#if he doesn't spy on them himself that is

[sanni276]

fic idea (batfam + timkon):

Bruce Wayne is not Batman. In fact, "Batman" doesn't even exist. There are plenty universes that have a Batman, but not this one (or does it?). Of course Bruce considered becoming a vigilante but in the end he scratched that idea and instead decided to help Gotham through other means like for example lots of charity.

Since Bruce never became Batman, the Batfam never formed. Bruce didn't took litte Dick Grayson that just saw his parents fall in as a ward. Bruce didn't adopt Jason Todd because he never tried to steal the tires of the Batmobile. How would he after all, if the the Batmobile never existed in the first place? Similarly to that he never had a reason to meet what in another life perhaps could have been his children. There is a very important thing this brings with it: if Batman isn't a vigilante, so neither are his (should have been) children.

Except one of them.

When Tim Drake was about 9 years old he found an old camera in his attic. After a while he gets bored of photographing his backyard and decides he wants to see something more exciting, which is why he sneaks out at night. In another life he accidentily saw a certain duo of superheroes and became obsessed with them but this is not this life and there are no superheroes in Gotham. Tim witnesses the horrors and cruelty Gotham offers that night and since he is one of the rare people in Gotham that actually have enough money and available ressources, he decides that he has the responsibility to do something against them.

At first he only plans to support Gotham with charity like his neighbour and maybe occasionally send the police tips for cases through his photos but he keeps having this weird dreams that feel weirdly like memories that push him into wanting to do more.

When Tim is almost 11 years old he decides that he needs to become a vigilante.

The first thing he does is look for a martial arts teacher. This somehow leads to him meeting Lady Shiva which later takes him with her to the League of assassins where he trains for a few years.

During his training period he meets Cass and Damian (do not ask me how he exists, he just does). All three of them sometimes have this odd feeling of deja vu when their together but none of them mentions it out loud and so it remains a mystery.

Eventually Tim has to leave the Loa and return to Gotham but not without taking Damian and Cass with him. Cassandra decides that she wants to explore the world to find out who she wants to be and leaves with a promise of returning in a few years. Tim finds out that Bruce is Damian's biological father and drops him of at his doorstep (he obviously gives Damian the means to contact him in emergencies).

Tim, now 13 or 14, finally has everything he needs and starts building his on mainly information (that he gets through a truly impressive spy-system and hacking) based empire and tries to use it to help as many people as possible.

Somewhere during that building process he meets Jason (a small time criminal that is mainly concentrated on theft, which Tim eventually hires as his personal chef and becomes a good friend of Tim (Tim will never admit to himself that the first time he looked at Jason's profile for a case his first thought was "brother?")). Tim also gets to know Dick (maybe he's an Olympi athlete or a police officer or maybe just a very broke gymnastics instructor), Barbara (a local librarian that actually taught him a lot of his hacking skills) and Duke (their friends? maybe there was a competition between their schools where they met?).

Now that we understand this world they all live in abit better let's get to the actual main plot of the fic:

One day, 17-year-old Tim is walking down the street during his lunch break (Tim's parents died when he was 15 so he had to become the CEO of Drake Industries), when he sees a guy about his age do something extremely stupid and Tim thinks "What an idiot". Suddenly the guy looks up and their eyes meet and Tim realises "Wait! That's my idiot!". All off these memories suddenly appear in his head of another life where he was a huge Batman fan and he was Robin and his best friend was the guy he was still staring at. Conner Kent, Superboy, Kon.

Kon also regains all of his memories in that moment which causes them to reconnect / reunite.

Tim, with the sudden knowledge of his past life, obviously wants his family back and the first step to accomplish that is finding out if they can remember their past life too.

All in all imagine this:

A fic where Tim is doing his best to have all the people he loves close to him again while simultaneously keeping a company alive and handling all the struggles being a teenage vigilante brings. There is of course also the little problem that is seeing what used to be his adoptive father at galas and wanting to do nothing more than throwing himself into his arms and getting his Dad back but Bruce doesn't even know who he is at this point. All of this interrupted by sweet Timkon fluff since at first they are the only ones that remember that their reality used to be very different and at some point of all of this they fall in love (or maybe they where from the start?).

[enlyume]

Not so secret

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word count: 1.8k

Summary: Steve accidentally finds out why Bucky insisted on him taking a day off.

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: None

Notes: This is Bucky x female reader, but with Steve's POV. AU with no superpowers. Also, English is not my first language :)

Being the owner of your own gym comes with a few pros and a lot of cons. The pros? You knew a lot of people - and women - you could make your own schedule and choose your own staff and as a personal trainer you could stay fit. Cons: You had to put up with clients complaining about the self-defence classes being too difficult, your colleagues flirting with their wives, and you being on call 24/7 with no holidays. But, so far, Steve was enjoying his gym life.

Two and a half years of surviving in Brooklyn seemed like a success, so he could choose how to spend his first free day in a long time. Clean his apartment, go to his mother's house to help her with some water-related problems, go for a run and do some shopping. He could already hear Bucky, Natasha and Sam saying that this was far from a free day, but he didn't care.

He knew Bucky would scoff and swear he would never give him another day off, but looking at his now full fridge, he felt happy. So happy that he thought he could at least give his friends the satisfaction of a night off drinking. Maybe not until he got really drunk, because the next day was Friday and he had to open the gym, but still.

So he called Bucky, and when he didn't pick up the phone, he tried Natasha.

"I can't believe you wasted your first day off in months running errands. We are not friends anymore," she said, and Steve could picture her sitting on her couch, the TV on a murder mystery, her eyes narrowed. "That's not what Buck and I work our asses off for, Rogers!" she complained.

"Hey, I can do whatever I want with my free time. And, how do you know that?!" he asked, looking around for a hidden camera. His friends wouldn't spy on him, would they?

"I know everything," she whispered and Steve felt the urge to hang up and go and read. "OK, what's up? Are you taking off again tomorrow to help your neighbour redecorate?"

"I was thinking about going out for a drink with my friends, seeing as it's not that late, but I'm rethinking my life choices right now and I'm not so sure anymore."

"Don't be a drama queen, Stevie. Give me five, the bar next to my place".

"It'll take me more than five minutes to get there, Nat".

"Yeah, OK, you've got eight. Call the boys, I call the girls?" She asked and didn't need to elaborate. Natasha, Buck, Sam and himself were a team in and out of the gym. And since she finished college, and came back to Brooklyn, Becca usually joined them with her roommate Y/n.

"I already called Buck, but he didn't pick up. I'll try again," he replied, grabbing the keys and leaving his apartment. It wasn't that big, but living alone was more than enough and it was only a block away from the gym. That saved him the daily traffic jam.

He shrugged under his jacket, wishing it was summer, and walked down the street.

"Let me know if he doesn't pick up. I'll try," Natasha said, and Steve could hear her moving around her flat, getting ready.

"What makes you think he'll answer your call but not mine?" he sneered, smirking. Bucky had been pretty insistent about hiring Natasha, and although they flirted sometimes, it had never become anything serious. Or so he thought.

"He will," was her brief reply. Steve rolled his eyes and turned the corner. His eyes automatically drifted to the gym and he paused, frowning. The lights were on, but it was past closing time. "Hey, gotta go. See you in ten".

"Eight!" was the last thing he heard Natasha say before he hung up.

