#you absolutely did justice for the dragons in your reblog!

[hitwiththetmnt]

Same mask! @idiot-mushroom

[neuvistar]

LOTUS FLOWER. part 2 (fluff + neuvillette version)

— featuring ┊neuvillette x f!reader

— warnings / content warnings ┊fluff ver! these sweethearts as fathers AAA, established relationships (u guys r married!!) genshin papas on the brain rn guys ! !

— a/n ┊omg stop i didn’t post this the day after lotus flower pt 2 but it’s okay! uhmm.. anyways! here’s part two of this guys ! ! it’s literally like a copy of my hsr fic (hsr men as fathers) but whatevs!! i’m planning 2 do the other five as well n maybe more genshin men before october ends bc i am SOOOO late it’s not even funny guys.. reblogs VERY much appreciated !

#𝟏 𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐃, 𝐍𝐄𝐔𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄

— NEUVILLETTE is an outstanding father, let’s make that very clear! he’s like that typa father that’s a little protective but also let’s his kids run off with the wind ! he loves seeing them run free whenever he takes care of them, there’s just something about his children’s happiness that makes him happy too. neuvillette is a sweetheart yes we all know that, but i’m sure there are times where he can be protective of his little dragonlings n protect them if needed ! he worries a lot about his behaviour n wonders if he’s too overbearing, or too carefree with his kids, please let him know that he’s doing just fine !

— NEUVILLETTE in my opinion would have about 2-3 (damn) little dragonlings! (or more.. maybe..) two boys n maybe a little daughter! he would love all his babies from the moon and back ! he ADORES them, and i mean ADOREEESSS them !! when you first gave birth to your first child, he probably started crying tears of joy because of how happy he is bringing a new life onto this world, he adores his babies sm trust me

— NEUVILLETTE would probably ask some melusines to babysit and help with his kids! just imagine, neuvillette working in his office while his babies run around alongside a melusine! ITS SO CUTE ! he thinks it’s absolutely adorable how close of a relationship his dragonlings have with them, it’s just so so cute !

— NEUVILLETTE is an outstanding father n all, but i feel like he would want 2 be a lil more extra ! because of the fact his hair might’ve been tied by the melusines, i feel like he would shyly ask the melusines for advice on how to tie hair or style it in general, he would work SO hard to perfect it ! everyday your little princess would always have her hair done by her papa, who spent many many minutes trying his best to perfect her hair !

“did daddy do your hair again?”

“mhm! papa always does my hair ! i like it when he does it, i really like the clips! <3” (SO CUTE)

— NEUVILLETTE would also be thrilled when his kids inherit his little horns and dragon features, i can only imagine him sitting down with them and telling them all about the past, and how they should love themselves and their unique features. despite that, he lets them know that they will be loved no matter their indifferences from everyone else. because of his deep longing of learning more about his existence and his belonging to fontaine, neuvillette is a man of his words.. he’s willing to teach his kids these sorts of things, he wouldn’t want them to undergo such stressful things at such young ages, he loves his babies and he WILL make sure they know he and their mama loves them very much !

“i— hng.. princess! you need to take a bath!” neuvillette’s face twists with worry as his kids run around the house, their tails and horns they inherited from him swishing and moving around as smooth as the sea, the waves and waves of laughter filling his ears. “come now, your mother will be upset if she sees you all walking around like this..!” the chief justice scratched the back of his neck, running after his dragonlings with a small towel in his hands. ah, this has always been a common issue. neuvillette was worried about his kids slipping and hurting themselves more than anything else in the world

thanking the archons above, neuvillette wrapped his strong arms around his dragonlings and scooped them up.. sighing in relief. “alright alright.. you little dragons are giving papa such a hard time.. bonté.“ the larger male chuckled, drying his babies with the towel with a sense of relief, his lips curved into a soft smile. “now, will you promise papa not to run around like that again?” his voice was gentle, like he was trying not to make it seem like he was scolding them.

“uh-huh! we promise!”

“mm.. i don’t believe you.” neuvillette coos, kissing the temple of their foreheads with a light stroke to their hair. “come now, let’s go make some food for your mother while we wait.. your mom must be exhausted after she comes back, right?”

“mhm!”

[gimmethemprimals]

Shaded Skies

Word count: 11,080

Warnings: Body horror, violence, mentions of death, dissociation

(The google doc for this story is available in a l*nk in reblogs/notes as well!)

Skybreak had wasted too much of his life for this. The Tempest Spire wasn’t safe. But when things fall apart in front of him and not a single one of his efforts succeeds, he has to do something. Anything.

Section I

“Oh, Skybreak, I wasn’t expecting to see you here!” Mel cheerfully said, watching as a grey Ridgeback slowly approached her. He said nothing in response, instead stopping just feet before the Arcane Pearlcatcher. She raised an eyebrow in curiosity, her tail flicking back and forth. They stood upon a large balcony that overlooked one of the many courtyards of the Tempest Spire, Mel leaning on the stiff metal railing.

Skybreak’s expression was stormy, to say the least. The two stared at each other for several seconds, Mel quietly waiting for a reply. When more time passed without any conversation, she cleared her throat. “....Well? Are you just going to stand there?” She chirped, seemingly unbothered by the other dragon’s silence.

He narrowed his eyes. But he let out a sigh, and finally began to speak. “....You have a lot of audacity.”

A look of surprise flashed over her face, and Mel raised a hand to her chest. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She seemed quite genuine in her reaction.. but this seemed to aggravate him even more.

“Really? You’re just going to stand there and talk to me like you don’t know why I’m here?” He growled, taking a step forward towards Mel. There wasn’t just frustration or anger in his voice- there was bitterness. An intense, and overwhelming bitterness. It was still growing as well.

Mel’s large ears were pinned to her head, and she nervously glanced around. Standing up straight from the railing, thoughts began to run through her mind as she spoke again. “Skybreak, I understand that you’re angry. I’m so sorry if any of my past words or actions have ever hurt you.” Despite her soft and kind voice, Mel’s body was tense.

The moments of silence were complemented by the booming thunder from the stormy skies above. Seeing that Skybreak wasn’t going to respond, Mel continued to speak.

“You should remember from our last… misunderstanding that I mean absolutely no  harm! We can resolve this with words, and maybe if I can… learn what’s bothering you, we can become friends again!”

“....again?” Skybreak hissed.

Mel stared at him with wide eyes. “Yes! Again! We were friends once, were we not? I remember when I was first promoted to Administrator, you came along to help me with my new position! I thought you were a rather great friend, and your affinity for Arcane magic was amazing! But after that one office party, you just seemed to… drift away from me. Did I do anything back then to anger you?”

Skybreak took a step towards the smaller dragon. “Did you do anything to anger me….. What a question,” he spat. “I saw something, Mel. I saw something that night that still haunts me.”

He took another step. “Do you know what it’s like to see a dead body, Mel?”

Mel’s breath hitched at the words. “W- What?” 

Skybreak’s lip curled. “I noticed that you had disappeared after a couple of hours with a group of other exalts. At first, I really thought nothing of it but- but when the party ended, and I was making my way back to my living quarters… I know what death smells like. I had just been hoping that perhaps it had been an unfortunate animal, or maybe someone had forgotten to clean up their meal, but when I went to investigate the hallway that it was wafting from…” He seemed to cringe as the memory came back to him.

“....Oh. It was you who found it.” She just barely let out a whisper as she spoke.

“...It? Mel. That was a dragon. They had a name. Oliver Reesedrake. All their magic was gone when I found them, it was like something had somehow ripped it all out of their body. Like someone had ripped it out. I didn’t… I didn’t know them that well but I still… I still worked with them. I still…” Skybreak quietly trailed off. The thoughts that he had repressed for months ripped through his mind. It was as if the rage he carried had all been snuffed out like a candle.

Mel blinked. Despite what the dragon in front of her had said, she didn’t seem to have been fazed. But as he looked up at her again, her expression softened. 

“Skybreak..”

The flame inside of him ignited once more. “I still knew that they were a good dragon. It took me a while to recover from seeing that. But I’m telling you about this because I thought about that day a lot. I thought about it then, and I still think about it now. And I realized something. Oliver was one of the dragons who left the party early with you.” He almost snarled the last sentence out.

Mel was left speechless as Skybreak continued. “When I described Oliver’s body to Conrad, he just… stared at me. Then he told me something very interesting. A corpse should still have the remains of magic for a very long time after a dragon has died. Even those who have passed from Magical Decay, they still have something within them that remains. A dragon who has died with all their magic missing is a tell-tale sign of something else. A clear sign of the Shade. But the Justice Department couldn’t do anything about it. Conrad tried investigating but- even Shade Management couldn’t find a trace of foul play. But I wasn’t satisfied. I couldn’t just- brush it off. So I started doing my own investigating.

You know what was curious? I realized that Oliver hadn’t been the first exalt in the Tempest Spire or Lightning Farm to have died like this. No explanation, no reasoning, only limp bodies with no traces of magic left inside of them. What was also curious? This only started after you joined the exalted forces. I found more and more things that didn’t make sense- but when I brought it up, nobody listened. Nobody listened when I told them it was suspicious. Nobody listened when I screamed that you had done something, that you were somehow connected- nobody listened until I was stripped of my title and demoted. They still aren’t listening to me.”

The Ridgeback went silent.

Mel struggled to find the words to say. “I… Skybreak, I’m so sorry. The shock of going through something like that must be terrible. Trauma like that can mess with a dragon’s ability to think logically. If I can just speak to you about this more, get you someone to explain everything to, then maybe we can resolve this properly.” 

The seemingly kind reply sent Skybreak into a rage. “...Resolve this properly? Resolve this properly?! I know I’m not going crazy, I know that I’m thinking logically, I know that I’m right.” He got closer to her, Mel being unable to back up any further against the railing.

“I did not throw away my job, my friends, my reputation, JUST for you to stand there looking like a complete and utter idiot!” Skybreak pounced forward and violently grabbed Mel by the collar of her coat, the other dragon letting out a yelp as she struggled against the large Ridgeback. With her feet barely touching the ground, she managed to partially spin them both around and unleashed a large blast of magic to push the two of them apart.

Skybreak slammed into the metal railing with a loud crash, and Mel just barely kept herself upright as she recoiled from the spell. She breathed heavily as she watched the Ridgeback recover from the hit, neither of them speaking for several moments. She glanced down at the courtyard, and around the walls, wondering if any dragons down there had heard the blast or if any security cameras had caught the unfolding scene. It seemed as if the looming thunder had muffled it, as she saw no exalts looking in their general direction. She couldn’t be sure about the cameras though.

She was taken out of her thoughts as Skybreak slowly began to get up again, finally rising to his feet. He looked down at the ground but haggardly raised his gaze to look up at the Pearlcatcher. The air seemed to grow colder as she watched him. She couldn’t tell if the look in his eyes was one of desperation… or…

Skybreak let out another growl. “I’m not done, Mel. We both know that you’re a walking and talking lie,” he began to approach her again. “You aren’t the dainty little Pearlcatcher that everyone thinks you are. You’re not the kind Oversight Administrator, you’re not the trustworthy Arcane dragon, you’re not-” He took a moment to let out a humorless laugh. 

“YOU’RE NOT EVEN A DRAGON! YOU’RE A CREATURE OF THE SHADE!” His voice strained as he screeched the last sentences out.

Mel’s face fell as she looked at the poor excuse for a Ridgeback in front of her. Her ears were pinned down to her head in reaction to the noise that Skybreak had created. The panicked expression she had on her face for the duration of the confrontation slowly melted into something blank and unreadable.

“...Huh.”

Confusion crashed over Skybreak at Mel’s simple response. He stopped in his tracks entirely, staring at her with bewilderment on his face. 

“I didn’t think you’d ever actually say it! Everyone said that you were insane for accusing me of being some sort of-” she took a moment to snort, “Shade beast, but I didn’t know you actually believed it! I just thought you had some ulterior reasons to hate me!”

Before Skybreak could respond, she took a step forward instead. “You’re the only one who’s been able to figure it out so far! Does that make you feel special? I think I’d feel special.” She was practically rambling at this point. “Everyone else said that you were insane! Or well, an idiot. But they seem to be the idiots here, huh? Idiots living in blissful ignorance at least.” Her voice was… joyful.

The Ridgeback in front of her began to back up, swearing once he became aware of the railing behind him. He looked around desperately, wondering if anyone could see what was unfolding on the terrace. How was nobody watching this? He was just about to call out to the dragons below, get their attention, make sure that-

“Do you really have nothing to say? You should be happy! I just confirmed a theory that’s ruined your life from trying to prove it!” Mel’s tone was mocking.

Electricity sparked from Skybreak’s hands. “Why would you tell me this? You’re- you’re lying! You’re lying to have me attack you and- and get me arrested! You just-” He was frantic, he couldn’t believe a single thing that Mel was saying. He didn’t want his theory to be true. He never wanted it to be true.

Mel let out a laugh. “Why am I telling you this? Oh, you poor sweet fool, I suppose you can at least figure out that any sane being wouldn’t just… unveil their secrets to any other living creature. But that’s the thing. Living creature.” 

While usually quick-witted, the onsetting panic within Skybreak slowed his ability to interpret what the… Pearlcatcher… was saying. His eyes darted around- he wanted to run, wanted to escape… but there was no escape on the balcony. Just the courtyard below.

“Aww, look at your face! You look like a newborn hatchling..” Mel took a step forward. “If I must explain it to you... “ Mel’s body seemed to fall apart at the seams as pitch-black tar seeped from her eyes and mouth, her draconic form dissipating within a matter of seconds. What stood in its place was a horrific amalgamation of flesh, blood, Shade, and other body matter. Its eyes turned pitch black, the stitches that held together the bits of skin and scale looked as if they were going to rip apart as it fell onto all fours. 

“You’re going to die here.”

Section II

“You’re acting like I’m going to die right here and right now!” Alatus chortled, the elder Guardian’s laugh deep and hearty.

“I was just saying! You complain so much about the other Executives and your meetings that I’m starting to wonder exactly why you haven’t retired yet.” Conrad playfully pushed against Alatus’s side as they walked together, the grin on his face increasing his punchability 10 fold. In retaliation, Alatus lightly smacked Conrad’s back, the small Ridgeback almost stumbling forward before catching himself.

“H- Hey!” Conrad loudly yelped. Alatus just chuckled to himself as he watched his subordinate’s face flush with embarrassment. “I didn’t even hit you that hard son! You oughta get some strength in your legs before a gust of wind blows y’over!” 

“I’ll have you know that I exercise every day-”

“Well, y’certainly don’t do it enough!”

Conrad rolled his eyes, smacking Alatus back on the arm. “Some of us haven’t had 4 centuries to work on their muscles!” The Guardian blew air out of his nose but said nothing in response.

“Anyways, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted-'' Alatus let out a noise of protest but the Ridgeback simply ignored him. “You always leave those ‘Productivity Meetings’ looking like you just stepped on a Quillrunner. I’m starting to doubt that you guys actually do anything productive in there, honestly.”

“Oh please, you don’t seem to exactly appreciate your fellow Directors either, and If you think I’ve stepped on a Quillrunner, you should really see Aster,” Alatus mused. “He’s always sparking with electricity whenever the slightest thing ticks him off- It’s a wonder that he hasn’t blown Kairan or Phorcys up yet. But sometimes I can’t help but agree with him when it comes to those two.”

Conrad showed a sarcastic look of shock on his face. “You? Agreeing with Aster? By the clouds, I can’t believe it! What next?”

Alatus stared at him with mock anger, “You really enjoy testing me kid, huh? You better get that mouth shut before we get to Aster’s office, he’ll find out some outrageous way to fine your agency before you can even say ‘Hey’”

“...Wait, we’re heading to the Oversight Wing?” The Ridgeback stared at him in momentary confusion.

“Well, technically we’ll be droppin’ by my office first, but yes. I need to get some… paperwork to Aster.”

“Paperwork? You could’ve just grabbed an intern and sent em on over if it was just paperwork.”

Alatus sighed as Conrad stated the obvious. “I need to discuss some topics personally with him. Also, I need to take care of some.. other things as well. Those interns need a break anyways, it’s peak dry season and I’d rather not have to deal with filing another workplace injury report… which Aster would probably badger me about regardless.”

The Ridgeback nodded as Alatus spoke, taking a moment to think.  “Pff, alright. I suppose you’re not as buddy buddy with Aster as I so ‘rudely’ presumed. That’s got me thinking, do you even like any of your fellow Executives? Seems like a no to me,” He guessed.

“I don’t exactly get along too well with most of them, but I don’t hate all of them. Yilses and Delyin are alright… and did y’forget about Nerevar? He’s like a son to me!.... A son that doesn’t know when to shut up, but a son nonetheless,” Alatus snorted. Conrad raised an eyebrow.

“Are you talking about Nerevar, or me?” Conrad tested, an amused look on his face as he nudged at Alatus with his elbow. Alatus couldn’t help but laugh at the Ridgeback’s comment. 

“Well, I could say that it could definitely apply to both of you! Or at least, you when you’re not shaking in your boots tryin’ to interact with anyone who isn’t me,” Alatus teased.

The gray Ridgeback went red once again as he hastily attempted to defend himself. “Hey! That’s not true, I have other friends y’know! And I’m not that anxious, I’m just aware of myself when I’m interacting with others.”

Alatus raised an eyebrow. “Uh huh. Aware of yourself. But please, enlighten me on your friends? No, Nerevar does not count before you try to include him.” Conrad seemed to wilt upon the denial of Nerevar.

“Well- I mean…. there’s Vavin?”

“Your boyfriend also does not count.”

