#we should have had the no one told rook version

[impulsivelycontentious]

I 100% think the most valid solavellan ending is the one where Rook hasn't been told a thing by ANYONE and the romance ending still plays but this time the camera goes back and forth from this intense intervention style healing thing to Rook's face as it runs the full emotional experiance from denial to acceptance until finally, as it fades to black, Rook asks "What the fuck?"

Rook, watching the man who had unleashed the blighted gods, killed Varric, and spent months manipulating their mind through blood magic, now tongue deep in the mouth of one of the most respected women in all of Thedas: 🧍‍♂️

[alastor-simp]

Dorm leaders with a reader who sings like the Japanese singer, "Ado"

🌹 Riddle Rosehearts

-Riddle knew you were full of surprises, but he never expected you to have such an amazing voice. Cater was the one that revealed your talent by showing him one of your music videos at one of the Unbirthday parties. Riddle questions as to why you don't reveal your face, but he realized that if that's what makes you comfortable, then its fine. The ADeuce combo joked with the both of you saying that you should sing for Riddle for his birthday. Riddle flushed and collared the both of them for messing with him, but he secretly wouldn't mind if you sang for him. His favorite song of yours is "New Genesis" , he loves how upbeat it is and he sometimes hums the song to himself when he is doing his schoolwork

🦁Leona Kingscholar

Leona doesn't really care for music and all that other nonsense, especially if it disturbs his sleeping. He had found out about your singing when he was heading to Ramshackle dorm to avoid Ruggie, and had caught you in your room, recording for one of your music videos. You didn't realize Leona was in the room until you heard clapping, and saw him standing there with a smirk on his face. "Not bad", he said as he came closer to you and patted your head. Leona started to get more involved with your music, to the point he would wake up from his nap once he got a notification about a new music video on his phone. His favorite song of yours is "Usseewa", he tends to relate to the song and also likes the rebellious theme in the music video.

🐙Azul Ashengrotto

Well, well, well. Not only are you an angelfish, you also have the voice of an angel. Azul had discovered your talent, when he came across you in the music room of NRC, playing and singing on the piano. Azul came closer to you and sat down next to you, not saying a word, just listening to your gorgeous voice. Azul, being a business man that he is, wanted to promote you into being a singer in Mostro Lounge. Of course, he would pay you accordingly and there would be no need for a contract. Once you told Azul that you mostly perform on Magitube (Twst version of Youtube XD), and don't show your face, he understood and wouldn't pressure you, but he really would loved if you worked for him, so he could hear your voice more often. You did offer to sing a song promoting Mostro Lounge or have some of your merchandise be sold at Mostro Lounge, so both of you could benefit, since you felt bad for rejecting Azul's promotion, and Azul agreed in a heartbeat. His favorite song of yours is "Readymade" , he loves how jazzy it is.

☀️Kalim Al-Asim

NO WAYYYYYYY!!!!! YOU CAN SING!!!!!!! WE HAVE TO CELEBRATE!!!! Kalim was over the moon when he found out that you can sing, that he wanted to throw a celebration for you at Scarabia. He kept asking you over and over if you could please sing at the party. You appreciated how happy Kalim was about your talent, but you were not use to singing in front of people. Jamil noticed saw how tense you were and explained to him everything. Kalim realized that he was pushing you to sing and felt uncomfortable. He just wanted everyone to hear your amazing voice that he didn't consider your feelings so he apologized and offered to give you a ride on his magic carpet. Kalim wasted not time to subscribe to you and listen to all your music videos. His favorite song of yours is "The World's Continuation" , he loves the animation in the video and how soothing your singing is.

🍎Vil Schoenheit

Vil considered you to be a regular potato like all the other students until he discovered your talent when the Joint Culture Festival took place. During the auditions for VDC, it was your turn to demonstrate your singing, you surprised both him and Rook with your incredible voice. Vil is not an easy man to impress as he has been in the acting/music industry for a long time, so the fact that you were able to leave him wide eyed and mouth gaped like fish, welp, you had managed to capture the attention of the most beautiful person in NRC. Vil was slowly starting to become one of your biggest supporters/fans, as he often watched over you like a mother hen, making sure you were okay and not straining your voice too much. He wasn't use to your habit of not showing your face in your music videos, as you should be able to show your beauty to the whole world, but he slowly got over it, yet he was still interested in doing a duet with you on your video channel. His favorite song of yours is " Gira Gira" , he loved the message in the song and how it focused on beauty, but flaws and imperfections as well.

🔥Idia Shroud

Haha, don't group Idia with the other normies. He was the first one to discover your talent before all the other dorm leaders. During one of his gaming streams, he noticed that a lot of people were commenting in the chat about a recent music video of yours and that he should check them out. Idia decided to indulge in his streamers comments and check out one of your music videos. Welp, I guess you can imagine that after that, Idia become a huge fan of you and subscribed to your channel immediately. He was always the first one to hop on your new music videos and leave so many sweet comments about how good the video was and your voice. Idia understood COMPLETELY about not showing your face at concerts and in your videos as he does the same thing, and uses a tablet to communicate half of the time. You really appreciated Idia's support and you had asked him if he would be interested in doing an animation for your next music video. Idia fainted once you told him that, but Ortho answered for him and said he would love too. He loves all of your songs, but his number one favorite is "Backlight" , he loves the animation and the fact that you sang songs for an anime has him fangirling like crazy.

🐲Malleus Draconia

"Oya~ You are certainly one unique Child of Man." Malleus loves listening to music, but he is more use to the classical genre of music then rock or pop. He is also artistic in performing since he is very skilled with string instruments. He happened to discover your talent during one of his strolls through Ramshackle, as he saw you sitting in the fields, singing to yourself. Once you discovered Malleus had appeared next to you, you apologized quickly as you wondered if you had disturbed him, but he shook his head and said you sang very beautifully and would love to listen to you sing a bit more please. Malleus wasn't use to technology, but he had Lilia help him with that, since Lilia had better knowledge in that field, so he could watch and listen to your music videos. He was amazed to see how versatile your vocal ability was as you could hit so many different ranges. You had helped him discover other genres of music that he had never tapped into before and he thanked you for letting him discover something new. His favorite song of yours is "Aitakute" , he loves the story in the music video and the romantic theme in it.

Credit to the youtube singer, Ado

[beware-of-pity]

Just before tonight's episode airs, I wanted to get out of the way some of the little thoughts that still wander my head from last Sunday's one. I know this post will hold little to no meaning or significance after the episode airs, because it could probably completely change the trajectory of where the relationship between Rhaenyra and Jacaerys stands seeing as we already got teased a conversation with these two, but there was something that did bother me about how they choose to portray these two th last episode that I feel the need to talk about it.

I really, really, cannot get down to what they want to do with the dynamic with these two. I really do not understand where Jacaerys and Rhaenyra's relationship is heading as of last Sunday's episode. While it seems like they can have moments where they communicate and understand what they're both feeling and going through, most of the time these two are on screen they do nothing but misunderstand and be angry at each other.

Rhaenyra treats Jacaerys just like how Viserys treated her under Otto's influence, as seen in episode two of the first season. She ignores him, doesn't listen to his suggestions except for when she's on board with them, and shuts him down at every turn- and yet she deliberately tells Mysaria that Jacaerys is rebelling against her, a feeling that showrunners like Sara Hess back up as the truth of the matter.

And all I can do while watching all of this unfold is ask myself if I've either lost the plot of what's in front of me or if I'm just not seeing what the showrunners want me to see. All I've been seeing for the past six episodes is an inactive Rhaenyra being angry at her council for.... something I'm still not exactly sure about. I understand, her, feeling diminished and put down and perhaps still not being taken seriously as a woman in a room full of men but every time there's a council scene and Rhaenyra is in it, I can kind of also understand why she's still not being taken seriously. Every time she recoils with uncertainty because she does not know what to do, how to retaliate, or how to get her faction back on her feet, her mind leads her to what she knows best, participate with Syrax. When she's told that her getting on her dragon and becoming an active participant in the war is a bad idea, she scoffs and becomes annoyed because she doesn't know any better. Rhaenyra doesn't know what to do because with the little education she was given by her father battling a civil war with her half-brother was certainly not on the curriculum. And while I wouldn't blame young Rhaenyra for not knowing better, adult Rhaenyra should have certainly foreseen that her ascension to the throne would have been challenged, challenged enough that a dragon war breaking out would have been on the cards that she would have to, one day, play.

This hesitation is what costed her rook's rest. Had she already started cooping up the men-at-arms of the houses whose support she had on her side, she could have had the means to face Cole with an army. But the writers were literally obsessed with turning Rhaenyra into another version of Viserys, that instead of us getting the Rhaenyra that's grieving and wanting to avenge the death of both Luke and Visenya, we got the Rhaenyra who doesn't even mention the death of her only daughter, the one she was desperately dreaming of, not even once and treats the death of her son as something of a matter of fact, something that happened that we have to get over with, something that the show almost wants us to believe Lucerys either deserved or had it coming for him. Something that will not have anyone mention the faults of Aemond's intention and doing, with him not even once being called or denominated as a Kinslayer, while he actually goes down in history as being the prime epitome of said act.