Steve crossed the street and tried the front door, breathing a sigh of relief when he found it locked. So Bucky wasn't there and hadn't left the gym open, he'd just forgotten to turn off the lights. He used the keys to get inside and went to his office to turn off all the lights from there, but stopped in the doorway when he saw Bucky's jacket and helmet on the table. His friend was still there? Past closing time? The blond left the office and went to the stairs, climbing them two at a time and heading for the only room where the lights were still on. Maybe Bucky had fallen and hurt himself, or maybe he had fainted, or maybe…

"That's not the way to use it, doll."

Doll. Doll. Steve narrowed his eyes, already angry with Bucky. When he'd offered to do the afternoon shift that Thursday too, on the pretext that he'd worked a lot and deserved a day off to rest, Steve hadn't been suspicious. It wasn't the first time Bucky had suggested it, and he'd had to get his house in order and run a few errands, so he'd accepted without question. And Bucky had smirked. He hadn't thought about it at the time, but now the smile had taken on a new meaning.

Emma, the student who had started Natasha's self-defence classes a month ago, immediately came to mind. Or it could be April, the recently divorced woman. She always laughed at his jokes, even when they weren't that funny, and stroked his arm openly. Steve opened his eyes wide. It could also be Peggy, making good on his threat.

"If you don't ask her out soon, I will, punk," he had told him a few times when Steve's eyes lingered on the door of the classroom Peggy had just entered. He took a deep breath, gripped the door handle and looked at the ceiling. Please don't let it be Peggy, he prayed. "Then tell me how it works."

Steve let go of the handle as if it were on fire. He knew that voice. It wasn't Peggy, but maybe it would have been better if it had been.

"Yeah, I'll pass. It's funnier to watch you try." Steve did not need to see his friend's face to know that he was smirking.

"Is that why you wanted me to come, to laugh at me?" She didn't mean it maliciously, because if there was one thing she knew about Y/N, it was that she wouldn't say anything to offend.

Steve tried to remember if he had seen her at the gym before. She was at the opening, sure, and she visited from time to time, but had she tried a class? He remembered Bucky telling her to leave because she was against the dress code. Y/N always gave the same answer: her gym clothes were just for posting photos on her social media.

"I wanted you to come so I could be alone with you. I missed you."

"We saw each other at Nat's last Sunday," she chuckled.

"Yes, but I couldn't…"

Steve knew he shouldn't, but curiosity took the best of him and he pushed the door just a little, so he could see them. Y/N was standing next to the treadmill and Bucky was holding her cheeks while he kissed her. He couldn't help but be surprised, because even though he knew what he was about to see, he didn't expect to see exactly that. His friend getting into trouble, kissing his younger sister's best friend? Yes. Bucky pulling away from her just enough to reach down and wrap his arms around her waist, filling her face with kisses, both of them laughing and whispering words in each other's ears? No. Because this didn't look like an affair. The smile on his friend's face as he listened intently to what she was telling him gave away that this was anything but a simple affair.

The sound of a mobile phone interrupted them and for a few seconds Steve thought it was his and he was going to get caught, but Bucky let go of Y/N and picked up his phone from the floor. "Hey Nat, what's up?"

Bucky turned, his back to the door, and Steve looked at Y/N. She had sat down on the workbench again and was trying to lift the weights without success. Bucky immediately gestured for her to let go and she obeyed, still smiling.

"I'd love to, but I've worked my ass off today and I'm dead. I'm going to bed," Bucky said to Natasha, declining her offer to join them for a drink.

Y/N held out her hand and Bucky took it, intertwining his fingers with hers and letting her pull on it, trying not to laugh. "Hmm, tempting, but I'll pass," Bucky said again. "Night, Nat."

He hung up and dropped the phone on the floor before standing over T/N. Steve took that as his cue and stepped back, not wanting to see any more. A low moan made him rush downstairs and out of the gym, closing the door carefully behind him. Bucky and Y/N. Y/N and Bucky. They were… what were they? Should he ask? He wanted to know and at the same time he didn't.

He walked on until he reached the bar and forced a smile when Sam held up his hand and waved at him. Natasha was next to him and Becca in front of them, a beer in her hand and laughing at something the redhead was telling her. And a new fear hit him: did Becca know?

"Took you longer than ten minutes, Rogers! You're paying next!" Natasha joked with her trademark smile. Steve nodded slowly as he sat down next to the younger Barnes.

"You all right? You look like you've seen a ghost," Sam chuckled, taking a sip of his beer. Steve ignored him and turned to Becca.

"Where's Y/N? Is she coming?"

He wondered if he was being too direct. He could have made some small talk before asking about her, or maybe he should have asked about his brother first. But he needed to know if Becca knew about her best friend and Bucky. The brunette rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"She already had plans with her colleagues."

"Why? They're not as fun as us," Sam complained.

"And your brother?" Steve asked again and Becca tilted her head. "I called him, but he didn't pick up."

"He said he was tired," Natasha said, a smirk on her lips. "But from his tone, I bet he's with a girl."

"What?! He ditched us for a girl?" Sam complained again. "He deserves to work all weekend, Steve."

"I don't know, Sam," Steve murmured, looking down at his hands. He remembered Bucky's smile, Y/N's laugh and them holding hands. His best friend saying how much he missed them. And then he remembered that Y/N didn't work weekends. "He's been working a lot lately. I think he deserves a weekend off."

"Whaaaat?"

Their friends started talking at the same time. Sam was whining again, while Natasha and Becca were plotting how to ruin Bucky's weekend. Steve stood up, smiling.

"OK, next round's on me!"

[threebea]

Anakin wasn't dillusioned with the Jedi to the point he became Darth Vader.

Palpatine was trying to seperate Anakin from the Jedi and make them suspicious of Anakin and make Anakin resentful of them, yes, but it wasn't to make him want to kill all Jedi. He wanted to make sure Anakin had nowhere to turn about Padme by playing on Anakin's fears and insecurities.

The Council won't give him the rank of Master. Anakin brushes off Padme's suggestion that Obi-Wan could help them. "We don't need him."

Anakin resents the Council for not making him a Master and he resents the request to spy on Palpatine, but he tells Mace that Palpatine is the Sith. He doesn't show up later because he's trying to figure out if the Jedi are the real villains for doing a coup, he's worried that if Palpatine dies he won't be able to save Padme.

And during the confrontation Anakin is fine with arresting Palpatine. He tries to argue for Palpatine's life despite Palpatine actively shooting force lightning because if Palpatine dies he can't get the Sith secrets he has.

The reason Anakin hates the Jedi comes from two places:

⭐

1: he had to kill a bunch of them during order 66. Like during the slaughter of the Sand People he's blaming everyone but himself. It's the Council's fault, it's the Jedi's fault, they all deserved it. Even the children. If they had done xyz I wouldn't have to kill them.

2. Obi-Wan, who Anakin views as the epitome of what a Jedi is, who Anakin cares about on a personal level 'betrays' him and leaves him to die in lava. Anakin cares more about personal relationships than ideology and even then it's all fear based where he worries about loss. He loses Padme, Obi-Wan leaves him, all he has left is Palpatine. And once again he's blaming Obi-Wan for Obi-Wan betraying him and ignoring the fact he just slaughtered Obi-Wan's family. He thinks he should matter more than everything else... Even though he was actively trying to kill Obi-Wan moments before.

Vader knows what Palpatine is, but Vader is locked into hatred.

It's far easier to convince yourself your victims deserve it while being a darksider than knowing they were innocent and still being turning back to the light. Being a darksider is selfish. It's about what you feel and the power you have. The Jedi deserve to die because I hate them. Not the Jedi died because I was afraid of loss.

