#note: if you find i have missed one or made a weird mistake with formatting or anything pls lmk and i will fix :)

[felassan]

Dragon Age Day 2024 – Developer Reddit AMA (Q&A session) – compilation post

Introduction: “Happy Dragon Age Day! John Epler and Corinne Busche are here to answer your questions for the next ~2 hours. Looking forward to chatting with everyone. We won't be able to get to all questions, but hoping to get to a good mix!”

I gathered the questions and answers from the AMA together in this post, as the AMA has now concluded. The rest of this post is under a cut due to spoilers and length.

Q: "If you could’ve developed DLC, what — and/or where — would you have wanted to explore? Would it have been a new locale with a complementary, self-contained story or something that adds to the main plot and teases the future?"

Corinne Busche: "On the gameplay side, I had a thought about adding a new class option, which is directly related to the environments and story. I've always wanted to revisit the Bard, and I've long felt in the context of Veilguard the best way to handle player-controlled blood magic would have been to build a unique 'Blood Mage' class for it."

Q: "Can we look forward to more lore-supplementary material, for example World of Thedas vol.3?"

John Epler: "With all of the lore reveals in DATV, another World of Thedas is something we'd absolutely love to do. That said, they're complex beasts and require a lot of work from a lot of people, so I can't really promise anything, but it's something we're interested in, at least."

Q: "1. How exactly did Solas's blood magic manipulation of Rook work? Did he only alter Rook's perception to make them think that Varric was still around, or did the blood magic actively prevent Rook from reacting to Varric in a way that would have given up the ruse to the other characters? 2. What is the state of Southern Thedas after the events of DAV?"

John: "Solas' magic caused Rook to see Varric when he wasn't there. Originally, of course, Solas wanted Varric to keep Rook more off-balance - but the thing about the Fade is that things don't always work the way you expect or want them to. As for the state of Southern Thedas - it's been pretty radically altered. The balance of power has shifted, but even those who rode out the storm of the Gods' blight better than others are still reluctant to start anything as the whole place is in rough shape."

Q: "When looking back on DAV, is there any part you wish that you could have spent more time on?"

John: "For me, it's about the Antaam and their split from the rest of the Qunari. There are elements of that story in both the Crows content and in Taash's personal quest, but in a dream world, having the Ben Hassrath as an additional faction (albeit, one you don't know if you can trust) would've been nice."

Corinne: "And for myself, I certainly share some of the desires the community has. Going deeper on romances, and more choices to import. I love our choices and consequences in the game already and maybe we could've added a few more on the scale of the Minrathous/Treviso choice, that significantly alter the remainder of the game. I think we learned how to make that work within our gameflow and content structure, so I look forward to being able to lean in on these beats more heavily. That said, no artist or creator is ever going to be completely content with their work, and even so when I take a step back and look at the game as a whole, I'm extremely proud of what were able to accomplish."

Q: "Can we get confirmation on what happened to the other Evanuris? Will we get any more lore? Shame we didn't hear a whole lot about them besides essentially being behind the previous Blights."

John: "We haven't been SUPER specific about this, but at best the other Evanuris are a shadow of their former selves, and at worst they're dead. The death of their Archdemons, particularly when they were still trapped in the Fade, caused enough magical feedback that it broke their minds and bodies. A couple may have survived as shells, but they aren't in the same state as Ghilan'nain and Elgar'nan."

Q: "Will we get at least anything post launch that via free updates that further expands some story elements? Will rook continue to be the main protagonist going further??"

Corinne: "We've been continuing to improve upon the game post-launch through various bug fixes, balance updates, and quality-of-life improvements. Notably new character creator options and armors for DA Day and N7 Day, and some cool features like Photo Mode filters. Beyond this focus however, we largely view this story as complete and are not planning for further story content. Whether Rook will return in the future, well it's just too early to say :)"

Q: "The marketing for the game claimed that choices not imported from prior games wouldn't be overridden. However, certain dialogue from characters like Harding seemed to establish certain canon events from previous games that were not locked in. Is the intention that a hard canon is being established from DATV forward?"

John: "Ultimately, there's still no intention for there to be a hard canon going forward. These games have been going on for 15 years, though, and with all of the previous games to remember, as well as developing this one, there are absolutely places where we unintentionally suggested there was a hard canon (the one I've seen specifically is that Isabela is always assumed to have joined Hawke's party). I'd say those are oversights and not part of a deliberate strategy. While there are definitely some smaller decisions we will likely never revisit, I want to keep those other choices alive and relevant in the future, and with the state of Thedas the way it is at the end of DATV, I don't really think there's a way forward that DOESN'T involve bringing some of those bigger choices back to the forefront."

Q: "Was there anything at risk of being cut from the game that you fought tooth and nail to keep in?"

Corinne: "Oh, absolutely. There are always those things in game dev that are at risk due to scope and deadlines. There were 3 big ones that immeadiately come to mind: The Transmog feature, the Lords of Fortune Hall of Valor, and Haunts questline. I'll throw in Photo Mode as well, but that was one that we always knew we'd like to do, and had to dig deep to find the time and resources for it."

Q: "Is it set in stone that we will not be getting DLC?"

Corinne: "Correct, our focus was to tell a complete story with the release of Veilguard. Beyond the quality of life improvements and a couple new armor sets we're doing to support the game, we won't have any new story or gameplay content coming to the game."

Q: "Are there any plans to try and increase character saves on console to more than 3?"

Corinne: "This is something we've investigated, but because this touches our save file architecture there are no plans at this time to increase the limit."

Q: "Are you planning to make another Dragon Age after this one ?"

Corinne: "There are so many more stories yet to be told, and threats to defend against, within Thedas, but that's all we can say for now as we don't have anything new to announce."

Q: "With the polarizing nature of this iteration of Dragon Age, how did the media attention affect the team as a whole and the morale leading into and post launch?"

Corinne: "This is a tough one to answer, because it's so personal and specific to each member of the team. So let me say this, we've seen that with each Dragon Age release there has been a passionate, and sometimes polarized, response. When you consider how invested the players are, the nature of reinvention in the franchise, and the commitment to inclusivity, it makes a lot of sense to see the broad array of reactions. What I can say is that the team is really proud of what they have built, and the positive critical reception it's received. Within the team, we've been sharing all of the wonderful letters, fan art, and anecdotes from the players, and listening closely to the constructive criticism. That's really where we focus our attention."

Q: "Could you comment on current logic of Lucanis romance? Him leaving PC because of a certain choice does not make sense, because right after that he picks up the romance arc with Neve, who did exactly same choice. Was it intentional, or are we dealing with a broken plot flag or oversight?"

Corinne: "Lucanis is a deeply passionate individual, and rightly or wrongly, can't overlook that it was Rook's decision as the leader of the Veilguard to support Minrathous, when so many lives were bound to be lost in Treviso. It hasn't dimmed his passions, which is why he ultimately still pursues Neve, but it does come at the cost of the fledgling romance with Rook. As with all people, Lucanis is complex in the way he internalizes his experiences, and this is one he couldn't look past."

Q: "Are there any comics or books planned that are set after the events of DAV?"

John: "Ancilliary media is always tricky but personally I'd love to do more in that space. I think the ending of DATV leaves the world pretty well open to a number of different stories and exploring how the dynamics of Thedas have changed after the events of DATV is, IMO, a really fun path to go down."

Q: "Can we see Sandal in the future Game/DLC?"

Corinne: "That's an interesting possibility to explore. Especially given what we've learned in Harding's quest line and the awakening of her powers through her connection to the Titans. It's a really fascinating side of lore, but like we've mentioned already we don't have any new story content coming to the game or anything further to announce."

Q: "I want to give a shout out to John, Corinne, and Trick in particular. What a great group of people who clearly love this series! Would love to know about their canon Rooks/romances and their playthroughs" 

Corinne: "At this point I've done so many playthroughs it's difficult to keep them all straight! If there was one that I'd say is my "canon" however, I'd say it would be my Shadow Dragon Qunari Rogue, named 'Rin'. She was a Veil Ranger who was always a bit quick on the draw, chose to save Minrathous, selected Maevaris for Archon, and romanced her one true love: Taash! Ultimately Rin and Taash agreed that Taash should honor their life as a Rivani, before we defeated the gods, redeemed Solas, and sent him off into the fade to be with his own true love: The Inquisitor. <3"

John: "Qunari mage Rook who's romancing Harding. He's the handsomest Qunari in Thedas, and that's a burden he bears every day. I'd also just add that while I appreciate the kind words, a game like this couldn't come together without a tremendous number of people, far more than are active on social media. So shout out to the whole team for the hard work they've done."

Q: "Can we hope to see something related to Awakened Darkspawn in the future that the franchise has? (As in prequels or new instalments.)"

Corinne: "Difficult to say. I've always been a fan of the rare cases of Awakened Darkspawn, but if they were to turn up, it would need to be because they were right for the story."

Q: "My question is - what are your plans for upcoming patches? Do you expect that they'll mainly be bug fixes, or is there a possibility that there could be content patches? And if so, any chance for more interaction between Rook and the companions, since that's top of many of our wishlists for the game right now? (Lucanis in particular for me :) but every one of us has their own favorites!)"

Corinne: "I'm so glad you enjoyed it!! I believe we've responded to another question about the post launch plans, but let me include some of that information here as well. We're currently focused on various bug fixes, balance updates, and quality-of-life improvements. Notably new character creator options and armors for DA Day and N7 Day, and some cool features like Photo Mode filters. Beyond this focus however, we largely view this story as complete and are not planning for further story content."

Q: "Where does Andraste and the Maker fit into the world of Thedas given all that was revealed during Trespasser and Veilguard. We obviously know the whole story about the Evanuris and their role in shaping the world as it is, the Black City, the Blight, etc. Is The Maker just a human mythology that sprang up to explain this? Does The Maker still exist?"

John: "That's a weighty question. I do think there are some questions we should never (and likely will never) answer completely - I think the moment you reveal everything there is to know about a fantasy universe, you start to lose some of the mystery that brought people into it in the first place."

Q: "Are you going to add new armor or skins as you added the Mass Effect one?"

Corinne: "We actually just dropped the new Hawke-inspired armor, face paint, and body paint, as of today in celebration of Dragon Age Day!! Really hope you enjoy! I know for me personally, it's going to be my go-to transmog armor from now on."

Q: "What features/storylines were left on the cutting room floor? Followup if you're feeling generous: How was the development of Veilguard viewed internally, and was the majority of the studio satisfied with the time given to develop the game?"

Corinne: "Tightening up content and making cuts is a tough but typical part of game development. A few of the biggest cuts we had to make were trimming down the Faction story arcs, and letting go of a few explorable spaces. There were also a few areas, like blighted Weisshaupt that we could've returned to and explore. In both cases however, I believe we rightly opted to let go of these quests and areas in favor of increased focus on the quality of the existing Faction quests and exploration areas and shipping a high quality performing experience."

Q: "After reading the Dragon Age: The Veilguard book I noticed the jurassic tortoises didn't make the cut into the game, they were also teased in the initial teaser trailer from a few years ago. Any particular reason they were cut?"

John: "It's less about them getting cut and more that they just never moved far enough ahead to be a part of the game with full animation sets (combat, locomotion, etc)"

Q: "Is there any hope that you'll be announcing official mod tools, or a toolset like Dragon Age: Origins?"

Corinne: "No, we don't have any plans for official mod support."

Q: "My question is >! where does Solas/where do Solas and the Inquisitor go off to at the end if he’s redeemed? Back into the prison he made or just the fade in general?"

John: "We're leaving that ambiguous on purpose, but given that the Fade is shaped by dreams and thoughts, I think it's fair to say that the section of the Fade that Solas and the Inquisitor end up in is a lot nicer than the Fade that Solas gets trapped in with the other two endings."

Q: "How do you think Veilguard sets up the future of the franchise? Where would you like to take it from here?"

Corinne: "I'm sure it won't surprise you when I say we riff on this topic a lot! What really captures my imagination now that we've resolved some of the mysteries pertaining to the blight and the Elven gods, is exploring the aftermath of this crisis in a deeply destabilized Thedas. As you can imagine, given a blight of this magnitude, and the revelations of the Elven gods, it's going to have long lasting geo-political implications, and there will be those eager to take advantage of the situation. Not to mention, there is so much yet to explore in the nature of the the Dwarves and Qunari, and their relationship to the Titans and Dragons respectively."

John: "To riff on what Corinne is saying - I think, for myself, I'd love to look at taking it down from 'end of the world' to 'the world is changing, how do you adapt and react'. The balance of power has changed, and the Sword of Damocles that is the Evanuris and the Blight is no longer hanging over the world. What does that look like? Who's on top now? And with all the revelations brought up in DATV, what does that look like for the Dwarves, or the Qunari?"

Q: "1) I've seen people that they believe Andraste was a vessel for Mythal because of a comment Morrigan makes about a previous vessel falling in love with an Almarri Chieftain. Is this the case or was she talking about Flemeth? 2. About the Executors, is their manipulation more on the level of leaking information to select people to guide events, or is it more along the lines of "Loghain suspects that Cailan wants to ally with Orlais, let's stoke his hatred by having him see/hear events that remind him of what they did." 3. Lastly, are there any plans to let us visit Kal Sharok proper in any future games? It was great getting a small glimpse of the Dwarves from there and see an outpost but would love to see the actual city!"

John: "I think I'm going to have to keep the first question a mystery for everyone. :) For the second, it varies. The Executors are very mysterious and, more importantly, incredibly risk averse. They attempt to manipulate events in the most subtle way they can manage. Sometimes that means leaving a particularly inflammatory document on the right desk. Sometimes it means stoking existing fears and doubts. Not everything they try is successful, in part because of how unwilling they are to put themselves at risk. For Loghain, it would have been incredibly subtle. He's smart, strong willed and, in his own way, loyal to Ferelden to a fault. For others, it would've been different. I'd love to do more with Kal Sharok as there are some interesting stories still to tell that involve them, but we don't have anything to announce as it relates to future games."

Q: "If you could make one of the faction leaders a party member in the next game, who would you choose?"

Corinne: "For me, it would absolutely be Evka and Antoine (you have to bring them as a couple, right???). They've come to have place in my heart, and I would love to know what the future of the Wardens looks like. That said, a couple of runners up: Maevaris Tilani, and a reprised companion role for Isabela, would make me very excited!"

Q: "Did you expect so many players to be so thirsty over Emmrich? He is the best player in the game for me, thank you for his lovely presence."

Corinne: "I mean, we definitely had our suspicions. Within the dev team, we are also fans of the game, and what we found was that some of us were very drawn to, and quite vocal about, our resident necromancer. There's something so endearing about his gentle demeanor and that juxtaposition of necromancy as a force for good and reverence, that makes him really compelling."

Q: "I wanted to start out by saying I love this game, but one of my major questions is: What happened with the Lords of Fortune? They have significantly less content and reactivity than the other factions with Rook not even commenting on things that they would already know like Isabela explaining what "Pulling a Barv" is. Similarly, the Lords don't have a theme for the Lighthouse OR colorways or even a real faction quest line like the others have. Were they intended to be a different faction (a qunari/tal vashoth one maybe) and it got swapped late? Where they just added late when time/budget was already running low? Was it determined that fewer players would pick that faction so less resources were allocated? I feel like there's a reason as to why since the difference between playing as a Lord and playing as any other faction feels really extreme."

Corinne: "We always knew that some of the factions needed to have a larger presence in the overall story than others, so when we approached our content planning, we took that into account. They are inherently assymetrical. That said, I think there is a lot of interesting material to now work with in regards to the Lords of Fortune and the Rivain Coast if that's right for another story."

Q: "What was the motivation behind writing the Inquisitior's missives and the ultimate fate of southern Thedas? Is that an area you are likely to revisit in future games? T his question is the result of a lot of discussion that's been had in the fandom as of late and one to which there's no definite answer, but I'm curious: as developers and writers, what features and qualities do you believe make up Dragon Age's core identity?"

Corinne: "Around the time we approached Alpha, we realized that this blight, and the impact of the gods on all of Thedas was so much bigger than what the player would see in the north. We felt this was a natural opportunity to have the Inquisitor serve as that connection to the events happening in the South, to show that the entirety of Thedas was impacted, and the Inquisitor was not one to stand idly by. Sometimes I daydream about exploring the parallel adventures of the Inquisitor in the south while these events are unfolding in the north. That could be a really fascinating tale and perspective. Regarding Dragon Age's core identity. Well, that's a big question and one that will mean different things to different people. I can tell you that internally we've always stood-by the mantra that 'Dragon Age is an experience about people'. That is to say, the setting serves as an opportunity to really explore the depths and motivations of characters during times of crisis, joy, and companionship. Another that I reflect on frequently is how Dragon Age has become a franchise where each game has been different in its approach, and while it can make these titles challenging to develop, it also creates an opportunity to keep the franchise fresh."

Q: "What was the reasoning behind only making Dock Town an explorable area in Minrathous, rather than a combination of areas of the city, such as where the upper class lives?" [I think this comment was edited at some point after posting hence some of the answer below seeming unrelated]

John: "Given the state of Thedas at the end of DATV, Minrathous has become the diplomatic hub for the entire continent. While we could, to some degree, avoid references to the Divine and Ferelden's leader by virtue of this game taking place in Northern Thedas, I don't think that would be possible (or satisfying) going forward. There will, as always, be some choices that we won't reference, but others are, I think, going to be required to tell a coherent story in the future. Focus, more than anything. We originally had a few areas in Minrathous but rather than spread our resources thinly across multiple areas, we chose to focus on Dock Town and make sure it felt coherent and cohesive, as well as doing our best to stamp out any bugs we found. If we ever revisit Minrathous (which I'd love to do), I think we'd spend more time in the other districts. Both Harding and Davrin have specific, non-quantum reasons for being willing to sacrifice everything to stop the gods. For Davrin, he saw Weisshaupt fall - and he had his own opportunity to heroically sacrifice himself taken away. For Harding, she's been on this quest for nearly a decade, and she saw Varric, her friend and mentor, fall. Neve/Lucanis could have worked in either slot but that multiplies the complexity even further - and Neve already was earmarked for the wards."

Q: "During development, did you plan for a cameo of any companion from previous games that ultimately got scrapped? If so, may I ask who? And on this topic, has an appearance of the Hero of Ferelden on the table at any point? Is there a reason they haven't appeared since Origins?"

Corinne: "Thank you so much for the kind words! Glad you enjoyed! While not a companion, for a long while Charter had a role in the game. Ultimately we felt this wasn't the best fit and decided to move away from her appearance. In some cases, the opposite was true, where we added former Companions. Bringing back Isabela was a relatively late call, but we did feel we had the right role for her to fill within the Lords of Fortune. I often think about the role the Hero of Ferelden might play. It's a challenging one due to the choices the player may have made, not to mention how we handle giving them a voice that matches player expectation given they were a silent protaganist. But I do think there is something there, and I would like to explore it, if we can find the right story to tell."

Q: "If an elf were to, say, exist in the Fade for an extended period of time, would they regain the elven magic (if not already a mage) and immortality? 👀 And if, hypothetically, they one day returned to the physical realm, would those qualities persist? (Tried to be as unspoil-y as possible!)"

John: "I think, at this point, no one really knows what's going to happen to an elf who spends an extended time in the Fade. In part because the Elves of today and the Elves of Solas' past are not really the same at all. But also, the Fade has changed since Solas was a spirit. So while he may have theories, he can't say anything for certain."

Q: "Throughout the game there are many hints at a new storyline involving the past of the Qun, The Devouring Storm, and the involvement of The Executors. In what capacity can we expect this new narrative thread to be explored (novels, comics, next game)?"

John: "I think that if these story elements aren't at the core of any new material, they're at the very least going to exist on the periphery. 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."

Q: "I was wondering what happened to the forgotten one and why was he scared of the eye does that mean something or is it just him say that he is scared of going back into the fade"

John: "When Anaris is defeated, he's sent back to the Void. What's there isn't something anyone really knows, but if you read the other Codex entries scattered around Arlathan, it's clear that Anaris has touched something far darker and more dangerous than he expected, and now it has his scent, so to speak."

Q: "Compared to previous installments, Dragon Age: The Veilguard makes an effort to de-centralize the moral complexities of Thedas (i.e. the softening of the Antivan Crows, the lack of slavery seen in Tevinter, etc), instead focusing on choices based on character arcs instead of politics and/or morals. Is this shift an intentional one? If so, should we expect these kinds of character choices to be the new standard for Dragon Age games?"

John: "What worked for DATV isn't necessarily what's going to work for the future. Particularly with Thedas left in the state it's in - the balance of power has shifted dramatically. The South is suffering and the North isn't doing much better. Even those who may have forgotten past prejudices and put aside their differences in the name of stopping the gods are now being faced with a very different world than when they began this fight."

Q: "What other player choices from Inquisition and/or Origins & DA2 would you have liked to have implemented if you had more time and resources? Also, what characters would you have wanted to bring back?"

John: "Well of Sorrows. I think that's the biggest one - and we had some ideas for what we wanted to do with it. Unfortunately, making games is rarely a straight line endeavour, and some of the challenges we ran into required us to scrap that choice. I'd have liked to do more with the Divine as well, though with how little we touched on Andrasteism in this game I think it would've been a bigger challenge than expected. I think Fenris is the easy answer, but it's also the real one. Given his history, his relationship with Dorian and Mae could've been fun to explore, particularly depending on how you left him in DA2. That said, the challenge always does come down to 'quantum' - if a character could be dead, you can't make them load bearing, so they end up relegated to a cameo."

Q: "Is there a canon reason (maybe in some supplemental stories) that explains what happened to Fen'Harel's agents? Are some of the Dalish clans still working for Solas? What are the Arishok and the rest of the Qunari doing while the Antaam are conquering parts of Thedas? Does their absence in veilguard imply that they secretly approve of their actions or are planning on using them to their benefit? The faction of crows we interact with is very heroic and often puts aside their role as assassins in order to protect Treviso's citizens. Does their altruism create fiction between them and the other factions, who might see them as weaker or idealistic? What are some of the other factions like?"

John: "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. There are Dalish clans who are sympathetic to his goals, but even there, there's an understanding that he's too dangerous to have a more formal connection with, and that he will, ultimately, sacrifice them to his own ends if necessary. The Antaam no longer recognize the authority of the Arishok. Part of why they've split into warring factions of warlords is that they felt his adherence to the Qun (which he still adheres to, even now) was holding them back, so they organized what I'd describe as less of a coup and more of a 'choosing to ignore his orders' and launched their own attack on the mainland. Absolutely. I don't recall if this exchange made it into the final game, so apologies if not, but it's very clear that the faction of Crows you interact with is the 'idealists' of the bunch. The rest of the Crows, on the other hand, are far more pragmatic and willing to work with whoever emerges on top of the pile. Illario's far more representative of the average Antivan Crow than either Teia or Viago, and it's only Caterina that kept him in check this long."

Q: "What led to the player Quanari appearance compared to the Antaam, who look like Quanari from the previous game. Was it an armor modeling issue or just a design choice?"

Corinne: "To be honest, it's both. First let me say that when you have a character creator with the breadth of sliders and options for both head and body, that does create some constraints that you need to work within. We felt this was ultimately a good trade-off for the player, to ensure they could get the full range of face and body sliders that the other lineages were afforded. Also, we viewed the player-created Qunari as a continuation of the style of player-created Qunari in Dragon Age: Inquisition, which in both games, differ from some of the other forms of Qunari we've seen."

Q: "Having reviewed some of the game files, I'm curious about what the "dreamer" mechanics would've looked like? Would there have been dreamers on every map? Would it have just been a dialogue or would we have been able to see/experience the memories/dreams the dreamers are stuck in?"

Corinne: "We explored the idea of Dreamers at several points in developement. I believe the instance you're referring to was a mechanic in which you could encouter a Dreamer in the world, and then also encounter their corresponding consiousness in the Crossroads. We would have used this as a way to encourage a "back-and-forth" set of optional quests and mysteries to encourage exploration and discovery. Ultimately we abandoned the concept because mechanically the Crossroads Gates and corresponding Champions were providing a similar experience in driving the player from the Crossroads, out into the world, and then back to the Crossroads again."

Q: "The hair physics in the game are incredible. When did the studio commit to improving the hair options/physics, and was there any conversation/debate over that? Bad hair has been a staple of the franchise, so this was a delightful change to see."

Corinne: "Thank you so much! We heard the fans loud and clear, when it comes to character customization, that we needed to step up our hair game. This tech was something our engineers, character artists, and technical animators were all deeply passionate about (as you can tell!). So all of that combined it was a relatively early decision to invest in."

Q: "Some of the companions’ questlines left me craving more lore! For example, how did Valta end up as the Oracle and how does her gift differ from Harding’s? How did Zara manage to get Lucanis possessed as a rogue? Are there any other Forgotten Ones like Anaris actively trying to make their way back to the world? In short, might these questions be answered in the next Dragon Age game or additional media, or are they purposefully left open?"

Corinne: "I'm so glad these stories have their hooks in you! We have to leave some threads to tug on for future stories. ;-)"

Q: "(Spoilery question) Do elves or dwarves exist beyond Thedas?"

John: "That's a great question - and it's actually one that Bellara herself asks. I think 'what lies beyond the sea' is one of the most interesting spaces to explore in Dragon Age and whether the same people exist there is something that... well, I have some ideas, but I don't want to get into spoilers."

Q: "What happened to red lyrium? It feels like it was all but forgotten after DAI, even though it is blighted lyrium, and it felt like it would have made perfect sense to dig into its lore and workings a bit more since Ghilan'nain is the mother of the blight, and now knowing what the ancient elves did to the titans for lyrium.Red lyrium caused a lot of grief over the games that feels is just up in the air now, I'm curious if it was written out for the sake of a different narrative. Sortof connected to my previous question, if red lyrium is now not so significant in the lore/missing from it, why did the two gods need a specifically red lyrium dagger after losing Solas' purified red lyrium idol one? How does one purify something/someone of the blight itself?"

John: "Red lyrium is still present in DATV - it's how Ghilan'nain and Elgar'nan are able to craft their dagger, after all, and it ties directly into Harding's personal quest - but at a certain point it felt like it wasn't serving much of a purpose 'out in the world', so to speak, that the Blight wasn't already serving. It made a lot more sense in DAI, where you had the Red Templars who were directly using it to gain power, but without them in the picture, we chose to lighten the emphasis on it for DATV. Particularly in a game where the connection and threat of the Blight is so much more immediate, with the gods out in the world."

Q: "How did you get the hair physics to do all that?"

John: "A lot of tremendous work from character art, programming, tech art and tech animation. I'm sure I'm missing some groups but, yeah, the hair really is incredible. I've been on DA since DAO and I recall the (fair) critiques we got of our hair post-DAI. It was incredible to see it come together."

Q: "Where does Emmrich sleep? He’s the only one without a bed in his room lol"

John: "He sleeps standing up, like a horse."

Q: "which of the three/four endings do you find the most thematically satisfying? in regard to solas and/or rook (because i’m not sure the answer is the same for both!) & why isn’t rook invited to the book club?? sorry this is my villain origin story, why is my beloved emmrich enabling this social ostracism. does rook canonically hate to read?"

Corinne: "As a Solavellan, I personally love the Redeem ending with the Inquisitor/Solas romance variant. I cried my eyes out at the end of Trespasser, and now that they can finally be together to know the joys of their love makes me so happy."

John: "I'm a big fan of Outsmart, largely because I think there's something deeply satisfying in outsmarting someone who is very confident about their cleverness and spends a lot of the game reminding you of it. That said, I will admit that the Solavellan ending is deeply moving, even for someone who, at one point, wanted to fight Solas like a Yakuza boss. As for why Rook's not invited - it's entirely an attempt to avoid forcing roleplay on a character that may not fit your idea of Rook. Some people's Rooks may not have the connection to the team that would let the book club make complete sense. That said, I totally get why people wish their Rook could be involved."

Q: "TLDR: ll some classes be buffed? Iirc in an interview corinne (i think? I dont remember where or who), said shield toss got nerfed cuz it was waaaay too strong. Having playing the game now with pretty much all classes, will there be some balancing changes? I definetely dont want shield toss to be nerfed again, i love it soooo much, but its definetely waaaaaay above everything else i managed to build so far."

Corinne: "We're definitely monitoring class balance, and have generally taken the stance of "buff not nerf". That said, we're finding pretty good viability for all of the specializations, with the right supporting skills, gear, and companion builds. So in terms of priority that's lead us to largely focus on addressing properties on skills and gear that were not functioning as intended. I don't want to dismiss your feedback here though - I'll take a moment to dig deeper into our Veil Ranger data and see how those builds are comparing specifically. Glad you're enjoying the shield toss builds. That playstyle was definitely one that we were very excited about supporting!"

Q: "Why did Assan have to die with Davrin in the Ghilan'nain choice?"

Corinne: "Turlum is a powerful bond. There was simply no way Assan would have given up on Davrin so easily. Hope is a powerful force when it comes to the people you love, and sometimes we risk everything for it."

Q: "Something that has me confused. When Bellara/Neve are blighted but help use the blight to stop Elgarnan and at the end when all the blight in the area died and they were cured of the blight. How did they get cured? Is the blight itself now curable? Also, how did Solas manage to cure the red lyrium idol of the blight so he could have it back to it being the normal lyroum dagger?"

John: "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. But without that power behind it, it's less dangerous and deadly than it's ever been before. So while it isn't generally 'curable', it's less of a short-term death sentence than it has been previously. As for how Solas cleansed the idol - another ritual. This one was much smaller scale, but a lot more dangerous."

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."

Q: "I have just one very important question: what are your thoughts on Solas and Rook as a pairing? Their chemistry and interactions were a highlight in the game for me personally and I need to be able to sass and then kiss that egghead."

