#tali has always been my girl but

[beachgothgay]

Do I rawdog ME2 or should I download a romance mod to make Jack and Miranda romanceable for femshep?

[rysnscommand]

How was kaladin your asexual awakening?

Fun story!!

I was in college and one of my only guy friends started dating this girl. And they were super mushy and disgusting and I hated it because we would hang out all the time and then after they started dating I had to deal with them flirting constantly. And not realizing that I was romance/sex repulsed I was like. Ok am I jealous?? Do I like this guy?? No he smells like feet. Ew. Ok why am I so mad. And well maybe that wasn't directly related to being asexual but STILL when Oathbringer came out and Kaladin reacted Like That to Adolin and Shallan dating and was like "wait. Shallan is like a brother to me" at the end. And I read a post about how Kaladin was so aro for that. and i was like WAIT. WAIT A SECOND--

I knew about aro and ace people for like eight years prior to that. But that was the first time it registered that oh thats ME. So thank you Kaladin Stormblessed aroace icon of all time.

[sillyboycam]

“I would bring you rings of gold, I’d even sing you poetry!”

“Oh would ya’?~”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I told you they’ve been on my mind.

Oh yeah, I also watched one of my favourite movies httyd2 and y’know… got a little into it as usual..

I’ve had this idea in my mind for a while, definitely before I watched httyd2 but AFTER watching season 2 of Arcane I decided “Man, this would make a GREAT drawing” .

And here we are!

Anyways this is a sort of “Au” I’ve made, Viktor as Valka, leaving and everyone thinking he’s “dead”.

While I put Jayce as Stoic, because, in retrospect they’re both people of power. Leaders that have a pretty tough life, along with losing their loved one(s). Also, Jayce finally got a beard and you know what Stoic looks like.

Since Valka and Stoic obviously had Hiccup, in my mind I think Jayce and Viktor both adopted a kid to be theirs. (Also to be the next chieftain, since they’re both men of course.) His name is Jekkel, and he’s similar to each of them in terms of appearance. His personality leaning a little towards Viktor’s rather than Jayce’s.

They’d also adopt a little girl named Viyati. (They were especially happy with the name since they picked it themselves) Viyati is the youngest dragon rider of her tribe so far. Her personality is definitely more like Jayce’s as she’s always putting herself and her brother out there. With, of course, boundaries kept in place as Jekkel isn’t usually one to actually want to be out there.

So Viyati always respects him and his needs.

>>>>>>

Viktor’s dragon would be a LightFury,

Jayce’s would be a TimberJack,

Jekkel’s would be a DeathSong,

And (ironically) I think I’d give Viyati a Screaming Death. (ie, smallest little dragon rider gets a big ass scary looking dragon, and it loves her)

>>>>>>

In this Au neither Jayce nor Viktor would die, but, would come super duper close to it many, many times.

>>>>>>

Viktor’s clothes consist of a big white hood rimmed with white tipped red fur, and lots of designs traced onto the hood itself in an off-white.

A black Viking tunic with purple embroidery along the edges and the neckline adorns him, with armour on his chest. Black and scaled.

His arms would be wrapped in white leather from the forearm down, tied in neat bows.

Giant white fur boots with black pants is what he wears on the daily. A spiky belt adorns his sleek waist.

Last thing, he has black scaled arm warmers! In which the white leather wraps around. In a cute bow of course.

>>>>>>

Jayce’s outfit would be a bit more complex, as well as the kids, so if you’d like me to go more in depth I’d be happy too! (Just not in this post, I’m not one to make long descriptions lol)

>>>>>>

Viktor is actually married to Jayce in this one! Their wedding was beautifully done (weeps…) and their rings were gorgeous. This means, the whole family is a Talis!

So that’s; Jayce Talis, Viktor Talis, Jekkel Talis, and Viyati Talis. Also Jayce’s mother, Ximena Talis. She’s a very important figure in the village, a wizard with talents for medicine.

>>>>>>

I have tons of more ideas and I’d love to tell you them all. If you’re interested, let me know!

Anyways this might’ve already been done… but I’m not sure. If it has do let me know! I’d love to chat with that person ;]

Okay,

I hope you enjoy this one!

Love you all

as always art is by me —————> @sillyboycam

[jaggedamethyst]

circuit breaker 🔬🌌 (part four)

tutor!jayce talis x reader, ekko x reader college au

content: jayce ghosts you when you need him most...so you have no choice but to lean on your best friend, ekko

pining, mental health mentions, neurodivergence, lmk if i missed any!

notes: ekko pic...omg... (you may think this series is going slow but i hate a slow burn ass fic that has them fucking chapter three don't pmo...also this evolved way past just jayce and i need to do ekko justice...bc some of yall don't, clocked it)

word count: 2.9k

series masterlist

⭑·ﾟﾟ·*:༅。.。༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

“Do you know that girl Jayce is always with?” 

You arrived to class, ready to learn—but not about physics truthfully. You expected to cut corners, create friendly conversation about nothing, humor Viktor. When you got there, though, you had to ask him immediately. 

“Mel Medara?” Viktor looked to you with intrigue. “I know of her…but not much about her.” He leaned to his left, toward you, “Why?” 

“She’s just always…around? And we spoke to each other once but I was in a hurry…didn’t get much chance for a formal introduction.” 

“Are you certain that your intrigue is rooted purely in your inquisitive nature…or is there another reason you want to share?” 

“No-“ 

The sound of the door towards the front of the class opening interrupted you—it was perfect timing, actually. You would rather not have to unpack why Mel’s presence bothered you so much; truthfully it was an inexplicable feeling. Someone walked in, and you sat up straighter. 

“Hi, everyone! My name is Caitlyn, some of you may know me if you’ve ever been to the student resource center.” She smiled at you, exchanging a look of recognition. “I wanted to formally introduce myself… I will be joining as a TA. If you need anything and can’t get ahold of the professor, you can ask me your course related questions.” She moved to plug a laptop into the projector, “Here is my email for future reference.” She allowed some time for people to copy and take photos of her email down. “Unfortunately, today’s class will be canceled for an emergency…but I was instructed to relay to you that the quiz will still be held next week. It’ll be on vectors and calculating their angles. Be sure to refresh yourselves over the weekend and reach out to me should you have any questions.” People started to shuffle around her, getting up to leave class. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, guys. Feel free to use the space to get some other work done, or leave early.” 

“What the fuck, this was such a waste of my time.” You glanced back towards the board, making sure you got the email address right. “I have been so tired I could be sleeping right now.” 

“I’m sorry, I know you have a lot to deal with right now.” Viktor moved to the end of the aisle, grabbing his cane while slinging his bag over one shoulder. “At least you’ve been in tutoring. The quiz this week should be easier, right?” 

