting from the lemur he’d been to the fae he often presented as.

“H-hey.” He fiddled with his hands nervously.

“Hey.” Techno smiled.

Tommy didn’t know what to say further than that. He wasn’t able to spy on them and gather courage after observing, the fae would be able to sense him too easily. This was the only way he could get answers.

“How… how are you?” Tommy tilted his head so he was looking past his fringe at the fae. He knew he shouldn’t be here, there was nothing owed between them, sticking around was begging for another mistake to strike.

“I’m well…” Techno said slowly. It was a tell that he was lying. Techno was trying to find a loophole.

Tommy stiffened and looked up at him properly.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“Nothing.” Techno chuckled waving his hands. “It’s a small problem. Should take no time at all to fix.”

Tommy nodded dropping his shoulders. “That’s good.” He sighed. “Can I help in any way?”

Techno’s lips pinched. “You already are…” He admitted.

Tommy frowned.

He was already…? Oh.

“Did you… were you missing me?” He asked.

Techno snorted looking him over fondly. “You could say that…”

Tommy smiled and stepped forward. “Right.” He said with more confidence. “Because the great Techno, Fae of Blood and War doesn’t have feelings like that.” He joked.

Techno embraced him as soon as Tommy was close and he melted dropping his head onto his. “No.” He agreed. “It’s nothing like that.”

Tommy snickered hugging the fae back. “It was a week loser.”

Techno squeezed him and growled lowly. “That’s only as long as you were able to keep away.”

“Hey!” Tommy looked up at him indignantly. “That’s not-!”

Techno gave him a look.

Tommy coughed avoiding his eye. “You’re only kinda close.”

“Right.” Techno replied amused. “Because the great Tommy is unpredictable.”

“Exactly!” Tommy shouted. “I’ll hear no further slander!”

The fae chuckled, his voice ringing with power. “It’s good to have you back Tommy…” He looked the boy over. “You-“ He swallowed.

Tommy met his eye and saw something conflicted swirl within them.

“I want to give you my True Name.” Techno said.

“What?!” Tommy stepped back. “Techno no-!”

“Please.” Techno closed his eyes as Tommy left his arms. He opened them to smile at him sadly. “I need to know you can call upon me if you need. Even if you never want me around… I need you to have access to me.”

Tommy’s body trembled at the thought. Such devotion meant Techno wasn’t tricking him. The fae didn’t even ask for a trade. He wasn’t asking Tommy to return the favour, Techno only wanted him to have access to him.

“I-“ He said.

Techno held his hand out and Tommy placed his hand in his automatically.

“Tommy…” Techno exhaled. “I am giving you my True Name freely and without pain.” He looked up at his face. “It’s Technoblade.”

Tommy felt the fae’s magic wash over him, Techno’s True Name was his now. His to own and his to use.

“I’m giving mine in return under the same conditions.” Tommy stated. Techno’s eyes widened in surprise as Tommy tightened his grip. “It’s TommyInnit.”

Tommy felt his magic recede for just a moment to fill Techno up. The fae rolled his shoulders realising what Tommy meant when he said his magic was his own.

They were both red fae but there was a contrast.

Techno’s power was born from bloodshed and fighting, Tommy’s power came from fighting too but it was a different form, a type of survival that every shapeshifter was familiar with. Desperation.

Tommy could shift and steal like his life depended on it because it always did. He could mimic to look exactly like Techno and he could become a carbon copy of any fae in the court so they would accept him.

Tommy had been shifting his whole life and never found acceptance. Techno was the first one to show him what that felt like.

“TommyInnit.” Techno smiled.

“Technoblade." Tommy grinned back.

“I can't believe…” Techno shook his head.

“I guess Wilbur is going to have a field day with this.” Tommy joked. “He always said we were like brothers.

Techno pouted. “Can I own your name for a little longer without him having it too? He’s going to be such a pain about this.”

Tommy held back a laugh at Techno’s pettiness. He really was a fae no matter how much he said he felt disconnected from his kind. How long did he expect to have the sole privilege of owning his name?

“I guess a few more moments can’t hurt.” Tommy shrugged.

Techno pulled him into a hug and held him tight. “Can you stay?” He asked weakly like he expected a rejection.

“Mm.” Tommy pretended to think about it. “You do realise I just signed my True Name over right? I think that’s a pretty big hint that I’m staying.”

Techno pulled away slightly to look at him. “You… you don’t want to run away?” He asked.

“Why would I?” Tommy shrugged. “What’s a shapeshifter got out there that’s better than in here?”

Techno smiled sadly. “Freedom?”

Tommy gripped his arms and kept his gaze steady. “And a whole world aiming knives at my back.” He reminded.

Techno’s face fell. “You’re so strong Tommy…”

“But I don’t have to be when I have you.” Tommy said.

Technoblade blinked. “I suppose not…” He thought back to all the fae that had tried to kill Tommy. Wilbur and him had beheaded every last one of them.

“So I’m staying.” Tommy smiled. “And truthfully…” He looked away bashfully. “I’m glad you want me too. I thought…”

Techno snorted and bumped heads with him. “We all fell for you pretty fast Tommy… None of those three months was a lie.”

“That’s good to know.” Tommy leaned more into Techno’s embrace. “I was kinda worried.”

Techno squeezed him. “That’s fair.”

“But like you told me before…” Tommy reminded. “None of us are monsters.”

“No.” Techno chuckled. “Not me and certainly not you.”

Tommy hummed in disbelief. It would take some time to unlearn the hate he’d been given but at least he had the fae to help him.

“I love you big brother Techno.” He joked.

“I love you Tommy.” The fae replied. He was wholly serious when he said it.

Tommy hugged him tighter to let him know he returned the sentiment.

He loved his new family even as he struggled to get the words out.

He couldn’t wait to share his True Name with the others.

-----

I hope you enjoyed VoidRatWrites! :D I loved your prompts and I feel like we like the same DreamSMP/SBI stuff! Let me know what you thought! I tried to keep it short and sweet ^-^

[As always this story is purely for fun and to progress my writing skills in a topic I enjoy. These are my characters and have nothing to do with the content creators]

You can find more of my work on AO3! (I'm still new to Tumblr so I haven't posted much here)

I appreciate all comments and interactions! <3

[fallinnflower]

the secret prince's cinderella

huening kai x fem!reader (fluff, royalty!au, historical fantasy!au)

wc: 6k

a/n: hi everyone! so a month or so ago i had a dream i was directing a movie that follows (generally) the plot of this fic. during the aftermath of hurricane helene i had no power or internet or cell service and ended up writing the whole thing in basically two sittings. the bigger projects i have been mentioning for years now are still in the works, including vampire!Bambam, vampire!DPR Ian, part two of dragon/river god!wonpil, etc... these are all monster-sized works that i really am just grinding slowly at amidst my day-to-day life. thanks for your patience and i hope you enjoy this extremely fluffy fic!

When you first meet Kai you think he's just a strange, sort of awkward kid. He wanders into the town square one day and finds where all the kids are kicking around a ball one of the other kids' moms made for all of you to play with, and just kind of… stands there. You can tell he wants in, and as the eldest of the group (by thirteen whole days!) you decide to let him join. Nobody questions your decision — Kai evens out the teams for boys against girls for your games. 

Even if you weren't the eldest in your group, you're sure you could've pulled strings to let Kai in if you'd had to, but you probably wouldn't have had to anyways. With his ethereally good looks, the other kids were already captivated by him. It didn't matter that he was awkward, he was pretty. You knew how powerful that could be, given that your mom was the prettiest lady in town. 