Corinne: "Oh gosh, you and me both! I'm not sure any of us could have anticipated how notable that chemistry turned out. And what excites me is how this relationship is something that could be developed even further."

Q: "I was wondering if it would be possible to see Cassandra in Nevarra interacting with Emmerich or Zevran in Antiva interacting with Lucanis? I understand that there a danger of turning any game into a cameo fest that would only appeal to old school fans but I did miss them. Especially as we had Isabella and Dorian in Rivain and Tevinter. To make the question a little more general what are the chances of seeing pre veilguard companions in any future iteration of dragonage?"

John: "I think the joy of the kind of 'fresh start' that the end of The Veilguard gives us is that, if we do make another game, we're no longer spending so much of the early game not only onboarding players into a new story, but also onboarding some of them (namely, those who didn't play DAI or don't remember it) into the story that leads up to this story. And part of what that allows you is more opportunity for returning characters who are meaningful, because their past is less likely to be narratively load bearing to the story. People who recognize them will have a moment of recollection, and people who don't won't be any more confused by the experience."

Q: "How did Jowin achieve the rank of First Warden? Was he ever deserving of the kind of respect Davrin seemed to have for him?"

John: "By the time you meet Jowin in DATV, he's become a political creature more than anything else. Which makes sense - after what happened to the Order in Origins, I think there was an internal realization that they had to spend more time making nice with the leaders of the various countries so no one would ever do to them again what Loghain did back then. But he didn't get that position entirely due to his connections. He was a fearsome warrior and a brave Warden in his own right, saving people and winning against impossible odds time and time again. He's older, though, and is still fighting the last war in his mind. Internally, we always described him as the general who was a brilliant tactician back in his time, but war has changed so dramatically and he refuses to keep up. I think he was deserving of that respect, though - and if you choose to talk him down (which very few of you seem to have done) you'll get a glimpse of the man he used to be."

Q: "If Solas ritual succeeded, what would have happened to the elves? And to the human? The art book make it look like they just drop dead but solas dialogs don't seems to go in that direction"

John: "I think the reality is that even Solas couldn't properly answer that question. In his mind, there would be some pain and suffering, for sure, as everyone adjusted to the raw magic now pouring into the world and the demons everywhere, but eventually everyone would live surrounded by magic and possibility. Immortality would be possible as well, and you can't make a world saving omelette without breaking a few eggs. I also think Solas is a gifted liar to everyone, including himself. Deep down he knew that the ritual was going to result in large scale casualties, but he saw it as an acceptable price to pay to fix what he saw as his mistake."

Q: "Unlike the last game, there were 2 fewer Companions, a rouge, and a warrior less, if it was up to you what sort of characters would fill up those two spots? and also if you could have a character from earlier games temporarily join you for a single quest who would you choose? with the exception of Bioware games which RPG game is your favorite"

Corinne: "Oh gosh, well I'll answer some of questions 1 & 2 together... I would have loved to bring back Fenris, either as a cameo or to fill that Warrior slot. As for the Rogue role, I do think something akin to the Saboteur Specialization would have been an interesting style for a Companion. Favorite RPG outside of BioWare games, well I'll give you three in order: Baldur's Gate 3, then Xenogears, followed by FFXII."

Q: "What happens to the lighthouse and the crossroads after the end of the game? Do the Veiljumpers claim it?"

Corinne: "Good question! I actually daydream about this one a lot! Does Rook, assuming they survived, continue to reside there given what they'd been through with Solas? Is stewardship returned to the Elven people? One thing has always been true for me: The Lighthouse existing as it does is intrinsically linked to the Caretaker, and I doubt we've seen the last of them."

Q: "My questions are mainly centered around the game's lore. Dragon Age Veilguard seems to have established a very elf centric past for the world as well as the races populating the world. Current state of the Titans, the Blight, the Old Gods, and some other things I may be forgetting, they all have links and origins to the Evanuris and the rest of the elves. In future installments, can we hope for other races to get more attention with respect to this? Because right now, it feels that most of the biggest mysteries of the universe as well as circumstances leading to the present state of the world, are a result of the elves... T o me, the magic system in Veilguard felt very different from the other games in the series. When Bellara mentioned stuff like 'recalibrate the matrices', 'readjusting energy flow', etc., it felt more scifi than fantasy. None of the past Dragon Age games had this kind of talk and it felt too big a leap for going from Southern Thedas to the North, especially considering none of the Northern characters in past Dragon Age games spoke like this either. This was one of the few instances in the game that felt immersion breaking to me. Can you guys help reconcile Veilguard's magic system with the magic of the past games?"

John: "I do agree that the elves have had their place in the sun at this point. We're never going to stop telling stories about the elves, but I think there are plenty of interesting stories to tell in Thedas where the Evanuris are tertiary characters at most. I think that's a fair reaction, but I'll answer the question in two parts. First - Bellara assumes she knows everything about magic. She probably knows more about the way ELVEN magic works better than anyone else in the world who isn't an Evanuris - but that doesn't mean she actually knows how magic itself works. 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. Bellara and Emmrich get into this a little bit in their banter, but so much of the rest of the world - the magic of death that the Mourn Watch wield, for example, or the magic of the deep Fade that Bellara feels when she does some of her experiments in the lighthouse - is not the same as Elven magic. 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."

Q: "I need to know about companion approval! I understand how companion bond rank works as it is well explained and visible in-game, but I cannot seem to find a good explanation for approval. Are the two linked? What effect does approval/disapproval have in the game? Is there something I'm missing in-game where current approval level is visible and I just haven't found it yet? PS: Spellblade Supremacy"

Corinne: "Yes! They are linked! Approval does contribute a small-to-moderate amount of progress towards your Bond. Disapproval is a small negative, but it's important to note that your Bond cannot de-level. Overall however, the surest way to advance your Bond is by helping the Companions with their personal quests. Also, really glad you enjoyed Spellblade as much as we did! The gameplay team really outdid themselves with that Specialization."

Q: "I'm mostly wondering if/how the griffons can be saved as a species since there's only one surviving clutch. It seems like a lack of genetic diversity would doom them to re-extinction, but I'm hoping there's a lore-friendly way to overcome that."

John: "It's funny you say that because I keep thinking the exact same thing. I can't remember exactly how much genetic diversity you need to have to make a species viable but I am sure it's more than just the clutch of eggs you saved from the Gloom Howler. But in a setting with as much magic and mystery as Dragon Age, I think that's probably the least of the problems the Griffons are going to face going forward."

Q: "With the ending showing a cured Neve/Bellara is that implying that the Blight outside of the Fade has been cured? If so, do Wardens no longer hear the calling, and what does that mean for the Kal-Sharok dwarves? Especially curious about this since DA:I implied the HoF was searching for a cure to the calling. In the concept art book it seemed like there were plans to show us more of Minrathous/Tevinter than just Dock Town. Curious to know what changed and if we will ever have an opportunity to return to other areas of the city?"

John: "The Blight is forever changed. It's less perilous and less virulent than it was before, and whatever motive force was coming through the Veil to empower it at the end of the game has been severed. That said, it still exists in some form, and not everyone is going to be cured in the same way. Beyond that - the Wardens no longer hear the whisper of the Calling, but right at the edges of perception, they're hearing something. What is it? Great question. With how long this game's been in development, there are things that have come and gone over time as we shift the project's scope and direction from one type of game to another. Originally we did have more of Minrathous built out for the player, but we chose to focus on making Dock Town feel meaningfully full of content instead of creating more areas just to put nothing in them. I will say that, for me, I want to revisit Minrathous in the future. I don't think we gave it enough time and there are multiple other stories that can be told both in it and with it. Particularly with the way the game ends, its importance in the world has only gone up, as it's become the diplomatic hub of Thedas, and thus a place of even greater importance in the world."

Q: "Maybe someone else can answer this question but why does Mythal’s essence relieve Solas of his guilt in the romanced Inquisitor ending when in his memories, she’s objecting to what he’s doing? Since winged dragons are female, does that mean the Archdemons/Old Gods are female? I noticed they’re labeled as male on the wiki and was unsure if it’s not updated or Old God followers assumed or were told they were male. I understand if this might pose as a logistical nightmare but would the devs consider polyamorous and/or open relationships instead of monogamy if they haven’t already? Given how diverse sexuality is in Thedas, I’m surprised there aren’t more instances of poly/open relationships. I miss going to brothels too"

John: "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. Correct, all Archdemons are female. Elgar'nan, of course, doesn't really care what reality is, only what HIS reality is, and so he's quite happy to see Lusacan as simply being an extension of himself and, thus, male. Something about Elgar'nan that we only really show in the ending is that he is, in truth, just as scarred and blighted as Ghilan'nain, but he uses a portion of his magic to always look handsome and regal, because his ego really is that big. Polyamory is something we've talked about doing before, and it's something that I know the writing team was into, but rather than simply turning it into a 'you can have multiple romances' toggle we wanted to be sure we did it respectfully and properly."

Q: "Does Solas know about the Executors and will he ever appear again in future games (similar to Morrigan)? Was there ever a point that the Inquisitor was considered as the main or secondary protagonist for this game? It was interesting to have a person with no knowledge about Solas–a cunning, ancient elven god–try to track him down especially when that anonymity did not work in their favor anyway (Solas knew about Rook for a year prior to meeting). Was 'rook' initially an alias for the Inquisitor, which they'd utilize to stay under the radar in the north, away from Solas' agents eyes and able to track him down because they knew him well (ex-companion/friend/lover)? Like was this idea ever discussed at the table or suggested by writers but trunked for xyz reasons? Idon't know if Trick Weekes will see this but I just wanted to tell them thank you for writing Solas-- in a HEA ending, what do you think they're upto in the prison? (besides the obvious)"

John: "Solas knows more about the Executors than he's let on - in fact, he knows more about the Executors than any other living being, including the other Evanuris (though I suppose they're not technically living beings anymore). But even he isn't entirely sure what they're up to or who they actually are. Their paths have crossed before, though - beyond the Tevinter Nights story that they briefly show up in. As to whether he appears again - I think it's fair to say Solas' story is done, at least for now. Even back in early development, the protagonist for this game was always going to be someone other than the Inquisitor. I don't recall if, in those early days, we ever discussed the possibility of bringing them back - the struggle with having the same protagonist game after game is that you really do paint yourself into a corner. Either it becomes prohibitively expensive to account for branching, or you ultimately underserve the very people you're bringing them back for. Rook was always the protagonist, though in very early days Rook had a number of other potential monikers including Shrike and a number of other bird names that I do not remember."

Q: "Why aren’t the Tranquil ever mentioned or depicted in the game? Correct me if I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure the word tranquil isn’t used even once. Have they been retconned? During development was there ever a conversation about potentially including a Solas wins ending? Where he succeeds in tearing down the Veil either because you let him or because you fail to stop him? I know I’d be curious to see what Thedas would look like afterward."

John: "Tranquility still exists. While not unheard of in Tevinter, the reality is that it's a far more common punishment in Southern Thedas than it ever was in Tevinter. In Tevinter, in particular, it's used more of a tool of political vengeance - but generally, only against a mage who is utterly without allies or political power. All the Tevinter mages you encounter in DATV, including Maevaris, still have some clout and subjecting them to the rite would be a huge expenditure of political capital for very little gain. Better to leave them alive and stripped of their formal authority. We had a few conversations about some non-standard game over endings, actually - anywhere from 'player takes too long in the Prologue' to an out-and-out 'yeah you know what I think I'll help Solas' conversation choice early on. What we released in the game I'm happy with though, as there are already multiple different endings you can get depending on your choices in the game."

Q: "Any chance we're going to get any behind-the-scenes content? I CRAVE a high-quality video clip of Zach doing mocap for Assan."

Corinne: "You never know! We do enjoy sharing new content from the game on our social channels so follow along in case something pops up."

Q: "What was your favourite region/area to work on (whether that be writing quests, level design, or any aspect)?"

Corinne: "For me, it was definitely Arlathan Forest. The team had so much fun with the exploration, the environmental storytelling, and the strange magic manifesting in the area. In particular I remember the first time I saw people that had been twisted into trees showing up in the area, I was taken back by the inventiveness of the team in capturing that beauty in horror. I must say, I also found the sightlines in the area absolutely gorgeous. It was really fun to watch it develop."

Q: "What are these called? [link]"

John: "Tadpoles is the name we use internally."

Q: "are telemetry surprising you in any regard?"

Corinne: "The biggest surprise for me in the telemetry is that the Save Minrathous/Treviso choice is basically split 50/50. We were all anticipating that saving Treviso would be the clear winner, but I'm happy to see it's not so cut and dry."

Q: "Did you ever thought that players would be addicted to having Rook barrel through crates and chests? There should be an Achievement for non stop barrel rolls lol."

Corinne: "Oh 100% yes! In fact, originally wide-spread destructibles weren't really planned for as a part of the game. We found with our particular take on combat that it just felt reaaaally good to smash the few destructibles that we did have. I think I spent the better part of a year putting in constant requests to make more and more things smash and break apart - not to mention the ability to roll through them! I'm glad to see I'm not alone in my obsession. Let's go break things!!"

Q: "1) Was there any plan with Radonis during concept period? 2) What more about Neve's family can you share? 3) Is there a parallel in the way Solas sacrificed the world to restore the elven world and Celene burned Halamshiral to save Orlais from a civil war? (Trick Weekes p l e a s e)"

Corinne: "At one point we did toy with having Radonis make an actual appearance in the game. In fact, if Minrathous falls to the Venatori, we had discussed having his execution on display, but we ultimately chose not to pursue this."

John: "For Neve, I'll have to ask Neve's writer, as I don't recall off the top of my head. For the question about Solas - I think it's less a direct parallel and more that Dragon Age is a series where major players sometimes have to make incredibly difficult decisions that may NOT necessarily be the best decision, but it's the best for them at the time - true for both Solas and Celene."

Q: "I just want to know... do the other companions also think Davrin's a hunk? Do you think there are companions who were rooting for a Rook x Companion romance as it was happening?"

John: "I think the different companions have different relationships with Davrin. Bellara, for example, sees him as almost a big brother - someone who she has a unique connection that she doesn't share with the other companions. Neve sees him as a fellow professional, who hunts monsters in much the same way as she does, just that his monsters are a lot more literal. As for who's rooting for a romance - I think Bellara is just excited whenever people get together. She's a huge romantic and a believer in happy ever after, so she's going to fully support whoever of her friends get together."

Q: "Please humor my newfound Nevarran cuisine obsession - it seems, based on the menu at the Lords of Fortune bar, that Nevarra is majority vegetarian ("want it Nevarran-style? Ask to leave off the meat!" or something like that), and we know Emmrich is a vegetarian. But Emmrich also reveals his father was a poor butcher. So, my questions - Who is eating the meat produced by Nevarran butchers if Nevarra is vegetarian enough that other countries equate Nevarran = veggie? Do butchers largely cater to non-Nevarran immigrants or visitors? Are the Mortalitasi/Mourn Watch entirely vegetarian (would make sense, just because of being put off by being around corpses all day, and their reverence for said corpses)"

John: "While Nevarra is a primarily vegetarian country, that doesn't mean everyone who lives there is a vegetarian. Nevarra attracts plenty of students and scholars from around the world, given its unique connection to the Necropolis and the specific magic tutelage that the Mourn Watch offers. With that in mind, its cuisine is going to be pretty broad across a number of different cultures and regions - and for some of those cuisines, meat is absolutely a very big part of it."

Q: "My biggest question is this: if Solas had been released by Mythal before Inquisition started, would he have let go of his plan? Was service to her all that was motivating him? Or would he have decided to continue with his plan until the inquisition showed him that the modern world mattered?"

John: "The latter, I think. It took the confluence of everything that's happened to him in the time since he woke back up to get him to where he needed to be for the Redeem ending. Guilt and regret motivate Solas."

Q: "When I’m writing, I tend to listen to music that goes along with it. Did any of the Devs have songs they listened to that they felt tied into the game or the characters?"

John: "I can't speak to the other writers necessarily, but for Bellara I listened to a LOT of Aphex Twin. There's something about the ambient weirdness that really worked for me as I was writing her character (to the point that one of their songs is my most listened song in 2024)."

Q: "Are rivalry paths abandoned for Bioware games? What made you design approval/bond in a way that only goes up?"

Corinne: "Oh definitely not! Rivalry will continue to have a role when the story calls for it. In the case of Veilguard, we conceived of this threat being so large, that your companions would commit no matter the cost. This afforded us some unique opportunities, like being able to tie the progression of the Companions to your relationship with them."

Q: "What are you as a team most proud of and are there any plans for a NG+ Update ?"

Corinne: "Gosh, there are so many ways I could answer this. And I think the answer would differ depending on who on the team you were to ask. So let me just say this: The creation of any game of this scope, with a team this large, is kind of miraculous when you consider all the knowledge, coordination, discussion, and expertise required. So broadly speaking, what I'm most proud of is the way the team came together to pivot and be true to BioWare's roots of creating great single-player party-based RPGs, and delivered such quality and stablity. I'm also quite proud of how player-first the effort was; Everything from being Steam native, to no Denuvo, to no micro transactions. We mustn't take for granted what monumental task it was to make this happen. There are individual features and experiences that I know we are all proud of as well. The character creator, for example, was a really big one for us. We've long sought to put the control over player-characters in the hands of the fans, and this is the game where the team believes we've best done that. In fact, it was central to one of our creative pillars "Be who you want to be". As for NG+, that's something we discussed, but at this point we don't have any plans to support it."

Q: "Can you go into more detail of Spite’s role in Rook and Lucanis’s romance? Did you expect everyone to want to romance Vorgoth?"

John: "Spite gives Lucanis and Rook privacy whenever they're being intimate. This was, I'm sure you'll be surprised to hear, a consistent topic of discussion as we planned out some of our romance scenes - is Spite watching? But no, he wanders off and reads a book (or whatever demons do for fun). At this point I am not surprised about anyone y'all want to romance. Sentient fog bank? Sure"

Q: "Looking further, what parts of Thedas you personally want to explore more (regardless if that will or will not be implemented in the future games)? Maybe specific time periods?"

John: "I don't think it's any secret that I find the idea of 'what lies across the sea' to be fascinating. It shows up a lot in Bellara's content - what happened in the parts of the world that weren't Thedas? But Kal-Sharok is another place I'd love to spend more time in. It has a very unique relationship to dwarven culture, and particularly in a post-DATV world, it feels like it'd be super interesting to get more time with them."

Q: "What made you decide to remove greatswords as an option? It's one of The fantasy weapons. Why did you choose to have a "convergent" design, gameplay wise, of classes? What i mean is that all classes have a melee option, a "parry" of sorts, amd a ranged option, with warriors throwing a nonexistent shield when 2h. Usually, in an rpg, different classes have different capabilities and limits, to make them feel more diverse. What made you choose otherwise?"

Corinne: "Originally when we concieved the 2-handed weapon stance for Warrior we did want to include Greatswords. We moved away from it largely because the movement set when swinging a large blade diverges quite a bit from what you'd see with an axe or a hammer. Ultimately we felt, given the number of bespoke animations and transitions it would take, that the time is better invested in other areas of the experience. Regarding the classes, we opted for a unified control scheme and baseline set of actions each could take (e.g. every class having a ranged attack for example) for several reasons: 1. In knowing that each class has a similar core set of actions, it allowed to better design the encounters, levels, and missions with a greater level of variety. If Warrior, for example, had no ranged attack, a large number of the missions would have much more egregious constraints on what we expect the player to do. 2. It allowed us significantly more space to play with the types of builds and breath of the skill tree. We're all very proud of how this played out in practice, and in our view created a high degree of divergence. 3. Given the real-time nature of the gameplay, it's a benefit to lean into the muscle memory the players have already established on prior playthroughs"

Q: "Hi I'm non-binary and the ability to be non-binary in this game was really special and made me feel seen in a way no game has before. In addition---TAASH! "NUFF SAID. Love em! My question is: how did you get so much past censors in 2024? How did you deal with localization? Was EA supportive of the push for more representation? Do you think we can see more diverse companions like Taash and our own player character in the future in Bioware games? I am a little worried about the backlash to Taash and the player character, especially right now. It is scary to think about going backwards after you've just achieved this amazing thing for video games. Thank you so much for making me feel so loved playing a video game, this game gives me so much hope and joy for being a trans gamer and nerd and person. I know there's a lot of hate but for me it means the world."

Corinne: "I'm so glad Taash meant so much to you, and so many others! There are two mantras we often refer to within the team: 1. We believe stories are better when they reflect a large variety of relatable experiences. 2. Games can be a reflection of the teams that make them. Taash's journey and support we had in bringing it to life, was something everyone on the team wanted to do and was invested in. It was a story and experience we wanted to tell that made sense in this time and place. I wont lie, it wasn't easy. This is a delicate subject, deserving of respect, that is deeply personal to so many. We didn't want to mess it up, especially for those it would mean the most to. We were fortunate to have a lot of support through internal and external partners to ensure we were handling this story with care, and of course the talented writing and experience of Trick Weekes. It lead to a lot of edits, localization challenges, and some rewrites. But as the old adage goes, nothing worth having comes easy."

Q: "If Solas is bald because the ancient elves just go bald during their immortal lifespans, then why does Elgar’nan have hair?"

John: "I think maybe it's more accurate to say that Solas lost hair because of stress. Elgar'nan, on the other hand, doesn't feel stress - he makes other people feel stress. And, honestly, Elgar'nan is incredibly vain. Something that doesn't show up until the end game is that he's also very vain. The reason he doesn't look blighted and corrupted throughout the game is he uses a portion of his magic to remain looking the way he does."

Q: "In the DAI trespasser DLC elves saw the crossroads different from the other races. Why was that not the case in this game?"

John: "The Caretaker gets into it a little bit, but while the Crossroads in Trespasser were 'peaceful', the Crossroads in DATV are under assault by the gods."

Q: "If you could start DAI or DATV again, what would you change/add/remove? Could you share with us the most emotionally difficult moment to achieve in DATV? And the easiest? Favorite moment?"

Corinne: "One of the most difficult moments to land was actually the prologue. It sets up a lot of context for the player, and evokes a lot of big feelings. We did many revisions on it before we found the right balance of pacing, information, and tension. In my experience, prologues always are among your most reworked content"

John: "Absolutely the Varric twist. There's always a balance of trying to leave hints for the players while not having them guess the ultimate end game of it, and it's INCREDIBLY hard to make that judgment yourself, because you KNOW what's coming, and all you can see is 'how could anyone NOT get that this is coming?' But I'm happy with how it was received and how it landed. The actual conversation with Varric at the end, though - that one was a gut punch."

Q: "So… does Bianca know?"

John: "Yeah. Harding would have gotten word to her."

Q: "I'm curious to know two things, both Solas related: -What happened to his followers? Presumably they weren't /just/ following him and were on board with the revolution that he represented. -What was his plan past making a new prison and transferring the two Evanuris? It sounds like still an eventual tearing down of the Veil but how was he actually mitigating the risks across Thedas? (Presumably with that network of followers)"

John: "Essentially that. Keep the Evanuris imprisoned, tear down the Veil, and then Solas was CERTAIN everything would get better, even if some people had to, tragically, die. One of Solas' defining characteristics, of course, is that he overestimates how successful his plans are going to be (if you listen carefully to the argument between Solas and Varric in the prologue, Varric makes this exact point - everything Solas has tried ended in disaster, so why wouldn't this as well?) As to mitigating the risks - he had a few things going on, but as to how effective they would've been, I think it's safe to say that it wouldn't have worked as well as he'd hoped."

Conclusion: "We've answered everything we can for now, thank you all so much for your questions and the love for Dragon Age!"

[source]

[mammomlette]

OBEY ME OLDER BROTHERS AS SOULMATE TROPES!

part 1 part 2 part 3 (WIP rn)

Includes: Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan, GN! Reader/MC, possible cringe

Notes: This is literally my first ever fan fic I’ve published (if head cannons count as fan fics lmao) so apologies for any mistakes or weird formatting! Constructive criticism is more than welcome, I’m ASKING for it if you have any🙏

Alsoo they just kept getting longer and longer, I don’t know why and I’ve gone through lucifers to try and make it longer but I just can’t so sorry😭

LUCIFER: you can’t see their eye colour until you meet them.

* It wasn’t really that bad, being unable to see red.

* Being unable to see the colour of your blood as it oozed out of a cut wasn’t really that bad, even if it just looked like grey tar pouring out instead which is equally gross

* It wasn’t really that bad to just never be able to see a single colour, everyone had to put up with it at some point

* But it was sad how rose bouquets always looked dull, and how hearts would always be grey

* It was sad how you couldn’t just imagine up a new colour to fill the void that not being able to see red left

* You knew that the colour you couldn’t see was called red, and you could learn as much as you’d like about it but that didn’t meant you could imagine it let alone see it for yourself

* Not until you were teleported into a large, court-like room one day

* You looked up from whatever you were doing and stared up at the man who had begun to cheerfully talk in front of you. His hair was that familiar gray that you recognised as red

* He introduced you to your situation and the school, and in your panic your eyes darted across the room

* Then, you suddenly made eye contact with a man in a dark coat, hair a matching colour and eyes that were also a dark colour

* but a new dark colour

* Not that gray you had been familiar with your whole life, but a fierce mix of orange and pink, the way the colour red had been described to you your entire life

* You saw through your periphery some orniments on the wall and the previous man’s hair and jacket come to life with colour, but you couldn’t pull your eyes away from the dark haired man before you

* He had frozen, just like you, afraid to blink, afraid that he’d lose this enticing new colour again after missing it for so long if he were to let it go for less than a second

* When he finally looked away, he saw how different decorations in the room that had previously been gray lit up with the colour of your eyes, the world never seeming so alive in all the thousands of years of his life as they did in that moment

* For the first time in his incredibly long life, he saw the beauty that was your eyes and all the beauty they brought with them.

MAMMON: the red string of fate.

* Your entire life you had been accompanied by that obnoxious red string.

* Whenever you glanced down to your non-dominant hand, the first thing you noticed was the red string all tangled up and wrapped around your hand

* Sometimes you’d get bored and tie nots in it or rest it on a surface and pull it to make shapes, but as soon as you took your attention away from it it’d return to normal, pointing in the direction of your soulmate

* And for some reason, the direction would always be down

* Not always directly down, sometimes diagonal, but it always managed to go into the ground.

* Was your soulmate miner or something???

* You had tried and tried countless times to follow it, going into basements and even considering going cave exploring in case your soulmate was some kind of cave creature trapped down there

* There was even a time you considered that they could be in hell, because where else could they be that’s so low down?!

* You had grown to hate it, the way it would taunt you and while it showed your friends their soulmates, it just showed you the dirt on the ground

* Hopes of finding your soulmate and curiosity to where they could be grew into despair, concluding that your soulmate was either a mole person or dead

* Both results meant that you’d never meet them and would forever be tormented by that hideous, obnoxious, torturous red string that was eternally tied to your ring finger

* You were waiting in a lobby for a job interview when you suddenly popped into the devildom

* A man was happily introducing you to the courtroom(?) and all of the people sat inside of it

* There was a man named Lucifer, followed by his younger brothers, all of which noticeably sharing names with demons. This place was called the Devildom, they’re demons, is this hell?Someone must be pulling your leg or something, right?!?!

* You were cut of from your thoughts by the dark haired man- Lucifer- telling you to call his younger brother.

* You hesitantly took the phone-like device called a ‘DDD’ from Lucifer’s hands and dialed the number you were told to, fidgeting with the string on your ring finger that nobody else could see

* You waited for Lucifer’s younger brother, Mammon, to show up, still fiddling with the string, when you felt a sudden jolt on the string

* You looked down, to see the string moving slightly, left to right to slightly up, and noticed that it was no longer going into the ground. It was right at the doorway to the room.

* A man stormed into the room, immediately charging in your direction and shouting about your ‘nerve’ to summon ‘the great Mammon’

* Safe to say the shouting died down when he took a look at your hand and noticed how your strings were connected

* Awkward silence filled the air until it was interrupted by the Avatar of Lust, cooing at the situation when he put two and two together and realised what was going on

* You were too focused on the red string connecting you to his hand to noticed the red slowly covering mammons face

* Internally, you laughed. Of course you found your soulmate in Hell.

LEVIATHAN: you make choices for your soulmate.

* You woke up to the sun shining through your curtains. Your soulmate, for whatever reason, didn’t allow you to shut your blinds. He didn’t even decline it, just left it on read.

* Why did you even have to request to do something so mundane?!

* Your soulmate forgetting to respond to your requests was a common occurrence, usually in the morning, but any time could be victim to your soulmates negligence to your requests.

* You went downstairs and opened your fridge and grabbed the first thing you saw: a pancake filled with red bean paste, in a box labeled ‘Azuki-tan, cute companion!’

* You had zero clue what that meant, you just remembered seeing it for sale at a grocery store a couple days ago

* Again, you had to send a request to your soulmate over whether you could eat this or not.

* Almost immediately, it was accepted. You didn’t really stop to think about the fast reaction time to the request, just thankful this wasn’t another ignored request

* Just as you were about to put it into your mouth, you were teleported to a large room that resembled a court room and contained a lot of chairs and 6 scary-looking men

* You kind of zoned out for most of that discussion until you started asking questions, but safe to say the pancake was forgotten, still in your hand.

* You made your way to where you would be staying with the demon assigned to look after you, Mammon, when a request from your soulmate popped up:

* ‘Soulmate would like to: Ask his brother for his money back.’

* You accepted, wondering what harm could be done, and entered the building with Mammon.

* You were just chatting with the white haired boy when all of a sudden a boy with purple hair started yelling at him “How about this? I vote for YOU to die, Mammon!”

* They started to yell at each other about money, which you found to be an odd coincidence. Would this even be considered as asking for money though? It’s more like bullying.