Jacaerys feels virtually and emotionally alone, there is no other way to put this. His half-sister and cousin, as well as his three little brothers, were sent off for their own good and the only person that he feels comfortable enough to open himself up to is Baela, but even he understands that he cannot put and vent all of his feeling and frustration on her. He knows he cannot burden other people with the things he shouldn't even have to go through. The person he has ever felt closest to, both in age and in as a human being is now gone, and he cannot even let himself properly grieve him because of the war he now has to put himself to the bone for. The person he openly seeks out to consolidate and ground himself is his mother, the only other person who can feel his pain to the fullest and because of everything going on Rhaenyra cannot see what Jacaery wants in her in those times he tries to seek her out. And it's both tragic and makes you want to bash your skull on the nearest wall available at the same time.

[harunayuuka2060]

Savanaclaw students: *groaning in pain*

Leona: ...

Ruggie: Whew... That's... kinda embarrassing for us.

Savanaclaw students: *begging Leona to send them to the infirmary*

Leona: Tch. You all got injured when your prey is just sitting there, admiring some plants.

MC: *staring innocently at the leaves*

Ruggie: Leona? Should we let them go now? Nothing happened with that 'little payback'.

Leona: ...

Leona: Hey, MC.

MC: *turns to look at him* *tilts their head*

Leona: ...

Leona: *cracks a smile* Pft—

Ruggie: Uh, Leona?

Leona: I've just noticed. This giant is quite adorable, don't they? Like a puppier version of Jack.

Ace: *hugging MC* We were worried about you!

MC: *grunts in confusion*

Deuce: Thank goodness, you look fine.

Ortho: *giggles* I told you. You have nothing to worry about.

Deuce: But Ortho, why were you so confident that MC wouldn't get hurt?

Ortho: They had experienced extreme pains before. Human brute strength is just like a fly landing on them.

Ace and Deuce: ...

Ace: Extreme pains? Ortho, would you want to elaborate on that?

Ortho: I'm sorry. That's a classified information.

Ace and Deuce: ...

Ace: *squints his eyes* Is it another traumatic experience?

Ortho: ...

Ortho: Would be "yes" enough?

Ace: ...

Ace: *about to throw hands to no one*

Deuce: A-Ace! Calm down!

MC: *confused why they're being chaotic*

Ortho: MC, please continue to behave well.

MC: *nods*

*In P.E. class*

Vil: Rook? Who's that person?

Rook: Person? *turns to where he's looking*

Rook: Ah. They're a new student.

Vil: Were they that person who was being bullied by other upperclassmen?

Rook: And the one who injured 20 Savanaclaw students without moving a single muscle? Yes.

Vil: Hmm.

Rook: Would you like to know them, Roi du Poison?

Vil: *slightly frowns in disapproval* No, I don't.

Rook: But they're extremely nice.

Vil: Why? Did they say so themselves?

Professor Vargas: *whistles*

Professor Vargas: MC!!!!! STOP PETTING THOSE FLOWERS AND GO BACK TO THE FIELD!!!!

Vil: ...

Rook: *laughs*

MC: *watering their favorite pot*

MC: *grunts to it*

Vil: *approaches them* Do you not know that it isn't good to water your plants at noon?

MC: *turns to look at him*

Vil: You're going to burn them.

MC: *has the look of immediate panic*

Vil: *smiles* But yours is still a seed so it should be fine.

Vil: By the way, my name is Vil Schoenheit. What's yours?

MC: ...

MC: *grunts then walks away from him*

Vil: Huh?

[serenityfails]

part two of my DATV thoughts, now that i've finished the game. i think i'm gonna focus on my feelings about specific character arcs in this one.

VARRIC: i touched on this in my previous post but varric isn't really a character in this game, it's just rook and solas's shared projection/idea of who varric was. which i do think is actually an interesting concept. i just think it's noticeable, once you learn that fact, that everyone just moves on instantly. i don't need the game to indulge me with hours of clothes-rending mourning, i just don't believe his death would go totally un-remarked upon.

HARDING: i need a lot more selling on the idea that she cares really deeply about her dwarven heritage. it's possible i missed some important banters or something on this subject from her, but as it stands i didn't feel, based on who she was before, that it really mattered to her that much. she's a surface dwarf, born and raised-- she certainly had some thoughts about that in the descent DLC, but the vibe i got was "yeah those guys don't associate with the likes of me, but fuck 'em, I'm Fereldan", not "gee i wish i could reconnect to The Stone". even just some tidbits about her family. she brings up her mother all the time-- something about her mother feeling a sense of loss there, or something emotional to link her thematically to the titans.

lacking that connection, it felt even more glaring that they straight up PUT VALTA IN THE GAME, because that's HER story, not harding's. it just doesn't line up for me personally.

i like the idea of anger vs joy in concept, and i liked the idea that harding actually had a lot of animosity towards solas that she felt ashamed of. but i think that animosity should have started from a more personal place (maybe what happened with corypheus and the inquisition, then varric) and blossomed from there into the wider question of the titans. if that was the intention, i didn't really see that in the final version.

BELLARA: She's Fine.jpeg. i think it would have been good to get a clearer idea of who/what Anaris is, because i did feel like that aspect of her story was underbaked and her brother's death was foreshadowed so hard it was basically haus of decline's "i think we're gonna have to kill this guy, steven" comic, but that was an issue i had with multiple character plotlines. i like her and Neve's relationship and i will be sexualizing it. thank you.

NEVE: i can't really take her Dark Knight bit seriously but that's okay. (she's Crime Boss Batman in my game now, and her boyfriend is the leader of the Crows, so good for her.) I like how she plays off the other characters more than I think I like her in isolation. i also feel like i was missing some of her backstory, but maybe you get more if you romance her?

LUCANIS: i want him to be a bigger mess. he's too well-adjusted. i say this having hardened him in my game... i was cut off from romancing him but i still feel like he was taking everything too well and being too reasonable about everything. i want a bitch with messy hair and yellow teeth scrabbling around like a fucking goblin okay he's been imprisoned under the ocean for a YEAR and he's POSSESSED make him get FREAKY WITH IT. he lives in a pantry but he always looks like he just stepped off a magazine cover. i can't jerk off to this

DAVRIN: they could not possibly have told you any more clearly how precisely his entire plotline will play out from mission one, so it was boring in that respect, but i enjoyed all the Wardeny lore of his questline so i'm okay with it. I also called the monster being Isseya so i get a gold star for being a big fucking nerd. His romance has moments of juice and then peters out a lot at the end, which is tragic. I actually enjoy his perspective as a Dalish elf that felt confined by that life and left it on purpose, but I think we don't get enough of a sense of the Regular Old Dalish vs. the weirdasses in the Veil Jumpers to feel the weight of that choice.

EMMRICH: i love this bitch he's so fruity and fun. it's deeply cute that he's genuinely shocked and hurt people find necromancy creepy and weird. i razzed him about it once and he got so genuinely sad about it i was like omg... baby.... i'm so sorry peepaw!!! Hezenkoss is the best villain in the game because she's just like what fucking ever no relatable motivation no grey morality it's mad science time!!!!!!!! my friend said she "made a bone Jaeger out of rich people" and you know what. she was right to do that. #womeninSTEM #supportwomenswrongs

i let manfred die. in the moment, i was actually just super mad at the game for so blatantly foreshadowing WE ARE GOING TO KILL THE CUTE LITTLE SKELLINGTON that i was like fuck you, the skeleton dies. i felt bad about it after. but also emmrich becoming a lich was REALLY funny so i don't feel THAT bad.

TAASH: there is a good character in there underneath the corporate mandated HR meeting. another point where the script needs less handholding, more time to breathe, and more in depth exploration of the qun's take on gender, which in the past games i have found genuinely compelling, and gender in thedas in general (which the games already have a patchy track record on).

i was also mad at the game for so clearly flagging their mom's death, and it seemed so reversible because like... hi we have a party full of mages with healing magic what exactly is the issue here, BUT WHATEVERRRRRRRRRRR. (mommy, why didn't aerith use a phoenix down?)

i also have to apologize to Taash for completely ruining their life and making it hard to connect to anyone ever again by killing off Harding. i think it's crazy Harding got to spend her last months on the planet getting the daylights fucked out of her by someone who is at a rough estimate ten years her junior and twice her size, though, good for her.

post is already too long. i will post about my feelings on Solas, Lavellan, and Mythal some other time.

[baejax-the-great]

Hello! No pressure but do you think you will update Overboard at some point? I love that fic so much, Alistair/Bethany is one of my favourite pairings and you write them so well!!

Thank you for asking!

I actually spent some time wandering Rivain in Veilguard getting the gears turning. I also made a Bethany Rook I don't seem to have the most recent version of the fic available to me at this moment (🙄), but here's a snippet that probably won't change much:

“I think this is the best we’ll find,” Bethany said.

They stood at the entrance of a rotting pile of bones that might have once made up a house. Fisherman’s shack, by the look of all the netting scattered about. There was more hole than roof. One patch of the dirt floor was covered in soot—the kitchen, he supposed—and another held a pile of wood shards that at some point might have been a cot. They were going to have to make do with the ground and whatever constituted that moldy pile of fabric over there if they stayed.

“You can change your mind,” she said. “You don’t have to go through with this.”

The lyrium headache had already been plaguing him for two days, and Alistair wasn’t certain how much longer he could keep walking. He’d never pushed it this hard before. This… shack, if he could call it that, would shelter them. At least there was water.

Bethany was looking up at him with nervous eyes pretty enough to soothe his tender head. Sort of. Well, no, not really, it throbbed, persistently, but at least he had a nice view through it. And he had no intention of going back and losing her now.

He swallowed. “I’ve chosen my path. Nothing could be as bad as…” He stilled his tongue. There was no saying Bethany would see this through to the end. She’d never seen someone in lyrium withdrawal. He wouldn’t blame her for leaving once the hallucinations took hold.