And this is the thing the Anakin Skywalker Obi-Wan describes to Luke was real. He was a good man, he was Obi-Wan's best friend, but Anakin was afraid and in the moments where it matters he falters. A good person becomes twisted and evil because of their own fear. That's the Darkside.

[hexb0nes]

imagine the turmoil that would result if you were a noxian spy; your goal was to gain the trust the hextech inventors jayce and viktor by becoming their assistant after the disappearance of their former one. oh, how you would glaze them like honey spread on ham, with your sweet words and support. stroking the flames of doubt and frenzy in their hearts, you're a master manipulator, one of ambessa medarda's best assets.

your sights are on the mission, but you had to admit that working with viktor and jayce ignited a spark of pride in you. hextech was making a difference, it deserved to be in the hands of the people to better their lives. yet, you are noxian, the beliefs of 'survival of the fittest' and the honor of war are drilled in you.

you're there in the council room when it's bombed, next to viktor. when the dust settles upon the explosion, you find yourself gravely injured and beside a deceased viktor. your mission is forgotten, your mind is weary, and all you could do was scream for your colleague, your friend.

one of your legs is charred with burns from the explosion, unable to feel the now absent dermis. yet, you are noxian, you are made for this. you shout for jayce and he finds the two of you among the rubble; he tries to resuscitate viktor, but to no avail. jayce rushes off with viktor in hand while councilor mel medarda, ambessa's prized daughter, addresses your injuries.

you're conflicted, muddled with thoughts of disappointment and grief. you failed your mission, willingly so, by succumbing to such affections of care and compassion for the hextech inventors. during your stay in the hospital ward, you received extensive treatment for your burns via skin grafts, but they cannot eradicate the pain and return your functioning.

you, a disgraced noxian, then seek guidance and aid in the depths of the undercity, searching for the one called 'the machine herald' with the gift of repairing such injuries and diseases. with all your might, you travel down and find the herald's commune, filled with peace and tranquilly.

you follow the path to the herald and to your shock, it's your friend, viktor. he greets you with a smile and offers you healing, explaining how he was blessed with such a gift after being revived by jayce's intervention with the hexcore. you don't believe him until viktor touches his fingers against your forehead, consuming you in light while mechanical parts swirl around you. when you open your eyes once more, you're repaired, your leg now metallic and splashes of golden white covering your body.

you live in the commune with the other followers and viktor, tending to the various gardens and such. relief washes over you when you finally shed your skin and abandon your task as a noxian spy. yet, the past always catches up with you when the noxian army locates the commune.

ambessa outs you as a traitor before the army and viktor, revealing your original intentions. despite viktor's supposed lack of emotions, his face betrays him when he understands that the months shared together were wasted.

tensions break when jayce, battered and bruised, appears before the commune and towards viktor's chambers. you try to stop him, you tell him the truth about yourself and plead for him to listen. jayce doesn't, as he drags himself into the chambers and-with a heavy heart-blasts viktor in the chest.

your mind disappears the moment viktor dies, your tether to the mortal world snapping into two. your body, like the other fallen commune members, engulfs in golden light and you're transformed into something unnatural and otherworldly; a puppet, a marionette.

the final salt rubbed into the fresh wound comes when viktor puppeteers your automaton form into the destroyed council room to fight jayce and mel; either of them recognize you. despite viktor's vice on you, you try to fight back, to free yourself of his influence. your only solace comes when jayce destroys your body with his hammer, your soul evaporating into the aether.

[yanderes-galore]

Romantic yandere Obito with darling who is a member of the Akatsuki concept

I loved researching his character! Hope you enjoy :)

Yandere Obito with Akatsuki! Darling

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Possessive behavior, Overprotective behavior, Isolation, Violence, Blood, Murder, Delusional behavior, Denial, Stalking, Kidnapping, Forced relationship.

Obito is... strange to you.

Well, you never really knew him as Obito.

You first knew him as Tobi, a quirky fellow who adored annoying the team.

Along with... cling around you?

Tobi was a strange persona of is.

Then you knew him as Madara, an Uchiha meant to aid the Akatsuki.

Point is, you never really meet Obito as himself.

You meet his personas that he crafted to continue his plans.

Obito, however, knew pretty much everything about you in Akatsuki.

He took on the role of the true leader in the Akatsuki as you were all sent to hunt Tailed Beasts for a plan to change the world.

You genuinely wished to change the world when you joined Akatsuki.

So... safe to say your goals mostly matched up.

Obito doesn't usually like to think of romantic feelings.

That's understandable considering what happened in his past...

What happened to Rin....

Since that day he's tried to ignore romantic feelings.

Yet when he integrates himself into the Akatsuki and meets you...

It brings up emotions he wished he could suffocate.

Your personality reminds you of Rin at times and it makes him recoil.

Obito, even in his manipulated mind, has always wanted to make the world a safer place.

He's terrified of losing any more people like Rin.

So when he sees you, someone who reminds him of his past love...

He gets obsessive.

Even as Tobi he tries to deny it, but he can't help but feel protective.

As Tobi he often tried to hang around you when he wasn't pestering Deidara.

He always acts excited, asking how you're doing and how you feel about your fellow Akatsuki members.

It hurts him a bit when you call him annoying but that just means he's good at acting... hopefully....

When he has to play the role of Madara, he's much more authoritative.

If anything this benefits him as he can order you to stay on less dangerous jobs.

Obito often tries to ignore his romantic feelings, despite them showing in his protective behavior.

With his abilities it's easy for him to keep track of you.

Despite that he never sends you on Tailed Beast missions, just missions that require spying or planning.

Even then he never sends you alone.

While he doesn't like to admit it, Obito slowly tries to keep you by his side.

Part of him, the one that yearns to be appreciated and loved, wants to give in to his feelings.

You may not know him for who he truly is... but maybe later he can show you.

Just you.

You essentially become his replacement Rin... Which sounds horrible.

At the very least he feels it's fate he met you.

Rin must've led you two together to make him happy....

He really doesn't deserve you.

He knows he doesn't.

Yet he finds himself pursuing you anyways.

Obito is primarily protective of you.

He's using pretty much all of the Akatsuki to his advantage except you.

He doesn't trust any of them with you.

He doesn't think they'll keep you safe like he plans to.

Subconsciously Obito finds himself rushing his plan for your sake.

He's so focused on making you safe that he subconsciously uses you as motivation.

Obito would probably never admit his feelings for you.

But his actions say a lot more than he'd like.

After all, the only person he trusts around you is himself.

You're often stuck with him.

He chats with you so casually when you're alone, like he's more interested in you than the rest of the Akatsuki.

Granted, he needs Nagato's eye, but emotionally he's more invested in you.

He could sacrifice the rest of the Akatsuki for his goal.

But you? Never.

He refuses to lose anyone like you again.

Obito killing for your affection is given.

He's a strong character from a strong clan.

If someone was getting in his way, he's getting rid of them.

He doesn't care how much blood stains his robes or his mask.

You'll understand what he's doing is necessary, right?

You want a better world just like him, don't you?

Then him getting rid of a few nuisances or traitors shouldn't bother you.

Just listen to him...

He'll protect you since he couldn't be there for Rin.

Honestly, if something happened to you...

Obito would probably snap.

Something tells me an Uchiha snapping wouldn't end well.

Like... mass murder won't end well.

It's not too hard to tell you mean a lot to Obito even with the mask on.

His behavior with the personas he uses says a lot.