* You watched the argument unfold and brought the pancake to your mouth, about to take a bite, when the purple haired boy froze and stared at you, which made you stand there awkwardly with your mouth about to bite into the pancake for a few seconds waiting for him to say something

* “Is that Azuki-tan?!”

* “Umm… I think that was on the packaging… why?”

* Very awkward. Oh look, a request!

* ‘Soulmate would like to geek-out about Azuki-Tan and The Magical Ruri Hana: Demon Girl franchise.’ You accepted. How random.

* You had no time to ponder the randomness of the request because the purple haired boy, Levi as Mammon had introduced him, began to spout random nonsense about the pancake? No, a girl called ruri hana- wait no, now he’s going on about voice acting- who’s that voice actor?- wait what show is he going on about now?!?! You really wanted to tell this guy to slow down or shut up!

* He paused for a quick moment and pressed a button in the air, continuing with his tangent when you yelled at him to just slow down!

* He paused. He stared into your soul. He looked like he was rebooting, or something.

* “You’re my soulmate?” He said, voice shaky. You asked him what he meant, and he just started going on a rant about an anime where this very thing happened and- he’s off topic again, he’s going a mile a minute! You asked the voice in your head ‘can I please tell him to shut up?!’

* He stopped and stared at you, now yelling how you were asking him to shut up and how rude than was!

* Oh shit. He’s right? He’s your soulmate? And you just asked your soulmate to shut up the annoying guy in front of you?? Whew boy.

* You awkwardly mutter apologies to eachother, flustered, both the pancake and his older brother forgotten.

[ihatelink]

Trust Fall (Revali X Reader) - Part 1

Word Count: 2,780

Pairing: Revali X Reader (Female)

Fandom/Universe: Legend of Zelda (Breath of The Wild)

Themes/Content: Romance (Slow Burn), Fantasy, Action.

Warnings: None

Synopsis: You visit your friend in Rito Village in order to escape the sense of dread looming over your home of Castle Town as the prophesied doomsday slowly grows closer. It is here on your visit that you meet a Rito warrior who turns your world upside-down.

Authors Note: Finally got round to writing this! Since he's not mentioned in TOTK at all I just had to start a fanfic for him. I miss him so much. I'm uploading this from my laptop so if the formate is weird or there needs to be more paragraphs just let me know! I don't consider myself a pro on Zelda lore so I do apologise for any mistakes. Also, this fan fiction will have two endings! (One canon to BOTW and one canon to Hyrule Warriors) Other than that, I hope you enjoy! - I don't know what to call myself... should I go by my username? What about something stupid like Loafus?... I don't know... I'll work on it 🪶🤎

Rito Village was your second home. You felt so much comfort and associated the place with such a feeling of warmth, it was surprising you hadn't made it your permanent residence. When it came to Rito Village you only had positive memories.

This was mostly due to your best friend, Frita, being a rito. The two of you had met at a very young age and had been best friends ever since, visiting each other every couple of weeks or whenever you had spare time. She would teach you about the ways of the rito and you in turn would teach her about hylians. Frita truly was like a sister to you, and you loved her more than words could say.

"Daydreaming again?", her voice broke you from your thoughts, her bright blue eyes sparkling with joy. You blinked a few times, finally registering her words, and you couldn't help but giggle to yourself. "Yes, I guess I was". "What we're you daydreaming about?", she asked, turning her attention back to the salmon sizzling in the village's communal cooking pot, the aroma swirling through the air, making your mouth water in anticipation. Later in the night was the perfect time for cooking here as most ritos had gone to sleep; Their poor night vision meant that many would retire early in the evening. "Just thinking about flying", you confess sheepishly and Frita rolled her eyes playfully, responding with, "You're always thinking about flying". "I can't help it whenever I'm here. You all look so majestic and free", you gushed. "I would love to be able to experience what it's like to fly for myself instead of having to be on your back". "Perhaps if you pray to Hylia enough she'll allow you to become one of us", she chuckled and you couldn't help but laugh along with her. Frita eventually added the tebantha wheat to the pot and the goat butter as the two of you talked about everything under the stars. "Are you still planning on moving to Hateno Village?", she asked as she began to plate up your dinners. "Yes, unfortunately. It means I'll  be further away from you", you mumbled and Frita's face fell in disappointment. "It's the best option as, if this impending doom really is to show itself one day, the city centre is most likely one of the first places to be attacked. If I could, I'd love to live here with you". "Well, why don't you?". You shook your head. "You know I'd stick out like a sore thumb here. I wouldn't be able to pull my weight or help the village in any way. I'd be more of a burden than anything". "Perhaps not! If I could find a way for you to easily integrate into life here, would you move here?". The more Frita spoke, the more you felt a warmth spread through your entire being. "You'd have me, you'd be well protected- our warriors are exceptional, there's plenty of food and resources in the area… just don't make any final decisions to move just yet. Allow me a chance". You chuckled, taken aback by your friends willingness to help you and keep you by her side. "Okay, I'll give you a chance".

You cut yourself short when you noticed movement out of your peripheral vision. The gentle padding of talloned footsteps grew closer and bright emerald green eyes encased in bright red watched from the darkness. Finally a rito came into view. "Rather late to be cooking, don't you think?". His tone was sharp and precise, you couldn't tell if he was making small talk or if he was irritated with the fact that the two of you were occupying the cook pot. Did he usually use it at this time? "Oh! Revali! Sorry, did you want to use the cooking pot", Frita asked, a light quality to her voice as she politely addressed him, yet an awkward silence seemed to settle over the three of you as his eyes travelled from her to settle on you, staring down his beak right into your very soul. "Who is this hylian?", he asked bluntly. "This is my best friend. She's visiting for a short while", she informed him of your name and that you were from Castle Town. "Would you care to join us?", you then offered, cutting through the awkward pause in conversation. "We have plenty to go around". Frita cut you a glance, surprised by your sudden offer, but did not protest, adding "Yes, do join us! I'm assuming you've just finished practice? You must be famished". Revali opened his beak but quickly shut it, perhaps to reject the offer but thought better of it. He took a moment to smooth out the cream scarf around his neck. "Well, if you insist, I suppose I could join you", he hummed, making his way to sit across from you.

As he took his seat, he placed a beautifully crafted bow to his side, coated in vibrant colours and intricate designs, a scrap of teal fabric tied to one end. He held himself with pride, sitting tall, spine straight, shoulders squared. With the fact that he was taller than you, it was a little intimidating. "Have you visited our village before?", he asked, and it took you a second to realise his question was directed towards you. "Oh yes, plenty of times. I've been visiting since I was a child. That's how I met Frita", you explained, gesturing to your friend as dinner was being dished onto plates chiselled from stone. "Hmm, surely I would have met you by now if that were the case", he muttered as he was handed his food, "it's interesting how our paths have never crossed". You shrugged unsure of what else to say, other than, "Perhaps we weren't meant to meet yet. Us meeting now may be fate?", you laughed lightly, amused by the thought. Revali scoffed in response, "I believe we are in control of our own fate. For example; I didn't become one of the greatest rito warriors through fate and sheer dumb luck alone". "And so modest about it too", you joked which caused Frita to just about choke on her food. She tried to excuse herself as calmly as possible, covering her beak with her wing while still coughing her lungs up. Judging by her reaction, you considered how you may have overstepped a boundary. Not everyone knew when you were joking upon first meeting you. You often sounded more serious than you intended. "I'm only teasing", you clarified, playing with your food on the end of your fork absentmindedly. "I'm sure you're  more than deserving of the title", you tried for your most sincere smile you could conjure, yet Revali didn't seem convince.

Finally, Frita had caught her breath, tears in the corners of her eyes. "No no, Revali really is the greatest of our warriors. Our people gave him that title", she croaked, her throat sounding raw from coughing. "He's the pride of the rito", she insisted, dropping her voice to a more serious tone. Your face contorted in amused disbelief before you began to wrack your brain for any information that would help you deduct the truth. "So he is the rito that's won the annual archery competition for the past five years? He's that same-…", you began to trail off, recalling the conversation you had with your father.

You came from a wealthy family, both your parents working for the King and late Queen of Hyrule . Your mother was the royal gerudo correspondent and your father was the royal rito correspondent- this being the reason you spent so much time in Rito Village growing up, as well as Gerudo Town. You remembered the past few years you couldn't make the annual archery competition held in the village, since you were either accompanying your mother on business trips or doing your own work, but you father had come home stating how the rito 'Revali' had won again. He would then follow up by talking about his superb skills and how his talent for aerial combat were superior in comparison to his peers. Your father claimed that the rito was unmatched and unrivalled, as well as claiming that he may very soon be known as one of- if not the most skilled warrior in all of Hyrule. (Which was very high praise coming from your father, since he was rarely impressed by anyone).

It was like a shock wave was sent through your body. "In the name of Hylia! I didn't realise it was you! I am so sorry! Please forgive my rudeness", you blubbered, putting your half eaten dinner aside, stumbling over your words as you rushed out your apology. "So you have heard of me", he lulled before an amused smirk graced his features. "I suppose I can forgive you since your rudeness was more disbelief than pure ignorance". "Thank you”, you breathed a sigh of relief. “I have heard a lot about your skills and I-… well…", once again you had trailed off. You looked to Frita for reassurance, yet she seemed as nervous as you; her posture was stiff as she sat with a straight spine, her eyes glancing between you and the navy rito. "From what I've heard, you're an incredibly skilled archer", you approached the conversation cautiously, hoping this angle would amend any bitterness you may have caused. Revali looked a you and you felt your breath catch in your throat as you locked eyes before he let out a gruff chuckle. "I suppose you could say that".

You and Frita ate in a comfortable silence while listening to Revali drawl on about the countless competitions he's won along with his many talents regarding aerial combat. Before long, your mind began to wonder.

You couldn't help but think of home. How it was slowly being consumed by a festering anxiety. There was a heavy air across the whole of Castle Town as you all prepared for this prophesied impending doom. The army had began vigorously training since last month. Some of those warriors were your friends- people you had grown up with. It was terrifying to think how some of them you may never see again once the Calamity strikes. Some were beginning to research the ancient technology that had recently been unearthed to see if they could be used to defend Hyrule. These were called guardians, and then there were also the recently uncovered Divine Beasts. At times, it was all a bit much, being at the central hub of Hyrule where there is no escape from the looming sense of dread. Things were moving so quickly and it seemed as though you may never escape the ever present anxiety that hung in the air of Castle Town. But here, in Rito Village, people seemed more relaxed. Many ritos believed that their home would not be effected by the foreseen Calamity. This made the village a nice escape from daily life back home. Here, you weren't reminded of what was to come. You weren't reminded of your duties. You could just breathe easier here in the village nestled into the rocky pillar.

"I do love it here. Rito Village is such a beautiful place. I don't have a single bad memory while being here", you gushed, earning a raised brow from Revali at your comments about his home, his interest now piqued. "Is that so?". Before you could stop her, Frita spewed, "Yes, in fact, she might move here". You shot her a look, a signal to keep that information between the two of you, to which she sheepishly dipped her head in response. You didn't want others knowing of your plans to move just yet, especially since you hadn't even mentioned it to your parents. "A hylian living amongst ritos?", Revali questioned, an amused undertone laced within his words as his luminous eyes narrowed a fraction, as if trying to read your expressions for some sign of the truth. "Hylians aren't equipped for living here. You would struggle". "Yet so many visit and get by just fine", you bit back, sharp tongued yet it was all said with a simple smile across your lips. What he said was true, yet you disliked how he assumed you would struggle when Frita, a fellow rito, believed you could easily adapt to life in the village. "Visiting and residing are very different though", he then shot back, cocking his head to the side as he examined you and your heart began to pound slightly. You felt a pout develop on your features, brows furrowed. He made a point you couldn't argue against. It was the truth. "Well, I'm taking it upon myself to help her integrate into the village before she permanently moves here", Frita chipped in, sensing some tension settling in the air. "If you truly want to move here", Revali began, capturing your attention once more. He wore a smug smirk before he finished, "You'll have to prove yourself".

"Prove myself?", you parroted. "Yes. You'll have to learn our ways and prove to us that you belong here". Revali studied you for a moment, as if he hadn't been doing so all night already. "Firstly, the women of our village are know for being beautiful singers and us men are talented archers. Tell me, can you sing?".

Being from one of the wealthier families of Hyrule Kingdom, you did have the privilege of music lessons from a young age. Your parents wanted the best for you, so consequentially, you had many lessons in a multitude of subjects and areas; Geography, horse riding, music, dance, literature, cooking, etiquette, biology and more.

"I have had many singing lessons", you informed the feathered man matter-of-factly. "It's more a matter of personal taste weather you believe I sound good". "Perhaps you could sing for me tomorrow then. After my training, well meet at the flight range. You can showcase your voice there", he challenged, the smirk across his features growing as he stared down his beak at you. "After all, it would be rather nice to have something to help me relax after such strenuous training", he teased. "And if my voice is to your liking, what do I receive then?". There was a slight pause. "What do you mean?", he tilted his head slightly, perplexed by your response. "Well, if my voice is to your liking then that would mean I have somewhat proven myself worthy of living here amongst your kind", you began, Revali's attention honed in on you, "Which I believe would be worth a reward". "Your reward would be living amongst us", you ignored his comment, pressing on. "That being said, if I prove myself, then I would like to learn archery". "What good would that do you?", he asked. "It's always good for a woman to be able to defend herself, wouldn't you agree?". "But if you were living in Rito Village you wouldn't need to defend yourself", he argued. "I'd have to say it's always good for a woman to know how to use a bow", Frita affirmed your point, edging a little closer to you as she joined the conversation. "Especially a hylian. They are smaller than most races, so it's most likely that any threat they face will be larger than them and could over power them", Frita continued, delving more into her argument. "Exactly, Frita! Meaning wouldn't it be beneficial to have a long range weapon in that instance? Surely, with your knowledge on combat as one of the greatest warriors of our time, you'd agree, Revali". You couldn't help but notice how the feathers around his chest plate plumed in reaction to your words. You'd noticed many ritos would unintentionally do this when feeling prideful, being boastful or being frustrated or angry. Perhaps it was a subconscious way of asserting dominance? Like how a Hylian may square their shoulders to appear larger and more confident in front of others. "It would be an honour to have you teach me".

There was a pause.

"I suppose it would be beneficial for you to have the most skilled archer teach you…", he mused looking off into the night, as if he barely acknowledged your being , like you were nothing more than a speck on his radar.  A nuisance. "Alright, you have yourself a deal; continuously show your willingness and progression to integrate into our society, and in turn I will teach you how to use a bow". "And you swear not to go back on your word?", you quirked a brow in Revali's direction. "I swear".

[delicrieux]

☆ﾐ 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚊𝚢 “𝚘𝚑”

PART 10: BIG DICK IS BACK IN TOWN

y/n is back in brooklyn for the holidays. thinking that a stream will make her feel less homesick for cali, she starts working on her famously titled hentai.free.srv. what was supposed to be a relaxing stream turns into a special delivery about two hours in.

─── corpse husband x reader ─── soc. media + written fiction! ─── word count: 2.2k ─── ❥ req: Here's one... You know those apps for delivery like Domino's or whatnot... What if reader is streaming Among Us with Corpse, and reader mentions they're hungry and Corpse offers to order them food, and readers like no no it's fine... Then there's delivery at the door (Corpse ordered beforehand) 

author’s note: fucky format is also back in town baby!!! also if you find any mistakes - no u didnt <3 thank u everyone for enjoying this story sm i literally cant believe how feral yall going strawberry cow was a nuclear explosion im still recovering tbh. got an ask a while ago and decided to incorporate it into myso. happy holidays everyone! myso will continue on monday!

ultimate masterlist.  ҉  myso masterlist   ҉   previous.  ҉   next.

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Indeed, being soft on any social media platform was the biggest disgrace and needed to be eliminated post haste. Moreover, it was a slippery slope - once you start flooding your timeline with cute imagery and heart emojis, what will stop you from posting inspirational Facebook quotes? Disgusting. If Rae were here, she would chide you (not you thinking about her as if she’s dead or something). For once in your life, you feel like you deserve it. 

Alas, you hope this little chaos you’ve caused is enough to throw everyone off. The stans, especially. You know the hashtags, you’ve seen ARMY scourging for info online with the same fervor and ruthlessness 1 Direction fans hacked airport security cameras just to spy on the boys. If you had any dirty secrets online, they are out to the public now - thankfully, besides the Harry Styles stan account (with edits and all), you have nothing. Though, now that you think about it, exposed nudes would have been better than your Punk!Harry edit receiving almost a million views. God, your life’s a fucking mess.

Your fans aren’t the only ones out for info - you, too, are trying to decipher Rae’s message. Code: Barbecue Sauce. The two of you had come up with it roughly two years ago, around the same time when you promised that if you didn’t find significant others by the time you’re 40, you’ll just marry each other. It was one of the many rules found in your friendship codex. Barbecue Sauce signifies information - an exchange of information. And depending on how it ends or begins (”So I’m sitting there” alludes to Rae, “On my titties” alludes to you), secret data on that person is given away, usually free of charge. 

But why? And to whom did Rae give away what? You had pestered her mercilessly and even sent some voice messages where you were crying. You were only crying because of a video of a grandpa smiling you saw on TikTok, but you are a snake, and so you put those tears to good use. If streaming doesn’t work out, you’ll just become an actress. Hollywood would love you. Your PR firm sure as fuck wouldn’t, though.

Rae was having none of it. She said you’ll figure it out eventually. Told you to channel your superior puzzle skills. You were quick to remind her that you can barely count to ten without having an aneurysm. Oddly serious, she admitted that she worries for you sometimes. Why only sometimes?! you demanded. She merely sighed. uttering under her breath something that sounded closely to “Boke.”

You leave her for barely a week and she’s already neck deep in the gay volleyball anime, hoodie and cardboard cutout and everything. Your life is falling apart.

But Brooklyn is nice. It had snowed when you stepped off of the plane. Thousands of snowflakes sprinkling into your hair, dotting your cheeks and nose. You missed this sight back in Cali. You missed your parents, too. 

Home cooked meals, old sweaters, your old room and about 40GB worth of old high school pictures on your computer. You went through them all one night. Some were stomach churning, cringe inducing nightmares. You were especially fond of those. Texted some of your friends that were still in Brooklyn, met up, decided to bake. Bad idea, Rae was the resident chef back in Cali. Besides laughing till your stomach hurt, and almost burning down your kitchen, nothing all that significant happened. Somewhere down the line, at about 3 am, half-way through a cheesy rom-com you had the overwhelming urge to text Corpse.

That’s where the problems really started. God, you missed California, missed being in the same timezone with a guy you hadn’t even met yet, how embarrassing is that?! You missed skating around and taking pictures of the beach in the setting sun, sending it to him, silently wishing he was with you to admire the view. 

You really want to call him. And to hang out with him. But for some reason, the thought of that springs up immediate anxiety and you shy away from asking. Him sending you cute good morning texts doesn’t help, either. Maybe it’s better he doesn’t know that you’re a blushing, stuttering mess each time you read “baby”. 

Late evening. Your stream is already set up, people are slowly trickling in and you greet them with a grin and a soft “Hello! Hi hi!”. You did your best to make your room a perfectly chaotic backdrop - led lights, an embarrassing amount of anime merch and plushies. You always try to balance out your weeb side by dressing hot as fuck for your streams - today’s inspiration just so happens to be egirls. Mostly because you watched one too many egirl make-up tutorials on TikTok, and also because you’ve been listening to Corpse’s song all day.

Yeah, no, who are you kidding, you dressed up this way because you were hoping Corpse was watching your stream. You didn’t forget your cat headphones, either. You know he likes them. You want to make him suffer. Perhaps then, finally, he will ask you out, so you wouldn’t have to.

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“I feel like,” You start when you put away your phone, staring idly at the chat, “I feel like I need a new name for you guys. Calling you guys after two years of streaming is just... weird, no? I also don’t respect men so I don’t want to call you guys. Like, so many creator’s have, like, a name for their fans. Uhm, Cody Ko has the chodesters, Kurtis Conner has, uh, folks? Kurtis Town? Citizens! Markiplier has mommy issues--” You can’t help snorting, “So, I’ve been, like, thinking - I know, shocking! - so I was thinking I’m gonna name you cockroaches. Because you’re grimy little shits impossible to kill. And also then I can use the legendary Minaj meme ROACHES!”

Your stream enthusiastically echoes ROACHES, making the chat swim. Yes, if anyone would enjoy such a name, it would be your audience. You’re as equally proud as you are disturbed.

“Well, anyway.” Leaning back into your chair, you throw your arms out with a bright grin, “Big dick is back in town, baby! If you noticed the backdrops different, it’s cuz I’m in Brooklyn now. Don’t ask me when I will return to Always Sunny, I don’t plan that far ahead.”

While Minecraft boots up, you decide to answer a few questions.

r u dating sykkuno?

You want to smack your head into the keyboard, but as it is, you can’t exactly afford a new one, so you refrain, “No, Sykkuno and I are not dating, we are just good friends. Uhm, I’m not sure how much I’ll have to repeat this, but, we really aren’t, so if the roaches could chill - Oh my God, that sounds so stupid, I love it - uh, yeah, if the roaches could chill that’d be great.”

the roaches lmao sounds like we’re a sports team

“Oh shit, yeah it does, uh-- maybe I can make like, jerseys or something. That’d be cool, I think.”

how disappointed are your parents with the way your life turned out?

“My parents are actually not disappointed at all!” You say with a cute little smile, “Uhm, they’re both really proud, actually. They’re glad I found something I love doing and made a job outta it. Dad finds my Youtube videos endearing. Yes, they watch pretty much all of my videos, unless I explicitly tell them not to. And yeah, with all the fucks and thirsting for anime characters. Uhm, it was very embarrassing at first, but I mean, after a while, shame just...doesn’t exist anymore, I guess? Funny thing about my parents, actually, when they watch my videos-” You eye catches a comment, “Oh! No, they only watch my Youtube videos. They don’t know how to use Twitter, thank God. Uhm, anyway-- when they hear a name they don’t know, like, I dunno, Dabi, or something, they google--” You’re grinning by now, eyes crinkling, giggling softly, “--who that is, and buy me like, merch and stuff. It’s really cute. 

can i be adopted by ur parents plz

will you and corpse ever collab?!

You were about to answer, though the man of the hour himself decides to do it for you.

Corpse_Husband: yes.

Okay, not to say your heart skipped a beat, but it totally did. With a pleased smile, you nod, like one of those bobble head toys sold at the dollar store. The motion is oddly reminiscent of Sykkuno’s own nod. Perhaps you had picked it up from him. The chat seems to notice.

pack it up, sykkuno

More questions pile about this mysterious collab you and Corpse are planning. Yeah, you’d like to hear more about it, too, since he single highhandedly decided one was happening right now. Corpse remains silent. Fine, keep your secrets. 

“Okay, guys, oh, I mean, roaches, Oh my God--” You’re covering your mouth, giggling, “-calling all roaches, calling all roaches, calm down. Everyone grab a snack and a blanket I’m turning up the music volume so we can all chill. Entering chill zone. Entering chill zone. Roaches, prepare.”

we are prepared

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An hour or so passes and you grow hungry. It shows with the amount of cakes you had baked in your server. Currently, you find yourself throwing eggs at the wall of one of the renovated houses, your face scrunched in concentration and slight frustration. 24 of the 50 eggs have been wasted. “What’s a girl gotta do to get some chicks around here?” you had uttered under your breath, until, finally, a screech - the egg finally spawns a mob. Your mouth falls open, “Aww, look!” You approach it, so small, walking in zigzags beside you, “It’s a baby chicken! Die, bitch.” The baby chicken is no more as you swing your bedazzled (you have mods) diamond sword. You’re cackling by the time the dust settles.

y/n is a child murderer

“Roaches,” You address your fan-base, spurring another fit of laughter - you can’t get over the name, “I think I’m like, forgetting that eating in Minecraft won’t actually make less hungry in real life.”

take a break and go eat queen <3

“Fuck no, we starve and die like men. Now I actually really need another chicken.”

Another twenty minutes trickle by and you’re trying to lure back a panda from the jungle when there’s a knock on your bedroom’s door. Whipping your head to the side, you slide down your headphones. At the same time, your mom pokes her head through the ajar door, “MOM!” You scream, “Get OUT of my room I’m playing Minecraft!” But your yell has no actual bite to it, as you don’t manage to hide your smile. Your mom laughs, doing some sort of sign language and motioning for you to follow her with her head. That or it’s some sort of performative dance. 

“I’m live right now,” You tell her, pointing at your screen. She knows this already, though, “do you want to say hi?” 

The roaches spam the chat with friendly hellos. You mom, quite impatient now, waves you over. 

“Sorry, roaches, mom needs something. Be back in a bit!”

Stopping the stream, you rush out of your seat and pleased she slinks into the hallway. “What’s this about?”

“Your pizza came.”

“My what now?” You echo, confused.

“Domino’s. You ordered pizza?”

“What? No? I was busy with the stream, I never--”

Thankfully, you had managed to grab your phone from your room before you exited. You almost choke on spit once you read the messages.

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You decide that it’ll be impossible to stream after experiencing what you had just experienced. You tweet out a quick apology to the roaches (God, that fucking name) and say that you had a breakdown but you’re okay. That is as a close to the truth as you managed to muster. It’s a sad sight, chewing and crying; your mom winced when she saw your state - disheveled hair and rundown eyeliner and everything. “D’aww,” She had muttered, caressing the top of your head, “don’t cry my little raccoon.”

If anyone was ever to ask you where did your chaotic nature come from, you’d answer with my mom. To make yourself feel better, you took a selfie - duck face and peace sign and the horrible 2000′s angle. Sent it to Rae. 

looking hot, her message read. 

thanks, was all you replied with.

You couldn’t just leave things as they were. Once you calmed down, you wanted to text Corpse, but how would you follow up the ungodly caps lock and screeching? Impossible. An idea sprung to mind, one that was brave. Taking the first step.

Instead of sending a text, you sent a voice memo.

“Thank you for the pizza, it was delicious.”

You voice still sounded a bit raspy. His reply was instant. Your heart skipped a beat. He sent a voice memo back.

“Glad you liked it, baby.”

He was going to be the death of you.

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tags (in italics is those i couldn’t tag! make sure all’s ok w your settings!) : @littlebabysandboxburritos - @fairywriter-oracle - @tsukishimawh0re - @ofstarsanddreams - @bbecc-a - @annshit - @leahh19 - @letsloveimagines - @bellomi-clarke - @wineandionysus - @guiltydols - @onephootinfrontoftheother - @liamakorn - @thirstyfangirl - @lilysdaydreams - @pan-ini - @mxqicshxp - @tanchosanke - @yoshinorecommends - @flightsandfantasy - @liljennyx3 - @slashersdream - @unknown-and-invisible - @sinister-sleep - @fivedicksinatrenchcoat - @mercury–moon - @peterparkerspjsuit - @unstableye - @simonsbluee - @shinyshimaagain - @ppopty - @siriuslystupid - @crapimahuman - @ofthedewthesunlight - @mythicalamphitrite - @artsyally - @corpsesimpp - @corpsewhitetee - @corpse-husbandsimp - @hyp-oh-critical - @roses-and-grasses - @rhyrhy462 - @sparklylandflaplawyer - @charbkgo - @airwaveee - @creativedogs - @kaitlyn2907 - @loxbbg - @afuckingunicornn - @fleurmoon - @yeolliedokai - @truly-dionysus - @multi-fandom-central707

more tags are in the comments bcs tumblr only allows me to tag 50 people max 💙

[courtney-deserved-better]

whats ur writing schedule/process like! not in a “write faster” way, but i think once you mentioned writing in script form? and i like the way you wrote ur most recent fic! just curious bc ur works are just really good :)

this is a great question!!

if its not slippery slopes, ill usually get an idea for something and periodically jot down notes when they come to me until I feel like i have enough information to start writing (or if im just motivated), that's what i did for my horror challenge rewrite. and for stuff that's like... rewrites of an episode that aren't as character-focused as slippery slopes, i usually read the episode transcripts and try to replicate that total drama style with my own writing

for shorter oneshots, i usually just get a vague idea and run with it until i find a good ending spot, then i go back and clean it up a bit so the structure works

slippery slopes is an... interesting cycle. chapters are getting long enough that i cant just write them in one sitting any more (i think ch5 was the last chapter i did that for) and instead ill agonize over the beginning (always the hardest part to write for me) but once i get going with that i usually finish the chapter within a few days. then i reread the previous chapter to make sure it flows ok (and there aren't any contradictions) and then ill give myself a break where i dont do anything total drama related before coming back to edit and post. though before I do all that I type up notes and rough dialogue bits

and then once i post it it's like... a weight off my chest? like ive been purged or something?? idk its a weird sensation but im just like i Physically Cannot Write Anything For This Right Now and i don't start on the next chapter until that goes away. and then i either start the beginning and do nothing for a week before going back and finishing the chapter or i go into a manic state and write nonstop for a few days. right now i haven't reached a point where im ready to begin writing chapter 10 but i have a lot of notes for it.

(also as soon as i finish posting a chapter i try not to go on my laptop for like 12 hours so i don't obsessively refresh my email for comments. i love reading comments so much holy shit. please comment guys it makes fic authors feel so happy we will love you for it)

as for scripts: i am working on being a writer professionally, but specifically a playwright. writing in a script format comes more naturally to me than writing prose. funnily enough, i started posting fanfic just to practice my prose (and fix stuff in cobra kai that i didnt like) but things sort of... ended up here? idk man but im enjoying it.

right, so because writing in a script format is easier when im really struggling with a section in a fic ill usually scrap whatever i had and write it like a script, then translate that into prose. i was very excited to write the family videos for chapter 9 of slippery slopes, but i was Having Issues, so i redid it as a script and then rewrote that as prose. ill put the script version under the cut if you're interested in that.

but thank you so much for the question!! i do think my writing process is a bit unconventional but hey i think things are turning out well! if you have any more questions feel free to send them in!!

ok here is the last scene of ch 9 of slippery slopes in script format:

[SIERRA]

MOM: Hi honey! Omigosh this is so exciting! I bet you’re having such a great time! Especially since Chris is there! Is Chris watching this? Hi Chris! You know, I loooved you on that ice skating show. Your hair was fantastic! Well, it always is, haha. Do you really make your own hair gel? I’ve been trying to perfect the recipe but you’re just so hard to track down! Oh, you’re such a funny guy! I laughed sooo hard when you made all those jokes about marrying Chef.