So, your friendship with Kai began like that. Teaching him how to properly kick a ball so that he didn't hurt his foot; showing him the berry patches that were safe to pick from on the outskirts of the farms and forests; scouring the creeks to find the perfect stones to skip. It was idyllic, sitting in the meadow in the shadow of the big, tall castle on the hill where you all pondered what might be going on so far out of your reach. 

You never even imagined what it might become in the future — what fate you had started spinning as you kicked that homemade ball over to him and made the circle of kids part to make him a space. 

It’s going to be a sweltering summer, your mother had told you that morning, as you carefully braided her hair. Your mother has beautiful hair, a strawberry blond that almost glows pink in the sunlight and fair skin without a blemish. How she manages to be so pretty, you’ll never know — you inherited her eyes but not much else, though you like to think you have some of her charisma, too. 

Your mother had also told you to be careful, and to not be home late, planting kisses on both of your cheeks and your forehead before making her way to work. You once heard that she could've become some lord's lover in the past, but she came here with your father instead. She works as a seamstress for the palace, setting off early every morning before the sun rises to make her way up the hill. Your father works in the blacksmith's shop. You’re almost old enough to work, but, for now, do odd jobs with the other kids and help keep the little garden in your backyard alive. 

Alongside Kai, of course. He had been completely clueless about plants before you showed him the garden, and then he became obsessed. You know it’s only a matter of time before he comes knocking at your door to go stare at the sprouts, wondering each day at any little change in them. 

Just as you finish braiding your own hair, there comes a familiar, rhythmic knock at your door. You don't even have to look to know it's Kai, so you pull it open without a second thought. 

"How are the potatoes?" he asks, cheeks flushed. 

"The same as yesterday. Did you run here?"

"Of course," he replies, walking purposefully through your house and right out the back door. "I'm sure it had another sprout growing yesterday, so it probably has leaves today."

"Kai," you sigh, trailing behind him. No matter how often you tell him that plants don't grow quite that fast, he never stops being so excitable. You decide to just let him go look at them like you always do. It's kind of cute, anyways — a thought you try to push aside. Kai is your friend first and foremost, and the fact that his teenage years had only added to his incredible beauty shouldn't — wouldn’t — change that. 

Also, you know next to nothing about him, really. He keeps where he lives a secret and never talks about his family outside of vague statements about their personalities. What you know about Kai is what he's willing to share, meanwhile he knows almost everything about you and your life in this village. You don’t take it personally; his friendship means too much to you for you to go breaking it by prying too much. 

"It looks like the tomatoes are wilting," he laments, his voice breaking you out of your thoughts. 

"Really?" You go squat beside him among the little rows and look at the leaves he's gently cradling in one hand. They still look green to you, just fine, but Kai’s brow is still creased with deep concern. You chuckle softly.

"I think they're okay, Kai," you reassure him, patting his shoulder. It strikes you just how broad his shoulders are, and you push the thought away.

"You worry about the plants like you're their overbearing mother," you tease, nudging him with your elbow. He sways, letting go of the tomato plant and using one hand to prop himself up so he doesn't fall. Something falls out of his pocket with a dull thud into the dirt, and you snatch it up before he can. 

It's a rock, an almost perfectly round gray one with a little face drawn on it with charcoal from a fire. The face has been redrawn multiple times, but always the same little smile. You can't help but laugh,

"You still have this?" Kai's cheeks turn faintly pink as he reaches out to take the rock from you. You hand it back to him, although you don’t really get why he holds it so gingerly.

"It's special," he replies, a little sullen. 

"It's a rock," you state. For the life of you, you can't understand why he's so sentimental over rocks and vegetables in the garden, but makes no fuss over the fancy fabric scraps or broken bits of jewelry your mom gets to bring home sometimes. You find those much more fascinating, especially the fabric, as your mother explains how much time each embroidered design takes. 

"It's not just any rock," he retorts, now indignant as he cradles the rock in his palm. He holds it up to your face as though to prove a point. "We found this when you were teaching me how to skip stones!"

You blink in confusion, looking between him and the rock. 

"Kai, that rock wouldn't skip even once. It's too heavy. You just liked how it looked!"

You still remember that day vividly yourself. The whole little group had gone down to the creek to practice skipping stones. Your grandmother had been very good at it before she passed away, and taught you how to do it on the days when she watched over you while your parents worked. Teaching other kids wasn't nearly as easy — Kai was the only one truly paying attention to what you said, his eyes earnestly fixed on you as you demonstrated how to find a good rock for skipping and how exactly to flick your wrist when throwing. That rock he now held was one you had picked up to demonstrate a bad skipping stone, but Kai had gone running into the water to retrieve it just after it landed. 

"Look how perfect it is!" he had exclaimed, making his way back to the shore with the stone triumphantly held up in his hands. Some of the other kids had conceded his point, and even you could acknowledge that it was a surprisingly round, symmetrical rock — though hardly worth his pants getting soaking wet over.

Still, to keep it all these years and draw its face back on every time it rubbed off…

You almost say something about it being weird, but the fondness on his face as he looks at the rock reminds you of the ratty rabbit doll you repair every time she has a rip or tear. She barely looks like she did when your mom first made her from fabric scraps, but she's too sentimental for you to let fall apart. If Kai's rock is weird, then your bunny would be just the same. 

"Didn't you name it?" you ask instead, a vague memory attempting to rise in your mind. 

"Yeah, it's Huenin Lionel Mbappe!" he replies proudly. He starts to say something else, but the chiming of the bell at the town square interrupts him. He quickly shoves Huenin Lionel Mbappe back into his pocket and stands up, offering you a hand. You don't need it, but you take it, surprised as always at how smooth his hands are. There are some calluses, but not nearly as many as your father and some of the other working men and boys in the village. Once again you wonder what he does when he's not with you, but you don't dwell on it, pretending you don't notice that he's still holding your hand as you run to the square together to meet up with the others. 

You're just glad he can't see how flustered you are as he squeezes your palm, pulling you along. 

Working with the other teens in the village often entails doing small tasks the apprentices and owners of different businesses don't have time to. Running deliveries, cleaning up a mess — little jobs for meager amounts of money. Being the eldest, you're the closest to picking a trade, but you think you'll likely just be like your mom. You already know how to sew pretty well from being taught by her, and you do odd mending jobs for other villagers in a pinch. The other kids you run with have been trying to forge connections at the businesses you help, testing the waters for a potential apprenticeship. 

Not Kai, though. While he seems interested in almost everything, he doesn't put himself forward as a hirable option for anyone. He also rarely takes a share of the earnings — you'd learned years earlier that he would secretly pass it all off in small bits to each of you, making different excuses each time until he had none left. You don't ask why and you don't tell him or the others you've caught on. Like your own potentially blossoming feelings, it feels like the mention of it could ruin what you and Kai have now, and you value that too much to jeopardize it. 

"Y/N, your dad said a couple of us should get more water for the blacksmiths from the river," one of the boys says as you and Kai approach. You brush flyaway strands of hair away from your face, quickly slipping your hand out of Kai’s grasp before the others notice.

"Okay, I think some of the ladies in the market have errands for us too. Should we split up for now?" you ask, and everyone in the group agrees. You expect Kai to go with some of the boys who start making their way down to the river, buckets in hand, but he lingers by your side as the rest of you head towards the market square. 

For some reason, Kai seems to be sticking especially close to you. He accompanies you on more of your errands, only taking on his own if someone calls him over specifically. Even then, he makes his way back to you as soon as he can, dutifully trailing behind you. 