Obito would do anything to prevent losing the ones he loves.

He's already done murder quite a few times, isolating you isn't the worst thing he's done.

Hell, kidnapping you in a secret base isn't the worst of it either.

After all, He just wants you safe, right?

He claims you're weak, compared to the rest of your comrades you could easily get yourself killed.

What he's doing is protecting you... preparing you for a new world of his design... hopefully.

You don't trust a word he says.

You barely did when he was Tobi.

When he tries to give you affection, you smack him away.

A shame, really....

He was hoping you'd keep your loyalty.

Not that any of it matters now.

You'll learn Obito cares for you eventually... loves you even.

Not Tobi, not Madara...

Once he has you to himself he'll reveal he's Obito.

You deserve to know that now.

He knows you no longer trust him, how could you trust him?

Despite that... He hopes you understand eventually.

Maybe with a little bit of encouragement, you'll let him hold and cuddle you without fighting him.

Once you see what his plans are... you'll excuse the fact he's a monster, right?

Rin wouldn't want this... Part of himself screams that at him.

Yet Obito also knows this world has corrupted him.

To do the right thing... sometimes you need to do bad things...

You understand that, don't you?

After all... The Akatsuki aren't good people....

Obito knows he just needs to wait.

He's been waiting for a while.

Once his plan is complete... You'll see he was just trying to protect you.

Then you'll love him

He just needs to wait and put up with your resistance a little longer...

Then you'll be all his... safe in his arms... just like he would've done with Rin.

[oceansssblue]

Pantie thief silco

🤣 here goes a little fun one.

Xx, Sky.

(Still taking silco requests, really easy rules in my profile)

PANTIE THIEF – SILCO/READER

WARNINGS: SILCO STEALING UNDERWARE LIKE A CREEP, ALCOHOL. 💖

Silco would'nt indulge anyone else like this. He would'nt allow any of his men the pleasure of getting wasted at the expense of his alcohol; and he wouldn't have the decency to take care of anyone else but you. Like Jinx, you had managed to slip undetected through his carefully constructed defenses all the way into his heart; and now, Silco finds himself carrying an armfull of a very drunk woman up the stairs towards his bedroom.

The two of you aren't together. Yet. Though Silco is perfectly aware of his feelings towards you, and he trusts you as much as he thinks he is able to trust anyone at this point in his life, he is still somewhat hesitant to make a move. Both because he isn't sure about your own feelings towards him and because he doesn't really... He doesn't really do this. Date –more than a casual fuck–. Have a partner. He doesn't like stepping into the unknown; so he's got no rush.

It's still clear the relationship between you isn't exactly just friendly. There's this energy simmering below the surface; this... carefull expectancy. Rumours, too; as Silco's behaviour around you hasn't been unnoticed either. It can't be; for the second time this month, he's carrying you like a ragdoll up to his bedroom, grunting under his breath at the effort of climbing the creaky stairs with the aditional weight on his knees.

As soon as he sets you down on his bed, you start clawing your clothes off; a task amusingly difficult for your half sleeping, half drunk state. Silco tries not to watch your grumpy effort to get under the soft covers; but it's not an easy thing to do. He's hard –the first glimpse of your smooth naked skin already enough– and he's atracted to you. And you're now completely naked in his bed, twisting around so that you can sink your face into the pillow and inhale. You mumble and sigh, muscles relaxing under the covers, and Silco throbs at the knowledge that is his scent what caused that. Or a promise of a good night's rest.

You fall asleep, and Silco lingers in the bedroom picking up the disaray of your clothes from the floor and putting them into a pile to ease the headache you'll surely have tomorrow. He hovers in place when his fingers close around a black, lacy, pantie; groaning at the thought of seeing you in it. It's almost too pretty to belong to the Underground. He wonders if you only use it on special ocasions –he doubts it's comfortable to wear in any of your spy misions–; and if that's the case, why is he the only man to be lucky to see it. Perhaps you really weren't waiting for anyone else.

He's not proud of it –he doesn't feel guilty either, though, after all, you're invading his space– but he takes it. He pushes it into the safe private darkness of his pocket and leaves the room, resigned to spend the night twisting around in the sofa of his office.

The pounding headache you wake up with the next day quickly reminds you of the –admitedly– too large amount of alcohol you had ingested the night before. You groan all the way through getting dressed, frowning at not finding your underware but too tired to worry about it. You exchange a few words with Silco on your way out –relieved and gratefull that he had been considerate enough to let you crash in his private rooms once again and mortified at the same time–, and return home to shower and go about your day.

You find out all about the dissapearance of the one particular item of your clothing a few days after that. It's just another working day, and you're leaving a stack of business papers on the drawer of Silco's desk when a bunch of suspicously familiar lace calls your attention. Surprised and confused, you grab the fabric and examin it; confirming your initial suspition. It is your pantie. What the hell is Silco doing with this?

As if summoned by your thoughts, Silco chooses that exact moment to pop out of his bedroom, walking down the stairs towards his office in a dark wine red shirt that makes your mouth water. His eyes –still holding a trace of sleep–, inmediately fall upon you; eyebrow silently arching in question at your unexpected visit.

You raise up your hand to show him your discovery with an expectant pop of your hip to the side. Silco's expresion morphs from surprise to recognition to a sort of careless guiltiness. He shrugs as if this were a daily occurence –and a totally normal thing– and you can't help but laugh.

"You fuckin' sociopath" you chuckle while he approaches you. "I was wondering where the hell did my underware go".

Silco stops right in front of you and hums uncomitedly.

"You have a tendency of getting naked when drunk, it seems" he replies with a deep, calm tone.

You tilt your head to study him.

"If you liked me, you could have just told me, you know" you decide to risk it, though you hate to be vulnerable. "Surely it isn't a secret I have a crush on you by now".

Silco can't mask the sincere surprise that travels through his face quick enough. He smirks, then, a single side tug of his lips that shouldn't look that attractive –but it does–.

"I see" his eyes roam through your figure in a sugestive way with undeniable interest. "Come back to my office after work then, darling, and I shall compensate you for my cruel robbery".

The promise of a good time with this man sends a rush of excitement through your veins; and you give him a single firm nod with a victorious grin on your face.

THE END.

[marvel-lous-guy]

Tony: do you seriously think that's gonna work?

Peter: yeah! Why wouldn't it?

Tony: Because that is a toaster!

Harley: a high pressure toaster!

Tony: its still not gonna work! A toaster cant push bread out at a great anough force to make an ironman suit fly!

Peter: its not gonna make an ironman suit fly!

Harley: Its gonna make an ironpan suit fly!

Peter: It's made of frying pans!

Tony: Oh my God you're gonna die. You're both gonna die the day you move out.

[bacchuschucklefuck]

doing chibi is a good design exercise bc it forces u to think on shapes n essential details, essentially thumbnailing ur designs. its also a terrible design exercise bc it ends up looking cute no matter what

[tiredandoptimistic]

I just realized. In One Step Ahead, the "typical Curt" "typical jerk!" "ooh, sick burn" interaction is way more than just banter. Owen hears "time to save the world again" and can immediately write it off as Curt being Curt, unable to grow and think for himself beyond stupid impulsivity. Typical Curt, acting like it's a simple save the world scenario where he can cut corners and come out the hero. Meanwhile, Curt hears "and pretend to be a hero again" and can't square it with the Owen he remembers, it's just generic villain dialogue. Just a typical jerk who wants to cause pain. It's no coincidence that the next line in the song is Curt saying "what happened to the man I knew?" he literally can't recognize this interaction as things Owen would do or say.

