#this room also has what I call ''skyrim realness'' (obviously)

[eek-a-tron]

Odin's Keep Axe House at the Midgard vikingsenter.

[trickstarbrave]

i cant explain my idea well. but there is smth in my brain resembling an idea. vivienne belongs to @wellthebardsdead

steren ends up in another world but is abducted by the tribunal cult. they want steren to "replace" the nerevarine (nerevar) in this world. he has a moon and star ring and trueflame, obviously he must be the "real" one, the hortator who is the champion of the tribunal, the real one who killed the sharmat in the tribunal's name. steren tries to refuse and well. gets tortured by it

vivienne is also there though. he was abducted because they believe he's vivec. they only call him lord vivec and say they're keeping him prisoner until vivec's powers surface. they claim the "false" nerevarine killed all of the tribunal because he wanted the power to himself, using their weakened state from holding up the ghostfence and protecting the dunmer from corprus to do so. but now "vivec" is back and they just need to wait to find his mask and restore him to his glory.

vivi is one of the few people steren can talk to freely. they're kept in rooms close by. there's actually a hole in the wall vivienne was making to try and escape but its very small and easily hidden by furniture they use to talk and pass notes, sometimes hold hands. they make a vow to escape together.

they do, running away to skyrim to start a new life together. nerevar and voryn have a lot to juggle with the tribunal cult coming in trying to undermine their authority by claiming they found the TRUE nerevarine, AND they're looking for their little star. they manage to track down a hide out where steren and vivienne were kept and see some of steren's belongings and nerevar goes completely pale realizing they DID find a "nerevarine" but now he's shaking down the cultists demanding to know what the fuck they did with his son

[myfantasyocs]

Ao3 I know this is the first chapter but I rewrote the first thing I ever written into chapter 2 since I haven’t touched it since I first started fanfiction and it wasn’t great. So want it on ao3, it’s chapter 2.  The characters of Eli and J’rakko belong to @dishonoredassassinfan and he will write the next chapter.

J’rakko admits that he enjoyed his newfound friendship with Ghi’rma, perhaps not AS much as Eli was enjoying his new friend, Reyla, but Ghi was charming enough.  The two of them shared some mead and stories of the adventures they had before arriving in Riverwood. Though J’rakko left out some of his more illegal adventures with Eli, when Ghi asked how he and Eli met he lied and said that he grew up in Bruma with him, which is so much less interesting than Eli being hired to kill the same noble he was stealing from.

Ghi was telling him about one of the Aelyid ruins she found as a teenager with Reyla when her voice trailed off. Her green scales turned pale as she stared at the guards that just walked into the Sleeping Giant inn. J’rakko eyed the black armor the three guards were wearing, J’rakko has never seen any guard armor like it.  Were they even guards? By the look of Ghi’s face, they were.  What in Oblivion did she do to look so shaken, she hardly even glanced at him as she stuttered out some excuse about wanting to show him an Aelyid artifact, that she needs to grab from her room, before she just vanished into thin  air as the men went to the bar to talk to the man running the bar.

J’rakko decided that whatever was going on he wants in, so he leaned against the bar and listened to the interrogation, as he pretends to sip on his ale.

“We are looking for a Dumner woman, with a missing left eye and a scar running down her face. Her hair was short and black the last time she was seen. She is traveling with an Argonian companion, with green scales and with lots of horns covering her head.”

"I saw a Dumner woman like that. Said she was heading to Alvor’s shop to get her sword sharpened." J’rakko told the men as he took another imaginary sip from his bottle.

“We just got back from Havor’s shop, he hasn’t seen her.”  The smaller of the Imperials responded.

“Ah, yes. I suppose it’s possible she used that as an excuse to get away from a friend of mine. Young love, am I right.” J’rakko elbowed the biggest of the three guards who was covered in scars and didn’t look very sympathetic to the plights of young love. “Anyway, the Dumner left a while ago and I would imagine the Argonian she was with is right behind her.”

“What in Oblivion are you talking about? You and her were sharing a drink together just a moment ago.” The damn tavern owner, snitched.

“Oh yeah, um, that was another Argonian.”

J’rakko risked a glance at the guards and the scarred one didn’t look like he believed him. Actually he looked quite mad. So J’rakko did the only thing he could think of and slammed his ale bottle onto the angry man’s head.

Reyla sighed as she heard Ghi calling her from outside the room. She flung on her clothes and rushed to the door, hoping Ghi’s knocking won’t wake Eli up.  She suppose after weeks of running she shouldn’t be surprised she ended up in someone’s bed, she tends to do that when stressed but she still wants to kick herself for the idiocy of it all.  She should be running, not lying in bed.

Reyla opened the door and stared down at Ghi, ready to demand why she was waking her up only to be filled with dread as she saw her friend hugging the entire reason they got into this predicament against her chest.

“They found us. I don’t know how but by the nine they found us. Unless, do the Skyrim guards wear similar armor to the Penitus Oculatus? What do the guards wear? ”

“The Penitus Oculatus, it seems you ladies did something very naughty.  But it will be okay. I’m here.” Eli stood before them bare and holding a sword causing Ghi’rma to make a small squeaking noise before looking up at the ceiling as Reyla didn’t remove her gaze from the altmer.

 “That’s great our savior is a man who can’t even figure out how to put on pants.” 

Eli dropped to the floor and as he scrambled to find the clothes he threw off last night. “First off you know I’m more skilled taking off my pants, secondly I am an expert on breaking the law and evading it. I’m the perfect hero.”

“A real knight in shining armor.” Reyla’s voice sounded deadpanned as she watched the man she slept with struggle to put his pants on.  “Can you get us out of here, without being seen?”

“Of course, just let me find my shirt and…” The sound of something crashing outside interrupted Eli causing Ghi to peak outside.  “Um, guys someone is fighting the Oculatus.”

Eli gave a small chuckle, “ By Syrabane what drunken dumbass is dumb enough to pick a fight with them.”

“Um, weeeelllll, I think it might be that Khajiit friend of yours.”

“Ah, my dumbass. Well I might not be able to sneak you out but no worries, I will get you two to safety.”

Eli pushed the door open allowing Reyla to see Eli’s friend.   A black khajiit who was being choked and lifted off the ground by a burly Oculatus, who was covered with scars. “Where are they?”

Reyla threw a paralysis spell at the man who was strangling the khajiit as Eli summoned a bound sword and attacked the smaller of the guards. Leaving Ghi alone with the daggers she always has strapped to her body.  She charged towards the last Imperial who swung his sword towards her head.  Ghi ducked under the swinging sword, Ghi swung her leg towards the guard causing him to collapse on the ground.  Ghi clambered onto the man and drove her dagger repeatedly through his heart.

“Ghi! What did I say about killing!?!” Reyla threw a calm spell at the guard who Eli was fighting, Eli let released his sword as the guard’s sword clattered to the ground.

“It was necessary Reyla, they are trying to kill us.” Ghi retorted as she plunged the sword into the guards chest one last time. “Why are they allowed to try to kill us and I can’t stab back? Most of our problems would be solved with stabbing.”

“And a new problem called a murder charge will follow.”

“Not if we don’t get caught.”

“As much as I agree with Lady Stabby Stab’s points we need to leave or we will get that murder charge, Buzz Kill mentioned.” Eli dragged the Khajiit off the ground who was struggling to stand as he coughed his lungs out. 

“BUZZ KILL! SHE LITERALLY JUST!”

Eli slapped a hand over Reyla’s mouth muffling the sounds coming out of her, “First rule of escaping consequences, Buzz Kill don’t scream the crimes you commit.” 

“Now Killer, wrap yourself with that blanket, so people don’t see the blood. We’ll say you caught something and were taking you to a priestess.”

“Yeah, we already used that blanket to hide something, and if they saw what it was, there would be no way they would believe us. Why can’t we just climb out a window? We wouldn’t have to rely on the gullibility of every patron here. “ Reyla bent down and scooped up the blankets as she waited for Eli to answer.

“Well, the reason why we can’t use the window is simple… it’s very simple. The window could be a… trap.”  Reyla started to walk towards the window at the end of the small halfway, they wasted enough time and that calm spell  will wear off soon.  And there was obviously no problem with climbing out of the window.  The inn was only one story and the window was big enough making it incredibly easy for a human to climb out of it.  Reyla walked to the front of the inn to grab her and Ghi’s horses.   If Ghi bent over far enough on the horse and if they rode fast enough maybe know one will notice the blood.  Ghi can change her clothes and they can go to Winterhold, which probably won’t have the information but her first choice would be The Mage’s College in Cyrodil but that wasn’t an option anymore. 

She was surprised to see the Khajiit behind her when she grabbed the reins of a white mare and red stallion as he grabbed the reins of two black steeds.  “Eli and Ghi are packing our bags, hiding the body in his room.  Also Eli tied the other two up. So we got time. So, Eli wants to know if you need help getting somewhere quickly, we know this land like it’s the back of our hand or if you need to sell some illegal goods because we know people.”

Reyla has to admit that spending time with a man she only planned to have a one night stand with doesn’t sound appealing at all.  But she knows that Winterhold is far away and she has never even stepped foot in this country before.  Her best chance to get there without being caught was to follow these strangers. 

“We need to get to Winterhold. But it will be dangerous and I doubt I could pay you enough to compensate for that.”

“Doesn’t matter, as far as I’m concerned the danger is part of the payment. I mean The Penitus Oculatus.  This is going to be the most fun I’ve had in awhile.”

“Fun?”

“Yes, and I owe you for saving my life.  Thanks by the way.”

“Okay, but the only time I have seen either of you help, is when you were strangled and Eli not knowing how to put pants on.”

“Yes but, the fact that you are considering it means you have no idea how to get there.  If you ask every tavern owner where you’re going, you might as well surrender yourself to the Oculatus. They would find out where you’re going before you even got out of Whiterun hold.  Me and Eli could show you short cuts and know places to hide all throughout Skyrim. Me and Eli may be dumbasses but we’re dumbasses that you need.”

“Okay, fine!”

“Yes! I promise Reyla you won’t regret it.”

[laureviewer]

God of War (2018): A Review

Warning: HEAVY story spoilers

I’m not trying to sell you a game. I want to give you an in-depth review and analysis of the story, characters, gameplay and all other aspects of this brilliant game, spoilers and all. I want a discussion. So, dive in and see what I really thought, no holds barred.

 King of the Norse

‘I don’t want it’, says the Jon Snow of the God of War franchise, Kratos. He doesn’t want to be a god, he doesn’t want to interfere or help in others’ lives, he doesn’t want his son to know his past—or to remember it himself, for that matter. But this fish-out-of-water story of a Greek god living in a Norse world forces him to accept his past, present and future.

The story is blissfully and tragically simple. A man sets out to spread the ashes of his recently deceased wife and mother of his son, Atreus, and to honour her by doing so on the tallest peak in all the realms, as was her request. This aim seems completely achievable: you can even see the peak of the mountain in the distance as you set off. But if I know anything about journeys, it’s that they are never that simple. A mysterious man who can’t be hurt attacks Kratos, for reasons unknown. The mountain may not be their final destination after all. And a man and his son set out on a journey that is as much about their relationship as much as it is about fulfilling their loved one’s final wishes.

 A (Reluctant) Man of the People

If you’ve read enough of my reviews by now, you’ll know that open world is one of my favourite video game tropes. GOW isn’t quite open world but still enough to sink your teeth into. In fact, the open world elements adopted by the game makes finishing it a lot more doable than traditional giant open world games, like Skyrim or The Witcher 3 with their hundreds of side quests all over the map. There are side quests in GOW, sure, but they are called ‘Favors’ (which melds well with the overarching theme of gods and sacrifice in the narrative) and fall into five sub-categories for a total of only sixteen favors: dwarfs, wayward spirits, dragons, realms, and Valkyries.

However, even though they aren’t technically counted as favors, there’s a multitude of other tasks to complete, such as closing Realm Tears by fighting elite monsters, collecting artifacts and lore about the world, and killing Odin’s spiritual raven spies. I’m not going to 100% the game or anything, but I love searching every corner of the map to complete that satisfying checklist of things to find.

However, I did find my anxiety spiking a few times with the fact that you don’t have all your powers at once. Sure, it’s useful when the lack of powers blocks you out of places the story doesn’t want you to get to yet, and it’s quite nice to go to old familiar places and uncover new areas and collectibles, but I was always wondering whether I was missing something, and whether I should just wait to go back to exploration areas when I actually have all the powers I need. Obviously there needs to be room for progression, but some puzzles couldn’t be solved without specific powers. Sometimes I wondered whether I was simply not doing the puzzle properly. It all became clear as the game progressed, but even so, I’m sure I spent more time than I should have done in some areas attempting to complete an area that couldn’t be completed. It often made me less willing to comb the area as I could never be sure if I had more to find than first apparent. This also made finding high level enemies another trigger to my must-complete-everything-while-I’m-here mentality. Thankfully, the map always logged where Realm Tears were if I couldn’t quite beat them yet. I only wish the map would do the same for Winds of Hel or other power puzzles that I would pass mournfully on my way to defeat a dark elf or two.

The actual favors encapsulate the very best of what GOW 4 has to offer: fetch-quests for your friends in the form of wisecracking dwarfs; helping the innocent such as allowing lost souls to find peace and freeing giant dragons (though you’d have thought they’d stop trying to attack you long enough to realise you are trying to HELP them); and incredibly challenging battles that help the realms and prove your worthiness simultaneously.