Conrad withered more, “… um, Isolt?” Alatus continued to stare at Conrad, an expectant look on his face. The Ridgeback’s face was hot as he continued speaking. “Oh! There’s also Skybreak… but uh. Hrm. I can’t think of anyone… else. Fine, fair play.” He stared off, a mix of frustration and embarrassment flushing through him.

Alatus seemed satisfied with the Ridgeback’s answer… but there was an aura of awkwardness seeping off of him. “Hrmph, see? I’m not judgin’ you for not having a ton of friends, I just think you need to be aware of yourself sometimes!....” He trailed off.

Conrad was snapped out of his momentary embarrassment as he noticed his boss’s own uneasiness. “...Alatus?”

The Guardian glanced back over at him, seeming to be debating internally over what to say. “Sorry son, I’m just thinkin. It’s just that you brought up Skybreak. You two are still friends?”

The Ridgeback was now just… confused. “Um, yes? Why wouldn’t we be? I actually just spoke to him this morning before work started.” He tilted his head curiously as he peered at Alatus. His boss looked away, his tail was swaying back and forth as he thought about what would be best to say.

“Well. I thought that after everything… involving Skybreak, that perhaps you two should have drifted apart?” His tone was a fair bit more... serious now. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Conrad stared at him quizzically. He had never been the most aware dragon in social situations.

“Well… all those incidents surrounding him son. At first, I just felt sorry for him. But now…?” Alatus was pensive. “Well, I gotta say, I’m surprised that you’ve kept up that friendship with him.”

Conrad couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Alatus, I’ve been friends with Skybreak since I became an exalt. Just because he got… demoted or something doesn’t mean that I’d just drop him like… that.” He dug his claws into his palms nervously.

Alatus let out a sigh. “Son, it wasn’t just that he got demoted. I could care less about that. But you can’t be that oblivious to the reason why. You know Phorcys, she wouldn’t do something like that unless things got… bad.”

“.....He’s a good dragon Alatus.”

“And I’m not saying he’s not a good dragon on the inside Con. But I might’ve been able to respect him a couple years ago, nowadays? Not so much. He’s been spiraling for awhile now.”

They had both slowed to a stop, the two of them staring at each other awkwardly. Conrad bit his lip as he took in the Guardian’s words. “Of course I know that Alatus! But I just… I don’t think I could ever bring myself to just… leave him. Especially when he’s like this.”

“Con, you gotta look out for yourself sometimes-”

“I am Alatus, I’m a grown dragon, I know how to deal with my relationships. Kinda. But you have to trust me, Skybreak is just…”

“Making bad decisions? Going down the wrong path?” Alatus grit his teeth as he interrupted from where Conrad had trailed off. “Conrad I don’t know if you know this, but I’ve seen dragons like this before. It never ends well. It won’t end well for you either if you continue to just act like everything is fine and dandy with him.” A chord seemed to have been struck inside of Alatus.

“But those are your experiences Alatus-”

“Yes, my experiences. But do I have to remind you I’m nearly 20 times older than you? I’ve seen a lot more. It never ends well.” The elder Guardian almost growled as he spoke. But upon seeing the nervous look on Conrad’s face, he suddenly became aware of how he towered over the Ridgeback.

“...I’m sorry Conrad, I know that I’m probably not helpin’ by acting like an elderly Thunderstomp. But remember what I said son. I wasn’t lying when I told you that it never ended well for me at least. Or for some of the dragons I used to know.” 

Conrad sighed, “Yeah, yeah. Just trust me Alatus, Skybreak will be fine. I’ll make sure of it.”

Alatus looked at him incredulously, but rolled his eyes. “Alright, whatever you say kid. Now c’mon, let’s get going. We’ve got places to be and dragons to bother.” Thus, they went off on their way again, the previous topic having been abandoned. But that didn’t exactly mean that it had left either of their minds.

Eventually, they found themself in the Security Wing of the Spire. Conrad waited patiently as Alatus took a moment to fumble with his keys before entering his office. Despite how close he was to the Guardian, he had never once stepped inside the room. It was almost an anomaly to him, and was probably just as strange to any other dragon in the Spire. Most reasoned that the Guardian just didn’t want anyone to see the mess that had accumulated over his centuries of work.

Few exalts passed by, some giving respectful nods to the Director as he awkwardly waved back. But as he leaned against the wall, he couldn’t help but think about Skybreak again. They had met up that morning- an hour before Conrad had even started working. Conrad had almost forgotten the last time he had the time to talk to Skybreak for an extended period of time.

It was nice. It was casual. They were just in Conrad’s office, talking. It wasn’t about anything in particular. But Skybreak seemed to be distracted during most of it. Conrad closed his eyes, trying to think back on what exactly the other Ridgeback had been talking about. He had asked Skybreak about his plans for today, right? A lot had happened today. It was difficult to recall the exact conversation.

Right. Skybreak took a weird amount of time to respond… and then he just told him that he had something big brewing. It was weird, wasn’t it. Sky wasn’t an Administrator anymore, he was a Manager. What on Sornieth could Skybreak have been planning? Wait. Skybreak might have been attempting to redeem himself, perhaps talk to Phorcys? Conrad hadn’t gotten a clear answer before the topic changed. Maybe Skybreak was going to reconcile with Mel.

His train of thought was interrupted when the door to the mysterious office swung open, Alatus stepping out. With the door closing just as fast as he had opened it, the Guardian made sure to lock it as well. Conrad looked down curiously at the unlabeled folder his boss had been carrying. He hadn’t been caught up in any of the ongoing projects in the General Department for a while now.

Alatus took notice to the look on his subordinate’s face. But before Conrad could start to question him, he shrugged his shoulders. “Nothin a Director needs to know about,” he said, “Executive work son, you’ll learn about it if we ever need to get your agency involved in the General Projects.” Conrad shot him another look- before noticing what else the Guardian had been holding. His curiosity transformed into confusion as he stared down at the spear that Alatus wielded in his left hand.

“What, are you askin’ about this?” He stared down at the old and battered weapon like he had been the one to ask a question about it. “I’ve been meanin’ to get this repaired, it’s an ancient thing like me. I used it when I was Captain of the Guard, which was what, 200 years ago? I think it deserves a bit better than to sit there gaining dust on my shelf,'' Alatus huffed, “Anyways, I need to get this file down to Aster before he chews me out for being 2 minutes late.” That seemed to temporarily silence any questions from the younger Ridgeback, despite feeling slightly unnerved by the sight of the weapon. Thus, the two went on their way to travel to the Oversight wing.

The two walked in silence. Both him and Alatus were deep in thought now. It was a comfortable silence at least. Well, sorta. Conrad couldn’t help but keep glancing over at the old Guardian. It wasn’t impossible to reason that Alatus had gone through a lot through his centuries of existence. But just what exactly had been plaguing him? Conrad had never really known about the history of the Tempest Spire. He had heard whispers and rumors of events that had happened decades ago, but he never really cared to know. Well, until now. He’d have to take a trip down to the record rooms eventually he supposed.

Alatus seemed to be thinking just as intensely. Conrad couldn’t interpret what emotions were going through his head. I mean, he never could in general. It was just one of those traits that the Guardian had. As Conrad took his gaze away from the other dragon, he suddenly became aware of the strange path they had taken through the hallways. He paused to stare- wait.

“Um, Alatus… this hall leads to Maintenance. The Oversight Wing is in the west, why are we going in an entirely different direction?” The Ridgeback was more than confused by the logistics of their walk.

Alatus let out a quiet laugh, “Just a shortcut kid.”

“But how would it be shorter than getting through-”

“If we go directly, we’re going to end up in one of the main halls. Do you really want to get caught in the rush? Especially since it's lunchtime, dragons are going to be walking and forth between the cafeterias and their workrooms,” Alatus explained.

“Ah, that makes…. A lot more sense. I still don’t know how exactly we’ll get from the cafeteria to Oversight, but whatever.” “Just don’t question it son, I know this place like the back of my hand. I’ve walked through these hallways a dozen times!” 

But before Conrad could respond, a cacophony of noise crashed through the air. It was nearly impossible to distinguish each sound from another.

Conrad nearly jumped, the two of them freezing in place. Alatus let out a grunt as he whipped his head towards the source of the noise. Conrad took a moment to follow… The Tempest Spire was a loud place already, what with the constant booming thunder and the loud population of workers... But this felt different. It had been nearly impossible to distinguish each sound from another. There was screaming, was that the crash of metal? Conrad glanced over at Alatus, the two making eye contact for a split second.

“What was that?” Conrad asked, rising terror in his voice.

Alatus’s eyes widened as he took a moment to think. Conrad’s question was left ignored as the Guardian immediately made his way towards the direction of the sound. Conrad took a moment to follow after him, taken off guard. Alatus led them down the hall, glancing over at a small group of exalts they passed by. “Hey! Where did that noise come from?” He barked.

They were taken off guard by the sudden appearance of the Executive, taking a moment to gape at the Guardian. One Wildclaw straightened their posture and shakily pointed a claw down the hallway, “Uh- I think it came from the outer courtyards, we just left the cafeteria, Sir!” The other three nodded to confirm the Wildclaw’s statement.

Alatus let out a huff, “Outer courtyards... that might be a problem for us,” he said as he continued on his march. Conrad hastily followed after. He felt unnerved that he hadn’t heard anything else since the first loud crash. What could have happened? The two emerged into the main room that connected into the cafeteria… and the balconies. Conrad was on high alert as he glanced around, trying to take in everything. There were no exalts around- had they been the first to come to the noise? 

Conrad didn’t have time to answer that as Alatus suddenly bolted through the balcony entrance, nearly stumbling as he ran after. He slowed to a stop once outside, taking a moment to take in his surroundings. They stood upon the far right side of a terrace. Conrad could bet that it would have been one normally populated with exalts on a late-night break. But now there was only a single Pearlcatcher standing there on the opposite side from them. 

He let out a silent gasp as he stared at the condition of the balcony. The tough metal railing that had surrounded the platform looked as if a wrecking ball had crashed through it, with a section of the floor having been wiped out as well. Wisps of Arcane magic floated through the air around the destruction. Conrad could only guess that it had been the remains of an unsuccessful spell. Or at the very least, a spell that had been cast far too late to do anything.

His eyes darted back to the lone dragon, squinting. It only took a moment after for him to process who it was. Mel Runeshell. A Maintenance Administrator, and a dragon who for all intents and purposes had never gotten herself into much trouble. Well, except for when she was dragged into it by someone else. She turned her head to face Conrad and Alatus, terror in her eyes.

Alatus opened his mouth, just about to interrogate her- before the words died in his throat. Something seemed to have caught his eye. Conrad stared at him quizzically, taking a moment to follow the Executive’s gaze. When he did, he felt as if he had been punched in the gut. Down on the courtyard grounds laid the still figure of an all too familiar dragon. Skybreak Asterope. Former Oversight Administrator… and one of his closest friends. Conrad ran forward to what remained of the ruined railing, staring down in horror.

A handful of exalts roughly surrounded the Ridgeback, horror or shock on their faces. The remains of the balcony laid next to him, and Conrad could see the same wisps of magic flying around. There was a large dent in the ground underneath him, seeming almost too large for the Ridgeback to have created alone. As Conrad’s brain took in the details, he thought hard to connect the dots in his head. Then it clicked. 

Mel and Skybreak had gotten into a fight. That was easy to understand. But in one way or another, Skybreak had been thrown off the balcony. He could only assume that Mel had unleashed a blast of magic... that would explain the damage sustained against the structure, and the wisps that continued to float around. Alatus seemed to have processed this as well.

Turning his attention back to the terrified Pearlcatcher before him, Alatus let out a roar. “What happened here?!” Mel began to look even more panicked as she desperately attempted to find something to say. “I- I didn’t mean to! I thought-” Dread filled Conrad as he listened to Mel’s cries, his gaze still locked on Skybreak.

Alatus’s eyes narrowed, “You didn’t mean to? You flung him off the balcony!”

Mel stumbled over her words at the Guardian’s aggression. “I- I HAD TO! YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND, I-”

Before Mel’s panic could continue, Conrad let out a gasp. Every dragon turned their heads back down to the courtyard grounds as they followed his gaze. Audible shock could be heard as they looked down in a combination of relief and terror. The previously still Skybreak had begun to stir. Mel inexplicably appeared even more terrified than she had already been. The Ridgeback slowly rose from the ground. Wide eyed and panicked, he looked up at the balcony…yet somehow, he seemed entirely unharmed. But a strangled noise came out of Conrad as he saw something horrifying.

Inky black tendrils dripped off of Skybreak’s body, harshly fighting the remains of Arcane magic surrounding him. It seemed to come right from the Ridgeback. Conrad could recognize the Shade from a mile away. All logical thought was thrown out of the window as he tried to come up with a reasonable explanation as to what he was witnessing. Skybreak looked just as horrified. Before he could speak a single word, Mel started screaming.

“LOOK! HE’S A CREATURE OF THE SHADE! HE- HE TRIED TO KILL ME!”

Everything around him slowed down as Mel screamed out exactly what Conrad had been thinking. Skybreak couldn’t… no, he couldn’t!.... But there was no denying the presence of the monstrous abyss upon the other Ridgeback. Conrad began to shake. It didn’t make any sense. He’d known Skybreak for countless years. He didn’t see anything, he had never seen any signs. For the Stormcatcher’s sake, he had met with the dragon that very morning! He was the Director of Shade Management- if any dragon could’ve recognized the clues, it should have been him! Why wasn’t it him! It-

Conrad was thrown back into the real world as the sound of thundering lightning shot through the air. He let out a silent scream as he realized what had just happened. Alatus had flung his spear at Skybreak. The other Ridgeback let out a shriek as the electrified blade just barely skimmed past his face and slammed into the ground behind him. The impact into the ground caused the weapon to practically shatter, the blade stuck deep within the terrain. Bright crimson spurted from Skybreak’s cheek as Alatus let out a roar that made Conrad’s blood run cold.

“DON’T LET HIM GET AWAY YOU FOOLS, CHASE HIM!”

Section III

Oh, Skybreak was a fool. Blood roared in his ears as the sound of yelling, screaming, and footsteps took over his senses. The fresh wound on his cheek shot pain through his face, a grimace forming on the Ridgeback’s face. But he didn’t have time to focus on the superficial cut. Thoughts raced through his head, but they weren’t complete. He couldn’t answer how, or why, or even what. He could only run.

He dashed through the courtyard as dragons chased after him, the reality of the situation fully dawning on Skybreak. Magic surged through his hands, and he hastily threw out a spell into the crowd. He didn’t care which spells, he just needed to keep them away. He needed to keep them away to have a moment to just think. If he couldn’t, he wasn’t sure that he’d be able to get to the end of the day still breathing. Blasts of lightning tore through the air, getting so close to him that he could’ve sworn he could smell the singed fabric of his coat.

The Ridgeback cringed as he unleashed a blast of magic directly into the crowd. He could see that it had directly slammed into several dragons. By the Stormcatcher, he prayed that they were okay. He didn’t want to hurt any of them! He just wanted to protect himself! But he couldn't feel regretful now, not when his own life was on the line. He heard screaming. Was it one of the dragons he hit? He didn’t know, nor wanted to know.

But he was still making ground. His gaze sharpened as he focused on his one and only goal. The gate entrance. If he could make it through the large wall that surrounded the courtyard, he could possibly make it out to the Lightning Farm. The watchtowers wouldn’t be occupied at this time, Conrad had told him so that very morning. Skybreak tensed. His heart hurt as he thought about Conrad…along with the look his friend had given him just moments earlier. What did he think of him now? Was he terrified? Could he even believe what was happening?... Did he feel betrayed? Skybreak let out a shout as another spear flew past him. He couldn’t focus on his emotions right now, or else he’d be dead by the hour.

He cursed himself for how rusty his magic casting was. Although he had always detested his Arcane spells, it was currently the only thing keeping him alive. Or at least the only thing keeping him alive for just a couple seconds longer. The crowd of dragons chasing him seemed to grow even larger. He swore. These were dragons he had worked with before. Dragons that should’ve respected him as their Administrator once! Dragons he had happily talked to, joked with, even dragons he had fought with. But now he couldn’t even tell their faces apart. He didn’t particularly want to know who was surrounding him either. 

His heart sank as he realized his chances of escape were becoming smaller and smaller. There were so many dragons around him now. How did he even end up in this situation? What happened. Skybreak was being chased. Everyone around him wanted to kill him. He winced. The concept felt so foreign to him. They thought that he was Shade touched. It seemed so absurd. Like a silly tale that would be told to a hatchling. But it was a terrible truth that he was currently living through. They wanted to kill him because of that beast, Mel. If that even was her real name. If only he could have explained his side of the story before Alatus attacked him, if only he had never confronted Mel, if only he-

He let out a blood-curdling scream as a burst of lightning violently crashed into his face, Skybreak stumbling onto the ground from the impact. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t- everything went white. He desperately searched for something to anchor himself onto, but there was nothing but the dirt ground. Pain thundered through his skull- it hurt, it hurt. It hurt more than anything else he had ever experienced in his life. His ears were ringing painfully. The impact to the ground had practically knocked all the air out of his lungs- could he even breathe?

He forced his eyes open- he couldn’t see out of one of them. But he could see enough. Red. The first thing he saw after the blinding whiteness was red. Was it blood? His eyes darted up and he nearly let out a scream as he realized the situation he was in again. The world seemed to slow down. There were so many dragons. He had to keep moving, he had to keep running. But there was no way that he could have possibly recovered from the blow in time. Still struggling to breathe, still unable to hear anything, still enduring the pain that screamed through his head. He had to get moving. He couldn’t- He couldn’t-

Section IV

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. This couldn’t be happening. Could it? Conrad couldn’t move. He was frozen in place. The world seemed to slow down as chaos incarnate unfolded below him. He saw Alatus’s mouth moving- was he talking to him? He couldn’t hear a single thing the Guardian was screaming. He could only assume that he was being told to do something. Do anything.