[starry-bite]

interesting! i've always figured the innocent he's referring to here specifically is declan, since he believes emily is responsible for his death, but i do think the surrounding shadiness and possibility of others stand.

god, especially with the "shoot fahey"/"hello, lauren" moment, that is one that raises So many questions for me about who lauren was. we mostly see her in her capacity as ian's lover during the episode, behind closed doors, but how did she present when observed as arms dealer lauren, ruthless strategist lauren? what did she have to do to get and keep her foot in the door?

I've been rewatching Lauren -- it might be because the scene is uncomfortable and I glide through it but:

I can't believe I missed this.

Ian Doyle flat-out said Emily has killed innocents before I knew she did shady stuff, 'cause she was undercover and worked as a spy -- Spies are inherently shady.

But to have it confirmed, canonically, that to keep her undercover -- to convince Ian Doyle that she's one of them, an arms dealer, a criminal she had to. Someone who is as morally flexible as he was.

It goes back to Retaliation:

"Explains his behavior, too. A good guy doing bad things."

And then we see a hint of how she operated as Lauren Reynolds--

Doyle: What are you thinking?

Liam: Woman first, then the goateed fella. And then Fahey if he has a shot. If not, he'll shut up.

This was the moment Emily Prentiss made the cold calculation to sacrifice Fahey just to keep her team safe.

Judging from Doyle's reaction...

This is what Emily Prentiss, terrorist profiler, and Spook as 'Lauren Reynolds' is great at -- cold calculation and pragmatism.

This is why Prentiss wanted, desperately to be part of the BAU because their goals are clear.

[oblique-lane]

References for Anomaly Diversion!!!

Official!! finally!!

I wanted to make their design stand out, so I created them from scratch; they're not loadouts you can find in-game. Plus a little bit of character description because I'm dying to talk about them and their roles in the story (*wearing a shirt that says "please talk to me about my fic"*).

Now I can finally draw them often!!

Somewhat goofy clothing sheets under the cut↓↓↓

I tried to design them the way their silhouettes and colors stay recognisable, as if they were meant to be used in-game later, to not to break the gameplay rules. I also wanted them to look as tf2-like as possible, I studied the hell out of the 3d models and on the last three I guess it started to turn out decent. Drawing Spy is still pain though.

Or maybe it's just that I'm not attracted to the majority of the mercs visually?? That's why they don't look satisfying?? Lmao. Need to adjust them to my tastes later.

I'm not sure I can exactly explain my design choices with these... How exactly they correlate to their characters. There is something, but I went for it fully intuitively.

//

For BLU scout I went for the softer, rounder oversized clothing to accent his insecurity and the need to shield himself for comfort. It still needed to shape his torso (game rules) but his hood and sleeves do the deed. There is also a strict rule in how to draw his freckles: they look more like moles and there's 7 or 8 of them. You won't believe me if I say this is lore relevant.

For RED Scout, I went with the more aggressive military style. I think I literally took this jacket design from a real military one. There should be an accent on his heavy relations with the army. His clothes are tight because he still likes himself.

RED Sniper is giving hunter vibes, forest type. BLU Sniper looks more like a fisher or a winter hunter. Not sure what deeper meaning I could assign to this except that BLU Sniper was heavily referenced on Ogata Hyakunosuke.

BLU Spy should radiate tiredness. His look is quite unkept for his standards but at this point it doesn't matter anymore. The turtleneck and the boots are special requests from @/gentlesurgeryenjoyer (xoxo)

BLU Medic just looks so freaking cool in a black shirt. It was a vision. I'm not sure if black and white accents mean anything in terms of which side those characters are on. I also wanted to separate him from another famous horror witnessing Medic.

And Miss Pauling was the most satisfying to draw, it was a gift to draw her last... I gave her pants because it's getting cold outside at the time when the story takes place. I also find it very impractical to go killing job in a pencil skirt, I'm sorry. She probably also wears snickers underneath.

And also thanks to @nightly-headache for helping out and assistance!

[piracytheorist]

Idk I just really like that Twilight's reaction to being told "Your wife used to be a prostitute!" is to go like

and proceed to say how honourable and worthy of respect her dedication, self-sacrifice and mental fortitude are, and how we're shown he actually means that.

And then my girl Yor sees his reaction and hears his words and for the first time in her life she goes like "This is a man who literally just met me and has no connection to me yet he not only understands my position, he's also willing to bring himself out there and have my back when other people have free bait to judge me" and like damn how important that was to her, to have someone (who doesn't owe his survival to her like Yuri does) actually see her and respect her choices and have the absolute BEST of faiths in her. Like, what Camilla says there has the societal power to make her look like a pariah. Yet this dude comes over and without knowing anything about her, he vouches for her and immediately assumes her reasons were noble and altruistic. And though he doesn't know what profession he's actually vouching for, he's completely right in his assumption about her intentions, and considering how easily the general public judges sex workers, it's no surprise this support gives Yor the courage to believe Loid will understand her and won't think bad of her if she ever disappears on them due to her work, because he's open-minded enough for his first and immediate assumption about her is that she has good intentions.

And I just wanna SCREAM because she has absolutely no idea how little he will judge her about her assassin gig. She already considers herself lucky she's come across someone who is compassionate enough to think the best out of someone who works in a profession that is not considered "morally acceptable" by the public. But she has no idea the actual jackpot she's hit, because his own profession is far more dark and sinister yet he still has the kindness and empathy in his heart to understand people who do the same as he does.

Like, that's it with her character, isn't it? She sacrificed her own youth and morality to help Yuri grow up and be educated, and that caused him to idolize her, and because he was the only family she had left, she has been desperate to not cause any of her ties with him to break. But it also caused her impostor syndrome, and she had no confidence in any of her abilities aside from killing and cleaning up after her work, because she lives in a misogynistic society that is suspicious of unmarried women (like, that judgment alone, considering unmarried men don't experience such scrutiny, can be enough to damage a woman's psyche) and because she has been working under a man cruel enough to hire orphaned teenagers as assassins and nearly kill them in tests of their abilities ever since she was a teenager. For her it was either "I'm either perfect in something or I'm completely useless and I deserve people's judgment". Because if Yuri sees she doesn't have the perfect record, she thinks he will be horrified and she'll lose the ties to her last remaining family. And she will think she deserved that. If her killing skills waver in the slightest, she will be killed, either by enemies or by the Shopkeeper doing his little "tests". And she will think she deserved that. And if she doesn't abide by the society's expectations, she will at best be judged and mocked (for not cooking at home) and at worst get arrested (for being suspected as a spy). And she will think she deserved that.

Yet again, this stranger comes along, is told she's worked a socially shameful profession, knows she's shy and with so few connections that she can't even find someone to act as her pretend boyfriend for a party, and he supports her. And then he finds out how socially unskilled she is, how terrible she is at cooking, how she can't even pretend to kiss him for their mutual benefit, how she has the tendency to get so drunk she accidentally kicks him unconscious... And those things that she considers fatal flaws of her, he says are parts of her that she doesn't need to pretend don't exist. That's who she is, and there's nothing to fix, and she can just accept them without feeling bad or ashamed of it, that pretending she's someone else, someone perfect, will only make her miserable and exhausted.

And like... fuck. How can she not feel glad she got to marry that guy?

And how much will her heart break when she finds out he's a spy and will immediately doubt all the supportive words he's told her? And how astonishing will it be when she finds out that he actually meant pretty much everything he's told her, and that he really resonates with her and believes in her?