"You're like a duckling," you tell him as the two of you make your way back out onto the street. You count the coins in your palm and only shoot him a short sidelong glance when he drops his share into your pocket, trying to be stealthy. 

"What do you mean?" he asks, sidling up beside you. 

"The way you're trailing me," you explain, dropping the rest of your coins into your pocket where they clink against the ones he left. He cringes slightly, knowing he's been caught, but you don't say anything about it. "It's like I'm a mother duck and you're a duckling, following right behind me."

"Hm," he hums, hands clasped behind his back. "Does that also mean I'm cute like a duckling?" 

He's smiling at you almost smugly, like he's expecting a compliment. Your heart flutters at the sight, and you wonder if you'll ever get used to just how handsome he is. Pushing the thought aside, you nudge him with your elbow, snorting,

"Helpless, more like." Kai laughs and knocks right back into you,

"You're right, I'm hopeless. What would I do without you?" His words catch you off guard, and you clear your throat to cover your embarrassment. 

"Who taught you to talk like that?" you tease, and his grin widens. 

"My dad told me I should be sweet to the girls in my life. Especially the really important ones. And the ones I really like." 

Which of those am I? you wonder, but the words get stuck in your throat. You and Kai stare wordlessly at each other for a moment, and you feel as though you're getting pulled in by his sparkling eyes—

"Kai! Can you come help me with this?" You both startle at the voice of another vendor, and you poke his shoulder. 

"You should go help them. I'm going to ask around for more errands." Kai nods, and you can't tell if you're imagining the disappointment in his eyes as he turns away. 

The day ends the same place it started — Kai walks you back to your house to check on the garden again before you start dinner. You stay in the kitchen and tie on your apron, pulling out your paring knife so you can start peeling potatoes and carrots. While he looks to see if there's anything to be gathered, you light the fire under the large pot hanging in the fireplace and dump the bucket of well water you had brought with you in. Kai comes back through the door with a small basket tucked under his arm as you pull your chair up by the fire, settling down to start peeling. 

"Can I help?" he asks. It's not an unusual request, but one you're not sure if you'll allow. Kai isn't always the best with a knife, prone to getting distracted as the two of you talk. The last thing you want is for him to slice his finger open, but you find yourself nodding anyway. 

"Okay, but be careful. Can you start on the carrots?" You feel safer about him peeling carrots than potatoes, and he acquiesces, pulling another chair up beside you. 

The crackling of the fire fills the room, the sound of peels hitting the bottom of the buckets barely audible. Eventually you start humming, a habit you picked up from your father, and Kai joins in on the tune. You glance at him to be sure he isn't distracted and are pleased to find him peeling the carrots successfully. 

"Oh, wait, Y/N!" he exclaims a few moments later, almost making you slice off a large chunk of perfectly good potato. You look over to him as he sets his knife on his lap and picks up a carrot. He holds the tip in his left hand and raises it to about his shoulder, the bottom of the carrot pointing diagonally at his right hip, and raises his other hand. 

"Doo dwang dee dwang~ Dow dow da dow-da-da-dow~" 

You stare on in mute disbelief as he continues, tapping his fingers along the tip of the carrot, making a strumming motion with his other hand at its wide end. He eventually stops and beams at you, an expectant look in his eyes.

"So, what do you think? Did I sound like a lute?" 

"That was a lute?" You almost feel bad for asking, but really, you wouldn't have ever guessed. 

"Huh," he says, looking down at the carrot in his hand. "My mom liked my impression."

"Moms are like that," you reply. "My mom once told me I had a nice singing voice and then I embarrassed myself in front of half the village kids."

Kai seems a little puzzled by this, as though he hadn't considered his mom might just be saying that because he's her son. Regardless, he shrugs it off and picks his knife back up. 

"I'll just have to practice more."

You don't say another word and just go back to peeling and humming. Kai leaves when the bell rings on the hour, and you continue cooking dinner as your parents make their way home in the twilight of the village. 

You don't see Kai for the next few days — not that it worries you. Honestly, you don't know what he does or where he is most of the time, but it's fine. You go about your usual routine, until it's interrupted by an unusual tolling of the bell, the kind that signals for villagers to come to the main square for news. You set aside your sewing and rush out to meet your friends there, spotting your father on the edges of the crowd with his coworkers from the smithy. As you gather, you see some sort of palace official with the royal guard behind him preparing to speak. He unfurls his message and clears his throat loudly; the crowd instantly hushes. Your heart beats loudly in your ears, worrying over whether the news is good or bad and your mom working inside the palace. 

"Hear ye, hear ye— to celebrate the joyous occasion of Prince Kai Kamal Huening's eighteenth birthday, all citizens are invited to attend a ball at the royal palace, Saturday fortnight! Be prepared to eat, drink, and be merry!" 

A birthday banquet at the palace with everyone invited? you think. Then, Kai almost named his pet rock like a member of the royal family? 

You wish he was there so you could get his reaction, but instead you turn to your other excited friends. All you can think of is what you could possibly wear to the palace of all places, and with only two weeks to prepare. 

Not seeing Kai for a few days is normal, but not seeing him for two weeks is strange. He had shown up at your home out of breath the afternoon of the ball announcement, asking if you'd heard the news, only to run back home just as quickly after checking on the garden. Your mother had rushed home that evening with a roll of fabric in her arms, exclaiming that her coworkers knew she had a daughter around the prince's age and let her take the last of an old bolster home. It wouldn't make much, maybe sleeves or the bodice of a gown, but it was beautiful. It was leftover from some drapes in a far wing of the palace, a plush blue velvet with golden-threaded embroidery. 

"You'll look splendid," your mother had said, positively beaming as she held the fabric up to your chest. You didn't bother telling her that there was next to no chance of you dancing with the prince no matter how pretty your dress was, but thought better of it. Besides, it's not like you weren't excited at the prospect of dancing — just not with some total stranger like the prince. The image of Kai smiling broadly when you said that you would be attending the ball rose to the forefront of your mind. 

Pushing it aside, you and your mother had begun working on your gown. Now, with the ball only days away, you hadn't seen even a glimpse of Kai in all that time. You'd wanted to show him the fabric, but with it almost finished you want the final look to be a surprise to everyone but you and your mother. With each day you don't see him, worry weighs more heavily on your heart. Nobody in the village knows Kai better than you, so if something had happened then nobody would even know where to start looking for him. You (and your friends) tell yourself to calm down. He always turns up, so you just have to be patient. 

You stare down at the potato plants in the garden forlornly, looking at how some of the leaves are beginning to turn just the slightest bit brown as autumn begins to descend. You imagine Kai's worried face and let out a sigh. You just hope he's alright, wherever he is. 

On the morning of the ball, everyone in the village wakes up excited. There's no real work to be done that day, as the palace had ordered most businesses to halt operations unless absolutely necessary. Your father scrubs his hands and face (with your mother's help) until his skin doesn't have even the slightest speck of soot on it. You help your mother braid her beautiful hair into a pretty crown on her head, and she helps you into your brand new dress. Slowly, the villagers start making their way up the hill to the palace; you walk behind your parents, who walk arm-in-arm, chatting happily. You wonder how long it's been since they've been able to spend a day together like this, or seen each other all dressed up. The thought of seeing Kai in a fancy outfit makes your heart pound; he's so pretty even in the simplest work clothes, how much more attractive will he look in party attire? 