But he didn’t want to do anything. Conrad closed his eyes. If he tried hard enough, maybe he’d be able to convince himself it was just one big and terrible nightmare. A nightmare that he’d wake up from soon, and be able to see Skybreak again in his office. It would be nice. He would feel shaken at first, but then overjoyed when he realizes that it was all just a dream. He’d just be able to move on with his day, and his life. Maybe he’d eventually forget that he had ever even dreamt it up.

He didn’t get the luxury of dreaming now. He opened his eyes again, overwhelming dread crashing through him as his wishes were dashed. Both Alatus and Mel had left the balcony. He didn’t know where they had gone- did Alatus rush Mel away? Why didn’t he drag Conrad along? But that wasn’t the focus of his concerns, really.

He felt like he should be screaming in anger right now. Maybe he should be running inside- look for Alatus. Or maybe he should be helping the exalts below him, casting spells and warning dragons. But he didn’t feel any of that. It was too surreal now. Why couldn’t he get himself to do anything? A small part of him shouted. But he barely moved a muscle. 

He should’ve been feeling a lot of emotions right now. Fear, rage, betrayal even? Anything would’ve been better than the void that filled him. He had never experienced something like this before. He had to do something. Conrad, do something. You’re a Director, do something. You’re supposed to be defending the Spire. You’re not supposed to be sympathizing with a Shade infected dragon. Do something. You can do something. Anything. Just don’t stand there.

But he did just stand there. He just stood there and watched. He watched as Skybreak ran and ran through the courtyard. Conrad cringed as he watched Arcane spells slam into the crowd. Was this really the Skybreak he knew? He would have never hurt his coworkers. Or at least never would have hurt them normally. Of course, this wasn’t a normal situation. Would Conrad have done this if he was in Skybreak’s place? The logical part of his brain screamed at this question. He never would have been caught up in the magic of the Shade. He’s supposed to be defending against it. It was an idiotic question.

Conrad gripped the railing of the platform so hard that he thought his claws would fall off. He began to wonder how everything would end. His breath hitched as he realized something horrific. This wasn’t the Southern Icefields. There would be no capture here, no containment. There would only be blood. There would only be death. When he gained the position of Director of Shade Management, he thought that it was the only logical thing to destroy any traces of the Shade. Why risk the chance of escape? But now Conrad desperately wished that they had been within the Icewarden’s domain. Skybreak might’ve had a chance of surviving.

But then Conrad saw something that made him want to explode. A Lightning spell shot through the air- and right towards Skybreak. He watched in horror as it slammed violently into Skybreak, the impact throwing him across the ground. Conrad screamed. He desperately wanted to run down somehow and help him- Why did he want to help him? But his heart sank even further as he realized what exactly this meant. The exalts chasing his friend had the perfect opportunity now to kill Skybreak. If the spell that hit him wasn’t going to do the job at least.

Conrad’s blood ran cold. This shouldn’t have happened today. This should’ve never happened in the first place. He had seen Skybreak that very morning. The other Ridgeback had been smiling. He looked so content. But now, he was only able to see him from afar, and Skybreak was writhing in pain. He didn’t want to see one of his closest friends be killed in front of him. He let out a cry as the dragons took seconds to reach Skybreak. 

But he froze as he saw something that made his heart soar. A blinding flash of magenta magic surrounded Skybreak. The blast practically caused the exalts running towards him to go flying. Magical smoke flew through the air, covering up any visibility in the courtyard. Conrad could hear dragons shouting. But soon enough, the magic dissipated just as fast as it had appeared. 

But once it did fade… a silence fell over the crowd. Skybreak Asterope had disappeared. All hell broke loose upon the collective realization. Conrad could hear nothing but the cacophony of noise that had erupted. All that remained of Skybreak’s presence was the remains of shade, blood, and arcane wisps. The Ridgeback had teleported away.

Conrad stood on the balcony, quiet as can be. He knew that he should have been terrified. If this had been any other situation, he would’ve been running back into the building and screaming his lungs out. Yelling warnings to others. It was supposed to have made him scared. A Shade-touched dragon on the loose. A dragon who was already confirmed in his mind to be a dangerous and powerful threat.

But…. no. He didn’t feel anything like that. He wasn’t even afraid anymore. No, no.

All Conrad felt was relief.

Epilogue

“Well I definitely can’t say that y’all should feel relieved by how everyone is reacting, but it could be… worse,” Vavin muttered. The large Ice Gaoler skimmed through one of the many newspapers strewn across Conrad’s desk. He sat in his own chair- one obviously made for breeds much smaller than him. But he seemed comfortable enough. Conrad stared at him in his own large chair, a tired expression on his face. He rested his chin upon his folded hands, looking as if he hadn’t slept since the 1st Age.

Vavin glanced over at the Ridgeback, the harsh expression that he typically carried on his face softening. “Erm. You okay?” He quietly questioned. Conrad simply sighed in response. Vavin muttered again, something about dumb journalists. He grumbled as he crumbled up the newspaper he held, attempting to throw it into the small trash can on the other side of the room. He swore when it hit the rim and bounced onto the floor. 

 “At least news hasn’t broken out internationally yet,” Vavin commented.

Conrad slowly sat up straight in his chair, taking a moment to stretch before responding. “Keyword is yet. Even if Kairan and Mydryin and whoever else try to keep it secret- it’s not going to work.” He let out a groan as he thought more about their situation, “I’m not looking forward to when Ice learns about it. We’re going to have the Wardens breathing down our necks.”

Vavin let a puff of air through his nose at the comment. “I feel like you forget I’m an ambassador sometimes. But yeah, you’re not wrong about that, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a whole lot more Gaolers over here in a couple of months. And aren’t our Wardens already doing that?” 

Conrad groaned again.

“..I’m not making the situation better, am I?” Vavin sheepishly asked. 

“No. But you’re not making it worse, you’re just stating a fact. Not a fun fact, but we’re going to have to deal with it eventually. I guess. You guys just don’t know how not to get your claws into everything, huh?” He teased.

The Gaoler in front of him laughed. “Hey, don’t lump me in with all of those dudes. You’re right, but still.” He trailed off awkwardly.

Before Conrad could think up another response, his eyes suddenly locked onto his desk. Vavin stared at him in confusion at the sudden pause in conversation. Conrad’s eyes narrowed as he leaned over in his chair to examine one of the many newspapers laid upon his desk.

He hastily snatched the paper up, shaking it out as his eyes darted around the pages. Vavin raised an eyebrow as he watched the Ridgeback. He rolled his eyes before hopping off of his tiny chair, approaching behind Conrad to catch a glimpse at what had distracted the other dragon so easily.

His heart sank when he caught onto what he had been reading. Conrad grit his teeth. “Is Conrad Silverlyfe fit for the role of Director of Shade Management?” He spat out the title of the article as if he had just had a bite of a rotten fish.

“After the incident involving former Administrator Skybreak Asterope caused rising panic among the public over the threat of the shade, countless rumors and questions have arisen.” A flame of anger sparked inside of Vavin as Conrad continued to read the distasteful.

“....Many of these emerge specifically after multiple witness accounts claim that Silverlyfe was present during the incident, and was seen standing in the same position the entire time up until Skybreak’s escape.” Before Conrad could continue reading, Vavin ripped the newspaper from his hands, staring at it in fury. The Ridgeback let out a noise of surprise, staring at him in bewilderment. 

The Ambassador’s eyes skimmed through the rest of the article, his short mane of fur fluffing up. “What on Sornieth are they implying?!” He barked.

Conrad looked rather disheartened at the sight of the Gaoler being so angry over the rest of the article- what could it have been saying? “I knew something like this would happen…”

When he was finished, Vavin furiously crumpled up the newspaper in his hands and threw it as hard as he could towards the trash can. He let out a slew of swear words that likely would have made the Icewarden cringe when he missed. It would take a couple more moments until Conrad felt that Vavin was calm enough to start speaking again.

“...What else did it say about me? I’m assuming it… wasn’t great,” Conrad inquired, anxiety spiking in his mind.

“Well APPARENTLY they’re saying that you’re incompetent or something, and that you’ve been doing nothing- EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE BEEN AND THEY DON’T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THAT ITS NOT LIKE WE CAN REVEAL INFORMATION LIKE THAT-” Vavin snarled, “and APPARENTLY they have the audacity to say that you might have been ‘working with Skybreak’ OR SOMETHING DUMB LIKE THAT!”

“Did it really say that?” Slight horror peaked over Conrad’s face at the thought.

“....Well not EXACTLY, but that’s basically what they were implying! These dumb ‘witness accounts’ keep saying that you were friends with Skybreak prior to this- this incident or whatever!” Vavin violently gestured with his hands as he ranted and raved, frost flying off of him.

Conrad sighed. “There were.. a lot of dragons there, Vavin. They’re not lying when they say I just stood there doing nothing.”

Vavin let out a huff.

“Also, a lot of dragons know that I’m- I was close friends with Skybreak. It’s not… a wild assumption for some to think that I could have been working with him. I’m not- I mean, you know that, but I… understand why they’d think that.” He quietly explained. “Anyways, the Daily Strike is one of the most dramatic newspapers we have this side of the Expanse, they’ll do and say anything that means that they’ll get more readers.”

“Why is the Daily Strike even allowed to print?! It’s always spouting useless conspiracy theories and like, the worst news ever!” Vavin snarled. Conrad would be lying if he said he didn’t feel just as exasperated. “They’ve been running for a century now, Vavin, I don’t think anything could stop them from publishing now.”

“Stupid newspapers…” Vavin seethed. His large fluffy tail whipped around haphazardly, nearly knocking off several items from the bookcase placed behind Conrad’s desk. The Ridgeback couldn’t deny that it was comforting to see Vavin so angry over something like this. 

“You don’t have to feel angry for me, y’know.”

“I’m not feeling these emotions for you- Well they’ve been caused by you? But these are my own feelings! And they’re telling me that this entire situation is really dumb and stupid! Honestly, I don’t get why they’re roping you into this-”

“I was there, Vavin.”

“And? So were dozens of other exalts!”

“I’m literally in charge of Shade Management.”

“Well they must know that this place isn’t exactly funded!”

“...No, they don’t. That’s kinda the whole point.”

Vavin let out a growl of frustration as he began to pace around the room. Magical flurries flew from his fur, luckily disappearing before it hit the office floor. “Well- I don’t understand why they should be roping you into this when Skybreak is the bastard who did this! They should be focused on that pile of yellow snow or something!” He stopped in front of Conrad’s desk as he faced the Ridgeback again.

“Vavin…” Conrad winced at the mention of Skybreak.

“He just- he just betrayed you! You trusted him and he did that! Who knows what else he was planning. Maybe if he was successful and killed Mel, he would have gone after you next!”

Conrad wilted. “I… I know that.”

“I can’t believe that he’d just- AGH! You deserve so much better than… this.” His expression softened. “You shouldn’t have been dragged into all of this. It’s dumb.”

“Why?” 

Vavin paused at the question. “What? Conrad, are you dumb? You’re my… let’s just say… friend.” Conrad almost snorted. “Shut up- and the thought of that piece of shade hurting you in any way- it makes me feel like i’m going crazy!” He froze once he realized what he had just declared, staring at the other dragon in embarrassment. He let out a deep sigh as he tried to calm himself down again.

“I care about you a lot. I mean, if I didn’t, that’d make this relationship sorta awkward. But whatever, I stand by my point. You deserve better than this Conrad. Not even focusing on Skybreak. Just this whole big dumb situation.” He closed his eyes, taking a moment to just focus on breathing. He didn’t particularly want to burst into anger again.

“...Thanks,” Conrad awkwardly said.

Vavin rolled his eyes. “That isn’t a thing you generally thank people for Conrad, but you’re welcome anyways. I’m just being honest, okay?” He moved around the desk again, approaching the back of the Ridgeback’s chair. He set his hands on Conrad’s shoulders as he leaned over him. Conrad awkwardly stared up at him, a smile growing on his face.

“I think this is the most affectionate you’ve been in awhile.”

“Oh shut up.”

“I’m just saying,” Conrad gently teased. But before Vavin could come up with another retort, a knock at the door interrupted both of them. The Ice dragon hastily pulled away from Conrad, turning his head towards the noise. He nervously glanced over at him, letting out a swear. 

The Ridgeback let out a quiet groan. He didn’t particularly want their alone time to be interrupted.

“It’s open!” He called out.

The door slowly creaked open to reveal an Arcane Pearlcatcher. She peeked her head inside, her eyes widening once she noticed Vavin. She readjusted her glasses as if she was hoping that the Gaoler was just a smudge. She pursed her lips, appearing almost disappointed that Conrad had not been alone.

“Oh- Mel, it’s nice to see you!” Conrad anxiously exclaimed. Vavin grit his teeth. Swiftly, a smile appeared on Mel’s face as she waved to the two drakes. “Hello Conrad! It is a pleasure to see you, and er…” She turned her attention to the Gaoler, her snout wrinkling.

“...Good to see you as well, Vavin. What are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same of you…” He growled quietly. 

“What?”

Conrad cut in before Vavin could reply again. “He was just here to collect some paperwork is all, and we got distracted with some conversation.” Vavin swiftly nodded to confirm Conrad’s statement.

“I was just about to leave anyways,” He murmured. Conrad stared at Vavin in confusion before nodding as well. Mel seemed satisfied with the explanation. The Gaoler swiftly collected the newspapers strewn across the Ridgeback’s desk, shooting Conrad a look of annoyance. He could only shrug. Vavin promptly whisked himself past Mel and out of Conrad’s office, an unreadable expression on his face.

Mel looked back towards where the Ice Ambassador had gone in confusion. But she shortly turned her attention back to Conrad. “I can’t say I was expecting him to be in your office. What sort of stuff was he collecting?” She mused aloud.

“Erm…”

“Oh, you don’t have to answer! I get it, classified information and stuff like that. I must snoop in what you two were talking about though, I never took Vavin as the one to take to small talk.” 

Conrad took a moment to think. “We weren’t… talking about anything in particular. I suppose he was just in a good mood today, hah.” He set his hand on the back of his neck, swearing internally. He hoped that he was at all convincing. He was never that great at lying.

Mel didn’t seem phased though. “Huh. How fascinating, he always acts like he just got into a fight with a Yeti- or should I just say that he acts like a Yeti?” She chuckled to herself.

It took everything inside of Conrad not to defend Vavin. “So, why are you here anyways?” He questioned.

Mel didn’t seem prepared to answer a question. “Oh! I was just.. Coming here to check on you, I don’t think we’ve spoken since the incident! How are you?” Her surprise was masked by the cheerful tone in her voice. She casually waltzed over to Conrad’s desk, leaning over and placing her hands onto it.

“Er- I’ve been doing okay. As well as I could be honestly… but uh, honestly I should really be asking you how you’re doing! I’ve been so caught up in my work recently and I was hoping to try and talk to you, but then plans fell through and I-”

“I’m fine darling! You didn’t have to worry about me!”

“I just… thought you would have been affected by… y’know.”

She froze up. “Oh. Oh right. Well um, I’ve been handling it quite well. I’ve been talking to some dragons and… I’m still figuring things out, hah. But let’s not focus on that, I didn’t come here to feel like a scentless Tundra!” 

Confusion washed over Conrad. How was Mel so nonchalant about this? Was he overreacting? He must have been overreacting. Even the dragon that had almost been killed that day didn’t seem as bothered as he was. Was he thinking too hard about it? He suddenly felt guilty. Well, more guilty than he already was.

Mel stared down at the mess of papers and office supplies strewn across his desk, letting out a tsk tsk tsk. “It seems like you haven’t been faring too well..” She seemed almost bored as she spoke.

Conrad suddenly became aware of the complete mess that his office was. He was never the most organized dragon, but after everything? It looked as if a pack of Wind Spirals had organized a race in there. “I- I mean..”

“Oh, I wasn’t meaning to be rude! I fully understand, you must be under a lot of pressure right now, right?” She seemed genuine enough, but her eyes continued to shift around the room. Conrad reasoned that her eye for organization must have been screaming. She was an Administrator of Oversight after all. He was hesitant to respond.

Mel continued to speak, “I mean, the entirety of Security and Justice look like they’re running around like headless gryphons! The Guard don’t seem to be having a great time either, some of those folks look like they haven’t slept in ages!” When Conrad still didn’t reply, Mel rolled her eyes. Wait, did she just roll her eyes at him? He couldn’t tell if he had just imagined it or not.

Conrad felt like he had to speak now. “We have no witness reports whatsoever. It’s just a guessing game at this point. He could be anywhere within the Lightning Farm and we wouldn’t know.”

“Hrm… that’s pretty bad, huh. I mean, he’s a threat to national security! I haven’t been here too long, but the Shifting Expanse has had multiple incidents like this happen within the last half a century, correct?”

The Ridgeback nodded awkwardly.

“Well, that’s not a good look for us. I would know, my folks in the Starfall Isles didn’t exactly think too highly of Lightning.”

Conrad wilted as she said exactly what had been plaguing his mind. Or at least, it was one of the many, many thoughts that attacked him daily. But he had been successfully avoiding it for the longest time, why did Mel have to mention it now..?

“I don’t think we’re going about this in a smart way regardless. Although obviously, I’m not in Security or Justice. I think I’d go mad if I was in Justice actually-” She snorted, “But they’re just basing their searches off of assumptions. I doubt they have any trails to follow. I’ve heard they’re even thinking of going through the Beastclan sectors, isn’t that crazy?”