Sure, half the time Atreus instigates helping the innocent: Kratos, true to form, insists that helping others is experience for his son, or useful in gathering resources for their journey. Though, perhaps sometimes he doth protests too much, particularly when pushing back against helping the mysterious Witch of the Woods and the dwarfs. He claims that they are useful, and thus performing tasks for and not making enemies of them is helpful in achieving their goal, but we see his heart thawing the more time he spends with Atreus. We see you, Kratos, learning to love again even as it scares you. And it’s endearing, if not often very frustrating. Which leads us on to…

 Atreus and the Struggles of Parenthood

Atreus’ empathy is also often his fatal flaw. He wants to help everyone, while Kratos wants to stay out of many conflicts, stating that one rarely knows the full story and thus cannot take sides—a definitive sum of the lessons he learned in his regretful past. As an ancient being—hey, James, how old is Kratos? You don’t know? Two thousand or something? Fine I’ll Google it. It’s uncertain but probably around 1050. Damn—he obviously has much more wisdom than a young boy. He is right when he advises Atreus to keep out of the war between the light and dark elves in Alfheim, though he’s not opposed strongly enough to not kill them as they get in his way. It’s less of a moral dilemma for Kratos, and more of a ‘we don’t know enough to make a judgement’. Atreus, we can tell at the beginning of the game, is going to eventually make Kratos more sympathetic, more caring towards other beings. Perhaps even more benevolent than any of the Aesir Norse gods, save Tyr. Though, that isn’t exactly hard.

And, then, you get further in the game. At first, you understand: Kratos is a dick to Atreus. He didn’t care to spend time with him while his mother was alive, and it shows. He refuses to tell Atreus he is a god, and that he is a god in turn, and the conflict of his body and mind being conflicted in what he truly is ends up being the reason for Atreus’ ongoing illness. It’s Kratos’ fault, and sure, he doesn’t know this until it’s nearly too late and he fixes it, but even so. All Atreus wants is to be loved and to make his father proud.

Until later, when he finds out he is a god and goes full diva. The game made me feel about Atreus the same way as I’m sure many parents feel about their children—though, full disclaimer, I’m not a parent, so don’t @ me. My friend says you always love them, and you want what’s best for them and make allowances for them, but oh my god sometimes you really don’t like them. This definitely happened with Atreus. From telling Sindri, one of our dwarf friends, that he is sick of dealing with ‘little people problems’ and making him sad, to saying to Kratos that they are gods and so can do whatever they like, dash the consequences to anyone, to killing a son of Thor against Kratos’ wishes for pure vengeance, made me question my role as a father. Even the little mutterings of ‘whatever’ whenever Kratos wants him to shoot an arrow at a target and one point in the game had me breathing out some mutterings of my own: ‘little shit’ and ‘goddamn I hate you’ were frequent curses.

And yet, by the end of the game I liked him again. Why? It wasn’t his fault. It was his conflicting body and mind; perhaps even the ‘trickery’ side of Loki was finally coming out. Maybe he was going a little mad with all the voices in his head. Plus, he saved my arse so many times in battle with his crazy shock arrows that I needed him. What? I didn’t say I was a perfect parent.

You know what’s really impressive? How this game makes Kratos a likeable character. In previous games (which, full disclosure, I never played) he seemed to be a vengeful man with no thought to anything but his own rage. Now, he has something more to live for—his son, and to honour the memory of his beloved wife. You really understand why he does the things he does. You believe he is trying to be a better person. You know the one thing he really wants to do is scatter his wife’s ashes, and will stop at nothing to fulfil her wishes. You may say he’s stupid for not wanting to tell Atreus the truth, but not only is he ashamed, but he also knows that Atreus may mirror his actions. This brings a duality to the secret that is so interesting that at times I wondered whether Kratos should tell Atreus, considering they don’t have the best relationship in the first place. The dichotomy between Kratos and Atreus is brilliant, and serves not just to humanise Kratos, but also fully makes me believe in their rocky bond as father and son. They are real, and honest, and the perfect grounding to such a profound adventure.

The rollercoaster of a narrative journey GOW took me through was nothing short of outstanding. And that’s even before we get into the Norse lore.

 A Norse’s Life for Me

The conflict between Atreus and Kratos mirrors a theme that runs throughout the entire game throughout the franchise: that of a son killing his father, god against god. And this extends to the version of the Norse lore GOW has created. Favors and story quests alike see the struggle between children and their parents, and it is incredibly satisfying to see Kratos and Atreus overcome that and start to become ‘better’.

As lore that I wasn’t very familiar with, save the depictions of Thor, Odin and Loki from the Marvel universe, it was fascinating to hear the stories from Mimir, the hilarious disembodied head, and to glean them from the lore markers dotted around the realms. It was a great idea to do this from the point of view of Kratos, who does not know the lore and cannot read the language, and Atreus, who has an affinity of language and has been told many stories by his native mother. It’s a natural means of storytelling without it turning into a boring exposition dump. And who doesn’t love story time while rowing around the Lakes of Nine? Apart from Atreus at the beginning, I guess, when his only storyteller was straight-talking Kratos. Spoiler alert: his stories aren’t great.

 Monster Visuals

Rowing across the Lake of Nine is when the story really opens up, bad stories or no. It’s here where you see the true beauty of the story through the stunning appearance of the World Serpent, who is as colossal as the name suggests, though not as scary. From there, using Tyr’s Temple (probably the best Aesir god out there), Kratos and Atreus slowly unlock the various realms, from the fiery homeland of the fire giants, Muspelheim, to the green-tinged Norse underworld, Helheim. Each realm has their own aesthetic, their own monsters, and their own story. While Midgard is bound to be most players’ favourite, due to how much bigger it is and its role as the central point of all the realms, my second favourite is Alfheim, land of the light and dark elves. As the first one to visit after Midgard, its purple hues, sparkling waters and chirping critters make it seem like a mystical world of potential. The fact that the elves are in constant war, doomed to continue for as long as both races live, is both desolate and a fact of life. Even an apparent paradise is rife with issues, and yet beauty can still be found in the worst of situations. 

The realms are very cool, though if I were still in massive open world/RPG mindset, as I so often were, I’d wish that Niflheim and Muspelheim were more than just extra challenges. It would be cool if there were story-led reasons to go there, rather than leaving it to chance if the player gets there in the first place by finding their language cyphers.

The way the camera works doesn’t just give the incredible graphics the time they deserve, but also artfully serves the emotional highs and lows the story wants to hit. It gently guides you to some of the most awe-inspiring events, such as when a giant shows up or when you are fighting a being twice your size, to reflect the intensity as well as making sure you don’t miss them. But the best use of it is at some of the most tense and poignant moments of the game, such as when Kratos is reflecting on his mistakes and travelling to save his son. The camera doesn’t leave his face for lengthy periods, and this, along with the haunting crescendo of siren-like voices singing in accompaniment, really makes you understand what he is feeling, even though no words are said. You are forced to sit with him in silence and in relief. In pain and in quiet. It’s profound. I love it.

The visuals also shine in true GOW fashion: in battle. The place in which this really stands out is in the battle with Baldur at the end, when Freya is trying her utmost to intervene by animating the colossal corpse of a dead giant. While I thought this battle wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, it didn’t actually matter to me in the end as much as it did in other games such as Final Fantasy XV. The battleground kept changing, Baldur’s powers shifting between ice and fire was really interesting as it meant Kratos having to change his own weapons as needed, Baldur’s increasing insanity and glee at the fight, and—best of all—the giant was always in the background, being impressive and foreboding. Awesome.

 The Art of War

The combat in GOW is some of the best I’ve ever experienced. I’m quite used to the hack and slash of RPGs, where the name of the game is simply to hold down R1 and wait for the cool combo moves to bloom out of the angsty protagonist. Okay, fine, it’s never that simple. But in God of War, almost every move counts, especially in the boss battles. Learning to trip monsters, discovering which ones will fall and which ones will not, where their weak points are, and navigating flying or digging enemies means that a lot of the battles mix it up every time. The skill trees that branch off as you upgrade your Leviathan Axe and Atreus’ Talon Bow makes that combat even more visually impressive with chained combos and other ways to fight. This system doesn’t give you as much freedom as many other games, though. Eventually, you’ll get enough experience to unlock every skill, and you’ll want to. Each one will help you in a fight. This is great in a way as I truly felt powerful by the end, and wasn’t worried about neglecting a skill for another, but means the combat is more linear than it could be. Maybe this is necessary as you have to think about combat in other, potentially smarter ways anyway.

Later in the game, you don’t just have to think of the attacks, but you also have to think of the elements of the monsters you are fighting. Do I want to use the ice-imbued axe that spins perfectly in the air and comes back like Mjolnir comes back to Thor? Not in Helheim I don’t, where the monsters are hardcore Ice Queen Elsa stans. Damn, I’m used to using that thing. Alright, time to break out the fiery Blades of Chaos, which you only get halfway through the game but old players will definitely get excited over like a member-berry in heat. Unless you are fighting volcanic draugrs, that is.

The fighting is made even more exciting with the brutality of pressing R3 once an enemy is stunned enough to be grabbed. The animations have Mortal Kombat-esque levels of gore, and as Kratos is an absolute beast, it’s believable as well as disgustingly fun. Want some extra stunnage? Then remember to use Atreus’ arrows, which can interrupt and stun even the biggest of beasts. He saved me more times than I can count. It’s one of the best uses of a sidekick character I’ve ever seen. Why? It’s not just the very useful skills he has, but crucially, HE CAN’T DIE. With memories of a well-intentioned but suicidal Lydia running in front of my sword and taking a fatal wound in the middle of an overpopulated dungeon, this is brilliant. Thanks, Skyrim. Plus, can you imagine having to be Kratos mourning over his dead son every time they lose in battle? Bit morbid, even for a game with this much gore and emotional impact.

Brok and Sindri aren’t just there to crack jokes and bring life into the world. They are also master blacksmiths who work on your Axe, Blades, and armour. The levelling up system is quite different from other traditional games—EXP doesn’t level you up as soon as you get it, but you can use the EXP to buy or upgrade armour, enchantments and talisman that, when worn altogether, give you an overall level. The simple act of replacing a level 7 chest plate with one that’s level 3 can lower your overall level from a 6 to a 5, making you less able to deal with those pesky high-level enemies. As such, it’s a massive variable, and one that players need to consider seriously not just as the game progresses, but also from battle to battle. Runes that you can slot in your armour can increase your frost or burn damage, increase your resistance to ailments, improve your runic attacks, give you extra burst of skills on hits or kills, or even more specific advantages. Some that I found most helpful were 5% less damage from Valkyries which, if you’ve fought one, you know how much of a game changer it can be!

This necessitation for learning the combat and doing it well means that the satisfaction level of defeating a big old boss who you’ve been dying to for the last hour is at well over 9000 (I’m looking at you, Valkyries screaming Valhalla! at me every three seconds). And, now I’m confident enough with it, that means I’ll be continuing with the post-game combat challenges for just a little while longer. This, combined with the beautiful graphics, gripping story, anti-hero and loveable side characters, the revolution of Kratos to multi-dimensional character, and a world brimming with lore and knowledge, makes this game one to remember. 

What can I say, I’m obsessed.

[dbphantom]

Canon: Zane Flynt fucks

Me: haha u know what this means ;))))

Me:

Me:

Me: merfolk glamour time

[[MORE]]

Alright but for real tho u wanna see how deep I am in this fucking universe? Lego

I don't even know where to begin with this universe (Zer0 is an alien! Hammerlock is a werewolf! Troy is psychic! Tannis is a skag! Wait, no, wrong shitpost...) so imma open the 140 page document and start from the beginning

Annnnd Clay! Junpai-7.

When Zane meets Clay for the first time he mentions they did a smuggling job together on Junpai-7, u know, the water planet, so obviously this is good news (This made me super happy because my discord channel's name had been the junpai-7 moon pool for a while so I was like 'holy shit it's canon now' :') )

Timeline wise this isn't the beginning, but I don't write in chronological order and I don't order anything in chronological order, either, so. Eh.

Speaking of chronological order, I once got a line where Zane was like exclaiming something and used the moon instead of idk a god or powerful figure or smth and I was like 'lmao that's canon now'

So the moon... Elpis fucking got yeeted halfway across the galaxy or smth, and, considering we've seen (more) ocean on Pandora in 3 instead of just, like, Liars Berg (getting to THAT) or Tretchers landing, I feel bad for the tides. But that's good news for everyone else. Unless you were on Elpis, I guess.

Also hoh boy the 'end' of the game where Troy Phaselocks the moon was fun to write (it actually wasn't, I lowkey hate writing Moonstruck phases because... It hurts and I can't do it well.) also can we talk about how in tps the psychos are called Moonstrucks in tvhm because this makes me so happy. I really hope they did that intentionally considering H2O is an Australian show because my two favorite things combined can and will kill me. Wait actually the Troy boss fight is gonna be hilarious to write mostly because of that one attack with the tidal waves lol oh no

Also, also, also, you guys it's only explained in a guide book and never actually in-game as to why Captain's ship is Like That (TM) so I took some liberties and uhhh blame the Crackening. I mean the crackening happened after dahl pulled out of Pandora/Elpis so it works. It sorta works. It mostly works. Fuck. It works okay? shut. That's why Liars Berg is all frozen ocean [shoves 3 page essay about climate change on Pandora into the trash] don't need that anymore.

I was gonna talk about smth else

Oh yeah

Mostly brain freeze and trick of the light. That one meme video I made of Tannis and the Flynt Brothers imposed over that one clip of H2O (so let me get this straight: you freeze things, you explode things, and you boil things) wasn't just for laughs, it was actually a warning.

Each Flynt has a thing and Zane's is ice, Baron's is explosions, and Captain's is fire. (Glorious cleansing fire) Because it fits. It fits so well. I will say right off the bat that Mako Mermaids isn't my canon. I lowkey want to write out Charlotte as well (lol) because I've seen the 2nd season so many times and tbh I much prefer them having 1 really strong power over having 3+ really weak powers. Also Charlotte did nothing wrong in the first half of that season. Cleo was just a bitch to her. And Mako Mermaids is just. Not great on the power side of things. You can TURN INVISIBLE. USE IT. Soooo. (also cam got destroyed in s1 and I'm so glad they ended up making him work in s2 and 3. Because he deserved better and Zac was a terrible friend to him and only got away with it because he's a main character). /rant sorry I have so many feelings about these shows. Grew up with them soooooo.