Bethany stepped further into the shack. “You should have seen the hovel we lived in back in Kirkwall,” she said. “I didn’t think anything could make me long to return to the gates. Stepped one foot through the door and almost turned around.”

“So, it had doors then, because this place—”

Bethany shushed him, and Alistair dropped his arm from gesturing at the hole they had walked in through. “It smelled. And it was dark and dank, and miserable, and I couldn’t stop thinking of our little cottage in Lothering being overrun by monsters while we had to live here. But my sister smiled, which she always did even when she shouldn’t have, and she put an arm around my shoulder and told me that she didn’t see a heap of trash in the corner or my uncle’s dirty socks or the soot-stained ceiling. All she saw was survival and opportunity.”

Alistair kicked at the charred remains of… something. Trash, check. Soot and dirt, check. No socks as of yet, but there might some hiding under the debris. Fish bones, too, probably. “So, this place looks like survival to you?” he asked, unable to keep the pessimism out of his voice.

“No.” Bethany took his hand. “It looks like freedom.”

Alistair closed his eyes. It sounded so nice when she said it. “It won’t be easy.”

She caught his jaw with her hand, cradled his cheek. He felt the tiniest bit of healing magic under his skin as she said, “I know. But it’s ours.”

He leaned into her hand, and the way she said it, he almost believed her.

[twisted-wonderland-shenanigans]

MERMAY: Twisted Wonderland Marine Biologist!AU Skit

In honor of Mermay, I’m posting a skit from two new Twisted Wonderland AUs I’ve started working on (and I likely will find more ideas to create more AUs over time), and I’m so happy to share some of the stuff I’ve got with you all~ UvU As you can see by the title, the version today is the Marine Biologist!AU~!

So here in this scene, Yuu has started figuring out their new role as caretaker for a motley group of mermaids that arrived at the facility after their avian guardian (aka Rook) arrived to keep them all together and safe from humans trying to hurt them. Let’s see how their first official week goes~ >v>

Oh, and I forgot to mention this in the poll, but in both AU’s, the mermaids cannot speak human languages and speak in clicks, chirps, trills, and whistles (or squawks in Rook’s case). Each character’s form is based on their nickname given to them by Floyd in game just for clarification! (Crowley in these AU is a manta ray because it has wings, and because we don’t know what Floyd would call him, so I want him to be a manta ray!).

////------------////

A week had passed since the new feeding routine started, the seagull-like harpy they’d started calling “Roo” taking each bucket and passing them to each enclosure while Yuu stood near the cart. While somewhat boring with nothing to do but watch, Yuu reminded themselves that this was the closest anyone had been able to get since the mermaid’s avian guardian appeared. It was also fascinating to watch how, for the most part, he seemed to have a good rapport with the majority of the tanks. They couldn’t help but notice how annoyed Leo seemed whenever Roo got near him though—even when the harpy seemed undeterred and still smiled so cheerfully.

What sort of relationship did those two have in the first place?

‘So many questions…I wish we could communicate with one another,’ Yuu thought, moving to put another bucket on the red ‘x’ when they saw him taking off towards them again. This was the last one and they would be done for the morning feeding.

When Roo landed and swapped the empty bucket with the full one, he stopped to look at the cart with the other upturned buckets. For just the briefest moment, Roo looked…disheartened? Before they could figure out what it could mean, he had already taken flight towards the final tank: the Pom Tank.

‘Wait…are they…getting enough to eat?’ Yuu wondered.

As he landed, they paid close attention as Roo began sorting through the fish, gently passing them to Violet and Guppy when they appeared at the surface. Eventually he took at least three fish for himself before returning the bucket, a calm yet still somewhat weary smile on his human-like face. If he was only taking so little while giving everyone else the rest…

//

“Pardon?”

“Sir, I really think we should add at least seven more buckets of fish,” Yuu told Mr. Tanner. “I don’t think any of them are getting enough food, and the whole time I was watching them, Roo only took three fish for himself. He looked…disappointed when he was looking at the empty buckets.”

“Wait, who’s Roo?”

“The harpy creature. It…got a little awkward trying to communicate with him or calling him ‘harpy-man’, and he seemed to respond to the name Roo, so…I’ve started calling him Roo...for lack of a better name, anyway.”

“Oh…I see.” The director hummed as he mulled over Yuu’s words. What he was thinking they couldn’t say for sure, and for a moment they worried he might turn down the suggestion…until he nodded. “Okay. I’ll make arrangements with the supply team and have them prepare another cart of fish for tonight’s feeding. You are to report what you observe, and if it seems like they may still need more, we will add more until we find what amount works.”

“T-thank you, sir!”

“No, thank you.” Mr. Tanner’s expression was soft as he smiled at them, reminding Yuu of a grandfather as he said, “We honestly cannot afford to lose these creatures due to our own negligence. No one should ever have to go hungry, whether they’re human, animal, mermaid…or a giant screeching harpy man!”

At that Yuu couldn’t help but laugh, Mr. Tanner’s jovial chuckle joining in. Hopefully their idea will work, and this will put them in good standing with Roo…

//

“Roo! Feeding time!”

Yuu’s voice echoed in the mostly silent warehouse, mixing with the low thrum of the filters keeping the waters clean and oxygen rich. A flurry of feathers announced Roo’s descent before he landed, talons clicking against the metal floor as he approached the offered bucket as usual. One by one they continued the same routine, Yuu waiting impatiently for him to finish so they could bring out the nest cart.

When he brought back the last bucket—once more carrying three fish and disappointed look in his eyes—he was about to take off before Yuu called out his name. “Wait,” Yuu said, holding their hands up and making a motion they’d used once before. Pointing to where he was standing, they said, “Stay, Roo. Wait.”

Roo’s head tilted as he watched them, yet he stayed put with an expectant stare. Yuu put the last bucket on the cart and wheeled it away, glancing over their shoulder to make sure he stayed there. Their heart hammered in anxious excitement as they reached around the entrance to where the second cart was waiting, seeing Roo tense as they once more repeated the request…before pulling the load around the corner.

The moment he saw the fresh buckets full of fish, Roo’s emerald eyes grew so wide in clear shock and disbelief. It wasn’t until they approached with one in hand that he began crooning and squawking, nearly losing his grip on the three fish he’d had in his arms before dumping them into the fresh bucket. “There you go, Roo,” Yuu said, unable to hold back the biggest smile at the joy he was showing. “I’m sorry we haven’t been feeding you and your friends enough. We didn’t know you needed more than we were giving you. If it’s still not enough, I can talk to the director and get some more buckets…okay?”

The joyful harpy soon calmed down, though his smile never went away as he tilted his head, regarding them with a thoughtful expression. Then, he picked up the bucket—

And promptly deposited it in Yuu’s arms.

“Wha-?!” they uttered, barely managing to get a proper hold on the bucket in question. “Wait, what-?”

Before they could voice any protest, Rook had already picked up another bucket and was holding it in one hand. With his free arm, he gestured towards the tanks and gave Yuu a calm, expectant look.

“…are you…allowing me to help?” Yuu asked, pointing at themselves. To their shock, he nodded, one of his wings reaching out to nudge them forward as he guided them towards the Hearts Tank. It wasn’t until they’d started climbing up the stairs that he took off, fluttering over to one of the other tanks and landing on the platform. To their shock and amazement, several of the mermaids had approached the surface, watching them carefully as they set the bucket down and began tossing some fish into the water.

It wasn’t until Roo called out to them that they slowly began to eat the offered food, giving Yuu a good look at them. The crab-like mermaid had a heart-shaped mark on one eye, while the blue mackerel one had a spade over the opposite eye. The orange mermaid had a diamond on one cheek, and when the golden-eyed turtle appeared they saw a clover marking on the opposite cheek. Card deck markings…? That wasn’t something that the other researchers had been able to note before.

Finally, the red, black, and white mermaid appeared, slate gray eyes observing them with such an intensity that they felt…intimidated. Like they were staring in the face of royalty. Not a king per say, but…a queen maybe?

“Wow…you’re all so…gorgeous,” Yuu couldn’t help but utter in amazement, elated at the fact that they were able to even get this close to them now. Then—realizing that they would have to report this event—they hummed in thought. They were going to have to figure out names for these five just like they had for Roo. So maybe…

“I think I’ll call you…Red Queen,” Yuu finally said, pointing at the red one. “And you are…Diamond. Clover…” A moment later they smiled, adding, “If I call you Turtle Clover, I can nickname you TC! And…you two are going to be…Spade and Ace—like the Ace of Hearts!”

While the others seemed indifferent or confused by this, the moment they mentioned ‘Ace’ they noticed how the crab mermaid seemed to perk up in surprise. Did he somehow recognize the word?

Curious, they called out, “Ace?” To their surprise, he squeaked and chittered up at them, moving closer with a ‘Yeah? What do you want?’ look on his face. “Does…Ace mean something to you?”

He chirped at them in response, looking annoyed as he crossed his arms over his chest in what was yet another very human-like action.

Just how much actually separated the mermaids from ordinary humans…?