“That’s the thing,” you reached for your phone, “We’ve only just got to vectors so far. That was hard enough.” You hovered your finger over Jayce’s contact, never actually having messaged him. Before you could talk yourself out of it, you started texting him. 

hi jayce 

im sorry to bother you but i have my quiz next week and its gonna be on more stuff than we got to in our sessions

do you have any time to meet with me this weekend? if not thats ok, i can ask my friend

You paused, walking behind Viktor without looking up from the phone screen. 

i just need you

No, you shook your head, continuing the text. 

i just need your help

lmk

ty 

You grimaced at the text bubbles, hating how you split all of that up. You imagined his annoyed face, seeing all of these desperate messages. You wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t answer. You wouldn’t answer you. 

Viktor turned to you, “Are you alright?” 

“Yes, just frustrated and irritated and angry…thats all.” 

“That’s not a great combination.” 

You shook your head. Without trying, Viktor could always cheer you up. “Unrelated, but did Jayce ask you about what snacks I eat?” 

“He did,” he looked over at you, “It was odd. He said something about ‘reinforcements’ for your guys’ tutoring session.” 

“Oh...okay.” 

Viktor would call himself a lot of things, including perceptive. He didn’t say much, but he noticed the way your eyes lingered on one another when you first met. He was aware of the way you spoke about each other, especially when it was just Viktor around. He simply arched a brow at you, observing your concerned look at the phone screen. 

“Maybe you should take the weekend to rest and recuperate.” 

“I would…but the quiz-“ 

“Just for today. Wait for Jayce to get back to you. Then you can focus solely on next week.” He nodded reassuringly. 

He returned the nod, liking the sound of the plan. 

If only Jayce had bothered to answer. 

——————

“Hi.” 

“Come on in.” Ekko stepped back, letting you into his dorm. 

“I know it’s so last minute, but I know nothing about angles …figured you could help.” 

“I absolutely can help and would love to.” 

You sat your stuff down, getting comfortable as you’d done dozens of times before. You turned a corner, washing your hands at the sink before heading to grab a throw blanket from Ekko's bed. 

He knew your habits, calling from the living room area. “I have the heated blanket out here, too, if you wanna use that one. Know you get cold.” 

You exited his room, wearing the slippers you left under his bed. “Once again, you are the best…because I am, in fact, freezing my ass off right now.” 

“Want something to drink?” 

“Always.” 

The two of you were so in sync—it had to be that way after Powder. It became worse when Vi blamed you, suspecting one of you said something to her to make her disappear. Even though you know you did nothing wrong, there was still a self-hate there. That you couldn’t be there for a friend who needed you—so much so that she left entirely. You couldn’t do that to Ekko, he felt the same. 

“So,” you pulled out the folder Jayce had given you, a slight frown on your face at the thought of him completely ignoring you. “I have this paper, its like a cheat sheet for vectors…but besides what Jayce told me I don’t know what to do. The TA said we also have to calculate the angles…that makes no sense.” 

Ekko grabbed his notebook, flipping to a blank sheet of paper. He sketched a makeshift drawing—surprisingly good for how quick he’d done it. You were always in awe of his artistic talent. 

“Okay, so here…is a light pole.” He moved his finger to the other side of the paper, motioning toward a little drawing of you, smiling on the sidewalk. “This is you.” 

“Wait I’m so adorable here!”

Ekko chuckled, side eyeing you a bit, “Yeah…” 

You snatched the pencil—quickly drawing in a stick figure of him. “This is you!” 

“Is it really? Couldn’t tell.” 

“Hey-“ You swatted his arm, “You’re identical in my opinion.” 

“If having lines for a body is identical…then sure. But anyways…not the point of my sketch.” He grabbed the pencil back, “Thank you very much.” He flipped the pencil, using the eraser side to show you the details. “Okay…light pole…you.” He smirked, knowing you wanted to interject. Ekko raised his hand before you could, “This is the distance between you and the pole.” He made up and wrote a random number in feet under the bottom, the same for the pole. “This is the height of the pole. This is all you need to find every angle and distance measurement.” 

The look on your face was one of pure confusion. “How does that make any sense whatsoever, Ekko?” You moved to close the book. “Actually, lets just watch a movie instead. I’m prepared to fail at this point.” 

Ekko grabbed the book from you, reopening it. “Well, I’m not, so let’s get to work.” 

He continued, explaining as best he could. It was no use, though, it just wasn’t making sense to you. You nodded, trying to get him to move on to something else. 

“Does that make sense?” 

“Yeah.” You reached to hug Ekko, “You’re the best.” Pulling back, you plastered on a smile, hiding the discomfort. You didn’t feel ready whatsoever. Suddenly, Ekko grabbed your hands, pulling your attention to him. 

“You’re gonna do great.” He lingered on you for a while, “Promise.” 

The doubt you felt made you want to hole up and skip class altogether. Eventually, it developed into a disdain for Jayce. When you thought about it, he was the reason you were going to fail…again. 

——————

You decided against skipping class on Monday, but you were definitely opting out of that damn tutoring session. If Jayce can’t answer a simple few texts, how were you to know you even had a standing appointment anymore. It made you feel less than worthy of a proper notice. Above all, it just felt plain unprofessional…he’s an employee after all. 

Walking into class and into this quiz felt like a walk to your execution. Midterms were quickly approaching, which meant you only had so many quizzes you could fail before the majority of your final grade was tainted by bad ones. 

Viktor greeted you as normal, moving over to give you a seat. “Are you prepared?”

“As best as I can be.” 

The beauty of college was that you did assessments in class and got the results as soon as you submitted. Knowing you would get your score back in the next few minutes had your stomach churning. An image of Jayce, carefree and nonchalant, popped into your head. Nothing was making sense. Reluctantly, you started choosing random answers—disregarding the calculator altogether. Before you knew it, your grade, a 56%, reflected back to you. 

“Fuck,” you whispered to yourself. You closed your laptop, getting up to leave class early. “I’ll see you later, Viktor.” 

Before he could reply, you were gone. Pushing through the door. You grabbed your phone from your pocket, texting Ekko. 

im done early, wanna meet rn?

He replied a few seconds later.

omw 

You picked up the pace, not out of urgency, but in pure frustration. Everything you’d been working towards wasn’t paying off. The time you spent not being with Ekko—with Jayce—was a waste. 

When you arrived to the dining hall, Ekko wasn’t there yet. You took the time to grab both you and him something to eat for lunch. Within minutes, Ekko showed up, that warm smile on his face as usual. He leaned into you, giving you a side hug while simultaneously grabbing the food from you. 

“How was the quiz?” You didnt reply, simply giving him a side eye. “Damn…I’m sorry.” 

“Not your fault…but thanks for helping.” 

He’d seamlessly changed the subject—allowing the two of you to talk without the reminder of your failure that day. You didn’t acknowledge how fast the time had passed and truthfully, didn’t care. You hadn’t planned to show up to tutoring…much less give Jayce any notice. 