And if ur wondering why I brought up trick of the light it's cause the 13th year exists and that movie was bopping. U guys remember Jess? Good times... Tuba pool scene is iconic. U know the one. I would also bring up aquamarine but ngl that movie was weaksauce comparatively. They hid that bitch in a water tower and iunno talked to earrings. Meanwhile in the 13th year they bring Jess back from the fucking dead and climb on walls like Spiderman. Clearly one is superior.

"but cruddy Aurelia has ice powers too and she's not a mermaid" no she's a werewolf like her brother we already went over that. Did u think I was kidding? No! I'm never kidding unless I am and I fucking love werewolves so I'd never kid about that. I love werewolves and I love Hammerlock and it's perfect I just love the idea of this gentlemanly hunter being a werewolf because I want to see a giant hulking monster being all proper and shit. They're just really cool. Werewolves > vampires and ngl I'm sad skyrim screwed over werewolves with the dawnguard dlc. Anyway Aurelia's ice powers are nanobots as explained in-game and listen I already lore-scienced this okay? Let me say it's amazing the things science is capable of when it thinks it's trying to beat out a competitor and doesn't realize non-Siren magic exists. Even better now that we know Sirens are not Eridian and actually existed before Eridians. Makes me giddy to think about. The universe is tearing me APART Lisa.

Oh speaking of, can we talk about the witch's brew quest on eden-6 because holy shit I had been writing Hiromi and her fascination with discovering all the secret circles long before the game came out and then learning about the group of witches and The Pact (TM) made me lose my shit because 'oh my god it's actually canon now'. We're on the canon path nowwwww. Soon. I hope we get a water planet dlc. I wants it, GB, I wants it.

Also I was totally gonna write a clip in the main story of the game (because I write a lot of backstory stuff if you can't tell, I only have like 3 scenes that take place during the events of the game and like 4 that are speculatory from before the game came out (including a scene from before I realized Troy was Like That but I edited it so he's more in-line and also has Maya's powers now so that's... Hm. In line with the storyline somewhere, but not an actual scene in the games story. Because its not possible with how the game does things (seperating Vault Hunters) I suppose I could just insert a 5th Vault somewhere and say it's the 4th Vault connected to the Machine (with nekrotefeyo's being the 5th). Fuck it.) and then 9,000 are backstory) where Hiromi comes back after like decades of the two not seeing each other and she's been hired to assassinate Zane by one of the many corporations looking for his corpse for a multitude of reasons (And Emma and Nino are both d e a d a s f, you know, for context). And like Barnabas (ya old bastard) Zane is still joking around and just having a grand old time catching up with his black ops buddy meanwhile she had just tried to blow his brains out (she's a sniper) and got pretty damn close. She's not even amused because of her psychic powers so she's just like 'ok' every time he opens his mouth because she already knows what he's going to say she's mostly just frustrated that she missed because she thought she knew him well enough to go off instead of just listening to her intuition but alas people change after, like, 3 decades of not seeing them.

Oh since we're talking about Hiromi that reminds me why Zane wears the black suit. In my non-h2o universe it's because it looks cool and provides some protection from dots. In the H2Oniverse it is because it's waterproof. Okay wait hang on context so Hiromi doesn't like take off his suit or anything, she's extremely gay and not interested, because I realize now how that sounds me relating Hiromi to the clothes, they just get into an argument about how Sirens don't have to follow any arbitrary rules to hide their magic and how it's easier to hide magic without giant glowing tattoos (and mind you this is before Zane even knows Tannis exists though he does immediately know she's a Siren and that's a whole nother can of worms) and hr's like 'I wear a bodysuit for most of my waking hours, so I am pretty sure they can try wearing long sleeved shirts and makeup for a day. Just a suggestion' but like way more in character (and for the scene) because do I sound like I'm in character right now? I'm not. I'm me. And God what a terrible thing to be.

So context for the context: ~magic is real~. If you've got it then you can usually tell who else has it if you're looking. It's especially clear if they're 'similar' to you (if ur a werewolf and u meet another werewolf then you sorta just know they're a werewolf) or if you're psychic (like Hiromi) then you can make some informed guesses. Like. Same Hat? Same Hat!!! Sirens are basically such powerful magic users that they are in literally a whole nother ball park. They're leagues above everyone else. Kill you just by looking at you sort of deal. So sirens normally don't feel other magic because their own magic is so strong it just 'overwrites' the other signals. You know, to not only explain why Lilith isn't immediately like 'who the fuck are you' to Zane and also how Amara couldn't tell Tannis is a Siren. I had a whole thing with Troy (who is psychic) being able to tell Zane had magic despite being near 4 Sirens at once because Troy grew up with Tyreen always at his side so he's used to it and knows how to look through it. Meanwhile Hiromi is basically incapacitated when she's near a Siren because she gets overwhelmed because her powers make it easier for her to read other people's magic.

Oh, context, the black ops outfit worked with Atlas for a short time (the group being Zane, Hiromi, Emma, and Nino. Emma is the yeehaw captain. She's the leader) and ended up meeting Steele for a little bit. Hiromi was just dead the entire meeting, Zane was totally out of it, and Emma and Nino were too busy eyefucking to really care that there was a Siren in the room so. Just imagine one person lying face down on the floor and crying, another staring at the wall without blinking, two undressing each other with their eyes, and then Cmdt. Steele standing in the middle like 'how the fuck did I get here'.

So that was everyone's first experience with a Siren.

There are more but ehhhh I'm tired and I mostly wrote this because I wanted to talk about it with someone else but they haven't read the whole thing yet so now I can scream into the void about it and not feel like I'm bothering them.

Hooray!

[dalekofchaos]

Reasons to side with The Stormcloaks

So I made a post on why I believe The Imperials is the right choice in The Skyrim Civil War. An anon requested I do some suggestions for why The Stormcloaks are right. To be fair. I believe that both The Imperials and Stormcloaks are right and wrong in their own way. I just think it’s smarter to side with the Imperials. With that out of the way, let’s start with the pros and cons of the Stormcloaks

Pros

The Stormcloaks are right to rebel. When The Great War ended and The White-Gold Concordat was signed and The Empire and The Aldmeri Dominion made peace. Not only was the worship of Talos banned, The Blades were disbanded, the cession by the Empire of a large portion of southern Hammerfell to the Aldmeri Dominion and the right for the Thalmor to move throughout the Empire after the Empire didn't enforce the White-Gold Concordat, to hunt down both worshipers of Talos. So not only was the worship of Talos banned. But The Blades who guarded The Emperors for generations were forcefully disbanded, The Empire allowed The Thalmor to take a limited control over a portion of Hammerfell, showing Hammerfell how weak the Empire became and causing resentment to the Empire and The Thalmor Justiciars kidnaps and rounds up anyone who dares to worship Talos in secret or openly. When you allow the very force that you were fighting  in The Great war to kidnap innocent civilians in the dead of night from their own homes and for them to be tortured for their right to worship, you have shown Skyrim that you have failed her. The Stormcloaks are right to rebel

When The Empire made peace with The Aldmeri Dominion, the province of Hammerfell had to withdraw/be kicked out of The Empire and continue fighting on it’s own. The Thalmor has not managed to achieve their goals in Hammerfell, and the resistance is very much alive and well there. If they can do it, so can Skyrim.

Ralof is the first friend the Dragonborn makes regardless of what race you choose if you choose to go with him. 

Yes The Stormcloaks and mostly the population of Windhelm are racist. But it’s not as black and white as it may seem. The Gray Quarter. The assumption is that Ulfric forces The Dunmer to live in The Gray Quarter.  But with some research you would realize this to be quite untrue. The Dunmer are not forced to live anywhere. The live in nanny for the Cruel-Seas, and the owner of the Hlaalu farm do not. If Ulfric truly wanted to segregate them why do two Dunmer not live there? Consider this, the Dunmer probably moved to Windhelm right after the eruption of the Red Mountain or the Argonian invasion. Both of which happened before Ulfric was Jarl. So they must've lived in the Gray Quarter before Ulfric was in power. For whatever reason it must've fallen apart and became what it is today. You might be thinking, "Why doesn't Ulfric fix it?" He's in the middle of a war, it's a rebellion fighting an Empire, it's not going to be easy. Another reason is if they did ruin it on their own, it's not Ulfric's responsibility to fix it. If they destroyed it on their own, why would the Jarl have to spend tax payers dollers to fix something that's not even city property? The next is the Argonians, I actually don't think they are completely forbidden from entering the city. It's never said they can't go in at all? It's just said they can't live in it. Maybe they can't live in it because their is no room. Do you know four empty houses in Windhelm they could move into? Also, Shahvee bought an amulet of Zenithar. Where would she have gotten that from? Inside the city perhaps? Finallly, the Khajiit Caravans aren't allowed in any cities, Stormcloak or Imperial. So you can't just blame the Stormcloaks for that. Brunwulf Free-Winter says Ulfric only helps Nords who are in trouble as opposed to the other races. You can get a bounty form Jorleif to kill a giant that is attacking travelers. Which shows that Ulfric did do something for the non-Nords (I assume travelers are people foriegn to Skyrim). Also, even if he did do this he fails to consider something. That their are obviously more Nords in Skyrim then the other races. Meaning if a Nord village gets attacked a lot of innocent people will be hurt or die. While if a couple of Dunmer or Argonians are wondering around Skyrim less people would be hurt or killed. It's a needs of the many outweight the needs of the few sort of mentality.  

There has not been a true High King Of Skyrim for several generations. Generally when the High King Of Skyrim dies, The Emperor picks somebody to be his pawn King Of Skyrim in order to ensure that the people of the province is under Imperial control. In other words, The High King is sure to be somebody who foremost looks after the interest of The Emperor instead of the interests of his own people.

The Markarth Incident is a pro-Stormcloak argument. The book written in the game was propaganda. The Markarth incident was started by the Empire, not Ulfric. They were the ones who promised free worship to the Nord militia led by Ulfric due to being desperate. Ulfric did not do this because he was asked by the Thalmor, or as a plot to start the civil war. He simply wanted Nords to be able to freely worship and not hide like daedra worshippers. Igmund himself. They made the deal, Ulfric did his part of the deal, and then when the elves find out about it, what did the Empire do? They went through this short checklist. Is the province in question Cyrodiil? (Y/N) Since it's not. they threw Ulfric under the bus and reneged on the deal that THEY themselves made. So the Markarth incident was actually another pro-Stormcloak argument showing how exactly the Empire treats any province that isnt Cyrodiil (sacrificial lambs).And, the funny thing is, the entire reason the Forsworn Uprising even happened is because, yet again in Igmund's(A Empire supporter) own words : "When the Aldmeri Dominion invaded the Imperial City, the Legion all but turned a blind eye to the other provinces. Many of the disgruntled natives of the Reach used the opportunity to depose the Empire, and founded what they called an independent kingdom. It was little more than a chaotic uprising, but the Reach was removed from Imperial authority for two years before we reclaimed it." So from the start until the end, everything was the Empire's fault yet again.

A unified Skyrim with all its fierce warriors will be a match for the Dominion. And with a probable alliance between Skyrim and the weak but still standing province of Hammerfell, The Aldmeri Dominion will have a real fight on their hands. The other provinces(Cyrodiil and High Rock) will have to either stand by and watch the war, or join this new “Alliance Of Tamriel” against The Dominion. Since everyone more or less knows that the war between Mer and Men could and will start any day now, these provinces will probably have to join in pretty soon in order to in longterm protect/save themselves. Cyrodiil will have to go back to being a kingdom when Skyrim becomes independent, since High Rock probably doesn’t want to be part of a two province only empire.

With The Stormcloaks in charge of Skyrim, the disbanded and scattered Blades now have a safehaven where they once again can gather and regrow, protected by the people and armies of Skyrim from The Thalmor who have been hunting them for decades within the very borders of The Empire.  The Blades might play a big part in uniting the various armies against The Aldmeri Dominion.

You might be thinking that Skyrim and the Stormcloaks aren’t strong enough to fight The Thalmor, well no. First of all, the Nords have been fighting Elves for years. Why would the Dominion be any different? Most would say, “the whole Empire couldn’t beat them, how would only the Nords do it?”. Actually, though the Empire was wounded, the Dominion was also very weakened. Their main general was killed and every soldier in Cyordiil. That was one of the largest armies ever assmbled in Elven history. And since Elves reproduce slower, they would probably have a much harder time recovering. Hammerfell alone was able to beat them, and they were just as hurt as Cyordiil from the Great War, they also had a civil war between the Crowns and the Forbears before that. So Hammerfell was not in a good position and yet they still beat the Dominion. Why can’t Skyrim? Also, they could make an alliance with Hammerfell and the two of them could work together. Also, the Stormcloaks offered High Rock an allaince, they didn’t instantly reject them which shows that they might be thinking about it. These three nations would put up one hell of a fight for the Dominion.

Despite what the dossier of Ulfric said. Ulfric is not an agent of The Thalmor. The reason the Thalmor would consider him an asset is because he might help start a war in Skyrim. That's what the Thalmor want, a long drawn bloody war. They actually say in the Dossier "A Stormcloak victory is to be avoided". If the war is ended quickly the Thalmor won't get the benefit because little lives and resources will have been lost.