Chef: hey!

Chris: ok just for the record, I wasn’t joking, we are married, Sierra tell your mom we’re married

Sierra: …can we just turn it off please

[COURTNEY]

DAD: Courtney, sayang, I know you’ve been going through a lot right now—

MOM: So you’d BETTER make it count. You’ve made it this far before, I want to see you getting all the way to the finale this time. And winning it. Enough moping about those hideous, good-for-nothing slackers! That’s what you get for hanging around freaks like them. You’re doing this for the million, now get the million. Is that clear?

ZARINA: And kick ass!

DAD: Zarina!

Video cuts out.

Alejandro: courtney you good?

Courtney: no, she’s right. Mama didn’t raise no quitter

Alejandro: [knows she’s still upset about duncan and gwen]

[ALEJANDRO]

MOM: Hola, Alejandro. We hope you are doing well, especially in such unsavory conditions. I’m glad to see you’ve made it to the final four— we expected nothing less, of course.

DAD: You have been utilizing your skills quite well. Though I wish you hadn’t been so… blatant about it. You’ll have to work twice as hard once this is over to convince people you’re trustworthy. But surely you were aware of that going into this… odd endeavor. That’s just politics. Reputation is everything.

JOSE: [snorts] Oh, and what a reputation you have, Al. I could easily compile hours of footage of your failures, but I, unlike you, do not waste my time on the frivolities of reality television. Though you always have been lacking in taste. Especially with that bratty girlfriend of yours— oh, my mistake, aren’t you dating the whiny weakling? It’s so hard to keep track! [laughs]

Alejandro: callate!

MOM: I’m sure Alejandro is just working an angle on them.

DAD: Whatever the case is, do not disappoint us.

[NOAH]

MOM: Hi Noah, I’m sorry, I don’t have time to record a full video, but I’m proud of you! Here are your sisters!

ISWARI: A million dollars? A million [bleep] dollars? Win it, Noah! Win it!

RUTH: Dude!! This is crazy! I know you can do this— good luck! Ark misses you! [holds up Ark who barks]

MARA: Are you insane? Why aren’t you dating Alejandro already?

Noah: shut up, mara, just because you can’t keep a boyfriend—

ANYA: Don’t let ‘em trick you! No mercy! Crush their skulls if you have to— no, wait, you’re not strong enough for that. We’ll get there!

LIYA: I say this as your sister, someone who loves you but is constantly annoyed by you— for someone who is quite literally a genius, you sure can be an idiot sometimes.

BALLARI: Okay, I literally have no idea how you’ve made it this far without an athletic bone in your body— are we sure you aren’t adopted? I’m kidding

ABS: You’re stubborn as hell when it comes to me, so you better be stubborn as hell when it comes to winning! And when you do win, get me a frozen yogurt machine, will you? I promise I won’t make you rock climb again!

JAEL: If you lose this, I’ll kill you with this racket. And then use your guts to make myself a new racket. So don’t fuck it up. Again.

Noah: [frozen, ashamed]

Sierra: well that was a mess

Courtney: ok show of hands, who felt better after hearing that? [no one raises hands]

Chris: yeah I was expecting this to be a lot more heartwarming…

Chef: chris just look at them. If they had stable home lives they wouldn’t be doing reality tv

Alejandro: can we please stop talking about this. Also aren’t you supposed to be flying the plane

Chef: oh fuck

Chris: yeah sure. I think im gonna call my mom

Everyone: …

Noah: ok so that was really shitty. Why dont we all go to first class and try and ignore our problems

Everyone: yeah ok sounds good

***

Courtney: so that sucked

Alejandro: at least your dad seems ok

Courtney: true. What are your guys dads like

Noah and Sierra: bold of you to assume I know my dad. Jinx

***

Alejandro: that last girl… you mentioned a sister who does tennis and hates you

Noah: yep

Alejandro: why?

Noah: none of your business. but… it is pretty justified

[lewdanimevsirl]

Do you know whale have 1500 litres?

WARNING: This story is a work of fiction and contains many mature elements. Please do not continue if you are unable to handle such content.

NOTE: The characters in this story are based on their depiction in Fate Grand Order which is developed by Delightworks and based on Type-Moon's Fate franchise. I am neither a marine biologist nor a lore expert, thus some terms and information used may be inaccurate, but I have provided references (you hardly see those in these type of content) at the end. Sorry for any weird English or grammatical mistakes.

Summer

Jeanne d' Arc, Maid of Orléans, Holy Maiden of Salvation, Ruler. And now lying on the shoreline in front of me, covered in white gooey substance and her swimsuit all torn and tattered. Her black bikini was hanging off her body while her blue hoodie was covered in white sticky substances. How did this even happen?

It was summer, and like most servants, Jeanne had a summer-swimsuit form. The holy maiden of the tropics, the star of the dolphin world. I always wonder why she became an archer that shoots dolphins. But after this incident, I realised the truth behind it….

A few months ago,

Ever since I summoned Jeanne into Chaldea, we had a healthy Master-Servant relationship. We fought enemies together, we shared our worries together, we shared our joy together.

One day resting with Jeanne after a hard day of farming,

"I can't wait for summer to come. Can't wait to just sit back and enjoy myself." I entered my room and slammed my face onto the bed. "We really deserve the break from all the farming and fighting that we do. Not to mention we can finally bring out those swimsuits." "Yes, it's good to take a break." Jeanne followed behind me and took a seat at the table.

"Jeanne! Anything you looking forward to in the summer?"

"Summer? Hmmmm…. Heading to the beach. Can't wait to meet Reece. I missed him," Jeanne smiled while answering the question.

"Reece?! Oh ya, your dolphin… You never did tell me how you met Reece" I sat back up, hoping that Jeanne would share some stories about her dolphin with me.

"Ahh… uhm… It's a long story, we can leave it for another day." Jeanne quickly brushed off the question.

"Fineeee… But mind introducing me to Reece? I would love to chill with a dolphin!"

"Uhm… sure, Master, if you don't mind…"

I did not notice it then, but Jeanne was embarrassed and was hesitating with her words. I thought it was because she was tired, so I did not ask her any further questions. But it was during summer, that I finally found out the truth behind her words.

Summer

Finally, it is summer. I can sit back and enjoy myself. No more farming. No more grinding. I get to enjoy myself on the beach and enjoy the cold sea breeze. Well, that is what I thought I would be doing. But instead, I am stuck in a crammed room, helping the Dragon Witch, Jeanne Alter AKA Jalter (Jeanne's tsundere alter) with her work.

"May I come in?" a knock from the door interrupted our discussion over the work.

"Stop interrupting us! State your purpose and leave," Jalter shouted intensely, "Some of us have work to do!" "I am sorry, I just want to ask if Master is free now" the door swinged open and Jeanne sheepishly entered the room.

"Master, how do I look?" Jeanne strolled happily into the room, dressed in a black bikini wrapped around with a blue hoodie. "You asked about my swimsuit the other day."

"You look stunning…." I replied immediately only to be met by a stack of paper slapped onto my face. "Stop staring her and start doing work, you pathetic Master!" "Sorry you tsundere Witch, I am just complimenting your sister! Don't tell me you are jealo…" another stack of paper hit my face before I could finish my sentence.

"Sorry Jeanne, I am unable to join you and meet Reece now. I need to help this annoyance with her work…." I apologised to Jeanne. "You better be!" Jalter quipped in. "Don't wait for me, you should enjoy the summer. I will find you after I am done."

Jeanne looked at the piles of papers stacked across the room. "It's fine Master, work is important. I will just head off first. Will not interrupt you guys any further" Jeanne took a bow and start making her way out. "So sorry about…." "Quit yapping! We need to get this done by today." Jalter interrupted me as I sadly watched Jeanne exit the room, leaving the both of us struggling with work.

At the Beach

"Jeanne, you look loving today!" "Jeanne, join us!" "Jeanne, pity Master could not join us!"

While I was stuck in a crammed little room helping Jalter with her doujins, the rest of the Servants were enjoying themselves at the beach. Some of them lying along the shore suntanning, some of them swimming and surfing, and there was even a sandcastle competition.

"Jeanne, are you not joining us?" "Sorry, not today. I have something I need to do." Jeanne politely declined the other Servants. Instead of partaking in the activities with the rest of the Servants on the main beach, Jeanne made her way onto the far side of the beach.

"Now that Master is busy, I should take the time to indulge myself" Jeanne thought to herself as she walked towards the far corner of the beach.

Far side of the beach

"Reece!" Jeanne ran towards the shoreline and shouted for her beloved dolphin.

Squeaking and splashing noises could be heard as a dolphin could be seen swimming towards the shoreline.

"I miss you so much!" Jeanne run towards Reece and hug the dolphin tightly. Reece rubbed against Jeanne and squeaked in delight. "I know you are excited, but not here Reece. You know the drill, let us go further out." Reece squeaked and started swimming towards a rock formation at the corner of the shore.

"Smart boy, you know what I wanted" As Reece swam back from the rocks, he brought back a raft. The raft appeared stable and looked as though it has been used multiple times. Jeanne boarded the raft and petted Reece on the snout. "I know you are excited, I am too, let's go so that I can give you your reward." Reece squeaked and started pulling the raft towards the middle of the ocean.

"I wonder how Scrooge has been doing. It has been a long time."

Although research on the anatomy of aquatic mammals and how they reproduce is still ongoing, current research has found that the reproductive organs of aquatic mammals such as dolphins (Howard, 2009) and whales (Whales Online, n.d.) are hidden in a genital slit. During mating, the penis of the male partner will protrude out of the genital slit and penetrate the female's vagina. Due to this, many aquatic mammals mate either belly to belly or turned on the side.

Dolphins do not only engage in sexual acts with the intent of reproduction. They also driven to engage in such acts for pleasure. "It is more accurate to state that animals (including humans and dolphins) are often driven to engage in sexual acts because the act itself is rewarding" (Dolphins Communication Project, 2014).

A typical size of a common dolphin's penis is approximately the size of a human hand (Lunau, 2017). However, they have a prehensile penis, meaning they can "swivel, grab and grope, much like a human hand" (Wetzel, 2020). This is so that they can navigate the "unusual vaginal folds, spirals and recesses" (Orbach, 2017)

In the middle of the ocean

"Alright Reece, this is far enough." The dolphin stopped and started squeaking loudly. "Alright alright, I shall reward you for your effort." Jeanne leaned forward and petted Reece on the snout, before kissing him on the lips.

People have often wondered about the story behind Jeanne and Reece. Some say Jeanne rescued Reece from captivity. Others say Reece respect Jeanne for being a holy maiden of the sea. But unlike the simple and typical girl-meeting-dolphin stories that people believed, the truth is that Jeanne and Reece helped to fulfil each other's sexual needs.

Jeanne slowly descend into the ocean while leaning against the edge of the raft. "Alright Reece, I am ready! Time to receive your reward!" Reece squeaked and started swimming around Jeanne, before stopping in front of her and rubbing his snout against her chest.

"Stop it Reece, you know what I want." Reece stopped rubbing and ascended with his penis protruding out of his genital slit. "Good boy! This is what I have been waiting for! Enjoy your reward, you naughty boy." Jeanne began rubbing Reece's penis with her hands before placing it into her mouth.

You might think the irregular-shaped prehensile penis is unable to fit into the Holy Maiden's petite mouth. But Jeanne was experienced in putting irregular-shaped objects into her mouth. Jeanne started bobbing her head back and forth, licking the tip of Reece's penis while rubbing it. "Someone has been a bad boy, someone's cock is grabbing my tongue, so aggressive." Jeanne continued to lick Reece's penis while occasionally touching herself.

After a few moments, loud squeaking sound could be heard. Reece squeaked loudly as he erupted all his dolphin semen into Jeanne's mouth. White gooey dolphin semen dripped down Jeanne's mouth and splattered onto her black bikini and blue hoodie. "Delicious! Just like the first day we met." With a single gulp, Jeanne swallowed it and started licking her mouth. She then proceeded to lick Reece's penis clean. "I hope you enjoyed your reward Reece," Jeanne kissed the happy dolphin on the snout. "Now that you are clean, I need you to call Scrooge for me."

Instead of calling for Scrooge, Reece squeaked and started to nibble Jeanne's breasts. Within seconds, the dolphin had bitten Jeanne's bikini top off and began to nibble on her nipples. "Stop it… Hyahh… Reece! I… Ahhhh… already given… Hyah… your reward." Jeanne tried to stop Reece in between moans. "I… Ahhh… know you…. Haa… want to… Hyahhh… make me cum… Ahhh…but I am…Uhh… preparing for… Hah… the main course."

Reece whimpered softly and stopped nibbling. "I know you are a good boy and you definitely made me happy with all the dolphin cum, but I am preparing for Scrooge." Jeanne petted the dolphin. "I will let you do me next time, alright?" Reece squeaked loudly and started diving into the ocean.

"Ok, time to prepare for the main course." Jeanne laid back onto the raft and adjusted her black bikini bottom such that her vagina is exposed. "I wonder if Scrooge will be happy to see me." Jeanne thought to herself while she touched her own breasts and vagina.

Soon, a rumbling sound could be heard beneath the ocean.

Like the dolphins, the penis of the blue whale is prehensile to navigate the multiple folds of the female's vagina (Whales Online, n.d.). However, the size of the blue whale is much larger than that of a dolphin. An average size of a blue whale penis is 2.4 metres (Whales Online, n.d.). When erect, it expands to about 30cm (12 inches) in diameter and about 3m (10 feet) in length (University of Wisconsin, 2012). "The erect penis can be guided using muscles, almost as if it were equipped with a homing device" (Whales Online, n.d.). In addition, "each ejaculation of a blue whale could produce around 20 litres of sperm" (Whales Online, n.d.).

During mating, the male and female will spend time rolling around each other, before flying upwards and crossing the surface. As they cross the surface, "the male will thrust his penis into the vulva and ejaculates" (University of Wisconsin, 2012).

In the middle of the ocean

Jeanne always hated having to act prim and proper. On the surface, she would put on the demeanour of a pure and innocent holy maiden, but when she is alone, she would often indulge in self-pleasure.

Ever since she became the Holy Maiden of the Sea, it has become an annual tradition for Jeanne to meet up with Reece and Scrooge. She provided them with love and comfort, in return, they provided her with the sexual release that she desired, that she craved, that she needed.

A loud roaring sound could be heard as a blue whale emerged from the sea.

"Oh Scrooge, I have missed you and your long enormous cock so much! Come on and devour me, you naughty boy!" If anyone were there, they would have not believed that the Holy Maiden of Salvation would be lying on a raft, in a seductive position, fingering her own vagina and saying such sexual things.

The blue whale roared as water sprayed out of his blowhole. "Someone's excited! Come on Scrooge, let us not wait around and fuck me already!" Jeanne screamed as the blue whale approached the small and petite Jeanne lying on the tiny raft. As Scrooge approached the raft, the shadow of a 3m penis could be seen emerging from his genital slit, covering the entire raft.

Back in the room with Gudao and Jalter

"Finally! We are done with these!" I shouted as I slammed the last piece of doujin onto the ground. "I can finally head out to the beach and enjoy myself!"

I should have been at the beach enjoying myself, soaking the warm sun and enjoying the waves. But instead, for the past few hours, I have been stuck in this crammed room helping Jalter with her work. I even had to give up the chance of hanging out with Jeanne and Reece.

"We could have finished this an hour ago if someone had not fallen asleep on my lap." Jalter shouted from the couch that was covered with piles of paper, while scrolling through her phone.

"While at least I don't droo…." A pillow slammed into the face, interrupting me mid-sentence. Throwing the pillow back at Jalter, I retorted "At least, I don't sit around and used my phone all day."

"Ya, whatever," Jalter shrugged both the thrown pillow and my remarks off. "But at least I found this meme about that holy saint." My eyes lit up with interests as soon as I heard that. "You can't just say something like that and not show me!" I rushed towards Jalter and tried to grab her phone. Jalter immediately kicked me on the face in response. "Stop trying to snatch my phone, you pathetic Master. Alright, I will show you before you destroy my phone."

Jalter pulled back her leg and showed her phone to me. "This one here. The one that they compared that holy saint to a blue whale."

The picture on the phone read "Did you know that the Maid of Orleans, Jeanne d'Arc, is 159cm in height. But Blue Whale's penis is about 2.4-3.0m in length, which is almost twice of her height"

"Oh, and this one here"

The next picture read "Did you know that the maiden of orleans, Jeanne d'Arc, weighed 44 kilos. In contrast, a blue whale can ejaculate around 1500 litres of semen"

"What the fuck Jalter?! What the fuck did I just read?! What am I even supposed to do with that information?!"

"It is a meme, idiot. You are not supposed to do anything with it." Jalter continued to use her phone amidst my confused and panicked screaming. "Only a degenerate would draw or write anything based on this information, which I hope you are not"

"I guess you are right, there is no chance Jeanne would associate herself with whale penis and whale semen. I know, I shall find Jeanne and tell her…."

"Hahahaha," A crackling laughter could be heard coming from Jalter. "Ya, you tell her about whale penis and whale semen. I cannot wait for her to look at you with eyes of contempt and disgust."

"Well, Jeanne isn't like you, you big tsundere of a witch…" As soon as those words come out of my mouth, Jalter snapped and started throwing pillows at me. I quickly ran out of the room with Jalter chasing after me with murderous eyes. "You little shit, I am so going to kill you!"

"Jeanne! Save me!"

Meanwhile in the middle of the ocean

"Yes Scrooge! Fuck me! Pump it into my pussy!" The Maid of Orléans moaned loudly as the blue whale positioned his 3m penis near her vagina. "Come on Scrooge! Give it…" Jeanne's words were interrupted with loud moans of pleasure as the blue whale penis began to insert slowly into her vagina. The force from the whale's penis caused Jeanne' bikini bottom to snapped and hanged off her body.

"Ahhh… Hyahhh…" Screams and moans of pleasure could be heard emitting from the mouth of the Holy Maiden. A rush of satisfaction and joy had washed over her. Her mind was lost to the pleasure derived from the penetration of the blue whale's penis into her vagina.

Since Jeanne's vagina could barely fit the tip of Scrooge's penis, any movement made by Scrooge resulted in Jeanne erupting into moans of pleasure. "Yessss… Fuck me…. Deeper… Scrooge…" Uncontrollable moans filled the air as Jeanne gripped tightly to the side of the raft while her vagina was being ravaged by a 3m blue whale's penis.

"Arghhhhh!"

Jeanne erupted into orgasmic pleasure as she ejaculated all over Scrooge's penis. Her fluid sprayed all over the blue whale's penis that was still inside her. As she laid on the raft panting, Scrooge continued to move his penis, which caused Jeanne to resume moaning and screaming.

"Ahhhh…. Scrooge… Stop… Ahhh… Give me… a break…" Jeanne tried to get Scrooge to slow down amidst all her moans and screams. But it is to no avail. The horny blue whale ignored her pleas and continued pumping into her vagina.

"Hyahhhhh!"

Jeanne screamed in pleasure as she ejaculated again all over the large rod penetrating her. She laid on the raft, paralysed, her mind long broken by the pleasure she experienced. Her facial expression was something unbecoming of a holy saint. She had been fucked senseless by the blue whale that was still penetrating her. Although she was unable to move her body consciously, her lower half continued to twitch and vibrate with every movement and every pump that Scrooge made.

As her body prepared for her third consecutive orgasm, Scrooge started to roar loudly, and water began to sprout out of his blowhole. The 3m penis started vibrating and a wave of semen began to shoot out of it into Jeanne's vagina.

At the same moment that Jeanne erupted into her third ejaculation, her vagina was engulfed by a sea of whale semen. As Scrooge starts to retract his penis back, whale semen continued to shoot out of it, eventually covering the Holy Maiden and the raft. Traces of whale semen sprayed onto her blue hoodie and black bikini.

There lies the Maid of Orléans, Holy Maiden of Salvation on a tiny raft, swimsuit torn and tattered, covered with whale semen, with a mixture of her own fluid and whale cum leaking out of her vagina.

Scrooge roared loudly and started diving back into the sea. As he did, he created a wave that started sending the mind-broken Jeanne back into the shore.

A few moments ago, at the beach

"Oh look, a whale!" "You hardly see one of those around, especially when it is not whale season."

I was at the beach, busy looking around for Jeanne, when a water sprout could be seen in the ocean. Most of the Servants were captivated by what seem to be a whale.

"Have anyone seen Jeanne anywhere? I am looking for her."

"Jeanne? I spotted her heading there." Musashi pointed to the far side of the beach. "She might be chilling with her dolphin."

"Thanks so much!" I thanked Musashi as I quickly headed towards the far side of the beach. But I was not prepared for the scene that would soon be presented in front of me.

Far side of the beach

"Jeanne! Jeanne!"

I shouted for Jeanne while walking towards the far side of the beach. "Where did Jeanne go?" I thought to myself as I had not seen a single soul on my way there.

Nearing the end of the beach, I spotted something white floating along the shoreline. Curiosity got the better of me as I ran towards the white unknown thing, hoping to find out what it is. If only I was not that curious, if only I had given up on finding Jeanne, then I would not have to face the terrible truth that I was able to witness.

"What in the world…" The white thing has a humanoid shape and it looked to be wearing a swimsuit. I inched closer to it, hoping to figure out what it is…

"What?! Noo… No…. Why…." I finally figured out what the white humanoid thing and as soon as I did, I fallen to my knees in despair. I could not believe my own eyes at the very sight that was displayed in front of me.

The sweet innocent Jeanne d' Arc, swimsuit torn and tattered, with her bikini just hanging off her body. The Holy Maiden of Salvation Jeanne d' Arc, covered in white gooey fluid, and fluid oozing out of her lower regions. The Maid of Orléans Jeanne d' Arc, with a face of euphoria as if she had been fucked senseless.

"… …" I was speechless and I had no idea how to react anymore. I sat on the beach, staring at the atrocity that was lying in front of me, unable to process anything or do anything. I just sat there, paralysed by the sight that was in front of me.

"… … Oh… Master… You are here…"

After what felt like forever, Jeanne finally spoke. "How… do I look? Guess… you finally… see my true self…" Jeanne calmly sat back up and started cleaning the white gooey fluid that was lingering on her body. To my horror, she started to lick the fluid that had covered her hands and face.

"… Yes Master… I am a naughty saint… I am not your innocent good girl… I love cocks… and love being fucked in my pussy…"

I could not believe the words coming out from Jeanne's mouth. The person sitting on the beach in front of me was an entirely different person that had fought together with me, that had laughed together with me, that had cried together with me.

"Oh… Are you thinking about this fluid? It is Scrooge's cum…" I stared at her with a face of disbelief. "You know… Scrooge… my blue whale? Ya… this is his cum…" Jeanne continued to explain while fingering out some of the fluid oozing out of her vagina and licking it seductively. "I don't know why you are surprised… Did you not read my skills? A constant supply of mana near the sea? It comes from this… I had to get mana transfer somewhere…"

It was pure torture hearing those words, and it was even more painful seeing the sweet and holy Jeanne fingering herself and licking the fluid off her hands. I wanted to run away, but I don't know whether it is curiosity or fear, I was rooted to the ground, unable to escape from the horror that was in front of me.

"Uhm… Jeanne… Does the rest…" I tried to force some words out of my mouth to break the silence between me and Jeanne.

"Does the rest know? Of course not, you silly Master." Jeanne suddenly crawled towards me and placed her fluid-stained finger in my lips. "This is a secret between you and me, not even Jalter knows about this."

"I know! Let us make a deal!" Before I could even ask what she meant by that, she had already leaned onto and kissed me on the lips.

"Noo… Jeanne… Please… Stop…" I tried to struggle and break free from her, but the horny saint just gripped tightly onto my face and continued to kiss me aggressively. All I could taste was her cum-stained mouth and tongue. I could not escape. Somebody please save me from this nightmare.

"With this… this entire thing will be our dirty… little… secret." After what felt like an eternity, Jeanne finally let go of me. "If you are cooperative, I might even let… you… fuck… me…" Jeanne began to touch and finger herself at her vagina. Sensual moans began to emit from her mouth.

At that point, I could not take it anymore. I fumbled myself away from her, and began to lifelessly walk back towards the main beach. As I silently walked back, I was haunted by her final words…

"Remember… Ahh… Master… This… Hyahh… is our… Hahh.. dirty… little… secret…"

End.

Author's Notes:

So… uhm… Thanks for reading. This is the first ever fanfiction that I have written so some parts might have sound weird. I would not have imagined that I would research and write about this type of content. (What am I even doing with my life).

If you were wondering, yes, this was based on the actual Jeanne-blue whale meme. Thanks to the wonderful people at citov4810 (Instagram) for "motivating" me to think of such a story. In case you were wondering about the format of the story, the original plan was to make a doujin, but since I am bad at art, I reckon I would write out a story first, so that it will make it easier when adapting into a doujin. (It would not be anytime soon)

Oh, but I might write a sequel involving Musashi and Jalter in the future (since I mentioned both of them in the story). Hopefully, those would not involve any whales or dolphins.

Please give some feedback and of course, you are always welcome to create fan art based on this (I know some of you horny artists are reading this). And if there is a talented or experienced doujin artists reading this, you are always welcomed to make a doujin based on this. I would love to see the type of degenerate content people might create.

No dolphins or whales were harmed in the writing of this story. This story is a work of fiction. And please do not fuck a dolphin or a whale.

References:

Butter-T [@Butter_T]. (2020, July 19). Knowledge Time. Did you know that the Maid of Orléans, Jeanne d'Arc, is 159 cm in height. But Blue Whale's [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/butter_t/status/1284788510407356416

Citov4810 [@citov4810]. (2021, June 5). [Meme]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CPuz8vZhhG8/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Dolphin Communication Project. (2014). Top 5 Dolphin Myths - Dispelled!. https://www.dolphincommunicationproject.org/index.php/2014-10-21-00-13-26/dolphin-science-factoids/item/94358-top-5-dolphin-myths-dispelled

Howard, C. J. (2009). Dolphin Chronicles: One Woman's Quest to Understand the Sea's Most Mysterious Creatures. Bantam.

Jay [@highonthighs]. (2018, July 30). Did you know the maiden of orleans, Jeanne d'Arc, weighed 44 kilos. In contrast, a blue whale can ejaculate around [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/highonthighs/status/1023747660027752448

Jeanne d'Arc. (2021, June 13). In Fate/Grand Order Wiki. https://fategrandorder.fandom.com/wiki/Jeanne_d%27Arc?oldid=953090

Jeanne d'Arc (Archer). (2021, June 14). In Fate/Grand Order Wiki. https://fategrandorder.fandom.com/wiki/Jeanne_d%27Arc_(Archer)?oldid=953914

Jeanne d'Arc (Ruler). (2021, May 10). In TYPE-MOON Wiki. https://typemoon.fandom.com/wiki/Jeanne_d%27Arc_(Ruler)?oldid=195455

Lunau, K. (2017, October 11). Scientists Inflated Dead Dolphin Dicks to Simulate Cetacean Sex. VICE. https://www.vice.com/en/article/j5gzqg/cetacean-reproduction-sex-dolphins-seals-dalhousie-university-science

Orbach, D. (2017, April 23). An intimate look at the mechanics of dolphin sex. EurekAlert!. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-04/eb2-ail041217.php

University of Wisconsin. (2012). Blue Whale Reproduction. Balaenoptera musculus. http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2012/olson_rile/reproduction.htm

Whales Online. (n.d.). Reproduction. Whales Online A Gremm Project. https://baleinesendirect.org/en/discover/life-of-whales/behaviour/reproduction/

Whales Online. (n.d.). Reproduction System. Whales Online A Gremm Project. https://baleinesendirect.org/en/discover/life-of-whales/physiology/reproductive-system/

Wetzel, C. (2020, November 17). Nine of the Weirdest Penises in the Animal Kingdom. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/nine-weirdest-penises-animal-kingdom-180976274/

[ka-writes]

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Notes- Did I decide I was gonna write a fic at 2:00 AM? Yes yes I did... anyways I don’t have an archive account yet but I wanted to get it out there.... um here is chapter one of my space AU, because I absolutely fell in love with the AU.

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Inspired by:

Humans are Space Velociraptors

By:FreshRoses_InMyGarden_NeedTheRain

Some kids come from storks, others come from crashed spaceships

By: mmmajora

Home Again, Home Again

By: teeth_eater

All works can be found on Ao3

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Ohh also challenge if you wanna do it, fill in the Title! And another one... if you were an alien what question would you ask a human other than basic questions, like name and age.

Also suggestions are always appreciated! And if you wanna support my main blog it is kadoodle.. also I have no updating schedule so I will when I want to.

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Warnings: Cussing, mentions of tight spaces and characters being trapped, mentions of corpses, and needles.

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“Humans are [Insert text here]”

Chapter 1: Idiots kidnap the wrong kid..

Honestly, life hasn't been bad. His needs were met, most of the time, and he had a.. place to sleep…

Yeah no life wasn’t great.

Tommy was easily, barely, avoiding Social Services. Sleeping on benches and occasionally grass. He got whatever wasn’t wanted and had an official bag for the first time. He had some spare clothes, and no money. The authorities stopped looking for him after a while and the only main challenge was getting essentials.