To your right, you suddenly heard a voice, interrupting you and Ekko. 

“Hey.” You looked over, seeing Jayce standing there. “I figured you’d be here.” He looks between you and Ekko, hands now on his hips. “You missed our session.” 

You raised a brow and crossed your arms over your chest. “Wow, really? Didn’t know we were still having those.” 

“Of course we are, you have those quizzes-“ 

“Had.” You interrupted, “There was one today. You’d know if you checked your phone.” 

He looked down, embarrassed at his phone sitting in his front pant pocket. 

“I’m sorry- I know this is important for you but something came up.” 

“What? What came up?” Ekko spoke up. 

Jayce turned to look at him, finally acknowledging his presence again. “Something personal,” he looked away, focusing back on you. “Can we talk alone?” 

Ekko spoke again, “Say what you need to say.” 

“I would, but I’m not talking to you.” 

A screech of Ekko’s chair resounded in the dining hall. You reached a hand out, gesturing toward them. “Ekko, please.” 

Ekko looked over to you and inhaled a deep breath. He was looking at Jayce again, but kept talking to you. “I’ll see you later, okay? Call if you need anything.” 

“Wait- Ekko-” 

Jayce gulped, sitting down across from you. You watched Ekko leave as Jayce took his seat, hands resting on the table. 

“What the hell is your problem? You ghost me then show up here with an attitude? I should be pissed…I am pissed! I failed because of you!” 

He nodded, knowing the weight of his being inaccessible. “I’m sorry.” 

“You said that.” 

“There was a personal thing, a family emergency-“

“And yet, your phone is still in working condition.”

You didn’t want to be insensitive, but it takes seconds to reply. A simple message would’ve sufficed. 

“My mom’s sick.” You froze—remembering that it’s just him and his mom. “She was in the hospital all weekend…it still hasn’t gotten better.” He paused, looking at you now, “I thought I owed you to at least show up today.” 

“Well…now I feel like shit.” 

“Don’t. Not your fault I didn’t tell you what was happening.” 

“Is there anything I can do?” 

“Hope she gets better?” 

You reached over, placing a comforting hand on his, “I can do that.” 

He let you linger there, before pulling back. “How about this week, since I messed up so bad with scheduling…we meet as much as you’d like just so you can be ready. Shit, it can be every day if you want.” He nodded, “We’re gonna make sure you pass this class if it’s the last thing I do.” 

“Are you sure? I can be pretty high maintenance…” 

He leaned back in his chair, a nonchalant yet playful look on his face, “Not worried about it.” 

“Okay.” You shrugged, “If you say so.” 

The pair of you exchanged smiles, not at all prepared for how tumultuous this week would be. 

taglist

@juskonutoh @sseleniaa @aerina127 @sleepysoldier @angelicmisty @1800latenitecreep @venus-in-roses

[edenprime]

if u haven't read it a lot of liara's more action-oriented shift was told in the comics. the shadow broker DLC didn't quite capture how much effort she went thru to secure shep's body and how big feron's role. i personally welcome the change and while i like archeologist liara i think her ME1 characterization is so superficial. she's mostly just a fan girl. the shift is abrupt but it's nice that in ME2 she has her own thing going on outside shepard cos i believe the writers wrote her as the canon love interest in mind so her character often suffers from the fangirl disease. i think a lot of people in the fandom dislike how the game shove her to us so much. which is funny since another famous shepard ship is garrus, who's equally as pushed as liara and is just as much of a shep fan. it's just that he's a guy so he doesn't suffer sexist hate.

I haven't read/seen anything outside the games, no! I've been thinking of getting into that, but first I'd like to sort out all of my feelings wrt the main event - the games. I feel like if I got into the "peripheric" media, it could maybe influence how I view the games and i want to analyze those by themselves (i'm thinking i'll finish this playthrough + another one in which i might or might not play as mshep) and then see about everything else. Thank you for the rec, though! I knew there was extra stuff about tali and garrus but this is the first i'm hearing about liara <3

And well... let's be real, most of the squad is part of the Shepard fan club, even those that can't be romanced, like Grunt and Wrex. The fact that Shepard gets a breeding request in Tuchanka after completing grunt's loyalty mission is like the most Mary Sue thing ever (and I don't necessarily mean this in a bad way). The asari, sex symbols of the galaxy, are throwing themselves at them left and right (Liara, Shiala, arguably Sha'ira, Morinth...). Shepard is the main character, everyone wants a piece of them. It's one of the entertaining parts of the games (or at least I have a lot of fun with it, if maybe a little bit ironically).

I suppose people might single out Liara because she's the one whose actions are the most extreme, and thus it crosses the line from "cute" to "creepy", but she's not the only one. Legion literally wears the armor off their dead body. As I said in my post, maybe her actions and/or attitude aren't 100% justifiable, but they are understandable.

I'm not sure about the game pushing Garrus as a love interest (I think the game itself is skeptical of the player making this choice, like when Shepard says she "can't believe she finds comfort in the arms of a turian" or something like that), but I do think he's definitely meant to be one of the characters that's most influenced by Shepard, regardless of gender.

Personally, I think him being so popular a choice (at least on Tumblr, which has a mostly female userbase compared to other social media) is due to him being a man, yes, but not necessarily because of sexism (or not always), but because het ships are farrrr more popular than femslash. Also, it's very clear how much he respects Shepard in basically every aspect, and it's incredibly fucking rare to see a het relationship in such equal ground, especially with a """bad guy""" lmao. (though ME in general does quite good in that regard I think, the romances in general are not toxic™️ or unequal) (mostly... ignoring that Shepard is basically everyone's boss... lol).

I completely agree that there's a double standard in how female characters are expected to behave vs male ones, and from what i've seen Liara is 100% a victim of this (I had the very bad idea of reading some threads on reddit...yikes). I don't know the fandom enough to know how it compares in relation to Garrus in particular, though, or if there's a correlation between Shakarian fans and Liara haters.

[aceagilecrash]

ok so obvi;ously spoilers for arcane s2 finale

this is the first time I've had a dream about a ship and I figured I just wanna share it with you guys.

So it starts off right after jayce and viktor come together within the crystal / arcane and as some people have theorized it's actually a teleportation rune so LOLOL MY BRAIN HAD THOUGHT UP that they ended up in a location far removed from piltover/zaun.