(anime only here, don't spoil me for the manga)

[bi-writes]

Okay but MOB sitting on Simon's lap, cuddling as they watch some movie Simon picked out because it was his turn. At one point she gets up and he thinks she's just going to use the restroom, hands on her hips to help stabilize her. Only instead of leaving, she turns around and sits on her knees between his legs. She bats her eyes at him but otherwise just soaking in how pretty he is. He probably makes a joke, says he loves her and when he still doesn't move figures she just wants a moment and continues to watch the screen.

When she finally works herself up to it, she starts sliding her hands up and down his thighs and just the sensation and imagery alone has him hard and he can't bring himself to ask her to stop when it feels so nice. Eventually her hands wander up further and she begins to play with the button of his jeans. Still not stopping her, even as she unbuttons and zips them down to pull out his erection. When he finally looks down, she stops and stares innocently up at him.

As soon as his attention's somewhat back up on the screen, she repositions herself and licks a stripe up his dick to bring his head into her mouth to swirl around. He doesn't even last that long and she doesn't let him pull her off when he comes.

Or something like that...

mail-order bride (18+)

simon likes action movies. they're his favorite, by far. he likes to watch the over-the-top car races in the middle of metropolitan cities, he likes big, stupid explosions and when the protagonist has their enemy at the end of their gun and says something cheesy like "you're not going anywhere now."

he told you once that he likes the simplicity. the happy endings. the key recovered, a family saved, the epic conclusion of an explosive journey that always ends in the bad guy in handcuffs and the good guy on a beach sipping a mai tai, getting the girl, saving the world.

you think maybe he likes it because it dampens reality. you have seen the aftermath of an op gone wrong; in this way, simon can fantasize just a little. he can pretend that there is nothing wrong with the world for 90 minutes or so.

what's so wrong with that?

he's so pretty.

he ran errands for you today. came back from the store with a paper bag in his hands, setting it down on the counter and unpacking it. you were sat at the kitchen counter, the orange cat wrapped up completely in a burrito of a towel so you could cut her dagger-like claws without risk of retaliation. simon was watching carefully out of the corner of his eye, but as he unpacked the bag, you had all but melted in your chair.

a refill of your favorite makeup remover (you were going to run out tonight, guaranteed). vitamins (ya look right sick, baby, drink y'r juice). your favorite brand of pads (just tell me which ones, i'll get it right, promise). sour sweets (cherry-flavored, of course, sour because he likes the face you make when you pop them into your mouth). when the last box hit the counter, you had dropped the cat, much to her relief.

condoms. fucking condoms.

no, he's not pretty. simon is so fucking hot.

he doesn't budge when you get up to put the empty popcorn bowl into the sink. when you come back in the room, simon is still staring at the television, eyes trained on the spy on screen hopping between rooftops as they dodge bullets. you bite your lip watching him, unable to stop thinking about simon, simon, simon.

he's wearing nice jeans. straight jeans, but even the extra give doesn't matter when your husband is made of pure muscle and fat. you can see his stomach through his shirt since it's tucked in, white fabric showing off that nice pudge that you love laying your head on, your palm, knowing how solid and strong he most certainly is. nghghhhh, and his arms--big, bulging, tattooed, a perfect canvas for colorful markers or glitter or maybe your tongue.

it's subconscious, really. the carpet is soft under your knees as you kneel at his feet, lowering yourself so you can blink up at him big and wide as he keeps his eyes on the movie. he does notice you, however; his big hand slides down his thigh, and your eyes flutter a little when he passes it over your head then down your face, a pretty little pet between his legs.

"not supposed to be on y'r knees f'me, baby," simon mutters, but you can't answer because his thumb slips into your mouth. you wrap your lips around it absentmindedly, running your tongue over the thick pad of it. "tha's my job."

you sit up on your knees, leaning over him, and he gives you his attention finally, a twitch of a smile as he bends his neck a little and kisses you warmly. you steady yourself by putting your hands on his thighs, gripping the meat of them firm as you slip your tongue into his mouth and draw a low grunt from deep within his chest.

"always working for me, simon," you whisper between kisses. "always..."

fuck, the blood rushes to his cock almost immediately. he has such a soft spot for you. taking care of you, doing things for you, buying you what you need--it makes him so fucking hard thinking about fulfilling every need of yours. you deserve nothing but nice dreams, good meals, happy cats, a well-loved pussy, all the love his broken heart can give. he chubs up in his pants every time you ask him for something.

can you carry this for me, simon?

oh, i need some help with this, baby, just here...

can you get me more of this? i'm about to run out.

the zipper is stuck, simon...can you get me out of this?

ugh, you're his walking wet dream. and you're kneeling in between his legs, his sweet girl pouting up at him, and--oh, fuck--

your hands are soft under his shirt. you've untucked it just enough, your warm fingers sliding along the band of his jeans. he hisses a little, his body stiffening, and you smooth a thumb over his belt before kissing him again.

"you're so pretty, simon," you whisper, and he licks over your bottom lip in response, drawing a soft whine out of you. his thighs widen just a little when he hears the clink of his belt, feeling the waistband loosen as you draw it out from the loops and toss it onto the carpet behind you. "such a handsome man you are..."

"come off it," simon growls a little, and you giggle, freeing the button and slipping your hand down. his mouth falls open in a silent moan as you cup him with a hot hand, fingers sliding under his length to fondle his balls.

"mmm..." you follow his sputtering mouth, breathing him in. "actually, simon...i really, really wanna get on it..."

"wot a brat," simon murmurs, clicking his tongue. "can't be fuckin' patient--ahh!"

you pull him out of his jeans with a firm tug before sticking your tongue out and kneeling back down to lick a curious stripe up the underside of him. simon is pulsing, radiating heat and already leaking beads of stringy pre-cum, and as you suck the tip of him into your mouth, you realize just how thick your husband really is.

you've never seen him quite this naked, quite this up close. when he fucked your thighs, he had felt big, but his cock is truly making a space for itself in your mouth--

"ah!" you gasp as he fists your hair and pulls you off, leaning down to kiss you hard.

"baby--"

"i want it--" you whimper, using your hands, letting the spit from your mouth drip down his cock as your fingers spread it wide, pumping him softly. "simon, please! please! you always say...always say i can have whatever i want, please..."

when he lets your hair go, you dive. you suck him into your mouth, practically purring as you press him back into the couch and suck. he tastes like a man should, like a husband should, musk and a little sweat and just enough soap to have you a little light-headed. with the first bob of your head, simon shudders, a big hand cupping the back of your neck as he drops his chin to his chest to watch you. he uses his other hand to push your hair back, his mouth falling open a little as he watches your eyes roll back in your head as you try to fit more of him into your mouth.

your mouth squelches with every bob. spit gathers around the edges of your mouth, little globs dripping out as you slurp and flick your tongue over every vein and soft patch of skin. you're making a mess of him, all soft mouth and wiggly tongue and gentle moans that make him seize up.

it's not even a minute of your soft sucking, and simon is caught off guard by his own release. he wants to apologize, but you look so fucking pretty, coughing a little around his wet cock.

you don't stop then either.

some of it drips down around your hands, his own cum webbing between your fingers and getting onto the front of your shirt and staining his jeans, but you keep your mouth on him. you nuzzle the head of his cock against the inside of your cheek, pull off just enough to suck so softly on the tip of him.