You try not to dwell on it, not wanting to be even more nervous than you already are. Instead you focus on all the familiar faces around you, dressed in their absolute best and chattering excitedly. You aren't sure exactly where your friends are because you came with your parents, but you know you'll all find each other eventually. When you reach the palace gates, you're greeted by members of the royal knights and other official-looking personnel. Your mother points out the people she recognizes, whispering to you and your father who the chamberlain is, and the butler, and the marshal. You lose track of all the people as you're led into the ballroom and are astounded by its grandeur. You've never seen so many candles in one place, or so much food and wine. 

"I'm going to find my friends," you announce, still half in a daze. You do try to find them but also end up wandering around the room, in awe of everything around you. Even the drapes in this room put the fabric your mom brought home to shame — is it because it's a big event, or had that fabric been for drapes in some unimportant room. You finally catch sight of a couple of your friends, but as you make your way to them you're interrupted by the sound of a bugle. The whole crowd turns their attention to the raised platform where the two large thrones sit alongside three smaller thrones that you assume are for the two princesses and the prince. 

"Now announcing the arrival of the His and Her Majesties, the Sun and Moon of the kingdom!" Everyone drops into a bow or curtsy as the royal couple enters, and you glance up through your eyelashes to get a glimpse of them. You're surprised by just how stunning they appear, and how kind their smiles look. They stand in front of their thrones and look off to the side as their children’s entrances are announced,

"Princess Lea Navvab Huening!" She enters with a smile and a graceful wave, her dark brown hair pulled back neatly. She looks almost familiar, though you wonder if it's just because she's standing beside her parents. 

"The Prince, Kai Kamal Huening!" The entire crowd goes even more quiet, excited to get a glimpse of the man of the hour. Your breath catches in your throat when you see him, and you have to rush to lower your head so you don't seem disrespectful. 

That… that’s your Kai, isn't it? Up there on the platform? Your head is spinning, and you barely hear the announcement of the youngest royal sibling, Princess Bahiyyih Jaleh Huening. She's beautiful, too — the whole trio is stunning as they stand beside their parents, but you can scarcely think with the way your heart is racing. This whole time, your Kai was actually Prince Kai? You swear it can't be true, then look back at the royal family as the King and Queen descend for the first dance of the night and know you're right. It's him. 

You barely see the first dance, but when the Prince and first Princess descend for the second dance you're hyper-focused. Once he's on the dance floor you truly can't deny it anymore. 

You can't decide what to do. A part of you wants to run and hide, embarrassed and, frankly, scared that you had treated a member of the royal family like any other village child. How could you be so stupid? How could you not know? You try to slink away to the furthest edges of the crowd as Prince Kai has the third dance with the second princess, wondering if you can somehow get away without being noticed by him. 

But then they announce that the ball has started in earnest. The King and Queen take their seats, as well as the princesses, and you watch Kai scan the crowd in search of a partner for his first dance with someone who isn't his sister. You step behind one of your father's coworkers, an exceedingly tall man, but you're shocked when the crowd suddenly starts parting in front of you almost immediately. 

"Y/N?" a familiar voice calls, soft. You swear your heart stops in that moment. The man steps aside to reveal Kai, the light making the golden crown on his head seem like a halo. 

"Can I have this dance?" 

Everyone is staring at you and Kai with the same sense of disbelief that you're feeling. The same boy they'd had running errands a mere two weeks before was the prince of their kingdom, and now he was asking the girl he'd run around the village with for years to be his dance partner. 

"I— um, are you sure about this?" you whisper, looking from his face to his outstretched hand and back. You know what this looks like, what this implies. After all, celebrating his birthday like this is also to remind everyone that he's an adult of marriageable age now — does he really want to imply that you're his first choice?

But Kai just continues to smile, albeit looking a little bit more confused. 

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" 

So, you take his hand. 

You've never slow danced with anyone but your father at home, and even then it was just for fun; your dancing at festivals was never so regimented. Kai guides your hands to their proper placements and squeezes the one he holds, flashing you a reassuring grin. 

"I've got you. Just follow my lead." It feels like your heart has leapt up into your throat, so you can only manage to nod and put your trust in him like he said. 

And he guides you. You never would have guessed he was such a skilled dancer, but it's so easy to follow his lead that you're able to actually enjoy yourself more than worry about how you look. His hands are warm and his gaze is so fond, so tender, that you almost can't believe it's you he's looking at. As you fall into a comfortable rhythm, Kai leans in closer.

"You look beautiful," he murmurs, his lips almost brushing against your ear. A shiver runs down your spine, but you don't think anyone but him notices. It only makes him smile more when you stare at him in bashful disbelief. When he said his dad told him to say sweet things, that was the King, right? That realization just sends you reeling further. 

You stare at him, not sure what to say to that aside from a barely audible,

"You too." Kai blushes, his cheeks turning a rosy pink that makes him look even more angelic. 

"So am I an important girl or a girl that you like?" you ask, not really meaning to say anything at all and certainly not something so embarrassing. Kai looks taken aback, his eyes widening like a deer's. Somehow his cuteness makes you feel embarrassed, but you try not to show it. 

"Both?" he says. "I think it can be both. So, both." He smiles, satisfied with his answer.  

"You like me?" you squeak out, and Kai cocks his head to the side. 

"Yeah? I thought that was obvious. Everyone else knew." 

"Everyone else knew?" you parrot in disbelief, and Kai nods. 

"I guess I'm the only one they teased about it…" You can't help but laugh a little at that; none of the other neighborhood kids ever gave you much shit since you were their unofficial leader. That said, you're definitely going to have to grill them about this later. 

Kai pulls you slightly closer as the song comes to an end, before you part to bow and curtsy to each other. 

"Can I have the next dance, too?" he asks, looking down at you with the most doe-like eyes he can manage. You press a hand to your chest, where your heart is still pounding. 

"I think I need to sit down before I have a heart attack. This was a lot to take in." You take the hand Kai offers you, though, as he escorts you over to a chair. 

"I'll get you something to drink," he says, and he's gone before you can even protest that a servant could probably just bring a tray around. He's still your Kai, after all, you think, and it makes you feel relieved. 

As you're sitting waiting for him you notice how many eyes are on you. None are judgmental, thankfully — most are just in awe, both that Kai is actually the Prince and you suddenly seem in line to become a part of the royal family yourself. The mere thought makes your cheeks start to burn again, and you wave your hands by your face to try and cool down. 

As you're doing so, you suddenly notice the crowd parting towards you again, this time to allow the two princesses to approach. You hurriedly stand up and drop into a curtsy,

"My humblest greetings to your highnesses, the first and second princess." Your hands are shaking but you hope they don't notice as you hold your skirts up. 

"Is this her?" the second princess, Bahiyyih, whispers to her sister. You glance up just as the first princess elbows her before turning to you with a smile. She takes both your hands in hers. 

"What she means is, we've heard a lot about you. And Kai has gotten in a lot of trouble for sneaking out all the time, but we get it now." You swear your face gets warmer with every word she says, made worse by the effervescent grin on Bahiyyih's face as she nods along to her sister's words. Just then, Kai reappears by your side, a drink in each hand. Lea lets go of your hands, which you're grateful for because you feel like your palms are getting sweaty. 

"Lea…" He whines, shifting so he's standing behind you even though you don't hide him very well. You reach for your drink, hoping that having something to hold will ease your shakiness. 

"It's true!" Bahiyyih chimes in. "It took us forever to figure out where he was going, and then we realized he was going to meet a girl! It's so cute!"

