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mrs-gauche · 2 years

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There’s something about the ocean...

(In which I finally go completely haywire, because the wait for this next game is slowly but surely rotting my brain...)

So, here's something that has been on my mind ever since I first read all of Tevinter Nights.

Tell me if I'm wrong, but surely I wasn't the only one who thought, after finishing the whole book and looking at it in its entirety, that there seemed to be a notable recurring theme related to... the ocean?

A quick summary: We've got...

- the Qunari occupying the shores along the Arlathan Forest, to get resources for building more ships/dreadnoughts for their invasion

- some truly horrifying creatures lurking underground/beneath mountains that are not darkspawn but something much worse, probably the result of some evil ancient lyrium experiments from Ghilan'nain, made with "a gray fluid that smells like the ocean", despite the fact that they weren't anywhere near the sea

- an entire chapter about another octopus-esque monster with tentacles that lives in the sewers of Minrathous and kills countless people

- a confrontation on board a Qunari ship, the new Darvaarad, right before Rivaini harbors, that almost lead to war between Tevinter and Rivain

- in general, most of the chapters including scenes set around docks, harbors, beaches, coasts, rivers and lakes at some point

- an appearance of one of the Executors, a mysterious group of people who are coming from across the sea, and that Solas labels as "dangerous"

There's also this super gorgeous illustrated map of Thedas that came with every copy of the book and features quite a lot of intriguing looking sea creatures. 👀

Now, when I first thought about why that would be, I concluded that, well, of course the ocean is going to be more "prominent", considering how DA4 will be set in northern Thedas, primarily centering around Tevinter, Antiva, Rivain, Seheron or maybe even Par Vollen, ALL of which located directly at sea or very near the coastline. So naturally it makes sense for a book setting up the course for the next game, to focus more on that part of the world.

So when I first saw the DA4 Behind the scenes video at Gamescom then, a lot of the concept art seemed to confirm my assumption, presenting the possibility of a much more "oceanic" setting.

All this being said though, upon second thought... If we turn to the deep sea lore with all of this in mind, I think.. there might be more to the ocean and its relevants for DA4 than just the setting. 👀

Let us start by thinking about how the elements/nature factor into the lore in general. The first that comes to my mind is the oldest and perhaps most significant conflict in the history of Thedas that we know of (to date). The ancient elves, their magical floating cities, "gods" flying around in the form of dragons and a civilization build and dependent on the magic of the Fade, also called "the Sky", going at war with the Children of the Stone or rather "the Pillars of the Earth" itself, the Titans.

So, if we have the "Sky" essentially fighting the "Earth"...

Then... what about the Ocean?

Where does the ocean factor into all of this/what role does it play in the great scheme of it all and how is it relevant to the story of DA4, aside from its setting?

I might have an idea, but you may want to get that tinfoil hat first (and maybe some tea and a bit of time) before reading any further. 😁 It's just thoughts cobbled together in the hope of making any lick of sense (it won’t). lol

(Also, please picture me exactly like this meme while reading any of this.)

So... Let's talk about the Void for a second, shall we?

It's funny how it took me like a year to realize that the Fade and the Void were apparently two seperate things, because when I first started playing Dragon Age in German, in which the Fade has always been called "das Nichts" literally "the nothing", whereas the Void was translated with "die Leere", which is practically interchangeable in meaning, so until I looked deeper into the lore, I always assumed that they were pretty much the same thing. lol

(Ironically though, that's also what many people in Thedas seem to think as well?)

But, what really is the Void?

As it is with most things in DA, it really depends on what religious belief we're looking at.

The one thing that most cultures seem to have in common though, is that the Void is also called "the abyss" in myths and historical texts.

Its location is undefined, but it's believed to be probably somewhere within the Fade, rather than being a seperate place entirely.

Some also call it the "raw Fade" where there's nothing, simply "empty places between dreams".

Looking at the Chantry's definition, to make a long story short, the Void is basically the Thedosian equivalent to the real world's Christian belief of Hell. After death, you either take your place at the Maker's side or - if you're a sinner - your soul will be lost in the endless abyss and wandering the Void forever.

But then there's also this part of the Canticle of Andraste:

Here lies the abyss, the well of all souls.

From these emerald waters doth life begin anew.

Come to me, child, and I shall embrace you.

In my arms lies eternity.

Hmmmm. A well of all souls, where life begins anew.... Sounds a little familiar, doesn't it?

Take it from the man of the hour himself. After Wisdom's death, Solas will return to Skyhold and, if you like, explain to the Inquisitor what happens when a spirit dies. He also says this:

"I visited the place in the Fade where my friend used to be. It's empty. But there are stirrings of energy in the Void. Someday something new may grow there."

So according to Mr Take-it-as-fact-cuz-I've-literally-been-there, the Void is the place where spirits are born/die. So it's interesting that it does seem to somewhat align with the Canticle's depiction of a "Well of all souls, where life begins anew".

(Getting a bit of "Hades' river of souls" vibes here. Anyone?)

(Stay tuned for more Greek mythology comparisons, by the way. lol)

Anyway. Going quickly back to the Canticle however, it also mentions "emerald waters":

"This fragment is where Andraste goes to speak to the Maker for the first time and convinces him to forgive mankind. It describes “a beautiful temple deep under the earth surrounded by emerald waters".

One interpretation of this verse directly equates "the emerald waters of the abyss" to "the waters of the Fade".

So we have the "Well of all souls, where life begins anew", the Void as the place where spirits are born, and a beautiful temple surrounded by "emerald waters of the abyss" deep under the earth.

The capital of Elvhenan, Arlathan, is said to have sunken "deep onto the ocean floor" when the empire fell. Could this be in any way connected to the temple Andraste saw deep under the earth surrounded by water? This would fit well with the theory of Andraste being Mythal's previous host, assuming that she were shown visions or dreams or whatever in the Fade by Mythal.

See, the thing is, I'd count myself to one of the people who are pretty much convinced at this point that Arlathan was/is the Golden/Black City in the center of the Fade (not going into details here, because this is way too long already..), and according to the lore, it was Tevinter who sank Arlathan into the ocean long after the Veil was created, so unless Tevinter fabricated that part of their victory as well and it wasn’t actually them who sank it (just like it wasn’t actually Tevinter that caused Elvhenan’s downfall)... how would this make sense then? I mean, there cannot be two Arlathans, one in the center of the Fade, and another Arlathan essentially at the center of the world, which is what I'm going to say "on the ocean floor" means.

Which is where we finally go back to Ancient Greek Mythology! 😂

So.. I am by no means an expert on Greek mythology, but even I know that there's only one city in history that became pretty much so popular for having "sunken into the ocean" that it's still talked about over 2000 years later as one of the oldest and greatest mysteries of the world.

So I think it's pretty safe to say that the devs must've taken at least some inspiration from the story of the Lost City of Atlantis. (Like, it even sounds similar? Atlantis/Arlathan? No?)

Let's see...

Atlantis, a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works, representing the antagonist naval power that besieges Ancient Athens = Arlathan, the capital city of the empire of Elvhenan, representing the epitome of power and pride of the Evanuris, the evil false gods, who enslaved the Ancient elves, and "Pride" essentially being the cause for Elvhenan's downfall

Hmmmmm.

"It was the hubris of men that brought the darkspawn into our world." - literally the first line in Origins, and a theme that's conveyed throughout the entire series. I could talk about why I believe that the Evanuris are to blame for the Blight, but that's a rambling post for another day (and oh boy, will it be a long one lol).

Let me take this even further, because that tinfoil is eating up my brain.

Cerberus, hellhound of Hades = Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf, demonic god of Nightmares

Hell/Underworld = Void/Abyss

Cerberus guards the gates of the Underworld = Fen'Harel guards the gates of the Black City/prison of the Evanuris

Plato's story concludes with Atlantis, a powerful and advanced kingdom, falling out of favor with the deities and submerging, within in a night and a day, into the Atlantic Ocean = Arlathan is said to have sunken onto the ocean floor (after Solas created the Veil to lock the gods away?)

Okay. Taking (*gestures wildly*) whatever all this is.. and moving on... you may remember a certain little codex entry that can be found at the Temple of Mythal.

The codex speaks of a story about Ghilan'nain who was offered apotheosis if she would destroy all her creations, elevating her to become part of the elvhen pantheon and claim godhood. It is said that she then destroyed all the creatures of land and air (except for some birds and halla 'cause they're way too pretty), but when she was about to do the same to the creatures of the deep sea, "Pride stopped her hand".

Alright. So why would Mr Capital P Pride prevent Ghili from destroying her sea creatures, if it doesn't turn out that Solas somehow just really loves big fishies. Knowing our man, he does nothing without a reason or a plan behind it.

(And going by any of the descriptions used in the "Horror of Hormak" chapter in Tevinter Nights, I can only imagine what kind of terrifying, monstrous creatures of Ghilan’nain must lurk at the bottom of the sea...)

I hope that tinfoil hat still sits on tight, because this is where I completely go off the rails.

Ok so, even though I'm fully convinced that Arlathan has to be the Black City...

Let us just for one second here assume that Arlathan really did sink onto the ocean floor and the Black City in the center of the Fade is.. idk, maybe just another part of Arlathan that split when the Veil was created? So if the rest of Arlathan really did end up on the ocean floor, why would Solas need big dangerous ancient sea creatures to still exist?

Well, the Black City in the center of the Fade can't be reached, right? And that's intentional, because no one should be able to open its gates and free the Evanuris from their eternal prison (and maybe unleash something even worse), right? We know what happened when the Magisters Sidereal did just that.

But... what if it's the same thing with the "other" Arlathan in the real world? What if that place is also not supposed to be reached? And how would you achieve that in the real world? I mean, I feel like dumping it onto the ocean floor would probably already do the job, but to really ensure that no one would ever dare to go there, Solas - in true Solas fashion - planned way ahead and made sure that big scary ancient monster Kraken Cthulhus would prevent anyone from ever reaching that place.

Solas told us that sleeping in ancient ruins will allow you to enter/explore such long forgotten places/memories in the Fade. So.. what if entering the ruins of "Arlathan" in the real world would be the key to enter the Black City in the Fade?

Do I sound insane? Does any of this make sense? I don't know anymore. My head hurts.

But why else would Solas do something like this?

Ok, pushing the Atlantis/Arlathan insanity aside for now, let's take a closer look at something that's less headache-inducing. lol Notice how one of the murals seen in Trespasser shows those wavey, "water-like" patterns that look different from how the “waters of the Fade” are depicted in every other mural, so could there be a hint at some kind of connection to the ocean?