No one would miss him. No one would look for him. Therefore he was the perfect target among many others. The only thing setting him apart was his sheer ability to survive, not a want, like many of the others, it was a fact he would survive. Not that his captors knew that of course.

Alternative: Tommy gets kidnapped by aliens and sbi rescues him.

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He woke up in a cage.

Not a cell or a room, a fucking cage.

There were a few others in various cages around the room. All of which were either dead or close to it. Most of the ones still alive had been there for months, possibly years. No one knew of course.

The smell of rotting bodies stenched the place with a coppery coating. The room wasn’t large but not quite small. It was dull grey with layers of grime settling on the floor and cages. The room was long and skinny, lined with cages against either wall in a zig zag format. The only light was coming from the small door window, which happened to be positioned right in front of Tommy. It glowed a faint yellow and was blurry, not allowing Tommy to see into the hall.

Shadows would occasionally pass by the window. None ever stopped at it. Causing the ever growing hunger to grow more. Once one had stopped at the door, not for more than a second, before it screeched. It was inhuman and sounded like a hurt hawk from one of those nature documentaries. Tommy shoved his hands onto his ears and waited for it to stop. The thing chuckled, not like a human, but something close to it.

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Tommy waited for what seemed like hours before something happened. The door opened, sliding into the ceiling. A weird looking creature stepped in. It looked like it had a porcelain mask over its face with a painted smiley face. There were no ears or hair, instead just more porcelain, which formed a spear which sat on shadows. The thing was wearing a lime green hoodie and black leather pants that seemingly faded into the creature's legs. The knees bent inwards causing it to look awfully awkward as it crouched near Tommy’s cage. The hands were long and lanky with no real palm. The creature also had a tail that looked close to how Tommy pictured a devil's tail to look. This was the first time in ages Tommy was glad to be behind bars.

The thing pointed at itself and said,

“Dream.”

In the most heavily accented English Tommy had ever heard. That didn’t matter as much of the fact that the seemingly painted smile moved with the words.

“Come.”

The creature unlocked the cage and half dragged Tommy out of the cage into what Tommy presumed to be the lab. He noticed a window. The only thing for miles was stars. He was in space. He had been kidnapped by Aliens. Fuck.

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Humans were a heavily avoided species. The things were what kids would expect to come out of their closet. They were feared, and for good reason.

The first ship to find Earth was ecstatic. Finding another intelligent species in what would’ve been deemed as a planetary desert was a scientific breakthrough. Causing the entirety of the media to go insane for a couple of years.. That was until the first ship ventured onto the planet. It was immediately shot down. The entire crew was killed and the entirety of the ship was destroyed in a matter of minutes. The ISF (Intergalactic Safety Force) deemed it as a no flight zone and claimed to punish anyone in the desert. Even so poachers smuggled humans and within days had their ship crashed.

The only ones allowed to take humans were scientists, who were specialized in taking care of difficult species. They were allowed to test on said species and do whatever they wanted, in the name of science of course. Most people didn’t care how they treated them and were really only interested in what could kill them.

Which is where Wilbur came in. He was a toxicologist, a scientist studying poisons, he also dealt with various potions and other chemical mixes. This knowledge is what gained his entry to the Dream Team Ship.

He had been testing on around nine different humans for the past six months on the celestial calendar. This time Dream, his boss and the captain, brought in a juvenile human. He was skinny and lanky. Clearly had been starving before being taken. He felt bad before shaking off his pity.

“V74 and V83. Make sure he can communicate beforehand.” Dream promptly stated before leaving the kid in the room.

Wilbur tried not to think about his terrified face, before he clipped on the translator. Usually it is worn on the back of the head, since humans brains are vastly different than most species, it is clipped to the left side of the head.

The translator looks like a simple device when in reality it took dozens of celestial years to perfect it. It’s a small silver disk that ingrains into the part of the brain that controls communicating. After the body gets used to the device it can translate any language into one you understand instantly.

It took a couple more years for the translator to incorporate the estimated 7,000 languages spoken on Earth. For a planet that has been isolated it has a more complex and diverse set of cultures and languages, than Pellucidian has had in centuries. To say Wilbur was jealous, wouldn’t be far from the truth. Not that he studied cultures for a living. It was something that always interested him.

He put the device on the kid’s head and grimaced at the pain that was on the kid’s face. He quickly dried up the blood and mixed a solution that would ease the pain. It was clear and tasted like water, which is the only way they got humans to take the pain reduction.

The kid relaxed for a spilt second before tending at the unfamiliar setting.

“Where am I?” He snapped, causing Wilbur to jump back a bit, before collecting himself and standing up.

“The Dream Team craft’s labatory.” The kid’s face flashed with panic for a split second, “You have two testings scheduled for today. It will go quickly.”

“Will it be painful?” The kid asked. As standard for testing, Wilbur ignored the question and measured the substances. He quickly cleaned the puncture spot before giving him the needle.

The kid winced in pain. Wilbur swiftly led him to the testing chair. It had restraints that moved with the patient's body, which prevented bruising while keeping them in place. Wilbur clicked them on and sat at the desk located to the left of the kid.

“What did you inject into me?” The kid asked clearly trying to fight off the anesthetic.

“A dosage of Lidocaine, which is an anesthetic for your species. It’s only to numb pain that may come with the solutions we will be using today.” The kid’s face flashed with a deeper panic than before, causing Wilbur to tense. “We won’t start yet, since we have a list of questions to go through before we begin.” Wilbur lied. He hated testing people, especially kids. Dream of course didn’t care, like the rest of the Dreamon species. It made him sick. That was when he made a split second decision. Hoping he could get a distress signal out, without alerting the other crew members. He was gonna get the kid off the ship, at the next stop of course. Which was in three celestial hours.

The kid scoffed, clearly not believing the lie. He paused a moment thinking over his options before he smirked,“Fine. Ask me what you want bitch-boy!” Wilbur gasped, clearly not anticipating the insult.

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Chapter 1 End

1406 words

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End notes: Why the hell does google docs make it so hard to copy and paste??

Also I had to do some intense googling for this... I hope you enjoyed!

(Also also this is my first ever fanfic... please give feedback and reblog!!)

Minor mistakes are forgiven... don’t expect me to be perfect... I am dyslexic.

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Tommy: ....

Wilbur: ....

*intense starring*

Wilbur POV: I am kidnapping it.

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Chapter 2:

[asterekmess]

S3A - E9

The last episode took me Hours to get through with all my notes, let’s hope this one doesn’t hurt my fingers so bad.

My fingers hurt too much to come up with a clever pun so Read More:

Thoughts:

This is a dumb first bullet point, but I love Tara’s hair. It looks like it’s braided or something, then in a bun at the back? I like it.

What exactly was the reasoning for her walking into the school alone like this? Let alone going That far into it? If it’s a 911 call that she’s so nervous about she has her hand on her gun, then shouldn’t there be more than one officer??

ALSO, that seems like Very Bad routine procedure? You got a 911 call (but we get no explanation as to what it was FOR) and the first thing you say when you see someone is “Why are you here?” shouldn’t you be asking “Who made the 911 call?” And then you tell them to leave, and to tell anyone Else they see to leave. When they could easily SEE the person you’re wanting to aim a gun at and TELL them to leave because there’s a cop in the school.

So I’m torn between Julia being just that sick and wanting to terrify each of her sacrifices (which...she talks about them like she’s Genuinely sad she had to kill them, but it was necessary to save the world, so that doesn’t sit right with me?) or fear being a Necessary part of the ritual, like, that the sacrifices Couldn’t be willing?

Honestly, Lyds, that’s so smart and reasonable. “I had to have the weird blackout to get here. YOU get to go find the body.”

What was the point of the staging in the shower room if she was gonna get thrown onto the sign?? Why move her at all?

ALSO if this is supposed to be a threefold death, then didn’t she do it wrong? She killed Tara by strangulating her, but didn’t do the head bash or the throat until after she’d moved her body, for some reason??? Don’t they need to happen like..near the same time?

No to mention that there wouldn’t be much blood bc her throat was slit After death, so the blood wasn’t pumping. Even laying her down wouldn’t render a large amount. But they’re going for horror, so...i guess i’ll let it pass.

Why does it feel like Julia is going after people close to STiles specifically? First Heather, now Tara? And then his Dad? That’s a weird coincidence when she’s got the entire town to choose from.

Also, sheriff, i love you, but ‘they’re not going to get away with killing one of our own.” is a REALLY fucked up line. Police getting pissed ONLY when other Police are the ones killed is SO FUCKED UP. Logistically, police are FAR more likely to get killed than citizens are, aren’t they? They’re the ones that’re supposed to be running into danger? Like, Soldiers don’t Only get pissed when other soldiers are killed, right? It’s literally like...your job to be in potentially fatal situations? that’s not even my point! My point is that your line implies that law enforcement was Half-assing it before a cop got killed. half a dozen people have died, so Beacon Hills should be Swarming with cops, but for some reason the big guns don’t come in until a cop dies? Your phrasing sucks, Noah. Were you gonna let them get away with it if they killed everybody BUT the cops? I’m being sarcastic on that last bit, btw.

I’ll admit, it’s nice to get some actual SUNSHINE in CALIFORNIA

Is Chris letting Allison stay home because she saw a dead body? FOr as long as she wants? I’m so confused, she’s seen Much worse things, shouldn’t it like raise an alarm that she’s choosing NOW to stay home?

Your badassery is tainted by the fact that you’re wearing a dress and fishnets, Allison. If you’re gonna go hunting put on some pants. or shorts AT LEAST. that’s just not Practical.

I love how blatant a lie Stiles is telling Julia in class. “do you play?” “No, my father does” when we Know he plays, and besides if his dad plays then stiles MUSt because that’s a two person thing most of the time? But no, he doesn’t want Julia to know Shit about him.

the loyalty of Lydia not going near Aiden after learning he killed Boyd is SO refreshing. I TOLD you, if she knew Aiden was a murderer she’d never have gotten with him in the first place.

NOt Derek. CORA. MY BABE BONDS FAST. (I mean, she was locked in a bank vault with him for however long)

FIrst off, I love Stiles losing his shit. Second, the acting here is so sub-par, and it looks like a writer’s mistake. okay, so, in acting, interruption is an ART. You have to let someone say enough to get their line across, but INterrupt them before they can finish in a way that looks natural. And you have to make sure not to come in late or you get an awkward pause (this is more common with newbies bc experience actors don’t stop their line, they keep it going until you figure it out.) So like The line is ...And shove it up your freaking--” Now, Scott needs to interrupt without being late, otherwise, unless Stiles Continues the line, he’ll pause after saying ‘freaking’ and it’ll be noticeable. here, the way scott interrupts him feels So Wrong, in part because he let’s Stiles get so far into his threat.

Also, I’m fucking pissed that Scott is downplaying how angry Stiles is. “okay, we get it.” is just...a garbage way to respond to a friend who’s hurting and clearly on edge, thinking Ethan is threatening him.

Exactly How do you “Know” Ethan didn’t want to kill Boyd? You weren’t there, fuckface.

Is this set after school? They’re shouting their heads off and no one’s coming? Even Stiles was shouting about wolfsbane.

THAT IS NOT HOW ACTUAL WOLF PACKS WORK YOU FUCKER. THAT’S A GARBAGE MYTH.

Hearing Cora’s little gasp as her head hit the wall hurt my heart.

Normally I’d be pissed about the girl standing back and not doing anything, but Lydia would be ripped apart and I do not blame her for shouting from the sideline.

I don’t understand what the hell is going on with the Chris stuff. Like, I guess he’s supposed to be looking into it on his own, but that still doesn’t explain where he got the information on this very specific ritual.

But I do understand Allison’s hesitance to outright ask her father what the fuck he’s doing, since last time that happened she was taken to a chained up derek in an underground tunnel system. Finding out her family are monsters is kind of her entire life, unfortunately.

Honestly, fuck yes. Cora go off. Though, I’m sad that no one is mentioning Erica, like At All. You realize she ALSO died at the hands of the ALphas, right? why does no one mention her when they talk about getting revenge?

I...am not talking about this scene.

I gotta say that I enjoy the fact that Allison called Stiles. That’s just...that’s p cool. BUT while it’s cute that her contact picture is from her conversation with Stiles in s2, it’s weird bc it’s a screenshot of the show, and we know that Stiles wasn’t taking pictures at that moment. But the effort is sweet!

I will say that it’s interesting that Cora doesn’t fight Stiles about helping him with his dad. She just finished yelling at Scott, Lydia, and presumably Stiles, and she’s clearly unhappy with literally everyone but Derek, but she’s been very humoring of Stiles. In every scene together, even when she’s snarking at him, she’s not an Asshole.

This conversation with Morrell makes...no sense. Scott literally said in the last episode that good liars wouldn’t have jumping heartbeats when they lied. Then he immediately went to ask Morrell if she was the killer and believed her (even though she’s sketchy as fuck) just because her heart didn’t jump. Wtf?

“But if I kill someone, I can’t be a True Alpha, right?” WHO SAID THAT EVER? WHO TOLD YOU THAT? SINCE WHEN? WTF?

I don’t know if it was intentional (maybe they mention it, but i haven’t gotten that far) but technically having this history teacher disappear leaves an empty class for Kira’s dad to fill when she shows up. Which is neat.

I will forever be angry that Aiden is touching Lydia here. He shouldn’t be near her. And that’s not even me being cranky! She IS PISSED AT HIM. She was avoiding him before today and even then the only reason she went near him was to act as a distraction.

Also, again, I am amazed at Cora’s PATIENCE with Stiles here. Seriously, they’ve clearly been there for a while as Stiles tries to find the words, but Cora didn’t just get pissed stand up and say “I’m a werewolf. People are dying. Help.” She continued to wait for him to talk.

When does stiles rearrange his room? I swear in the beginning of this season it was still in the previous formation with the corner bed sticking out and the desk under the window. Now the desk is facing a totally different direction and his bed’s up against the wall. It’s great, but like, when does it happen? Isn’t this literally the second time we’ve seen his room the whole season?

that’s such a weird text. “Mr Westover Missing” like I don’t know if it’s from Lydia or Scott, but you’re allowed to add some detail? Your keystrokes aren’t limited and there are no government agencies watching your texts for information.

Oh, poor Cora. I honestly wasn’t expecting to bond with her so quickly when I first saw her, but there’s something about getting to see characters being calm that really helps me vibe with them? Like, when they’re nothing but Fight Fight Fight it’s hard to actually relate in any way, but when you actually get to see them talk or relax, then you worry about that being taken away from them.

However much I hate Isaac and everyone else Constantly saying “But I want Scott here. We should ask Scott, blah blah blah” I will say that it’s getting REALLY annoying that Allison’s entire personality is “I”m going to run in with almost zero backup bc I want to be powerful and strong, but then I have to be saved bc I refused to ask for help in the first place.”

Wtf do you mean ‘i’m not that good at this yet’ Isaac? You’ve been a werewolf for literally like 5 months, only like two months less than Scott, and you were LIVING with a born werewolf for that ENTIRE time.

Chris you were shooting at nothing for like two-thirds of that time. That was an empty room. ALSO, if you’ve been there the whole time, why did you wait until he was dead to come out shooting?

Chris yells “help Him” and you go run to stand next to his body without bothering to pull him off the cord around his neck? You realize he might not be completely dead right? Or is his throat already cut?

Also, I wanna note, it was daylight when Cora passed out. Now it’s dark! He went to the ER with her and STAYED with her. I get that people say STiles is kind of callous, but he Constantly goes out of his way for near strangers, and I don’t think that should be overlooked.

No youfcking wouldn’t have Chris, you had tons of time while they were using the garrotte and you just stood there. They came in just before the kill was done, and except for Tara Julia has been leaving people’s bodies where they fall so she wouldn’t left right after. You were NOT ‘this’ close.

Yeah, yeah, and you’re both fucking guilty of being incapable of conversation. Chris you are the adult here, fucking act like it. You had a million chances to confront your daughter and you didn’t. Apparently that’s a habit she picked up from you.

What are they talking about, Scott healing himself?? He was thrown back, he wasn’t injured. I literally just went back and rewatched that scene. He falls backward and he’s completely fine. Stiles, there are so many better instances you could point to. For example, things that actually Happened.

That line is never gonna not hurt.

Stop touching Danny. Stop being near Danny. You are a literal serial killer, get your hands off him. GOD. your brother literally said he would murder danny if he saw you with him anymore, why are you putting him in danger? FUck you.

.....okay, lydia’s speech was meaningful until she fucking turned it into scott worship. Why couldn’t you have stopped at letting her say “maybe I’ll find them before it happens” Why couldn’t it be about HER for once? Why did you have to make it about how everyone thinks sunshine comes out Scott’s ass even though he’s literally not done a single thing to warrant it. He hasn’t Saved Anyone. He hasn’t done Anything to warrant all this trust. Lydia wasn’t there when he made Derek kill Gerard. SHE was the one to save Jackson. And Scott was the one who had to be saved BOTH when Allison had to stitch him up and when Stiles had to go after him in the gasoline. Jackson is the one who saved Lydia when Peter went after her. Scott Didn’t save deaton, that was Noah. He wasn’t the one who killed Peter, that was a combination of Stiles and Jackson’s molotovs and Derek’s claws. Scott wasn’t even the one to protect Lydia when Derek and the pack went after her, that was Stiles, Allison, and Jackson. SHe had no idea that Scott was even THERE until she ran out of the house. Scott didn’t stop Matt, that was Allison’s family scaring him off and then Gerard killing him. THe only possible thing that could count was him saving the two little kids while Boyd and Cora were running around in the woods, and Lydia doesn’t even KNOW about that. Scott has canonically done NOTHING worth all this faith and ‘leader’ nonsense.

were...were they hinting at a Scott/Lydia relationship before they brought Kira in? Holding hands isn’t really a friend thing...?

That....is the softest most broken little ‘hey’ that I’ve ever heard and I’m Instantly on the verge of tears, holy shit.

Derek, honey, what do you mean ‘not again’? You’ve never left Cora, unless you count moving to New York with Laura and Cora was in South America! This line would make so much more sense if they’d given us Any idea what happened to Cora after the fire.

Normally, i’d be annoyed that Melissa is just ignoring the laws about paperwork. I’d even be annoyed that she did it for the Sheriff. BUT, Melissa is in the know about the supernatural and she KNOWS that the murders are supernatural. I’m sorry but Supernatural needs trump human laws. Melissa is totally a boss for this.

EYYYY actual druid (specifically magician druids) thing they got right (though i’m not sure it was on purpose). Magician Druids were Very Well Known for their nature magic. For causing storms and droughts and high winds and fog. The building storm around the school is like, Peak magician magic.

God, it really....it really grinds my gears watching Isaac’s progression toward the most abuse he can find. You notice how, in season 2 when Derek was attacking the Betas on the regular and doing awful shit like breaking Isaac’s hands, Isaac was loyal as Fuck to him? (right up until randomly going to Scott to decide whether to leave town) Then, this season, we start off with Derek being pretty fucking gentle, there’s no indication that he’s been continuing the abuse. Isaac questions his command and Derek’s response is ‘do you trust me?’ to which Isaac easily says yes. In fact, Isaac asks Derek to be the one to hurt him for the memory seeking thing, and Derek refuses because he wants to do what’s Safer for Isaac.Then he throws the glass and Isaac bails bc it’s a direct reminder of what his dad did. Only he goes to Scott, who was incredibly violent toward him in the previous season. (And who we know will be violent toward him in the future as well) But the only time he lists away from Scott, is to go after Allison, who Tackled him to the ground and held a knife to his throat, and whose father inherently hates werewolves and is a constant danger to him. Yet he never goes in the direction of people who Haven’t hurt him. He could go to Deaton, who’d taught him the pain-drain thing and was nothing but kind to him in that short time. He could’ve gone to Boyd after Derek’s lashing out, his pack member, who would never hurt him. Hell, he hates Stiles’ guts, but he could still have gone to him. Stiles was the one to help Derek free him from Jail after all, and he’s not wanted anymore so Noah wouldn’t have anything against him. Stiles may have threatened Isaac to keep him from hurting Lydia, but he never personally laid a hand on him. But he went to Scott. Someone who’s beaten him bloody multiple times.

So, really focusing on the details here, but on Julia’s death record, her  ‘jane doe’ occupation is listed as “Child” Oh, and apparently there was Froth present on the body.

Okay, so I think I understand what they’re saying. The reason Julia lived after getting to the hospital was because the birds sacrificed themselves and their life force kept her holding on. Now, either this was a spontaneous thing, and the birds did it For her. Or she Made them, because we know she doesn’t need to Be There to control weird shit. She could’ve set it up before she left the Nemeton or passed out or whatever. My confusion is. If that’s the explanation for the bird suicides, then what the Fuck happened on the first day when all the birds came crashing through the window?? There was no reason for that to happen. She was totally fine! And doing it to frighten people doesn’t make sense because she set off the radars of everything supernatural in town. (And Stiles.)

This kind of mass mind-control is kind of insane and makes the situation with Derek just That much more awful. I am so sickened.

Now, on the subject of the chanting, I assume it’s part of the ritual since it’s present at the deaths so much. The question is, where did Julia Get it? THOUGHTS: This chant isn’t present at any of the virgin kills. It’s not there with Heather, and while we don’t see the boy at the pool’s abduction/death, Emily Also didn’t hear it during her hallucination. What if it’s part of the virgin sacrifice perk? Like, Julia could Only Use it after killing the virgins, because it’s got some kind of mind-control thing about it?

Wh--why didn’t Julia tape her arms down before she woke up? Why make the garrotte before ensuring her victim couldn’t Punch her in the face??

I thought you JUST said she wasn’t going to be a sacrifice?

Still confused. You didn’t sacrifice Lydia, so that doesn’t count as the third philo, but then the teacher who died onstage wasn’t a threefold death, or the hanging thing, they just got their throat cut and they were poisoned. So....what? Was that supposed to count as your sacrifice?

Nobody TOUCHES Noah, who managed to be the only fucking cop on tv i’ve ever seen follow sensible procedure which is to shoot them in the fucking leg when they walk toward you menacingly, rather than threatening to shoot them in the head and doing nothing.

Final Thoughts:

There was a lot in this episode that didn’t make sense. It’s very clearly an amping up for the finale thing, but it’s annoying that after all this time they’ve essentially made the Alpha pack a time waster. The whole thing with getting Derek in the pack is relatively meaningless now that there’s a Darach going after the Alphas. I dunno, feels kinda off.

Anyway, onward.

[snkpolls]

SnK Episode 63 Poll (for Manga Readers)

The poll closed with 253 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Manga Readers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll, click here.

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RATE THE CHAPTER 244 Responses

In contrast to episode 62, this episode got a lot more of a positive response, with no one rating it a one, and well over ¾ rating it as a 4 or better. The anticipation for the upcoming events surely has a part to play in this!

I love it! Wholesome and thrilling all in one!

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I think they did an amazing job. The animation was even better than before too.

Pacing was great! The best so far.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING MOMENTS WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 247 Responses

As expected of the fandom, Falco leading Reiner to the basement to meet Eren got the largest chunk of the pie as what was probably one of the most anticipated moments from the episode. In second was the daytime festival with Reiner spoiling the kids to some good food, with the third place going to Eren meeting his grandfather at the hospital. 

They animated Dr Jaeger’s breakdown incredibly well, I felt extra bad for the guy.

WOULD YOU SHAMELESSLY EXPLOIT REINER FINANCIALLY IF YOU HAD SUCH AN OPPORTUNITY? 242 Responses

The majority of respondents say they would definitely exploit Reiner financially, with 31% saying they would feel bad about it, and 26.4% truly being shameless about it. 17.8%, on the other hand, would never even entertain the thought.

WHICH FOOD WOULD YOU WANT REINER TO BUY YOU? 246 Responses

Naturally, pizza gets the majority with nearly 60% of the vote (c’mon, who doesn’t love a good pizza?). Behind that was dessert at 22.8%, followed by those who prefer a good sandwich at 17.1%. A couple of commenters were just plain thirsty for other characters. 

All of the above ;)

Ereh abs 

1 drink with 2 straws so we can share while romantically staring into each other's eyes

EVERYTHING

erwin's t*ts

All. We make reiner broke

WHICH KID HAD THE CUTEST “BEGGING” EXPRESSION? 244 Responses

Gabi says she’s cute, and the fandom agrees! With 67.2% of the vote, Gabi takes the number 1 spot as the most adorable beggar. This is followed up distantly by Falco, who took in 25.8% of the vote. Zofia and Udo got a small amount of love as well.

WHAT DO YOU THINK - DID MAPPA DO WILLY TYBUR JUSTICE? 245 Responses

Overall, respondents are very happy with MAPPA’s rendition of Willy Tybur, with nearly 50% simply appreciating his design and seiyuu, while 38.8% find him quite dashing. A small amount think MAPPA got his design down just right, but not so much of a hit with the seiyuu. 

As expected of MAPPA! That's exactly Willy!

His shoulders look so small its weird

They did a good job casting and drawing him but I don't personally think he's attractive at all

I couldn't take him seriously since his voice is the same as kakashi's

He is fine and MAPPA animated him well. I don't look at him from sexual way. 

They really nailed Willy and I appreciate his character way more than in the manga

MAPPA MANAGED TO FIT IN THE STAIRWELL SCENE WITH PORCO AND PIECK. WAS IT EVERYTHING YOU HOPED IT WOULD BE? 247 Responses

MAPPA gave some of us a good surprise by repurposing the stairwell scene with Porco and Pieck (and I think most of us agree they’d have been fools to omit it completely). 38.1% were very grateful for it’s inclusion. 37.2% think they executed it well and had a nice chuckle from it. 9.7% were disappointed in the adaptation of Pieck’s ass, and 10.9% actually didn’t care about this scene anyway. 

Everyone's making too much of a fuss over it. Nice scene though

I wish they had actually animated her scurrying around

My bisexual ass simps for Porco AND Pieck 

It was everything I hoped for and more. Thank you Mappa

I always knew MAPPA wouldn't dare cut the scene where Pieck scares the crap outta Porco 😂. Poor guy could have fallen down the stairs.

That was a cute and fun scene. Pieck is really sweet and Porco was more friendly and open hearted than his manga counterpart. I really loved it!

YES! YES! YES! YES! Y E S!

Pieck Ass

MAPPA INCLUDED AN ANIME-ONLY SCENE OF A DRUNK TOWNSMAN PRAISING ZOFIA (MISTAKING HER FOR GABI), WHICH INCLUDES SOME SYMBOLISM ABOUT BAD LUCK. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE ADDITION? 244 Responses

Anime-only scenes are always hit-or-miss with manga readers, and this one seems to have been no exception. Overall, 32% of respondents thought it added a nice layer to the life of Eldians on the mainland. 18.4% were appreciative of a little more Zofia content. 16.4% liked the scene well enough, but didn’t feel it was necessary. 12.7% feel that it will serve as more fodder for Gabi’s characterization. Smaller amounts either didn’t care about it, or felt that it was completely unneeded and pointless. 

I don't remember it not being part of manga, but this scene was good.

They skipped so many scenes from the manga and then add this... really not necessary

I've appreciated every little addition they've added so far, but I wish we could all quit associating black cats with bad luck. It's a major reason why they have a hard time getting adopted in real life. :(

Yet another bitter reminder of why I despise Gabi so much

OOF

I really liked the additions they made, they’re really making us like all these characters more and it’s going to hit even harder when things go down.

UDO’S SARCASM IN THE ANIME IS MUCH MORE PLAYFUL THAN HIS GLOOMY CYNICISM IN THE MANGA. DO YOU THINK THIS MAKES HIM MORE LIKEABLE? 243 Responses

Udo shows a lot of distaste for the way that Eldians are treated both in the manga and in the anime, although it seems to have gone a bit more overlooked when we initially met his character. The anime team upped the sarcasm in Udo’s fatalistic views and the fandom seems to be very receptive to it! 44.9% of respondents feel that it makes him stand out a lot more than it did in the manga, and 34.2% are simply enjoying this more lively rendition of his character. A handful of others prefer his demeanor better in the manga, while others really don’t care about Udo at all.

I adore him in the anime. It’s gonna hurt seeing him squashed.

The answer is: Yes! 

It hurts more 'cause he'll die

To me it kind of felt like anger disguised as playful sarcasm, which actually made it scarier to me because you never know when he's gonna snap like he did last time.

MAPPA OMITTED THE SCENE SHOWING ZEKE AND COLT PLAYING BASEBALL. AS MANGA READERS, THIS ONCE SPARKED A LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT WHETHER EREN AND ZEKE WERE WORKING TOGETHER. DO YOU THINK ITS REMOVAL WAS A GOOD MOVE? 243 Responses

Overall, there doesn’t seem to be much panic in the omission of Zeke and Colt playing baseball, although some write-in responses indicated that they were more saddened by the lack of development between Zeke and Colt, rather than the foreshadowing of the Yeager brothers working together. 39.5% feel that since we already know Zeke has an affinity for baseball, the foreshadowing works well enough without this extra scene. 28.8% feel that we should simply wait and see if MAPPA rearranged this like it has other scenes. 13.6% think that this will make things even more of a shock for anime-only viewers, while a smaller handful feel that it ruins all ability to even speculate about it.

It would be too obvious if it was in the same episode and I think Eren's scene is enough for people to make a conection between baseball and Zeke

I missed it because it fleshed out Zeke and Colt’s relationship. Specifically the thing Zeke says about being a big brother. 

I'm more sad because it was cute than for the potential foreshadowing. The foreshadowing is at least partly still there without it.

It's looking like a "show it later in a flaskback" angle.