“What are you trying to say?” 

“Well… what if I told you… that I had some info about where Skybreak could be,” She cooly said, her tail swishing back and forth.

“What? Are you serious?” Disbelief filled his voice as he almost jumped out of his seat.

She chuckled. “Why would I be joking? This is a serious topic, Conrad.”

“How did you- That’s so important- you-”

“Well, let’s just say a little storm seeker told me that Skybreak might not be in the east anymore.”

“Not in the east- why would Skybreak-”

“Skybreak isn’t dumb. You and I both know that. He.. he was brilliant actually,” She let out a sigh as she recalled a specific memory of the Ridgeback. “He would know better than to stick about in some of the most densely populated areas in the Expanse.”

“It hasn’t even been that long since the incident, where could he have possibly gone?” He interrogated.

“Plenty of dragons catch rides on the cargo trains y’know. It’d take less than a week to get to the Highland Scrub if he planned it out. For the Arcanist’s sake, he might even be in the Scorpion’s Den at this point!....” She let out a deep sigh. “But for the Stormcatcher’s sake… I might know the specifics.”

“I- Why are you telling me this?!” He blurted out. “I’m just a Director- You should be telling this to Alatus, or Mydryin, or even just the Captain of the Guard!”

She exhaled. “You see… I don’t think they would listen to me. I wouldn’t blame them. I’m just an Administrator- I’m not even in either of their departments! I’m just a random Oversight Exalt to them. I don’t know what sane dragon would listen to me. I don’t have proof either.”

“I- what? No proof? What do you mean?”

“I have a reliable source but… I can’t tell you who. I can’t tell anyone. I just know the information.” She crossed her arms across her chest in embarrassment. 

“Why not?” 

“I don’t…” She trailed off, grimacing.

Conrad attempted to wrap his head around the implications of what Mel had said. Had she been silenced? Wait. Who on Sornieth had given her the information in the first place?... Was Skybreak working with someone still inside the Spire?

“I’m sorry for asking, can you just- please, just tell me what you know!��� He blurted, eyes wide and almost wild.

“Well, I-” Mel’s eyes flicked to something behind Conrad’s head. Something in her expression appeared to harden. “I’m afraid I have a meeting to attend.” 

Conrad stared at her in disbelief. “What?” He whipped his head around to see what she had been looking at- it was a clock. His heart dropped as he processed what she had meant.

Mel glanced around the room before slowly beginning to make her way towards the door. “I have a meeting with Aster in a couple of minutes- you know how he gets- I can’t be la-”

Conrad lurched forward, desperate to block her way. “Wait! You can’t just-”

“I need to go, I’m sorry,” Mel pushed past him.

“This is too important!” Conrad attempted to follow her. “Your meeting can wait, this is the security of our nation at state!”

Mel shot a curt smile over her shoulder. “Apologies, Conrad. But this is Aster we’re talking about. Find me later.”

With that, she swept away, and Conrad was left standing with his hand half outstretched.

He couldn’t believe what had just happened. Mel had just left. Did she not understand the severity of their situation? He swore as he began to process it all. By the shade, why would she drop a bombshell like that and just… leave? Conrad sat back down in his chair, the silence that had fallen over the room almost felt suffocating.

What was he going to do now? He sat there, silently deliberating his options. He didn’t know how much time had passed with him simply ensnared in his own frantic thoughts. There wasn’t much room for reasoning now. Not after what Mel had said.

Suddenly, an idea shot through his mind. It was sharp and clear, a new presence among the muddled and messy thoughts that otherwise swirled through his head. His head jerked up as he realized what he had to do.

He swiftly jumped from his chair, determination flaring in his eyes as he looked around the room. He ran around his mess of an office, eyes darting around as he searched for…. something. 

He had to find it. His eyes lit up as he found exactly what he was looking for nestled in an unlabelled cabinet. He pulled it out, staring at it as he thought. It was two envelopes. He looked back at his desk, swiftly pulling out a pen and two papers. He took a moment to plan out what exactly he was going to write, but it clicked within seconds.

He wrote hastily, his normally incredibly neat and tidy handwriting turning into chicken scratch. It was good enough. The dragons he was addressing this to would understand it, he was sure. He started the 2nd letter as soon as the 1st one had been finished. He hadn’t felt this energized in years.

Soon enough, both letters were done. He promptly shoved them into the envelopes, taking a second to think of somewhere to place them before sliding them under the pile of paperwork on the side of his desk. Somewhere nobody else would see them. But somewhere he could remember.

Conrad sat down again. The assurance he felt moments earlier slowly faded away as he was left with the overwhelming silence that was just him, and the room. But this time, his head was clear. There was now only a single thought that reigned in his mind, one that he knew was going to change things. If he couldn’t get himself to do anything during the incident, he sure as hell was going to do it now.

He was going to find Skybreak himself. 

[hollyand-writes]

I’ve already listed this on my DA Smutquisition Exchange masterpost, but here’s the separate fic post for those who prefer to reblog that 😊 

My treat for @ser-thirst-a-lot​ for the @dasmutquisition 2021 event! This was one of the most ridiculously self-indulgent things I’ve ever written, with the most stupid Purple Hawke that ever Hawked. Thank you so much Ser-thirst-a-lot for a request that allowed me to indulge, and I hope it made you laugh! ❤️

---------------------

Rating: Explicit   Word Count: 2,151  Pairing: M!Hawke/Anders Other Tags: Purple Mage Garrett Hawke, Sex Magic, Humour, Songfic, Crackfic, Slight Canon Divergence (i.e. the Pussycat Dolls’ song exists in Thedas), Singing, Anders’ Electricity Trick, Anal Fingering, Dom Anders, Anal Sex, PWP, Top Anders, Angry Corff, Doesn’t matter - had sex 

Summary:

When Hawke thinks Anders is chatting up one of the Hanged Man’s barmaids, he decides to serenade him to get his attention. It works far better than anyone expects. 

(Note: Nella is the Hanged Man serving-girl that Emile de Launcet can sleep with in the “On The Loose” quest during Act 3.)

--------------------- 

Three years. Three years Garrett Hawke and Anders had been dancing around each other, attraction sizzling between them unacknowledged, and it wasn’t as if Hawke hadn’t tried. OK, OK, so maybe telling Anders that being possessed by Justice explained his whole sexy, tortured look just after Karl had died, hadn’t been the wisest move Hawke had ever made; but did his flirting count for nothing all this time?

He fancied Anders, and could see the healer fancied him. And yet… here he was in the Hanged Man, playing cards with Varric, watching Anders at the bar talking to Nella, one of Corff’s serving-girls. This wasn’t the first time it had happened; Nella was very popular among the Hanged Man’s male patrons, and for some reason, she’d had her latest sights set on Anders these past few weeks, and had been flirting with him every single opportunity she could.

Perhaps it was the chance to break down the man’s walls, and make him finally succumb to her charms in the end. Hawke understood that. He felt the same way.

The music was playing over the hubbub of cheerful, drunken chatter, but all Hawke could focus on, amber eyes narrowed in envy, was the scene involving Anders some metres away from him. Nella was leaning across the counter, batting her eyelashes at the man, plunging neckline exposing her cleavage, breasts on display in her tight beige top; and Anders… well, it was hard to tell how the healer was responding to her advances, but it made Hawke wish he were in Nella’s place, exposing his own impressive chest with chest-hair to rival Varric’s, and batting his own eyelashes at the man.

‘You know,’ Varric finally said, after Hawke uncharacteristically lost yet another hand through his absent-mindedness, ‘if you really wanna go talk to Blondie this much, I don’t mind if we stop. But you still owe me, Hawke. You’re four sovereigns down already.’

‘Why won’t he notice me, Varric?’ Hawke whined. ‘I know he likes me. I’ve seen the way he looks at me. He even laughs at my jokes! Why is he still holding back?’

‘I dunno, Hawke.’ Varric tried not to sound too exasperated; as fond as he was of his hairy human friend, he’d heard this subject come up a lot over the years. ‘Why don’t you go over there and find out?’

Hawke looked as if he was about to object; but then, suddenly a familiar beat came on, as the band in the corner of the tavern started to play a new song; and when a busty, scantily-clad singer took to the podium, Hawke’s face lit up, as if he’d suddenly got a bright idea.

Uh-oh, thought Varric. He recognised that look. Knowing Hawke, this is either going to be absolutely brilliant, or utterly terrible. 

Read more on AO3...

[faux-fires]

i’m not sure what i’m going to do with this new blog yet. one of the reasons i deleted my old blog is that it felt it had become performative - that everything i blogged about had to be Interesting and designed not to alienate my followers, because once you realise you have four figure subscriber counts you do feel obliged to tailor your blog to whatever drew them there in the first place. at the end i felt guilty if i couldn’t queue enough content and REALLY guilty if I couldn’t generate it myself, and that’s not a feeling i’d like to repeat this go around - my break from tumblr was really liberating in that regard.

it was also really nice to take that break from fandom and not be submerged in that weird culture of intense online social justice activism married clumsily to other people’s intellectual properties, and just enjoy it for what it was. i had a year of reading the TRASHIEST fic on ao3 and not worrying a bit over whether i was gonna get a self-righteous child @ me with some hysterical idpol dragon age meta, and it was really good! it was really good.

i’m not yet sure if i’ll return to writing or if this blog will exist exclusively to reblog stuff and make small posts for my tiny network of friends only. if i do get involved in fandom again (because that interest never died) it’ll likely look different. i can’t be getting to the point where my blog which i run for free, for ME, starts feeling like something i am obligated to curate in my spare time. i’ve already got a job, it pays the bills, i don’t need one that doesn’t as well.

Aside from reading the trashy fic I love on Ao3, I’ve been thinking a lot about getting into cross stitch, and considering maybe blogging about that. My grandmother used to do it a lot when I was little - unfortunately she’s no longer able to cross stitch at all as her eyesight has deteriorated, but I remember the huge projects she always used to be working on when I’d visit, and when I went around last I mentioned to her that I was considering it and she revealed, in a brilliant and very dramatic fashion, the last of her supplies: a small basket of various threads and a HUGE poster-sized bit of fabric with the tiniest holes.

My entire Saturday has been spent learning to stitch again, and after fucking up several times (and cursing the TINY holes on this fabric, whose idea was this???) I think I’m making some headway.

My stitches ARE getting better at the bottom, so hooray. I also realised after I’d stitched several rows of black that this kind of looks like something? so i googled a pattern and now what began as ‘shitty stitching practice for an absolute beginner’ (note the other row of stitches in the top left... they didn’t work out so well) has now evolved into stitching to a pattern for the first time on this god damned TINY fabric, which involves only 5% of my time being devoted to shaking my first at the ceiling and whining.

(OK, maybe 10%. Seriously, it’s tiny. I looked it up and apparently cross stitching fabric (’aida’) is measured by a ‘count’, which is how many stitches you can fit into an inch of fabric. Most guides recommend you begin with ‘14 count aida’ or lower (so 14 tiny x’s in an inch). Grandma, who did not have time to fuck around with all that beginner nonsense, has gleefully given me 28 count aida. that’s a lot of stitches! You’re supposed to double it up when you get to that number - stitch every other hole instead of every single one, effectively converting the fabric into 14 count - because the stitches get too small for people to actually see them at that point.

obviously nobody told me that but you know, it is kinda satisfying.seeing all these titchy stitches coalesce into something, even if that something is ‘a regularly shaped block of black’.

[ask-de-writer]

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT : Part 71 of 83 : World of Sea

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to World of Sea

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT

Part 71 of 83

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

140406 words

copyright 2020

written 2007

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express consent of the author.

//////////////

Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users   of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may   reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information   remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in   my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical   compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

New to the story?  Read from the beginning.  PART 1 is here

///////////////////////

Looking back, Sarfin could see the open fore-deck of the Dark Dragon and the monster catapult being readied.  Around him he could see the catapults of the Soaring Bird being unlimbered from their hunting locks and readied for combat.  The ammunition being stacked beside them was nothing that he would want to see aimed at any ship.  There were shot designed to rip sails and destroy rigging, and others designed to scatter many small, deadly darts to clear decks and rigging of opposing crews.  

Just seeing them made Sarfin shudder.  The sight of men and women matter of factly handling such devices and getting ready to use them brought home to him just what war was really about. Something that he had known intellectually became sickeningly real.  

It was to the credit of the Council’s representatives that they were also disturbed by the deadly preparations.  Captain Urson put her hands on her hips as she surveyed the decks.  “Is this,” she gestured widely at all the orderly preparations for destruction going on about them, “really necessary?”

Sula looked her straight in the eye and answered, “Because I have seen many times that it was, even more than you, I hope that it is not. There is no harm if we are ready and do not have to fight but many lives, even ships can be lost to unreadiness.”

Sarfin turned to Sula, who was now watching the Soaring Bird’s crew, without apparent emotion.  “How can you ever get used to this kind of thing?” he asked, taking a deep breath to steady himself.

“You don’t,” she replied stonily, turning to face Sarfin.  Her eyes were glistening with unshed tears.  “You do what you have to do and pray to the Dragons that you don’t have to kill again.  The one thing that you can’t do is let your own folk be the ones who pay the price of unreadiness.”

In a lighter tone Sula went on, “Now, we are guests.  Let us pay our respects to our host, the Honored Huld.”

Crewmen guided Captains Urson and Farrol away to guest quarters.

Sula led Sarfin to a companionway amidships.  As Sarfin followed, he said, grateful for a way to change the topic, “Something has been nagging at me since we first met.  Why do you call Captain Huld ‘Honored’?”

Sula smiled at the thoughts and memories that the question brought up. “That’s a bit difficult to explain.  He is Honored because in his whole life, whatever the difficulty, he has never done anything unethical or dishonorable.  His decisions in matters of honor and ethics between others are considered to be absolute by the Council that meets on the Wind.”

“OK, now I’m just as curious as before but confused as well,” said Sarfin.  “The Council that meets on the ‘wind’?”

“You will have to take my word for this one.  The Barant fleet Council is in continuous session.  The Captains meet in a way that they call talking on the Wind.  It allows them to communicate without misunderstanding, no matter the distance between them.  Since I learned of them I have also been a part of that Council.  Not only can you not shut them out, you don’t want to.  It is possible to ignore them for a while sometimes, especially when you think that you are right — Even if you’re not.”  Sula pushed open a sliding door and escorted Sarfin into a cabin.

“Shouldn’t you have knocked first?” Sarfin asked as he entered.

“No need.  I told him that we were coming and he invited us to tea,” said Sula lightly.

“Tea?” said Sarfin curiously, “What is that?”

“It’s a Barant ceremony involving a hot water drink made with especially prepared seaweeds, dried and flaked.  He is doing this to give you honor before his crew,” Sula knitted her brows as she tried to explain.  “By Barant fleet standards you are not a Captain, and neither was I until a short while ago.  According to their rules you have to be able to talk on the Wind to be a Captain.  This ceremony will let his crew know that you are worthy to command in spite of your disability.  That is the same status that I had until recently.”

Sarfin looked around the chamber and realized that it was both of Spartan simplicity and one of the most harmoniously prefect cabins that he had ever seen.  The walls had tall scroll-like paintings of ships and boats on the sea with cloudscapes behind them.  They were done in monochrome gray inks on a material of startling whiteness.  Each ship was unmistakable, yet it had been artfully reduced to only a few lines and some shadows.  Among them, he recognized his own Dorton. It was hung just back of Huld where he sat cross-legged behind a low table.  The floor was covered with a soft matting that was made of long narrow strands of material tied together into bundles.

“Welcome are you, Council Master Sarfin, Sula – Captain and friend.”  He placed both hands palms together, fingers down and bent his head toward them.  Sula repeated the gesture and sat on the floor next to the table.  After the briefest of hesitations, Sarfin did the same.

Huld serenely said, “North we go as swiftly as sail will carry us.  Let us now the time spend to know each other.  Share tea, share self. Barant way it is.”  

He picked up a bow-drill kit and with only a few quick strokes of the bow, had smoke curling up from the tender of fluffy, dried brown seaweed.  A small puff of breath brought a tiny flame which Huld applied to the wick of an oil lamp.  He set the lamp under a small Hag skin pot of water to heat it.

Altogether, the ceremony and its attendant small talk took over an hour.  As they emerged from Huld’s cabin, Sarfin said to Sula, “That tea was amazing!  I’ve never tasted anything like it before.  Do you know how I might get some?”

“Certainly,” said Sula promptly.  “I have a few hundred pounds on the Dark Dragon that I’d be willing to sell.”  She smiled.  “Can’t sell too much or I’d have a mutiny — and I’d have to join the mutineers.  We count it as one of our basic stores.”

“I can see why.  We’ve never had flavored water in the Naral fleet. . . Um … Where are we going?”

“Visitor’s cabins.  We don’t need a guide because Huld and I have been working together for a long time.  We know each other’s ships well.” Soon they were settled into adjoining cabins.

At the pace that the Soaring Bird was making, they would be in the vicinity of 00 West, 800 North by what ought have been early to midmorning.  In those latitudes, at the present time of the year, the sun did not fully set at all.  It only got low in the sky.  Sarfin found it disturbing to have no nightfall.

Sarfin spent as much time as he could studying the Soaring Bird and the way that it was run.  This kind of vessel was truly new to him.  At first he thought that the big lobster claw sails were simply exotic looking.  A short talk with the Soaring Bird’s sail lofter taught him the error in that assumption.  They were, in fact, the most efficient sails to be found on all of Sea.