Going back to the beginning though, when we talked about the Void/Abyss. Because hell, we haven't even talked about how the elves themselves define it (unless you count Solas as one of them, which he doesn't even do himself, so whatever 😂).

So the Dalish speak of the abyss as the home of the Forgotten Ones.

(And while I'm writing this, my mind just went completely bonkers and.... what if.. the Forgotten Ones.. are locked in that other part of Arlathan that's on the ocean floor?? Dalish legend says that the creators where locked in the "heavens"/the Sky/Black City in the Fade, while the Forgotten Ones were locked in the "abyss"/underneath the Earth/the other part of Arlathan on the ocean floor?? And maybe THAT'S why no one shall reach it/the thing with the sea creatures??? Guys, my head is about to explode. This doesn't make any sense, right? It's stupid, right? Right??)

Anyway. Back to the Void and Dalish legends. *trying to calm down*

"When Andruil began stalking the Forgotten Ones in the Void, she suffered longer and longer periods of madness after returning. She put on armor made of the Void, and all forgot her true face. She made weapons of darkness, and plague ate her lands. She howled things meant to be forgotten, until Mythal turned into a great serpent and sapped Andruil's strength with her magic, stealing her knowledge of how to find the Void. Andruil could not get back to the abyss ever since, and peace returned."

I mean, upon first impression, that does sound pretty damn similiar to what we know of corruption by the Blight/red lyrium/etc... But that honestly kinda irks me, because it's actually conflicting with my own theory on how/when/where the Blight originated 😂, which I believe was the Golden City, Arlathan, itself and that it was the origin of the Blight that lead to it turning black.

Hmm.

We already established that the Void is the place where spirits are born, emptiness between dreams, a "well of all souls". During the Witch Hunt DLC, Eleni Zinovia speaks of a breached prison and the shadow that will consume all. (Sandal's prophecy says "the shadows will part" when "he rises".) She then mentions "a hunger, a cage, a yawning void". There are also the "Empty Ones", a Nevarran cult predating the Chantry, who preached that the Blight came from the Void, a place of nothing.

So how about this idea then: What if the Blight came indeed from the Black City, BUT Arlathan was somehow contained within the Void, which prevented the Blight from spreading any further (until the Magisters breached in) and is also preventing anyone from reaching it now??

(I officially have no clue what I'm talking about anymore. And what does any of that have to do with the Ocean, you ask? Hell if I know. 😂)

So ANYWAY.

At last, let's paddle back and talk about DWARVES.

As you return to the Deep Roads section in Trespasser, the one that was mined for lyrium by Mythal, you'll see that it's almost completely flooted and submerged by water at that point. Trespasser also told us that the ancient elves tried anything to seal and destroy parts of the Deep Roads, after the Evanuris had uncovered something in their lust for power/mining the Titan’s blood/lyrium, that could have destroyed the entire world. And looking at these massive amounts of lyrium “coffins” that we saw in the Deep Roads in Trespasser, you have to wonder what would happen to such a place or any sea creatures living down there when it’s completely submerged by the ocean.

Additionally, the three lower levels in the Descent DLC - Forgotten Caverns, Bastion of the Pure and the Wellspring - are grouped at the expedition table as locations within "the Uncharted Abyss". 👀

In Origins, the Anvil of the Void turned living dwarves into golems of stone with the use of lyrium.

Medusa Solas has the ability to turn people into stone (and apparently even golems, who just.. die, I guess, according to Tevinter Nights). So could this ability be in any way connected to the Void then? Taking my unhinged idea from before, about the Black City maybe being contained within the Void, Solas would've been the one who did this.

We also have Meredith technically turning into "stone" of red lyrium when she died and a certain someone's idol taken out of her chest...

Gosh, why does everything ALWAYS end up getting back to this damn thing?? It's like the biggest enigma to me in all of this and it's obviously going to play a big part in the next game with how much attention it's getting.

And speaking of the idol getting attention, in the tale of the infamous "Hunt of the Fell Wolf" codex in Jaws of Hakkon, which is likely to contain a number of super ominous hints, Ameridan lands in a "watery grave" at one point. This could mean absolutely nothing, but given all the potential implications this tale could have for the Inquisitor in DA4... Let's just say, I'm scared.

(And looking at this concept art again with all of this in mind, if the thing we see here really is Ghilan'nain and take all the stuff in Tevinter Nights into account with the "ocean-smelling gray fluid" and the horrifying creatures underground that are, I quote, "Waiting for her", seeing as this "goddess" appears to break out of what looks like huge ocean waves and the last we heard from the Evanuris being "If we get out of here, I will end Fen'Harel"... I don't know about you guys, but after rereading that Horror of Hormak chapter again, I genuinely think that we'll need Solas to be on our side in the fight against this thing, because I honestly can't see how we're going to counter this, unless we have our own "god" to match this "goddess". 😂)

Additionally, besides the before mentioned Executors in Tevinter Nights, the World of Thedas book describes entire nations living across the sea and beyond the borders of the map that have never even made contact with anyone in Thedas. There are also legends of the Amaranthine Ocean, in which people had mysteriously vanished or gone mad after travelling there. Not to mention the age-old question of where the humans of Thedas or the Kossith even came from in the first place. 👀

I think, if there's anything we can actually take from all of this, it's that the ocean was and still is a widely unexplored, unknown territory to the people of modern Thedas, as it was to the ancient elves and the dwarves all these ages ago. The dwarves never left their Titans and the ancient elves travelled by using eluvians, so there would've been no need to venture to the sea.

In modern Thedas however, the sea is now being explored not only for trade and travelling by common folk, merchants and pioneers, but also the Qunari with their dreadnoughts, slave traders, pirates like the Felicisima Armada operating from Llomerryn in Rivain, which happens to be known for being a haven for raiders, brigands and various criminals, due to its location as a port city and political neutrality, and also the base to the a certain renowned guild of treasure hunters introduced in Tevinter Nights.

(Hands up if your money is on Lord of Fortune for next protagonist 🖐)

Look who’s stepping out of the ocean here like it’s their own friggin domain, with all that sweet shiny loot and this gigantic burning dreadnought in the back, hell yeah.

But maybe that's exactly what will be one of our next protagonist's biggest advantages. For all his god like powers and knowledge, the ocean might be one of the few things that Solas doesn't know shit about. lol

To quote himself, "The dreams were never worth the effort".

Which raises the question.

...Can wolves swim?

#also remember bioware is building da4 on anthem's code now #and looking at the maps and features of *that* game..#I think there's a lot of potential for ocean exploring and travelling vast seas here #if da4 is going to be anything like AC 4 Black Flag we're in for a treat #👀👀👀👀#dragon age #dragon age 4 #da4 #dragon age dreadwolf #solas #tevinter nights #tevinter nights spoilers

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ozlices · 8 months

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we literally said on twt a WHILE back that we wanted them to add god-ish to the game with a nightcord cover, but assumed we wouldn't ever get it bc the song is so easily misinterpreted and thus could be controversial to add.

BUT THE PROSEKA DEVS REALLY SAID 'NO WE AREN'T COWARDS THAT'S A BANGER AND THE EMOS CAN AND WILL SING IT LIKE NOBODY'S BUSINESS' AND IM JUST SO GRATEFUL TO RECEIVE??????????????? I LITERALLY THOUGHT IT WAS THE MOST IMPOSSIBLE DESIRED SONG ICB IT'S REAL IM SO EXCITED TO HEAR IT THEYRE GONNA SHRED IT MAN

#mine #also SO stoked abt love is war although i dont understand why it went to vbs and not. leo/need.#like... it's literally THE classic era rock anthem for miku but. alright. ig.#im sure they'll shred it too i was just hoping it'd go to leo/need if we did get it but it's fine.#we gotta get at least one weird choice for the band a classic era song is given to every year lmao.#ICB WE GOT GOD-ISH THOUGH WE WOKE UP AND THAT WAS THE FIRST THING WE SAW AND WE THOUGHT WE WERE HALLUCINATING AAA #proseka #proseka spoilers #the only desired songs we're missing at this point are popipo and tsumi to batsu #any other classic era songs beyond those are just bonuses #but once those two get added we will have all of our absolute favorite classics in the game #SO ADD THEM... PLEASE...........

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cheapshrimpysheep · 11 months

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When Can I See You Again?

SUMMARY: After classes you go with Ortho to Ignihyde to play with Idia. You end up eating noodles with him for dinner, and before you leave is when your conversation warms up a bit.

CHARACTERS: Pairing with Idia. Ortho and other characters as secondary.

TAGS: Fluff; GN Reader; Flirting; Kissing

WARNING: Spoilers from: Book 6; The Phantom Bride; Twisted Halloween (1st and 2nd parts); The Harveston Sledathon; Camp Vargas 2: The Art of Survival.

WORD COUNT: 2.640

COMMENTS: This is for the @briarvalleyarchives “Anthems of Old” event. I was invited to join this twst writers network and this is the first thing I write for it. I took this more as a challenge to myself. I was happy with the result and I hope you like it too. And it wasn't until later that I realized that I chose a song from a movie about villains not really being villains.

Check out the Song I chose -> Owl City - When Can I See You Again? (From Wreck it Ralph)

You and Grim were having lunch with Ace and Deuce. Until Ortho showed up and asked if he could sit with you. He wasn't carrying a tray.

“We can arrange a sit for you on one condition.” Grim said “You don't eat because you're a robot, right?” Ortho confirms. "But now you're a student right? Aren't you entitled to a meal too?"

“Aaah, I think I know what Grim is getting at.” Ace comments.

“I think I know too.” Ortho says. “You want me to go get my meal and give it to you, correct?”

“Yah! If you do, you can sit with us.”

You tell Ortho he doesn't have to do that and Grim starts to protest.

“Ha ha. It's okay, prefect. As far as I know, the necessary amount of food is prepared for all students. If they do it with me as one of the students who will consume the food, that means at least one meal will be wasted. So maybe giving it to Grim is the best thing to do.”

Everyone approves of his point of view. Some for better reasons than others. He goes to get his meal to give to Grim and sits down with you.

You start chatting and, eventually, Ortho starts talking about a new game that Idia and him started to play and that a lot of people say it’s good. It was a cute and fun co-op game about a couple. And when you see some parts of the gameplay that he shows you, you show interest in playing too.