It would probably be too obvious in an anime format

I'm more disappointed about the content of the conversation between Zeke and Colt

Since it was obvious last episode that the injured soldier was Eren, it’s good to actually hold another plot twist in the air that nobody will see coming as a replacement

WITH KIYOMI NOW INTRODUCED, HOW DO YOU THINK MIKASA WILL ACKNOWLEDGE THE AZUMABITO SYMBOL? 240 Responses

The symbol on Kiyomi’s kimono is the same one that is branded on Mikasa’s wrist in the manga. But the anime team retconned this detail and Mikasa’s mother showed her the symbol through embroidery instead. So it begs the question of how this will be acknowledged in the anime, given Mikasa doesn’t (knowingly) walk around with an embroidered Azumabito symbol on her clothing. 41.7% feel that she will verbally acknowledge the symbol as something her mother showed her when she was little. 25% are anticipating MAPPA retconning things back to having the symbol branded on Mikasa’s wrist again instead. 15.8% think she will have the symbol embroidered on a piece of clothing she is wearing, and others feel it will be acknowledged in a different way, or the scene will be omitted altogether.

Either canned entirely so they can focus more on adapting the more labor intensive parts or acknowledged in another way

Anyone who thinks they’ll retcon to a tattoo is super wrong. Japan has a huge taboo on tattoos because of the Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) so they’re 100% keeping with the embroidery 

I don’t even remember where Mikasa first saw the symbol…

I think it would be fine if they use the embroidery but they could just change where the tattoo is located

WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE INCLUSION OF PIECK AND PORCO DURING THE DAYTIME FESTIVAL? 245 Responses

With Pieck being a fan favorite and Porco lacking in as much screen time in comparison, we asked how you all felt about the inclusion of them in the short festival scene. Most responses were positive, with 38.8% getting a kick out of the implication that they, too, were mooching off of Reiner for free food, 35.1% just loving that they’re getting more screen time altogether, and 17.1% feeling that it was a huge improvement over Reiner being solo in the manga. A small chunk of respondents felt it was better the way it was depicted in the manga. 

Doesn't matter, Falco is really the only one who deserves to live

I preferred it in the manga when Reiner was alone with the kids, but it's a nice addition to give them more screentime. Especially to Porco

Their moments together show the close-hearted bonds they have.

HOW DO YOU THINK THE ADAPTATION OF CHAPTERS 99 AND 100 WILL GO? 100 IS ONE THE COMMUNITY’S ALL-TIME FAVORITE CHAPTERS. 244 Responses

The Declaration of War has been one of the most anticipated animated episodes since its chapter’s publication. With MAPPA at the helm, we asked how confident you guys were in how it will be adapted. Nearly 70% of respondents are wholly confident in MAPPA’s ability to pull this off, regardless of whether they’ll have to cut some lines or are able to keep everything in. 25% remain cautiously optimistic. 

I'm really scared, but hope that they can make it justice 

No idea how they adapt that much dialogue in one episode

I hope the declaration of war gets the best adaptation possible.

IN A RECENT INTERVIEW, WE GOT A GLIMPSE OF SOME NEW MUSIC THAT HASN’T YET BEEN IN THE ANIME. COMPOSER SAMUEL KIM MADE A WONDERFUL FAN COMPOSITION BASED OFF OF THE SNIPPET IN THE INTERVIEW.... DO YOU THINK THAT HIS MUSIC IS WHAT WILL BE PLAYED DURING THE BUILDUP TO THE DECLARATION OF WAR? 228 Responses

For those of us who are OST nerds, we wait in anticipation of which track will be used for the iconic Declaration of War scene and how it will impact the overall execution. 37.3% who listened to the fan composition of a new song feel that no other song would suit the scene and are hopeful this is, indeed, what will play. 22.4% are hanging on for YouSeeBigGirl/T:T (or at the very least a rendition of it) due to the significance it has between Eren and Reiner. 19.3% feel it will play during Willy’s play, but not the Big Moment itself, and 11.4% simply aren’t invested. Some write-ins indicated they don’t want to be spoiled on any of the new music until it’s paired with the appropriate scenes. 

I hope that it will be Vogel im Kafig but this track fits great too, and I think that this track is more likely to play during the buildup scene

Not gonna listen. If this is indeed the DoW music, I want to hear it first during the scene itself.

It'll be edited around for the play but the climax at the end could very well match the trailer they used it in for DoW

Whatever MAPPA decides to play, I'll be content with I'm sure. 

I prefer to wait and be suprised by the ost than listen to it before and it feeling like deja-vu

YouSeeBigGirl would be great for some nostalgia but this new soundtrack seems intriguing, maybe MAPPA has more surprises for us

Im thinking the ost might be completely different but i am open to it being played because it does sound nice

No ost spoilers for me

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT EPISODE? 243 Responses

The top three most anticipated clips from the preview include Eren starting to transform, Willy declaring war and Eren and Reiner’s conversation in the basement. Of course, these are all more or less interconnected, so the vast majority of respondents are looking forward to the buildup toward and the climax of the DoW (as expected). A small number are looking forward to smaller scenes such as Falco realizing he’s been used and Willy’s play in general. 

I'm hyped for the declaration play!

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

I LOVED IT MAPPA IS DOING A GOOD JOB!!!!

I loved the humanization of all the characters

The perfect calm before the storm. Everything from here on out will be an unstoppable train

I'm just so happy to see the story animated! 

It was a mandatory filler episode for the declaration of war, important stuff happening but pretty boring overall.

This episode seemed shorter and kinda empty, but considering what's coming, I totally forgive and understand it. 

Its just a really great episode The pacing was perfect I was actually more invested with Magath's and Willy's interaction in the anime rather than the manga The visuals for the scene when Eren and Dr. Jaeger were talking were beautiful Udo's character was fleshed out more I'm still waiting for Armin It just presented things differently from how i read into those scence, and i liked that. Overall just really exited for the next episode and for chapter 136 to come out

The ending got me so HYPED for the next episode!! It was really well done.

the eyeshots of Eren's grandpa were epic

The episode was trully wonderful and I enjoyed every part of it. MAPPA is doing great job and I get a feeling that with the new soundtrack the episodes feel more serious than the ones created by WiT. I love Pieck. I never understood what was so ""cute"" about her in the manga. I saw her only as intelligent, skilled, tough warrior woman. Now I finally see her cuteness. I love how sweet and calm she is. Pieck reminds me of Tsuyu from MHA. They share similar energy. I'm grateful to MAPPA for making the bonds between the warriors stronger. This way the anime onlines will feel more sympathy to them. Pieck and Porco won't be just cold warriors, but nice folks.

Watching Falco and Gabi together is so satisfying to watch after knowing he confesses his love before inheriting the jaw Titan oooof love them so much

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 232 Responses

Thank you again to everyone who participated! We’ll see you again next episode!

[colemacgrathtkz]

Ah, memories

Disclaimer: I went past the character limit. This one might be hard to read due to formatting.

Previous. Next

[Human realm, three weeks BBI]

Luz crouched close to her task. Eda's lesson really came in handy. Picking a door lock, she never thought she'd be so grateful for an unmodern store. Standing by her side, only perceivable to her, the empress stood watching her progress.

Empress Luz: "I know you want to say it, just say it. What do you want?"

Since they came back, Luz's glyphs hadn't worked once. At first, she thought magic didn't exist here. But if that's the case, why was her angry counterpart still stuck to her.

Luz: "How come you're still here? I mean, my dream of being a witch is dead on this side, right?"

Empress Luz: "Ok, let me put this in terms you can understand. Congratulations, chica, you're an astronaut. Let's think of the Boiling Isles as earth and magic is the air we breathe. This side is the moon. On the Boiling Isles, magic is everywhere. Here, looks like we're S.O.L."

Luz: "So, you're what?"

Empress: "Holding my breath for you... to finish the job."

The tumblers finally obeyed the thief working on the outside. Luz didn't have much aside from some old clothes from home and the Empress' outerwear. The store inside should have some cash and new stuff to try on. She needed to avoid being recognized. Also, she kept getting glares when she entered stores during the day.

Luz: "Does that mean, if I wait long enough, you'll die?"

An note of optimism was detected.

Empress Luz: " You should be so lucky. No, I don't think so. I'm the only magic you brought over. So, WE'RE holding our breath."

The cash register was the first task they needed done. Emptying the register, they now browsed their options.

The place didn't look like anything exceptional. But one jacket caught Luz's eye. She put it on and felt... something.

Luz: "What do you think?"

Empress: "A little big, don't you think? And do you really like the color green that much?"

They both realized what this jacket was to her. For whatever reason, this jacket made Luz miss the others less. Almost like a sort of comfort cloth.

Man: "Who's there?!"

A flashlight broke through the dark and nearly blinded Luz. She dove for any cover that would keep her out of sight, bumping into something.

Empress Luz: " What are doing?! Let me tak..."

Almost like hitting the mute button, something landed on Luz's head. In that instant, she noticed her partner disappeared. She raced out the door and as far away as she could get. Once she was clear, she examined the hat on her head.

Empress Luz: "Stop ignoring me!"

The instant she took off the beanie, her partner reappeared in front of her.

Now there was some magic.

It would be another three weeks before she'd make it back to Bonesborough. But they were clearly on the right track.

[Present day, Blight manor]

Amity stirred awake in her old bed. She felt like she'd dreamed about something important.

The first thing she noticed was her old room, not remembering how she got there.

Luz: "No, wait, you can't!"

Her girlfriend's voice echoed from somewhere in the manor. She bolted out of bed and ran out to find the source.

Willow: "It's only fair. After all you put us through, this is the least you can do."

Gus: "I wouldn't call myself a 'vengeful guy'. But I do want to see this."

Amity practically jumped the stairway to see what was going on. Luz sat, tied up by vines, while her friends stood around her. Willow had a pair of memory tweezers while Gus held a memory print.

Amity: "What're you doing?"

Willow: "Luz wants to make amends. This is it."

Gus: "But you should be here, too. Take a look at this."

Snickering, he handed Amity the prize in his hand.

Luz: "No, come on, give me a break."

Willow: "If we wanted to settle things, once and for all, we could go fishing in her memories. That's what she said."

Gus: "We didn't find anything nefarious. But we did snag these nice beauties."

Scratch that, he handed her the prizes in his hand.

A few memories of Nevareth Bladestrife, teen Prince of Angstmore. Amity didn't say a word as she examined the recollections in her hand.

Luz: "Ames? You ok, linda?"

Amity: "So, who's this?"

Luz( visibly nervous): "No one, really. He's not even real."

Amity: "You sure? It looks like you think about him a lot. You had an imaginary boyfriend?"

Luz: "He's just... not even worth mentioning. I mean, he's got nothing on you, Ami."

Unfortunately, Amity flipped the print to reveal a small note written in ( what looked like) Luz's handwriting.

Goodbye, flawless pecs

Amity stared Luz down with one of the most menacing glares she'd ever seen.

Amity: " Well, if you say so, then it's fine. If he's not worth mentioning, he's not worth remembering, right?"

She lit a small fire in her other hand and dangled the pictures over it.

Luz: "Wait! You don't want to do that."

Amity: "Why not? You want to make amends, right?"

Luz: "Right! Let me out of this chair and I'll tell you all the truth."

Willow and Gus stopped snickering amongst themselves. Luz's proposal seemed like something worth seeing. Her friend undid the vines and let Noceda take a step forward.

Luz: "The truth is..."

In a swift moment, she surprised Amity with a kiss. Stunning her girlfriend, she swiped the memories back and placed one arm around her.

Luz: " We're official! Amity and I are dating. There's no reason to bother with these. So, I'll just take them back and we don't have to talk about him ever again. Agreed?"

Luz would later understand the wrath of a Blight, later. For now, she pocketed the memories.

Gus: "Wait, when did you figure it out?"

Luz: "Well, last night...wait, what do you mean by that?"

Her two best friends looked at each other, awkwardly.

Willow: "It just seems like... you were the last to know."

Luz: "...."

Gus: "You kind of already acted like a couple. I mean, when did you find out she liked you?"

Luz: "Right after..."

Her pause might have made anime fans proud.

Luz: "Point is, we're both where we want to be. Right, Ami?"

Amity: "When did you start calling me that?"

Luz: "Last niiiiiiiiiight."

Last night? Last night was a blur. She remembered grudgby and dancing but that was it. She didn't even recall how she got back last night.

Gus: "Um, speaking of last night, are you just getting out of bed? It's past noon."

Looking down at herself, she was wearing an orange and white striped pajama top with purple pants.

Amity shot a death glare at the last person she remembered being with.

Luz: "I swear, I didn't do anything weird! You were really tuckered out. I carried you home and that's it, I swear!"

She redirected her wrath to the others.

Amity: "Don't you all have somewhere to be?"

Gus: "Not really."

Luz: "You told me to quit my job."

Willow: "My boss didn't come in this morning."

Amity: "Get out!"

Just as they were leaving, Luz sheepishly tried to be cute.

Luz: "So.....stripes?"

And with that, Willow had to pry her boss off while Gus pulled Luz to safety.

[Last night, Hexside's gymnasium]

Luz: "I think I want to tell you where the staff is."

Taking a step back, Amity knew she was being sincere.

Amity: "Where is it?"

Luz: "With you, carino."

Not realizing what she meant, Luz poked her forehead.

Luz: "In here, with the witch I trust the most."

Amity had mixed feelings about this.

Amity: "No, you need someone to cast that spell on you. Who pulled you out? When did you even do that?"

Luz: "I'm kind of two for one package deal now. Not to mention, a quick study. Remember when you caught me in your room and I sent you a snoozing? It was after that."

Amity: "You knocked me out and went into my head?!"

Luz: " I'm getting the impression you're angry."

After taking one deep breath, she grabbed Luz by her face and pulled her close.

Amity: "Just, please, give it to me and we can go from there."

She was being pretty bold tonight.

Luz: "I can't say 'no' to that face. Especially like this, keeper of the staff."

Knowing full well that was a bad joke, she proceeded with Amity's request.

Amity(thinking to herself): "Please don't do anything weird. Please don't do anything weird. Please don't do anything weird. Please don't do anything weird."

Luz(echoing in Amity's head): "You know, I can hear you, in here. It's really a lot like what I've been living with on a day to day.."

Amity: "LUZ!"

Luz: "Right, right, we can talk about that later."

Popping out, Luz stood in front handing out the staff.

Luz: "One sure fire proof of my trust of you.. for you."

Her most trusted companion took the gift in her hand.

Amity: "It's the real thing. You actually meant it."

There was no mistaking the smug look on the latina's face as she placed her hands behind her head.

Luz: "Yep, we can be honest with each other."

Amity cut her off by raising her arm up. Now, the room had a serious tone shift.

Luz: "What're you doing?"

Amity: "You'd never lie to me, right? With or without this thing?"

Luz: "Bebe, this isn't funny."

Fear, once again, gripped a member of the Blight family.

Amity: "I order you to tell me the truth, what are you doing here?"

Luz: "I'm on a date with you."

Luz couldn't stop herself from answering, but she tried tweaking her answers.

Amity: "Why did you come back to Bonesborough?"

Luz: "I wanted to be with you all again."

Amity: "Are you planning something behind my back?"

Things were getting worse as it became apparent that Noceda didn't want to answer.

Luz: "Our second date, maybe. Now, can you give me that back, please?"

Amity: "One last thing, the empress is still in you, right? Neither of you are going to hurt anyone, right?"

This time, Luz covered her mouth, muffling her response.

Amity: "Take your hands off and tell me the truth!"

This feeling of once again not being in control of her own body; brought tears to her eyes.

Luz: "I don't want to hurt anyone. But I can't say the same for her."

Empress Luz: "GET THE STAFF!"

Amity found herself gripped from behind by a giant abomination hand. She looked back to see the Otabin mutant was still there.

Amity: "Wait, how are you doing that?"

The empress simply took back her staff and looked disgusted at what just happened.

Empress Luz: "I think I'm done answering questions."

Luz: "I pulled out all the stops for you, carino. It's my own 'little' mix of abomination, plant, illusion, and potion. Something that can keep on going, even if my finger stops spinning."

She just gazed at the object in her hands.

Luz: "I gave this to you because I trusted you."

The goo around Amity hardened; preventing her from moving a finger.

Luz(sadly): "You just couldn't help yourself, could you?"

She reached into the almost solid goo and searched Amity's pocket. Pulling out the tweezers just before the muck became rock hard.

Luz: "Thanks for the date, bonita. I'll be sure to remember it."

She held Amity's head still as she pulled out her memories of the date. Contrary to her pleas, Luz burned the ones that held the night's closing events. Her girlfriend felt the effects and passed out.

Empress Luz: "We'll have to clean this up."

Luz: "Hold on, I don't want to leave her like this. This could seriously damage her mind."

Luz used the tweezers on herself and pulled a couple memories. She done this before, unbeknownst to anyone else. When Willow's memories were burnt, her personality changed. Luz discovered that she could sort of keep that from happening by putting place holders.

After she had done the deed, she picked up the sleeping green haired witch in her arms, princess style.

Empress Luz: "Even after all that?!"

Luz: " You feel the same way, right?"

The two had gotten unbelievably good at switching control between them.

Empress: "What about the staff?"

Luz: "It can wait. I want to take her home and just forget this ever happened."

To her dismay, she knew her partner wouldn't simply "forgive and forget".

Empress: "Before we go, I think we should check her memories. I mean, it's only fair after what she just pulled."

Complying with her internal partner, they discovered the two other conspirators. She took the staff and hid it. She also took Amity home, but not before she made sure the coast was clear.

Willow and Gus would have no memory of their findings. They would be left to believe their investigations had come to a dead end. Reporting to Amity only that Luz Noceda had nothing to hide.

Author's note:

I just want to make two things clear.

1.) In "Understanding Willow", Willow's brain appeared to be faulty after her memories were burnt. I figured Amity might unknowingly experience something similar AFTER Luz left her in her room. No funny business. Amity was half asleep and disoriented when she changed into her new attire.

2.) I've wondered, how Amity might react to Nevareth or Luz's other crushes? I just wanted to throw that idea into the hat.

[peterpan-ouat-imagines]

In Hell I Will: Part 5

Writing Prompt #9: I gotta admit, that turns me on

A days after Emma risking me being killed I still am not talking to her.  I can’t believe she put me in such a fucked up situation.

I get a text from Henry asking to meet up and I accept.  Ten minutes later I go to Granny’s.

“What’s new with the quill?” I ask when I see him.

“Not much to be honest.  That isn’t why I came to talk to you,” he tells me shyly and I look confused.

“Then what?” I ask.

“I know you know about what happened with Pan,” he tells me and I gulp not sure where this is leading, “I bring that up because I think he wants me again,”

“What? Why?” I ask nervously afraid I’m about to be caught.

“I found this by my bed in my grandparents loft,” he shows me a note that says “Sweet dreams” signed by him.

I gasp knowing that was meant for me, “what do you think it means?” I ask.

“I don’t know but there isn’t anyone else who he would want as much as me, after all, he was going to kill me to live forever.  It makes sense. This could be a warning that he’s going to try to get my heart again.  I have to show this to everyone else.” he tells me urgently.

“No!” I exclaim and he looks at me weird.  I give myself a calmer appearance, “No that isn’t a good idea.  They’re already worried about so much else.  I can help you figure it out.  I want to be useful.  Anyway you promised me you wouldn’t leave me alone,” I explain a little shaky.

“You are right they do have a lot on there plate. And I’m sorry about leaving you out.  Where should we start?”

“What would his place be he goes to or works at here?” I ask him knowing the answer.

“My granddads shop!” He grabs my hand and runs down the street and I can’t tell whether I’m excited from him touching me or just being included in something I know isn’t a hoax.

I start counting everything that could go wrong in my head and know I made a dreadful mistake. He could find something of mine. He could discover the truth between us. He could never forgive me if I did. As he grabs the door I become a stress ball panicking about what he will find and more.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean after all he is after you.  You might not like what you find either,” I warn him trying to get him to back off.

“It doesn’t matter what I find, what matters is I figure out what he is up to,” he tells me determined and the bell rings as we walk in.

As he searches for clues I stand not to far behind him making sure that he does not find anything that could get me caught.  He’s so nice and inclusive it makes me want to rethink choosing Pan.

“Y/n, go to the office if we separate we can do this faster,” Henry tells me.

“It might be best if we do it together.  To make sure the other didn’t miss anything,” I suggest doubting he’ll agree.

“Y/n, I know you’re new to the whole finding evidence thing, but something about searching is splitting up to find things faster,” he tells me urging me away and i feel less wanted by him.

“What am I even looking for?” I ask trying to play along.

“Something that could mean danger or something about me,” he tells me.

I gulp as I head to a room that is a distance from Henry unable to track what he might find.

I scan the room knowing in my head that the office is where personal things are so there’s a higher chance of finding something before Henry... hopefully.

I look at the desk scurrying through everything trying to find something that points to me, “There has to be something,” I whisper to myself.

After flipping through papers and looking in drawers I come across a envelope with my name on it, “Bingo,” I open it expecting something showing his sweet side and it’s titled Plan for me. That is so sweet that I make him want to have a real plan with a real future.

I start to read it but the format isn’t in paragraphs.  It is in bullet points as if he was taking notes on something to study.

”Y/n, is interesting, she’s mysterious and kind.  She knows how to catch my eye and not afraid to get in a little trouble.  She wants to help her family but can’t. She’s interested and the key to escaping.  Wrapped around my finger and able to steal from her. Her heart is strong I can tell, just what I need and can get once she is in love with me she will gladly hand it over.”

The paper slips from my hand and my heart drops. “He tricked me? How could he? How could I be so stupid! I knew feelings like that were too good to be true,” I shove the paper back in the envelope and place it where it was trying to keep myself in one piece.

“The favor,” I say to myself. “The favor he wanted from the beginning is going to be my heart,”

I sit at the desk trying to dig for more and there’s a sketch of me which I don’t even know what to think. I am so overwhelmed and don’t know what to do I take the backdoor and run away.  Being a hero isn’t the lifestyle for me.  Running away from my problems is.

About an hour later I’m by the well where me and Pan had our first rendezvous and crying... still.  I hear a branch snap, “Who’s there?” I jump and start wiping away my tears.

“Just me,” Henry says, “Where did you go?  I went to check on you and you were gone. I got worried,” he sits next to me, “Were you crying?” he asks looking at my puffy eyes.

“Yeah and before you ask why, it’s because I found out someone isn’t who I thought they were... at all.  Constant disappointment seems to follow me.” I sniffle.

He hugs me. I look at him and he looks at me, staring each other in the eyes. We both slowly lean in and he kisses me.  It’s soft and sweet.  When our lips part I don’t feel what I thought I would feel.  Not a warm giddy feeling.  Not overcome with lust and going back for a kiss with more passion.  It’s just a kiss.  

I look away from him embarrassed.

“What’s wrong now,” he asks me.

“Henry I like you, I do, but something just feels off about us,” I’m now even more embarrassed I just let him down, “I have to go,” I run off feeling horrible between telling someone I don’t like them the right way and being used by someone who I do.

I don’t even know where to go.  Everyone is leaving me out to be forgotten and I can’t go to Pan.  I just start running to nowhere I really know.  

I trip over a branch and fall hard not able to get up, “Help! Help!” I yell hoping someone can hear me.  I reach for my phone but it’s across the trail and the branch is stuck.  I try to pull my leg out but it’s wedged too deep.

Someone comes running over several minutes later, “Y/n! Are you okay?” Hook answers.  He helps untangle my leg from the branch and sit more comfortably, “What happened?”

I can’t help but cry about everything.  I unravel about it all.  How I was betrayed, how arrived to Storybrooke, it all comes out.  I even let out how the mystery person was Peter Pan slip.

“Pan?” he asks, “When I see that boy I’m gonna-” he starts getting angry.

“Hook no, he’s my problem, I have to deal with him,” I tell him.

“Everything you just shared about going to a witch you found and dealt with on your own and having to put up with that demon.  All you ever do is try to solve things by yourself, you need to be able to let others help you get through things,” he tells me gently.

He helps me up and I stand steady, “Hook, will you do me a favor?  Please don’t tell anyone what I told you.  Especially the part about Pan.”

“But y/n-” he begins.

“I know.  They could help me and I probably could use there help.  I just don’t want to deal with there disapproval of him,” I explain,  “You and I know and together we can think of something,” I tell him.

“For now, but at some point you do,” he tells me and I nod.

It makes me think of what the witch who cast me to Storybrooke told me before I left.  Family isn’t always blood, it disguises itself and once you find it you don’t let go. Maybe this is what she meant.  Sure Hook is a pirate who I would never have approached if seen on the street.  But having him pushed in my life and the type of connection  we share.  There is no one I’ve felt more in touch with and understood by.  Also it puts into perspective what Emma did with me.  I hate how she risked my life but if I knew that someone like Hook might die, I’d go to extreme circumstances to try to keep him safe as well.

We walk back to Main Street and an arrow flies right past us barely missing my face.  My eyes follow it and it’s aiming right at Mr. Gold.  I get terrified and look back at where it came from and a man tall and tan with nice thick jet black hair is standing there.  He’s wearing a sling of arrows and holding a bow and looks very angry.  Seconds later Belle runs out trying to talk him down. But he looks way too determined to listen.  

We get out of there and head to the normal meeting spot, the apartment.  I sigh knowing Emma will be there and I’ll have to face her at one point or another.  

“Why does no one let me do anything?” I ask him once we get there, “I feel like everyone is off trying to help and I’m just assigned nothing,” I huff.

“It’s not intentional,” he tells me, “And you have helped, you saved Ruby and have gone around looking for clues.  You knew where to start with trying to beat Hades and gone with others like Henry to find items we need,” I roll my eyes, “It’s true,”

Emma Regina and Robin all come in.  When Emma sees me she comes up, “Y/n I want to say something,”

“Me first.  Emma, it’s okay.  I know that you were trying to save your mom, if it were me I would be doing anything to save someone I care about so much too,”

“Y/n, you need to know that yes that was a reason that I brought you.  But I also did because I knew you would be able to handle it.  I knew you were brave and strong enough,” she tells me.

All of this sharing of feelings makes me feel so guilty that I’m keeping all these secrets from everyone.

“When will everyone else be here?” I ask.

“Mary Margaret and David weren’t that far behind us,” Regina says.

“Okay, there’s something I have to tell you all but I want everyone to be here,” I say nervously.

Later on that evening everyone is back except for Gold and Zelena which is weird.

“I have to share something with you all,” I gulp nervously as they stare at me waiting to speak.

“I wasn’t in trouble when you found me.  I know that when I came here I said I needed help because I’m in danger and could get hurt.  But that isn’t true.  The truth is I knew about magic well before I came here.  When I was little my dad walked out and social service took me away because my mom obsessively used magic to the point she hurt me when I tried to stop her from fighting someone she hates. She told me it wasn’t intentional but deep down I knew she hated how much I wanted her to ease up on magic.  It’s dangerous to have magic used on me since that happened.  Anyway I went to a witch because I wanted to find my family.  The witch told me that family isn’t always blood and dropped me here instead of who raised me,” I explain.

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?  We could help you find your parents,” Mary Margaret tells me.

“I was embarrassed okay. I didn’t want you to know my father couldn’t take the responsibility of raising me and my mom did what she did.  Anyway there’s more.  I’ve been seeing Peter Pan.” I pause and wait for them to react but they look confused, “What I mean is, Pan found me the first day, and I know it’s wrong but we were together and I really enjoyed it,”

“What?!” David exclaims and I’m not shocked by how mad he sounds.

“Me and Pan had something going.  I snuck out to see him he snuck in to see me.  Which is why Henry found that note saying sweet dreams.  It was left for me.” I look down feeling all the sadness rush as I am about to retell the betrayal, “But he used me.  I was looking through his stuff and found out that I’m just his plan to get a heart and go back.  He tricked me!” I choke and once again cry unable to fight back the tears.

I wait for there judgmental looks and telling me it was an awful idea but they just stand there expressionless, “Say something!” I exclaim.

“I understand why you hid this from us,” Mary Margaret says and she comes over to comfort me, “But you should have told us sooner, we could have helped with finding your family,”

“And don’t worry about Pan, we will take care of him,” David adds, “what matters is your safe,”

“No no no. I don’t want him to be hurt. This is like Zelena and Hades. She’s in love with HADES and you are all perfectly okay with it!” I defend him.

“No we aren’t,” Regina says.

“You gave her the okay to be with him!” I say angry, “there has to be a way to deal with this without pan getting hurt,”

“What did the paper say?” Robin asks changing the subject.

“It was like a list of my qualities and how I am and have acted. It was like while we were spending time together he was studying me. But the last part was how once I fall in love with him I’ll gladly give him my heart and how I’m already wrapped around his finger,” I explain.

“It’s okay we will figure something out. You’ll be able to go back with us he isn’t coming,” Emma assured me.

I nod nervously, “I need to go for a walk,” I make a quick exit leaving them to talk about probably how dumb I am.

I go for a stroll to the docks and sit criss cross looking down in the soul filled water.

Someone sits next to me, “Look I’m not in the mood to be judged-“ when I turn my head it’s pan. I scoff and get up and walk away.

He follows me, “Hey what’s wrong,” he asks clearly not knowing I know the truth.

“Stop it pan we are through!” I tell him angry without turning around and keep walking.

“Y/n! What happened?” He asks.

I stand where I am for a moment before I turn around, “What happened? What happened was the guy I thought I might have loved was using me all along! I saw the paper with your “findings“ and “observations” of me! I know why you really approached me that first day!” I storm off.

After I walk a few feet he starts talking again, “You know your smarter than I thought you were. I thought I’d be able to get you to believe it till the end. But I haven’t given up. I still believe your feelings right now are strong enough to want to give me a heart,” he admits.

The pain worsens as he admits the truth, “So everything! Everything was just a ruse to go back?!” I ask afraid of the answer.

“Not everything. I do have feelings for you but going back is more important than love. Love is weakness darling,”

“I’m not doing it pan! I can’t!” I tell him.