"Please don't call me cute," he groans. 

"But you are cute," you blurt, and immediately want the ground to swallow you whole. A glance at Kai tells you his face is bright red, burning hot just like yours, and Lea squeezes your hands tighter as she and Bahiyyih practically squeal with delight. 

“So you do think I'm cute?” Kai asks, leaning around to get a look at your face. Now both he and the princesses are looking at you expectantly, and you feel like your face is on fire. 

“Well, yeah,” you mumble, quickly taking a sip of your drink. The princesses are almost vibrating with excitement, and Kai’s face turns bright red but his eyes are glimmering with excitement, his smile broad. His joy is almost blinding, and your heart is nearly beating out of your chest. 

“I think you're cute, too, Y/N,” he says. Your knees feel weak, and you only manage to pull your gaze from his when you faintly hear the sound of Bahiyyih giggling. Lea takes hold of her little sister’s arm and smiles apologetically at you,

“We'll give you two some time alone now.” She starts tugging Bahiyyih away, but the youngest Huening sibling takes hold of your hand.

“I can't wait to get to know you better, sister-in-law!”

“Uh, y-yes, me too,” you reply, mind going blank. Sister-in-law?! In a daze, you sit back down in the chair Kai had led you to earlier, barely registering that he's sitting next to you until he sets his hand on top of yours. 

“Are you okay?” You turn to him, mouth slightly agape. 

“Did she call me sister-in-law?” you ask. Kai laughs bashfully and links his fingers with yours, giving your hand a reassuring squeeze. 

“Yeah, she's… excitable.” You nod, still sort of dazed, and take another sip of your drink. Staring back out into the crowd, you notice the princesses making their way back up to their parents’ side. In the distance you can see Bahiyyih leaning in to whisper something to her mother, and the queen's gaze seems to find you in the sea of people. 

“Oh my god,” you say, hurriedly turning back to Kai. “Does— do your parents know about me?” He nods.

“I got caught sneaking out and told them everything,” he explains. “This ball was part my idea and part theirs, so I could introduce you to them… Or let them see you, at least.” He must have seen the total anxiety in your expression at the prospect of meeting his parents one-on-one and immediately smooths it over, squeezing your hand again. 

“There's no rush,” he reassures you, and looking into his earnest eyes does actually help to calm your nerves. From this close you hardly notice the crown on his head, he just looks like the same boy you've been running around the village with for years. Just Kai. 

Your Kai. Just the thought makes your heart soar. 

You down the rest of your drink and stand up, Kai’s hand still in yours. 

“Do you want to step outside for a bit?” you ask, and Kai nods, setting his own drink aside too before standing up. The two of you make your way onto one of the balconies off the ballroom, and the cool night breeze puts your mind at ease. You feel like you can finally breathe again, standing by Kai’s side under the familiar light of the moon. He lightly swings your joined hands between you, staring up at the stars. Eventually, he turns his full attention back to you,

“Why did you want to come outside?” You take his other hand in yours and look down at the stones paving the bottom of the balcony. His shoes are so nice, you think, and almost want to laugh. All this time you wondered why he was only around some of the time and gave his money to the other kids — meanwhile he was sneaking in and out of the palace to come meet you. You take a deep breath, summoning all your courage,

“I just… thought it would be kind of embarrassing to have our first kiss in front of a crowd…” Kai squeezes your hands unintentionally, and you glance up at him, unable to meet his gaze fully. Even after saying it, you aren't sure where you got the confidence. 

“So, can I?” he asks, his voice soft. “Kiss you, I mean.” You laugh, the tension breaking, and lean in. 

“You really are hopeless, aren't you?” you tease, “Of course.”

You press your lips to his, the taste of wine still lingering, and you suddenly get the feeling that this is the beginning of the rest of your life. And you're going to live happily ever after.

[marina-the-witch]

MAJOR Shadow of the Erdtree Spoilers!!!

Alright I need to get this out, so here goes.

Promised Consort might be the single most conflicting boss in Fromsoft for me, and I need to talk about it. Firstly, I want to say in full honesty that I don't really mind it from a narrative standpoint. As much as I would have loved to see Godwyn get his time to shine, seeing Radahn in his prime, especially after he got beaten out quite hard by 4 other bosses in base game when he used to be my favorite after some consideration, is very cool and I don't personally think it assassinates either of the 2 characters involved, as it doesn't contradict or invalidate Miquella's previous actions nor does anything point strongly towards Radahn willingly being involved in this. However, one complaint I do have is that Mohg's involvement feels quite irrelevant and ignored by both the fanbase (aside from the dedicated Mohg club) and the game. Promised Consort has a couple horns slapped onto his arms and a SINGLE move that is reminiscent of Mohg, that's it. No shared weakness, no cool wings or scales or anything, hell, why not make Mohg's shackle work to make this difficult fight a little bit less over the top. On that note, I would like to address the fight. Aside from a wonky hitbox or two, I think, on paper, Promised Consort has a very solid and fair moveset in Phase 1 that's fun to learn and exploit, even if the openings do feel aggressively tight. Phase 2 on the other hand...Why? Why, instead of giving this conceptually sound and interesting boss an actually new moveset do you just slap frankly annoying AoEs and weird Dragon Ball bullshit ass afterimage attacks and the ability to fucking toast your CPU on what could have easily been the best final boss fight in Souls thus far if you had just TRIED. Many people have expressed they feel as though Promised Consort doesn't "try" narratively, that he's just a cheap, shoehorned attempt at fanservice like Soul of Cinder What who said that instead of providing an actual final boss to cap off the narrative, and I don't fully agree with this even if I did find the ending cutscene a bit underwhelming. But I do feel as though Promised Consort isn't trying to actually be challenging in a fair and fun way. Just kinda, overtuned. Aggressive. Unfair. I had my fun with the boss, no doubt, but I didn't feel good about beating it, especially not after the only way out I saw was summoning a tanky spirit who drew all the aggro while I tried to do literally anything in Phase 2, when no other boss in the DLC or in the game at all has ever made me that desperate (Note that i don't mind summons in general but don't personally enjoy using them as it takes the excitement and rewarding feeling out of a boss fight for me) (Also note that while i am fairly good at this game, I am extremely easily overwhelmed by too many bright visual stimuli as part of my ADHD/Autism, which is part of the reason I struggle with Fortissax and Bayle every now and then, now imagine that but tenfold for Promised Consort). This boss needs some sort of nerf. Not one that completely neuters it, Radahn has had enough of that already, it just needs to be towned down. The speed, the damage, I don't know, hell, toning down the visual clutter of phase 2 would probably be enough, so you could actually SEE what the boss is doing half the time, just do something to not make this fight as unfair as it is now. I don't know if I'll have the same experience I've had with this boss as I did Malenia, where after several attempts that ended in a mere , underwhelming, unrewarding "Glad that's over", to thinking its the worst thing ever to it being my favorite boss, I kinda hope it will, but for the time I can't say I'm excited to fight this boss again.

Stan Metyr and Romina instead everyone, we love weird nasty girlies <3

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super Manga ch.97-99

Cell Max is running wild, but don't worry, because Goten and Trunks are here to pad the story give Piccolo and Gohan a breather.

To be fair, the boys do a little better once they turn Super Saiyan, which kind of begs the question of why they didn't just turn Super Saiyan from the start. This page's sole purpose is to have the Gammas notice their "resemblance" to Saiyaman X-1 and X-2. This would be annoying enough even if they did look alike, but they don't. Look at them! Trunks and Goten have tights and some sort of Stormtrooper midriff thing going on. The Gammas are wearing jodhpurs and bellhop jackets. And Goten and Trunks' color schemes are clearly reversed from one to the other. The Gammas match perfectly except for their red and blue capes.