“So why don't you play with my brother? I'm sure he will enjoy playing with you.”

“Don't you want to play?” You ask.

“Hmm... yes, but I would like him to play in real life with someone else besides me. You know?” You do. “Why don't you come with me to Ignihyde after school to play? We can reset the game for you. We haven't made that much progress anyway, don’t worry.” he was clearly very happy about it.

“I pass.” Grim says with his mouth full.

“Hum? WHY?” Ortho asks.

“Because this guy always wants to treat me and pet me like I'm a cat! I'd rather take a long nap in Ramshackle Dorm with the ghosts.”

Ortho sighs, but he says it's okay. The truth he won't reveal is that it will even be better that way.

After school, Ortho accompany you to the Ramshackle Dorm to drop Grim off. And then, you two go to the Hall of Mirrors to go to Ignihyde.

When you arrive at the door of Idia's room, upon recognizing Ortho, the door opens without any problems and you two enter. Idia was sitting in the desk chair with his back to you at the door, with headphones in his ears. Ortho chuckles mischievously.

“Hey, (Y/N)?” he whispers to you. “Do you want to surprise him?” And you do! He gives you an idea and you execute it.

Idia was focused on the screen. You approach slowly, lean in beside him, and give him a quick peck on the cheek. He jumps off the chair and lands on the ground. And as soon as he sees you, the ends of his hair turn pink.

“WHAT? WHEN... W-when did you spaun here?”

You laugh. "Didn't Ortho tell you I was coming to play with you?"

He looks at his younger brother.

“Surprise!” Nope, Ortho didn't tell him. But now he tells him about your lunchtime conversation. And about you two playing from the beginning.

“But I like to play on hard mode.” Idia mutters, thinking you can't hear him. “In that case I'll have to beat the game on easy mode.”

“If this is so painful for you then why don't you just tell me you only play with pros?” You say, crossing your arms and raising an eyebrow.

“Hep!” he genuinely hoped you hadn't heard. “No! That's not- I didn't- I wasn't-” he seems unable to finish a single sentence.

Seeing him so flustered is so funny to you, to the point of being a little cute. You can't hide the urge to laugh and that makes him revert to his gloomy self. And sulking a little bit that you're laughing at him.

“So... you're not upset?”

“Oh, I am. But seeing you panicking is revenge enough for now.”

“Oh yeah? Let's see who panics when we're playing.” he smirks evilly.

You turn serious all of a sudden and worn him: “Don't put it on-”

“I'm not putting it on hard mode.” he answers you slightly intimidated. One of the sides he likes most about you and something that he will never admit.

It's a co-op puzzle game. Which means he becomes a cocky bastard for solving puzzles in seconds. He annoys you with his arrogance and you annoy him by messing things up in the game. While you're playing, Ortho left you two alone and none of you noticed.

You were having so much fun that it wasn't until your bellies rumbled that you realized you hadn't eaten yet and it was past dinnertime. You start to worry about Grim. Not because you think he would have been starving without you, but because he could eat who knows what without you around.

“It’s been fun but now I’ve got to go.” you say and your belly growls again.

“It's still going to be a long time before you get to your dorm and still have to cook dinner.” He says “If you are as hungry as I am, you should eat as soon as possible.”

“I know. That's why you should go now.”

“I have a lot of instant noodles. And I would say your best strategy right now would be to make yourself a cup of them and eat before you go. If you leave now with your hunger bar that low you could collapse halfway through.”

“Thank you for showing me the worst case scenario.”

“Oh, believe me, this isn't the worst I can imagine.” he smiles in a slightly creepy way, like someone who prides himself on predicting the worst. But then it goes back to normal. “Hey, it's just an offer. I'm going to make myself a cup now. If you'd like to come.”

You accept his offer and follow him into the kitchen. He asks you what kind of noodles you like best. If you ask him what kind of noodles he has, he will reply: "All kinds. Meh heh heh... Take a shot!" You say which one is your favourite. “IN STOCK NOW!” He says in his best Sam impersonation. It was so good that it surprised you and made you laugh.

He takes out two cups of your favourite noodles, one for you and one for him. He places them on the table where you sit while he goes to prepare the water in the electric kettle. He starts talking about the game you were playing together, but you're paying more attention to his small gesture of "making dinner" for you.

When he turns to you and sees your face, he shuts up and then says: “W-why are you looking at me like that? Has my hair turned a weird colour?” You chuckle but say no. “Then why that look?”

“Cause I think you're cute.” His hair does a PUFF in surprise and the ends of his hair turn pink and his face a little flushed. “Now yes, your hair is in a funny colour.” And you keep smiling at him.

“Meh heh... I may be a noob at this game but I still know how to play it.” He says, with a smirk and that confidence you only see once in a while.

“What do you mean?”

He puts his hands behind his back and slowly walks towards you while smirking. And you feel yourself blushing a little. When he gets in front of you he leans in, his face so close to yours that you almost feel hypnotized by his strong yellow eyes.

“Heh heh, looks like we're both cute when we're flattered.” He's speaking in that deep voice of his. “What's the matter? Not so confident when it's my turn?” He takes one of his hands to your face, thumb on one cheek, three fingers on the other and pinky under your chin, because his hand is relatively big compared to you. He's not hurting you, but he manages to gently get you to form your lips into a kiss pose. “(Y/N), dear, hon, you know very well at this point on a PvP between the both of us, I win. He he he...” he whispers, as he gets even closer “...cute...”

POP! He jumps and straightens up when startled by the electric kettle's signal that the water is already hot. And you laugh. He sulks, but turns and goes to get the water to put in your noodle cups.

Meanwhile, other Ignihyde students started to enter the kitchen to also prepare their dinners and eat. So, you couldn't continue your "little game".

You finish eating and he walks you out of the dorm.

“When can we do this again?” You ask before you leave.

“Well, that depends.” He answers. “When can I see you again?” and then he starts talking very fast. “I mean, I'm always at my room. In the best case scenario. You're the one who's always busy solving the problems of an incompetent headmage. And having fun with those two single brain celled of friends. And having meeting and stuff with the other housewordens. So, hey, you're the one who should text me whenever your free.”

That sounded a little suspicious, didn't it? You look around. You don't see anyone else but you two.

“Idia?... Was that a jealous speech?”

“What? Jealous? No, of course not.” He's still speaking quickly “This is just the speed up speech I use to spit facts and vent in someone's face with the expectation that even if they hear me they won't understand what I say and will just be confused and think I'm weird enough to leave me alone.”

“You want me to leave you alone?”

“W-wha- NO! I-I-I-...” He sees you start to lift the corners of your mouth. In fact, it's funny to see him flustered. “*Sigh*... It's a blessing and a curse to have a weirdo who can understand me even when I speak in my turbo speech mode.”

“I'll take that "weirdo" as a compliment.” you say, smirking.

“As you should.” He says, a little lower and with that sweet little smile. You cherish that smile until you remember what you two were talking about.

“I wish you would go out more often. Ortho too. Wouldn't you like to take a walk with me one day?”

“Surrounded by normies who wouldn't take their eyes off us? No thanks.” He says and you sulk. “Oh, come on. You know very well I'm not saying I don't want to be with you. I will not continue to fall on your sulking face.”

“But you didn't like the other times you left Ignihyde?”

“Oh yes. Being kidnapped by ghosts into a forced marriage was the most romantic experience I've ever had. Getting kidnapped to a Halloween party in the Spectral Realm and being possessed? What an adrenaline rush! Go to a camp and get kidnapped by Couch Vargas and forced to squad until my legs are in agony? The outdoor exercise I've been needing. I just realized I have a problem with being serial kidnapped.”

Even his sarcasm makes you laugh. “Can't say you don't have a point there. But what about the Halloween before you were kidnapped? For example?”

“Ah, what delightful visitors Magical Monsters are.”

“First, what about the normal visitors? Wasn't it good to see them appreciate your work? And second, you're not going to tell me you didn't enjoy terrorizing Magicam Monsters, are you?” He answers you with his smug smile. “And what about that gaming afternoon at Ramshackle Dorm? Everyone was so impressed with your gaming skills.” his sweet smile comes back. “Aaaaand...” you were going to play your trump card and you tried to imitate him in his fanboy mode “Epel's grandma is the inspiration for the team leader os the show I'm obsessed about? DUUUDE. SHE'S BEST GIRL BY FAR! Would you autograph my guidebook? And can I take a picture with you?!”

“OKAY OKAY, I GOT IT!” He was so embarrassed, for both of you. Fortunately, no one was there to see it. “And BTW, the show is called Sled Over Heels, the team is called Beauties Sleeping and the character is called Ai. Thank you very much.”

“Did you regret leaving the dorm that time?” you ask, knowing the answer. But he doesn't answer, he doesn't like to give the other person reason so soon. “Would you regret taking a walk with me one day?”

“Maybe.” He says, you sulk. “Not because of you, because of everyone and everything else. Can't we take this getting me out of the room thing slowly?”

“That reminds me of a phrase. Life is way too short to take it slow. But in your case, yes, we can take it slow. What if you come to Ramshackle Dorm and play together then? Maybe you can pet Grim.”

“That's very appealing. You're good with deal, I must say. Perhaps you can compete with Azul.”

“So, is that an yes?”

“*Sigh* Fine, I will... try.”

“Just try? What if i buy some candy?”

“Damn, you really are persistent. But since you're raising the offer” he smirks “what if I try to see how far it goes?”

“Do you want a kiss?” your cheekiness makes his hair explode in pink, and he blushes a lot.

“I-i-i-is that an a-actual offer?”

“Perhaps. But with such a high offer, do you really think just going to my dorm is enough?”

“Hum...” he thinks for a second. “How about that walk with you? There are not many people on the beach at this time of year.”

“But don't you need permission to leave college?”

“Heh heh heh. You remember who my family is right? Do you really think I can't bribe the headmage? As if it were difficult.”

You two were smiling like partners in crime.

“We have a deal then.” you say “so... what kind of kiss would you like?”

“Any one I want?”

“Any one you want.”

He looks around again, there's no one there, but he still pulls you into a corner. Lift your chin with his fingers and bring his face closer to yours. You were lit by blue and pink fire lights.

“Then why don't we finish what we started in the kitchen?”

You kiss him as your answer. You feel the warm his hair emits and his delicate but passionate lips on yours. You just broke away from the kiss early, because you were in a place where someone could show up at any moment.