“Why who’s alive that came down here that cares about you? Hook? Henry? It won’t take long for them to think you can be tossed out,” he tells me.

“Tell me, I need to hear you say that I was nothing but an excuse to go back up,” I tell him.

“Darling you never were meant to be anything more,” he tells me.

“Meant?” I ask.

“I did develop feelings for you. But once it felt close enough to act different and rethink my plan I realized I was in too deep and created that list to remind me why I pursued you. That doesn’t change the fact I still need your heart,”

“You selfish, mean, double crossing, coward! You could have something if you tried! How could you just let this all go! I could have helped you find a better way!  Helped you love!  And before you say how much I’m like the Charming’s and shit for saying that, I’m not!  I’m me and not afraid to mess with you like you messed with my heart!  You aren’t the only one who knows how to play games and I will beat you at yours!”

“I gotta admit, that turns me on” he says.

“What? Me calling you all those names and threatening you?” I ask.

“No. You standing up to me and showing me how devious and cruel you can be. It shows how like minded we are.  I haven’t met anyone so like me as you. But you should know that being selfish and mean are my signature traits so I take those as compliments,” he smirks his stupid face.

“Well if your turned on now your about to be cranked up by the time I’m done telling you-!” I start shouting.

He pulls me in and kisses me and I push him off me, “I’m not going to makeout with you! I’m mad at you and want you to leave me alone! I’ve already had you let me down enough!”

“You do want it too. We both know that,” he gets closer.

“Stop leaning in! You’re only making it worst! I just want you gone you-“ I start yelling but he shuts me up with a kiss again but this time I can’t help but give in. His bossy clever demeanor makes me feel the same way.

I melt into his kiss and lean against the dock building. I open the door and pull him inside both of us wanting more. We makeout passionately inside the wooden building. I feel his breath on my skin as his lips trail down my neck. He slowly slides his hand up my spine under my shirt grabbing me tight. I take off his tie and jacket getting him out of his suit he wears very well. He slides my shirt off and undoes my shorts yanking them down as if there wasn’t a moment to spare. I start stroking him and he groans as he gets my bra and panties off me tossing them away. I take off his underwear and force my tongue in his mouth as they twist together. I feel him suck my tongue as I moan and he slides in me. Us being fiercely in sync together couldn’t feel any better. He thrusts in me hard each time and his mouth ends up on my chest sucking my boob and I moan again as he makes me feel that good. We keep going and going him groaning and feeling incredible inside me. Faster and harder he goes as time passes.

“Peter, I think I’m about to,” I tell him.

“Ugh so am I,” he tells me.

With another thrust he orgasms inside me and I do the same with him.

He rolls off me both our sweaty bodies laying next to each other.

“Fuck that was amazing,” he breathes heavy.

“It really was. For someone who has spent a lot of time on an island with only boys you are really good,” I tell him.

“I’ve had more experience than you might think,” he tells me.

After a moment of silence I talk again, “Peter this can’t change anything,” I tell him.

“Peter? When did we get on a first name basis?” He asks me ignoring the important part.

“Are you listening? This can’t change how I feel!” I tell him more demanding.

“Can’t isn’t the same thing as doesn’t. It’s okay. I’m okay with it. I know how to keep you and go back. It’s a plan I have thought of but didn’t want to admit because I knew if you were gone it would be harder to move on. But your mine and I won’t let that change,” he explains.

I get up and start looking for my clothes to get dressed not answering him not taking another risk.

He stands up and goes after me, he puts his hand on my shoulder and turns me around, “I’m not playing around this time. I would love you but love held me back from my potential long ago. This time it’s different there’s nothing for me here,”

“So are you saying what we have... is love?” I ask hoping he says what I want.

“What we have is real. We are so alike too. Both have a deep past. We both aren’t afraid to say what we think. Both are sneaky and want something more,” he convinces.

“I... I need to go,” I run out before I make a choice that’s wrong. I see a text from Emma saying that Zelena has gone missing and I’m quick to retreat to them out of concern of her. Why am I so worried about someone I don’t even know that well?

When I’m there with everyone, so is Hades. That leaves me even more confused. He talks about how Zelena was supposed to meet him for dinner but never showed which gets everyone suspicious. There’s a note that says how she’s been kidnapped and to meet at Granny’s at 8.

We do that and when we walk in I’m shocked by what I find. Gold and Pan have Zelena held captive and I stare at Pan in disbelief but he looks at me as if to say “this is the only way.” Gold tells Hades to destroy some contract or Zelena will be hurt. Hades by everyone’s surprise destroys it immediately yet even though Gold disappears Pan goes to grab her heart which has a protection spell on it.

He walks up to me, and Henry steps in front of me, “You aren’t gonna touch her,” he says seriously to him looking him in the eye.

Everyone starts defending me which catches me off guard.

“Pan if you think your going to take her life think again,” Regina stands up for me.

I gently move Henry aside, “You guys I have to keep you all safe,” I tell them. I then step towards Pan,”I know you said that you had a plan to go up there and keep me too. But we both know you lie to get what you want. Whatever you do please don’t hurt them,” I tell him.

“Y/n, remember that favor I said you would owe me?” I nod, “Well I’m about to tell you it. I want your heart,” even though I was expecting it I get very afraid and step back slowly thinking this is all too real and scary for me.

“You aren’t doing that. Y/n is never going to give you her heart,” Hook adds in.

As everyone stands up for me Emma ushers me out the door to hide me, “Emma I can’t hide. He’s going to find me,” I walk back in, “Everyone stop!” They try to block my path but I squeeze through, “Pan, you told me you loved me. Is that true?” I ask serious.

“Of course it’s not!” David exclaims.

“David, let him answer,” I tell him sternly.  I look back at Pan.

“I told you how intense I felt about you.  I wrote that list to distract me from those emotions but it didn’t matter.  I know you’re mine and I know you love me too,” he tells me.

“And because of how I feel about you, I want you to take my heart,” I tell him.

“What?” He asks surprised.

I reach inside my chest and pull out a glowing red heart.  I hand it to him.

“Maybe telling me how I’m just like you was part of your plan but either way have it.  It’ll keep me from feeling,”

“Y/n, what the bloody  hell are you doing?!” Hook exclaims and goes to grab it but I pull it away.

“It doesn’t matter if he takes it!  I just don’t want it anymore,” I uncurl my fingers from it and let roll it onto the floor, “It’s a liability that I’ve had for far too long,” I walk out of the diner without another word.

[victorlimadelta]

// @preuzien​ pokeverse au //

Name: Katherine Ann “Pidge” Holt Age: 17 Gender: Cis female Ethnicity: Italian Sexuality: Bisexual Occupation: Electric Gym Leader of Preuzien Religion: Atheist (raised Catholic) Languages: German (fluent), Italian (fluent), English (fluent), French (conversational), Russian (conversational), Japanese (still picking up, a small amount and written only) FC: Bex Taylor-Klaus as Sin from Green Arrow, except with auburn hair

Notes Her father, Sam Holt, and brother, Matt Holt, were influential Prussian battle scientists, but have been missing for nearly a year now. There was a public press announcement about their deaths, along with the death of one of the region's Gym Leaders for whom they had been working--but that Gym Leader has come back, so where is her family? (Long story short: there was an Incident with a Dialga and they were kind of all set adrift in time, but Takashi Shirogane made it back--her family still hasn't.) She fraudulently enrolled in Trainer School at age eight and a half. Because no one tells Pidge Holt where she can and can't be, where she can and can't go, and who she can or can't impersonate to get what she wants. Her precocity rivals the Champion's own; she was one of the ones watching his lectures when she was his age and laughing along with his jokes. Really, she's uncomfortably like Tobias in a lot of ways, including her similar paranoia, except hers isn't neurotic like his is. She sees it as a practical defense mechanism against an unforgiving and unpredictable world. She got into the habit of making casual dossiers on people she was close to, not because she dislikes them but because she likes to think she knows them and "just in case the worst happens, I want to be prepared."

Gym Pidge's gym is a series of puzzles and endurance challenges. Yes, there's a lot of hurrhurr make the current match, make the polarity match like you find in other regions' Electric-type Gyms, but ramped up to 11. You can and will get electrocuted if you fail some of these timed puzzles. You can and will drop out of her Gym if you don't make it through enough of them in a row. There's quite a few convolutions here, though. The Electric Gym will occasionally have more than one solution to a puzzle, or will have unsolvable puzzles that require alternative 'solutions' to break through to the next challenge. If you're not creative, if you can't think out of the box, if you can't innovate your way out of the situation, you're not going to make it. In addition, as you go, Pidge and her Trainers are creating a dossier on you, of how you work with your team, how you approach each problem and how you choose to solve it. Pidge will occasionally let you go on to the next challenge even if it appears that you failed the previous one. She will occasionally stop you from proceeding even if it looks like you found the correct solution. Even if you make it to her Gym Leader battle, and beat her, she occasionally will not give you her Badge because you didn't do it "the right way." You will bust your brain on her Gym. If it doesn't break you intellectually at least a little bit, it's not doing its job. You cannot brute force this Gym, because so often it appears to be outright random. Speaking of breaking you intellectually: the final 'challenge' of Pidge's Gym is the traditional Milgram Experiment. She was hesitant to include this without feedback from Tobias and Renate, but they've convinced her eventually that this was, maybe not a good idea, but an acceptable one. - For those who don't know the reference at once: the Milgram Experiment involved asking a participant in a psychological experiment to administer an electric shock when someone made a mistake in memorizing and recalling a list of words. The issue here is that the test subject was the administrator, not the recipient. The recipient never received an electric shock, but instead gave audio feedback from the other side of a wall on the supposed pain of the electric shock. The electric shocks were fake, but the doses were calculated to run from annoying to fatal. The actors receiving the shocks were instructed to react accordingly. If any test subject expressed reticence about administering the shocks upon cries of pain from the actors, the person running the test said a phrase similar to 'The test requires that you continue.' Nothing more, nothing less. - This test was designed to tell to what level a human being could attribute their decisionmaking process to a person in authority telling them to do something, and how much responsibility they felt they could absolve if it was no longer up to them to stop. Because the tests were originally conducted in the 1950s at the inception of the Cold War (and also, consequently, after the conclusion of WWII and the revelation of Nazi human experimentation), some of the original “test subjects” were suspicious and apparently threw some of the test results by deliberately being cruel when they figured out it was a farce... it’s an interesting read because of that, because why would you want to throw test results for that. Anyway. - For Pidge, it's also a test of whether you're willing in the first place to administer an electric shock to someone who's done absolutely nothing wrong to you for the sole reason that they've made a mistake on an arbitrary task that has no social or ethical ramifications on whether it's successful or a failure. This is crucial for Preuzien's growth as a country away from what they were and towards what they could be. Strength isn't about using it at every given opportunity, it's about justice in its application. - The only way to ‘pass’ this test is to refuse to participate whatsoever. By the time you've gotten this far, Pidge knows whether it's because you already know what the experiment is, or because you simply refuse to inflict pain on a fellow human being for no reason.

Pokémon This is most of Pidge's battle squad:

Xurkitree

Ability: Beast Boost Notes: Yes, an Ultra Beast. She spent just over a year in Ultra Space hunting down the perfect competitive 'mon, actually; she has almost two and a half boxes full of stat 'fails.' Fun fact, this one knows Power Whip. Have fun with those Ground types you brought to this Gym!

Toxtricity (Low Key) (Gigantamax)

Ability: Punk Rock Notes: Toxtricity is a lot like Pidge: make eye contact and you'll really wish you hadn't. This girl is powerful, can Status your team in two different ways, and has a bad attitude.

Vikavolt

Ability: Levitate Notes: Listen. Vikavolt is a good Poke. It's actually a super strong Bug-type contender and I like alt-types for Gym Leaders to use in their 'single-type' Gyms. Immune to Ground even before Levitate. Again, have fun.

Rotom (nn. "Gremlin")

Ability: Levitate Notes: "It's a gimmick!" You bet your ass it's a gimmick. Pidge keeps making up new little devices for this baby to haunt, too. It's flighty and doesn't like to stay in one device for too long, so you're going to have to deal with some weird STAB changes every few turns. By turn 15, it gains the ability to enter a new device Pidge has invented for it while she's teaching it to Ability Evolve its Levitate to affect her entire team. (The device Levitates her entire team. Including her Toxtricity and her Reuniclus, who are 4x weak to Ground.)

Prussian variant Reuniclus (ace)

Type: Steel/Electric Ability: Infection (evolved Ability from Effect Spore). At the end of each turn, this Pokemon inflicts one of six Status conditions on your Pokemon in sequence. Original Effect Spore has a 10% chance of randomly inflicting Poison, Paralysis, or Sleep on the opponent, a 3.3% chance of each. Infection has a 100% chance to inflict Paralysis on the first turn, Burn on the second, Sleep on the third, Poison on the fourth, Frozen on the fifth, and Infected on the sixth. An Infected Pokemon no longer obeys its Trainer and only obeys Pidge. "That sounds OP!" Preuzien is OP. Also, the style of Preuzien Gym Leader Battles, with its Squad format, really takes the edge off of this Ability whereas it'd be lethal in Singles or Doubles, because the Ability doesn't pick a particular Pokemon to affect, just one of the four opponent Pokemon on the field. That said, you should probably defeat Reuniclus in fewer than six turns so it doesn't cripple your team. Notes: Prussian Solosis (who looks like a little soft wormy boy, sort of like a space caterpillar) was Pidge's first ever Pokemon as a four-year-old child, but he's grown into an absolute monster over the years. Imagine this motherfucker staring you down from the other end of the battlefield. He's terrifying. That's because he looks like a bacteriophage, which is literally a type of virus. (Prussian Duosion looks like an influenza virus, but with arms/hands. If original Reuniclus looks like a bacterial blob, this is just a different form of infective vector.)

[artificialqueens]

Prepared (Trixya) - DenDenMonMon

Of Lovers, Friends and Everything in Between. Part 2.- Elevator Sex.

Title: Prepared Category: M/M Summary: He’s always so prepared - I’m always a complete mess. Notes: This is a format I used a lot in my previous fandom. It wasn’t originally mine, but I did kinda make it my thing. Let me know how you feel about it, and, if by some weird twist of fate and destiny you come from the Saula fandom and are familiar with my work, welcome back! -Monkey. Written: Oct 21st, 2019

Prepared

He’s on the phone.

Always on that damn phone.

We walk out of the dressing room.

Bags filled with drag hanging from our shoulders.

His is smaller than mine.

As usual, I was almost late this morning.

I threw in there everything I could possibly need.

He knew exactly what he wanted to wear.

He’s always so prepared.

I’m always a complete mess.

The lipstick stained mouth opens suddenly.

His high pitch laughter fills the hallway.

The air around us.

Something in the immensity of the internet has reached his eyeballs.

He doesn’t offer the content to mine.

I’m left stupidly smiling at nothing.

Looking at him.

I get carried away by his light mood.

It feels good.

It makes me happy.

My hand grabs his arm.

Pulls him.

He misses the potted plant.

I should have let him crash.

Stumble with the decoration of the room.

Have his attention on me.

Not the stupid phone.

He does look up.

Thanks me.

Smiles at me.

Something inside me comes on fire.

As it happens whenever he shows the slightest affection.

As it happens whenever I’m around him.

As it happens whenever I think of him.

His index finger presses the up arrow.

The elevator knows we need to go up.

Out of this basement.

Into the empty lobby.

We are the last ones recording.

We always are.

We simply can’t shut up.

We go on and on and on and on.

The actual topic is usually left behind.

The crew around us disappears.

It’s just the two of us.

Talking.

Making each other laugh.

Sharing stories with made up details.

Listening to stories that we already know by heart.

The door opens with a ding.

I walk in first.

He follows a moment later.

His head hangs low.

His hands hold the phone.

His fingers tap on the fluorescent screen.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

He’s always on that damn phone.

I want to regain his attention.

I need to regain his attention.

My fingers wrap around his bicep.

The toned muscles contract under his shirt.

My whole body is pressed against his side.

Personal space doesn’t exist with us.

My face moves close to his ear.

“I want to jerk you off.”

I mean it.

I’ve always meant it.

Even when he laughs it off.

Even when I laugh right along with him.

I’ve always meant it.

“I want to jerk you off so bad.”

His eyes grow wide.

And the screaming doesn’t come.

And the wheezing doesn’t come.

Because it is not a joke.

It’s a plea.

It’s a promise.

The phone is finally forgotten.

Pushed inside the backpack.

Lost between synthetic hair and bottles of glitter.

“Okay.”

The word comes out drily.

In a single exhale.

Matter-of-factly.

He drops his stuff on the elevator floor.

“What? Now?”

I’m confused.

I’m excited.

I’m turned on.

“Right now.”

His fingers push the emergency stop button.

An alarm goes off.

It’s loud.

It’s annoying.

He pushes the button again.

And again.

He tries to make it stop.

Nothing changes.

We laugh.

Hysterical laughter pushes the sexy fog aside.

Want and desire make room for humor to take over.

A voice comes from somewhere in the dashboard.

We jump.

We go quiet.

We try to go quiet.

“Are you okay?”

He moves closer to the buttons.

There’s no visible mic to speak to.

“Yeah.”

His voice is even.

“I pressed the button by mistake.”

He doesn’t stutter.

He is always so sure of himself.

His mind is always ready to come up with an answer.

He is always so prepared.

I’m always a complete mess.

His hand presses against my mouth.

Trying to stop the loud laughter.

It’s pointless.

There’s a grunt.

An exasperated surrender.

The man speaks again.

“Okay. I can’t reactivate it from here.”

I look at him with fear.

He looks at me with mischiefness.

The voice sounds again.

“Can you wait until a technician comes?”

“How long would that be?”

The hopefulness is clear in his voice.

That’s the tone of a psycho.

Happy to be stuck in an elevator.

“Uh, it could be a good thirty minutes.”

“Yeah, we’ll be fine.”

He turns to me completely.

There’s a glint in his eyes.

There’s a smirk on his lips.

There’s an idea in his mind.

His hands land low on my hips.

“So, you were saying?”

His hot breath hits my nose.

He stands taller than me.

Towers over me.

I’m visibly shaking.

“They probably have cameras.”

He shrugs a shoulder.

“I don’t care.”

“They are going to see us, record us.”

“They can sell it to TMZ for all I care.”

His mouth connects with mine.

And, suddenly, I don’t care either.

I mean, I do.

I care.

He cares.

He will probably regret this as soon as we are done.

But his lips are so soft.

His hands are so warm.

I can’t think straight.

I want him.

I have always wanted him.

We can worry about the after…

After.

His hips press hard against mine.

He wants this, too.

His body is telling me as much.

My fingers open his fly.

The belt is a struggle.

The button is easy.

The zipper goes down almost by itself.

And I have him in my hand.

Finally.

He is big.

And wet.

His lips are still on mine.

He opens his mouth to my touch.

I feel proud of myself.

My fist closes around him.

And I start pumping him.

Hot puffs of air hit my cheek.

Whimpering sounds fill my ears.

I can feel myself growing harder inside my jeans.

It hurts.

He practically reads my mind.

He reaches down and frees me.

All I can feel is his touch on me.

His fingers wrapping around me.

His palm caressing me.

The small space seems to close in around us.

Moaning and grunting replace the elevator music.

I feel sweat pooling at my brows.

It runs down my temple.

Reaches my cheek.

He licks the salty droplets.

His tongue follows the trail.

His mouth finds mine.

The taste of my sweat mixes with old Redbull.

And something that is so peculiarly him.

Then I feel it.

His veins bulge under the thin skin.

The blood pressure of his dick is probably through the roof.

My name leaves his lips.

Like a mantra.

Like a chant.

Like a prayer.

The signs of his orgasm reaching him are all there.

I can feel him pulling me right along with him.

And we are doing it.

We are cumming.

Together.

My fingers are sticky with his climax.

I pump him a couple more times.

Squeezing harder than necessary.

My tongue trails my own hand.

He watches me through hooded eyes.

Shivers with new found desire.

“Don’t get me started, bitch.”

We laugh.

It’s ridiculous.

It’s insane.

It’s perfect.

Two zippers go up.

Two flies are successfully closed.

We slide down the wall.

Sit on the floor.

And we kiss.

Kiss.

Kiss.

Kiss.

Our mouths lazily wrap around each other for hours.

Maybe minutes.

Maybe seconds.

Then the dinging comes.

The elevator starts moving.

The door opens.

My legs won’t respond.

They are orgasmed rubber.

He easily stands up.

Greets the technician.

Thanks him.

Starts small talk.

I can’t find my voice.

He’s always so prepared.

And I’m always a complete mess.

Tags - rpdr fanfiction, trixya, trixie mattel, katya zomolodchikova, smut, of lovers, dendenmonmon, show blog

[balvinia]

Becoming - Chapter One

Author's notes: Please excuse the formatting. Tumblr's posting system has changed since I last used this site. I'll figure out how to fix it.

I had another life once. That afternoon changed it all in one accident. My memory is hazy. All I could remember at first was running and suddenly, falling. When I woke up, it was with a gasp to fill my lungs with freezing air. My clothes were covered in dirt, my shoulder-length hair had leaves entangled in it. I was somehow exhausted while energized at the same time. Bits and pieces from the Other World taunted my mind. Was it all part of a dream?

I assumed that I had only been knocked out. As I walked to town, more was coming to mind. The cracking of bones and the feel of that sticky, warm liquid began to force its way into my mind. I shuddered. Music that was both jovial and haunting -strange as that sounds- surfaced next in my memory, along with images of people in strange clothing dancing and laughing. I danced with them. Somebody took me from that room. I do not remember what was said. Then there was a bright light.

When I found my way back to town, I was quick to realize that something was strange there. Hadn't I merely been unconscious for a few hours? Not much could have changed that quickly. I noted an empty lot where a store had just been, a newly paved road. People were giving me strange looks as I walked along the street. I know that I looked a mess, but they really could have been more discreet with the staring.

The moment when it sunk in that something was seriously wrong was after I happened to glance at a store's sign. "CLOSED for renovations. Oct 26- Nov 2, 2013." I stopped myself and read it again. That's silly, I thought. Why would they have notification so far in advance? It was probably a typo. I walked onward and into a store to see if I could borrow a phone, stopping once again when I saw the date on a newspaper. Nov 1, 2013. That couldn't be right.

"Hey," I stepped up to the counter. "Can I ask the date?"

The cashier was texting, but answered without looking up. "November first."

I rolled my eyes. "2011, right?"

That was when he looked at me as if I had said there was a fire-breathing dragon just outside the shop. He didn't seem to know whether I was joking or not, but finally resolved to say something with an annoyed tone. "Sure, 2 years ago... You buying something or not?"

It was my turn to be at a loss for words. This had to be some sort of prank. It had to be, right? I took a breath and counted to ten. The last day that I remembered had been May 1st, 2011. I didn't understand what was going on. Remembering that I'd come into the store for a phone, I looked back in embarrassment toward the guy. "Is there a phone that I can borrow?"

He motioned toward a corner of the store. Payphones had gone the way of the endangered species in most places, but I was happily surprised to see one there. Digging through my pockets, I managed to find the change needed to make a call.

The phone rang several times before a woman picked up. "Hey mom?" I inquired. The answering voice had sounded like her.

It sounded like she started to respond, but there was a pause before she spoke up again. "Sorry, you've got the wrong number." Before I could say anything else, I heard the click signalling the end of the call. I sighed. There went my plan to get a ride home. With not much else to do and not enough change to try again, I decided to walk. The cashier was probably glad to see me leave.

It was nearing dark by the time I made it to my apartment. The keys I had been carrying were missing, so I started to check for the spare inside my pot of roses. Except my flowers were gone. Just great. I made my way to the landlord's building and knocked on their door.

"Yes?" The older woman had answered. She was always friendly.

I gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry to bother you. I lost my keys." There shouldn't be a need to spell it out for her.

She gave me a quizzical look. "I'm sorry? I don't recognize you."

I returned the look, nervousness settling in. "Apartment 5?" There was no way that she couldn't recognize me. I'd lived there for several years.

Mrs. Price shook her head sadly. "That one's been empty for a while now. The poor girl who lived there went missing some time ago. We're almost done with some renovations to it. Did you recently rent out a different apartment?"

All I could do was stand there and stare at her for a minute. She didn't know who I was. My apartment wasn't mine anymore. I was sure that it was my mother's phone that I had called earlier. And, I'd somehow missed over two years. None of this was adding up. I heard her shuffle her feet in the doorway.

"I'm sorry," I spoke quietly. "I... I must have been mistaken." Without waiting to see if she had anything else to say, I turned around and quickly walked away.

I walked to my mother's house the next day. It wasn't far from the park where I had slept the night before.

When she answered the door, her expression matched that of the landlady's the night before. After a moment of pause, I smiled.

"Hey, mom. Why'd you hang up on me last night?"

She looked even more confused. "I'm sorry?"

"Don't do this, mom." I sighed. "I've had a weird day yesterday. Did I do something wrong?"

The woman at the door shook her head. At first, I thought she was saying "no", but her face began to show sadness. "I don't know who you are, but you're not my daughter. If this is some kind of joke, you need to leave."

"No, mom!" My heart started racing. If she truly didn't recognize me, what would I do? "I'm Renée. Renée! This isn't funny."

"You're right. This isn't funny. Renée has been missing. Whoever you are, it isn't her."

I stepped toward the door. My chest felt heavy with disbelief. "Yes, mom. It is me. I really am Renée. Why don't you recognize me?"

"Young lady, you may be confused and in possible need of psychiatric help.” Her eyes were now brimming with tears. "Just get out of here," she said in a quiet voice as she slammed the door in my face.

I could easily imagine that I must have looked unhinged to her. My night was spent on a soft patch of grass, so I was unable to shower or put on clean clothes. I hadn’t even had the comfort of a restful sleep. My eyes were likely still red from crying for much of the night. I could feel the tears returning again as I stared at her door. Finally, I used my sleeve to wipe them away with a determination to find out what was happening.

A quick internet search on the public library's computer later revealed that I wasn't entirely delusional: everything that I remembered seemed to be correct. I found my old social media pages and logged in. The problem? An article from a couple of years ago revealed that I was supposed to be assumed dead. It made no sense to me. Surely, there was some huge mistake and- And what? My mind raced with any explanation it could grasp onto. None of them seemed logical enough for me to settle on believing. The rest of the day was spent wandering the streets. With nowhere to go and nobody to turn to, I was at a loss.

A woman called after me around dusk. I had been lost in thought trying to at least think of some place to go, and she startled me when she spoke my name. She seemed vaguely familiar, but I could not match her face to a name.

“Call me Ané," she'd said with what I thought was a spark of amusement in her eyes. I hadn't asked or otherwise indicated that I didn't know who she was. With red hair, steel-blue eyes, and the height of an Amazon; this woman would have been difficult to forget.

"I can help, you know." Ané sounded sure of herself.

I rolled my eyes before responding, "I hardly think that you can. You don't even-"

She cut me off. "I don't even… What?" There was the amused tone again. "You don't belong here anymore. I can fix that. At the very least, your transition can go more smoothly."

That stopped me in my tracks. There was no possible way that this stranger could know my situation. Yet, she sounded like she just might. Foolish as it may seem, I decided to hear her out. "Okay," I said apprehensively. “What can you do for me?" If she actually knew something, maybe she'd be able to tell me what was going on.

Ané strolled by. "Everything that you need right now. Follow me."

Apprehensively, and feeling like I had no other choice, I did.

[nemossubmarine]

Warhammer 40k: Wrath & Glory RP #27

My note-taking sure does suffer when I get back on board as GM (mostly bc it’s hard to talk and take notes at the same time), uhh, let’s see what I can gather from this session of our space-faring adventures. Apparently a lot. It’s so long, I’m not even going to format it, like I usually do, sorry. :P

We start with a little blast from the past, namely the past of one Gorm Oddmundson. His pack is hunting down some straggler orks on a planet and had stopped in a cave for the night. Three packmates, Olaf, Knut and Ivar go to take a look around the parameter. They plan amongst themselves about breaking off from the pack and going to hunt some orks, when Gorm joins the trio. He has something to say, about talking about people behind their backs. The trio feigns ignorance, so Gorm spells it out, pointing at Olaf and saying he knows what he has been talking. Apparently the trio isn’t too keen on having Rolf as their leader, and would much rather have Uffe lead the pack, and Olaf has been going around saying that stuff. Gorm thinks he should wolf up and just challenge Rolf, as that’s the proper thing to do, but Olaf says he doesn’t want to lead anyone. Gorm doesn’t think Uffe wants either, though who even knows with that guy? Never talks (and that’s going to be a problem if he is to become a leader, just saying), barely is around the pack, seems like a guy Gorm would never get along with. It was from Snorri that Gorm has heard all this from, apparently Snorri having been Olaf’s next target for manipulating. Olaf says he was just looking out for the guy, as Gorm is so keen on bullying him, but hey, a misjudgement of character, Snorri was dumber than Olaf thought (or closer to Gorm than he thought). 

Gorm turns his attention to Knut and Ivar, says they should stop listening to a guy like Olaf. The two seem to stand steady with their friend. Gorm accuses Olaf of encouraging Knut’s odd, sorcerous habits, which Knut denies. He’s just a curious man. Gorm says that they should all cut it out and think of the pack, to which Olaf says that hey, no matter what, there’ll be no pack. Gorm punches Olaf. Olaf challenges Gorm to a fight. They get to wrestling on the ground, and Olaf has no trouble pummeling Gorm into the ground, until Gorm reaches a breaking point, the wolf overtaking him and with one swoop he accidentally severs Olaf’s throat. 