In the dream they crash land into a meadow with a large tree near a cliffside. I just remember jayce and viktor waking up slowly and realize that they didn't actually die and that they lived through that. viktor still in his ratty ass blanket and with his cunty bob and jayce in his final battle clothes but obvi no hammer in sight. it's just the two of them and jayce can't believe that they're still alive despite everything. a little ways over is a small town / village

in my dream all i remember is jayce introducing himself as jayce talis and then when people see his hand on viktors' back hes like and my partner, viktor (which causes so much confusion amongst the villagers about their actual relationship)

ITS LIKE sometimes I see some scenes and I'm like there's no way the brain thought of that, but I remember them not really speaking about their relationship and it's so.... jayvik coded of them, because when it comes down to it that's one of their major issues between the two of them. THey don't know how to communicate lol

i just feel like it's been viktor's whole life to put up walls and barriers for himself to try to fit in with able bodied kids, to trying to fit in within piltover / the academy so he can prove that he's worth it as someone from the undercity/zaun that he belongs there. and so he's never really been himself or has the space to be himself except those brief times when he's with jayce, but i still feel like he puts up these walls to protect himself (i.g. when he wakes up and immediately pushes jayce away and breaks up with... def a defensive mechanism fer sure) bc he's scared that people won't accept him because of his flaws, that he's from zaun which people look down upon and he's disabled and not the most perfect looking guy.

then i think jayce is like... not to say spoiled, but he's used to getting everything that he wants, the only time notwithstanding is when he almost got exiled, but it's like he has funding to do the research that he wants and he does. and despite the forementioned exiling that still worked out in his favor because he ended up with viktor ( HIS SAVIOR ALWAYS ALWAYS HIS SAVIOR, MORE ON THAT LATER) and inventing hextech. but i think the thing with jayce is that like he is like this perfect example to piltover to like not only innovation Man of PRogress frfr, but like an able bodied man from a House TM with a sponsorship from a Counsilor House. And there's totally nothing wrong with that I will always at the end of the day be a jayce defender but the guys like that popular kid in high school thats captain of the football team and also on the math team you know? on top of that he's kind, but I just don't think he's had to work hard at something you know? and with viktor you would have to work hard to break down his barriers.

for example if you look at jayce's relationship with mel, it did start off because mel wanted something from jayce so that she could secure good footing with the creators' of hextech and to also establish jayce as a person with power that she can influence (hence him becoming a counselor its just the right moves for her) right? but it's also like you can't help but fall for jayce and his puppy dog eyes and I'm not saying i'm anti-mel, I think she's beautiful and smart and sly aND THE WOLF but she's also sorta perfect. the perfect girl for the perfect guy, except the whole time that jayce was with her jayce mostly brought up his imperfect dying best friend. he slept with her, but viktor is the one who's bedside he stayed by yk? like i think a part of him and what he realizes in season 2 from season 1 is that he has all these expectations placed on him and at the core of it, he's just a big nerd who's special interest is magic and he just wants to be with viktor

anyway so back to my dream, it's like my brain knew that and knew that a big reason why season 2 is the divorce arc is all the not communicating jayce and viktor do. so in this perfect area and smaller scale than piltover/zaun it's like they can start fresh and they do. but they don't talk about what happened to them and why they're there in the first place. their first logical step is survival mode they need to eat and they need shelter. so they do that, albeit with a lot of kindness from the villagers who feed them and house them temporary. in my dream, they use their engineering degrees to the fullest to help out in anyway despite the fact that between the two of them they only have like 2.5 functioning legs.

jayce builds them a house and it just makes sense frugal wise that there's only one bed and one building and he ends up with the town's black smithery but the black smith is very old and they don't really need him as much because they can get a lot of their supplies from other places when they can afford to go to other ports.

in my dream viktor builds the town children toys because the town is basically just old people and children and everyone else of age went to go to some military campaign? idk brains work weird and dreams just assume things. he's doing that and sometimes learning how to cook so that the two of them could actually stop relying on this old grandma that felt bad when she found them out in the woods eating random ass salamanders that jayce catches randomly and viktor didn't realize he got the appetite for them.

at the climax ish of the dream is that the village people start getting sick, and viktor realizes that hey actually he became somewhat of a mage, it's not as all powerful as what the hexcore was but he's still and has learned to be attuned with magic, it has the added bonus of not totally corrupting him. so he wants to help the people out because at the core of viktor IS THAT HE WANTS TO HELP PEOPLE. that's why him and jayce get along because sure they're both brilliant, but at the end of the day they're just nice dudes that wanna help people. so viktor wants to help people with magic. but jayce:?

jayce is scared because he wants nothing to do with magic anymore. he's overcorrecting the issue, he was obsessed with it and now he wants nothing to do with it. to him magic used to be the thing that saved him but then he realized that his actual savior has always been and will forever be viktor. and he lost viktor to the arcane, sure he's the one that gave him the hexcore to keep him alive, but it's only because of the influence of the arcane that viktor even did what he did in s2.

so they fight because for viktor it's about autonomy hes in control this time and he can do something to help so it's not within him to not help people who need help. and jayce is NOT getting what he wants which is now to live a peaceful life with viktor. and thats what the fight's always gonna be about is that they want two different things, but don't know how to communicate to each other in a healthy way, so viktor tries to leave.

but jayce has seen what alternate post herald viktor has seen and he's been told by him about viktor that jayce is the only one who convincer viktor otherwise, so he fights to keep him. he tells him how he cant lose him again honestly instead of just implying it with the stupid house he built and the working hard to provide him a home honey and building a house right next to the tree they landed next to because viktor loves sitting underneath it on sunny days to rest his leg when it's acting up. bc to me? i think jayce fell first, he just didn't realize. jayce fell in love with the man that stopped him from jumping and always wanted him to share in the spotlight. that he calls partner and never once looked down at viktor and always treated him as an equal and saw his faults and imperfections and it's not until that he had GONE INTO LITERALLY THE ASTRAL PLANE OF VIKTOR'S EXISTENCE? MIND? that he saw oh this man's not perfect and I still want him anyway. that life isn't worth it if he's not there. and it's why hes so anti magic now because to him even though for a long time he thought magic saved him, he realized that in actuality it's always been viktor. so he doesn't need magic anymore

viktor is soo unprepared for this bc to him this whole time period is about repentance for what he's done. he's not sure if he fully believes what jayce has said about him, but he's also not pulling up his barriers so high that jayce can't reach. (tho he did lower it mostly because he literally saw through jayce's minds perspective to him and its never weak, or unequal and he is seen as eyecatching to jayce) bc he's so used to seeing jayce with his perfect girlfriend, perfect life and he's like there's no room for me there so i will leave first before he can hurt me.

uhm and yeah i dont remember the rest of my dream, but my rambles and head canons are in here and i'm just so UGH FERAL ABOUT JAYVIK FER REAL like why did they do that LOL

i'd like to think that they work it out, that they find some way to help but also maintain their simple life and that its always gonna be the two of them in it together. that viktor lets himself despite his flaws get what he wants and that he deserves jayce. and jayce learns that sometimes you gotta fight hard for what you want and that if you're with the right person sometimes all you need is eachother.

anyway if you made it this far through my fucking rambling and incomplete sentences and incoherent paragraphs all for this stupid ship from a freaking toxic game, congrats! you also have a problem LOL also hit me up in the comments if you wanna see someone write this (not me someone write this for me hello???)