If The Dragonborn aids The Stormcloaks. We have a likely chance of the story of Tiber Septim being paralleled with The Last Dragonborn. Right hand man to the High King Of Skyrim. Master Of The Voice eventually becoming Emperor. In Morrowind The Nerevarine unites the five houses of Morrowind and the Ashlanders, brings an end to The Tribunal, stops Dagoth Ur thus completing the Nerevarine Prophecy, completes the Bloodmoon Prophecy(in which he fucking fights The Daderic Prince Hircine!), kills the god Almalexia, gains the corpus disease and becomes immortal and goes on a expedition to Akavir. In Oblivion The Hero Of Kvatch/Champion Of Cyrodiil finds the heir to the Emperor, helps Martin Septim become Emperor, shuts down the Oblivion gates stopping the Dadera horde, Martin Septim sacrifices himself and becomes the avatar of Akatosh to stop Mehrunes Dagon and ends the Oblivion Crisis. The Hero Of Kvatch becomes The Champion Of Cyrodiil  and is known and celebrated throughout Cyrodiil for what we did to stop the Oblivion Crisis. then finds the relics of the crusader, becomes the divine crusader and defeats Umaril the Unfeathered. And lastly The Hero Of Kvatch goes to The Shivering Isles, does the bidding of Sheogorath, ends The Greymarch, stops Jyggalag and becomes the new Sheogorath. As for Skyrim, The Last Dragonborn fulfills the prophecy as Dragonborn and stops Alduin from ending the world, stops Harkon from plunging the world in eternal darkness and travels to Solstheim to stop Miraak, The First Dragonborn. I feel that Miraak is the true climax of the story. The First Dragonborn fighting The Last Dragonborn. Fight to the death between Dragonborns. That for me is basically the ultimate culmination of the game.  But I find it dissatisfying because it just doesn’t feel like anywhere near the level to The Shivering Isles or Tribunal. We don’t become a Daedric Prince or immortal. If anything I feel a new story DLC should be given where The Last Dragonborn becomes the new Emperor of Tamriel. Not High King, Emperor. Tidus Mede II is dead, we know nothing of heirs of The Meade Dynasty and it shouldn’t be unthinkable to assume that the Last Dragonborn can’t become The Emperor. Talos was Dragonborn and it was the Dragonblood that made the Septim Dynasty and a dragonborn who made Tamriel united. Skyrim was on the verge of seceding like Hammerfell did, most likely The Imperial side won canonically(which is for the best, Ulfric did exactly what The Thalmor wanted to divide and conquer so the Empire can fall easy in the next war) as for The Blades, the next duty of The Blades would be to guide The Dragonborn on the path of becoming Emperor because what else are they meant to do? What else can they do? Alduin is dead and it is the duty of The Blades to guide The Dragonborn and to protect The Emperor. The Dragonborn as Emperor can make the Empire stronger reunite Tamriel and unite a strong Tamriel against The Thalmor. Here’s why with The Dragonborn The Stormcloaks has a chance at stopping The Thalmor. Dragons. Depending if you choose to kill or spare Paarthurnax. You either gain Paarthurnax as an ally who spreads the way of the voice to the other Dovah or The Dragons recognize your Thu’um as the strongest and Alduin’s lordship is passed on to you.  Either way after Miraak’s defeat, The Last Dragonborrn becomes the most powerful being in all of Tamriel. He is the Harbinger Of The Companions, so The Companions can aid The Stormcloaks with their most strongest warriors, The Dragonborn restores The Bllades to their former glory. Guildmaster of The Thieve’s Guild, so Thieves can steal powerful artifacts that benefit The Thalmor, Archmage Of The College Of Winterhold, while Nords do not trust Mages, they will trust their Archmage and The Mages’ power of the arcane can rival that of the High Elves. Listener Of The Dark Brotherhood. As The Listener The Dark Brotherhood, he can arrange the deaths of important and high up Thalmor in power. He is the new Lord of the Volkihar Clan(let’s face it, absolutely no one chose to side with the Dawnguard) The Dragonborn is Champion to the Daedra. And with The Dragonborn being in service to  Hermaeus Mora, we have a chance to obtain Thalmor knowledge for our Daedric Prince of knowledge. Skyrim’s leadership needs to change. The current leadership of Skyrim needs to be destroyed. And that’s because Jarl Balgruuf can’t even maintain his own hold. It’s a crumbling piece of ruins, even before the dragons came back. Whiterun was a shadow of it’s former self. It used to be this massive trade hub, under Balgruuf, it’s garbage. Riften is a den of corruption and Jarl Lalia who has a carriage ready in case Riften falls to Imperials. It’s fitting that at least Riften’s leader survives but leaves it’s people to the mercy of Maven Black-Briar or the dragons. Each Jarl in Skyrim is equally incompetent. If Skyrim becomes independent, they will all be incompetent together meaning the province will fall that much faster. The only potential that Skyrim has to endure for a good period of time is get better leadership. The Thalmor do not want to conquer  men. The Thalmor want to deactivate the towers, destroy the race of men and remake Nirn so that they can be gods again. And it is our duty to stop this. With the Civil War over, Aludin, Harkon and Miraak defeated, what is there for the Dragonborn to do? Become Emperor and bring an end to The Thalmor. In almost ever Elder Scrolls games, the guild questlines are canon, so The Dragonborn kills Emperor Titus Mede II. The Dragonborn would lead the Stormcloaks to victory and The Dragonborn declares himself the new Dragonborn Emperor of the true Empire of Tamriel. He began a war with the old Empire of Tamriel and conquered it. Let’s say The Dragonborn walks into the Elder Council chambers and declares he killed Titus Mede II and declares himself Emperor. And pretty much everyone is calling for the Dragonborn’s death. But guess what the Dragonborn does next? BEND WILL! The Dragonborn uses the Bend Will shout on the Elder Council and the Elder Council declares you the Emperor of Tamriel. Now not only do we get a new Dragonborn Emperor, but we also have an army of dragons to join us. Paarthurnax could be convinced to join and lead the dragons on the path to the way of the voice to fight for The Dragonborn or if you do kill Paarthurnax, you gain Alduin’s lordship and the dragons will follow you. So you have an army of dragons and Paarthurnax as your ally. Where Tiber Septim had his personal dragon Nafaalilargus, The Dragonborn has Odahving. So with the combined might of  The Last Dragonborn, Dragons, the guilds and the Stormcloaks, The Thalmor will be stopped and The Summerset Isles will  be burned to ashes.  

Cons

Ulfric is power hungry and his bigoted nature and making Skyrim independent and isolationists will be a disaster. Ulfric does not care about Nords or Skyrim, all Ulfric cares about is Ulfric. and in his Thalmor Dossier, it is said that the war benefits the Thalmor, dragging it on bleeds the empire, divide and conquer.

The Stormcloak Jarls are either just dicks or generally incompetent. Skald is so dumb and arrogant to believe that Dragons have returned because of the Talos ban.  Laila-Law Giver is so blind to the corruption and crime that Maven is behind it all and she turns a blind eye to it. The Silverbloods gain power in Markarth. The bastards who jailed us for asking questions become Jarl. They are responsible for the majority of deaths in the city and used the Forsworn as slaves. Korir is blinded by his hatred of the mages to see they weren’t responsible for the great collapse. Vignar may be an asshole but he is willing to fight for Whiterun. As far as I’m concerned, the only Stormcloak Jarls worth keeping in power are  Sorli, and  Dengeir

The mistreatment of non-Nords in Windhelm is bad enough(not even Imperial smith in Whiterun is allowed to do anything in a Stormcloak Whiterun), but for all the holds, that will just bite Ulfric on his ass.

A free and independent Skyrim sounds good on paper but not so convincing in practice. It would only last so long before some spin-off of the Empire got pissed at the Stormcloaks. Probably people who aren’t Nords who are sick of being treated as second-rate crap, so there’d likely be yet another Civil War that would further destabalize the northern province.

The fight between High King Torygg was not Traditional Nordic Duel, it was not the old way. Yes Ulfric did challenge Torygg to the old way. But The Voice was not a just and fair combat. The Greybeards forbid the use of the voice in combat and it is not The Nords’ way.  Given what Torygg tells the player in Sovrnguard, he did have a chance to defend himself.    "When Ulfric Stormcloak, with savage Shout, sent me here, my sole regret was fair Elisif, left forlorn and weeping."   "I faced him fearlessly - my fate inescapable, yet my honor is unstained - can Ulfric say the same?" Now, with dialogue from Sybille Stentor, We can start to see the Duel/Murder of High King Torygg was unnecessary, and Ulfric was more into taking the throne than succeeding from the Empire. She states that Torygg, if asked by Ulfric, Torygg may have stood up against the Empire. Skyrim could have seceded peacefully, like Hammerfell did long ago. Instead, with the killing of Torygg, war sparked. The civil war began.

Skyrim seceding from the Empire would be bad. From Sybille Stentor you ask about Torygg and said he respected Ulfric and that why he killed him is because Ulfric needed a symbol and if Ulfric asked him to declare Skyrim’s independece he might have done so. But Torygg knew that would be a bad idea. Why didn't Torygg ever declare independence? "Because the Dominion is a sleeping beast that Skyrim cannot slay alone. Because many Nords are part of the Imperial army even now. Because the food and resources we get from the Empire are important to our people. Because even if we can't openly worship him, Talos the god was once Tiber Septim the man, and this is his Empire. And Torygg wasn't ready to let it fall apart."

A Stormcloak victory is pretty bad.  Skyrim will no longer be part of the Empire. You now have a weak Empire and a weak Stormcloak rebellion. The Thalmor/Aldmeri Diminion will war with them, defeating the weakened Empire with ease. Though, unlike the Empire, the Stormcloaks have more of a chance to make allies, the Thalmor is large enough to defeat the singe-Provence rebellion. 

[bltngames]

Game Review: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild might just be one of the best games Nintendo has ever made. Ever. Is that too hyperbolic? Should I reign it in a little?

So where does that put us? The Nintendo game I hold in the highest regard is Super Mario 64, which on top of just being a really good game, basically defined 3D character movement for the entire game industry. Everything from Uncharted to Grand Theft Auto and NieR Automata owes something to Super Mario 64 for establishing how to use an analog stick to control the action on screen. It was a revolution.

Breath of the Wild isn’t a revolution. This is a game cut from the same cloth as Skyrim or The Witcher 3 — an open-world fantasy game, with towns full of people and quest logs designed to distract. You’ve technically seen this game before, or at least parts of it, and on the surface it can be easy to brush it off as nothing more than a thinly veiled “me too” clone by way of The Legend of Zelda.

But here’s the deal: you’ve never played Nintendo’s version of this. Those other games I mentioned often prioritize production quality and narrative depth. A quest’s story in my examples is often more important than what you actually have to do in it, with the worst example being multiple quests in Skyrim that send you from one edge of the map miles away to the other edge just to kill a single enemy and then hike the entire distance back for your reward. Even on horseback, a quest like that would take hours of mind-numbing transit. The obvious (and likely intended) solution is to use the game’s fast travel system to teleport to the destination, complete the objective, and then teleport back, turning an all-day gameplay excursion into a something that takes less than 15 minutes. The problem is that this creates a disconnect where everything stops feeling real, because there’s no reaffirmation that these are places that exist. You come to view the world as nothing more than a piece of software that lets you materialize at your destination. There’s no sense of distance, no journey.

That’s simply not true with Breath of the Wild, which goes out of its way to make you feel like a part of the land of Hyrule. Not only does it feel like a real, lived-in space, it feels like one with thousands of years of tangible history. Ruins of what used to be litter the land, some more recent than others, but all purpose-built with a legacy of their own. The environment of Hyrule is as much a character here as anyone else, and its battle-scarred vistas tell a lonely, somber tale.

Zelda is one of Nintendo’s most narrative-rich franchises, which allows it to slip into Skyrim’s skin with ease. Just the same, Breath of the Wild is a game about journeys. It’s a game where you look over your shoulder and think: an hour ago, I was on top of that mountain. I have come so far, done so much, and seen so many things. Yes, it has fast travel and horse riding if you really need to get somewhere quickly. But why would you? Breath of the Wild is a game where there’s always something on the horizon calling out to you. Horses and fast travel might get you in the general vicinity of where you want to go, but never close enough. Eventually you have to take matters into your own hands (often literally) and venture forth by yourself to discover Hyrule’s mysteries, one cliff face at a time. Literally the entire point of this game is to meticulously sift through the world inch by inch, and it manages to feel like magic basically the entire time.

You also connect to this world in other ways. Breath of the Wild features surprisingly robust artificial intelligence and physics systems, and you’re given tools perfect for playing around in this space. Rather than acquire a stable of items from dungeons (as in past Zelda games), Breath of the Wild gives you five core abilities during its tutorial and then turns you loose on the world to use them as you please. Unlike, say, Ocarina of Time’s hookshot, which could only be used on specific hookshot targets, these five abilities are far more utilitarian in their approach. They allow you to interact with the environment in ways most open world games shy away from, like picking up physics objects or generating platforms over tricky terrain. In addition to helping you solve puzzles and navigate the world, many of these abilities have combat applications, leading to fun games of cat and mouse with Ganon’s minions.

In one particular example, I came upon a camp of pig-like Bokoblins that had set up inside the ruins of an old building. I had mostly cleared the place out, but there was still one lone Boko on patrol outside completely unaware of what had happened to the rest of the camp. From the door, he peered inside. Bokoblins don’t have great eyesight, so from the distance he was at, he didn’t really have a chance to identify me before I darted out of sight. He obviously knew he saw something suspicious, so he walked over, grabbed a club from the camp’s weapons pile outside, and then headed inside the ruins to investigate. By this point, I’d climbed on top of the ruins and was watching him from what would be the roof, if this building had one (it did not). He headed to the last place he saw me and sniffed around, hoping to figure out what he’d seen. By now his back was turned to me, so I jumped from my vantage point above him and came down on his head with my spear for a quick kill. This kind of emergent gameplay is a first for The Legend of Zelda, and it makes every combat encounter feel unique.

Perhaps Breath of the Wild’s greatest strength is its willingness to embrace this kind of emergent player expression. Nintendo could have very easily locked a lot of its puzzles and encounters down, discouraging all but the one “true” solution, but they didn’t. It brings to mind the elements that made a game like Minecraft so captivating; the only thing stopping you from getting somewhere or doing something is your own ingenuity. Nothing in the game ever has just one solution, and it fully embraces whatever ways you can find to bend its rules. Previous Zeldas were full of jigsaw puzzles that had to be assembled in the same way every single time. Breath of the Wild is more of an actual test of problem solving skills, and one where my answer might be different from your answer and neither one of us is wrong.