[azems-familiar]

my thoughts on veilguard

putting this all below a cut; it will contain SPOILERS for all of veilguard, including the ending.

alright, i'll start with the good parts.

i did actually enjoy playing the game - while the mechanics are very different from previous dragon age games, i found it still had enough tactics in it to be interesting, and the varying difficulty levels helped a lot for me; i'm actually planning to try it on a slightly higher difficulty the next playthrough i do. i quite liked the exploration and felt that they'd successfully improved on the failed open worlds from Inquisition, and the puzzles all over were a lot of fun to decode. the art style itself is absolutely beautiful; i was skeptical of it in the trailers, but found myself enjoying it once i actually got into the game itself. the soundtrack is gorgeous (though i do think it lacks a bit when compared to inquisition's), and i overall had fun.

i do love all the companions, and as someone who really enjoyed me2's loyalty system seeing a similar style brought in here was quite fun for me. i also felt they did a good job trimming down extraneous side quests while still keeping the game feeling like it had plenty of content; i didn't fully 100% it my first run but i got through almost everything.i imagine if i'd gone for the full 100% my playthrough would've ran around 100 hours rather than the 95 i clocked (though that includes some character creator time, so isn't fully accurate. maybe 90?).

there were several very good moments - i enjoyed the conversations between Rook and Solas; overall i really loved most of Solas's content in the game. i felt the Varric bait-and-switch reveal was actually really well done. i played a trans nonbinary Rook and really adored the trans dialogue peppered throughout and how that interacted with the romances and with Taash's arc. the game also keeps track of how you interact with characters and has that influence the choices you get in the future, or the choices they make, which was very neat.

but overall...it really just feels like they dropped the ball.

this doesn't feel like a dragon age game. it's entirely absent the complex politics and intrigue that i'd expect from one - we are told many things that are there for plot reasons and given no deeper justification, such as the Antaam and Venatori not only willingly working together, but willingly working together for the elven gods. it's expected to be believable that the Dalish uniformly have accepted this version of their history that only the Inquisitor and her inner circle knew, besides Fen'harel's agents, ten years ago? speaking of Fen'harel, where are his agents, his network, his people?

(speaking of the Dalish, why are they all Veil Jumpers now. we see zero traditional clan structure onscreen and i'm kinda upset about it as someone who has played as a Dalish elf wherever possible in every game.)

the game has incredibly weird pacing; it uses Varric's screens to describe things that haven't happened and the characters don't know about, and i think they meant to have that build tension, but instead imo it just deflates it; there's no natural wondering what consequences things might have because everything is spelled out long before we get there. at the same time, things that should have been quests to discover are spoken of in "varricspace". this does get better later in the game, but it still feels...very weird. i think the worst part of it is at the beginning - you stop Solas's ritual, the gods escape, you have one conversation with Solas, everyone basically uniformly agrees the gods have escaped, and away you go. D'Meta's Crossing is treated like a "find out who your actual enemy is" part but...doesn't really end up actually feeling like that because of the weird exposition.

their decision to only carry over 3 choices but still reference past events left a lot of open-ended, vague moments - like Harding's conversation about the Inquisition, where she could only give surface details about a few people and said nothing about the Inquisitor at all, or Dorian and Maevaris talking about how Fereldan's succession was decided by a duel at one point but not saying anything else about it. or the fact that Hawke never comes up, despite one of their potential romances being right here, and Varric hanging around...whether that was Actual Varric or not lol.

i found a lot of plot holes - it was pretty clear they wanted to do specific things with the Blight, so there was just a lot of Wardens going "well we don't know what's happening it's changing all the rules" and massively fucking with that lore, which, okay whatever. i wasn't very happy with the fact that we destroyed Weisshaupt, but at least trying to destroy the Grey Wardens is kinda a dragon age special. the other Evanuris are basically treated as though they no longer exist, even though Solas trapped all of them in the Fade...? this was a big ol plot hole for the ending imo.

most people have said all the other things i could say about the writing, so instead i'll address the thing that bothered me the absolute most: the ending.

first - gratuitous character death that has almost no impact on the game or the characters? well i played mass effect, so whatever, i'm used to that. nah, i want to talk about Solas, and how the ending is awful for him, even the "good" one.

even if you ignore the plot hole about how there should still be several other Evanuris out there to maintain the Veil, pushing Solas to tie himself to the Veil and spend the rest of his immortal life protecting it as "atonement" is a super shitty ending. atonement for what? for actions that happened thousands of years ago, that he has lived with awful regret for since, that he was pushed into by Mythal? the game does a wonderful job of showing how manipulative and insidious their relationship was - i'd go so far as to call it abusive, though not in a way some people would recognize, emotionally rather than physically - only to then never touch on that or let the characters properly react to it. in fact, with the Titans, Solas is the one saying he knows this is a bad idea and will have consequences, and he's told to do it anyway - and yet Harding gets furious at him, then later laments that she should be ANGRIER at him for it.

Solas was used by Mythal time and again, very clearly felt as though he couldn't refuse her until the very end, often spoke out against her decisions, and most importantly was only one of the people responsible for the war with the Titans, and yet is made to bear all of the blame. Frankly I'm also upset by how the game railroads you into being angry at him for Varric's death and treating it as some horrible thing - Varric fucking tried to steal Solas's ritual knife, while unarmed, i don't know what he expected. and Varric's death alone is not a crime worth forcing Solas to spend his ENTIRE IMMORTAL LIFE "atoning" for. neither is his desire to tear down the Veil, which he never actually succeeded at doing.

a true, healthy and happy ending would have been Solas getting to pass off the mantle of his people's protector and whatnot, maybe to an elven Rook, and getting to go off and live an actual life, as he says he wanted to in a particular codex entry:

while i'm glad that Lavellan gets to go with him, it just felt like such an...almost punitive-punishment style ending. the evil villain has to go atone for his crimes all his life but because there's a good man who wanted to do good things (AND DID DO A WHOLE LOT OF GOOD LET'S NOT FORGET) under there he gets to have his lover with him for it. like. what are we punishing him for, lying to Rook??

idk, man. it leaves a really bad taste in my mouth.

[carinavet]

I've gotten as far as "We've got Solas' lyrium dagger and we're going recruiting" and I have a lot of questions, and it feels like I'm not going to get answers to many of them. (If you know the answers, DO NOT TELL ME.)

First off, pretty much everything up till now (including the previous working name of the game) has led us to believe this was going to be a confrontation with Solas to either stop him or convince him to stop, but we've basically just ... skipped that part? You know, the bit that so many of us have been invested in for like 10 years is just ... over? Without even any mention of the massive spy network he's been building? So now we've got the Evanuris instead.

Who are Blighted????? I fill like literally no one is making a big enough deal about that. What does that mean for the history and mythology of Thedas? If Coryphius was one of the magisters that brought back the Blight, does that mean he got it from the Evanuris in the first place? Did the Blight exist before the Veil did? Was it in Arlathan? How exactly does it augment their power? Wtf is going on?

The truth of the Evanuris should also be a bigger deal in general, but we just skipped that bit as well, presumably because the audience already got that part in Trespasser. Still doesn't make much sense that the Veiljumpers are like "Oh yeah we already figured that bit out." I guess word's gotten out in the decade since then but I honestly doubt most people would believe it even if it had.

And then Varric's like "I've been wracking my brain for contacts who can help us" and I'm just like .....The Inquisition????? I know this is a new game with new people and all, but if you're gonna put Varric right in the middle again you're gonna have to give me a reason he doesn't call literally anyone else in before this game even starts.

And what's with this lyrium dagger? Since when does Solas need any magical implements? Since magic was presumably changed significantly with the creation of the Veil, how do the Evanuris already know exactly what they need for whatever they're doing? While we're at it, what do any of them know about Titans, and how do Titans fit in with the creation of the Veil? I've always played that DLC after the main game so Idk if Solas has anything interesting to say during it.

I am having a lot of fun with my Rook, though. (But I do not like that he's introducing himself by a Varric nickname, which isn't even a real Varric nickname because it's one-siz-fits-all. So instead I'm headcanoning that this is a code name, like Charter. *slaps desk* It is law.)

So as I've said before, I did the math and Nerdaniel Mahariel's adopted son is 25, so he's my Rook. He's human, but he grew up listening to his mother's stories, so the tattoos on his face are an altered version of Andruil's vallaslin, which she gave him before she left to find a cure for the Calling. I'm not sure I got his face right: I have a very clear picture of what he looks like when he's 10, but aging that up is hard, and then making that face in a character creator is harder.

He was always the kid that sat silently in the back but watched everything. (One minor problem I'm having with gameplay is that the protagonist, by necessity, talks too much.) Even now he's the quiet guy that you probably wouldn't notice in most rooms, except that he's the only human with vallaslin.

His thought process throughout most of this crap has been variations on "wish my mom were here" "my mom would know what to do" "what would my mom think of this" "gonna make mom proud"

She's the one who taught him everything he knows about hunting, archery, lock picking, etc. She also told him Dalish legends and stories about the Blight, though she framed it as "when we were soldiers": her and Alistair's identities were an open secret between them. She knew that he knew who they were, but they didn't acknowledge it out loud until she began to hear the Calling. They were close, but because of his personality it was a quiet kind of closeness. Also moreso than his younger sister, he does also cling to the memory of his birth parents. He thinks of Alistair and Nerdaniel as his parents, but he still calls them by name.

I'm not fully sure what happens to him and his sister when Nerdaniel and Alistair go off on their quest. I've toyed with the idea of them being left in the care of her clan, especially since I think his sister might be a mage, but idk, still filling in those gaps. Anyway, eventually he ends up with the Veiljumpers.

So now he's the next generation of calamity stoppers. He's smart enough not to tell anyone who his parents are, though he'll make vague comments about having a Dalish mother, and now that it's relevant maybe about having known a Warden in his youth.

And now he's met Morrigan, though I don't think he'll tell her who his mother is. Not right away, anyway.