[reallyquitestrange]

Jack for the character ask

Tell us about your girl 😉

Okay lets do it! love her so much

favorite thing about them Her romance is amazing. Total absolute badass who is deeply flawed and damaged, slowly opening up to you, and being scared of that. Her and Miranda are kinda Foils for each other. They are both women (biotic humans specifically) and they are both connected to Cerberus through fucked up childhoods but on the outside, Miranda is the perfect princess who grew up in 'better' circumstances and made a choice (not really but this isn't about her) to go to Cerberus to escape her abuser. Meanwhile, Cerberus was Jacks abuser and even when she was free of them she still had to claw and fight and work for every step she took after. And that shows in her character in a very literal and physical way.

least favorite thing about them How fucking tough all her intricate tattoos are to draw.

favorite line I can't remember it exactly, but if you bring Jack on Miranda's Loyalty mission in 2, the eclipse leader asks if Cerberus lets her whore around in that outfit, and Jack says "I think I'm starting to like her." or something along those lines its very funny.

brOTP Oh this is hard cause in general she gets along with everyone and yet no one. But I think Post 3 her and Kaidan could be like teaching buddies? and her and Miranda might even settle their differences and be friends cause again, foils; neither of them know what its like to be a 'Girl' cause they both had the key part of growing up female taken from them. I imagine they'd have fun sleep overs with Tali and Kasumi

OTP

I think this is a self explanatory one. Vack or Jega, whatever boats your float, I will die on this ship. The fact that they are perfect for each other and there is no doubt in my mind the DLC writers meant for us to get that vibe. Jack calling him Muscles, when his whole thing is nick names. The morning after, when he is WIDE THE FUCK AWAKE ready to make eggs, and she's WORKING OUT in the down stairs bedroom, doing pull ups. Both him and her having high scores at the Arena (and i think at one point the scores update and they switch spots?) They fuck and its hot, in my mind that has always been the canon plan

nOTP I don't really object to her and anyone but I guess its cause she only really gets shipped with Shep and Miranda that i've seen. If there was a squadmate I would absolutely like to NEVER SEE with her, I think it'd be Jacob. He's a Cerberus bitch who also cheats. just all around a bad LI for everyone.

random headcanon She still gets the N7 tat on her ass, only it's for James.

unpopular opinion I don't really actively ship her with Miranda...I've seen some good art, some cute fics, but I just genuinely cant see them ever being together in a sexual relationship. I'm not against it! Just have a hard time believing it.

song I associate with them I have a playlist for her so let me pick 4

I have a whole art about this one

Basically any Kesha song but specifically this recent era

In this moment gives Jack vibes but the black widow album is so fucking her I can't even explain

favorite picture of them

Again, but if I had to pick art that wasn't my own (cause I swear I'm not That conceited) This one by messydiabolical

[stephaniebrownslover]

★彡[!RANDOM TALBIN HEADCANONS!]彡★

Tali // @clockeyedtoy

Tobin // @necroromantics

Sorry for lack of non-OC creepypasta content lately.

But I wanted make a gift for my bros because of all the deal going around lately and it's Tobin's birthday, so I wrote something little for their OC's.

Really hope they enjoy<33

‣BURN

❝Sleeping death will come and lead me out of the sunlight❞

↺Both of them is a child who didn't have a chance to experience a true childhood. They had to grow up, and they had to grow up fast because of the brutalness they faced in their life.

↺But the thing is, they were fine with it. They were fine with not fitting in nor not being able to do things classified as normal kid things. They were fine with all the hate they had. They were fine with being all alone in the whole world. Because that is how life has always been for them. And it was okay.

↺Until it started to be not okay.

↺Somehow, every single thing started to felt worse than ever. Whenever Tobin did something, he could feel the claws of the emptiness squeezing his heart. While Tali was busy with something, she could sense the creeping presence of all of the wrong things with everything and nothing.

↺And this was not usual for either of them. Their hurt souls were angrier compared to before, they were more stray than before, they were more violent than ever. However, the worst part of this was their ever so growing loneliness.

↺Fortunately, this whole thing precisely happened before the time when both of their obstacle filled roads in life collide.

❝Shadows pulling me to lie with you❞

↺Tali hated Tobin to the bones. He was annoying, loud and stupid. He was a literal image of everything she hated and maybe that was the reason why she could stand to him.

↺Tobin liked Tali to the deep down of her soul. She was funny, caring and charming. She was the picture everything he actually liked and most probably that's why he never wanted to leave her side.

↺Tobin didn't care about feelings and emotions. He didn't know how to react to them, so he chose to ignore all completely. So Tali was a complete mystery waiting for someone to unlock to him. A girl showed no real emotions and as harsh as a rock. What could she possibly hide under that almost perfect mask?

↺Tali had no interest in talking to Tobin as she only perceived him as a energetic and noisy dog. She was a human, after all, and she had nothing to do with wild animals. Taming a beast was not one of her countless duties and she was already too busy with the pace of her own life.

↺But when Tobin and Tali decided to give a chance to study together, something's changed for both of them. It could be mutual understanding of two scarred person with no control in their life, or perhaps it could be the surprisingly fun time they had. But whatever that was, it changed something for them. Something is changed for the good.

↺After that study session, Tobin stole a chocolate for her and picked up a rose from a random garden. Unfortunately, he didn't know the rose would die after spending non-careful hours in an dirty bag, squized by the weight of books.

↺But Tali liked the dead and deformed rose more than the expensive chocolate. She found funny how dumb he was to not consider such a fact. She wouldn't like a normal rose anyway.

↺Tobin wasn't expecting Tali to offer him a cigarette. He accepted it and they smoke without talking. It was one of the most peaceful moments they had lived after the torture Tobin and Tali had gone through days after days.

↺They were truly made for each other and the real strange thing for the beginning of their friendship was how come they didn't meet sometime earlier.

❝The darkness brings me back to die with you❞

↺Although Tali was annoyed with him most of the time, she kind of liked not being alone always like normal times of her. She liked his stupid jokes and she almost enjoyed the trouble he dragged himself in even though she had to save his stupid ass.

↺Tali was new to human interaction which doesn't hurt, so this whole thing was just new to her. New but not bad, somehow.

↺Tobin had always been around other people, but no one was special for him to care about more than a few days. He would forget them and weeks later, he wouldn't even remember their name. But something was wrong with Tali.

↺Something was really, really wrong with Tali. He couldn't put his fingers on it exactly, however, he could say he didn't want to leave her side.

↺He liked when Tali joked about how dumb his hair was, he liked when Tali talked about a band she discovered, he liked when Tali acted like she's the strongest gırl in the world despite her scars.

↺She liked when Tobin constantly talked about new events in his life, she liked when Tobin kept drag her into interesting places, she liked when Tobin didn't care about anything in his past and kept moving forward.

↺They spend more and more time together day by day. And with this, they learned to tolerate each other. Or at least that was what they supposed.