When you get to Ramshackle Dorm, you find Grim and Ortho sleeping on the couch in the Lounge. The ghosts tell you that Ortho showed up there to keep Grim company and feed him dinner. He got some cans of tuna for himself. They also say that Ortho commented that his batteries were running low when he went into sleep or economy mode.

You wake Ortho up gently. And asks if he wants to spend the night there. You can arrange a place for him.

“It's ok. I was saving my energies to have enough to go back to Ignihyde anyway.”

He really wants to ask how the afternoon went with his brother, but it's late and he can ask you the next day. Or simply see in what mood Idia is in when he gets to their bedroom.

If you would like to read more from me, you can find it in my pinned post: INDEX

ABOUT THE SONG: "When Can I See You Again?" is one of the 3 theme songs from Disney's 2012 animated feature film, Wreck-It Ralph. It is an uptempo dance-pop and synthpop song written and performed by Owl City.

The song is played during the credits showing Ralph, Felix, Vanellope, and Calhoun's game-jumping adventures.

The song is the main theme of the Paint the Night parade at Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland, and is played at the end of Move It! Shake It! Dance and Play It!.

SOURCE

#Twisted Wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #disney twisted wonderland #twst imagines #twst wonderland #twst fluf #Twisted Wonderland Fluf #Idia Shroud #Idia Shroud x Reader #Idia x Reader #briarvalleyarchives #Anthems of Old #twst fluff

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viviennevermillion · 11 months

Text

ᴀʟᴡᴀʏꜱ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ

❝ always there to warm you in the winter.... always there with shelter from the rain... always there to catch you when you're falling... always there to stand you up again... family...❞ — Lady & the Tramp 2

notes: i see chapter 7 part 4 did things to our puny little minds. part of @briarvalleyarchives "anthems of old" event. a short story about lilia, malleus and whom they've lost.

warnings: character death, major chapter 7 spoilers

The winter after the beloved princess had passed was a cruel and solemn one. The snowflakes would travel through the cold air of Briar Valley as they had done so many times in the years prior and hit the ground, melting into the ones that had come before; a fate that was all too familiar to the residents of the small nation. The war had left its scars upon the lands. Beasts had run rampant in the villages; destroying homes that had been carefully built with love and dedication. The caves in the mountains were stripped of their glamour, the crystals that had reflected the sunlight that would, despite all odds, break through the cracks, were stolen by beasts unfamiliar to the once peaceful home of the fae.

Because some beasts were not as easy to handle as the demon beasts that came from the mountains to wreak havoc in the settlements. No one knew that better than the fearsome General Vanrouge. From the moment Lady Mallenoa had entered her eternal slumber; with no amount of love able to wake her once more, it was as though winter never ended. Memories of times gone by would flash through his mind; the way they had played in the snow as children and the young princess would never go easy on him; using her magic to turn the previously innocent game into a battlefield of snowballs that left Lilia no room to fight back. It took centuries for him to be able to hold a candle to her power.

Now the snow was stained with the blood of his enemies. At the time, the general had never taken a moment to think about whether the Silver Owls he had slain had a family waiting for them at home as well. They had taken his, so they were undeserving of theirs. General Vanrouge had been consumed by the rage and bitterness in his heart, destroying all who dared stand in his path, for his heart now belonged to battle. This way, he wouldn't have to mourn the past.

He remembered vividly, always, the day they laid her to rest. It seemed as though the whole kingdom was present to say their goodbyes to her. Each citizen who attended the burial was dressed in black for this day, illuminated in the dead of night only by the candles they held as the princess was carried in a casket to her final resting place. The queen had placed a single rose on the ground that to Lilia seemed as though it had swallowed her. Lilia had walked up to the grave later when everyone had left. He thought of the egg still rested and protected within the chambers of the castle. "I promise, for as long as I live, no harm shall come to it. And not a day will go by....that I don't miss your smile", his voice cracked as the tears started streaming down his face. The seasons would go by and yet the cold never passed. Not when the sun would rise on the next day, not when it had risen a hundred years later.

General Vanrouge remembered how she had taught him to play stringed instruments, something he found boring and pointless as a child. Princess Mallenoa always had such a soothing voice. He remembered how she'd sit next to her egg with Prince Levan and sing a soft song to the unborn child. Now Lilia's heart sang without a sound; a quiet melody of grief and unrest. Her funeral was the last time he had allowed himself to cry. The numbness in his heart when he'd open his eyes in the morning didn't fade for decades, centuries even. These were lifespans in the eyes of a child of man; and they seemed to have forgotten all about the devastation they had brought to Briar Valley just a few hundred years later. But a soldier's heart never forgets. It never forgives. That was what Lilia thought at the time. Pain had made him heartless and his heart had been locked away for he feared the pain it held more than any foe on the battlefield. He only hoped, wherever she was now, that she had found peace.

How many times had he wished to feel again? To wake up in the morning and hear her pounding on his door, angry about something. It had annoyed him at the time. But she had been alive.

Yes, the seasons had gone by, yet eternal winter resided in the hearts of the people. But nothing stopped another day. Nothing stopped the inevitable; that the general's heart would thaw one day and spring would arrive in Briar Valley.

It was a miracle. At this point, the egg was more of a reminder of a future that would never be. A memory. Something to make one realize that the royal family would die with Queen Maleficia; the future of the kingdom as uncertain as it had been since the day the war ended. And who would blame anyone? It had been centuries.

But Malleus was spring.

He was the reason General Vanrouge shed a tear once more. One of relief and of love he thought he no longer had inside him. He had smiled when he first saw the little dragon fae with his eggshell on his small face. A smile he was sure the princess would have teased him for. After all, wasn't it him who had always said that he hated children? Who had refused to hold her egg when she had offered it to him? Yet in that moment, he couldn't help to do so. He had picked the little prince up and looked at the queen with the brightest smile she had seen on him in centuries. Tears were streaming down his face as the small fae was just looking up at him with awe and curiosity in his eyes. People say that when someone passes, in a way they are still with you. Lilia had always thought that this was bullshit, he had been far too bitter to notice. But in that moment, he realized that Mallenoa was all around him. He held her legacy in his arms. "She saved us once again, didn't she?", he had whispered quietly, wiping the tears from his face.

The little prince grew up healthy and not one bit less of a fire hazard than his mother had been. He grew up unaware of the bloodshed that had stained his beloved homeland when his egg had come into existence. Unaware of what his parents had sacrificed, of what Lilia had sacrificed, so that he could live and grow. But he had often wondered what it would be like if his parents were still around. Sometimes Malleus would sneak out of the castle, quietly observing the people in the village at the foot of the mountain in awe. He saw little children, not much older than him, protesting under tears because they didn't want to go clothes shopping for their uncle's 900th birthday as they were dragged by their parents' hand and promised their favorite candy if they would go along without making a fuss. He witnessed a mother explaining to her toddler what a bird was. He watched and listened as a father read his son a story on a bench by the fountain. Lilia had read him lots of stories before. But Malleus had always wondered what his father's voice would have sounded like doing this.

The prince spent most of his days alone in the castle. Lilia still had work to do and his grandmother was busy ruling an entire country as he would come to do one day as well. So as soon as Malleus had learnt to read, he would spend his time in the library, curiously exploring stories from a world beyond the castle walls; hoping that he would one day spread his wings to set off and see it for himself. Lots of the stories contained themes of family but few of the families looked quite like his. There was always a mother, a father and at least one child. Malleus would take the books and show it to his guardian, asking Lilia what his father was like and whether he would have taken him fishing like the farmer did with his son in the picture book. There was a flash of pain on Lilia's expression that Malleus had never noticed back then. "I'm sure he would have", the older fae had answered. The stories Malleus heard about his own parents were always short and vague. But Lilia had told him that they were exceptional people who would be proud of him if they could see him now.

Malleus had always wondered what having a father was like. He would get his answer when Lilia took a small human into his custody. Malleus was curious about the baby, always sneaking out to visit the cottage in the forest to see what his guardian was up to. At first he was pouting because Lilia was now giving most of his attention to someone else. But with time he had grown to care for the little child of man. Lilia seemed much happier now. Time had healed his wounds despite the scars of battle and loss never truly fading. He would arrive at the castle to do a task the queen had assigned to him and the prince would greet him to ask about how Silver was doing. Malleus was happy that Silver got to grew up with a father. He never fathomed that both of them could lose him.

The world was simple back then. It was just the castle, Malleus, his grandmother, Lilia and the little human he was raising and that Malleus would often play with or read to when Lilia had work to do at the palace. He couldn't ever have imagined going to Night Raven College and finding the world had changed so much from the one he read about in books. Or that his third year would mark his last with Lilia. That he would see Silver cry and grieve like this.

The world outside of Briar Valley was one he had always longed to see and that brought him many curious, but happy memories. He had learnt about the Halloween traditions of other nations and celebrated the holiday together with them. He had cooked a meal for the first time and the person he had served it to had enjoyed it. He had seen other countries and took part in their culture.

Even Lilia still found the school to be a place for new experiences. He had met a friend on this strange invention called the "Internet" and treasured that friendship despite never having met this friend in person. This online friend would often talk to Lilia in the chat, casually mentioning how he had obtained the newest addition of his favorite manga or played a game with his brother. Lilia would hesitate for a moment, recalling memories that seemed so long ago to him now.

"I had a sister... once."

He deleted the words before he had sent them. No need to bother Gloomurai with a sob story from his life that happened centuries ago. Little did he know that the stranger on the other side of the screen understood all about the struggle of losing a sibling.

Yes, Night Raven College was full of new beginnings for Malleus and his family. But it was the way of the world that nothing could truly last forever, tragic and unfair as it was. Nothing stops another day. Not even a sleeping curse or an overblot dragon. The spell laid waste to Sage's Island, and although the damage was way less than it could have been, the aftermath of it could still be seen everywhere one looked. Malleus felt ashamed of what he had done and Lilia was reminded of scenes from the war long ago.

But everyone joined together to help and rebuild what had been destroyed. Night Raven College and Royal Sword Academy. Fairies and Humans.

"Seems as though we avoided the worst case, huh?", Lilia mused as he noticed Queen Maleficia, the dragon fairy who had raised him since he was a baby, standing next to him. The queen nodded and noted what a bureaucratical nightmare this whole ordeal would be despite all.