And that's about where I'm at right now. Still gotta get farther into the game too figure a bunch of shit out, but stupid being an adult with a job is getting in the way. I should make a good bit of headway this weekend though, so we'll see what comes up.

[silveragelovechild]

Alien Romulus (Some Spoilers)

The initial reviews for Alien Romulus were promising but after reading some of the details… I hesitated. The two biggest complaints were that it’s a “greatest hits” of the movies that came before it. The second issue, which is more damning, it repeats the trend of resurrecting dead actors via CGI.

For those reasons I skipped paying full price on opening weekend, and waiting until “discount Tuesday” when tickets are only $6 dollars.

Before discussing the rest of the movie, let me address those two criticisms. They’ve brought back Ian Holm who played the Synthetic Human Ash in the original. But here, he’s a different android - Rook. Sadly, it’s not at all convincing. I couldn’t tell if Holm was created with bad CGI or a bad stiff-faced animatronic (or a blend of both). A few times he appears on a grainy video screen - and actually looks realistic in those shots!

Is the plot just greatest hits? Yes and no. Many scenes have Easter eggs or reference the other movies. But I think the script blended those elements in a food processor so they largely stand on their own. The exception is one reworked plot element that has started to bug me the more I think about it.

Do I recommend Alien Romulus? Yes but with some reservations.

The characters are all unsophisticated 20-somethings, workers on a hellhole of a mining planet run by Weylan-Yutani. They all want to escape their jobs because they likely lead to an early death. So they are desperate and willing to take chances. They are also friends and willing to risk their own lives for each other. This explains why they often make decisions that endanger their lives.

They want to reach another planet where conditions aren’t as terrible - but it’s far enough away that they need cryo-pods to survive the journey. The solution - they’ve discovered a derelict Weylan-Yutani ship in a decaying orbit above the mining planet. If they can reach that ship, steal a few pod, they’d be head to a new planet within a couple of hours…

That is if nothing goes wrong. And this being an Alien movie, you know everything will go wrong.

The derelict is actually a Weylan-Yutani research ship that was trying to (you guessed it) experiment with the alien xenomorphs. The crew of the derelict are all missing, except for a severely damaged Synthetic Human - Rook played by a CGI “Ian Holm”. He is all exposition dump - telling us what happened how the crew of the Nostromo discovery the alien, W/Y’s efforts to find one of the xenomorphs, and the experiments done on the ship.

It’s not the usual “to make weapons” we’ve heard about in all the other sequels. And it’s probably the most interesting element added to Alien lore in a long while.

Except for Rook and the aliens themselves, there are only 5 humans in the cast. So the deaths need to be metered out across the 2 hour running time.

There’s also a new Synthetic Human in the cast - Andy played by David Jonsson. At the opening of the film, we are told that Andy had been damaged and currently has the mental capacity of a child. The others hope he can access the computer systems on the derelict. But that can only be accomplished with a system upgrade from Rook (who we know is just as evil as Ash was). Jonsson is very good at depicted both versions of Andy. But the question is whether Andy will remain loyal to the humans or to Rook.

Alien Romulus kept me focused as it built tension. I often wondered many times “how are they going to survive that situation?” But I also thought (towards the end) they should have cut some of those near misses and escapes.

The movie has plenty of face huggers, a few chest busters, and full grown Xenomorphs. There’s a new version introduced during the climax of the story. I’m pretty sure it was inspired by the final monster alien in “Alien Resurrection”. I didn’t like that alien hybrid and more than I like the new one in Romulus. While it’s intended to look gross, I don’t think it’s very convincing.

I might have rated Alien Romulus a 4 on my scale of 5. But due to the CGI Ian Holm and the monster at the end, I give it a 3 out of 5.

NOTE: Alien Romulus makes good use of the alien’s acid blood, which has been virtually forgotten since the first film.

Cast: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Beale, Isabela Moner, Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu

[youreallyshouldtalkmore]

Misplaced Concerns

A.N: Never did do Mia’s version of “finding out” about Malleus from Book 5.  Which since she already knows it’s more everyone else being shocked she knows. 

Twisted Wonderland Masterlist

———————–

“Oya, Oya. What have we here?” 

The voice had everyone freezing as Malleus seemingly appeared in the torn arena. 

“I thought I’d arrive a bit early, and what do I find, but a stage laid to waste?” 

Mia gave a small wave, “Heya, Tsunotaro! It is quite early, but we also have a bit of a pickle to deal with, as you can see.”

Mia jumped at everyone’s proclaimed, “TSUNOTARO?” 

Mia blinked and looked around, “What’s wrong with you people?”  

“Oh hey! Tsunotaro frequently wanders the Ramshackle Dorm garden late at night.” Grim stated, “Wait, is he the one with the horns that—” 

Deuce reached out and clamped his hands over Grim’s mouth, glancing nervously at Malleus,  “Grim, are you nuts? You can’t just talk to an upperclassman that way!”  

“Mia, what is wrong with you?!” Ace hissed, pulling at her elbow, “Do you have a death wish, calling this guy Tsunotaro?” 

“Don’t you know who this is?” asked Epel. 

Mia gave a long-suffering sigh and folded her arm, “Malleus Draconia, Dorm Leader of Diasomnia and descendant of the Thorn Fairy one of the seven, correct?” 

“EHHHHHHHHH!!” 

Mia was a little concerned that some look like they would have passed out right there and then. 

“You know?!” Jamil asked. 

Ace shook his head, “How in the….” 

Mia rolled her eyes, “While I wouldn’t expect everyone to know, Ace, Deuce, Epel, you three do know that joined the Gargoyle Research Society, yes? Why would I not know?” 

“Seriously?” Rook spat out. 

Vil glanced at Rook. 

Something that shocked even the hunter. 

Amazing. 

“I didn’t think you were serious! You never attended! I never heard you talk about it!” cried Deuce. 

“That’s because by the time I joined, this group was starting up. So I actually haven’t gone to my first meeting yet. Once SDC is over, I will attend my first meeting.” answered Mia. 

“That is a good point.” mused Jamil, “We are all exempt from our club meetings to focus on SDC.” 

“Wa! That’s great that you will be attending the same club as Malleus!” Kalim beamed, “I hope you two have fun!” 

By this time, even Rook managed to gather himself to ask, “By the way, Roi de Dragons, how did you even get into this coliseum?” 

Malleus looked pleased as he answered, “I was invited by the child of man living in Ramshackle Dorm. I do have my invitation right here.” 

Once Malleus gained an understanding of what happened, he was able to put it all back together. Mia blinked after it was all over. Looking around, it looked like nothing happened. 

“Oh my gosh, Tsunotaro!! That was cool!! Thank you so much!!” Mia beamed. 

Malleus blinked before smiling softly, “You are most welcome, Child of Man!” 

“Are you sure you should be addressing him as such?” Ace whispered to Mia. 

Mia growled, “He’s the one that told me to call him that!” Then she swatted a hand at Ace, “Leave me alone and since you have nothing of importance to say, thank the man for doing this for us!” 

Malleus held a smile back, as the other expressed their gratitude with still wide eyes. 

How interesting, this Child of Man was different from the others! More interested in having him properly thanked than witnessing his powers. 

Yes, he was looking forward to having the first Gargoyle Research Society meeting with her.  He had been strangely disappointed that no sooner than she joined, she was suddenly hit with another obligation that was SDC. 

At first, Malleus thought maybe she had rethought her joining, but now he was reassured that she would be attending a meeting with him. 

Ahh, he would have to plan! 

There would be much to discuss! 

------- 

A.N: Technically Gargoyles N Grotesques is the sequel to this story where Mia has her first Gargoyle Research Society meeting! 

[ravenlking]

𝐕𝐈𝐋 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐄𝐍𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐓

"𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐄, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄." when your beloved is finally on stage until the very end

gender-neutral warnings: spoilers for book 5 genre: fluff a/n: please give me feedback :)

Let me know if you'd like more!

(Valentine is just a brief OC, not canon)

In the darkness of the room, you stood before your board. Pins and little notes taped to it as you planned out your great movie to date. But every villain needs a hero and you were down to two actors.

Neige LeBlanche or Vil Schoenheit?

Two of the greatest teen actors of the century; just having them both in your movie would give you the biggest box office income you've ever had. You've seen and worked with them on occasion, but seeing their characters come to life was beyond exhilarating.

Neige LeBlanche or Vil Schoenheit?

You took one last look at the character concept before smiling, picking up your phone to dial your agent.

"Hey, it's me. Mind ringing up Vil Schoenheit's agent? I have a role for him..."

"VIL!"

Epel dashed through the halls of Pomefiore, screaming his dorm leader's name with a frantically ringing phone in hand. He pushed aside his fellow dorm members, throwing out "Sorry!" and "Excuse me!" to them before stopping before the golden doors of Vil Schoenheit's dorm room, panting. The phone was still ringing excessively.

"VIL!"

Heeled footsteps were what Epel last heard before the doors opened, a scowl on the beautiful man's face.

"What," Vil snapped.

Epel hurriedly showed him the phone as Vil's eyes widened, dragging the petite boy into his room before locking the doors. Epel met eyes with a grinning Rook Hunt as Vil picked up his phone, a smirk on his face.

"Yes?"

"Vil, I have the greatest news!" His agent babbled to him as Vil winced, drawing the phone away from his ear. The call was on speaker and her voice was loud. Very loud.

"Valentine, speak properly," He hissed out, rubbing his ear.

"Apologies, but listen to me!" Valentine's excited tone could be heard. "You know the movie, Until Death Do We Part, the first one?"