Of course, even the best games have their flaws, and Breath of the Wild is definitely not a perfect game. In particular is the game’s performance — I played on the Wii U, and there, Breath of the Wild suffers occasional choppy framerates and sometimes more significant stuttering. Knocking down a Moblin can sometimes make the whole game freeze for up to two full seconds. Zelda is undoubtedly simulating a lot of stuff behind the scenes, between physics, climate systems, fire propagation, and artificial intelligence, so it’s understandable when the game threatens to buckle under it’s own weight, but it’s still a problem worth talking about. My understanding is that the Switch version is also affected by many of these technical issues, but with less severity. But, even on the Wii U, I found them to be momentary annoyances and not anything to really cast the game in a negative light. For 75% of my time in Hyrule, the game performed just fine (and it’s worth mentioning that during the process of writing this review, Nintendo published a patch for Zelda that optimizes the game just a little bit more to reduce framerate drops).

The other elephant in the room deals the game’s systems, particularly in weapon durability and weather. If you use a given weapon too much, it will eventually shatter. Often, I’d leave a combat encounter with fewer or worse weapons than when I started, but once I learned not to get too attached to any given sword, shield or bow, it ceased to be an issue. Breath of the Wild is a game about making do with what you’ve got and building an ever-changing strategy around that. Enemies also scale in strength over time, providing you with a drip feed of slightly more powerful gear as you play. That being said, the game definitely could have benefited from ways to repair fragile weapons, because just about everything breaks after only a few minutes of use.

Weather, on the other hand, was probably the single biggest point of frustration for me in Breath of the Wild. You’re given an on-screen weather forecast, presumably so you can plan accordingly should something like rain come up, but sometimes it can be unpredictable as you move through the world and suddenly shift into a new biome with different weather patterns. In one particularly ridiculous scenario, I found myself stranded on a rocky alcove because if I climbed up even ten feet it would trigger a biome change and begin raining, making it too slick to continue upwards. The moment I’d drop off the cliff (or more likely slip off), the rain would suddenly vanish. Sometimes, it doesn’t make any logical sense at all, such as the time I had to light fires as part of a quest and it began raining just long enough (about six seconds) to snuff out my flames and make me start over. Nothing in the forecast called for rain, nothing on my HUD changed, it just started pouring rain and then instantly stopped. You very quickly learn to dread rainstorms, because there’s not a lot you can do about them except wait for the weather to clear.

Regardless, these problems barely register as a blip on the game’s radar. I know it can be easy to sometimes get frustrated with Nintendo’s output and design philosophies, specifically with regards to past Zelda games like Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, but when this company pulls together and fires on all cylinders, the end result is something truly incredible to behold. Breath of the Wild is a tremendous game; even after finishing the game and putting in more than 140 hours, I wasn’t ready to leave Hyrule. I was still finding new discoveries. New places I hadn’t been to yet. No game that I can ever remember playing in the 30+ years since the NES has gotten its hooks into me this deep for this long. It may not be a revolution, but with Breath of the Wild, Nintendo has still run circles around the industry just the same. Under no circumstances should you allow yourself to miss this game.

[cursedmenagerie]

　　　This started as a small list of headcanons about Aesatel and her connections to some of the factions and major questlines in TES V, but gosh did it snowball out of control once I got started. Not a bad thing though, as I’ve been meaning to do a post just like this since adding her to the blog. This isn’t the be all & end all of how I’ll write Aesatel in threads and what can happen in her threads. It’s just the outline I follow to keep track of what events happen to her and when during her overall story, and these posts aren’t even that in-depth with the when, where, and who with I’ve kept about all the shenanigans she gets up to in a separate document. 

Shortly after discovering her identity as a Dragonborn Aesatel travels north to Winterhold to enroll at the local mage’s college, seeking to expand on her mostly self-taught magical talent. While there she discovers the Eye of Magnus and subsequently the Staff of Magnus, using the latter to keep the Thalmor agent Ancano from utilizing the Eye’s destructive powers.

Her studies focused on spells that would prove useful in battle with a heavy emphasis on Conjuration and Destruction magic. Her Destruction spells include Expert-level fire and lightning spells. Her Conjuration spells include summoning Atronachs, Dremora Lords, and creating various Thralls (including the unique instance of making Thralls of two Dremora Lords, because you can pry the image of Aesatel flanked by two permanent badass daedra from my cold, dead hands).

Aesatel meets Erandur in Dawnstar and the two grow close after helping him rid Nightcaller Temple of Vaermina’s influence. They adventure together for half a year before getting married and move into Proudspire Manor together. (This obviously changes in threads where shipping could occur.)

During their travels she investigates rumors about a young orphan living in Windhelm on a whim. Having lived in Riften for some time in the past she knows of Grelod and the extent of her cruel behavior to the children living in Honorhall Orphanage. So if an unfortunate accident were to befall the old woman the next time she’s in Riften, well there won’t be much sympathy from her.

This leads to her being “contacted” by Astrid later down the line and her joining the Dark Brotherhood, and ultimately to the fall and subsequent revival of the Brotherhood following the assassination of Emperor Titus Mede II. No one outside of the Brotherhood except those closest to her (namely Erandur & Ralyanis) knows of her affiliation with them, which she intends to keep that way.

It isn’t until just after Aesatel joins the Brotherhood that the main questline of the game gets underway, with her meeting Delphine in Riverwood to fetch the horn of Jurgen Windcaller. Aesatel isn’t fond of Delphine. When the time comes to consider whether or not to help the Blades - when it’s demanded of her that she kill Paarthurnax - she refuses. Any further attempts by Delphine or Esbern to bring her to their cause, with or without the requirement of slaying the ancient dragon, fall on deaf ears. 

She does, however, accept that they should be present during the ceasefire of Season Unending. 

They also serve as inspiration for her eventually forming her own personal Dragonguard, who include various close friends she’s made in her travels; Ralyanis Elric the Snow Elf archer, Tomoichi Sato a half-Altmer man who has familial ties to the Blades, her husband Erandur, and Ja’irzu a kind yet imposing Pahmar Khajiit just to name a few.

While looking for the Dragon Elder Scroll Aesatel meets Septimus Signus, and although she doesn’t have to she decides to help him with unlocking the strange Dwemer cube in the ice flows of Winterhold. She would come to regret that mistake as this put her in the sights of Hermaeus Mora, a big tentacled thorn in her side.

By the time she learns the Dragonrend shout and faces off against Alduin Aesatel has spent a year honing her skills. In that time dragons have ravaged the province ruthlessly, she’s had to put up with feuding armies and pesky Daedric Princes, and has had an all around Not Good Time. So she’s understandably pissed when Alduin runs away like a little bitch after getting his ass handed to him. 

She’s less pissed when she traps meets Odahviing and they become buds pretty quickly. Also Odahviing totally has room for a couple more riders so at the very least Ralyanis is able to go to Skuldafn/Sovngarde with her, because I say so.

There’s an actual celebration held when she returns to Whiterun and announces that Alduin has been defeated. 

Not long after defeating Alduin she returns to the Dark Brotherhood - who by now have been culled to include only herself, Nazir, Babette, and Cicero - and the plan to assassinate the Emperor enters its final stages. Commander Maro is slain on the Solitude Docks and Aesatel slips aboard the Katariah like a shadow. But when she comes face to face with the Emperor she is surprised to see a man ready to die. They converse, almost like new friends, and she reveals herself to him as the Dragonborn. And she vows to him that though she will take his life in turn she’ll join the Imperial Legion and do what she can to win the war, to keep the Empire from crumbling.

It’s at this point that she decides to take a break from adventuring. Just for a bit.

Because eventually trouble does come knocking and force her to take action again. While in the Rift visiting her mother news of a vampire attack in a nearby town reaches her, and she meets a member of the Dawnguard when she goes to investigate. She decides to check out their fortress even though she’s a bit hesitant to outright join the vampire hunters, but she does agree to check out Dimhollow Crypt for them, leading her to meet Serana.

She really likes Serana.

While she does side with the Dawnguard in the questline she never really considers herself part of the group, only returning to the fort when absolutely necessary. 

For the majority of her time during the quest Aesatel travels exclusively with Serana where needed, only choosing to invite Ralyanis along when she learns of Auriel’s Bow, a Snow Elven artifact that would of course be very intriguing to a Snow Elven archer.

It’s worth noting that by the time the final showdown with Harkon draws near a small town has been created northeast of Rorikstead called Snow Haven, a refuge for the Snow Elves who were living at the Temple of Syrabane that wanted to live in Skyrim proper once more. While not traveling with Aesatel Ralyanis spends most of her time here with her people.

After defeating Harkon there’s a much bigger break between adventures for Aesatel. At this point she’s considering retirement, or at least saving journeys into the wilds of Skyrim or other Tamrielic provinces for high priority situations. But when mercenaries from Solstheim, an island she barely recognized from old history lessons, decide to ambush her in the name of the “real” Dragonborn well... That’s when she has to defend her honor. 

I’m actually very open about the outcome of the Dragonborn questline. Aesatel feels sympathetic with Miraak after learning a bit about him, even if she won’t excuse some of his more questionable behavior. There’s also the matter of Hermaeus Mora being involved. Who, if you’ve read the note about helping Septimus Signus earlier, you’ll know she really hates. More than Miraak, more than Harkon and Vyrthur, more than Alduin even. So any course of action that culminates in a big middle finger to the Daedric Prince of Knowledge is A-Okay to her.

[imaginingmyforest]

Your General

Fandom:  Elder Scrolls V Skyrim, The

Character:  Tullius

Notes:  Lots of drinking

The war is over, Ulfric is dead.  You’re exhausted and proud, but also tired and relieved and ready to go to bed and wake up to a peaceful country.  It feels good, you think, having had a part in this, having defended what is now your home, stopping the bloodshed.  The cost was high, the guilt will probably never fade, but you fall asleep with a smile on your face, because all you can see in your mind's eye is the image of General Tullius, standing before his men, delivering a speech he just wants over with, looking as blank-faced as ever, but his back is straight and tall.  Victory.

When you wake, the awareness that there are no more true battles to fight has you staring at your ceiling, a relaxed stupor taking over.  What will you do now?  You don't know.  The Legion has been your life.  Even now, you feel the pull of the training yard, the briefing room, the low lights above the parchment map, and the drone of the voices of your commanding officers.

You don't have to go.  You go anyway.

The General's greeting is as terse as ever, his eyes flicking to you once before returning to his work.  "Legate."

"General."  You wonder what he's doing, staring down at that drawing of Skyrim.  It's covered in red flags, nothing more.

"I've got no orders for you, Legate.  See Rikke, she might have some backwater camp somewhere for you to take out."

You let a moment pass in silence, debating.  Action sounds wonderful.  Peace is wonderful, too, but you’ve confused yourself, trying to understand your place in a world that isn't fighting itself anymore.  You'd been important before; what are you now?

Does he feel the same, staring down at that map like he sees it, eyes still and unfocused like he doesn't?

"What now, sir?"  You ask finally, quietly.

He glances up.  "Clean up, mostly.  Leftover camps, like I said."

"For us?"

He stares for an instant, and you wonder what gives him pause, thinking about your words.  But before you’ve sorted it out, he's already moving on, 'us' being the Legion.  "New assignments, mostly guard duties till the transitions can be made from Stormcloak loyals to Imperial supporters.  Peaceful days."

The last part trails off, like he finds it boring.  A half smile finds its way onto your face.

"And you, sir?"

"Me?"

"Heading ... home?"  You'd meant that sentence to be longer, but can't get the words out.  He seems satisfied, but your mind races, wondering what has gotten into you, what is going on inside.

"I fear Skyrim will be my home for many more years to come."  He sighs, obviously displeased, but then he stands, and he's as tall as you remembered, not in stature, but in presence.  "I suppose the idea isn't as unappealing as it once was.  I could use a decent bed, though.  Everything in this castle is as cold as the stone it’s made from."

You smile for real then, and his expression tells you he caught the relief in it, the relief you yourself weren't expecting, don't know what to do with.  Instead, you ask, "Drinks tonight at the Winking Skeever?  To celebrate?  On me."

"I don't celebrate."

You laugh.  "I don't doubt it.  But we just ended a war, General.  Take a night off.  You need the down time, even if only for one evening."

"I have to agree with Y/N on this one, sir."  Both look to the door, finding Rikke has joined them.  The two of you nod to each other, polite smiles in greeting.

Tullius scowls, peering back over his map for no real reason.  "Anything to report, Legate?"

"Which Legate?"  You smirk, and Rikke stifles the tiniest of laughs.

Tullius groans.  "Don't make me reassign you somewhere, Y/N.  Winterhold's sounding very tempting right now."

"Then you wouldn't have any friends, sir," Rikke comments lightly.

"I'll have the darn drink, alright?"  He finally growls.  "Stop ganging up on."

Rikke nods, satisfied, and you pat her on the shoulder in thanks.  You lean over to the room's other silent occupant, the ever present watchdog.  "You too, Adventus."

He grins, nodding.  "If I can escape this hole, I'll be there."

"Think we should invite Aldis?"

"And pull him from his beloved training exercises?  Curse the thought."

Rolling his eyes at their companionship, Tullius resumes his earlier thread of conversation.  "Now, do you have anything to report, Legate Rikke?"

Rikke nods, growing serious.  "Camp along the mountain ridges in Eastmarch.  Rumors out near Dawnstar, nothing solid."

"Clear out Eastmarch and check Dawnstar.  I want these Stormcloaks rounded up as quickly as possible."

"Sir."

"Take the Legate-"

"Y/N."

"Take the smart-alek with you.  They apparently don't have enough work to do."

"Then we'll leave in the morning."  Rikke replies easily.

You are just as smooth.  "Since we'll being having those drinks tonight."

Tullius only shakes his head.  "Leave me in peace."