Lilia looked at the scene that was unfolding before his eyes. The fae who had come to the island to break through the spell and fight against Malleus's overblot were now helping the locals rebuild their houses with magic. The students would hand out meals to everyone who helped. The citizens were already planting new seeds in place of the trees and fields that had been destroyed. They would one day grow into an idyllic image of a peaceful home. Just as Malleus and Silver had grown into formidable people. The young prince had fallen further than he ever did before, but now the old general was certain that he could stand on his own feet at last. Both of his sons could. And the bat fae was glad that he could depart knowing this much.

"It seems the children of man truly know no rest when it comes to progress", the queen remarked, looking at the humans who fixed the fields beside the village and the fae soldiers who were assisting them.

"It appears so"

"What are they planting?"

Lilia looked at the rising sun, remembering the faith that Princess Mallenoa once had; that mankind and fae would one day live in peace and help each other grow. He had called it foolish at the time, mocking his sister's words by calling them a fever dream. Yet this was just another way in which she had changed his world, just as the little prince he raised had been. There was a smile on his face as he thought about how this day might just mark the beginning of the future the princess had envisioned.

"Hope."

#twisted wonderland #twst #twst chapter 7 spoilers #twst spoilers #twst chapter 7 #malleus draconia #malleus #lilia vanrouge #lilia #general lilia #twst fanfic #twst fanfiction #mallenoa draconia #maleficia draconia #malleus x reader #malleus draconia x reader #lilia vanrouge x reader #lilia x reader

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captainremmington-13 · 3 months

Text

A Lady Made of Snow

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own The Hunger Games franchise, the images above, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, or any of the characters in this fic other than Bellova.

SUMMARY: An unexpected rebel attack leaves both Coriolanus and Bellova in the hospital. But it seems that nothing, not even a close encounter with death, can keep them from butting heads.

Warnings: spoilers for TBOSAS, mentions of death, mentions of explosions, injury, cursing, overall just some dark stuff (it’s the Hunger Games franchise so that’s sorta a given)

A/n: I am using a combination of the movie and book version of the events that occur in this chapter.

Adorning a brand-new black suit and sleek black heels, Bellova stood at the front of homeroom. As they had been ordered to stand in alphabetical order, she and Coriolanus ended up side-by-side.

He looked nervous. She figured it was because he had to open the ceremony by singing the national anthem. She hadn’t heard him sing in years, not since they were young children. Back then, he sounded truly awful. She hoped for his sake he’d improved since then.

After a quick briefing of the ceremony’s schedule by Professor Satryia Click, Bellova took her place in the stands with the other attendees. She quickly wished Coriolanus good luck as he made his way towards the stage, and sat down with the other Academy students.

Coriolanus’s performance of the national anthem went smoothly. President Ravinstill gave a brief speech commemorating Arachne, and signaled for the funeral procession to begin.

First came the honor guard of Peacekeepers, marching in perfect harmony with the drums. Then, Bellova heard the crowd around her gasp in disgust as a truck pulled a flat bed along behind it, where the remaining tributes were shackled to the floor. The body of Arachne’s killer hung from a hook above them, like a person executed by hanging.

Bellova felt her stomach twist unpleasantly at the sight of the corpse, but didn’t look away. She’d seen plenty of dead people in her lifetime, it wasn’t anything new.

After the tributes came Arachne’s coffin, which was elaborately decorated with flowers. Then came a chariot pulling Arachne’s parents, who looked uneasy about this whole affair. The chariot stopped in front of the podium, where Dr. Gaul was waiting to speak.

"Arachne Crane, we, your fellow citizens of Panem, vow that your death will not be in vain. When one of ours is hit, we hit back twice as hard. The Hunger Games will go forward, with more energy and commitment than ever before, as we add your name to the long list of the innocent who died defending a righteous and just land. Your friends, family, and fellow citizens salute you and dedicate the Tenth Hunger Games to your memory.”

Bellova thought it was a dramatic statement to make, but agreed that Arachne was innocent. Bratty and arrogant, sure, but not deserving of her violent end.

The funeral procession passed a few moments later, and the crowd began to disperse. Bellova followed the other Academy students to the cafeteria, hoping that a nice meal would dull some of the grief lingering on her conscience.

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

“Can you climb?”

Velvereen shook her head. “Not very well. But I can try.”

Bellova pursed her lips, trying not to seem too disappointed. The arena’s best hiding spots seemed to be above ground, and it would be impossible to reach them without climbing.

As she and her tribute walked around the arena, she kept subconsciously glancing over at a certain blonde boy. He was far too close to the little songbird girl. They seemed to be bantering cheerfully, which was insane given where they were standing.

‘She’ll be gone soon,’ Bellova reminded herself. ‘She’ll die in the arena, and you’ll never have to see her and Coryo together again.’

“Bellova?” Velvereen asked, trying to get her mentor’s attention.

“Huh?” Bellova said, confused. Then, she remembered what she was there to do. She had to stop worrying about the little songbird, and focus on helping her own tribute. “Oh yes, I’m sorry.” Bellova looked over at Coriolanus again, and noticed that there were some piles of rubble near where he stood “Let’s go over there and check for other good hiding places, okay?”

Velvereen nodded. They took a couple steps towards Coriolanus and Lucy Gray.

Then, the world erupted into flame.

Bellova yelled in terror as the bombs exploded around her, knocking down tributes, peacekeepers, and mentors alike. She scrambled to her feet, running away from the sound of the blasts.

A Peacekeeper knocked into her hard while running for his life, sending her flying to the ground. She felt her ribs slam the pavement, eliciting an agonized scream from her lips. Somehow, she got to her feet again, racing towards a section of the arena where the bars had been blown away.

Bellova was just a few feet from safety when she lost consciousness, crumpling to the ground as Velvereen stood triumphantly over her body.

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

Hushed voices and the sound of beeping pulled Bellova from her unconscious state slowly.

Her eyes fluttered open, squinting shut as the harsh hospital light attacked her pupils. She could tell she’d been hooked up to morphling by the dull throb in her left arm.

“She’s awake,” someone said.

“Oh thank god,” another voice said quietly.

There was some more mundane chatter, and then she felt someone grasp her hand gently.

When she opened her eyes fully, she saw Sejanus standing next to her bed, his hand on top of hers.

“Sejanus?” she murmured, her head swimming from her injury and the drugs.

“Hey, Bellova,” the boy said, smiling weakly. “Glad to see that you made it. A couple nights ago, we weren’t too sure you would.”

Bellova’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell have I missed?”

Sejanus, who was soon joined by Lysistrata Vickers, filled Bellova in on what had happened. Coriolanus and a few other mentors besides herself were in the hospital. Six tributes were confirmed dead, including Velvereen.

Bellova’s brow furrowed. “What happened to her?”

Sejanus sighed. “She hit you upside the head with a rock before trying to make a run for it. She was shot before she could escape.”

Bellova’s fists clenched. “That bitch. After all I did to try to help her, she tried to murder me? Barbaric.”

Sejanus winced. Clearly, the morphling was wearing off. “Yeah, well…there were other casualties. The Ring twins.”

Bellova sat up, trying to ignore the nausea that followed instantly. “That’s not true. It couldn’t be.”

“Lay back down, miss,” a nurse said, stepping into the room and past Sejanus. “You need to rest your head.”

Bellova scowled at her. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

“She’s a nurse, Bellova,” Lysistrata said. “Please listen, it’s for your own good.”

Bellova reluctantly laid back down, allowing the nurse to refill her supply of morphling and inject more sleeping serum into her arm. “So…Didi and Pollo are dead?”

Sejanus nodded. Bellova’s eyes immediately filled with tears, and she grasped Sejanus’s hand tighter. “Oh god,” she said, squeezing her eyes shut. “That’s…I-I can’t believe it.”

“I know,” Sejanus murmured. “I can’t either.”

Bellova sniffled. “H-How’s Coryo?”

“He’s alright,” Sejanus said. “He’s resting. He got a mild concussion, some burns, and some bruises, but otherwise he’s just fine.”

“Good,” Bellova whispered, the serum beginning to take effect. “That’s good.”

“You should go to sleep, Bellova,” Lysistrata insisted. “It’ll help you heal.”

Bellova hummed in agreement. “Will you visit me again? Let me know what I’ve missed?”

Sejanus nodded. “We will, I promise.”

With that, Bellova drifted off again, dreaming that Coriolanus had come to visit her, holding a pretty red rose and wearing an equally gorgeous smile.

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

On Monday evening, Bellova sat on her hospital bed, reading a book that Sejanus had dropped off. She was set to be released the following morning if her symptoms continues to subside. Her head injury had mostly healed, but it was still rather sore.

There was a sudden knocking at the door.

“Come in,” Bellova said, closing her book.

Her primary nurse, Elsbeth, peeked her head through the doorway. “You have a visitor, Miss Bellova.”

“Send them in,” she said. Elsbeth nodded, and opened the door completely. She stepped aside to reveal Coriolanus, who was indeed holding a rose. But instead of a vibrant red blossom, it was the purest shade of black Bellova had ever seen.

Elsbeth shut the door behind him, leaving the two students alone.

Coriolanus placed the rose on the table next to Bellova’s bed. “My Grandma’am only successfully grows a few black roses each year. I was able to convince her to prune this one for you.”

Bellova picked it up, examining the macabre plant. “It’s lovely. But it’s the kind of flower you’d see at a funeral.”

He shrugged. “It felt fitting, giving that you could’ve died.”

She winced. “Thanks for reminding me. Be honest, though: would you really care that much if I had?”

Coriolanus sighed. “Do you really think I despise you that much?”

“I don’t know, Coryo,” Bellova said, looking away from him. “We fight, we insult each other, we compete constantly. But when we aren’t, we get along quite well.”

“Most of the time, you’re the reason that we end up arguing.”

She rolled her eyes. “Sure, but only because you say something insufferable.”

He huffed. “Please just answer my question.”

“No, I don’t think you hate me. But our personalities clash in some rather ugly ways. However, if we actually try to work around it, we could get along swimmingly.”

Coriolanus smiles slightly. “I agree.”

Bellova puts her book on her bedside table. “Now, what really brings you here?”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I know that’s not all that’s on your mind, Coryo. You wouldn’t have come here bearing gifts otherwise.”

Coriolanus sighed and sat on a chair next to the bed. “I did want to discuss something with you. Your tribute, Velvereen, is dead, meaning you’re out of the running for the Plinth Prize and technically no longer a mentor.“

Bellova nodded. “True. I still plan to act similar to one while the Games are occurring, though. I want to observe how it works from the lenses of a mentor, even if I don’t have a tribute to represent.”