The only real similarities here are the numbers on their costumes, and the fact that there are two of them. Oh, and Gamma 1 has a red cape, and Goten has a red cape. Eerie! What are the odds of two superheroes having red capes? You almost never see that. I mean, there's Superman, Thor, Great Saiyaman, Dr. Strange, Spawn, Great Saiyaman 2, the Scarlet Witch, Supergirl, Great Saiyaman 3, Power Girl, Steel, but other than those characters, I can't think of anyone else!

Then they all pose together and attack Cell Max in concert. It looks impressive, but their quadruple-team fails to do any damage. The Gammas acknowledge that Cell Max is still getting used to moving around in his body, so he's not fighting as effectively as he will be later in the story. So that's why Goten and Trunks can do this well without actually hurting their opponent. And that's fair.

What doesn't make a lot of sense is the Gammas' role in this part of the battle. Of everyone involved in this battle, they alone understand the danger Cell Max poses to the world, because Dr. Hedo told them about Max's powers. That's why they went in first when Cell Max first emerged. They knew they had to shut him down as quickly as possible. And they're not rusty like Goten and Trunks, or unfamiliar with their bodies like Cell Max. If there's a window of opportunity here for Goten and Trunks to fight Cell Max without looking outclassed, then you'd think the Gammas would use this chance to target Max's head and finish him off.

Of course, they can't actually do that, since that's not what happened in the movie, but that's the problem I have with all of this. Toyotaro keeps shoehorning Goten and Trunks into this story, and their scenes tend to interfere with the plot instead of adding to it. The Gammas have a cool gimmick and aesthetic with the super hero thing. It works. They don't need two more characters aping that look right beside them. At best it's redundant, and at worst it just cramps their style. It'd be like if Frieza had a teen sidekick following him around repeating everything he says. It would kill his whole vibe.

Okay, so once Goten and Trunks fuse into Gotenks, the battle plays out mostly like it did in the movie, but there's one part that got changed up and it caused some controversy in the fandom. Remember how Pan almost got killed, and Krillin called out to her and told her to fly, and then she managed to fly for the first time?

So in the manga, Pan has the same moment, except she doesn't take flight. Instead...

In this version, Krillin just flies over and grabs her. And that makes sense. Why would he just assume she can fly on her own? Why not just zip over and get her? However, this kills the character arc Pan had in the movie. She started the film wishing she could do more advanced training, but Piccolo won't let her because she can't fly yet. Then in this scene, she does fly, and when the movie ends she shows Piccolo and he proudly agrees to start giving her the advanced lessons.

Fans didn't like this version, because Toyotaro appeared to be saying "no" to something the fans enjoyed in the movie. Krillin doesn't need a hero moment in this scene because he gets a couple of hero moments when he helps fight Cell Max. He saves 18 and distracts Cell Max with a solar flare. Krillin's fine. So it sure looks like Toyotaro just scrapped Pan's big moment for no discernible reason. This happened in Chapter 97.

Hey, check out this cool shot of Orange Piccolo fighting Cell Max.

Right, back to what I was saying.

So in Chapter 98, Toyotaro redeems himself by having Pan fly for the first time, just in a later part of the battle. When Big Orange Piccolo gives the last senzu bean to Gohan in the movie, Gohan just eats it and that's it. But in the manga, Cell Max attacks Piccolo and knocks it out of his hand. No one can catch it, until Pan goes after it and follows it over a ledge. Gohan's worried, but then it turns out she can fly now so she was never in danger, and she gets to help him this way.

Is it better than the movie? I can see a case for this version, but one thing that bugs me is that it seems a bit contrived for Pan to notice the senzu bean and be able to follow it through the air the way she did. I believe she could and would catch it for her dad. That's fine. But I'm not sure she would understand the need from where she was sitting in Bulma's aircraft.

For that matter, I don't know that it makes sense for Pan to understand what a senzu bean is, or why Gohan would need one so badly. Someone might have explained it to her at some point, but Pan's only three years old. I wouldn't expect her to know everything about everything.

Anyway, it goes to show how much can change from one chapter to another. People were mad about Chapter 97, but only because they didn't have 98 right there in front of them to show them it wasn't that big a deal. This is one major reason why I don't like to read the manga as it publishes.

From here, well, I think I'm just down to cool shots of the fight with Cell Max.

I don't think much is different here, but the art is cool, and this is one of my favorite parts of the movie.

I think this is a manga-only bit. Cell Max works over Piccolo with ki blasts, and it looks like Piccolo blows up, which triggers Gohan's Beast form, but then later it turns out Gamma 1 was protecting Piccolo with his force field, which allowed him to withstand the blast.

Also, when Cell Max tries to use his wings to escape the attack Gohan has planned, Toyotaro has Gamma 1, Krillin, and 18 cut off his wings. Not sure we needed this, but sure, it gives those characters one more chance to shine.

And then Piccolo holds Cell Max down and pleads with Gohan to take the shot, and that's the end of chapter 99.

And that gets me all caught up. Now I just have to wait for Chapter 100, which is supposed to drop on December 20. Hopefully, it'll wrap up the Super Hero adaptation, but I wouldn't put it past Toyotaro to drag this thing out another three chapters with some sort of press conference featuring Sergeant Nutz, Saiyaman X-1 and X-2, and Cleangod.

There's been talk of a big surprise twist or something in chapter 100, but I'm not holding my breath. Usually when this franchise has a big announcement, it's about the date for some actual announcement later, and that announcement usually turns out to be something the fans kind of already heard about anyway. "Yes, we will be releasing a Chapter 101" is the sort of thing I would expect them to "announce" in chapter 100.

It would be cool if Chapter 100 ended with Black Frieza showing up and killing Vegeta or something major like that. Or, I don't know, maybe Goten and Trunks turn evil. Those would be shocking developments, but I doubt this manga would go that far. We'll just have to see...

[your-local-simp-writers]

༺☆༻ Introduction ༺☆༻

Hello! 

We’re the dynamic duo behind “𝕐our 𝕃ocal 𝕊imp 𝕎riters,” just a couple of friends who love to get lost in the world of stories and games. We’re here to share our passion for writing and all the geeky stuff we can’t get enough of.

♡ About Us ♡

I’m 𝒞𝓁𝑜𝓊𝒹 and I’m all about gaming and art. You’ll often find me with a controller in one hand and a comic book in the other. My better half, the yin to my yang. She’s the partner in crime, the sweet melody to my wild riffs, and the one who brings a touch of grace to our shared tales of adventure and heart, 𝒞𝒽𝒾𝑒𝓃𝓃𝑒! She is the other half of this storytelling team. We both love creating stories that’ll make you feel like you’re right there with the characters.

♡ Our Writing ♡

We write what we love, and we love what we write. Our stories are inspired by our current fascinations—be it a game, a movie, or a manga. If it’s interesting and fascinating to us, it’s fair game for our writing.

Most of our stories are “x female reader” because that’s where we feel most at home. Occasionally, we’ll write “x gender-neutral reader” pieces for a bit of variety. However, we generally steer clear of “x male reader” or “OC x canon” stories. We want to create a space where female readers can see themselves in the worlds we love so much.