Vil scoffed, looking at his manicured nails. "Of course. The second one, Raising Hell For You is going to be directed by Y/N L/N, right? The famous up-rising director?"

Y/N L/N, the youngest yet most talented director of the century. Some say you were the Neige/Vil version of director, comparing your success to the teen actors. You arose in the entertainment world not even two years ago, yet your movies have won Oscars left and right. It would be the greatest honor for any actor to be starring in your movie.

Y/N L/N, also known as his secret lover.

"Mhmm!" Valentine confirmed. "Y/N's agent rang me last night and Vil! They want you to play Lucian Dante! The male hero!"

Vil's knees nearly buckled as he held onto his makeup table to stabilize himself. Rook and Epel jumped to their feet to help.

No...it couldn't be true. Vil thought to himself.

Right?

"Valentine, you better not be kidding," He breathed out desperately. A laugh came over the phone.

"What about Neige? Did they not consider him?"

He spat out the actor's name as if it was poison.

Valentine laughed even harder. "The way Y/N's agent told me, and they quoted "Neige isn't even going to be in this show.""

Vil's breathed hitched. He knew the newspaper rumors like the back of his hand. Everyone spoke of them like a duo, a movie being incomplete without the other. To only have one would mean that the movie would only be half of its potential greatness.

To only have Vil Schoenheit in Raising Hell For You...Y/N L/N was making a huge gamble on the movie's success.

And all for him?

"I'm going to have to call you back."

"Wait-"

The phone shut off as Vil tossed it carelessly onto his bed. He collapsed onto his makeup chair, meeting no one's eyes.

"Roi des Poison," Rook proclaimed. "You should accept!"

Epel nodded.

"You've always said you wanted to play the hero, even after your..." He paused. "Your overblot."

"Do not," Vil hissed out, pointing a finger at the young boy. "Remind me."

Epel only raised his hands innocently. "I'm just saying, if the carrot is right in front of you, you should take it!"

Vil only motioned to have his phone back and Rook was quick to do so. He tapped on your phone contact before waiting.

"Hello?"

Vil smiled gently. It's a wonder how your mere voice was able to put him in the greatest of moods.

"Y/N, darling?"

"Oh, Vil!"

Epel scoffed. "There go the lovebirds again..."

Rook laughed.

Vil ignored them.

"Darling, why did you cast me as Lucian in your upcoming movie?" Vil waited patiently for your response.

"So you heard," You hummed. "Vil, I've known you since we both joined the entertainment. It's no secret that you want to play the hero. Epel and Rook was my main influencer after what happened at VDC. They told me how much the hero role was a dream to you, how much you have grown to despise the role of the villain. So, it was an instant decision to have you as Lucian Dante."

Your gentle words made Vil's entire day. No, his entire week.

"Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I love you."

"This way, Vil, you'll be on stage until the very end. Like you've always dreamed," You cheered.

The Pomefiore dorm leader blew kisses through the phone before ending the call. He looked at Rook and Epel thankfully.

"Both of you, thank you," Vil smiled at them, for once not caring about the potential wrinkles that may form.

[thenightling]

Who are The Hecateae?

     In issue 2 Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman we are introduced to a trio of witches known as The Hecateae.  Someone in my Sandman Facebook group asked me about them.  Part of why you might not know who they are is because Neil accidentally invented a new spelling for the name.

      The original spelling should probably have been Hecataea.  It all originates with Hecate, the Greek Goddess of magick and witchcraft. In modern neo-Paganism the concept of the Triple Goddess is very popular.  Maiden, Mother, and Crone.

       Their sigil is usually the waxing, full, and waning moon respectively.  

        Neil Gaiman uses the Maiden, Mother, and Crone a lot in The Sandman.  With the Hecataea, and Eve, for example. Eve can transform to a Maiden form, Mother, and Crone. And the story behind this is told in issue 40 of The Sandman, A Parliament of Rooks. The story talks about how Adam may have had three wives, or they may have all been the same woman. And how “both” are true.

      Three women, as a powerful magical force, is popular in folklore and mythology.  There’s also The Fates of Greek Mythology, and the Furies AKA The Kindly Ones.  The Norse had The Norns.  In The Sandman Neil treats them all as aspects of the same entity.

      When Morpheus summons The Hecataea in issue 2 of The Sandman “Imperfect hosts” he refers to them as Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos.  This is the name of the Fates (Moirai) in mythology.  However these characters answer to Cynthia, Mildred and Mordred (Sometimes corrected to Morgan or Morgain).  This is because The Three Witches used these names in their own horror anthology comic “The Witching Hour.”  Nearly every character introduced in The Sandman issue 2 was an old horror anthology comic host.  The title of the issue was a pun. “Imperfect hosts.”  

The horror hosts introduced in this issue are Cain, Abel, Lucien, The Three Witches (The Hecataea), Eve (Also known as The Raven Woman), The Mad Mod Witch (Fashion Thing), and Destiny (now Destiny of The Endless).   Cain, who began as DC’s equivalent to EC’s The Crypt Keeper, hosted The House of Mystery.  Abel hosted The House of Secrets.  Lucien hosted Tales of Ghost Castle (which is retroactively Morpheus’s castle in The Sandman). The Three witches hosted The Witching Hour.  You get the idea.

But before they were even horror hosts, the trio was an architype common in folklore and popular culture. You will find that in most works of folklore and fiction if it’s not a witch acting alone, she’s usually in a coven of three. They’re not literally a Maiden (virgin or child-like), Mother, and Crone.  Sometimes they just fit the physical appearance or personalities heavily associated with these concepts.  

A popular famous example of this is Disney’s Hocus Pocus.   Winifred, the leader, is the Crone of the group as she is the leader and most cantankerous. She’s also the eldest sister.  Mary, the middle sister, is a bit heavier and is maternal toward her sisters.  She loves food and loves to cook and care for her siblings.  This is the mother. And Sarah (though not virginal) is the most child-like.  Much like Cynthia in The Hecataea, she is surprisingly sensual and a bit dim.  

Another good example is Terry Pratchett’s Wyrd Sisters who served as a parody on the trope, particularly from Shakespeare’s famous play.

   Disney’s Gargoyles even had a version of The Sisters. In that continuity they are of Oberon’s court, meaning that they are fae folk.  But much like The Endless in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman their appearance changes based on who is addressing them.  Goliath and his clan of Gargoyles saw them as human children. Demona saw them as woman Gargoyles (as she does not like or trust humans).  MacBeth saw them as human women. 

              There’s also the Hex Girls in Scooby Doo and The Witch’s Ghost.

     A helpful version of the three appear in the Fairy tale The Three Spinners where, like Rumpelstiltskin, they aid a girl who is forced to spin for a king.

         Once you start to notice it, you realize the three turn up a lot in pop culture.  It’s also common in religion.  In Christianity there’s The Father, son, and Holy Spirit.   Goethe’s Faust has Pagan roots despite its use of demons, Angels, and God.  In fact the entity at the end may well be the Triple Goddess as she is referred to as “Virgin, Mother, and now Queen.  Goddess grant your mercies.” -  A. S. Kline translation of Goethe’s Faust Part 2.  It’s no surprise that this also fits the Virgin Mary. A Maiden and a Mother, and also Queen (as opposed to Crone).

Note: Sometimes the Maiden, Mother, and Crone are actually referred to as Maiden, Mother, and Queen as it’s considered more respectful. 

             In The Sandman, at one point, Morpheus refers to the three-in-one as Witch Queen.

          Again, this is because of the roots with Hecate, Goddess of Magick and spells.  The neopagan popularity of The Triple Goddess also helps perpetuate the archetype.  Almost every witch coven has three (sometimes four) members.  Three is considered the sacred number. And once you notice it, you’ll start to see the Maiden, Mother, and Crone in a lot of things.

         I will also point out here that though it’s popular to consider Midnight The Witching Hour, the actual traditional Witching Hour is three AM or as Ray Bradbury called it in Something Wicked This way Comes, The Soul’s Midnight. 

          Neil Gaiman takes the Hecataea and also uses  The three-in-one for The Furies AKA The Kindly Ones.   

[harmonyowl]

― Whumptober Day Three

This is Grace's final confrontation cut scene as if she were a Herald in the game, or just how she would die if the Deputy killed her. This version of the song is definitely the one that fits Grace's final moments and what I was listening to when writing this, just to make it extra sad:

Prompt: Stabbed

Pairing: Grace Seed & GN!Deputy Rook

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: Mention of violence, Mention of blood, Angst, Death

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She should have listened to Joseph. He was right, he was always right.

He had told Grace that if she held onto her vanity, her pride, that it would feast on her content until there was nothing left of her but destroyed dreams and shattered promises.

And now she was stumbling towards the small chapel in the Henbane, her broken heels catching on the dirt path, her face bleeding and beaten from the fight she had just shuffled away from. The one where in the end, she had been chased down and cornered like an animal.

She had never felt more devastated at being wrong.

There was movement behind her, and the hunched over Grace looked back at the Deputy that had now stood up. They didn’t move to attack, just watched, and that made this all the more terrible to her. Grace wanted to get angry, to scream and provoke them, then at least this wouldn’t feel so final, like there was nothing else left of her worth their energy.

‘Joseph spoke to me so often about you, ya know.’ She coughed, blood-stained hands pressing into her stomach around the knife protruding from it. Another mistake of her pride, she had felt so triumphant when she’d managed to get on top of them in their scuffle. She had felt the taste of victory. That moment of pride was all the Deputy had needed to plunge their knife into her stomach, and unmake her.