Aboard the Grandalor, Darkistry stood at the steering tackle, making small adjustments to keep the Longin approaching from directly downwind. She was so careful that it appeared to be completely accidental.

While the ships were closing to hailing drum range, Thunderhead came soaring up from the south directly over the Longin and plunged into the water between the ships.  Shortly, he surfaced in a splash of spray and made a take-off run.  He had a fish in his beak.  Now that he was back, his family had to be fed.

Skye leapt from the nest and swooped to greet her mate.  They did a short aerial ballet, sweeping past each other and spiraling tightly, so close that wings gently rubbed.  The dance ended above the nest and Thunderhead dropped into it, casually checking his fall at the last moment with widespread wings and tail.  He perched on the rail and began the process of dividing the fish, sharing it out among youngsters now ready to begin flying.  That done, he flipped off the side of the rail and dropped on a long angle to land solidly on Tanlin’s shoulder, where he rubbed his beak along her jaw in greeting.

“Glad t’ see ye, too, T’under’ead,” said Tanlin as she reached up and scratched him in his favorite spot under the wing.  “Ugh, ye’re all wet.  Let m’ get t’is ‘arness off.  Ye did good, ye ‘andsome ‘Awk, ye.”  She unbuckled the message harness and gave it to Arnat, who was standing near.

“‘Ere, Arnat.  Stow t’is in our cabin.  Ye know w’ere ‘t goes.”  As Arnat scampered off to put away the harness, the Longin began to signal with her Hailing Drum.

“Return the prisoner Kurin to us and surrender to Council Justice!” the drum demanded imperiously.

“That’s not Master Clard’s hand on the drum,” said Kurin worriedly.  “It sounds more like his apprentice Degan.  Now I’m sure something is wrong.”

TO BE CONTINUED

<==PREVIOUS   NEXT==>

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[the-schwayest-batman-around]

Commissions Reopened

Hello folks!

Would you like the full story? Check out the old post here.

So I once again thank everyone for your generous help. This was a great experience and I’m happy to do this again! For the things I’ve done so far, I did a Batman Beyond Story, two Pokemon based stories, a dip back into Harry Potter, and Marvel/DC. Needless to say, it was tons of fun!

This was a great experience I’m going to be altering some of the specifics around so now you can get a lot more bang for your buck!

There will be 5 slots. I don’t want to overwhelm myself and I don’t want to suddenly keep a lot of people waiting in case my job situation does change. This will first come/first serve. I will only be accepting stuff via ask and no anons. I need to actually communicate with anyone interested in commissions.

Details Under the Read More:

Headcanons (Examples): These will cost $10.00 as a base fee. With headcanons, I try to go in depth with the concept you wish to discuss. This won’t really feature an POV of the character in question. Their point of view can be explored but it generally is done in my perspective. The $10 will buy you the first 1,500 words completely free of charge with an extra dollar for every 100 words. The word count will be rounded up if it’s over 50.

Drabbles (Example): The cost will be $15.00 as a base fee. As opposed to the head canons, the POV will now be focused solely on the character you wish to focus on. Have you wanted to see the character in a school setting? Maybe fighting crime? Maybe doing some complicated fighting? I will be happy to do it. Like before, the $15 will buy the first 1,500 words, with an extra dollar for everyone 100 words. The word count will be rounded up if it’s over 50.

Extra Costs:

Brand New Verse: If you wish me to write about a headcanon or drabble that does not exist in any media, this will cost an extra $5.00 if I accept to do this. I’m literally breaking brand new ideas and won’t try to half ass anything. This will also add another 500 words. Examples of this may include: “What sort of Pokemon lineup would Max Gibson have”, or “What would an Earth 3 version of Shriek be like”.

NSFW: I can accept and write NSFW if need be, but I have full reign to also deny those requests. No incest, no pedophilia, and nothing illegal. This will also add another 500 words. This will also cost a $5.00 charge on this.

Original Character: If you want to include an original character of your choosing into the story, I can. I will require samples and this will cost an additional $5.00 as I’m working with something a tad unfamiliar. I may also be asking you a little more often about certain actions or choices said original character might do.

General Questions:

I wish to buy multiple headcanons/drabbles from you? Can this all count as one slot?

For the time being, no. I don’t want to be unfair to you or any other potential customer so in this case, one commission equals one slot. If I finish up all the slots and wish to continue this, I may change this rule.

Can I only commission Batman Beyond from you? What if I want a headcanon or drabble about something else?

I’m happy to accommodate! I have a ton of experience in several different fandoms and I’m happy to take a stab at something if you’d like to.

What fandoms are you interested in writing?

The absolutely easiest ones I can write about as a setting or with characters would be the following: DC Comics, DCAU (DC Animated Universe), Young Justice, Marvel, MCU, Pokemon, Digimon, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Sailor Moon, Dragonball, Naruto, One Piece, Persona, BNHA/MHA/Hero Academia, Dungeons and Dragons, Critical Role, Avatar: TLA/LOK, Kamen Rider, Game of Thrones, Invader Zim, and a few odds and ends here. If you have any concerns or want to check with a fandom I may be familiar with, please don’t hesitate to ask.

If you aren’t familiar with a fandom but I’d like you to write it, will you?

It ultimately depends, but I will certainly try my best. I’ll generally read or watch as much as I can of the fandom to get a better understanding. If there’s a big learning curve (examples being watching say Supernatural or Dr. Who’s mega arcs), I may have to decline. I want to give you the best product I can and not half ass any of my work.

Will you accept any request?

No. If I feel like something is too difficult to write (EX: I’m unaware of the fandom, I’m too uncomfortable to write the material, etc) I will say no and ask if we could find a middle ground or a potential second option. If that’s impossible, then I will deny the request.

Can you do freebies?

I can’t say I’m in the best position to be doing that. The whole not having a job thing and all makes freebies tricky.

Can you write about my original character and a canon character?

Sure. As stated earlier, I will be asking for references as much as possible if I’m totally unfamiliar with a character of your creation.

How does the process/payments go?

We can sum it with these quick steps:

1) Following the requests and any questions, I will calculate the cost and email you an invoice. The invoice must be paid in full in order to proceed.

2) During said process, I will begin work immediately on your request. Once it is complete, if the word count exceeds the final amount, I will notify you and include another invoice if this is the case. Once again, no progress will be done until the invoice is paid.

3) Once all invoices are paid, I will deliver the product to you via tumblr or via email.

Can I do anything with the story afterwards?

Absolutely. You paid for the drabble/headcanon. You can post it anywhere you’d like. Depending on how I feel about certain headcanons or drabbles and if I can post it on my blog, I will absolutely do so.

I suddenly had an idea and wanted to change my SFW story to be NSFW or vice versa. Can this be done?

I will only allow up to 2 major changes like this. If you wish to add something, the additional charges will be done to the final payment. As stated above, I will not release the product until payment is complete. If you wish to remove charges, I will not refund you. However, I will attempt to increase the word count to make this a fairly even trade.

What if I have more than 2 major changes for the fic?

I’ll ask that you request a new commission.

Can I simply donate to you?

You may if you wish!

I don’t have any money but do wish to support you. How may I do that?

Reblog and spread the word! This will only be for a limited time.

Why should I buy a commissions?

I have close to 20 years of writing experience, having gone to college for creative writing, and dozens of different forums and fandoms. Aside from what you can find on the blog, I am also assisting in writing battle scripts and serving as a beta reader for the Pokemon fan fiction: Pokemon Hammer and Sickle. I have also been working on my own original projects including an at the time of this post a 50+ chapter Pokemon Nuzlocke story, and my own original stories.

[jazzhandsmcleg]

@devieklutz @im-significant @punrisenebula @geekhyena

honhonhonhon

Jesus, cousins just coming out of the woodwork around here! It only makes sense, but still, I’m laughing a little. Thank you, anon!

Now separated for ease of reading.

—

devieklutz: a really tough person with a big heart and a tremendous love for animals; owner of a really cute dog. We’ve never really spoken and Devie’s blog has been mostly inactive for the past year or so, so this one’s a little short, sorry – but Devie is a cherished part of the Young Wizards fandom and that is the case for a reason!

—

im-significant: hey! We play Dungeons and Dragons together sometimes, did you know? Hell yeah. Ana is very friendly! They are my partner in Lutheran politics discussions and tomato adoration. They have fingers in many, many different pies and enjoy sharing them with others, and they have a way of making even boring things like the weather or things I have absolutely no knowledge about like obscure anime enjoyable by dint of sheer enthusiasm. They have a great sense of aesthetic and – reader. Sometimes they enjoy my poetry so much they reblog it. Holy shit.

Here is my favorite story about Ana: when we were on the way to the OG CrossingsCon we had a brief, Ana-prompted “swordfight” with their cane and cousin Sky’s car keys (which had the little button you press to extend the actual metal key bit from the plastic). Ana was humming the Star Wars theme at the time, in homage to my fascination with the key-popping-out process and its similarity to a lightsaber.

Ana is also a con staff member, so a shout out and thanks to them!

—

punrisenebula, I cannot fucking believe. Bryton, come over here and look at this! Anon, you should be goddamn proud of yourself. Jesus Christ.

Bryton is in charge of puns, okay, and it is a power wielded well. Which is to say terribly. Which is to say well again. They (sorry, I’m not up to date on your pronouns) have always struck me as assured and steady: they seem know exactly what they believe in and why, and also seem to know exactly what they want from life. This is either a tremendous gift or a tremendous skill. (That’s no small beans, even if it’s not true – appearances are also part of the battle!) They also have a really gorgeous creative streak – they are both a good artist with a great eye for stylistic touches that make a piece pop, and a good storyteller – funny and good-humored, with a familiarity that draws the reader in and generates smiles.

—

geekhyena: Geekhyena is my other source for all things animal science, a role they also fill very well! They apply that same scientific approach to a variety of other things, as well – history, politics, art, nature, health, social justice matters, and more, so every time I see something she’s reblogged on my dash I know I’m in for new information, fascinatingly presented. It’s always a pleasure to learn from them. Alternatively, sometimes I know I’m in for some new good fanfic. There’s some great sideways Harry Potter stuff out there, and Geekhyena seems to have a good handle on it all.

And they’re another con staff member! Thanks for all you do!

Finally, pumpkin bread: 12/10, hell yeah? Hell yeah.

[joylesszeesgaming-blog]

Dragon Age: Origins Proportions and Update Mods You Might Need

If your anything like me and started playing the Dragon Age series no more than 3 months ago, you are probably as clueless as I was when it came to mods. Or just the concept that you could customize your game so freely.

Or maybe you weren’t. I don’t know your life.

So, for those who are discovering the DA series 10 years after its creation and need some help with choosing mods, I am here to help.

Sort of like some unwanted superhero. But not Captain Marvel... no one likes her. Not even Marvel.

*cough*comic cancelled how many times?*cough*

Human Proportions

If you ever played the vanilla DA:O game you will know that the female body is, odly proportioned to say the least. Her shoulders look like they could clothes line someone without her moving. I wish that was just a bad joke. Luckily for us coming to the DA party late, a kind soul fixed this problem for us and even made the female body a bit curvier. But not like walrus curves, actual curves.

I apologize if that offended anyone...kind of.

The seductress body has larger upper arms (to mimic an active player), a reduced shoulder span, and a more pronounced arch in the lower back for the appearance of a tushie! My personal favorite.

The sensual body is a bit thicker all around with less of an arch in her lower back and larger bust.

Dwarf Proportions

Much like their female human counterparts, the dwarf female suffer from some form of body mis-proportion (I don’t think that is a word. Whoops.). They have excessively long arms. Excessively. And if you like that look, cool beans. If you don’t, just click on the title “Dwarf Proportions” and it will take you to a mod that fixes that little problem. If you find it a problem. I really don’t know what I can say that won’t offend anyone here so yeah.

Elf Update

For elves there are actually two seperate mods that will fix their odd proportions. The Elf Update and the Elf Proportions .

The Elf Proportions keeps the vanilla look of the elves while fixing the proportions. Pretty basic mod.

The Elf Update changes the elves to look like the elves from DA:2.

I am pretty positive these two will conflict with each other seeing as they are changing the same files, so just choose one please.

Personally, the Elf Update is the one I use, it makes the elves look distinctly elf like, and there are a few Zevran morphs that require it, so keep that in mind if you chose to customize him.

Quanari Update

So, back story time (because I am a female and have absolutely no problem ranting slightly off topic), when I saw Sten I did not know he was a qunari. I started playing DA:O after DA:2, so I was used to the qunari looking like...qunari, I don’t know. Imagine my shock when I searched his fanwiki and he was a qunari!

Not so long story short, this update will make Sten look more like the DA:2 qunari. Now, for those who want to play parallel to the lore of DA while also redesigning the game, there is a mod in Nexus Mods called “A Year With Sten” that will gradually change sten from a redesigned vanilla version of Sten, to a DA:2 qunari. Keep in mind you do need the Qunari Update for “A Year With Sten” to work properly.

4GB Patch

So, this probably should have been the first thing I posted in this...post. But lazy me had already started typing and I did not feel like retyping all of this, or copy and pasting it. Too much work, just too much.

Anwho, the 4GB Patch will increase the memory on your game, which if you decide to heavily mod your game, you’ll need. Trust me.

CharGenMorph Compiler

And last, but most certainly not least. This awesome application allows you to download multiple character creation mods and morphs without them conflicting too much. Essentially, the application will dig through your DA:O override folder for all  chargenmorphcfg.xml files and compile it into one. For more info, just read the description on its Nexus page, I am sure I am not doing the description justice, just keep in mind that this is a life saver.

So that is all for this post. Enjoy this Cullen gif (not mine obviously). Because I have thing for templar boys apparently... or not. Alistair was barely a templar boy.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment? Reblog? If there are any broken links please let a girl know. Commenting is great, tell me some of your favorite mods, tell me I am a life saver, or call a huge piece of poop with no life (it’s not like you would be lying anyhow).

[heyscience]

If I Were Inquisitor - Ask Meme.

@batsintheshadows @tea-me-and-smut @foxywolfmeerkat13 @howling-at-night OMG THIS IS SO FUN YOU GUYS HOLY SHIT!! Thanks so much for writing yours, and I’m so stoked to finally share mine!

If you are reading this and want to give it a shot, please reblog the original post and I’ll send you an ask! I LOVE THIS SO MUCH, I LOVE READING PEOPLE’S ANSWERS. THEY’RE ALL. SO GOOD!!!!

1. Race: I want to be a giant muscley mountain of a Qunari. I wanna be the very best, like no-one ever was, at smashing my enemies’ faces in and giving the best goddamn hugs there is. 

2. Class/Specialization: Two-handed Warrior/Champion. I like hitting things, and I love the idea of getting involved in all that pompous Orlesian chevalier bullshit and RUINING IT for ALL OF THEM.

3. Your homeland? It’s gotta be somewhere warm and by the sea (because I love the ocean and also I can’t deal with the cold cos I am WEAK), so I’m thinking Rivain. Ooh! And that would mean I’d have a bunch of sick tattoos and piercings! Rad.

4. Your family? (Ok so I’m basing this loosely off my irl family because they’re my best point of reference I guess????)

So, my family. I love them, but they’re a mess.

My Mum was the ideal Tamassran. A devout adherent to the Qun. She worked as a healer and was very well respected in her field.

That was until she met my Dad, who in short, looked at the Qun and was like ‘fuck this shit I’m out.’

Dad was a soldier and one day he was wounded in battle, ended up in the hospice where Mum worked, wooed her, and they ran away together to Rivain.

They had my brother and I and then realised that they’re actually polar opposites and it’s a wonder they were ever attracted to each other. They split up, re-partnered and had more kids. So I have a pile of siblings that I have varying degrees of blood relation with, but we all consider each other fully part of our extended, convoluted family (for serious - irl I have 9 siblings).

Mum taught me business sense and how to tend to battle wounds, Dad taught me how to fight. I’ve got a lot of family of various races all over Thedas, all related (not necessarily by blood) one way or another. People say lovely things about my Mum, and the craziest things about my Dad - the stories of his exploits are so outrageous it’s difficult to believe any of them are true (like irl my dad was involved in organised crime for a while but quit cos he got bored????).

I love my family but I’m really bad at keeping in contact with them, so I get the occasional letter from Mum being like ‘ARE YOU DEAD?!’

Leliana has taken to sending her reassuring updates preemptively.

5. Who were you before? I imagine I’d be part of something like a dnd adventuring party.

We started out as a ragtag group of misfits, travelling the land in search of gold and glory. It was mostly treasure hunting and mercenary gigs, and some of the work we did on the high seas was um, legal-adjacent (piracy). But occasionally we’d stop to lend a hand to those in need, pass ourselves off as bards to earn extra coin in small-town taverns, and we even involved ourselves in vigilante justice a couple of times.

We grew into our own little family, and eventually we found ourselves wanting to do the type of work that really mattered. That’s why we signed ourselves up to work security at the Conclave, with a plan to move into aiding refugees in Ferelden afterwards. It didn’t. Quite. Work out that way. Unfortunately.

6. Would you be religious? That’s a hard no.

7. Do you have a mabari? YES PUPPY! Who is also a fully fledged member of our adventuring troupe I might add.

8. Your opinion on other races? Elves = rad, dwarves = awesome, humans = eh, dragons?? = HELL YES

9. What would Varric’s nickname for you be? Stubby.

10. What would your tarot card look like? This one is hard! I’m thinking a lot of compass imagery (because the sea and travelling and finding your way etc.)...and I’d have to be facing at an angle that best accentuates my glorious biceps.