"baby, fuck--" simon chokes, watching you through lidded, hazy eyes. "please, fuck--"

"i want it," you whisper, smoothing a wet hand down his length. he's getting hard all over again, and he nearly cums a second time when you let your eyes find his and pepper kisses from the tip of him all the way to the base. "don't i get w-whatever i want, simon? c-can't i...can't i have more?"

simon chuckles a little. he uses his thumb to swipe a glob of cum off your chin, bringing it up to his own mouth to suck off with a snort.

"you want more, baby?" simon asks, and you sit back up on your knees, pressing your forehead to his as he eyes your lips. they're a tad swollen, kiss-bitten and wet. "wot more do ya want, hmm? wot is it my wife wants so much, huh?"

you smile, wide, those big eyes sparkling. you give him another slow stroke with your hand, and he hisses, gritting his teeth as he watches your smile get just that much bigger.

"i want you to stop playing games with me, simon," you say softly. "you'll never win. so just give me what i deserve."

"wot you deserve?"

"don't i deserve you, simon?" you ask, and when he fails to answer, you swipe your thumb over his cock, drawing a cracked groan out of him. "you won't make me beg, will you, simon?"

"no," simon pants, leaning further into you, pressing his face to yours. "never. my wife doesn't beg for anythin'."

"you promise, simon?"

"my wife gets woteva she fuckin' asks for. olways."

[liketolaugh-writes]

The episode transcripts on the Danny Phantom wiki are a blessing, but they also force me to routinely face realizations like-

Kindred Spirits, probably one of the absolute worst episodes for Danny - where he gets kidnapped and finds out that Vlad has been cloning him for months and also gets literally tortured - is... also about how he isn't considerate enough of his friends for some reason

And I can't help but think of that flight home where maybe Danny doesn't explain to them about the cloning thing yet and maybe doesn't mention being tortured or that Vlad's been spying on him or that he watched himself melt and maybe makes no attempt to seek comfort whatsoever because, you know, they're mad at him, what business does he have asking for anything when they just rescued him and he's been so ungrateful lately?

And I just think that maybe lecturing Danny about being a bad friend could have waited for a different episode

[charlietheepicwriter7]

Despite Danny's best efforts, no matter how much time past, Amity Park refused to see Phantom as a hero.

Sure, there were pockets of support, particularly among teens, but most of the town blames Phantom for the property damage, saying if he didn't fight the ghosts then it wouldn't be so bad, to that time he got mind controlled by Freakshow and "attacked" the mayor. It wears him down. It wears Tucker and Sam down. Jazz can only try to support them all.

Then one day, a member of the Justice League visits. Someone minor, and kinda a jerk... maybe a Wonder Twin? Zan? Whatever. They don't investigate; they don't look deeper. They listen to the town folks and declare the ghost hunters, Red Huntress and the Fentons, to be the official heroes of the town.

Worse? Danny Phantom is officially considered a villain to the Justice League. Tuck hacks into the Watchtower and confirms that they have a file (a heavily inaccurate file) about how to defeat Phantom.

Danny doesn't think he can do this anymore.

A few weeks later, a young villain escapes into Amity and demands (begs) that Danny help them escape from the hero after them. No idea who, I can't find a lot of info on teen villains in DC, so let's fudge some ages and make it Kyd Wyckyd from the Teen Titans cartoon. Danny agrees, because to hell with the Justice Losers, and they defeat the hero, becoming friends in the process. Kyd confesses that they became a villain after being ostracized bc of how they look, and they've been trying to avoid villain organizations because HIVE was abusive, but it's really hard to be a villain alone bc of all the heroes.

Sam gets an idea. Tucker agrees with the idea. Jazz is just happy they'll end up making friends.

The next day, the Teen Villain Alliance is formed, ready to assist with any teenage illegal shenanigans their allies might get into.

Some notes:

It's created to be a healthier option for teen "villains" to connect with others and support each other.

It's more important that this is for Teens rather than Villains. They're tired of adult villains taking advantage of them. The TVA would rather ally with a teen vigilante than with an adult villain.

Again, no idea who the teen villains are, but Klarion is definitely here. He leaves the Light for the chaos of the TVA. Maybe Ember is there too?

Timeline wise, this is around when Tim is still Robin, but Damien has arrived at Wayne Manor.

This is because, when it comes time to try to infiltrate the TVA, they'll have a convenient child-assassin who has none of the monitors of a teen hero that Phantom immediately picks up on.

Damien, who at this point has been abandoned by his mother, dismissed and scolded by his father, and has had no success at carving his own place in the family, jumps at the chance. He is then surrounded by peers who don't insult him or try to change his behavior (too much; jazz is trying to help him find healthier methods of expressing himself). He... might not want to continue being a spy.

Danny, Sam, Tuck, and Jazz are the founding members.

Danny reinvents himself as the High Prince of the Infinite, Prince Phantom Dark. He got kingship from fighting Pariah Dark, but since he's still alive, he's only a prince. He steals the last name Dark as an intimidation tatic against those in the know; only Danny would have the balls to claim family with Pariah.

Sam works as a powerless villain, but she might no be powerless? Either way, Danny gives her a bunch of repurposed Fenton tech, and she buys the rest with her parents credit card. She does NOT care if that's traced back to the Mansons. She would choose something goth, maybe something spider related or even bat?

I love Pharaoh Tucker, so I think he should get magic powers? Since pharaohs of old were considered the balance between the real and the divine. He's still a tech guy, now he's a tech and magic guy.

Jazz isn't really a villain, more of a team mom who's planning on using everyone's psyche's as her thesis paper. You know what, that's her callsign, she's Psyche. Sometimes she flirts with Nightwing.

[notmeowse]

That AMA marks the end of Dragon Age.

In my opinion.

I'll start by saying that I have played all 3 of the previous games repeatedly, I've loved the series for 15 years, more than half my life. These games inspired me to become a writer and they've shaped a lot of my tastes and interests in shows and writing -- to say they were formative is kind of an understatement. Don't want to go on and on about how much I loved them, that's not the point here.

I didn't care for Veilguard for pretty much all of the reasons people have already discussed at length on Reddit and Tumblr. The writing is comprehensively bad, the romances are easily the worst Bioware has written by pure virtue of having the most cookie-cutter pacing and shallow characterization I've seen across their games, the lore has been shafted in every direction, and the nuanced storytelling and roleplay I came to expect from the series has been taken out back and shot in the head.

All, apparently, in the name of a "clean slate". It seems to me that, rather than familiarizing himself with the existing lore of the game he took the creative reins on, Epler clearly had a vision for Dragon Age (or perhaps a different IP entirely) in his head that he decided to transplant into the game (and possibly Trick? But they've said so little beyond defending their work that I can hardly theorize what direction they were coming from). That being a sanitized, wildly self-contradicting, morally absolute shitshow focused on distancing itself from the previous games as much as possible. Now, I know it's unrealistic to blame one person entirely, and I don't blame him entirely. Corinne was there. Trick was there.

But if it wasn't already evident from the numerous interviews Epler's given on the game as well as his participation in the Q&A's (while the actual lead writer of the game has been completely absent in not just the marketing, but in most fan-related interaction pre and post-launch outside of BSKY), this AMA seems to have confirmed, more than anything else, that Epler doesn't understand the game nor does he understand its audience. Neither does Corinne Busche, who despite being Game Director for only the last two years of development, has been answering lore questions a) like she has any fucking clue and b) like she thinks Dragon Age is a cozy-gamer IP, meant to appeal to people that want uplifting stories with uncontroversial characters, morally upright heroes, and unquestionably evil villains.