↺Tobin thought this whole weird feeling would pass by time, just like what normally happens, but it didn't. In fact, it grew bigger. It grew into something more strange, it grew into something better.

↺It grew into love.

❝All I see is you❞

↺Their relationship hadn't changed much when they started to date. Because neither of them needed anything fancy or new in their messed up life. All they needed was the comforting feeling of their lover's presence.

↺They cared about each other so much. No one could dare to say anything about them because they learned that they would protect each other for even the slightest things.

↺They didn't say anything about their past mistakes. Because the only thing they cared about was how much improvement their partner made. And they knew there was no use in digging their dark graves.

↺Tobin was there when Tali needed him, and Tali was here when Tobin needed her. That was the only thing that mattered.

↺And all in all, Tobin and Tali complete each other in a way no one else could and they know this.

↺They're not only their partners in crime but their partners in life.

↺That's how things have been for an unforgettable period of time and they could not ask for more.

↺Because nothing was more important and unreplaceable for them considered to their eternal bound.

[centeris2]

Would love to hear more about the Tali fics, but "Let's put this in order shall we? WC 16816" definitely catching my eye.

We love writing things out of order here, which means at some point I gotta throw all the scenes into one document in order haha

It's my version of an Algonquin story The Hidden One, Scarface, or Rough Face Girl, (I'm pretty sure it's a legit Native American story, although it gets labeled as 'The Native American Cinderella' a lot so... the version I heard growing up might have been repackaged/softened up, idk, hard to confirm because there has been at least one novel released based on the story, so most search results trying to research go there). It's my favorite story from Adventures from the Book of Virtues growing up and has been stuck in my head since I was a kid, so I gave in years ago and started writing my own expanded story based on it

I was always bothered by the trope of "someone who is scarred/ugly magically turns Hot due to True Love" in folktales, since that seems to defeat the moral of 'true beauty is on the inside' and 'being hot doesn't make you a good person'. So started as "what if I wrote my own story that was longer than the 10 minute segment from the vhs tape I have" and added in "but also what if she didn't Turn Hot Again at the end so everyone could see how beautiful she was inside?" And just sorta kept going from there!

[sol-consort]

omgg a mass effect blog?? in 2024?? unreal and amazing (0-0)!!! I saw that you write for every character so I was wondering if you could write some relationship hc’s for Jack x gn! Renegade!Shepard? I’m such a sucker for the asshole x asshole but are secretly soft for each other trope😭 Also i’m amazed you write fro Ashley too?? Like is my girl finally getting some love? I remember how much the fandom hated her some years ago, like say something as simple as “I like Ashley and her character arc” and boom you were labeled as alien racist yeehaw 💀. It was hard being an Ash enjoyer 😔

I'm reviving this bitch! I just discovered the fandom this month I will be loud and annoying about it until the zombies come out.

And here you go! Here is your request. <3 I hope you enjoy it.

I had to go watch renegade maleshep with Jack so i can get the vibes right and my god, I am so happy I picked femshep bc the male voice acting is very...stoic potato with angry eyes drawn on it. But I missed on Jack's romance which is bullshit bc she states she has slept with woman before so why not meee :"(

But I also it gave me a different perspective on her character. Kelly mentions how avoiding having sex with Jack is the way to gain her respect. And because femshep can't romance her, it means Jack respects you way earlier than maleshep and it kinda shows in her dialogue. Like she got a true friend and women supporting women!

I took the paragon options, which yeah made her make fun of me, but I felt like she was owed some kindness. I am making my Shepard a bit naive too, It adds flavour when i get betrayed.

AND ASHLEY I LOVE HER I ADORE HER. if i had a nickle each time an hated woman character in the fandom with little fanwork made me start a whole blog out of spite just to post about her then I'd have two nickles, which isn't a lot but it is weird that it happened twice with bg3 Minthara then this.

Ashley is just so adorable? Even without her romance she genuinely shows love and devotion. Like yeah Kaidan is Shepard's bf but that's all it feels like. Just a romance option.

But Ashley??? Ashley is femshep true pal and bro. She's been there through thick and thin. Her voicelines are priceless and I took her with me on every single mission in ME1 new game plus.

But damn yikes- they do know that half the humans start off as alien racists and change? Even Ashley wasn't that extreme about it, and she goes through character growth and becomes fond of aliens. Pressly also called them animals, and Kaidan says he isn't big on alien cultures.

Ash wasn't afraid to speak her mind, she always expressed her opinions and took it in stride if you criticise her views and tell her to pull herself together. She considers your words and becomes better.

And we can make Kaidan more alien racist, that guy is willing to become a xenophobe for some pussy, but only if you're femshep. While Ashley can be changed without having to romance her. People really can't handle women with flaws or personality.

And let's not forget that it was Ashley staying on the deck with three different aliens on it and not once did a problem accure. Ash was defensive because she thought they wouldn't like humans, not because she hated them. Not once do Garrus, Wrex or Tali mention anything bad that Ash has done ever. They were right besides her too! Because she hasn't done anything bad.

She is so cute, so precious and the fact her grandpa salutes to her. The fact she walked into the military where they blacklisted her family just to restore their honour and make her grandpa proud? I'm choking in tears rn. And her precious sisters that she took care of, she practically raised them.

She is strong and unimaginably brave. Also, look at this adorable video of her saluting.

[aevallare]

10 characters/10 fandoms/10 tags

tagged by the ever-gracious @anosrepasi <3

Sheik (The Legend of Zelda) - my relationship with gender is like. we're friends with benefits. i was born female and present that way about 98% of the time but it literally doesn't matter to me at all, and i think the first time that i came to that conclusion was playing ocarina of time and finding out that zelda was sheik.

Deacon (Fallout 4) - the first character that ever made me start to really unpack all the masks i wear. deacon changed the game because i don't think i even knew how dishonest i was being with the world until i dove into his headspace.

Jayce Giopara/Talis (League of Legends/Arcane) - it's hard to talk about jayce without splicing the league and arcane lore in an inconvenient way, but i'll say this - guy who tries his hardest and screws it up all the time but never gives up, driven only by a desire to make the world better? would that i had his grit.

Miranda Lawson (Mass Effect) - again, that feeling of being something manufactured rather than born. artificial rather than organic. i love an ice queen always, and though i think the execution of her character left a lot to be desired, i'll always have a soft spot for her.

Olivier Mira Armstrong (Fullmetal Alchemist) - unapologetically cold. inarguably a good guy. an unmatched girl crush of mine.

Morrigan (Dragon Age) - i don't know if anything has ever made me so angry as finding out a female PC couldn't romance morrigan without mods. a prickly swamp witch with negative social acumen. what more could i want in a woman?

Hana Song/D. Va (Overwatch) - i decidedly do not go here much anymore, but hana song was the perfect storm for me when overwatch fandom was at its height. still a child, she carried the weight of her country's security on her back, and did everything she could not to crumble.