“Right,” Coriolanus said. “However, it means you’ll be significantly less busy than the rest. So, I was wondering if you’d be willing to aid me in helping Lucy Gray while she’s in the arena. She needs all the support she can get, especially after being hurt by the rebel bombing. I know Highbottom wouldn’t approve of it, but if we keep our collaboration secret, I think it could really help Lucy Gray’s chances in the arena.”

Bellova just stared at him blankly.

He opened his mouth to continue, but was abruptly interrupted by a harsh laugh.

“Are you being fucking serious?” Bellova asked, the angry glint in her eyes sending a cold shock down Coriolanus’s neck. “You think I have any interest in helping some little district rat? It’s bad enough that you care about her, why the fuck would any effort into aiding her survival?”

Coriolanus scowled. “Because it would increase my odds of winning. And I don’t care about her, I care about the Plinth Prize.”

“Sure,” Bellova sneered. “That’s why you held her hand at the Zoo, and why you visit her during any free time you have, and why you gave her a rose, and-“

“Oh, shut up!” Coriolanus snapped, standing up quickly. “I only did those things to earn her trust!”

“You’re such a bad liar, Snow,” Bellova said, smirking. “Look, you do whatever you want with her, it’s your reputation on the line. But I’m not tarnishing mine by associating so closely with district filth.”

Coriolanus loomed over her, his hands balled into fists. “You won’t even consider it?”

She shook her head, her smirk growing as she saw Coriolanus’s face flush with anger. “I won’t lift a damn finger to help your songbird.”

“Fine, I don’t need your help. You’d just slow me down anyways.”

Bellova laughed without humor. “What happened to trying to get along?”

Coriolanus gave her a cold stare, and swept out of the hospital room without saying another word.

Bellova watched him go, anger forming a pit in her stomach. She was utterly furious that Coriolanus was doing so much for Lucy Gray. She’d be dead in five seconds once the Games began.

His only real hope at winning the Plinth Prize was to make her a sensation before her blood went cold.

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

“Bellova! What are you doing down here?”

The girl in question smiled at Persephone Price, who greeted her with a warm hug. “I got approval to survey the Games with the others. Even though my bitch of a tribute is dead, I figured it would be fun to see what you all do to aid yours.”

Persephone smiled. “That makes sense. Gosh, I’m just glad to see you standing and well.”

Bellova patted her shoulder. “Thank you.”

She headed towards where the rest of the mentors were, and spotted Coriolanus sitting next to Sejanus, who looked anxious. Marcus, his tribute, hadn’t been found yet. For all they knew, he was still loose and roaming the Capitol streets.

Bellova walked over to Sejanus, tapping him on the shoulder.

“Oh, hey,” he said, smiling weakly. “How are you feeling?”

“Better,” she replied. “The constant headache I’ve had since I regained consciousness is dimming slowly. The doctors said I’ll make a full recovery.”

Sejanus nodded. “I’m glad to hear it.”

Bellova took a seat in a spare chair that was set in between Coriolanus and Sejanus. She glanced at the blonde boy out of the corner of her eye. He looked nervous. Not as nervous as Sejanus, but definitely still anxious.

Bellova silently hoped his worry was about the Plinth Prize and not Lucy Gray. If he pulled any more strings for her, she would be forced to punch him until his pretty face was bruised and bleeding.

Within a few minutes, the broadcast of the Games had begun. Lucky Flickerman began his commentary, which quickly became annoying in Bellova’s opinion. He had always thought he was funnier than he actually was.

The cameras showed the tributes taking their places in the arena. Most of them looked downright terrified, while some looked eager to fight.

Bellova found herself losing focus, and stared up at the ceiling aimlessly. She really should’ve brought a snack to the event. A bowl of assorted chocolates would be lovely right about now.

Her focus was snapped back to the television screen when people around her start gasping in horror.

Her eyes widened as the cameras panned to Sejanus’s tribute, dangling from the ceiling of the arena, barely hanging on to his life.

✧ ‧˚₊ ❆ ‧ ₊ ⊹˚✧ ‧˚₊ ❆ ‧ ₊ ⊹˚✧ ‧˚₊ ❆ ‧ ₊ ⊹˚✧ ‧˚₊ ❆ ‧ ₊ ⊹˚✧ ‧˚₊

TAGLIST: @daenerysqueenofhearts, @squidscottjeans, @euphemiaamillais, @gracieroxzy

Author’s Note: Thank you for reading! This chapter was super long and really fun to write. The story will only continue to be more exciting as it progresses! Let me know if you want to be tagged in the comments below!

#coriolanus snow #tbosas #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #coriolanus snow x oc #original character #thg prequel #the hunger games #coriolanus snow x reader #sejanus plinth

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vgtrackbracket · 12 days

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Video Game Track Bracket Round 2

Mii Channel Theme from Mii Channel

youtube

vs.

The Edge of Dawn (Seasons of Warfare) from Fire Emblem: Three Houses

youtube

Propaganda under the cut. If you want your propaganda reblogged and added to future polls, please tag it as propaganda or otherwise indicate this!

Note: the propaganda contains spoilers for Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

Mii Channel Theme:

The anthem of a generation

The Edge of Dawn (Seasons of Warfare):

The main theme of the game, centered around a character who is significant across all routes. Is it a villain song? Is it a map to the future? Your choices dictate as much. Every route is reflected through the lyrics as well.

this song makes me so emotional every time. the vocals are beautiful and the lyrics are so good. it's about feeling alone even when you're surrounded by people. knowing any happiness is just fleeting. about loving someone even though you're going to leave them. (spoilers for fe3h) to get specific, it just makes me so sad the way edelgard distances herself from others because she knows she'll have to betray or leave them eventually but she longs desperately for connection especially toward byleth, whom she admires and loves greatly, even when they're not on her side. the lyrics "open the door, and walk away / never give in to the call of yesterday" make me want to sob because she's determined to create her own justice and her vision of an equal world, but that doesn't mean she can't be emo about it. she loved byleth, the black eagles, she loved the empire, that's why she wanted to see it better. fuck all the haters edelgard there's a reason the theme song of this game is yours! and it's good as hell too!

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sunflowerharrington · 2 years

Text

᪥ 𝐃𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐘 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒 ᪥

bee’s stranger things library . navigation

🧸 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 - Steve Harrington x Fem!Hargrove!Reader

🧸 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 - 11.1k (my longest oneshot yet!)

🧸 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 - 18+, minors DNI, handjob (M receiving), bloody noses, dizziness, Starcourt Massacre, referenced murder, for spoiler reasons I can’t say much else. (I wrote soemthing similar for a different fandom before but it didn’t work so here’s the new and improved version

🧸 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑’𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 - For my beloved Ana, @thisishellfire, who is so sweet and so lovely and just the best in all aspects. I love you with all my heart, mi amor, and I really hope you enjoy this. Also this wouldn’t be my writing without a million plot points that don’t make any sense lmfao. I spent weeks on this just to make this perfect for you. I hope this doesn’t flop :(

🧸 Formatting is weird so if there’s a duplicate paragraph I’m sorry. I’ll put it on my AO3 also.

🧸 I listened to levitating by Dula Peep and DaBaby so here we are I guess

🧸 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘 - You and Steve Harrington hated each other, everyone in Hawkins knew that. But March 21st 1986 changed everything forever.

🧸 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 - @thisishellfire @steveslittlesunflower @myobmaya @quickiesgirl @wzrlds @friendly-neighborhood-ghoul @gods-favorite-asthmatic @taecube @eddiebillysteve @hellfirehaley 🤍

MARCH 21ST 1986

Spring: that time of year when sunnies would start to get placed on the bridges of noses. When pretty daisy chains would be made. When animals would finally come out of their winter-long hibernation, and when picnic dates at the local park would become all the rage once again. The start of a new season and time to put away those big, fluffy winter sweaters, gloves and fuzzy hats. And for Hawkins, the countdown to the annual championship game.

Sunflowers had begun to grow, turning to face each other to stay alive when the sun was hidden by those big fluffy clouds full of angel tears. Sitting on a soft blanket on the lawn in a sundress, the scent of freshly cut grass wafting in the air and filling your nose, wind fluttering through your hair.

It was the day before the championship game and you were sitting cross-legged on a mustard-coloured blanket that complimented the green grass beneath it, weaving the stems of some daisies together to create a little chain. To calm his nerves, your little step-sister’s friend, Dustin Henderson, joined you; he was going to be singing the National Anthem tomorrow at the game since Tammy couldn’t make it, his fingers shaking as he slowly weaved the stems together.

“You listen to Metallica?” he asked, a crack in his voice, sighing as he sadly watched the daisy chain fall apart in his hands.

“I had to put up with it for twelve years, Dus,” you chuckled under your breath, tones of bittersweet misery laced within your words. “It was always blaring in his room, especially during his workout sessions. Couldn’t get him to turn it down.”

Daisy chains: your way of distracting yourself from the undeniable pain you felt ever since July 4th, driving like lightning to the mall to pick up your sobbing step-sister, trying to calm her down until you saw whose body was lying dead on the mall’s floor. And you held him. God, you held onto him for dear life, not caring about the blood soaking into your clothes and your skin. You just needed one more moment with your brother, and that was taken away from you by whatever stabbed him in the chest.

Some people are worth dying for, and you would have taken that bullet for him should you have known his untimely death would occur so soon. …And you didn’t even get to say goodbye.

You sniffed harshly through your nose, which had a small amount of blood leaking out and onto your top lip, looking away for a few moments so Dustin couldn't see the glistening tears in your eyes or the glistening blood on your face, staining your skin. You quietly excused yourself to go and get some water from inside the Mayfield’s trailer, running the faucet, splashing your blood-and-tear-stained, blotchy face with the cold water. Refreshing. But still not enough.

With a sigh under your breath, you returned to the blanket, sitting down cross-legged next to Dustin.

“Hey, um… I know you probably don’t wanna hear this right now, but I'm still so sorry about Billy. We- we tried to help him.” The glazed-over look in his eyes said it all; he truly meant it. Not many people do. Especially Steve Harrington, who, when passing you in the corridor, said under his breath that your brother deserved it.

And you resented him for it.

“Thanks, Dus. I mean, at least you mean it,” you replied, sitting in the slightly uncomfortable silence afterwards.

But soon the growing sunset helped all your troubles float away, like a feather in the sky, the red tones reflecting in your (e/c) eyes. You smiled to yourself, at peace with the tedious work you had done today with Dustin, helping him to calm down, while you had Been in overdrive since July. But you never showed it.