❤︎ 𝒞𝓁𝑜𝓊𝒹 '𝓈 Interests: 

Gaming: I’m a huge fan of Kingdom Hearts, Batman Arkham games, Mortal Combat, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Doom 3, Phasmophobia, Five Nights At Freddy’s, Twisted Wonderland, Call of Duty, Halo 3 and 4, Sonic and Transformers. If it’s a game or relating to horror, chances are I love it.

Comics: Batman is my passion. I collect anything related to the Dark Knight, and my collection is my pride and joy.

Anime/Manga: I'm into One Piece, Princess TuTu, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Jujutsu Kaisen, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Kingdom Hearts, Sgt. Frog, Free!, HellSing, and a bunch more. I have also seen MHA, Fairy Tail, Dragon Ball, Soul Eater, Naruto, Castlevania, Diabolik Lovers and more.

Disney & Tim Burton: I’m a Disney kid at heart. My top 5 Disney movies are Treasure Planet, Cinderella 3, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and The Princess and the Frog. And I’m all about Halloween and everything Tim Burton.

Music: I love RnB and Y2K music so much! However, you can usually find me listening to cutesy, cheesy love songs.

❤︎ 𝒞𝒽𝒾𝑒𝓃𝓃𝑒’𝓈 Interests: 

Gaming: I’m definitely not the biggest gamer around, but I do love to play Roblox, Fortnite, and Minecraft! Sometimes I’ll also dabble in some fall guys, FNAF or Poppy’s Playtime. On Roblox, I love to play pretty much anything but pvp games due to the fact that I’m not the best at them. Horror games are probably my favorite, even though I’m a chicken!

Anime/Manga: My favorites are definitely Fairy Tail, Jojo’s bizarre adventure, Naruto, and Demon slayer. I’ve also watched MHA, Danganronpa, Yona of the Dawn, Food wars, High Rise Invasion, Angels of death, and more!

Disney and Tim Burton: I’m definitely a Disney girl! I love all Disney Princess movies, both animated and live action. My top three not in any particular order would have to be Tangled, The Little Mermaid, and Princess and the Frog. For Tim Burton, my favorites are the classics, The nightmare before Christmas and Corpse bride. 

Books: I’m also a huge book girly! My favorite genre has to be fantasy/sci-fi. My favorite book series is The Lunar Chronicles, I definitely recommend it!

♡ Join the Fun ♡

This is an invitation to you, dear reader, to become a part of our narrative. Engage with us, inspire us, and let us inspire you.

So, come on in, get comfy, and let's share the joy of stories. The next chapter is always the best one, and it starts right here, with you and us. Requests are always welcome in the ask box! and even inquiries, should you have any!

With all the warmth in our hearts,

𝒞𝓁𝑜𝓊𝒹 & 𝒞𝒽𝒾𝑒𝓃𝓃𝑒

P.S: 𝒞𝓁𝑜𝓊𝒹 drew the image, just so most people can get a idea of what we look like♡ AND THE G.M FIARY BOOK IS FOR FUN, for the pure shits and giggles TRUST

[tobiasdrake]

Dragon Ball Daima S01E10 - Ocean

The titles for Daima episodes crack me up. Like. We've been making jokes at Toei's expense for how spoiler-filled Dragon Ball episode titles are for forty years. Now they're just like, "Fine! You know what? Every title is just a context-free noun and NOTHING ELSE."

Lightning. Thieves. Ocean.

Good luck gleaning any major plot reveals from that!

Honestly, I'm kinda rooting for the Tamagami.

They had two Saibaman seeds left and only used one, which leaves the other one hanging as a plot point whose function remains to be determined. The probable purpose for the other seed is so they'll have resources to create another Majin.

Kuu isn't literally the prototype for a bigger, nastier villain. But he might end up being exactly that.

So with the possibility that Kuu gets defeated and has to be replaced at some point in mind, I just think it'd be so funny if it happened right now. Following his dramatic reveal last episode, Kuu mouths off to Tamagami One and just gets fucking splattered, and Dr. Arinsu has to go back to the drawing board. XD

I mean. Yeah. There are benefits to being magically cursed to become a child again. I certainly wouldn't mind a dramatically increased lifespan, personally.

There are drawbacks too but you'd be surprised what you can circumvent when you're a billionaire.

This conversation took a really weird turn. And also, there are other reasons that Vegeta might not be comfortable with returning to adulthood while his wife remains a child.

Very. Very good reasons.

I have no idea what Kuu is doing in this fight and I'm not sure he does either. One is handing him his golden Saiba-ass.

It's like they're trying to channel Pure Buu's unpredictable and frantic fighting style. But Buu was an eldritch creature that no longer communicated in words and fought like a feral blob of gum. Kuu's intelligence and... non-goopiness... just makes him look like a weird doof.

I wonder if Kuu can absorb the Tamagami and gain their power?

Which should also mean that we can get out and fly for long periods of time without requiring the aid of a vehicle. Planes are now optional.

Kaioshin: (thinking) I hope we can get in and out without encountering one. Goku: (thinking) I wonder how they taste....

Goku: (thinking) Not bad for a first course....

Yeah, flying is no longer nerfed. This attack squadron made mistakes. The guy who beat the Tamagami is in even more top form now, and these idiots couldn't handle him when he was holding back.

Daimakai is basically a fun vacation for Goku.

XD There is no way a creature that size is sustaining itself on the occasional plane that inadvisably flies too low to the ocean. They're definitely hunting planes out of spite, not hunger.

Ahhh. Goku can teleport, so it doesn't actually matter that the plane is now in the creature's gullet. This is a good setup. Gives the others enough time to look shocked before Goku and Panzy suddenly pop into existe--

...or I guess the gap between its teeth is wide enough that anyone capable of Bukujutsu can just leave, no problem. Being crushed in the plane was the only danger that being eaten by the kraken posed.

Mm. I'm disappointed, but this still works fine.

And now the kraken's done. Yeah, it does not care one bit about the flying people. It just wanted the plane.

Krakens just... hate planes for some reason. I wonder if the Gendarmerie are poaching them?

Bit of a mixed bag here. I said early on after we met her that I really don't want Panzy to turn into the new GT Pan. GT Pan is worse-case scenario for how she could end up being utilized by the show.

I was nervous when they all evacuated the plane, but then Panzy put herself in peril anyway so we could have a scene of Goku dramatically rescuing her. I was like, "Okay, whatever they made her go back for, it better be something good."

It was the Dragon Ball. All of these fuckers forgot the Dragon Ball when they were bailing out of the plane.

...

Yeah! Okay, fair enough. Panzy MVP and these boys better appreciate her.

Oh, the Namekians had their own world within Makai #2. I bet it's more Namek-like than this region.

Yep, I'd know those Ajissa anywhere.

You know, this does actually make sense, now that I think about it. It's a retcon, but not one that breaks continuity.

The main job that the Namekians have is to cultivate Ajissa. It's what they spend their days farming. Their crop fields are full of the Ajissa they're growing.

When we first meet the Namekians, it's in the aftermath of a climate crisis that ravaged their ecosystem and left them near extinction. They're cultivating Ajissa to try and restore Namek to the beauty it once had.

But it's just a hop, skip, and a jump from there to "Namekians terraform planets they occupy to resemble their ancestral home, and filling those planets with Ajissa is part of that terraforming."

Did Piccolo just indicate that Katattsu came from Makai #2? All we know about him was that he was among the Namekians killed in Namek's climate catastrophe. How would Piccolo even know this? We've been given no timeframe on when Namekians left Makai #2.

Well, would it surprise you to know that he didn't actually say that? Yeah, at no point did he say it was his "father" who lived here.