Jaina Proudmoore (Warcraft) - my girl has been done so dirty by blizzard entertainment time and time again, but her rage spoke (and speaks) to me in a way that i have trouble putting words to. also i want my hair to look like hers.

Handsome Jack (Borderlands) - i fucking love this fucked up guy. there's nothing deeper here.

Astarion Ancunin (Baldur's Gate 3) - what, you thought he wouldn't make the list? looking at astarion ancunin is like looking in a mirror, and frankly, it almost makes me uncomfortable sometimes. no notion of self-worth (except where sex is involved, and even that is complicated), snarky little prick, outright mean when people get too close? yeah. he's just like me fr.

i'll tag @cosmolis @dwarfsized @neosatsuma @septemberskye @thedreamlessnights @burningdarkfire @mrs-theirin @crepsley @mantaphase @nuka-cherries!

[carnyreborn]

Ashley wants to get back together with Shepard, even after the mess on Horizon, but now she has to compete with Miranda to see who gets his dick fist.

"Oh fuck off, Cerberus bitch." Ashely and Miranda are both on the elevator towards the highest floors of the Normandy, wanting to get to the captain's cabin, but Miranda is there with her. "You know Skipper cares more about me than he does you." She continues, crossing her arms. "I've been there since the start. We've been through more than you and your fake butt can imagine."

"Oh, please." Miranda rolls her eyes. "You weren't there after he was brought back. He tried to get you back, very true, but you left him to cool down, all the while I was there... his loyal XO, always willing to do anything it took to please him and keep him focused on the mission." She replies, the smug aura is always clear in her behaviour.

"Hah, fucking hilarious. You think that for a single moment that he ever was fooled by your act, you're more delusional than your former bosses." She continues, very clearly annoyed at Miranda.

"Hah, as if anything I felt for him was an act. Look, you might disagree with me, but don't call my feelings fake." Miranda does get a bit forceful, with Ashley needing to let that part go.

"Yeah, sure, but still, I only did that for truthful reasons, reasons he understood after everything was done, and we came together now." She says. "I'll prove to you I'm the top of his heart."

"And I'll prove to you that I'm the top of his heart", Miranda speaks, as they get off the elevator, just rushing ahead towards his room.

Of course, neither girl could've expected the sight of Shepard being busy in his bed... to his left, Tali, to his right, Samara, and right in front of him, naked as the day she was born, Liara, as he fucks the alien girls. Shepard turns around, hearing the door opening, waving to the two other girls. "Hi, girls! Gimme a bit, and I'll get to you; Liara was a bit too thirsty this morning!"

This... was a miscalculation. But as they stayed back, watching as he continues fucking Liara... Ashley has just one thing to continue the argument. "...I'm his favourite human still." It seems some competitivity will continue between these two girls, even as they realize that Shepard probably has a bit more loving to give than they expected.

[enarmor]

to the trained eye of caeda of talys, sain’s depressed state was rather… obvious. she didn’t linger around the mistletoe for too long, but she spent long enough around it to see sain’s many attempts and resulting failures to get a kiss from a cute girl.

so, she approaches him with the intent to add a little cheer to his life. “sain.” she calls out to him, and soon as she is close enough she presses a little kiss to his cheek, smiling softly up at him after she pulls away.

“don’t let those rejections get you down, okay? you’re a wonderful man— i am sure you’ll find someone sooner than you think.”

Sain isn't having too bad a time, if you can believe it.

Rejection hits him like a heavy spear to a breastplate. It smashes against his most guarded walls, driving its tip further into his cracked skin--blow after blow. And Sain is without a shield, only a Lance incapable of swatting away something so big. His ego is hurt by the time Caeda spots him. He mopes about his ill fate.

But the wounds haven't drawn blood. Sain remains intact and unbroken, for his ego is always worn on his chest, not underneath. He is frowning, sure. He has lost the sparkle in his eyes, sure. But his heart is pristine. It pounds back against its attackers, screaming 'I yet live!' in the faces of those who would want to murder Sain's love. The little bits of interaction have been joyful for him, like the sweet flesh of fruit encased by a hard skin. Hope still clings to him, realigning his head to face the Archanean as she mosies over.

"Caeda...?" He finds comfort in calling out that name, enough to forget that his legs have felt like pins and needles for the better half of a minute now. "Haha--"

His fingers glaze over the part of his cheek that had been kissed. As though they had scraped some of it off, he looks at the pads of his fingers. She is just the reminder he needed. "--You haven't been wrong so far. I'd be a fool to not believe you here, right?"

He shakes off his misery with a smile, believing welly and truly that an upbeat face would be a service to his friend. "Thank you, my dear! I'll think of you when my special someone comes. And, while I'm at it," he snaps his fingers, holding the end position so that he's pointing at her, "why don't I try some of your advice? No more cheap date ideas--"

"--I'll show the ladies my most genuine self, just like we talked about!"

[askinkiskarma]

Girl, I completely feel you on being mentally and emotionally exhausted. September seemed so calm for me and now all of a sudden October has been hell and everyone in my personal/work life needs my attention, and all I want to do is write and read all of the good stuff coming out and it's so hard to find the time.

But you're doing great! Don't be sorry for being busy or needing to take a moment for yourself. I'm sending good vibes your way! 🧡

I hope everything gets better!

Hi Talie, omg thank you so much for this, it means so much to hear and it's a bit relieving to know it hasn't just been me going through it (although i would rather that's the case than see people also suffering like this :((( )

Also, 100% same to you, you are doing so well and your writing is so so good, i always look forward to reading your oneshots :((( you're so so talented!!! xx

I wish you the best day/night/week, and sending you all the smooches 🤍

[ramblinganthropologist]

4, 14, 24 and 34 from the fifty shep questions if you’re takin em!!

Thanks so much! Here's Al's answers!

4. Is your Shepard any good at poker?

Yes, but it's only because nobody expects it out of him. He seems like such a straightforward guy, so you wouldn't really expect him to be any good at lying. Joke's on them, he lied about his gender for 4 straight years - this is kid's play for him. Ken and Gabby learned that one the hard way in ME2.

14. Any good at flirting?

NO.

Oh, my God, no. He is the absolute worst at it. The man has never had a date in his life before 2185; all his love interests either wound up being straight or dying on him before he even got the chance to try. He's painfully straight forward when it comes to his (lack of) love life, to the point it's almost adorable. How he managed to land Garrus, we will never know.

24. Who does Shepard turn to for advice? For comfort? Who do they like to gossip with?

Advice - I had to think about this one for a while. I couldn't honestly come up with anyone because I think he stays in his head a lot when he has a problem. It probably comes with having to keep to himself after Mindoir, but it means he trusts you a lot if he comes to you asking for advice. I thought of Dr. Chakwas first, then his sister Bo, and then maybe Anderson during 2186.