Dustin sighed again, bringing you back into the painful reality, tossing his chain away into the forest green grass, slowly beginning to shrivel up in the bright sunlight beating down onto the blades. You picked up the delicate ornament, collecting two more daisies from the grass. He beamed as you handed it back to him.

“Never give up, kiddo. C’mere, let me show you an easier way to weave the stems.”

Dustin beamed with glory as he watched your calculated movements carefully, examining the way you pierce a hole in the stem with your nail, weaving another stem through said hole, explaining each step slowly so he could understand the process, your touch gentle as you guided his hands gracefully.

You grinned proudly as you watched his face light up, a smile from ear to ear as he held up a completed daisy chain. He set it down carefully to the side and began making another one; two matching daisy bracelets. One bracelet for him, and one for his best friend in the whole wide world.

Steve fucking Harrington.

“There. Look, you’ve got it!” You exclaimed, raising your hand, and he immediately reciprocated your high five. “And also, just focus on something that makes you happy while you’re singing. Your mom and your friends will be so proud of you, Dus. And I’m very proud of you too.”

“Thank you, Y/N,” he replied, unable to wipe the permanent smile off his face.

And he called you by your first name. Not your surname like everybody else did. It was either Hargrove or Billy’s sister. Never Y/N.

But Dustin did.

You giggled, taking in just how happy the young man looked. After all the shit he’d been through the past three years, with Will, with Starcourt, with the girl with superpowers; El, you were surprised to see that tear-jerking smile make an appearance on his adorable face. But it did. And you’d be forever grateful for it.

As he laughed with you, you started hearing a ringing sound in your ears, like a high-pitched scream from a horror movie. You slowly reached up and held your head in your hands, Dustin immediately noticing, rushing to your side. “Y/N… are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I just need… I think I need to lie down,” you whispered, your world spinning around you as if you were standing in the centre of a carousel. “I— I think I'm gonna go back to Max’s, I'm sorry, Dus.”

Dustin contemplated letting you go home alone for a moment, and by the state you were in, he thought you could collapse at any given moment. And after Will, after what happened with Billy, with Heather, Barb, Bob, Mews, and anybody else that had perished in this town… he was on high alert at all times. He knew the monsters were still lurking beneath Hawkins, he knew El had closed the gate, but there was always the possibility of those monsters inhabiting Hawkins and its residents again.

In the overworld, this time.

This is why he asked Mike Wheeler to keep an eye on you the next day in school, along with himself, trudging through the halls in his Hellfire Club t-shirt beneath his Hawaiian shirt, his khakis and converse, and his thinking cap. With wide eyes, he noticed you walking the halls alone; it used to be with Nancy, then Tina, then Heather and now Chrissy and Bee. But neither of them were anywhere to be seen.

Yes, Dustin always kept tabs on you. Was it because of his little crush on you that he promised himself he wouldn’t admit it to anybody? No… Well, that’s what he kept telling himself. (Until Will found out, but he told nobody). He would admit to himself that he noticed Max first, the pretty redhead, and then you, but you always stuck out to him.

And he was surprised that his best friend hadn’t made a move on you yet.

So when he saw you walking alone, without anyone bothering you, he knew something was off. It looked like you’d tried to make yourself smaller as you walked, covering your hands with the sleeves of your cheer pullover, which he immediately noticed had a small blood splatter soaking into it, with a dishevelled look on your face as you left Mrs Kelly's office.

Something felt wrong.

Very wrong.

Later that day, you lay on one of the benches alone in the woods, alone with your thoughts, drifting towards your best friend, Bee’s odd relationship. Never did you think the renowned “good girl” would fall for bad boy Jace Campbell; Hawkins’ star athlete, the golden boy to the teachers, the flirt. The king, after Billy was dethroned.

And after Billy took away “King Steve”’s title in 1985.

And that asshole, Jace, had her wrapped around his pinky finger almost instantly. And you… You just never saw the appeal. You had more important things to be doing like homework and studying than going out every weekend to party.

It reminded you of a chat you had had with Max’s best friend, El, not too long ago about Jace. Since El and Bee lived together, she would see Jace often, and said she heard banging on the walls and a lot of “good screaming.” You didn’t bother asking her what a good scream was because, in your mind, you already knew.

You read your step-mom, Susan Mayfield's Cosmo magazine enough times to know exactly what “happy screams” were.

You knew they had having sex weekly, and that didn’t seem to be a problem for anyone. Well, until they broke up last week…

And then there was Chrissy. Pretty, popular, princess Chrissy. The complete opposite of Jace, yet she also had every boy in Hawkins wrapped around her perfectly manicured finger, whether she knew it or not. She had a decent family life, a handsome boyfriend who was also an athlete, she did cheerleading, and helped out at the homeless shelter….

And one boy had taken liking her to an extreme, practically obsessing over her; watching her every move, worshipping the ground she walked on, almost dying when she asked if she could buy some weed from him because he didn’t want to.

Chrissy was so sweet, even to those who wronged her. You’d never even seen her get angry, not once in your fourteen years of close-knit friendship. Tears had spilt, staining her soft skin, but never any frowns. Not even a little crease between her brows. All smiles, bright enough to blind somebody.

Maybe that was how she got all these boys to fall for her…

You clambered into your car the next morning, turning your music up extra loud, bopping your head to the beat of the mixtape Billy had jammed into the Camaro. You were forever grateful that a kind man, Eddie Munson’s uncle Wayne, offered to try to fix it for you as much as he could, and you used all your savings to do so. And it looked almost brand new.

She looked beautiful.

You smiled sweetly as Dustin and Mike hopped in the backseat, Max joining you in the front. You gripped the steering wheel so tight, that your knuckles began to turn a pale, ghostly shade, as you pressed your foot down harder on the pedal. Something about being in the car, in Billy’s soul’s presence, took a hold of you.

“Not this again,” Max grumbled. “Y/N. Slow down, seriously.”

You could barely hear her over the loud music blasting through the car, but you did, and so when you pulled into the school’s parking lot, you slowed right down.

You’d slid onto one of the metal benches in the cafeteria, coated with a thick layer of green paint topped with a varnish, taking a seat next to Bee; her entire psyche encapsulated by the artwork before her, her hands being able to create the most beautiful of masterpieces.

“You know, drawing JJ won’t make him take you back, Bumble,” you admitted, watching as her face fell, pretty eyes beginning to glaze over, her bottom lip quivering.

“I just…” she started, making you pull your eyes away from the math homework you’d forgotten to complete last night. “…don’t even know what I did wrong. Is— Am I not pretty enough for him?”

Oh, here we go again. Her fifth breakdown in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, Jace had already started screwing another member of the cheer squad.

You breathed out a quiet sigh of relief when Chrissy slid in next to Bee on the other side of her, consoling her and calming her down. Chrissy offered a girls’ day out after the championship game and a road trip to Tennessee, and what better way to blow off some steam than to go out in a different state and dance with your best girls until sunrise?

So then it came to that night when it was meant to be an ordinary evening with your girls, Chrissy and Bee. Time had moved forward and now it was the night of the championship game; an excuse for the cheerleaders to shorten their skirts to show off their toned legs for the other boys and girls. Or just for yourself. (In Bee’s case, showing Jace everything he’d already seen, and everything he’d Been missing since he asked to go on a break.) And an excuse to conceal your obvious flirting with an oblivious Robin Buckley from the stands.

And without head cheerleader Valentina Ghen there to take the spotlight during the pep rally, you and your girls could have a good time. God, she never shut up about Chance, Billy or Jace ever. Even after Billy’s death.

She grieved more than you did.

And so you went to the game without her, peacefully. But you never thought in a million years that ‘the hair’ would be at the game, never mind Eddie fucking Munson of all people sitting next to him. Eddie Munson. At a championship game. At a “balls in laundry baskets” game. —Scowling at you with the sourest look on his face.

What the fuck was his problem? Just because you were closer with Chrissy than he was didn’t make you the spawn of Satan.

Maybe he decided to come because Dustin was the one who would be singing the national anthem, or maybe he was just bored.

But you can never be bored in Hawkins, …even though the mall burned down last year after Jim Hopper saved the kids that were inside while you took Max home. If only there was a way to get Billy back. To make a deal with God to get him back.

You didn’t care what it took.

Bee had wanted to blow off some steam before leaving to do her arts degree in England, and what better way to do so than having the best time with her friends and doing something she loved?

Not that she had to wait long to blow off that steam though, as ocean eyes had been all over her, him watching her every move, running the pad of his thumb over his plump lips. She gave him a little wave and a shy smile, and her heart almost gave in when he shot her a cheeky wink. How the fuck could one little wink turn a girl’s legs into jello?

You thought about ask Jace for some tips.

After the rally, when the game began, Jace got up to leave, signalling for Bee to follow him. And she did, following him to presumably the bleachers, their lips never leaving each other’s skin for hours. Though marks only appeared on Bee’s skin, since Jace specifically warned her not to mark him or there’d be serious consequences.

And she left you and Chrissy on your own. Just great!

Seven minutes to catch somebody’s eye; not your personal best but it would have to do for the moment. As you listened to Henderson belting his heart out, you felt proud. Being Max’s step-sister meant that you hung around the younger kids a lot, taking them under your wing; especially Will. After what had happened to him happened, you never wanted him out of your sight again. That was until he moved to California with his mom and Jonathan (leaving El here in Hawkins with Bee.). Lenora Hills, where you used to live before moving to Hawkins.

You’d talked to Mrs Byers about her moving, recommending Lenora Hills, as they had a lovely high school that Will and Jonathan would love, and the pizza there was amazing.

You missed Argyle with all of your heart and wanted him to have some friends again.

You snapped out of your thoughts, looking over at Chrissy, who instead of looking at Jason, had been ogling some other guy for the last ten minutes. The direction of her eyes had been perfectly in line with—

“Munson? Seriously, Chris?” You whisper-shouted, pulling her out of her trance.

“What? He's nice to me!”

You rolled your eyes, turning back to the game just in time to see your “child” score a basket. You jumped to your feet, whooping and cheering for him, and he shot you a winning smile.

“Go, Sinclair!” You screamed, waving your cheer pom poms around.

You scanned the gymnasium after that: Bee was still nowhere to be seen; more than likely getting — unfortunately — dicked down by “Jacey-Wacey” in the backseat of his car. But you took another look in the direction Chrissy was gawking and saw the two other men talking quietly.