You exit together, as ordered.  And later that evening when he finally brings himself to enter the Winking Skeever, you are seated together at a table near the back, drinks already waiting.  You laugh at the look on his face, pulling out the seat beside you.

"It's not that bad," you reassures him.  "We sat away from other people and everything."

Your argument is almost convincing until Lisette pulls out her lute and a particularly appreciative drunk gives a riotous cheer.  Tullius looks pained, then grabs the nearest drink and downs it.  Rikke chuckles with you.

"I hate both of you."

"Relax, General."  Rikke tips her mug to him, as cool as ever.  "Enjoy the mead."

He shots his drink a dark look.  "Is that what this is?"

You’re laughing, and you get the feeling you'll never stop.  Tullius is so obviously out of his element, you can't help but enjoy the ludicrous situation.  "You're just as surly drunk as you are sober, aren't you?"

He only grunts in response, lowering his head like the physical act will somehow make the room quieter, dimmer, and less populated.  You can almost see the headache beginning in his temples.

You look to Rikke, head shaking.  "Do either of you ever wear anything except your armor?"

"When I'm off duty."  She gives a small smile.  "Which is practically never.  I don't know about him."

Tullius is studiously ignoring you.

"Somehow, I can't picture you in anything but your armor," you comment, but are again met with silence.

You give his arm a playful shove.  "You call this celebrating?"

"No, I call this a waste of time at best, torture at worst."

"You exaggerate.  Why are you so grumpy?  I bought you alcohol."

"Am I getting some of that?"

All three look up to find Adventus has joined you.  Tullius is nonplussed, but Rikke stands to greet their new addition.  You smile up at him from the table.  "You bet, soldier."

Rikke calls to the innkeeper over the space of the room.  "Corpulus, more mead!"

Your grin spreads across your face, colored by beverage intake, as you look to each of your companions.  "So, three Legates and a General step into a bar-"

"Oh, don't start."  Rikke laughs, making room at the small table for the incoming drinks.

You scoop up the nearest Honningbrew and a tall bottle of Argonian Bloodwine, which Adventus had his hand halfway towards.  He opts for the Spiced Wine instead, toasting you good-naturedly.  "Just to warn you, I might have went ahead and mentioned to Aldis there was a party going on and he was invited.  Drinks on you."

He smirks, and you groan while Rikke chuckles.  "You trying to spend all my gold?"

"You did say drinks on you."

"I said the General's drinks were on me," you correct.  "To coax him out of his hiding hole.  You guys are on your own from here on out."

"You still owe Aldis a round when he gets here."

"You're the one who promised him free drinks; you supply."

"You're the one with all the money, so-called 'Adventurer.'  Half the time no one can even find you for assignments because you're out plundering some crypt or something."

"Plundering?  Hardly!  I exterminate Draugr sometimes.  I happen to be a bounty hunter-"

"And whatever else any stranger passing in the streets asks you to be," Rikke adds from over the top of her drink.

You lean back, pouting.  "I like to help people."

Adventus shakes his head.  "You like to get in trouble.  Ever think about getting yourself a someone and settling down?"

Now you’re grinning again, motioning with your drink around the table.  "What're you talking about?  I've got three men, a woman, and a bottle of wine.  I'm perfectly settled."

Adventus is laughing, but Rikke glances around curiously.  "Three?"

And there is Aldis, pulling up a chair between Tullius and Adventus, forcing the two to make more room.  Tullius brushes up beside you, so you smack him on the back.  "Go on and say hi, General.  You're being awful quiet."

"Just trying to enjoy my drink."  His voice says he doesn't think it's possible.  "Can hardly stand this Nord Mead."

"There was wine, but Y/N took it all," Adventus comments, conspicuously pushing his empty bottle to your side of the table.  "Have them get you some when they get Aldis his drinks."

Even Tullius manages to look amused by your scowl, but the expression slips away quickly.  "Still, I'm not used to the Skyrim brands.  I enjoyed a good bottle of Surilie Brothers back in Cyrodiil every now and again."

"They don't sell that in here," you join in, piking up.  "But I've got some back at the house, picked up from around.  You want a bottle?"

He's pushing away from the table and standing as quickly as you’ve ever seen him move outside of battle.  "Gods, yes."

You stand up too, following his retreat.  "Hey!  I meant later!  Come back here-"

You’re after him with an apologetic look to your company, tossing down a bag of septims before racing from the tavern.  He's marching down the street with his usual strides, stiff and tired, silver hair glinting in the glow of the evening moon.  You catch up, fall in naturally beside him, miffed but aware that the night feels good and the sky is beautiful up above and that you like the musk coming off him in the cool air that the stuffy bar had masked.  Your indignation is all but gone by the time you start your argument.

"That was a friendly offer for some other day, not an excuse for you to pick up and leave."

"Can't stand it in there."

"So you can handle a bloody battlefield but not a night drinking with friends?"

He's slowing, glances at you and sighs.  "Exactly.  I'm a warrior, Legate, not a politician."

"This isn't political, it's friendly."

"Don't see a difference."

"You're impossible."

"Then go drinking with someone else.  I doubt you're lacking for friends."

"Hm."  You sidle up close for a second, laying your head against his arm.  "Maybe I like you better."

"Hmph."

He doesn't seem to care you’re there, and you continue to walk like that, staring up at him with a smile that says you know you’re being annoying, and his face as blank as ever.

He always looks tired, you think.  From living too long, through too much.  You wonder what his smile would look like, then find yourself laughing because you just can't imagine it.  It's too awkward, too surreal; it's not him, not your General.  Perpetually annoyed, surly and exhausted and funny without meaning to be, a stone wall standing against age and change and anything against the Empire that is his to protect, to defend.  Complete stability in the chaotic life you live, running around from task to task, cave to cave, battle to battle.  A pillar to return to.  Your commander, the only reason you keep returning, the only reason you make Solitude your home, grace the doors of Proudspire when you could be anywhere and everywhere.  He, more than the looming tower they are approaching, is home.

The thought's an odd one, and you slip from his arm, lost in the jumble of your mind.  He waits patiently, appearing mildly curious, as you stand in silence in front of your door.  Eventually, his voice breaks in.

"Legate?"

"Y/N," is your immediate response, a reflex.  As proud as you are of having earned that title in his eyes, Rikke is still the one who comes to mind when you hear "Legate."  And up till now, you realize, your title has defined you to him.  He doesn't use your name, and now that both you and Rikke are at his side so often, both Legates, you finally have an excuse to make him call you by name.  You like hearing him say it, acknowledge you and not just your skills, your accomplishments.

When did I start thinking of him so much?  You groan, stepping forward to open the door.  You’re confusing yourself, hurting your own head with all this thinking.  You’re not used to analyzing yourself, your actions.  You just do, act however comes naturally; a creature of impulse, something that got you in trouble a few times while you were making your way up in the Legion.  You have enjoyed working under Tullius, however, and that admiration of him has kept you in line and following orders even when the whim of adventure would have scattered you across the region.  

You realize you’re doing it again, thinking too much.  It's the alcohol, you know, remembering too late why you shouldn’t drink that often.  

You move inside, and wave him over to the kitchen table while you head downstairs to fetch the wine.  You retrieve your oldest bottle of Surilie Brothers Vintage, slightly dusty and chilled to perfection in the small stone room.  Your brain starts to whir again, telling yourself you were saving this bottle, but the cold is starting to sober you and you shake off the thinking you detest and go with the feeling that you want to use this bottle, and that's good enough.  

Back upstairs, Tullius seems to have settled himself in the seat closest to the fire.  

"Why," he asks gruffly, shifting uncomfortably in his seat, "are these darn chairs so low to the ground?"

You’re laughing again; he makes you laugh without trying.  "No clue, honestly.  Got your wine."

You dangle the bottle in front of him before unstopping the cork.  On another whim, you set out two silver goblets and pour, sitting beside him and sliding the drink his way.  They are picked up together, and you tap his cup in a small toast.  "To home."

He watches you, eyes a bit softer than usual, expression relaxing.  "To home."

He's thinking of Cyrodiil.  You’re not thinking a single thing; only watching him as you sip, enjoying the wine, enjoying the quiet, enjoying the company.  

Tullius sinks back into his chair, no longer concerned with how short it is, goblet still in hand.  "That's better."

You smile, pleased with pleasing him.  "How about something to eat while you're here, General?"

"Sounds good."  His voice is drowsy, but this time is different from his usual dreary tone.  He's content almost, you'd say, a sight you doubt many have ever seen, a tone few have heard.

You down the rest of your drink and rise, heading for your storage of cooking ingredients.  You decide on your recipe and retrieves some salt, potatoes, leeks, and venison.  Cooking is something you’ve learned to do a lot of while traveling alone, bending over the firepots in eradicated bandit camps and desecrated ruins.  Why spend your hard earned septims on tavern food when cheap ingredients abound and it only took a little practise to have your own taste better than what's sold in the inns?  Being friends with Castle Dour's own talented chef helps.

You make conversation while beginning the soup base.  "So, what do you normally do with your free time?"

"What free time?"  He swigs another drink, shaking his head.  "I was sent to Skyrim to do a job, so I do it.  Nothing else."

"Really?  You never have any down time?"

"There was a war going on, Leg-"

"Y/N."

"Y/N, which didn't put itself on hold while I took naps.  Free time went to the war."

"And now?"

"What about now?"

"There's no war now, Tullius.  What will you do with your new free time?"

He sighs, and you let your stirring stop so you can turn to him, watch him mull it over with his wine.  "Apparently, be forced to visit inns and drink."

You laugh, resuming your cooking.  "Nobody's forcing you to do anything.  You don't like inns, fine.  But you're always welcome over here for a drink and a meal."

He glances your way, cool gaze watching, then nods slowly, thanking you in a way he won't with words.  Instead, he eyes the cooking pot.  "... Smells good."

"Venison stew," you reply proudly.  "Something that transcends borders, thankfully."

"Sounds good, Y/N."

The unprompted, causal use of your name, as though it's normal and common and something he does all the time, gives your mind a stutter, and your hands slow again as your head works to catch up.  You’re all smiles, warm inside and becoming aware that this night is important to you, though you can't pin down why.  But the two of you, holed up in your house, talking over drinks, about to share a hot meal and calling each other by name; it feels as foreign as the snowy mountains did when you left the Gold Coast for adventure and as comfortable as the Legion steel that has become your second skin.  You feel like you’re home, really living, more than any of those blood-pumping caverns, adrenalin-inducing dragon attacks, or life-threatening battles.

It's a little scary, and a lot exciting.

And it's only this man who's made you feel like this.  On his orders you’ve traversed a strange and new wasteland of perpetual autumn and snow; you’ve faced down a rebel army with a righteous but misguided cause, friends on the opposing side; you’ve trained yourself, worked to be better, fought to impress and rose in the ranks for his praise.  You still remember facing the executioner's block, seeing him stare down Ulfric Stormcloak, that tall back you’ve grown to admire so much turned to you, ignorant of your plight, your very existence.  It hadn't mattered then; he was a stranger.  

It matters now, just a bit; it's painful.  Standing by his side, the feel of his rough hand in yours for only a moment as he passed you his sword to deliver the final blow to his enemy, is a treasure that makes it painful for you.  Gods, why do you think like this?

And you freeze, caught in the web your thoughts have woven, hit by the abrupt realization that has revealed itself to you.  "By the Nine."

Tullius gives an exasperated scowl (just how many of his subordinates invoke the name of the Nine illegally?).  "Legate-"

"I'm in love with you."  You stare at him, and both are momentarily stunned into silence.  Your gaze trails off, looking at nothing, eyes wide.  Abruptly, you drop your ladle and snatch up your bottle.  It shakes in your hand, but doesn't slosh; empty.  "I need more alcohol."

You make for the stairs.  Behind you, Tullius recovers stutteringly, hand to his head in confusion.  When you return, bottle to your lips, he's back to his surly frown.  "Legate, I don't know if I should be offended or not that the idea of being in love with me makes you want to get drunk."

"S'not that, sir," you reply, shaking your head, and slump down into the chair beside him.  You still look in shock, disbelief and wonder on your features.  "Alcohol helps me think."

"Then you'd be one of the lucky few, and the only one I've ever had the pleasure of meeting."  He shakes his head, refilling his goblet.  "Frankly, I just think you've had one too many."

"I won't argue."  But you take another swig, swallowing roughly.  "Thinking too much.  Thinking too much about you, Mara help me."

"Do us both a favor and think more about the stew."

You laugh, but it comes out more like a bark than anything, and you set down your drink to stand and circle the table to the cooking pot.  The stew sticks a bit as you begin to stir, but it hasn't burned.  

You sit in silence for several minutes, the bubbling of dinner the only sound between you, before Tullius finally sighs again.  "Should I even ask what in Oblivion caused that little outburst?"

"Told you," you reply, eyes on the boiling broth and thus studiously not on him.  "Thinkin' too much.  I do that when I drink."

He can obviously tell you don't want to talk about this anymore, but he can't let it go just yet.  "And what were you thinking that made you think you were in love with me?"

You sigh, cringing, and reach for the alcohol again.  He sits patiently while you chug, not satisfied with one gulp, needing the liquid that gives others courage and only seems to confuse you.  You hope this time'll be different as you drop the bottle from your lips and take a deep, steadying breath.  "I like the way you say my name."

You glance at him, and he seems nonplussed.  Somehow his lack of shock, his non-judgment, gives you the courage the wine failed to.  "I think of you when I think of home.  I fought more for your approval during the war than because I cared about the cause.  Your sword is my most treasured possession.  When I think of the Legion's victory, of how you've grown since coming here, accepting and respecting the Nords, I'm more proud of you than I am of myself, and I'm the Dragonborn.  I worry about how you seem tired all the time.  I'm always trying to get you to talk with me.  Now that the war's over I'm scared you'll go back to Cyrodiil, because I have no idea what I'd do with myself if you were gone.  Divines, I'd probably follow you."