11. Where would you hang out in Skyhold? I like to be in the centre of the action, but I’m not sure where that would be?? Probably in the main Skyhold courtyard near the entrance, in amongst the merchants? It’d be a good spot to see the comings and goings, check in with recruits and workers for the Inquisition, and also play with any kids who might be around. 

It’s important to make sure the kids of the Inquisition are happy and healthy and, um, ok Josie I’ll admit it, they’re also way more fun to hang out with than that stuffy noble whoeverthefuck you just brought in from Orlais.

12. What would you do for fun? Knock back beers in the Herald’s Rest with my companions, come up with dirty drinking songs with Sera, get blackout drunk with Dorian (although I’ll eventually realise it’s a very unhealthy coping mechanism and encourage Dorian to join me in cutting down the booze), swap stories and quality bants with Varric, beg Vivienne for fashion advice, gush over romance novels with Cass, have tea and gossip sessions with Josie, poke fun at Cullen, spar with the Inquisition recruits (and scare the shit out of them), and, just anything to distract from the looming horror that is Corypheus.

13. What armour would you wear? Heavy, shiny, and bloodstone red.

14. What would your room look like? Organised chaos. I love playing host so my room would look mostly neat, but the writing desk would be an absolute mess. It would probably make poor Josie hyperventilate (which is why I’d always suggest we discuss things in her office, or at least give me plenty of notice before swinging by my chambers so I can tidy up). 

15. Who would be your friends at Skyhold? I’d wanna be friends with pretty much everyone, but I think I’d be closest with Dorian (BUT of course only after giving him a solid scolding for his views on slavery, and I’d only continue talking to him if he came to his senses).

We have a very similar sense of humour, and. Oh man. I have way more feelings about this than I thought I would. In short - I can imagine both laughing with him and collapsing on the floor together with a bottle of wine (each) and many tears.

16. Would you have any friends outside of the Inquisition? This makes me sad because my closest friends outside the Inquisition would be my adventuring party and they..would’ve...the Conclave...EVEN MY MABARI. MY POOR PUPPY. OH GOD WHY. TOO MANY FEELINGS.

17. Who wouldn’t you get along with? Cole. It’s not that I don’t like him, I’d just be super awkward around him, like ‘HELLO SPIRIT CHILD HOW ARE YOU TODAY. OH, IS THAT AN INSECURITY OF MINE YOU JUST POINTED OUT?! WELL COOL, GOOD TALK.’ 

18. Who would you romance? I know this isn’t possible in Inquisition but I would like to be in a polyamorous relationship with Isabela. SHE IS MY FICTIONAL SOULMATE OK.

(Also I’m more than a little bit in love with Cullen but I hate myself for it so)

19. Would you do pranks with Sera? AbsoLUTELY.

20. Would you sleep with the Iron Bull (casually if not romance)? 100% YES. It’d only be an occasional thing tho, cos while I’m a masochist and I like being tied up I’m not really a sub. I’d mostly go to him for bondage tips and um. Requests for. Demonstrations.

21. Would you keep Cole around? Yes. I’d still be weirded out by him, but I acknowledge that it’s completely not his fault. I’d take his word for it that he just wants to help people and let him have at it with that freaky mind-reading and vanishing shit he does.

22. Can you play the game (politics)? A little bit. I’d have to work the scandal angle. Being a Qunari I could never hope to assimilate into the realms of the nobility, but I could win their favour by being something of a novelty. Much like Casanova in this brilliant adaptation starring David Tennant - watch from 10:42.

You see, you don’t have to be liked by everybody, just the right people, and you can usually get them onside by just being very fucking entertaining.

23. What would be on your tombstone in the fade (What are you afraid of)? Ghosts. I’m not sure how well that translates to a Thedas setting but still, it’s my biggest fear so I’m sticking with it.

24. Who would you recruit to seal the breach? Mages.

25. Opinion on Mages versus Templars? Ok, so I have a proposal for how to fix this bullshit:  

1. The Chantry should relinquish any and all control over the affairs of mages. Separation of Church and State, simple as that.

2. The Templar Order should be disbanded, and the practice of indenturing soldiers by saddling them with a lyrium addiction should be banned.

3. All people in Thedas (and I mean ALL) should be taught about magic from a young age, both the gifts and dangers of its use. Everyone should learn about magical safety and how to resist demonic possession.

4. Mage children should attend the same schools as everyone else, but they can hone their skills in their late teens to early adulthood in mage colleges, with free tuition paid by the State (of wherever part of Thedas this is). They can research magic, learn a trade or train in combat, whatever they choose. Mages will be allowed to earn money, marry, have families, and have some actual freaking rights. None of this ‘hunt ‘em down and lock ‘em up’ bullshit.

5. Also the Rite of Tranquility WHAT THE FUCK. I can’t believe it’s a thing people actually agree to do. This rite should be downright fucking outlawed, and severe penalties levelled at the people who attempt it.

26. Who would be put in charge of Orlais and why? Briala. I wouldn’t suggest to Briala that she should get back together with Celene, because honestly their relationship was really fucked up and Celene abused the power imbalance between them. Briala deserves better (like for example me..maybe...but y’know, only if she wants to..)

So I would keep Celene on the throne but hand over all real power to Briala. Celene is a crafty one however, so we’d have to corner her with blackmail and keep a hidden killswitch on hand in case she tries to pull a fast one on us (just like the Voltron kids should be doing with Lotor, which sorry, I know that isn’t related but I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT IT).

27. Would you sacrifice the Chargers? NEVER.

Seriously Fuck the Qun. The Qun actively promotes eugenics with how they selectively “breed” their people. ALSO the Qunari are gaslighted into believing that they will literally go insane if they don’t follow the Qun?!!!?!?!!??!??! FUCK THAT SHIT.

So yeah, I was never keen on the idea of allying with the Qunari, so when Gatt’s like ‘if you sacrifice the dreadnought there will be no alliance’ I’m like ‘I am ok with this.’ Also, of course, I love the Chargers with all my heart and couldn’t bear to lose them.

28. Would you go after Blackwall? Yeah. He should put all his moral posturing to good fucking use and try being an actual hero. I’d make him join the Wardens, cos it’s effectively a death sentence (or an early grave at least ) and I don’t 100% dislike him, so I know he’d be cool with it because he has a giant fucking hard-on for the Wardens (Jesus fuck). 

29. Would you drink from the well? Nnnnnoooooooooo..and it’s because I would fucking die for Morrigan. I wish I could say I have a well considered reason, but I’m just pathetic like that. She could say jump and I’d say ‘I’d rather not, but, counter offer - would you instead like to sit on my face?’ 

30. Where would you go if the Inquisition was disbanded? Minrathous. It’s warmer there (I love Skyhold but fucking hate the cold), and I would involve myself in the inevitable slave uprising - helping out in whatever way I can. Also I’d just be having a fucking great time terrorising the Magisters, rocking up at the Magisterium like ‘LOOKIT ME I’M A RAGING QUNARI HERE TO INVADE, RARRGHH!! oh hey Dorian, what’s up babe how’ve you been????’

31. How do you react to the egg telling you he is an elven god? The five stages of grief:

Denial - lol no ur not, you’re our painty pyjamas nerd! 

Anger - Wait, so it’s YOUR FUCKING FAULT MY FRIENDS AND EVERYONE ELSE DIED AT THE CONCLAVE??!?! I AM GONNA GUT YOU AND STRING YOU UP BY YOUR INTESTINES SO I CAN USE YOUR WEEDY BODY AS A GORE PINATA YOU FUCKING MONSTER 

Bargaining - but you’re a god right? Does that mean you can bring them back? Can you undo all this somehow? You gotta have superpowers or some shit right??!?

Depression - After all we’ve been through...you never even saw us as people, did you? Did you ever think of me as a friend? Or anyone else? How could you be ok with murdering your friends? Solas, please, you don’t have to do this. I know that if we work together we can find a better way. You don’t have to destroy the world to save it.

Acceptance - ..................I fUCKING HATE YOU SOLAS.

[moonlitgleek]

@honeybubblepop reblogged your post and added:

Ok fact Rhaegar was NOT fighting for his father at all at the trident he fought Robert for the throne! Rhaegar already had plans to over throw the mad king before he ran off with Lyanna (there are so many clues in the book and tv show, but Rhaegar wanted a peaceful solution to the problem not a war) Also Rhaegar was fighting to protect his family both of them from whatever harm could have come and he failed because it was his death that brought on the sack of kings landing by house Lannister…There’s nothing that would suggest Rhaegar meant for his father to keep the throne Rhaegar himself wanted Aerys to go into retirement which was what he was trying to do at the tourney of harrenhal. He fought for his house but in the end he failed …Also pretty sure she didn’t give a fuck at the time and could distinguish between the man whose child she was having and what he stood for as a person(after all they did spend almost a year together) and his father who at the time was insane.

Regardless of what his personal opinion on the matter was, Rhaegar returning from Dorne to take up arms against the rebels is him fighting in his father’s name. You can’t say that he was not fighting for Aerys when it was Aerys who sat the throne and whom the royalists were fighting in the name of. Rhaegar did not condemn his father’s brutality or try to communicate to the rebels that he saw the murder of over half a dozen nobles as a crime that irrevocably delegitimized the king for he broke the feudal contract their society is built on. He did not move against Aerys with the understanding that his actions were a gross offense that needed to be rectified immediately. Instead he declared for his father and took the field against the rebels which amounts to a very public statement on whose side he was on and who he thought worth defending. His disapproval of Aerys’ actions was only voiced to Jaime Lannister and was immediately belied by his actions - by riding to meet the people injured by his father’s crimes on the field and treating the loss of life that decision resulted in as an acceptable price for keeping the throne. Rhaegar’s personal opinion is worthless in that context; the fact remains that in his capacity as crown prince, Rhaegar took a very clear political stance on the rebellion and followed it with the decisive action of fighting in Aerys’ name. Leading his father’s forces meant that Rhaegar was declaring his position which was that this rebellion deserved to be condemned and fought against, that the rebels were traitors to the crown and that his father’s actions were to be defended. Rhaegar actively supported Aerys on the field, sending a message to the rebels that he unequivocally supported his father’s actions, from executing nobles without a trial to the death sentence for Ned and Robert to his demand of Jon Arryn to break guest right. It’s made worse by the fact that Aerys committed murder over the course of refusing to hold Rhaegar accountable for his own violations so the image they presented to the rebels was that of the king and crown prince breaking every code of conduct and every law in the land to defend each other’s right to do whatever they wanted - a circle jerk that communicated one message: “the law does not apply to House Targaryen. We can do whatever we want to you without any recompense because you don’t have the right to object to our actions. Kick rocks.”

So Rhaegar having a personal opinion that what Aerys did was ill done? It isn’t good enough. It isn’t enough, period. His actions are what matter because they are what represent his dearly held beliefs and his priorities. And Rhaegar’s priority was the throne, even if he stepped on thousands of corpses to ensure he did not lose it. The lives that were lost was little more than collateral damage to him, a necessary evil so that he could keep his royal power. That’s selfish. That’s borderline tyrannical. That’s a man caught up in the illusions of a grand destiny that he lost sight of the people he claimed the right to rule. Saving lives shouldn’t be a worthy cause only when there are ice zombies and dragons involved, and the thousands that died because of Rhaegar’s decisions matter just as much as those currently under siege by the Others.

Another thing that was no way near enough was Rhaegar’s plans to overthrow Aerys. I’m honestly so tired of giving him credit for that since it’s his own inaction that caused everything that happened. Aerys’ sanity had been deteriorating for years, he’d had two noble houses completely eradicated just a few years earlier, he was a pyromaniac that was growing close to the Alchemist’s Guild and Rossart. Rhaegar knew all of that but he failed to take any decisive action to amend any of it. Oh he had plans - plans that he threw away for absolutely no reason when he chose to vanish with Lyanna. Rhaegar squandered his responsibility as crown prince when he watched an unfit king with glaring mental health issues be a menace and danger to the realm for years but did nothing.  He knew his father shouldn’t be on the throne, had some plans that we don’t know the extent of but that sound solid enough to be viable, but he failed to act on those plans.... until apparently half the continent was in open rebellion that happened, in no small part, due to Rhaegar’s own inaction and political ineptitude. He was only prepared to do something about it in the same scene he was gearing up to go defend his father’s right to burn people alive. He made it very clear that he was ready and willing to kill a few thousand people for the throne, including the very same people whose families his father brutalized, including the brother of the girl he left pregnant back in Dorne. And say what you will about Robert Baratheon but he’d done nothing to deserve to be killed to satisfy Aerys’ paranoia or to make way for Rhaegar’s kingship. That says a whole lot about Rhaegar and his conceptions of justice, morality and responsibility, whether personal or political. I’m sorry but I’m done giving Rhaegar credit for having plans or opinions that his actions went squarely against, especially when it was him that made the situation even worse and effectively undermined his own plans by his stunt with Lyanna.

Also Rhaegar was fighting to protect his family both of them from whatever harm could have come and he failed because it was his death that brought on the sack of kings landing by house Lannister.

There is a difference between fighting for his family and fighting for his throne. Rhaegar was the one who put his family in danger with his actions so I’m not at all convinced or moved by the argument that he was fighting to protect his family. For one, Rhaegar did not even think that his family was in danger as his words to Jaime imply. “When the battle’s done I mean to call a council”. He did not even entertain the thought of losing and what that could mean to his family. But far more importantly, it was Rhaegar himself who put his family in that awful position by his failure to move against Aerys, by his disappearance with Lyanna for months, leaving his mentally unstable father to deal with the fallout and forcing the Starks into a confrontation with Aerys which led to the rebellion, by leaving Elia and her children under his father’s thumb. The entire situation was of Rhaegar’s creation; his actions with Lyanna are what made that first domino piece fall. He vanished with Lyanna -> Brandon rode to King’s Landing -> Aerys killed Brandon, Rickard and their companions, sent the order for Robert and Ned’s head and at one point recalled Elia and the children from Dragonstone -> the rebellion happened -> Rhaegar returned to continue the conflict -> Robert was acclaimed -> Rhaegar lost and the sack happened. Take out Rhaegar’s stunt with Lyanna and his family would be sitting on Dragonstone safe and sound and the rebellion doesn’t happen. To make it worse, Rhaegar willfully left Elia and her children vulnerable to his father while he gallivanted to Dorne to impregnate a 15-year-old, he left them again as glorified hostages in the Red Keep knowing what he knew of his father’s paranoia and racism. Let’s not paint him as the sacrificing family man who had no recourse but to go to war. Rhaegar had options but he did not care to follow any of them.

Also pretty sure she didn’t give a fuck at the time and could distinguish between the man whose child she was having and what he stood for as a person(after all they did spend almost a year together) and his father who at the time was insane.

Didn’t give a fuck about who exactly. About Ned who was in the field to bring justice for their murdered family and to defend his own life since Aerys had a pesky death sentence issued for him? About Robert who she might not have liked but that does not mean she wanted him dead when he’d done nothing wrong? About all the Northmen who rose in the name of her family and to avenge her murdered father and brother? About her friend Howland Reed, or about Martyn Cassel and Old Nan’s sons who were probably a part of the Stark household? No, please, do tell me who it is that Lyanna did not give a fuck about, the same Lyanna who stood up for Howland Reed simply because he was her father’s man, the same Lyanna who loved her family, was protective of her people and sensitive to injustice. Are you trying to tell me that Lyanna just simply shrugged when she learned that Rhaegar was going to war against her own brother in the name of the guy who murdered her father and other brother?

Oh but Rhaegar disagreed with Aerys. I’m sure this would have meant the world for the families of those who died because of him. It would have meant everything to Lyanna, Benjen, Catelyn and as-of-yet unborn Robb if Ned had fallen at the Trident. It would have meant everything to Jon Arryn whose nephew was killed in King’s Landing and whose foster sons could have died and would have died in the case of Targaryen victory. Sure, Rhaegar was going to lead an army against the rebels, forcibly subjugate them, dismiss their rights and basic justice, handwave his own complicity in the whole matter while affirming that a king can do whatever he wants to whoever he wants which pushes the realm into absolute monarchy, but for some reason everyone and their cat should really appreciate that he didn’t like what Aerys had done, even when he was upholding and compounding his father’s crimes.

[chananderlandersalamander]

cartoon badlands ask meme: olive them

Leave some for the rest of ‘em will ya? Well, I really (REALLY) like cartoons and I doubt I’ll get any more asks, so lets do this (I already did 1).

- A cartoon you like but nobody else seems to: I’m reaching here, but there were parts of fanboy and chum-chum that were fucking hilarious to me at the time (the principal flying down the hallway comes to mind)

- A cartoon you don’t like but everybody else seems to: I just cant get into Star VS The Forces of Evil. Tried to, just couldn’t go with it. Perhaps I’ll try again someday.

- A cartoon you wish would be forgotten: the Power-puff girls reboot. Just, why?

- The worst cartoon you’ve ever seen, and why?: if i had to choose it would be teen titans go, just because it strays so far from the original in a not good way.

- The worst moment you’ve ever seen happen in a cartoon: I still get tears in my eyes from watching Iroh’s story in the Baa-Sing-Se stories episode. It’s just so damn sad. Not sure if that’s what the question is about but w/e.

- The worst thing you’ve ever seen happen to a cartoon that ruined it: Gravity Falls ending after season two. Kidding. I really can’t think of a cartoon I’ve watched that I would deem ‘ruined’ by a single event, although introducing the dog in Fairly Odd Parents damn near killed the show.

- A cancelled/forgotten cartoon you would bring back to television: Generator Rex died off pretty fast, I liked that cartoon quite a bit. Very unlikely to come back though.

- An animated character you remember but nobody else seems to:

This blog is for Jet Fusion fans ONLY.