...

Because the word he used is 親 oya, which gender-neutrally just means "parent". It's the root kanji used in such words as 母親 hahaoya for mother and 父親 chichioya for father.

...

My "Were Namekians supposed to be gender-neutral this whole time? Should we be using they/them for Namekians?" pondering intensifies.

But yeah, he did indicate that Katattsu used to live here.

Three, actually. But Hybis is not ready for that conversation. Even other Earthlings find it weird.

I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. But at least for right now, I like him. Kuu is adorable and I want good things for him.

I've been back and forth on whether this is supposed to be in-continuity with Super but I think this backstory, despite sort of contradicting what we know about Zenou, confirms it.

The reason I say that is because that's Gowasu in the top left corner. He was the mentor that tried to teach Zamasu.

How exactly Rymus is supposed to coexist as a concept with Zenou, I have no idea. But I wouldn't be surprised if they're, like, Zenou's parent or something.

I mean. I thought the plan was that you guys were going to go handle things with Gomah while Team Goku faces the Tamagami.

I guess we really did ditch Team Bulma in Makai #3 just to be rude. Oh well. Gang's all together now.

[baxterstockmanisthecenterfold]

do you have any headcanons for Baxter 2012?

Oh do I have headcanons for this fucking babygirl? You bet your grandmommys ovaries I have headcanons for the pink twink!

He is an Anime fan 100%. Specifically action themed ones like Dragon Ball, Naruto, Yu-Gi-Oh, Evangelion, Bleach, Jojo ect. He also collects figures & cards based on said animes.

He's a huge nerd in general & already confirmed to like D&D, fantasy & sci-fi in general.

He has a very great relationship with his mother just like his 2003 counterpart & was usually the one that kept him in line & his comforter when he was down.

He's very proud of his mustache & when it first started growing when he hit puberty he was instantly confident in his manliness.

He is definitely the type that wants to prove he's manly & not wimpy or weak. Tho he never resorts to sexism or toxic masculinity.

He tends to talk to his MOUSERS & considers them pets & friends.

Like the turtles, he enjoys pizza but not as much. He also enjoys the side dishes with it like chicken strips, mozzarella sticks, & even sweets like Hershey pies or anything chocolate.

He does actually have a bit of a sweet tooth, although it ampted to 100 after the mutation & still stayed even after being human again.

While he's mostly a clean person, he can honestly be a messy person when he's buried in his work, having tech/tools & even food lying around.

After his mutation he has a slight connection with flies & can train them. Even after being de-mutated.

A large part of him was happy to be human again but because of his hatred of the Turtles (and just being petty) he decided to react the way he did.

He's rarely experienced enough kindness in his life, so whenever people did get his name right or give him genuine respect he latches onto them

Stockman Industries was his attempt at making a business. Most likely starting as a computer or tech technician but clearly wants to do something bigger like his 2003 & IDW counterparts.

He always smells good because of the smell-goods he puts in his hair & person, granted it disappeared after a while after his mutation.

While not his favorite thing, he enjoys his fair share of sports like racing.

He's bisexual but he's never openly came out to anybody due to not having anybody TO come out to.

His former boss at TCRI was also one of the many people that never remembered his name.

He's the type to stay up all night & realize it too late (hearing the birds)

[babablacksherp]

Shared Amongst Turtles

Part one

Yandere Tmnt x y/n

Mikey- baby Yandere

Ralph- mild Yandere

Leo- spicy Yandere

Donnie- dangerous Yandere

Summary: Mikey and y/n start dating a sort of sweet relationship until Ralph starts noticing.

————————————————————

Y/n point of view-

“Thanks for walking me home.” You say holding his hand outside your apartment door. You give him a sweet forehead kiss before rummaging for your keys.

“No problem the purple dragons have been persistent lately and I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if something were to happen.” He fiddles with his hands obviously missing the feeling of holding yours.

“You worry too much, yes found them!, anyway I love the extra time I get to spend with you anyways” you give him a genuine kiss this time holding his face towards yours, before turning away and going to open your door.

If only Mikey weren’t so caught up in your date would he realize he was fallowed..

Ralph pov-

Mikey had been sneaking out of the layer almost every other night Leo told me to drop it that it was probably nothing, and Donnie being his hood little lap dog agreed. I can’t get over this feeling that he’s not up to anything good.

So one night I follow him opting out of scouting. Leo looked at me like I was crazy, to be fair, I never back down from a good fight.

I followed him to a park, waiting for about an hour, he just sat at a swing on his T-phone, I was about to leave until I saw this girl with h/c (hair/color) walk up behind him trying to spook him, and Mikey played along.

I followed them the rest of the night till she finally went home, and I waited until Mikey tuned a corner, before giving him a piece of my mind.

Landing in front of him he gasped in shock, “what are you doing here” he looked worried.

“I should be asking you that dateing a human?, Mikey what are you thinking?”

Mikey seemed to get upset, “non of your god damn business.”

Shocked by his word choice I can physically feel my teeth grinding against one another. “You stop seeing her or I tell the team.”

Mikey pauses seemingly scared, until he finds his balls, “you tell the team about y/n then I tell them about the old man you killed”

Now I am shook, how did he know about Vic? I give him a shove hard enough he lands on his ass, before walking away without another word to him.

*time skip*

I start to watch her she has a simple schedule, go to work, go to 24/7 for dinner probably how she met Mikey, before going back home for the night and Mikey on cue shows up swinging into her apartment via her window.

I come up with a plan for tomorrow

*time skip*

On the next night I wait for her at 24/7, I wait in the back as to not scare her off, and I hear the door bell ring I peek my head out to see her she’s chatting to Murakami about his special today, before her e/c (eye/color) eyes glass over to me, I step out of the kitchen, and Murakami greats me asking if I know y/n, I replied that I don’t and I pull out a seat to sit next to her, I start rapid fire asking questions about her and before we know it we collectively gone through half a dozen servings of noodles and dumplings, in a few hours, laughing and talking about all sort of things video games, my brother, different foods we do and don’t like, turns out she’s a bit of a picky eater, I wondered if this is how Mikey came to like her so much..

*Time skip* (like a week)

Donnie’s pov-

“Mikey, Ralph, Leo, can we have a quick conversation about our T-phone usage?” People come out Mikey and Ralph looking like they arnt sleeping well and Leo who looks pissed.

“Sit, this isn’t going to be a fun conversation, and I-“

Leo cuts him off “so who’s the girl?, the girl you two are so determined to see every night that you are willing to break house rules, rules we agreed on.” He’s pissed “what’s her name?”

“Y/n” I answered “and you stole my show, I had there conversations with her pulled up on the tv and everything” Donnie wines.

*time skip*

Leo’s pov-

We agreed we would invite her to the lair before deciding if we needed to ‘scrap’ her this was my compromise to Ralph and Mikey, tension is rising as everyone feels betrayed by each other right now.

We here soft footsteps followed by Donnie’s footsteps, he seems to be the only one of us I can trust to keep his head clear.

She looks worried like she’s in trouble, “is everything alright? Donnie told me you weren’t supposed to see me?”

Ralph and Mikey look down at the ground ashamed at being found out.

“Listen what If I stayed down here? Until you all found me trust worthy enough” her eyes trikes to me almost begging to be kissed right there, I coughed trying to keep my emotions at bay. “I mean it’s worth a shot right? After Aprils, and Casey’s passing it might be nice to have another human around. Donnie ruffles her hair playfully.

God are we all falling for her?