So as of today's AMA, I think I've finally had enough. We're just outright retconning the lore in Reddit AMA's now, I guess. Among other things. I'll provide a few examples, just so we're all on the same page.

This was part of Epler's response to why Solas didn't have his cult following in the game (insert "We Kind of Forgot" meme here):

Solas' experience leading the rebellion against the Evanuris turned him against the idea of being a leader. You see it in the memories - the entire experience of being in charge ate at him and, ultimately, convinced him he needed to do this on his own. And his own motivations were very different from the motivations of those who wanted to follow him - he had no real regard for their lives or their goals. So at some point between Trespasser and DATV, he severed that connection with his 'followers' and went back to being a lone wolf.

The fact that this (the not caring bit) directly contradicts the writing in the actual game is absolutely INSANE to me, moreso than the lack of Solas's spy network (which he apparently carried with him for 10 years only to conveniently drop right before the ritual? Because he clearly had them research Rook?). But in regards to the not caring -- here's a line from Solas's memory of killing Mythal in Veilguard, which. I'll get to Mythal in a minute:

Why should I not tear down the Veil, and bring back immortality to all the elven people? They deserve it!

Which is it? Does Solas care about the people he's saving (the venn diagram of people he's saving vs. the people following him is surely a circle, i.e. elves) or not? Does he even care about the spirits trapped behind the Veil anymore or is it just convenient to abandon them and have him only care about elves, now? What happened to saving The People? What happened to him not identifying as an elf in his conversations with a Dalish Inquisitor? And what the absolute fuck happened to him wanting to bring back the magical marvels (that the ancient elves did in fact achieve) that were greater than anything we see in Thedas today? Here's what Epler has to say about elven magic, now:

I do agree that the elves have had their place in the sun at this point. [...] The thing about the Evanuris is that, ultimately, they were able to take a very specific type of magic and shape it into doing what they wanted. But even their understanding of magic was only skin deep [...] Even the magic that Tevinter wields, the magic of the Southern mages, is different from what the Evanuris used. The magic of the Evanuris is powerful but it's sterile, and it's constrained. So while the Evanuris have made magic work in a way that's more predictable and understandable, it's not the only kind of magic out there, and even then, I'd say they understood it at a very surface level. People were confidently describing how the natural world worked back in the 16th century. Very few of them were right.

First of all, Tevinter has been stated in previous games to have clumsily adapted ancient elven magic for their own, but they did adapt it. To the point where even Solas is surprised that Corypheus achieved effective immortality -- by binding himself to a dragon the same way the Evanuris did. So, cool, more contradicting the lore here. "They understood it at a very surface level" you mean when all of the magic of the Fade wasn't locked behind the Veil? You mean when magic flowed freely through the world? What do you mean, Surface Fucking Level? The entire point of the Dalish elf culture is what they lost; this wasn't the ancient elves thinking the sun revolved around the earth, the Veil was their fucking Library of Alexandria burning. Oh my god. I still cannot believe he said this.

And how have the elves had their day in the sun? I'm sorry, was Arlathan not given to... the Veil Jumpers? Instead of the Dalish? What happened to all the Dalish clans in the south, who had no infrastructure when the world was apparently blighted to hell? I guess they're just gone now! They've had their day! The story of the Dalish and the Evanuris is over (also confirmed in this AMA), and it apparently ends with the final snuff of the candle that is their culture. Congratulations, Chantry, you've won! Only took two genocides and a double blight, but we're done with the Dalish now! We get your mind-numbingly superficial factions instead!

What happened to Mythal, by the way? What happened to "She was betrayed as I was betrayed, as the world was betrayed! Mythal clawed and crawled her way through the ages to me, and I will see her avenged!" What happened to the reckoning that will shake the very heavens? John's answer to this:

People grow and change over time. Mythal's essence - and in particular, the fragment of her spirit that Morrigan carries, that she got from Flemeth - is not the same Mythal who he knew millennia ago. Centuries of living in this world and being around the kinds of people Flemeth found herself around - the Hero of Ferelden, Hawke, the Inquisitor - changed her views, and made her realize her own culpability in turning Solas into the kind of person he is now.

Oh, right, okay. So she was pissed for like a thousand years, got her big speech about the impending "reckoning" out 10 years ago, and then she just chilled out because the last 3 heroes were neat people. What a fucking joke. And yes, here is the confirmation that the Evanuris story is over --

The story of the Evanuris is done - the gods are dead (or imprisoned) and Thedas is in a state of flux and uncertainty. I imagine that whatever happens next is going to be a surprise to everyone, including the people of Thedas."

So I guess Mythal's reckoning is never coming. One of the most fascinating characters in the series, shrouded in mystery for those first 3 games, PROMISING US a blaze of glory, only to fizzle out in this one. Again, and I can't emphasize this enough, for Epler's clean fucking slate. And we've not just tied up her story, but also the Veil and the Blight:

When Solas bound himself (or, depending on your ending, was forcibly bound) to the Veil, it severed the connection that the Blight had to the waking world. The reality is that the Veil has been leaking ever since the Magisters first entered the Black City, and the dreams of the Titans gave it its terrible and awesome power. Now that the Veil is fully repaired, the Blight lacks that motive force, and being so close to the epicenter of that change has stripped the Blight in Minrathous of its vitality. It's calcified now - dead - and Bellara/Neve no longer suffer its effects. If they'd been anywhere else, further from that epicenter, it would've likely been different and they still would be looking for a cure.

So the Veil is permanently fixed now because our half-dead Dread Wolf bound himself to it (a decision I still don't understand) and that somehow fixed every single hole ever poked in it. Fully repaired. No more holes, no more "Veil is thin here" because tons of people died in the same spot, nope, we're washing our hands and leaving it (and the spirits) behind us because we've wrapped up both the series-long Veil storyline and the blight storyline in a big red bow.

And Epler tells us Solas not only bound himself to the Veil but fixed it entirely in one fell swoop, no ritual required, just a little slice to the hand. Again, all in the name of a clean slate, so any future installments or media centered around Thedas can turn away from this story.

Then there's this. What we can expect from future installments, I freaking guess. The aforementioned roleplay getting taken out back and shot:

Q: "What lead you to the decision to step away from active conversations with the companions as in previous Bioware games, where you can initiate them at any moment and ask exhaustive questions?"

John: "For us, because of tech limitations, it became a choice between exhaustive investigate conversations, or letting the companions move more freely around the Lighthouse. With the kind of experience we were going for, one where seeing the team grow around you is paramount, we felt that seeing them interact in common spaces (and in each other's rooms) made more sense."

Literally confirmed that they chose companions moving freely about the cabin over ... interacting with them outside the handful of cutscenes we got. Who in their right mind would think this was a good call in a Dragon Age game? A series that quite literally prides itself on complex character interactions and storytelling? So they could... sit in different places? Are you kidding me?

They don't see an issue with the game's reception. They don't have any interest in addressing or responding to criticism. They're either happy with their choices or EA's got a gun pointed at their heads, I'm honestly not sure anymore. I used to believe the latter was true, but looking at both Epler's and Busche's responses today, I'm inclined to believe the former.

So I think that's it for the series. Not that I thought it was going to get another game after this, but on the absolute off chance it did, what would be the point? The best stories were ruined. Anything left they have to tell is going to read a lot like Veilguard -- superficial, morally absolute, flagrantly disrespectful to the lore, and delivered in a very poorly written package.