- An animated character you hate the most, and why? I hate Ronaldo from Steven Universe. He seems so unwilling to learn from his mistakes and is in general just annoying. Anytime he appears on screen my brain just thinks “Here we fucking go.”

- A non-animated property you would like to see as a cartoon: Not sure if this counts for the question, but an animated Nintendo cartoon would make me go ballistic. Don’t care about the IP, it could be splatoon, mario, zelda, etc. If you can’t tell, I’m not into many non-animated properties. Maybe an Artemis Fowl short series? That’s all I got, friendo.

- A trope or trend in animation that you dislike: Romances that are built up way too quickly tend to get on my nerves (here’s looking at you, jashi -_-).

- A currently airing cartoon that you know is going to be forgotten about in the future: I am going to forget about that Ben 10 reboot as soon as I finish this post, actually.

- The best episode of a cartoon you really like: I LOVE Mr. Greg. Greg and Pearl are probably my two favorite SU characters (apart from Lapis, but if you’ve followed me for any amount of time you definitely knew that already) and I just love the musical theme of the episode, and the character development they both go through. Isn’t it up for some award? It certainly has my vote.

- The worst episode of a cartoon you really like: My mind likes to blur on things like this, I can’t think of a single episode of a cartoon that i didn’t like, but I wasn’t a fan of the most recent story arc on Young Justice. Hope the revival does the series more justice.

- A cartoon you feel deserves more recognition than it gets: Back at the Barnyard was absolutely hilarious and i think I’ve only seen like two posts go around on it. One of the very few stupid-humor type cartoons I can stand.

- A cartoon you feel deserves less recognition than what it gets: I used Teen Titans Go! in an answer already, but if everyone ignored it and it died off I wouldn’t exactly feel pitiful.

- The worst idea you can think of for an animated series: if Alpha and Omega gets a cartoon series please let me know so that I may go into seclusion until the Second Coming.

- At what point did you realize a cartoon, any cartoon was starting to get bad? If I absolutely had to choose, I’m not a huge fan of some of what Dragonball Super has done. There were definitely times where i had to skip some arcs to get to the good stuff (Thank the lord Gohan is relevant again and not off studying somewhere).

- An experience with a cartoon you thought you were going to like but turned you away from it: I thought that the How to Train Your Dragon series looked good and I watched a few episodes. I liked the plot, but after a bit I got kinda turned off from it, and I can’t really explain why. Perhaps I will pick it up again sometime.

- Something you would like to see more than anything in a cartoon: I would love some more detailed and realistic fighting scenes please! Both avatar series were great with this and it’s the only thing I say Steven Universe is currently lacking. The Stevonnie training episode is probably my second favorite next to Mr. Greg for this very reason.

- What do you feel makes a cartoon forgettable?: A lack of meaningful character development will/should kill a cartoon off in little time. Kills my interest in a show, that’s for sure.

That’s all I got. Feel free to patronize me in the comments/reblogs, or bring other cartoons to my attention and I can give my opinion on those!

[nisuki]

🌸 Uwah ~ I really pick a standard day to do reply posts;; ... I really love making these posts, but thinking of another/quicker way for me to reply;;. I think if the @ mentions in the replies work properly, I would be using that full-time, however, it doesn’t lolol >_>’ I think, I’ll reply privately instead? I think I would do that quicker  ^^ .. still, I love these posts haha.. please bear with me :P

Currently I’m busy with some cc projects and writing a ts2 to ts3 hair conversion guide ^-^ meanwhile I agreed on testing some stuff for people, so I’m going to do that now >:)

Replies below ♥ this one is quite huge, woops.. lol, I hope the readmore works ;; I’ll be replying to IM chats a bit tonight and all of them tomorrow.. ah.. again I was a bit neglecting it, sorry about that >-> 

Replies on the awesome but not really functioning @.

@falling-ups, @ciarasia, @igotsims, @fyachii, @treason-and-plot .  Sigh :c . Yea, it doesn’t work 100% which is really too bad! 

When Mesho did it, it instantly worked, but then others tried and it didn’t ;; Such a waste. Well, lets hope tumblr will do its job and fix that asap :D

Replies on the edit for sourlemonsimblr 🌸

So many of you loved the edit and gah! That only made me even more and more happy as I was very excited about the picture myself! Lots of hugs to all of you, thank you.

@itsoceansecret THANK YOU LOVEE <3 .

@aoihana2510 Thank you very much (♥‿♥*)

@sourlemonsimblr You’re absolutely welcome! I’m glad you like it ^-^

@mysticlove-reblog Why thank you ღゝ◡╹)ノ ♥

@lumy-sims  Love to you too  ♥

@omgdoubleume AACKACKKAC, you make my heart flutter ♥

@plantyl Thank you very much (σ'∀')σ* ♥ +.*

@basicpixels Aw, thanku sweets ♥（ﾉ´∀`）

Reply to Lumy!

@lumy-sims  ACK *hugs and gives you all the love* ;u;  *whispers; why not join this discord channel I’m in, there’s a lot of ppl though, but it’s not like everyone’s talking at the same time haha..

For the sweet Rollo-Rolls

@rollo-rolls  Omgomg, I literally can’t stop getting excited anymore now XD argh, you’re so precious too >.< allow me to hug you tightly!

Thank you for all the love for that sweater dress guys!

@itisexcellent  Lovely to hear you love it dear <3

@doka-chan And thank you to you for appreciating that. I’ll share more, definitely!

@omgdoubleume YAA, thank you lovely Ume-chan~ (♡´౪`♡) 

@204863-simblr Heart eyes right back at you! (*♥◡♥)

@ktarsims  Hehe, I already talked with you about it. I’m very happy to hear you love it ♥ your kind words really make me smile ^^

@pralinesims Thank you very much you beauties ♥

@aoihana2510 Once again, thank you :)

@rollo-rolls . . . . . . !?!?!? P-PIECE OF ART LMAO. HAHAHA, I really love you ♥ thank you for your encouraging and blush-worthy words *giggles

@the77sim3 Thank you dear ♥（ﾉ´∀`）

@yumiaplace Aw Yumia~ that makes me really happy to hear, thank u love!

@plantyl Wow right back at you beautiful ♥

@simsmono Lots of hearts for you ♥

@ryckootv Guess what?! @smellslikepixeldolls is working on a conversion ♥ So you’ll be able to get the sims 4 version from there ;) Thank you for your sweet comment. I’m really happy to hear you like it so much!

@kurasoberina Kura you beauty ♥ thank you very much to you as well. I was happy to see you in my activity again, I hope you’ve been doing well ^_^

@fyachii Hehe, you know I love you lots right? Thank you <3 . Yes, I even read and screenshotted your tags LMAO. I FORGET MINE TOO. So, I ended up using “shortcuts” like c. for clothing, somehow easier to remember XD

Another reply to the sweet Doka <3

@doka-chan *hit by cupid’s arrows by every cute you said *  (♥___♥) lemme love youu . *tight hugs*

Fya and her ship . . . . 

(She actually inspired me in a story ..)

@fyachii  .  . . . Who knows.. who knows.. I’ll be thinking about it WHILE playing around with it >:) hohoho.. You’ll understand in a while... But actually yes, they look so sweet together and my heart is like gah! I shouldn’t do what I plan, but my mind is like; >:) .... HOHOHOHOHOHOHO.

Deggdegg which is notdeggdegg but still deggdegg?

@deggdegg

Your blog names officially confused me LMAO! Thank you so much for your sweet comment you pretty <3

Lily the beauty of my laifu

@lilyssims Was that cheesy enough? LOL. Thank you love <3  I TRY, but, my inspiration is like, MEH. but I have a new idea now luckily >:D

Work it tsrw gurl

(credits to eenhoorn for the tsrw gurl lolol)

@rollo-rolls Thank you >:)

@eenhoornsims

@xmoonlynx HAHA . what about after seeing the above gif LOL. man, I love it XD

@the77sim3  Thank you as always! <3

Replies on the .. pinky flower edit? 

(yess;; I had no inspo for this title)

@plantyl, @itsoceansecret, @preferatajaferoj, @204863-simblr . 

@falling-ups GAH, BUT SO ARE YOU, YOU BRILLIANT STAR ♥

@another-simmer  But not as cute as you *winkyface ♥

@fyachii  I love the pink hair on her too! No idea anymore how I came with her design ;; hm.. oh well LOL! (Actually, after a while when I was looking through old screenshots, it feels like she looks a bit like Lucy? ;; I think it’s the eyes?? ;; ugh idk ))

When you allow people to edit and that one person gives a lenny face, so I do it back.

@itsoceansecret  Your cuteness is over the top tho!

@eenhoornsims  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 

@plantyl  Thank you love <3

@rollo-rolls heartseyes at you!

Replies with the dazzling Topaz

@puffshale  I 2000% AGREE. 

@itsoceansecret  BUT WHAT IF YOU KEEP SEEING HER MORE? WHO KNOWS... seriously, you’re a beautiful person, I love you too (♥‿♥*)

@reenadelenyel  Thank you! Yes, she’s adorable isn’t she? itsoceansecret definitely did an amazing job on her. Knowing a bit more about her story is very impressive too. I had her before a long time ago, but I didn’t really know a lot about her, ha ha ha...

@tsutoki  Thank you! Please have my love <3 

Ace, a charming but dangerous guy..

(is how I want him to be LOL...)

@aoihana2510  Thank you! Your boys are hotties as well >:)

@thesimperiuscurse  Love, thank you very much ♥ I hope you both are doing well ^^

@itsoceansecret  AAAH > u <!!!!

@plantyl

@fyachii  YES . I SQUEALED WHEN I SAW HIM. every damn time;; sigh, I’ve never done justice for him. Poor guy’s still alone ;; 

... 2000% he wouldn’t mind you caressing him .. o_O’ oh maker XD

Little Juro who will need to get used to getting all that attention.

@omgdoubleume 

@doka-chan  AW, THANK YOU <3

@preferatajaferoj  thank you love <3

@eenhoornsims Seriously dude, I still can’t help but laugh when reading this comment XD PERFECT SON IN LAW LOL.  @puffshale  PLEASE. I LOVE YOU.

@simovee  NOT AS PERFECT AS YOUU ♥

@thesimperiuscurse  Why thank you ♥ >:)

@lilyssims  Talk about perfect pick-up lines HAHAHA ♥

@itsoceansecret  AAAAAAAAH > O< !! <3

@neversayenevermore  Thank you love <3 . You’re even cuter!

Replies about the enchanting beauty; Kiko.

@verakasthethird, @204863-simblr​, @omgdoubleume​, @thesimperiuscurse​ You’re all so right! She’s so cute > 3< and.. she looks so innocent.. “delicate”.. that’s a lovely word! 

@puffshale​ ; and it’s all thanks to your wonderful simmie. It actually, heavily inspired me to make more of these kind of edits! 

Whe one of the most amazing ppl loves me kya!

You’ll make me cry of happiness ;u;

Digging old posts... makes you wanna play it again . . 

@sugary-plumb​  Sigh, same now... ;; but I must resist! I want to do so many other things too! Decisions decisions... Especially these little dragons.. they are so cheaty, but I love the interactions with them hehehe!

@yumiaplace​ ;  Thank you as always love!

When Juro’s face was still hidden.

@arthurlumierecc​  HAHA, tHANK YOU XD

@reenadelenyel​   LMAO, haha, I can’t help but laugh when I look back at it XD

@puffshale​  LOLOL HOW. ACK

Replies on the previous reply posts.. YES IT’S THE END OF THIS POST!

@reenadelenyel​  yay! *hugs* nothing makes me more happy than one firm hug ^-^ You’re  doing a good job! Ha, I went one day posting lots of pics and then disappear for a few days lol;  I.. I’m doing a lot behind the scenes oke ; u; ~ but yes... I love what @rollo-rolls says and to just write, and don’t think too much abou everything :) It’s what I’ve been doing. I’m just doing what I feel like doing. I even achieved doing new things! Which I hope to be able to share with everyone later on, ha! But I’m so excited to.. publish this story . . There’s still a lot of work to do. 

To every one of you for loving my content..

[steampoweredstrawberry]

Is it too much to ask you all those questions?

*Rubs hands together*

1. Your first OC ever?

I probably had OCs as a kid. Probably a Sailor Moon one or a Harry Potter OC (Most likely had a Harry Potter OC. The only one I can name for certain though was a witch named Caroline with an affinity for fire magic.

2. Do you have a personal favourite among your OCs?

Right now? Claudia Hawke. I love talking about her and drawing her and writing her. Plus, she has a super cute boyfriend who I also love talking about and drawing.

3. Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else?

Lol. Yeah. I have a few of @mikagesshoku‘s OCs now. The first was an ancient vampire named Mark (not his real name, but what he goes by in modern times). She liked how I wrote him and characterized him, so he became my son. Her Hawke, Quentin, is also now my Hawke (and Claudia’s big brother). She also prefers how I write her Mahariel.

4. A character you rarely talk about?

Of my DA OCs? Aeducan and Brosca. Nothing against dwarves, I just haven’t fleshed them out very well.

5. If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be?

Claudia Hawke. Her being popular and people wanting me to write/draw her would come with the ulterior motive of getting to write/draw Anders.

6. Two OCs of yours that look alike despite not being related?

Claudia Hawke and Elira Bassat. Elira’s a bit taller and her hair is straight, but they’re both sassy, dual-wielding red heads. My old RP buddy actually confused one of my first drawings of Claudia for Elira (Claudia’s since had some cosmetic changes to make them look more different).

7. Are your OCs part of any story or stories?

Yes! I write for Claudia a lot.

You can find her here, here, and here. (Note: All of these contain graphic depictions of sex, so read at your own risk)

8. Do you RP as any of your OCs? If you do, introduce one of your RP OCs here!

Elira Bassat was my OC that I RPed the longest as, but don’t anymore. She’s a sassy, dual-wielding red head, she’s nb, but generally prefers she/her or them/they pronouns (occasionally he/him). She’s also a big fan of vigilante justice.

9. Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else?

Hypothetically, yes. I couldn’t name which one, but if their new parent was going to treat them well, I would.

10. Introduce an OC with a complicated design?

I generally try to keep them toned down or believable in appearance. But, there’s Rhyann Tabris, my tiny elf baby with snow-white hair (I say the quickening still effects elves and it made her hair go white as a child). She’s got a billion freckles and carries around a big sword.

11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a "sunshine"?

So, an optimist? I don’t know if I have any of those with my DA OCs. Probably Solona Amell. She’s the most likely to keep her chin up and try to cheer up the others.

12. Name an OC that isn't yours but who you like a lot

I absolutely love @kirkwallgirl‘s Jay Hawke and @misterwiggums‘s Mads Hawke. They’re both super cute and love the mage!

13. Do you have any troublemaker OCs?

Claudia Hawke. She’s best friends with Isabela. They get into lots of trouble.

14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory

I think of my DA OCs, I think Rhyann Tabris has a very tragic backstory. I relate to it on a personal level, which was why I chose her (they’ve all got super sad backstories, hers just resonates with me).

15. Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people?

YES! Oh my God, if you guys want to ask me about my OCs, please do! I’d love to hear about all of yours, too!

16. Which one of your OCs would be the best at biology (school subject)?

Solona Amell. She’s a healer.

17. Any OC OTPs?

With other OCs? I don’t know. Neria Surana and Solona Amell (as part of a polymance with Jowan, but he’s not my OC). With non OC characters, Claudia Hawke x Anders and Rhyann Tabris x Alistair Theirin.

18. Any OC crackships?

I don’t have any with just OCs. With OC x canon, I’m planning on writing a Claudia Hawke/Karl Thekla/Anders bi polymance in the future. Not really a crack ship (though I guess it is if you HC Karl as being gay; I’m in the he’s bi/pan camp), but I never thought I’d be pairing Claudia up with Karl before the idea struck me.

19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)

Rhyann Tabris means a lot to me because she was my first OC in a Dragon Age game, my first playthrough, and her origin really resonated with me.

20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?

Originally, Elira Bassat was a singer and she was supposed to sound a bit like Sara Taylor/Chibi from The Birthday Massacre, but I scrapped that.

Claudia Hawke enjoys singing, but she isn’t particularly good. I imagine she sings a little bit of everything, though I like the idea of her dramatically singing along to Helena by My Chemical Romance.

21. Your most artistic OC

Probably Elira Bassat. She isn’t an artist, but she’s pretty damn good at costume makeup.

22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how?

I don’t think anyone mischaracterizes them.

23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like?

Sophie Cousland. I was originally going to romance Alistair with her, but I was too attached to Rhyann x Alistair, so Sophie became Aro/Ace.

24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?

Claudia Hawke, because she’d bring Anders with her.

25. The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, shared like/dislike for something etc?)

Elira Bassat shared my build, height, and hair color at the time (I’m no longer a red head). But, I’ve given Rhyann Tabris a lot of my facial features.

26. Have you ever had to change your OC's design or something else about them against your will?

I’ve renamed OCs in the past. Can’t think of any off the top of my head, though.

27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song?

Like, did I base them off a song? I don’t think I have any OCs like that.

28. Your most dangerous OC?

Claudia Hawke or Rhyann Tabris.

29. Which one of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone they're going?

Probably Solona Amell. She wouldn’t want to trouble anyone with her curiosity. Claudia would go too, but half of Kirkwall would know she was going.

30. Which one of your OCs would most likely have a secret stuffed animal collection?

Rhyann Tabris. In a modern AU, she probably saves every stuffed animal Alistair has ever gave her or won her at a carnival and loves them all.

31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)

Solona Amell’s would be a lot of quotes from book, pictures of pretty cups of tea/coffee, plants, and the occasional cute animal. Mostly aesthetic.