The sounds of the battle has brought to the site Snorri and the pack’s leader Rolf. Gorm is quick to profess his innocence, how killing him was an accident. Knut and Ivar are just as quick to point the blaming finger at Gorm, saying he started it, saying he meant to kill Olaf all along. Rolf orders Knut and Ivar back to the camp. Ivar orders ”the nerd” (aka Snorri) to come along. Left alone with Rolf, Gorm explains the situation as he has seen it. Rolf is sympathetic, but he says that he can’t keep Gorm in the pack. Gorm thinks this is a huge mistake, that he’ll be playing right into whatever Olaf was attempting to pull. Rolf says he’ll take the pack to Fenris, to see if this can be mended, and as for Gorm, he needs to go out on his own, and when he’s ready, there’ll be a pack for him to return to.

Back at present. One day Saef comes to his room to find it surprisingly empty. From the walk-in closet, Rat’s voice comes, telling that Vivek got an important sounding phone-call and rushed off, and that Theo has finally been taken in by Eden to be fixed. There’s a thing Rat wants to show Saef. She steps out of the closet, having discarded her cap, goggles and scarf, showing Saef that she’s very clearly not human, an eldar as suspected. Saef’s only reaction is to pat her on the head. Rat is worried that things are going to get troublesome soon, as even if xenos are somewhat tolerated among Rogue Traders, untrained psykers are not and Konstantine is starting to reach the ends of his capabilities as a teacher with her strange talents. Saef says he’ll figure something out. Rat counters that he doesn’t even know what eldar are like, like she’s heard they’re into torture parties, maybe Rat is also into that, what’s Saef going to do then? Knock her to her senses, Saef says. And that’s that conversation. Oh, and Rat’s bi, while she’s at it.

Gimlet goes to visit Apple Blossom. She looks a lot better than last time Gimlet saw her, although she has received some cybernetics. She thanks Gimlet for saving her life, as well as apologizes for attempting to kill him. The matter of cultists is not a thing she is too keen to talk about, so having Gimlet here to talk about Limestow and stuff like that is good distraction. Gimlet asks what she knows of Cara’s people. Apple says they had been coming to the planet for a while. It was her understanding that her aunt PomPom had met them on Terra some time back. The group was mostly psykers and they helped to grow the fruits in exchange for food. Cara, Apple says, didn’t appear to be a psyker, but then again, she didn’t appear to age at all, so something might have been up there. Gimlet asks if she knew at all where they came from. Apple says she doesn’t, it was strange, they didn’t have a ship big enough for void travel, but they weren’t from the next planet over. Gimlet asks if she knew Cara’s son, and Apple says ”Demetrius? Of course” and when Gimlet reveals that he is Demetrius, Apple says she sees the resemblance. Gimlet asks if Navigators said anything to Apple and Apple recalls a conversation she had with little Demetrius, where Apple asked about them going home and Demetrius claiming to be the ship’s navigator. When Apple questioned his lack of a third eye, Demetrius said that his father told of birds on Holy Terra who could always find home. Speaking of Cara’s husband, Apple says she got the impression he was alive, Demetrius spoke of him often, but he never came with the group. Gimlet asks if there was any trouble with Tanner after Cara was killed, or after Limestow. Apple says that Aunt PomPom was great at keeping herself clean from everything, but when shit started turning south, she made sure Apple was on the planet to keep her out of trouble. Gimlet thanks Apple for the information. When he gets out, he passes Habanero Pepper on his way to visit his wife.

Lu Yan calls Gimlet, distraught that Inpax has a) kicked her out of Inquisition, b) broken up with her and c) left her behind on a planet. Gimlet is completely dumbstruck by this turn of events. Lu Yan can’t say what brought this on, Inpax was her normal self, if busy what with dealing with Kane Bullard, and then few days before they were meaning to leave, Inpax got a bit quiet, and then boom, break-up. Gimlet tells her that he’ll get to the bottom of this. Lu Yan just needs to hold tight, and maybe Gimlet can persuade Captain Pepper to pop by to pick her up

Saef and Inpax There’s a knock on Saef’s door and it’s Inpax who hands Saef a pissed-off cat and then asks about someone going to see her prisoner. Saef admits to giving the bunny for Eden to look over, because it was strange and technical. Inpax questions if that is only it, just that, after that, her prisoner has started to malfunction, so hopefully Saef is happy about that. Saef does not know anything about that. Inpax sounds quite frustrated, pointing out to Saef that Eden is involved in many deaths, including on Dew Mountain, because it continued its creators’ work. But, Inpax isn’t here to wax philosophy about the nature of guilt. She has information on Ahram Demirci, the Triplex Phall citizen, who was reported dead some 15 years ago after going missing in an expedition arranged by a rogue trader named Elucia Vhane. Inpax also hands over Saef two pieces of crystals, which appear to be two thirds of a whole. Apparently they were looted from Kane Bullard’s Ahram (one belonged to him, one to Saef’s Ahram), who is waiting execution. Upon Inpax leaving Rat asks Saef what he has and he shows the crystals. Something about the crystals draws Rat in. She asks can’t he feel the energy in Saef’s Ahram’s crystal. Saef feels around it (and perils of the warps again, woops, like fifth time in a row). And yeah, there’s some kind of weird energy. Not quite psychic, but something related anyway. Saef better ask around about that.

Gorm has returned! Our fine folk have crowded to the shuttle bay to greet their friend. First all the rest of the people who were visiting Fenris unload, though noticeable Layla is missing. Gorm and Uffe step out of the ship last. Noticeably Gorm’s hair is missing. And there’s new tats where the hair used to be! Hugs are had between our three heroes (and in the background Vivek makes a beeline towards Uffe to retrieve his chip thing). So how was Fenris? Gorm (and Uffe) got promoted. No longer (young and dumb) Blood Claws, they’ve risen to the ranks of the (middle-aged and slightly smarter?) Grey Hunter. So all in all, better than expected. And Gorm had told Fenris about Gimlet and Saef and they are cool in Fenris’ books. Also Layla was taken by the Wolves! Gimlet panics for a bit, asking if Gorm is saying she was taken by bad wolves. But no, the Wolf Priests of Fenris judged Layla worthy of attempting to become a Space Wolf. She just needs a bit more training, on Fenris, which is what she is currently doing. Gimlet asks about Jennifer. Gorm says they haven’t really talked, she’s probably bit angry, but she also knew this could be coming.

There’s a mission that Gorm and Uffe has been set up to. They need to find a Rogue Trader by the name of Elucia Vhane, who came upon some kind of a blood ritual in the Eastern Fringes, which may or may not have been performed by a former packmate of Gorm. Also Saef should come with on account of his… (good fashion sense?) warlock-iness. Vivek’s presence was apparently requested by Elucia Vhane, no idea why. And Gimlet can come too (yes please).

So what were you up to? Gorm asks. Gimlet tells that he killed an Inquisitor, to which Gorm says ”Inpax!” and offers a hand for high-five. Saef high-fives him. Gimlet offers a correction in the form of telling the story of the last campaign. In the middle, the subject of Vivek refusing medical treatment comes up. Gorm asks what the hell was up with that? Gimlet says it was probably because  Vivek hates him. Saef offers the much more charitable ”personal reasons”. Vivek claims those ones, and refuses to elaborate, much to Gorm’s annoyance.

Uffe interrupts the reunion by saying that Gorm should go inform the Captain that they need to get a move out, they’re on a time crunch, apparently. Gorm grumbles at that, but says he’ll go do that.

Gorm tells Gimlet and Saef to show Uffe Gorm’s room, as they are bunking together, while Gorm goes to inform Captain Pepper of their new destination. When they reach Gorm’s room, but before Uffe gets inside, Gimlet asks Uffe if Gorm is okay. Uffe asks is there some reason Gorm wouldn’t be, and Gimlet just says that they left to Fenris in such a hurry. Uffe says that Fenris called, and then fails to elaborate. Gimlet bids goodbye and exits the conversation towards the bar. Uffe comments to Saef that Gimlet is a bit awkward before going inside.

So to get to the Eastern Fringes to meet up with Elucia Vhane, Santa Maria will have to do some warp-traveling. There’s some... incidents. Ghost ships in the warp one day, and one night, Gorm wakes up in his room to the ship shaking, and next to him Uffe is making a pained sound, in a middle of a nightmare. Gorm goes to wake him up, carefully, and nowhere near his claws. Uffe pounces him nonetheless, suddenly all wolf-like. Gorm, who was expecting this, dodges, wrestles him to the ground and sits on him, until he calms down. First thing Uffe asks when he comes to is whether he hurt Gorm. Gorm assures him that he’s fine. Uffe thanks Gorm and just instructs him to sit on him if it happens again. He doesn’t seem too keen on getting back to sleep, but Gorm says it’s fine, he’ll keep watch.

Unbeknowst to Gorm and Uffe, Gimlet has also been woken to the shaking, has heard the noises coming from the other room and drawn just the wrong conclusions. Yes, those conclusions.

Saef and Konstantine have taken up some meditation on account of not wanting to fuck around with the warp during warp travel. During a break, Saef says he has some things he wants to ask Konstantine about. First are the pieces of crystal Inpax gave him, Konstantine can’t help Saef, but upon learning Rat sensed something in them, Konstantine says best not to touch them, in case they’re eldar things. Then Saef shows the jewel he got from Inquisitor Fane. This Konstantine recognizes. It’s Blackstone, an extremely warp resistant material mostly found on Necron tomb-worlds, extremely valuable, often sought by Mechanicus. Konstantine advises Saef not to wear either of them as jewelry, and Saef says he’s been thinking about getting a cat paw necklace. Konstantine admits that he’s more of an owl person, personally, and shows Saef a hankerchief with an embroidered owl in the corner his mother made him. 

Then there’s one last thing, namely what’s the future for Saef? Konstantine says that to become a sanctioned psyker one must be taken to Terra to be evaluated. A lot of people don’t make it, but Konstantine has high hopes for Saef. And then? Saef asks. Well, and then, one gets assigned to a career within the Imperium. Saef doesn’t appear happy to hear that, Konstantine says he has a pamphlet and he has crossed out the most deadly careers. Besides, Saef has had twenty something years of living freely (and is going to have at least few years more) unlike Konstantine who was taken in as an 8 year old. Nothing to complain about, yay?

In the morning Uffe asks if there’s training grounds or something of the like in the ship he could go to let off some extra steam. Gorm takes him there, but upon Uffe asking, says he won’t join him at this time, as he has some people he needs to talk to. Gorm goes to Saef’s room and knocks on the door. When Saef’s voice asks who is it, Gorm replies ”your mom”. Rat comes to open the door and tells Gorm he shouldn’t use that, because Saef won’t open the door for his mom. Gorm asks if Vivek is in (he is) and if they could go get a drink together (sure). Unfortunately, Gorm had forgotten that Gimlet appears to have made the bar his second home. Gorm instructs Vivek to act like they haven’t noticed Gimlet (who doesnt appear to notice them) and they take a booth somewhere far away from him. 

Gorm sits Vivek down and tells him that Uffe had told him about the incident with Vivek. And in fact a similar incident happened last night, but Gorm managed to calm Uffe down. But now Gorm wonders how Vivek managed to calm Uffe down, since Vivek is a tiny man so him sitting on Uffe would do nothing. Vivek says he doesn’t know if he did anything. Vivek had seen that Uffe was barely standing straight, so he had forced him to go to sleep. Later he heard Uffe making noises in Fenrisian (he mimics it well enough for Gorm to recognize the words) and went to wake him up, and at that point Uffe attacked him. Vivek was unarmed, and it was a terrifying situation. His father had always told him that if one gets caught in the factory’s machines, it’s better to go through than try to struggle away, because you might lose a limb, but you won’t die. So that’s what he did, apparently clinging to Uffe, and attempting to calm him down. Maybe that helped, or maybe Uffe realized Vivek wasn’t a threat because he wasn’t struggling. Nonetheless, Uffe came to, and immediately removed himself from the situation. Gorm asks whether Uffe hurt Vivek, and Vivek takes a beat too long to answer, saying that hey, he’s alive. Gorm questions where Uffe hurt Vivek, but Vivek says it doesn’t matter, skitarii are sturdy, and Eden stitched him up, though there will be scars. Gorm is of the opinion he should have told Uffe in the moment, but seems to agree that it wouldn’t be any use at this point. Vivek says it won’t do any good, him knowing, Uffe will just beat himself up over it. That’s apparently the reason he didn’t want to get healed by Gimlet, as he was worried that Gimlet would tell Gorm, who Vivek wasn’t sure at the time knew about this. Gorm says that the turning into a wolf is something that happens to the Space Wolves, but it’s a thing they do not want spread around, just like the AdMechs have stuff they don’t want spread around, but it seems like Vivek is not planning on talking about it to anyone.

With that settled Gorm and Vivek move towards Gimlet’s table. Gorm asks what’s up, but Gimlet seems reluctant to answer. Vivek says he should probably go, that Gimlet wouldn’t want him to be here. Gorm says that Vivek should stay, and this is just the kind of stuff he was talking about when he said he’d beat the two up if they didn’t get along. (Vivek says they are getting along, Gimlet’s going to be the best man in his wedding etc.) Vivek continues saying he doesn’t want to be here, and he’ll just go back to Saef’s room. Gorm says that Uffe is at the training grounds, and after a brief hesitation Vivek says that maybe he’ll go there to catch up with him.

Gorm sits down and asks Gimlet to tell him what’s bothering him. Gimlet is a bit overwhelmed about the whole Inquisitor Fane thing, killing him (he shows Gorm a pic of the corpse, ”nice headshot” - Gorm), but mostly about the things Fane said and knew. Gorm shrugs, and says that’s just another secret for Gimlet to keep. There’s another thing, Gimlet says that his best friend’s gf just dumbed them, and Gorm is like ”I don’t have a gf?” and Gimlet says that he meant Lu Yan. And poor Gorm (on account of barely knowing how relationships work) is like, have they tried marriage? Gimlet is like, yeah, and Gorm says that sometimes people break up, which is surprisingly profound. Gimlet says he’d want to get Lu Yan back to Santa Maria at some point so she wouldn’t be alone, though he’s not quite sure if it’s a good idea. This conversation leads Gimlet to mention that he heard stuff from Gorm’s and Uffe’s room last night. To which Gorm is quick to say Gimlet heard nothing weird, just a normal thing that happens between people who are closer than friends occasionally. So did you or did you not have sex, Gimlet asks. Gorm recoils at the thought, claiming that’s weird, so the matter is dropped. Inpax also worries Gimlet, Gimlet says, mostly the fact she is on the ship and Gimlet has killed an Inquisitor. Gorm says there’s no reason Inpax would or should know about that, but if Inpax needs to be offed, Gorm volunteers. (Gimlet says that is not necessary) Also Gimlet mentions that he has learned his true name, that of Demetrius. Gorm is surprised, he asks if that’s what Gimlet wants to be called from now on, and Gimlet says no, Gimlet is fine for the moment.

Gorm joins Uffe at the training room, where Vivek also is (though he leaves when Uffe gets an actual sparring partner). Uffe mentions to Gorm that Vivek appears to be more talkative towards him again, and that has seemed to cheer Uffe up somewhat.

Gimlet comes to visit Saef and lets him know that Gorm should not be talked about the demons etc Saef summoned. Saef is in complete agreement. Gimlet says that he has told Gorm that it was Inquisitor Fane that summoned the demon in the tank chamber, just so Saef knows that their story is straight. (and Vivek should be informed about their cover story too) Gimlet asks Saef if he has mentioned this to Konstantine, and Saef says that he and Konstantine have definitely talked about some things.

Saef texts Demir to ask if he has ever seen crystals such as the ones Inpax gave him. Demir replies that yeah, as a kid at his father’s lab, but they were whole and stuck to some xenos armor. Saef asks if Demir knows anything about the people who work / used to work with his father. He comes back with three names, a big name tech-priest on Triplex Phall X56r, Eden’s dad E-F \ 721 and an Inquisitor by the name of Engarde that Demir liked as a kid (bc he’s softer than an average AdMech).

THE END

[myfandomrambles]

Message In A Bottle

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: Gen

Fandoms: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who: Virgin New Adventures - Various Authors

Relationships: The Doctor & Yasmin Khan, Thirteenth Doctor & Graham O'Brien, Thirteenth Doctor & Ryan Sinclair, Thirteenth Doctor & Yasmin Khan, Melanie Bush & Seventh Doctor

Characters: Yasmin Khan, Thirteenth Doctor, The Doctor (Doctor Who), The Doctor's TARDIS, Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair, Melanie Bush

Additional Tags: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, POV The Doctor (Doctor Who), Mentioned Past Companions (Doctor Who), Angst, Heavy Angst, Hypervodka (Doctor Who), Thirteenth Doctor Era, Everyone Needs A Hug, Past Character Death

(CW: Alcohol Use)

Summary:

The Doctor gets a bottle with a message from a past friend. The trouble is with as much past as the doctor has, it can all be a bit much

The TARDIS was meandering in the Time Vortex. They had a rough few days of action so they were taking a day in The Vortex where almost nothing could really attack them. She might have told them nothing could hurt them they looked tired.

The Doctor did too, of course, The Doctor did need sleep. Honestly respected sleep, it was a good thing. But it was also a bad time for her, in general life had been going pretty good but when it got quiet, it all got very loud.

Nightmares, she actually had them for her whole life. Afraid of the dark, not to mention never being loved by her family and not being good enough for the Academy, the Time Vortex, the Cloisters and that was just on Gallifrey. Of course, life had not exactly stopped giving her nightmare fuel, Daleks, Cybermen, forced regeneration, human experiments, genocide, war, her friends dying, planets burning, universes collapsing. In other words, she never got a good night’s sleep.

So instead of sleeping, and inviting in the past, she was messing with the console. The TARDIS was making little noises at her, telling her thief her opinion on everything, as she always did.

The Doctor smiled at this, the TARDIS was her best friend. The one thing that had been with her for most of those nightmare-inducing events, always the place she wanted to run to and run with. Her friends were the best of her, every single one of them, but the TARDIS was her home.

The TARDIS stopped its friendly wheezing and a knock sounded on the door. The Doctor felt her eyebrows do the scrunch thing and she pulled up the view screen, it was a bottle, like just a glass bottle how did that work? Now she wanted to know,

“What we think? let it in?” Thirteen said rubbing her hands together.

She didn’t wait for her box to respond, this was weird, she loved weird.

Swirling space filled her view as she plucked the gas bottle in. Inside was an old disk, from a few consoles back, but TARDIS compatible. Not to mention turning it over she saw a wisp of paper reading “Doctor”. So, for her, exciting. Two bits of mail very close together must be getting popular.

The Doctor went to the console and was keenly aware she no longer had the hardware on her counsel, so this was an old message. Now she’d have to go digging.

Wandering the halls she looked for either an old desktop backup or a spare parts room, had plenty of those. Doing so she remembered something, or almost remembered something like it was on the tip of her tongue. The message was old so was being addressed to one of her older faces. But it was still making her head spin and old memories and thoughts come up.

‘Oh you really are thick’ her thoughts supplied, making her mutter “stupid Doctor” at herself and the voice of judgment that always sounded a step out from her.

‘Really can’t remember anything anymore, typical’ her mind supplied.

“Too much in my head.” The Doctor muttered again

“Doctor!” Ryan shouted

The Doctor jumped out of her skin and turned around, all three of her current companions were apparently following her, wondered for how long now.

“Oh hi,” The Doctor said smiling at her companions as best she could.

“What are we looking for?” Graham questioned.

“I have a bottle,” The Doctor said waving it around.

“I can see that,” Ryan said with a shrug.

“So I have to find one of my old console rooms, one with the round things in white.” The Doctor explained and kept walking.

“Doctor, did you happen to drink the contents of the bottle?” Yaz questioned stepping in front of her.

“I’m not drunk” The Doctor defended

“Right, well wandering in circles talking to yourself, being drunk is kind of the best explanation,” Graham replied leaning against the wall.

“I’m trying to find things, help me?.” The Doctor said, more to the TARDIS than anyone else. And of course, now that she had made a fool of herself the door opened.

“Found it,” The Doctor said proudly and spun showing off the console room, from before the eighth body at least.

“Wait this is like the front room yeah?” Yaz said walking to the console.

“Yes, and can be functional again if needed but right now we just need to be able to read an older file format.”

“So the main room is an updated version of this?” Ryan asked.

“Basically, though to be fair most of it is cosmetic, from her getting a feel for us, or just wanting to show off.” The Doctor explained pulling some wires around to get it to play to the view screen.

As she got it out of the bottle, she noted it was not a normal bottle. It could open up big enough to get it out. Cool, never seen this before.

“Message in a bottle” She explained handing the bottle to Yaz who placed it on the ground. The Doctor took the drive, and Graham interrupted.

“That’s like an old school game cartridge.” He laughed.

“Don’t diss it, this is Gallifreyan tech.” The Doctor said putting it and hitting play.

“What tech?”

But Graham got no answer, the screen was filled with an older red-headed woman in a bright pattern dress.

“Hello Doctor,” she said wiping tears from her eyes.

The Doctor stumbled back and the words, “Mel Bush”, tumbled from her lips.

“It’s been such a long time now, or not, guess member a really long time.” Mel laughed, “I really do miss you, even after the last time going a bit pear-shaped. I was angry, you played mind games with me. But I know the man I knew, and I know you’re still him. I hope you have someone with you, keeping you safe, keeping you together. And remember sweets aren’t a meal, not sure what the version of you now is like, I heard you face change again, a few times now I think.

The grapevine seemed to pick up after 2010, not sure why. Heard from a few people who knew an even older you. But that doesn’t matter. I promised you’d I do this, so I am. Because I hope you’re out there turning worlds better, saving lives, changing them. Hope you don’t let it keep making you harder, loosen up and have fun.

Even if the universe can be a cruel and mean place, don’t be a Valeyard or master right? You’re The Doctor." The girl bopped the lens with her finger,

"And be nice if someone’s there with you, for me okay? Make them want to stay.

Oh, I do love you Doctor, goodbye.”

The screen clicked off

Doctor you okay?” Yaz asked placing her hand on The Doctor arm, brown eyes warm with concern.

“Yeah, I think so, you know.” She shrugged.

“Who was that?” Yaz asked,”

“Melanie Bush, she travelled with me way back, thousands of years back.”

“Wow, always forget you’re so old,” Ryan commented, earning him a glare from Graham and Yaz.

“I am so old Ryan, so so old.” The Doctor agreed.

“She seemed very nice.” Yaz gave her a reassuring smile.

“She was, very nice. To me and most people.” The Doctor held in her hands, “I always mess up how do I always mess it up?” she said more to herself than the others.

“What happened Doc? ” Ryan asked, “You know if you want to share.”

“The last time we really saw each other, she told me she never wanted to travel in the TARDIS, because I’d lied to her about what was coming, why I wanted her to leave the first time on the Iceworld. And I got her roped into this mess with prisons, Eternals and creations of consciousness.”

“Oh well, not sure I understood every word of that. But you ended on a bad row, it seems she was okay in the end, forgave you.” Graham asked, “Isn’t the good though, closure and all.”

“She was good, spent a good portion of her life doing charity work. Saved her from some rough Sontarans, wanted revenge, don’t know why they went after aid workers but whatever didn’t have time to figure it out. Just wanted to see her.”

“She fought with you for that?” Yaz asked.

“No, I said the last time we really saw each other. That was when I was dying, wanted my ‘reward’ it was, I was in pain. Wanted to see everyone I’d loved before, I was vain, selfish didn’t want to go.”

“No one wants to die Doc, when I thought I was dying, all I wanted was people I loved,” Graham said.

“Wanting to see your friends isn’t selfish.” Ryan agreed.

“Thanks, guys, it’s just like a ghost talking to me,” The Doctor said walking towards the monitor, “Mistakes and good times. But I guess Mel was dependable, wanted to care about me, she’d keep her promises.”

“Yeah Doc, remember the good stuff.” Graham said, “The best right, keep it with you. What you told us.”

“Of course’ The Doctor turned to them with a smile, “Can you give me a minute though?”

“Sure Doc” Graham nodded.

Yaz came up to her and gave her a hug, The Doctor was a bit startled they hadn’t really become a hugging fam very much.

Yaz gave nodded and followed the boys out.

The Doctor turned to Mel and smiled, she took the cartridge putting it in the discarded bottle and took it in to her room for companion’s things, mausoleum, museum, or whatever it was. Passed the recently replaced Corsair message and walked to Umbrella’s friends. Noticed a place that had one of Mel’s bows and placed it in there. Under Peri, above Ace, she had a rather large drawer for her large life. Ace McShane, what had she made of her?

The Doctor looked up and down and broke. Being good, and kind, and laughing it had been her goal. But right now she didn’t care about being The Doctor she wanted to be old and sad and bitter. And guilty, ashamed, wounded. Just an old battered TIme Lady.

She walked from this room to her counsel room, she started banging on panels till one opened and River’s whisky was there, but she shut it. Not River, not now, and definitely not the Lethbridge Stewarts. That was so much guilt and sadness, to mention the last time people drank it she had been contemplating Time Lord equivalent of suicide. Not going that dark tonight thanks, stuff those thoughts way to the back.

So she wandered to a room that functioned as a liquor cabinet, Bowtie hadn’t liked the stuff, usually going for destroying property and/or putting himself in danger on bad days. But a bottle of hypervodka met her eyes and she smiled. She grabbed to bottles and went to the console room, it had so many ghosts they all blanked each other out, not personal to any of them.

She downed one whole bottle all alone, Time Lords had fast metabolisms and high tolerance. It was all the heart beating and thinking. No thinking, or at least not remembering, not working.

The second one disappeared as fast, maybe it would make her sleep, just at least sleep with nothing in her mind.

Not working, not enough. She thought and poured on more glass but her hand was caught causing her to flail out and saw it was Yaz’s hand.

“This bottle I did empty on my own.” She joked

Yaz did not seem to find her funny.

“What?” The Doctor asked.

No answer Yaz just stared at her with a look of judgment, with her other hand on her hip like a judgmental parent. Why was it Yaz’s business?

” I can drink my own vodka, in my TARDIS, by myself if I feel like it. I’m old enough to be your messiah, I can make my own decisions. So just go. Go away where you won’t get hurt.” The Doctor’s voice hit a tenor that made her age creep into the auditory world. Even if the power was dampened by the slight slur.

And Yaz looked hurt and very sad, she let The Doctor’s hand go her eyes growing wide.

“Doctor, what are talking about?” Yaz asked her hands hit the floor sitting next to The Doctor.

“What are you talking about?” The Doctor mirrored.

“You say your fine and next thing I know you’re trying to drink yourself to death.”

“I’m not as fragile as you, I can handle this.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“You could have talked to me, or Ryan, or Graham.”

“You don’t understand.”

“We don’t understand loss?” Ryan snapped from the dark.

“Yes!” The Doctor stood up, “Exactly. When were you one of two people standing in the ruins of the universe, watched hordes of people die in Dalek fire, had your friend turned into a cyberman, and another, and another. When did you walk a woman into the hands of a nutcase who took her ability to have children? Have you sat in a field of blood that you made, known people see you as a monster? Seen a child sacrifice himself for the world! When were your friends torn from you by your own people more than once? Did your children burn with all of your family? Don’t pretend you can ever understand” The Doctor’s tone went from angry, to despair, to just bitterness and scorn.

They all stared at her in that way she hated like she was something otherworldly, but not a magic hero. A vengeful creature.

“Doctor?” Graham said, ton and body neutral.

“Nope, Not The Doctor right now. Not sure who I am, but guess I’m just me. Huh, guess that’s why she’s been using that name.” Tears rolled down her face hot and Then The Doctor collapsed on the floor the world going dark.

_____

She woke up with Yaz sitting next to her.

“How mad are they?” The Doctor said to the ceiling.

“You told them, losing their wife and mother didn’t count as a loss. Then kind of told us you’ve killed people. We’re all a bit miffed.” Yaz said sarcasm dripping.

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Doctor I know you were in pain, but you can’t lash out at us. We’re your friends, you said we were your family.”

“I know I did, you are my best friends. I mean that I do. I shouldn’t have said what I did, it was wrong.”

“If you talk to me before it got too big to handle maybe it would be better.”

“Right try that next time.”

“Not to mention you lied. You said that one bottle was nothing but you blacked out.”

“That wasn’t just the drinking, it was that I hadn’t slept in way too long.”

“Why?”

“It’s louder when I sleep?”

“What is?”

“The screaming.”

After resting on Yaz’s orders she found Ryan and Graham using a gaming machine and library book respectively.

“I’m sorry.” The Doctor said, “I’m so, so, sorry.”

“I know that loss can make you act like a jerk Doctor, but you’re the one who says to let it make you a better person,” Graham said.

“Yes, I don’t follow my own advice enough.”

“Like using weapons when you say we can’t?” Ryan asked.

“Rule one, The Doctor lies.” The Doctor muttered to herself.

“That's not a good rule, I prefer don’t wander off,” Ryan said, looking pointedly at the screen.

“It was what my Bowtie face always said, Well more so what River said about me. But I was unfair, and I’m sorry. I know losing your wife hurts Graham, all of mine are dead. One comparatively recently and I know it hurts.”

He nodded she turned to Ryan, “ My people don’t have mothers in exactly the same sense, and the people I call my grannies it’s wasn’t the same as yours. My family weren’t exactly my biggest fans either. I should never have pretended it didn’t matter. I'm so sorry”

He nodded.

“I didn’t lie when I told you I carry them with me. I didn’t say that sometimes it’s too much. And I’ve done things I'm not proud of, but I have to be better than that, I have to try my best to be The Doctor. And I can't let it hurt the people I care about when I fail.”

They both nodded.

“If you want me to take you home I can” She offers pointing her thumb behind her.

“No Doctor, we had one fight.” Ryan said, “that’s not the end of this.”

“Doc, you're stuck with us for a while yet. But I think we should talk more yes?”

The Doctor nodded and turned around. She couldn’t help going to Bill’s room, and Nardole's saying her silent goodbyes again. Turning off the ache and noise was hard, she would just have to hide it better again.