‘I found it so hard to believe him, I mean, one person against everything we’d built?’ One of Grace’s hands shot out to catch the door frame of the chapel to steady herself, the movement causing some more blood to seep out and stain her white top. All the previous wrath from the Deputy’s face had vanished, they just followed behind her as she staggered inside the chapel.

‘But I was wrong…I am always wrong.’

It seemed the chapel had been abandoned, for there wasn’t much inside other than the pews and the clothed altar which Grace headed towards. She saw some writing on the wall to her left and it almost made her laugh:

Our Saving Grace

Not anymore it seemed.

‘Ah Deputy,’ Grace kept staggering up the short aisle, hand occasionally grabbing a pew to push herself forward, her legs were starting to go tingly and she knew she wouldn’t be able to walk soon. ‘I had hoped that in time you would see, truly see, what was right in front of you.’

She had made it to the altar now, grabbing it with her left hand Grace used it to slowly lower herself to her knees. When they hit the wooden floor it sent a pulse of pain to her belly and she groaned, taking a few deep breaths to ready herself again, she then turned so she was sitting with her back against the altar and her legs bent out in front of her. Just in time too it seemed for she was starting to lose her feeling in them, and with her energy slowly starting to drain from all her limbs her left arm, that was still clutching the altar above her, slid down and went back to putting pressure on her stomach. Leaving a red stain against that perfect white.

‘This world is changing, and we in turn must change with it.’ The Deputy had been standing above her up to this point, but now they crouched down in front of her to listen as her voice became more strained. Ironic that only now, in the end, they were finally listening to her. She wished they had shown this kindness to her before, just once.

‘Joseph is right, that’s just a fact. Not believing in him doesn’t change what is, just means that your hands will join his when this world is pushed into the inevitable.’ Grace coughed and she could feel her saliva thickening, a faint metallic taste tickling the back of her throat. The Deputy didn’t move any closer, wouldn’t move any closer to her, but they didn’t break eye contact as her blue eyes looked into theirs. It was a strange kind of morbid intimacy.

‘We are the world’s greatest devourers. We devour love, and ambition, and kindness. We devour past people’s for knowledge, and future people’s for profit.’ Grace wheezed slightly, breath becoming harder to draw. ‘We devour our friends and family to fill the empty parts inside of us, and we devour our enemies to use their bones for strength so we can devour even more. We even devour the Earth, always taking more than we deserve, always eating, and eating, and eating.’

She chuckled but it was strangled and pathetic sounding, ‘it only seems right that this world gorges itself on us in return to make something better.’

Taking another deep breath in Grace could smell the heavy, sweet stench of Bliss in the air and it made her want to cry. God was cruel. He was well and truly cruel. For here Grace was, dying in the place she most hated in this whole County, looking at the face of the one she loathed most in this world. The final face she would ever get to see. The face of her murderer.

No kindness or mercy to be found here for her.

Tears started to pool in her eyes and she closed them to stop them from falling, but her face was growing hot from the strain. Grace was never going to see her family again, never look into the faces of her brothers or her sister or ever be able to say anything to them ever again. Never feel the warmth of Jacob’s big hand on her head in a rare moment of gentleness, or hear the soft cadence of Joseph’s voice as he told her about something he found interesting that day, or fall asleep next to Faith knowing that trust had formed between them. Or look into John’s eyes and know that he saw the same being reflected back at him, for they had come into this world together, and shared more than anyone could hope to comprehend. Her love for them would not be enough. It was not enough.

Her parents had been right. Her choices would lead to disaster, her opinions were worth nothing, freedom was the catalyst of ruin, and trying to do something her way in this world was pointless, because Grace Seed was pointless. It’s why they had tried to smother the Seed inside of her, she understood that now, they could see what direction her life would lead if she made those decisions herself so they tried to help her. To make her into a Joshua that would have survived. But she had been stubborn, and selfish, and now look where it had gotten her. A worthless end to a pointless existence, that no one but her fellow Seed would mourn. Not even God.

For he was cruel, and his grace would only give us what we deserved.

When Grace opened her eyes, her vision was glassy but no tears had fallen. Every part of her body felt heavy, and when she looked down over the knife sticking into her all the way to the hilt, she saw that some blood had dripped from her hands onto her white jeans. Freedom was the catalyst of ruin.

‘I don’t know what’s gonna happen to you Deputy, but I pity you, truly. God is not merciful to sinners,’ her tongue moved in her mouth and she tasted blood; the final chapter, ‘and neither is Joseph.’

She gave the Deputy a weak smile, and for once, in all the time they had known her, Rook felt it was a genuine one. For only in the end would she be so honest, only when Rook could almost feel the tendrils of her life force in their fingers was she willing to loosen for a moment. They had meant to kill her, to rid this County of the dangerous and cunning spymaster that had them all looking over their shoulders and questioning their allies. But now, all that Rook saw was a scared woman that was lost, and sad, and alone.

Some light was starting to peek through the Eden’s Gate window above her, and Grace realised the sun was starting to rise. Soon its golden light would touch the grass, and the hills, and Grace for the final time. Her eyes travelled back down and she saw the knife sticking out of her again, and the blood around it, it was starting to slip through the fingers of her hands and stain her more. Honestly, Grace thought it would hurt more for longer, but it didn’t compare to the burning in her chest.  Freedom was the catalyst of ruin. She smiled again, lips wobbling.

‘I once was lost, but now I’m found.’ Grace quietly sang, voice thick as a few tears slipped out of her eyes. She took her slick hands and wrapped both around the handle of the knife. Shaky breath. Her final choice on Earth.

Forgive me my family, I couldn’t be what you needed me to.

‘Was blind—’ She pulled the knife out and groaned as she felt the sting inside her as the blade was removed. Both of her hands fell to either side of her and the knife clattered out of her left hand onto the floor. Grace opened her mouth to finish singing the line but couldn’t make the muscles in her throat work, and the muscles in her neck were getting heavier as well. Her head was tilting to her right shoulder and her eyelids were starting to droop, her legs were numb and she could see that her stomach and thighs were now completely coated in red, and it was pooling onto the wood around her.

Goodbye Deputy.

Her eyelids fluttered and her vision was starting to go black at the edges. Rook didn’t move from their crouched position, just watched as the blood sunk into the crevices of the wood floor and Grace’s eyelids grew heavy. They drooped lower and lower as did her head, until finally there was no more movement at all.

She was free now.

Grace hoped God would be kinder to her soul in death than he was to it in life.

Rook didn’t move for a moment, just looked at Grace’s body as blood still slowly leaked out of her stomach. The sun was now casting its beams of light into the chapel and over the fallen figure, not quite quick enough to touch her while there was still life in her breast.

Goodbye Grace.

Then they stood up and left, not wanting to be around when Eden’s Gate would find their fallen Herald. When Joseph would discover his baby sister dead.

And then Grace was truly alone, left to wander the Valley of Shadows by herself. Her only company now being the morning sun warming her broken body, and the yellow warbler who’s beautiful song now fell onto deaf ears.

But now I see.

[shroudcore]

Speak now, or forever hold your peace.

Summary: Ace, Rook, Epel, and Riddle failed to stop Eliza and Idia’s wedding. All hope is lost, and midnight is approaching. 

An angstier take on Ghost Marriage. Idia x GN!reader. Idia-centric. Reader is MC, or takes the role of MC in this story. (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4)

Warnings: none

Wyd when you’re minutes away from receiving the literal kiss of death? Idia wished he could ask Threaddit. Of all ways to go, he never imagined getting kidnapped by a ghost princess and being forced to marry her. It was a dark but almost funny twist that wrote itself into his uneventful shut-in life. 

“The wait is over, my prince. It’s time for our vows!” Eliza told him, as if this were something to be happy about. It was absolutely baffling how she never noticed his tears today. His pleas fell to deaf ears as an ancient wedding march played, which sounded more like a funeral march. It was a fitting BGM. 

> Idia tried to escape, but was paralyzed on the floor and couldn’t move an inch! 

> We need a healer to come save us! 

> Someone with a skill to clear debuffs!

At first, he thought it was ridiculous for him to be chosen when Vil, Leona, and Malleus were right there. But now, he figured it was only right for an NPC like him to be sacrificed so that the heroes could shine. The problem was that there were no heroes here—everyone here was selfish. Besides, no one could really save him now. His schoolmates lay defeated on the floor, frozen by Eliza’s OP status effect. 

Ace-shi was tied up and silenced after “offending the princess”. He tried to speak, but only incoherent grumbling could be heard with that silvery, translucent gag in the way. 

Epel-shi followed after him, but started yelling and wildly waving his bouquet around after Eliza asked him to consider being a bridesmaid. He had to be restrained by the ghosts. 

Rook-shi almost did it, but was slapped after Eliza somehow felt that his words weren’t for her alone. 

Riddle-shi was rejected for being too short. He tried to reason with the princess, making her feel that he was too serious. He was slapped. 

These four would-be saviors were frozen on the floor like everyone who came before. The Headmaster was nowhere to be seen. Since he’d been kidnapped, Ortho had been trying to help. Unfortunately, his brother was unable to do much for him without anyone’s aid. He isn’t even here right now. Idia’s heart broke at the thought of his brother still gathering people to help him.

And you? He hadn’t seen you all day.

While he waited for a savior, Eliza waited for his “I Do.” When the clock strikes twelve, she would kiss him. Then, it would be Game Over. 