You take another drink, more because you’re ashamed of yourself than because you want it.  You swallow too much, choke, and holds your wrist to your mouth while you cough.  "Can I stop embarrassing myself now?"

He picks up his own drink, raises it to his mouth.  " ... soup's burning."

"Stendarr's mercy!"  You half drop the bottle as you whirl around to the cooking pot and begin to stir the boiling contents again.  It looks done and, thankfully, not burnt, so you remove it from the fire and set it to cool on the stone floor, heading to the cabinets for bowls and silverware.  And, somehow, you manage to get dinner on the table within the next few minutes, and find yourself sitting beside him again, both eating silently.  It's awkward, but not strained, and you still finds that you enjoy his company, are glad that it's just the two of you, together.  You wouldn't mind more nights like this; maybe a lifetime.

Are you thinking about marriage?  You take another bite of the venison, chewing slowly.  By Skyrim's standards, you’re not moving too fast, but he's not from Skyrim.  Would he even know what you were trying to say if you went upstairs at that moment and came back down with an Amulet of Mara on?  You doubt it.  But if he did ... the idea is appealing, a life together with him.

If he's interested in you.

You’re off to a good start, you suppose.  Legate of the Legion, fought at his side during the war, a breadwinner, adventurer, the famed Dragonborn, and a good cook to boot.  Staring at your reflection in the dark stew, you note with a bit of pride that you’re not bad looking.  You’re much younger than he is, but as a consenting adult, that's hardly an issue.  

Aware you’re bordering on vanity, you note you’re more than just a good prospect; anyone in Skyrim would be lucky to have you.  But none of that matters if the one man you want doesn't want you.

The soup is finished.  As you take up the bowls you debate on your earlier thought, of going up to get your Amulet.  You'll start wearing it in the morning, you decide.  No need to rush.  Besides, he might decide to draw a line between Superior and Subordinate before he leaves, and it'll be a moot point.  Or maybe he just doesn't like you; you know you annoy him, you do it on purpose because he's fun to aggravate.  

You’re suddenly aware that that's how you flirt with him.

You’ve put up the dishes, and he hasn't risen from the table, so you sit back down and take another drink.  Drinking too much, thinking too much, you chide yourself, but you take another sip.

Tullius sets his goblet down after awhile of the silent companionship and turns his eyes to you.  "How well do you hold your drink?"

You meet his gaze over the top of yet another bottle (you’re going to have to restock while you and Rikke are out).  "Except the thinking too much, I can usually handle my alcohol.  I'll be okay to head out in the morning, if that's what you're worried about."

"Just wondering if you're going to remember any of this."

You smile, setting the bottle down.  "Yes, sir.  You?"

"Yeah."

"Can't escape me, then."

"Doesn't mean you won't regret this.  Doesn't mean you'll still feel the way you think you feel."

"I'm not drunk, General.  The only thing that'll be different tomorrow is I'll have a headache and probably be a lot more blunt."

"That last part should scare me, shouldn't it?"

You grin.  "I find you attractive; I'm not shy."

He cocks his eyebrow, and you laugh.  

"You just think about that while I'm gone, alright?"

"I doubt I'll be able to think about much else."

You shoot him a sly smile.  "Why, General."

He groans, leaning back in his chair.  After a moment his rolls his shoulder, appearing uncomfortable, and takes hold of it, stretching and flexing.

Eyeing him, you raise up.  "Muscle ache?"

"Feels tight, knotted."

"Here, let me."  You round behind him, and his hand falls away as yours settle into place and begin a slow, deep kneading into his skin, between the cloth of his shirt and his stiff armor.  It's hard to work in such a confined space, and after a few moments you give him a nudge.  "Any chance I can get you out of your clothes?"

"Legate."

"I guarantee the best massage you've ever had."  You tempt him, twisting your hand as best you can to loosen a tight spot in his muscle, as though to give him a taste of what you could do with more room.  "Just your armor, General, and no funny business, I promise."

He grunts his displeasure, but starts to unfasten the torso piece.  You revel in a double triumph; seeing Tullius out of his armor, and being able to touch him as you please.  You help him pull it off, set it aside, then he relaxes under your hands, your soothing motions untying every knot beneath his skin through the thick red fabric that keeps you from him.  You rub his shoulders, pushes your palms into his back, work out every kink in the chiseled mass of his body (or at least the part you are allowed near).  And you are rewarded for your efforts when a pleasured groan is pulled from him, unintentional and rough.  A thrill runs through you, hitching your breath, and you make it your goal to gain more, continuing with fervor, using every technique you know (which, sadly, isn't much, as what little you do know came from an alchemist who insisted her special potions were the perfect match for such rubdowns).  After a few minutes of hard work, you think you’ve finally found a spot he especially appreciates.

Which is about the same moment your housecarl enters the room.

All movement ceases as the two of you stare at each other, surprised and speechless.

"Gods."  You finally exclaim.  "Jordis!  I forgot you lived here."

"Hm?"  Tullius looks up, seemingly unconcerned with the interruption, and nods to the new arrival.  "You look familiar.  Don't you work at the Palace?"

"I was awarded to Y/N when they were made Thane."  The blond regains her composure slightly, and turns to her master.  "How could you forget I live here?"

You shrug, growing annoyed.  "You sleep in the basement.  And I don't stay here much."

"You've been getting wine bottles out of my room all night."

"Didn't see you."

"I was laying on the floor."

"Where you should apparently still be.  I have company."

"I'm hungry.  I had assumed ... from the noises I'd heard," the woman falters, glancing at the decorated officer sitting at the kitchen table, "that you and your company had moved upstairs."

Tullius' response is immediate.  "I should go."

He slides out from under your hands and reaches for his armor, and you curse the loss of him, his body and his company, and curse your housecarl, who you wonder if you can fire or somehow return to Elisef without offending her.  But neither will undo the damage done, and Tullius is redressed and thanking you for dinner and drinks in moments, heading out the door soon after.  You’re left standing in her kitchen, a dull ache in your chest, and the most despised housecarl waiting for the reprimand she knows is coming.

"Jordis."

"Yes, my Thane?"

"I hear the Blades are recruiting.  Doesn't that sound nice?"

The next morning is spent much like the last; you wake slowly, staring at the ceiling, feeling lost and alone.  You suit up, pulling on your Imperial Light Armor, strapping on your sword, the treasure he gave you, and slipping an Amulet of Mara over your head, letting it rest on your chest where your Amulet of Stendarr normally sits.  You don't feel like cooking, settle for grabbing a loaf of bread and slice of cheese on your way out the door.  

You enter Castle Dour as you always have, with the confidence of knowing you belong, and join the ever-present group gathered around the table, even this early in the morning.

"Y/N."  Rikke greets you, and you two are as casual as ever, natural friends and easy comrades.  

"Rikke." You return, smiling.  "Hope you guys didn't stay up to late."

You shoot Adventus a grin as well, and he smiles back, in his semi-permanent spot against the wall.  "Without you to pay for drinks?  We all had to go home early."

"I wouldn't call midnight early," Rikke shakes her head.

Pleased, you pat Rikke on the shoulder.  "Glad you guys had fun."

"What about you?  General kill the party?"

You finally bring yourself to look at the man in question, who's studiously ignoring you in favor of that map, which he probably knows by heart already.  You feel laughter bubbling up, and perch yourself on the edge of the table.  "General."

He pretends not to hear you at first, but everyone is now staring at him, and he must eventually give in.  He sighs, and looks up at you, grumpy as ever.  "Legate."

"Y/N."

"Y/N."

It’s all back to business, Rikke briefing you on the schedules, plans, and you’re half listening, half reliving the night before, the things you said.  And as Rikke says her quick goodbyes and heads out the door, you linger on the edge of that table, conscious of Adventus' presence but too aware you need to do this before you leave.

You smile slyly, meeting the General's waiting gaze.  "Sober and still in love with you."

He grunts.  "Was afraid of that."

Adventus cocks his brows, watching you silently, lip twitching in a slow smile.

"Just ... think about it while I'm gone, alright?"  You wink, hop down, and make your exit, knowing it'll do no good to look back now.

The jobs are easy, routine.  You set up a small camp, Rikke sends you out tromping through the wilderness, looking for Stormcloaks in hidey-holes, and sending a small band in to take out an already confirmed group (which you not only head, but practically leave behind in your thirst for adventure, battle, and adrenaline).  The mission takes little over a week, and then new information has them detouring south for a few more days.  You’re caught up in it, in a constant state of euphoria, adoring the work and all that comes with it.  

When you fall asleep at night, it's still his face you see, and when Solitude is finally in sight again, job done, you feel the pride of coming home, the skip in your pulse at the thought of him.

Rikke had asked, while you were out, about the necklace.  She'd noticed the absence of Stendarr's horn at your chest, the odd sight of Mara's light taking its place.  Your reply hadn't been specific, but then, Rikke wasn't overly prying.  You'd talk about it, maybe, once things are settled and there;s something to talk about; as it is, there’s only the wait.

"Legates," is the usual terse greeting as you step into the Dour, Tullius and Aventus gathered around the center table, as always.  At least, this time, the blue dots are back, marking possible hideouts.

You pull the gifts you’d prepared from your bag and plant the bottle of Sirilie Brothers right in the middle of that map of his.  "We have names, Tullius."

He raises his eyebrows.  "Y/N."

"I will never tire of hearing you say that."

"And I will never tire of this beauty."  He picks up the bottle, eyeing the year, smiling that tiny smile that barely passes for happiness, but is about as good as it gets with him.

You tsk, crossing your arms and nudging Rikke.  "We rid three Holds of Stormcloak stragglers, and he compliments the bottle."

He sets the bottle back down, as calm as ever.  "You making dinner to go with this?"

You’re thrown for a moment, then quickly bring yourself back to the conversation, delighted.  "Yes, sir.  Venison again, or something else?  Beef or Horker maybe?"

"Do you cook anything without hunks of meat?"

"For you?  Darling, whatever you like."

"Wasn't a complaint, Y/N."

"Offer still stands."  You’re grinning ear to ear, tickled pink by how easy the conversation is, how the thoughts you’d left him with don't seem to be hurting your banter.  He's too professional to have let it interfere with their working relationship, yes, but this is casual.

He's thinking about it, and you’re thrilled.  "Horker.  Never had it before ..."

"Horker it is."

"Report?"  

And just like that, it's back to business; you’d expected no less.  Rikke rattles off the details, only shooting you one curious look during her monologue.  Adventus is less subtle, smiling away and avoiding Tullius' periodic glares.  There's something there, you don't miss that, and though you’re not sure what the two have talked about in your absence, you’re amused by it.

You spend the day running errands, something the Hold is accustomed to when you don't have a specific mission to trek out upon.  Just keeping busy, helping out, but staying close, and when dusk rolls around you’re back at Proudspire, Horker stew on the fire, wine poured, and fresh fruit set out.  It's late when Tullius knocks, but everything's ready.  When you open the door to reveal him, you find yourself struck dumb.

The General shifts in discomfort, glaring down as though to dare you to comment.  You can't look away from him, his clothes.  

He's not wearing his armor.

"Y/N."

You pull your eyes away from the rough cotton, simple and casual, and try your best to form words.  "General of the Imperial Army, representative of the Empire's presence in Skyrim, war hero–and you walk around wearing that?"

All of two seconds click past before he turns to leave, and you reach out to grab him, laughing.  "No no no, I'm kidding, come back here."

"I don't like all the Nord clothing," he sighs, rubbing his neck.  "This was the simplest thing I could find."

You practically push him into the house, then shut the door behind him, cutting off retreat.  "Somehow it doesn't surprise me you'd take the old, frayed worker's clothes over anything nicer.  Let me guess; you didn't like all the layers?"

He pulls out the same chair as last time at the head of the table and settles in, giving a meager grunt.

You circle around to sit beside him.  "You'd be warmer."

"Putting on my armor is effort enough.  If I'm going to wear something else, it can't be more work than pulling it on."

"Then why wear something different?"

It's a simple question, but it hangs in the air, and you juggle probable answers in your head that turn themselves into romanticized ones; your comment about never seeing him wear anything else, taking off his armor to rub his shoulders.  You try to wave them off before your hopes rise too high.  

He sighs, staring down, and finally reaches for his glass.  As he downs his first gulp, you pass him a loaf of bread.

"Enjoy the stew."  

Dinner begins; so does a new tradition.  This dinner becomes one of many, as most nights after find the General seated at your table, dressed informally, sipping wine and sampling your newest recipe.  Even long work days spent over paperwork and battle strategies end in the Legate's cooking, as you become known for busting into the Castle Dour carrying your culinary creations should your dinner guest not show.  

The High Queen herself has a food invasion in her castle for keeping Tullius too long in a meeting one evening.  Tullius, obviously used to your behavior, merely shakes his head and sighs while Jarl Elisef peers curiously at the Legate currently laying out a spread at the small table where her court is convening.  Everyone is staring; you don't to care.

You give up your personal time with the man you love for no one.  

You’re more than willing to share, however, and have made plenty to go around.  The court continues its discussions between savory bites of thick potato stew and tender roasted rabbit haunches.  You sit, quietly and proudly, beside your General.

You are courting.  It is never discussed, never made official, but after a while it becomes a widely acknowledged fact and even Tullius himself doesn't dispute it.  You are each other's home, the refuge returned to at the end of the day, constant.  

You get into the habit of calling him pet names and pecking him on the cheek when you feel like it (neither of which even phase him anymore) wearing casual clothes instead of armor (especially outfits that show off your muscles.  Sometimes you think you catch him staring), and coming back to visit after every adventure, no matter how far away your restlessness takes you or how out of the way seeing him may be between tasks.  When you’re gone longer than usual, he has this way of looking at you when you walk in, and you know you were missed even if he won't say so.  It always makes you smile.

Still, the weight of the necklace sits heavy against your heart.  Every day you wear it, and every day it goes unnoticed–or ignored.  You’re happy, you really are, but unease grows at the lack of true claim you have over him.  He could up and return to Cyrodiil any day, and what could you do?  You aren't his spouse, he hasn't asked you to be with him with any permanence.  