Comfort - it depends on the time. In 2183, it was a mix of his sister Bo Peep Shepard and his hamster, the late Colonel Fluffytail. Bo was good for words, and Fluffytail was good for cuddles. Unfortunately, the colonel died sometime around Ilos, so he lost that. Saren Shepard somewhat fills this role in 2185, but he's not as cuddly as the late colonel was. It's probably because he was Omega born and bred - they're bitey. But he'll always go to his sister to talk thanks to their shared bond. Later, Garrus gets added around 2186 because boyfriend privileges.

Gossip - Tali is his girl for that. They're great friends, and he enjoys chatting with her about everything and anything when they're off duty. Maybe it's because they're both tech nerds? They vibe on a similar frequency that makes for an awesome friendship. Also, once again, Bo. They talk mad shit about people when they're alone. Only Bo knows what a little shit he can be when he's in the mood for it.

Tl;dr he and Bo share a lot together. It's the trauma bonding them together, lol.

34. Got any tattoos?

Yes, he has two in the main game.

One is a wing design of the mlm and trans pride flags on his left shoulder. He got it on shore leave with his sister after they had both been dragged to strip clubs of the gender they're not attracted during Pride. It was half so he could gesture at it when people asked why he didn't seem interested in any women, and half because he is a very proud gay transgender man. Funny enough, he's also demi, but that's not on the tattoo design because he figured that out waaaay later in life.

The second one is the classic N7 emblem that he got after he completed training. This is another one he got with his sister - she has hers in the exact same place. Unlike most normal people, he didn't get it on his arm or chest or anywhere else sensible. No, his is on his lower back in a certain area with a certain name attached to it.

[tea-knitting-adeliers]

Group 19, Chapter 1

Group 19 is a Fachlynian organization of rogue wrights that has taken up residence in the now-dissolved Stenkonn Ghers 19. Each of the members has something interesting going on behind closed doors, and some have more than a few skeletons in their closets.

The rain fell into the courtyard. Her hands were as pale as the papers that she tucked into her coat as she went outside. Delivery request forms, meal order forms, all marked by name. She had Mr. Sena on her list this week; she would quite like to see him.

The hallway near his workshop was warm, a pleasant contrast to the cold air outside, and it smelled like freshly roasted coffee, surely smuggled in from Cresce. She walked to the door, taking out the papers. 

His wife opened it. Looking at her, Mrs. Sena’s face lit up.

“Jocelyne!” she exclaimed, “Please do come inside!”

“It really is alright. I am simply here to deliver your weekly request forms.”

“No, I insist.”

Obliging her, Jocelyne followed the woman into her home, and sat down at a small table in a brightly decorated kitchen. Mrs. Sena, a middle aged woman with dark skin, curly hair tied behind her head, and slight creases around her smile, set a cup of coffee in front of her. She flipped through the paperwork with the familiarity of someone who had done this hundreds of times before.

“Well, we really do not need the meal request, I have that taken care of, and as for materials and resources, I will have to ask my husband; it seems that he always wants something new and terribly expensive.” 

“I truly am sorry, Mrs. Sena, the meal request is protocol.”

“Oh, it’s alright, darling. Rules are rules. And please, call me Tali.”

“Well, I should be going. I must make dinner for those members who are not so lucky as to have a wife such as you.”

“Oh, you are too kind. Have a wonderful day.”

She stood up from the table, likely intended for a garden, decorated with colorful tiles, and she reached for a tray on the counter, taking two cookies.

“This one is for you, honey, and this is for Michelle. Make sure she’s doing all right next time you see her. Bye now.”

She left the warm kitchen, and walked back through the courtyard, returning to her own. It was large, and while not as immediately cozy as Mrs. Sena’s, it was hers, where she and the other workers of Group 19 had spent countless hours together. 

Angelica was already there, her supervisor, exceptional at her job, if a bit rude at times. She wore a gray dress, with a green apron, black hair tied back into a bun that was slightly coming apart. 

“Where have you been?!”

“I-“

“Don’t answer that! We need fifty servings of stew for tonight. Janine, and Catherine are already working!” 

As directed, Jocelyne got to work, peeling vegetables and browning meat. As she continued, time blurred together, broken only by the gossip exchanged between them.

“You heard about what he said in the organization meeting earlier, didn’t you?”

Catherine was a Bronze girl of fifteen. She dressed much the same way as Angelica, and, for that matter all of them. She knew almost everything about everybody, and what she didn’t know she wanted to find out. 

“I heard, Catherine.”

“I mean, for someone with such a nice wife, he sure is scandalous.”

“He’s nice to everyone else,” Jocelyne responded. “He just hates Mr. Barnier.”

“I heard about none of this! What happened?”

“Janine,” said Angelica, in the calm, dismissive tone that she liked so much. “There is no way that you have heard about none of this.”

Janine was like all of them, really, except that she was younger, and born in Fachlyne after the Dammakhert was removed, making her casteless, looking more North Crescian than Aldish. Angelica appreciated her dedication to her work, although all of them wished that she had more awareness of social matters.

“Of course I know that they hate each other, I just don’t know what he said.”

“In the organization meeting, Mr. Sena said that Mr. Barnier was a tasteless sadist whose research had little to no practical application, and that he ought to have his tongue cut out.”

“Oh my.”

“I know!” Catherine responded, “I wonder what Mrs. Sena thinks about all of this.”

“She probably hates him, in my opinion. If I were married to somebody who was incapable of keeping his mouth shut, I would run away.”

“Oh, Angelica, don’t be so angry all of the time. Besides, somebody had to say it.”

By the time that they were finished making and delivering the food, it was dark outside. A knock came at the door, Marie. A Silver seventeen-year-old who had been given their shared exit pass for the day, enabling her to leave the pymaric barrier around the old ghers that Group 19 had taken up residence in. 

She took her bag off, and removed the items that she had purchased, a few Beadman’s products, some coffee and spices, and a surprisingly large amount of First Glass containers. 

Angelica got straight to work, giving instructions. 

“The Beadman’s products are for tomorrow’s fundraiser, I’ll take them to management. The coffee and spices are for the Senas, Catherine can take them, make sure to tell me if anything interesting happens. The First Glass is for Barnier. Jocelyne, that’s your job.”

Each of them went their separate ways, Marie and Janine left behind to start cleaning up. 

She tentatively knocked on the door. She could hear a man’s voice ordering another person to get it, a girl’s footsteps. Finally, it opened.

The girl on the other side of the door wore an ordinary work-dress. Her silver hair was worn in a crown braid around her head, framing a brown face and two blue eyes. Her pupils were strange, with a smaller, non-functional one off to the side of the main pupil. 

“Michelle! It is wonderful to see you. I have the First Glass that he ordered last week.”

“Thank you. I would love to speak with you, but we are quite busy at the moment. You know how it is.”

With that, her friend shut the door in her face.