32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why?

In a survival/horror, Rhyann Tabris because she fits the personality archetype they use for those sorts of games (timid female protagonist).

33. Your shyest OC?

Rhyann Tabris. She’s extremely shy, and tends to avoid most human men until they earn her trust.

34. Do you have any twin characters?

Sophie Cousland has a twin brother named Jarak. He’s a bit flirty, but is overall a good person.

35. Any sibling characters?

Claudia Hawke has an older brother named Quentin. He’s a mage and she’s extremely protective over him.

36. Do you have OC pairs where the other part belongs to someone else (siblings, lovers, friends etc)?

Rhyann Tabris is the cousin of @mikagesshoku‘s Lyna Mahariel and Misali Mahariel. Claudia Hawke is also friends with Lyna.

37. Introduce an OC who is not quite human

All of my elves/dwarves/qunari? I’m in the mood to mention Thaliah Lavellan, though, given she’s a Dalish elf. She also hooks up with a Qunari.

38. Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer?

I say Claudia Hawke is a former ballet dancer in a modern AU. Though, I imagine Sophie and Jarak are pretty light on their feet, given they’re nobles.

39. Introduce any character you want

I’m world building for an original story in some of my free time, and the main character is named Lilika, though she goes by Lily for most of the story. She’s a seer raised by a wlw couple since she was around 10 years old and she’s blind in her right eye.

40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!

Whenever anyone leaves nice comments/tags on artwork I do of them! I’ve had a couple people comment that Claudia and Rhyann are very pretty, and it makes me so happy (especially with Rhyann because I gave her some of my features that I consider ugly).

41. Has anyone drawn fanart of your OCs? If yes, maybe show a picture or two here (remember sources & permissions!)

I sadly don’t have any pictures on my current phone of it, but my nephew drew Claudia Hawke and one of his characters from the comic books he likes to draw hanging out. It was really cute.

42. Which one of your OCs would be the most interested in Greek gods?

I’m really tempted to say all of them and leaving it at that, but I’d bet money that Neria Surana went through a very intense Greek mythology period of her life.

43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It's time to confess

YES. I like tall girls with red hair and who are also the more dominant partner in a relationship. I’ve been getting better with it. But I do have at least five red heads, most of which are tall, and most of which are the more dominant partner in a relationship.

44. Something you like about your OCs in general

I love them all and how they all have various facets of me. I try to make them all a little bit like me.

45. A character you no longer use?

I used to RP as Nikolai (a vampire) quite regularly, but I haven’t in years.

46. Has anyone ever told you that you treat your OCs badly?

Yes. My old RP buddy used to tell me all the time that I was being mean to our OCs, but in a you’re being mean, but it makes the story so good way.

47. Has anyone ever (friendly) claimed any of your OCs as their child?

The same RP buddy from number 46 did. He’d call our OCs our “children”, so his were my children too.

48. OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure

Solona Amell. She’s a precious child who deserves love.

49. Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes

Claudia Hawke, Quentin Hawke, Neria Surana, Jarak Cousland, Elira Bassat. Most of them.

50. Give me the good ol' OC talk here. Talk about anything you want

Claudia Hawke and Sophie Cousland are named after characters from The Chipmunk Adventure. Claudia was the name of the villain and Sophie was the name of her dog. Quentin is named after a character from a book and his appearance is based somewhat off the same character.

[brodorokihousuke]

Masterpost of Ace Attorney Trilogy pun/secret meaning names (Spoilers!)

Japanese names will be included if they have puns in them.

There are a lot of name puns, so I might’ve left some out if I was lazy/forgot about them. Feel free to reblog with your own thoughts and additions.

I’ll make a post for GS4-GS6 and AAI later.

It’s a long post, so click the link if you want to keep reading.

Phoenix Wright/Naruhodou Ryuuichi: His given name refers to the mythical firebird of the same name, possibly referring to him “rising from the ashes” after the fourth game. His last name is a play on “right”. 

His Japanese given name contains the kanji for ryuu, or Japanese dragon, which is similar to his English given name in that it involves a mythical creature. His surname is pronounced the same as “Naruhodo”, a word which roughly translates to “I see”, or “right”.

Maya Fey: “Fey” is (among other things) a word used to describe something that has supernatural powers. This applies to the whole Fey family, as most of them are spirit channelers.

Another thing to note is the name “Maya” was chosen because of the similarity to her Japanese given name, “Mayoi”

Larry Butz/Yahari Masashi: Both his English and Japanese names are used mainly for one pun, both of which are referenced in the games. The first is the use of his last name in the saying “When something smells, it's usually the Butz”, referring to his ability to get himself caught up in many terrible situations.

His Japanese surname is identical to the phrase meaning “As I thought”. The Japanese version of “If something smells...” translates to “Just as I thought... Yahari's at the bottom of this mess".

Frank Sahwit: His last name is a pun on “saw it”, as he claims he saw (witnessed) a murder take place. Phoenix later uses this when accusing him of actually being the murderer, yelling “Proof enough for you, Mr. Sahwit? Or should I say... Mr. did it!”

Winston Payne/Auchi Takefumi: His name is quite obviously a pun on the phrase “winced in pain”, as he does this quite often.

His Japanese surname is a play on “ouch”.

Dick Gumshoe: Both his first and last names are slang terms for a detective.

April May: It has nothing to do with her personality or appearance, but April and May are two months that appear on the calendar in that order.

Redd White: His name refers to the fact that he wears a gaudy pink suit, and pink is made of red and white. Another meaning it could hold is the fact that Redd White owns Bluecorp, with those three colors being the colors of the American flag.

Manfred von Karma/Karuma Gou: Both the english last name and Japanese surname refer to “karma”, the belief that past actions will affect one’s future. This may refer to the DL-6 incident and his future arrest.

Wendy Oldbag: Her name is a play on the term “windy old bag”. Windy varies in meaning, while old bag is used to refer to a grumpy old woman.

Penny Nicholas: Her name pun, while it has absolutely nothing to do with her, involves coins. “Penny” is obvious, while “Nicholas” is similar to “nickel”.

Sal Manella: Obviously a play on “salmonella”.

Will Powers: A quite obvious play on “willpower”, something Will often seems to lack.

Jack Hammer: His name refers to a tool of the same name, for an unknown reason. 

Dee Vasquez: Could be a play on “Diva Says”.

Lotta Hart: A play on the term “a lot of heart (e.g. putting a lot of heart into something)”, which goes well with Lotta’s personality.

Jake Marshall: His last name is similar to the term “Marshal”, used to describe a high-ranking official.

Bruce Goodman: He was apparently a good man, according to a few characters. His last name is a quite lazy play on this.

Damon Gant: Though it may not look very meaningful at first, something quite interesting pops up if you replace the “a”s in his name with “e”s. After doing this, his name turns into “Demon Gent”. Quite fitting, yes?

Mike Meekins: His last name refers to his meekness.

Dustin Prince: “Dusting (for) prints”.

Ini/Mini Miney: Both sister’s names are a pun on the phrase “eeny meeny miney mo!”, used when trying to decide between two things.

Ken “Acro” Dingling and Sean “Bat” Dingling: The duo’s stage names combined make the word “acrobat”, referring to their title. Their shared last name is very similar to the name of a real-life circus. This circus was known as the Ringling Bros. and was founded in Baraboo, WI.

Benjamin “Ben” Woodman and Trilo Quist: First of all, Benjamin’s last name refers to the wooden puppet he uses. Second of all, Benjamin’s stage name added to his puppet’s full name creates “Bentriloquist”, a play on “Ventriloquist”, which is what Benjamin is.

This last pun also carries over to the Japanese version, where Benjamin’s first name is simply “Ben” and Trilo’s is “Rilo”.

Juan Corrida/Fujimino Isao: Juan’s last name is a Spanish term associated with bullfighting. 

His Japanese surname ironically means “invincible”.

Matt Engarde/Outorou Shingo: His last name refers to the fencing term “En Garde”, which relates to Juan’s bullfighting-related last name.

His Japanese surname is a rough translation of “outlaw”.

Celeste Inpax/Amano Yurie: Celeste is similar to “celestial”, a word that means “belonging or relating to heaven”, referencing the fact that she is dead at the time of Justice for All. “Pax” is latin for “peace”, and when using this to make her name “Celeste Inpeace”, the pronunciation is slightly similar to “rest in peace”.

Her Japanese surname also means “of heaven”.

Doug Swallow/Nonda Kikuzou: His english name is a play on either “don’t swallow” or “drug swallow”, referencing him warning Wright to not take his medicine, as Doug believed it had been poisoned.

His Japanese name is similar to the phrase ”nondara kiku”, which translates to “If you drink it, it’ll work”. This ties in with his English name.

Desirée DeLite/Amasugi Mareka: Her full name is pronounced like “Desire Delight”, referring to her extravagant lifestyle.

Her Japanese surname is a play on “amasugiru”, which means “too sweet”.

Luke Atmey/Hoshiidake Aiga: His English name pun is quite obvious, with it being a play on “Look at me”.

His Japanese name is pretty similar, with it being a play on the phrase “ai ga hoshii dake”, which translates to “I just want love”. Humorously, this caused Japanese fans to send him assorted cards and chocolate on Valentine’s Day, surpassing the amount sent to Phoenix and others.

Viola Cadaverini: Both her first and last name are Italian, tying her to the Italian Mafia. Her last name also means “little corpse” in Italian, which can also be used to tie her to that.

Lisa Basil/Koike Keiko: Her name is a palindrome (is read the same forwards and backwards). Her Japanese name is almost a palindrome.

Glen Elg/Oka Takao: Just like Lisa Basil, his name is a palindrome. His Japanese name is also one.

Furio Tigre/Shibakuzou Toranosuke: His English name is pretty much “furious tiger”.

His Japanese name is a bit more direct. “Shibakuzou” is a slang term for what is basically “I’m gonna kick your ass!”, and “Toranosuke” means “tiger boy”.

I spent four hours on this help

[ask-de-writer]

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT : World of Sea : Part 71

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

140406 words

copyright 2018

written 2007

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express consent of the author.

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Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions. All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

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New to the story?  Read from the beginning.  PART 1 is here

///////////////////////

Looking back, Sarfin could see the open fore-deck of the Dark Dragon and the monster catapult being readied.  Around him he could see the catapults of the Soaring Bird being unlimbered from their hunting locks and readied for combat.  The ammunition being stacked beside them was nothing that he would want to see aimed at any ship.  There were shot designed to rip sails and destroy rigging, and others designed to scatter many small, deadly darts to clear decks and rigging of opposing crews.  

Just seeing them made Sarfin shudder.  The sight of men and women matter of factly handling such devices and getting ready to use them brought home to him just what war was really about. Something that he had known intellectually became sickeningly real.  

It was to the credit of the Council’s representatives that they were also disturbed by the deadly preparations.  Captain Urson put her hands on her hips as she surveyed the decks.  “Is this,” she gestured widely at all the orderly preparations for destruction going on about them, “really necessary?”

Sula looked her straight in the eye and answered, “Because I have seen many times that it was, even more than you, I hope that it is not. There is no harm if we are ready and do not have to fight but many lives, even ships can be lost to unreadiness.”

Sarfin turned to Sula, who was now watching the Soaring Bird’s crew, without apparent emotion.  “How can you ever get used to this kind of thing?” he asked, taking a deep breath to steady himself.

“You don’t,” she replied stonily, turning to face Sarfin.  Her eyes were glistening with unshed tears.  “You do what you have to do and pray to the Dragons that you don’t have to kill again.  The one thing that you can’t do is let your own folk be the ones who pay the price of unreadiness.”

In a lighter tone Sula went on, “Now, we are guests.  Let us pay our respects to our host, the Honored Huld.”

Crewmen guided Captains Urson and Farrol away to guest quarters.

Sula led Sarfin to a companionway amidships.  As Sarfin followed, he said, grateful for a way to change the topic, “Something has been nagging at me since we first met.  Why do you call Captain Huld ‘Honored’?”

Sula smiled at the thoughts and memories that the question brought up. “That’s a bit difficult to explain.  He is Honored because in his whole life, whatever the difficulty, he has never done anything unethical or dishonorable.  His decisions in matters of honor and ethics between others are considered to be absolute by the Council that meets on the Wind.”

“OK, now I’m just as curious as before but confused as well,” said Sarfin.  “The Council that meets on the ‘wind’?”

“You will have to take my word for this one.  The Barant fleet Council is in continuous session.  The Captains meet in a way that they call talking on the Wind.  It allows them to communicate without misunderstanding, no matter the distance between them.  Since I learned of them I have also been a part of that Council.  Not only can you not shut them out, you don’t want to.  It is possible to ignore them for a while sometimes, especially when you think that you are right --- Even if you’re not.”  Sula pushed open a sliding door and escorted Sarfin into a cabin.

“Shouldn’t you have knocked first?” Sarfin asked as he entered.

“No need.  I told him that we were coming and he invited us to tea,” said Sula lightly.

“Tea?” said Sarfin curiously, “What is that?”

“It’s a Barant ceremony involving a hot water drink made with especially prepared seaweeds, dried and flaked.  He is doing this to give you honor before his crew,” Sula knitted her brows as she tried to explain.  “By Barant fleet standards you are not a Captain, and neither was I until a short while ago.  According to their rules you have to be able to talk on the Wind to be a Captain.  This ceremony will let his crew know that you are worthy to command in spite of your disability.  That is the same status that I had until recently.”

Sarfin looked around the chamber and realized that it was both of Spartan simplicity and one of the most harmoniously prefect cabins that he had ever seen.  The walls had tall scroll-like paintings of ships and boats on the sea with cloudscapes behind them.  They were done in monochrome gray inks on a material of startling whiteness.  Each ship was unmistakable, yet it had been artfully reduced to only a few lines and some shadows.  Among them, he recognized his own Dorton. It was hung just back of Huld where he sat cross-legged behind a low table.  The floor was covered with a soft matting that was made of long narrow strands of material tied together into bundles.

“Welcome are you, Council Master Sarfin, Sula – Captain and friend.”  He placed both hands palms together, fingers down and bent his head toward them.  Sula repeated the gesture and sat on the floor next to the table.  After the briefest of hesitations, Sarfin did the same.

Huld serenely said, “North we go as swiftly as sail will carry us.  Let us now the time spend to know each other.  Share tea, share self. Barant way it is.”  

He picked up a bow-drill kit and with only a few quick strokes of the bow, had smoke curling up from the tender of fluffy, dried brown seaweed.  A small puff of breath brought a tiny flame which Huld applied to the wick of an oil lamp.  He set the lamp under a small Hag skin pot of water to heat it.

Altogether, the ceremony and its attendant small talk took over an hour.  As they emerged from Huld’s cabin, Sarfin said to Sula, “That tea was amazing!  I’ve never tasted anything like it before.  Do you know how I might get some?”

“Certainly,” said Sula promptly.  “I have a few hundred pounds on the Dark Dragon that I’d be willing to sell.”  She smiled.  “Can’t sell too much or I’d have a mutiny — and I’d have to join the mutineers.  We count it as one of our basic stores.”

“I can see why.  We’ve never had flavored water in the Naral fleet. . . Um . . . Where are we going?”

“Visitor’s cabins.  We don’t need a guide because Huld and I have been working together for a long time.  We know each other’s ships well.” Soon they were settled into adjoining cabins.

At the pace that the Soaring Bird was making, they would be in the vicinity of 00 West, 800 North by what ought have been early to midmorning.  In those latitudes, at the present time of the year, the sun did not fully set at all.  It only got low in the sky.  Sarfin found it disturbing to have no nightfall.

Sarfin spent as much time as he could studying the Soaring Bird and the way that it was run.  This kind of vessel was truly new to him.  At first he thought that the big lobster claw sails were simply exotic looking.  A short talk with the Soaring Bird’s sail lofter taught him the error in that assumption.  They were, in fact, the most efficient sails to be found on all of Sea.

Aboard the Grandalor, Darkistry stood at the steering tackle, making small adjustments to keep the Longin approaching from directly downwind. She was so careful that it appeared to be completely accidental.

While the ships were closing to hailing drum range, Thunderhead came soaring up from the south directly over the Longin and plunged into the water between the ships.  Shortly, he surfaced in a splash of spray and made a take-off run.  He had a fish in his beak.  Now that he was back, his family had to be fed.

Skye leapt from the nest and swooped to greet her mate.  They did a short aerial ballet, sweeping past each other and spiraling tightly, so close that wings gently rubbed.  The dance ended above the nest and Thunderhead dropped into it, casually checking his fall at the last moment with widespread wings and tail.  He perched on the rail and began the process of dividing the fish, sharing it out among youngsters now ready to begin flying.  That done, he flipped off the side of the rail and dropped on a long angle to land solidly on Tanlin’s shoulder, where he rubbed his beak along her jaw in greeting.

“Glad t’ see ye, too, T’under’ead,” said Tanlin as she reached up and scratched him in his favorite spot under the wing.  “Ugh, ye’re all wet.  Let m’ get t’is ‘arness off.  Ye did good, ye ‘andsome ‘Awk, ye.”  She unbuckled the message harness and gave it to Arnat, who was standing near.

“‘Ere, Arnat.  Stow t’is in our cabin.  Ye know w’ere ‘t goes.”  As Arnat scampered off to put away the harness, the Longin began to signal with her Hailing Drum.

“Return the prisoner Kurin to us and surrender to Council Justice!” the drum demanded imperiously.

“That’s not Master Clard’s hand on the drum,” said Kurin worriedly.  “It sounds more like his apprentice Degan.  Now I’m sure something is wrong.”

TO BE CONTINUED

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