You’re half afraid of losing him if you try to press the issue; half afraid of wasting your life chasing him if this is never going anywhere.  

It’s with this thought distracting you that you lean over the table like you do, hoping maybe someday he might act on what you’re offering, as you spread the food.  Your heart almost stops when his hand reaches out.  

He takes your amulet in his hand, letting both continue to dangle in the air between you, and runs a rough finger of the carved surface.  

"Isn't this Mara's?"  Tullius grunts.  

"Yes."  You’re practically holding your breath.  “Of course it is.”

"I thought you wore an amulet of Stendarr?"

After all this time, he hadn't noticed the amulet switch?  Mara help you.

"I did."  You reply easily, though still unmoving.

"Never took you for a Mara devotee."  He eyes the metal disapprovingly.  "Why the switch?"

You stare at him.  "You don't know?"

His eyes flick to yours, then narrow in confusion.  "Know what?"

"It's a Nord tradition here in Skyrim."  You smile, trying to hold down a laugh.  You'd wondered if he knew, but always been afraid to ask.  What if he had known, and was just not interested?  But he didn't.  He just didn't.  "An amulet of Mara is basically a declaration that you're looking for marriage."

Tullius' fingers stop their absentminded rubbing.  It's several silent seconds later before you can see him make himself consciously move.  He lets the necklace slip from his hand.  "How long have you been wearing this?"

You answers softly, pointedly, holding his gaze.  "Since the day after you had dinner with me that first night."

He runs his hand through his hair and curses, cringing.  "Y/N, I ... "

You’ve stopped breathing again.  He looks so tired when he looks at you.

"I owe you a great apology."  

Did you make a mistake?  You couldn't have misunderstood, not this, you couldn't have-

"I've made you wait a long time."

You feel the first relieved tear fall as he lays his hand on yours.  They become streams when you break into a smile, and he cups your cheek while your sobbing laughter shakes through your whole body.  

You think you’ve finally got control of yourself after a few deep breathes, but you fall to pieces all over again when he comes around the table and takes you in his arms.

[thefabkilljoy]

1, 5, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25-27, 29, 30-33, 36-38, 41-44, 47, 51, 53-55, 59, 60, 61, 64, 67, 70, 72-74, 76, 81-87, 89, 99 sorry it's so many ^.^

Iddhsgsbshsj okay here we GO ((sorry for how long this post is about to be in advance lol))

1. 6 of the songs you listen to most?It’s kinda hard to answer this as I listen to so much and fluctuate between which genre I want to binge listen to but prob something from p!atd, mcr, or maybe Hamilton idk I’ve been listening to a lot of that recently for some reason

5. What does your latest text message from someone else say?“Oki” ,.,….. like okay but weirder I guess

9. Ever had a poem or song written about you?Nothing other than like family projects by my brother and this one time a friend wanted to write a song about me because I came back from a week vacation in Canada but it never happened oh and I think I was in a couple raps lmao

10. When is the last time you played the air guitar?lol like last week at a friend’s house when I was imitating pharah’s new dance emote in overwatch

11. Do you have any strange phobias?I don’t think I have “"strange”“ ones but I faint around needles and I’m claustrophobic

14. If you are outside, what are you most likely doing?Ew,,.,. Outside,.,. Uh well I only go outside on obligation so probably walking the dog or going out with some friends

15. Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?Is this,,.., metaphorically?? I can’t tell but either way probably most of the time behind but I guess it matters on the situation?

16. Favorite band?My Chemical Romance or Panic! At The Disco because my emo phase will never truly leave me

17. What as the last lie you told?Uh idk I don’t lie very often,… well I just told someone I couldn’t go to something when I just,,, didn’t want to and I also just told someone I ”“appreciated their words”“ when I sure af didn’t

19. What does your URL mean?Well my URL on almost everything is TheFabulousKilljoy ((mcr ref)) but THAT was obviously taken so I made this and it’s the only website I’ve ever used it on

20. What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?Everything and nothing hella

23. How do you vent your anger?Do nothing until I get over it or go to the vent channel on a discord server I’m on and complain

24. Do you have a collection of anything?When I in third grade I collected erasers, then in fourth I collected silly bands, and then after that not really anything unless you count the growing landfill of empty water bottles I’m too lazy to throw away in my room

25. Do you prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online? Shrug probably voice chatting bc discord doesn’t support video chat yet ((I use discord a lot of you haven’t noticed))

26. Are you happy with the person you’ve become?More or less, but I believe I still have a long way to go

27. What’s a sound you hate; sound you love?Hate: anything too loud that isn’t musicLove: rain!!!!

29. Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens?Nope and yep, ghosts don’t really make sense to be real and duh of course there’s other life out there somewhere do you KNOW how big this universe is??

30. Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm. A supernatural blanket which I lowkey hate because it has the main characters on it and isn’t THAT terrifying to see when you’re trying to sleep and iron pills for my anemia

31. Smell the air. What do you smell?Shampoo because I just got out of the shower

32. What’s the worst place you have ever been to?There’s this house in Vegas that i have to go to every once in a while for vacation that I absolutely despise

33. Choose: East Coast or West Coast?West, I live in California

36. Define art. Anything that somebody creates

37. Do you believe in luck?Eh not really? Maybe?

38. What’s the weather like right now?Cloudy in the 70'sish but no rain :((

41. What was the last book you read?Oh god I have no idea probably the Princeton Review APWH 2017 Study Guide™

42. Do you like the smell of gasoline?Not really but my brother loves it

43. Do you have any nicknames?Killjoy, kj, tfkj, your royal highness ;))

44. What was the last film you saw?I don’t know what the last one I saw was called but the one before that was Dirty Dancing

47. Do you have any obsessions right now?Homestuck, Steven Universe, Still Mystic Messenger for some reason, Supernatural, Hamilton also for some reason I haven’t even seen it, the new FOB album ((can’t wait)), Skyrim, Overwatch, and about 846272 other things

51. Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?Yes, but again it depends on the situation and the person and how, if at all, it was resolved

53. Do you save money or spend it?Save until I get enough to buy something I want ((rn it’s the void sweatshirt from wlf so if anyone wants to throw me like $40 hmu ;;);)););)(;);,),;),))))

54. What’s the last thing you purchased?I can’t remember

55. Love or lust?Love of course

59. Where were you yesterday?Home playing a ton of overwatch

60. Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?Yep, a pink skirt I use for Roxy cosplay ((still working on that,,, eventually)) a Steven universe crop top im not actually allowed to wear lol, a flower, one of those eos lip balm eggs, and a flower crown thing from medieval times ((the knight dinner show thing))

61. Are you wearing socks right now?Okay honestly I just got out the shower and I’m very lazy so I’m just sitting here with a towel

64. Where is your best friend?Uh I don’t know probably at her house

67. What were you doing last night at 12 AM?I was on tumblr and discord because sleep schedules are for the weak

70. Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend?No I’m an asshole lol, but having shared interests would be nice

72. You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) what do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid?Wow that’s dark okay uh I would tell everyone because then I’d just,,, die out of nowhere and they’d be so confused, with my remaining days I’d probably travel and make amends with people and try to do some good things in the world in the month I have left, and I’d probably be afraid but eventually accept it

73. You can only have one of these things; trust or love. Trust, love isn’t 100% necessary and it’s built off of trust nyanyways

74. What’s a song that always makes you happy when you hear it?There’s definitely some but I sure can’t think of them right now

76. In your opinion, what makes a great relationship?Mutual trust, the ability to have fun with one another, shared interests and views, established boundaries

81. What would you want to be written on your tombstone?Something really witty and/or confusing so when people see it in the graveyard they’re just like,,, what the fuck was wrong with her

82. What is your favorite word?I don’t know I need time to prepare for these questions smh

83. Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart. A,,,,,,,, heart

84. What is a saying you say a lot?Oh god I have a lot of terrible annoying things I say a lot like rip, diddly darn, golly gee gosh, big mood, I’d let (her/him/you/them) step on me ((I say that all the time whenever I really like someone or someone says something nice to me lmao)) etc.

85. What’s the last song you listened to?Some Queen song I don’t remember that was playing

86. What’s your favorite color/colors?Black and pastel pink

87. What’s your current desktop picture?Well My computer has the Aperture Laboratories™ symbol from portal, my phone lock screen is my cat with a flower crown I photoshopped on him because,,, i love cats so much,,,, and my home screen is Bubblegum and Marceline from adventure time kissing ((even though I haven’t watched the show in years))

89. What would be a question you’d be afraid to tell the truth on?There’s probably a ton but my least favorite that always comes up during truth or dare and stuff is "who do you have a crush on?” bc I can’t say that without outing myself bc spoiler alert: she’s a girl

99. If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say?“HOLY SHIT THE WHOLE WORLD IS LISTENING TO ME RIGHT NOW I CANT FUCK THIS UP”

And we DID IT! Questions=Answered what a trip ((also something I say too much)) there’s probably hella spelling errors and shit but there’s no way I’m double checking this lmaothanks for asking my dude!!

[pissbaby-lover]

OC Profile: Arcene Marquette

Arcene’s a spunky, happy-go-lucky person who’s capable of speaking for herself. She can be a bit shy at times, but is usually the first person to start a conversation if she’s lonely. Without farther adieu, Arcene! (Images are borrowed from other sources for reference only.)

“Oh hi! I didn’t see you there. I was just on my way to dungeon grind in my newest Dragon’s Dogma file. Yeah… I’ve got a bad habit of spending too much time playing games. Especially if I can make my own character! The more design features the better! I do that a lot on Skyrim too.” She stops her spiel long enough to take a breath, and a swig of water. She looks back at you, her brow furrowing. “Hmm… what was I talking about? Oh! I was talking about me. So, I like video games, obviously, even though I’m not very good at them. I’m friendly enough, don’t really bother with other people unless they upset me first. I like cooking, I love music, writing about my game characters, and chatting with… well, just about anyone! Wait, who are you again?”

Full Name: Arcene Tara Marquette

Birthday: August 21st

Default Age: 20

Nationality: She’s a mix of Russian and Greek on her mother’s side and half French from her father’s side. Despite her dad being a French immigrant, Arcene cannot speak a word of French so don’t even bother trying.

Arcene’s default appearance: Light sandy blonde hair cut in a shaggy pixie cut, always messy. Light grey eyes and peachy pale skin (as she doesn’t go outside much). Average build with small sized breasts, measuring about 5’ 2”.

Default attire: Most AUs will have her in some kind of casual wear; hoodie or a light jacket with jeans. Skirts are only worn if it’s a uniform requirement. Tends to carry a small notepad and pen on her and an I-pod or other device that plays music.

Default Universe is modern or as close to real world as possible. Anything else is AU. (an AU exists of her in my D&D group with her having electric based powers and a decent skill with a dagger.)

Pirate AU: (Age 18) Arcene is the Master Gunner, serving Isamu through her expertise of high quality explosives. She cares for the weapons on the ship and always has a pistol or two handy. She’s indifferent to most of the happenings of the ship due to being far more concerned with tinkering with her guns.

Her appearance is about the same, save for her skin having a deep bronze tan from all the hours spent under the sun. Her hair is cut short and choppy, and is bleached to an almost white blonde. She wears simple black boots, grey men’s pants, and a navy blue vest. She carries a custom pistol on her with a lengthened barrel for improved accuracy.

Demon/Monster High AU: (Age 15) Arcene is a lightning elemental, and a hyperactive one at that. She met Isamu at a young age as their parents know each other and is always dragging her unsocial demon friend around.

While not the fighting type, she greatly enjoys using her electric powers to play pranks on others. She unfortunately doesn’t always have the best control of her powers and can end up accidently shocking Supernaturals that get too close to her. As a side effect from her powers, her hair is always statically charged and frizzy.

Magical Girl AU: (Age 17) Arcene is the Element of Light. Her manifested weapon is a Halberd and she can summon a circle of light to use as a shield.

Her powers didn’t manifest until about middle school, where she ended up overcharging all the lights in the gymnasium after an argument with a fellow student. The bulbs all burst, leaving the students startled and her scared as she’s afraid of the dark. The same student she got in a fight with had to help her out of the gym, with Arcene sobbing the entire time.

Honor Among Thieves AU (Medieval Fantasy/RPG) (Age 19) Arcene is a member of the royal court. She’s training up to be a Master Flame Mage but can only preform basic fire spells.

She spends much of her time studying artifacts of the old world and is one of the top experts on the subject despite her young age.

Arcene was sent to head an operation to retrieve some of the artifacts lying in the abandoned ruins. Her long suffering friend Isamu was put in charge of guarding Arcene and commanding the hired hands Arcene recruited.

Arcene’s judgment could be called into question as she spent most of their recruitment funds on thieves and outlaws. she still believes they will preform well enough and is more concerned with the artifacts than the treasure that my lie in the old ruins.

Default Personality: Arcene is as carefree as a person could possibly be and still survive. She floats around, interacting with others freely regardless of possible stipulations behind it. She will sometimes cross lines without meaning to. Her behavior can be erratic and unpredictable, but her moods are something of a mystery; it’s hard to tell what she’s thinking, or if she’s even paying attention. She’s also got a poor memory, forgetting important dates and events, even people she’s just talked to. She misplaces things often and has bad habit of getting lost. While she enjoys the occasional harmless flirting, she’s too romantically inexperienced to go very far and tends to get easily embarrassed as the other party advances. She’s a bit boy-crazy, and ends up finding herself in awkward situations as a consequence. Arcene rarely gives her opinion on things unless asked directly and tends to stay out of arguments where she might find herself choosing sides between people she cares about. She could be considered kind and sociable, but she’s just as happy in a room alone with a game or hobby as she is in a crowded room.

Default Background: (to be added later)

Default Sexuality: Straight; though she really doesn’t know what she wants.

Gender: Female, though it probably wouldn’t make a difference to her anyways.