“I stand before this couple this day to unite them in the bonds of matrimony,” begins the ghost officiant. Idia thinks of his unfinished manga volumes, the anime he didn’t get to watch, the games he never got to play, and movie sequels he’d never get to see. Most importantly, he thinks of you—his unexpected friend. Or maybe the more appropriate word would be crush. These past few weeks, he strongly denied these feelings as if his life depended upon it. Maybe it did. 

“... if there be anyone present that may present a just and lawful cause why these two individuals may not be lawfully wed…”

It was totally lame, but yes—your rejection would Crit him. 

“... let them speak now or forever hold their peace.” 

If his schoolmates couldn’t do anything, he didn’t expect you, a magicless human to be able to stop this. Still, it would have felt better to see you try. So, where were you? Did you ever care for him at all, or did he overestimate your friendship points? 

“Do you, Idia Shroud, take Eliza as your lawful wife...”

Can someone crash through those doors right at this moment?

to have and to hold from this day forward—”

Maybe an explosion could happen in the middle of the cafeteria idk

“for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer,”

Or the ground could crack open, sucking all the ghosts into the Underworld! 

in sickness and in health?” 

Anyone, please?

“Man, I’m so done with this!” Floyd whined, cutting off the vows and distracting the ghosts. Idia let himself exhale as he silently thanked the eel for interrupting. “When Mr. Firefly Squid gets a kiss, we get to go home, right? Get it done already.” Oh. Or maybe not.

“My back is starting to hurt from being stuck in the same position for so long. Give her a good peck on the lips while the gettin’s good,” said Lilia. What? I gamed with you! Traitor!

“Do as Lilia says! Hurry and give her a good peck!” yelled Sebek. This was followed by more jeers—more urging for him to just die already. 

Unbelievable. But he should’ve expected this from the beginning. This was why he hated people. None of them liked him, so none of them would care. It was fair, wasn’t it? There was no one he cared about in here. Only Ortho strongly protested against the wedding, but what could he do and where was he now? If only he knew this was going to happen, then maybe he could have installed some ghostbusting features into Ortho—like that one movie he watched!

In his desperation, he tried to appeal to the closest person to him in the room. “Azul-shi, we’re board game club buddies. Do something!” 

But his friend, if he could even be called that, only faked a sniffle. “I’m so moved I can barely see through my tears. Congratulations, you have my blessing!”

If Azul-shi, his closest in the room won’t and couldn’t help him, who would? He hoped it would be you, but that hope has long been squashed and only left him hating that he ever hoped at all. He must have bullied you too much while you were gaming. Did he overdo the trash talk? Was he too mean? (He swears it was all light-hearted!) Did he shut you out too much? Did you hate hanging out with him all along? Of course you would. 

Gaming together and talking on VC for hours, he supposed, weren’t enough to make you care if he lost his life tonight. 

Eliza talking about the kiss barely registered as a lone tear escaped his eye. 

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” If you were here, would you be chanting with them? Probably. It’s about time you showed your true colors too. 

“STOP CHEERING!” he yelled, anger flaring amidst his sadness. Did he deserve this? Did he deserve to be this hated?  

“Pay them no more mind, Idia. Midnight is here!” 

“Shut up, shut up! Can’t you see I don’t want this?”

But Eliza leans in, drawing closer and closer. Tears seep out of Idia’s eyes, weeping for things that never came to pass. No. No. No, he chanted in his head with his eyes closed, as if it could do anything. A chilly feeling begins to cover his face. This is it. GG. 

A sad and pathetic ending for a sad and pathetic shut-in boy. This was the only love he’ll ever get. Love wasn’t real. Heroes aren’t real. Dating sims aren’t reality. He should just—

BANG. 

Huh?

“I OBJECT!” 

“That voice!”

“Is it really…?”

Gasps and murmurs erupted in the hall at the sudden arrival of a figure clad in all-black. Beside them was Ortho, and at their feet was Grim. A large hat obscured their face, adding to the mystery of their person. The entire hall was awe-struck.

The ghosts whispered in confusion and alarm, but those who recognized the voice began hoping to be saved. Eliza, who’d been stunned into silence, quickly grew annoyed at the new interruption. 

“Who is that?” she asked him, but Idia couldn’t care about her. His heartbeat drummed in his ears. His blood was alive. There they were again—those butterflies you’ve been giving him… as cliché as that sounds. 

He watched you take off your hat as the hall greeted you with cheers. 

~~

To be continued

This is my first post and I’m nervous as hell.

I’ve been seeing the “Yuu-crashes-Ghost-marriage” idea around and decided to write my (really long) version of it. (Seriously, it got really long ahaha) Thank you for reading. If you liked this, stay tuned for the next parts!

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4)

[redrobin-detective]

I went on an illegal run (IE I told myself I wouldn’t run tonight, showered and got in my PJs then got the Zoomies, changed into running clothes and went out) and had a fun time with a timey whimey AU which would be a fun fic if I had the time and inclination.

Ok so it opens with No Watch Ben (who for the purposes of this Au knows nothing of the alt Bens, omnitrix, aliens etc) doing his thing. He’s started having weird visions, random bits of info he shouldn’t know pop into his head, unexplained pains. Little by little reality around them starts to warp and decay.  That’s when Paradox arrives with Prime Rook and Gwen in tow. They immediately cry out and grab onto NW!Ben in tears of grief and joy.

Ben Prime (who will be Prime from here on out) is in the midst of a death loop that, the longer it continues, it tearing apart the fabric of time and reality. He’d been battling Maltruant (maybe Maltruant/Malware hybrid, idk up for debate) and was pinned with his Omnitrix being mined for its data and power. Ben, unable to escape and knowing Maltruant with the Omnitrix’s power would be unstoppable grabs a piece of broken debris and slits his own throat. Azmuth had told him years ago that, as a failsafe, if the wielder dies the Omnitrix will also shut down and be rendered unusable by anyone trying to take control of it. Ben may be impervious to most forms of attack but the Omnitrix can’t prevent suicide. But neither Ben nor Azmuth knew that the Omnitrix had grown beyond it’s programming and would do anything to save it’s host. Before the last of Ben’s light goes out, the Omnitrix uses Maltruant’s time power (since it’s hooked up to the Omnitrix) to force a loop in which Ben dies and is revived over and over again. But the loop shows no sign of stopping and is destroying time. 

Every other Ben in the multiverse who is connected to their own Omnitrix felt the backlash of Prime’s Omnitrix trapping them in the loop as well. Only the Ben without a watch, while still feeling some of the effects but is overall okay, can help. Also, outsiders can’t interfere in the loop, only another Ben can enter and break it up. But this Ben has no training, no experience. Paradox reveals he brought a third passenger from the Prime universe, Prime Azmuth who was dropped off with NW! Azmuth. It turns out this version HAD created an Omnitrix, just avoided the final touches bc he was afraid of what he’d made and worried about finding the correct host. Theoretically NW! Ben should be fine with the watch since its out of sync with the loop.

We switch back and forth between Prime Azmuth convincing NW! Azmuth not only to complete his Omnitrix but to pass it onto a young human. Prime Azmuth tells not only of Ben’s heroism and accomplishments but lets some of his genuine grief and personal connection to the boy leech through at the thought of him forced to die on repeat. They debate as they work to finish the device. Meanwhile Rook and Gwen are trying to bring NW!Ben up to speed on him being a universal hero and aliens and whatever. It’s a lot to handle and NW! thinks he can’t do it. He privately tells himself that Prime has got to be someone amazing, someone not like Ben. He wonders if he can stop the loop by switching places with Prime who’s clearly way more important.

They get to the two Azmuths and the Omnitrix is complete but NW!Azmuth refuses to hand it over. He’s seen too many people abuse power to willingly hand it over to a child he’s never met. He’s ready to let the multiverse burn but Prime Azmuth convinced him to at least let NW!Ben try to break the loop. Rook and Gwen are trying to stress that NW!Ben needs to break the loop before Prime slits his throat. NW!Ben nods, perfectly ready to die to save his ‘better’ counterpart. They are able to link Ben up to the loop using the completed Omnitrix and soon he’s in the midst of battle in the loop. NW!Ben tries and fails a couple of times to break the loop and it just keeps happening as time around them falls apart.

At the point where Maltraunt goes to pin down Prime, the beginning of the end, NW!Ben steps in the way. This puts him directly in the path of danger and would kill him. But he doesn’t realize that the Omnitrix loves Ben Tennyson, was tearing time and space apart to save him. And it loves all versions of Ben, including the version where the watch never existed. To save NW!Ben, the Omnitrix flares out power which throws back Maltruant. This breaks the loops bc it’s no longer the same pattern over and over. Together, Prime and NW!Ben stop Maltruant and yey, the day is saved. Paradox shows up all smug, he knew NW!Ben would try and pull a sacrifice play and the Omnitrix, which has already demonstrated what its willing to do for Ben, would break apart the loop to help. Prime and NW! talk like they did in the canon episode (blah blah its just a gadget, only you can make yourself a hero) and NW!Ben feels spurned on to be his own hero.

NW!Azmuth had seen the battle play out and despite his anger and fear and bitterness, he finds himself intrigued. A young boy was willing to sacrifice it all to preserve universes’ he’s never heard of. A boy without training, or powers or anything special had a heart made fullmetal of gold. He watched Prime Azmuth fuss and frantically lecture Prime about the whole suicide thing. He thinks it might be nice to have a young one of his own to worry over. He’s not there yet but maybe with some meetings and some official Plumbers training for NW!Ben, maybe there will be another Omnitrix Ben in the future. Or not, perhaps the multiverse could see what a Ben Tennyson is capable of without the device. It’s not like he needs it to be a hero.