The men in question, Steve and Eddie, both got up to leave, and Chrissy shot up out of her seat, immediately on their tail, dragging you with her to the sound of your loud protests.

You’d ended up at a diner across town in a booth on the complete opposite end of the two boys on that chilly Friday evening.

The waitress, who’d barely taken her eyes off you since you sat down, nodded towards your empty strawberry milkshake with her eyebrows slightly raised. You shook your head with a forced smile, declining her wordless offer for another.

You turned to look back at the boys; Eddie with a toothpick between his plump lips, playing with his silver metal rings as he spoke, Steve running his stupid fingers through his stupid fucking hair that fell beautifully onto his stupid fucking face no matter what he was doing.

That fucking handsome face of his would be enough to cause hundreds of weak knees; the kind of look that got him whatever the hell he wanted, or rather, whatever his friends wanted with only a few questions and heartstopping smiles besides “yours or mine?”

You didn’t bother hiding the sour look on your face until Chrissy nudged your shoulder with hers.

“God, babe. Chill with the “fuck me” eyes,” she chuckled.

“I'm not doing that, Chris.”

“You are, ba—“ she began to say but was cut off by the Dungeon Master reaching the table, immediately sliding in to sit next to Chrissy, who blushed the same colour as her earrings. Hot pink. His long legs almost touched yours under the table, and thank goodness they didn’t. You didn’t want his muddy reebok’s ruining your fresh pair of all-white converse with a green trim to match your cheer uniform.

You internally rolled your eyes, as Chrissy was known to be a sucker for tall men with long… limbs.

“Hargrove, Chrissy.” He flicked the toothpick onto the table

“Munson,” you replied with a salute.

“Hey Eds,” Chrissy replied, blushing again.

Another problem for the evening.

Just fucking great.

“Mind if I sit?” Steve had finally approached the table, standing on the side of the booth with a free seat, asking you in the softest voice you'd ever heard.

Fuck you, Harrington.

“If you must,” you sighed, glaring daggers at Eddie, who’d taken the seat next to Chrissy.

Of course he’d get Steve to sit next to you. After what he did to your brother you vowed to never even look at him ever again. but that didn’t last long as Eddie’s plan kicked into gear; get Steve a girlfriend before he goes off to college. Simple enough, right?

Wrong.

You mentally kicked yourself off the Empire State Building for not sitting next to Chrissy yourself. Steve’s smile faltered for a second. blink and you’ll miss it.

“Oh,” he muttered, his eyes darting to Eddie who was busy whispering God knows what into a giggling Chrissy’s ear. “Eddie’s already sitting down so…”

“Oh goodness me, I hadn't even noticed he was there!” Your fake smile morphed into a smirk, your gaze finally meeting his deep, dark chocolate button eyes. Fuck him for being… so damn attractive—

No. Snap out of it.

He began fidgeting with the cuff on one of the sleeves of his mustard-coloured sweater, his weight shifting from one foot to the other and back again. “So, can I?”

“I don’t know,” you said, an amused grin playing on your lips. “Can you?”

“For fuck sake,” he muttered. “May I?”

I don’t know… may you?

A slight pout plumped up on your lips as you nodded to the space beside you, sliding over to rest your shoulder against the tiled wall, now sitting directly opposite Chrissy.

But you and Steve, surprisingly, had one thing in common; both of your nights were destined to be ruined by two things, namely Chrissy Cunningham and Eddie Munson running off like teenagers without waiting for you.

You immediately felt his presence beside you, and for God’s sake, of course, he was even more attractive up close.

It took a lot of restraint to not reach out and touch him, to smell the cologne that had seeped into the collar and cuffs of his mustard-coloured sweater, the same colour as your favourite blanket. So you kept your hand clasped around your second strawberry milkshake instead of grazing your fingertips against his jean-clad thigh under the table—

“Do you want me to get you a napkin, Y/N? Your nose is bleeding,” Eddie asked, dashing away from the table for a moment before returning with a serviette, handing it to you so you could pat away the blood staining your skin and upper lip.

You sighed; today was day five of your nosebleeds, your migraines, the nightmares that were worse than they used to be… You pushed that to the back of your mind, however, focussing on the red and white checkered pattern on the diner’s floor.

And Chrissy didn't even ask if you were okay.

Great fucking ‘friend’ she was.

Steve was probably your only option for any sort of relationship, like, ever, though there was absolutely nothing wrong with teasing and having a bit of fun before doing anything stupid. Even if you hadn’t been charmed by him from the get-go, you loved playing this game, with a 99% win rate in favour of you.

God, you wished you couldn’t feel his intense gaze set on you, each sideways glance lasting longer than the one before, something shooting an electric shock through both of your bodies at the same time. But you would rather gauge your eyes with a used fork than admit that to anyone. Even your best friends. Even Max.

Steve’s warm thigh pressed against yours, the fabric of his jeans brushing and pressing against your bare skin. It was as if he knew what you were doing and began to challenge your willpower.

So really, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that you were going to tease the absolute shit out of him.

He snook another glance at you just as you so happened to throw your head back to get the last of the shake out of the glass, exposing your neck as Chrissy was busy ordering a glass of Coca-Cola for everyone through Eddie’s loud protests.

And another glance, with you taking this opportunity to spread your legs before crossing one over the other, brushing your heel against his leg. His big brown eyes widened even more, his breath stuttering slightly, trying to cover it up with the fakest, most awkward cough you'd ever had to experience hearing.

“Need some water, Stevie?” you purred, running your nails down his arm, watching with a smug grin on your face as goosebumps began to appear. God, this asshole almost made this too easy for you. “Chrissy and I can get it for you if you want it.”

Steve nodded, afraid his words might betray him if he spoke, sliding out from the booth to let you out. There was a loud bang on the table as his balled fist made contact with the surface, making Eddie let out a “Jesus Christ, man.”

You spun around on your heel, watching as his jaw clenched in frustration. Sure, this was probably meant as a threat, but you only felt embarrassed for him, making a scene like that for no reason. You weren’t going to make tonight easy for him at all.

Leaning over, you brushed your lips against the shell of his ear, making the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stand on end. “You’re lucky I even offered, Stevie.”

His neck flushed a furious crimson, the sound of your voice creeping down his spine and through his veins. You could swear you heard a nervous laugh escape his lips, but within a flash, his brows furrowed into a slight frown.

Before he could say something you hurried away to the counter, ordering a glass of water for him. Chrissy was still fully engaged in conversation with Eddie, so you went up alone. as your feet carried you over, you couldn’t help but sneak another glance at him, running your eyes over his defined jawline and the bridge of his nose, admiring his beautiful face.

Again, fuck you for being so beautiful, Steve.

You paid for the water quickly, then made your way back over to the table, not waiting for Steve to move, slipping yourself over his legs, sitting on his lap for maybe a second too long. You checked his facial expression, and he had a peachy blush painted across those defined cheeks.

“Not used to all this attention, hm, Stevie?” you whispered, giggling to yourself as he shifted in his seat. But you were nowhere near done with the teasing just yet. “Especially from a big bad Hargrove, huh?”

“Shut up.”

“Or what?” you challenged, smirking at the way his brows furrowed, turning his attention back to Eddie and Chrissy. “No answer? Poor baby can’t even speak.”

When Eddie finally pulled away from whispering in Chrissy’s ear and turned his attention to you, you were finally able to take in all of the contours of his face that made him. His long, fluttery eyelashes, his wild mane of dark brown hair, the lipstick kiss tattoo on his neck…

“Hey?” Eddie snapped his ring-clad fingers in front of your face, smiling when you snapped back to reality. “Thought you’d fallen asleep, sweetheart.”

You turned your attention back to Chrissy, who had been looking at you with a questioning glance. “Hm? Oh, sorry. I couldn’t hear you.”

Thanks for that, Steve.

0 - 1 to Harrington.

“Eds said he’ll get us some fries and a burger if we want it.”

“You doll,” you cooed, and Eddie beamed proudly, snaking an arm around Chrissy’s shoulders, and she slowly leaned into his soft touch. “Thank you, Eddie.”

You mirrored his bright grin as Steve tensed beside you. “I'll go with you.”

Steve stood to his feet abruptly, staring down at you for what felt like an eternity with a look that said he knew exactly what game you were playing; sweet to everyone else, reserving your salt just for him. Seemed like you didn’t impress him too much either.

Yeah, next to him in your cheer uniform that you purposely shortened the skirt off, exposing your thighs and a small curve of your ass after you were out of your mom’s sight should have had him on his knees worshipping the ground you walked on. But it didn’t.

Well, that’s what he was trying to convince himself.

Not that you cared. All you bothered to offer in return was a slow smirk. Game on, Harrington. Game fucking on.

Chrissy slid into the seat next to you where Steve had been hyperventilating as the two boys walked away, taking a strand of your hair and twirling it around her finger as she spoke.

“Soooo,” she sang. “What do you think of Steve? Such a cutie, right?”

He had a part in my brother’s death, Chris.

Yes, of course, he's the hottest, most lovely guy on planet earth.

“Why do I need to care about him when all that’s gonna happen is you’re going to fuck his friend? And didn’t you forget he had a part in Billy’s death and nobody else thinks it was him?!” You snapped.

“I’m not—” Chrissy began to say before she stopped herself, pursing her lips, chewing her thoughts over and over again. “Okay. Correction; maybe I want to, but—”

“Whatever. I bet you’ll have a great time with him anyway regardless of what I do or don’t say.”

Chrissy clicked her tongue, swirling her straw around in her glass of coca-cola. “I guess…”

“Meanwhile you’re over here whipped by Eddie the freak Munson.”

“I’m not whipped!” She defended. “I'm just… curious!”

“About what? How easy it’ll be to get in his pants?” you asked, deadpan, and her eyes widened. “You know he’s, like, so obsessed with you.”

“Jesus, Y/N!” she shrieked, covering her face in her hands.

You rolled your eyes. “Anyway, I don't like Steve at all.”

“Is there any reason?”

Bitch, you better be joking.

“Uh… no.” Oh yes. Yes, there was. “Not at all. He’s just not my cup of tea, that’s all.”

“Wouldn’t you want a rich man, though? I heard he’s loaded.”

“I am a rich man, Christina.” You said, rolling your eyes. “Also I'm extremely good-looking and talented on my own. I don't need a man to bring me down. I am perfectly fine on my own.”

“Okay, fine!” She threw her hands up and surrendered. “Just… be nice at least.”

“Why? Planning on keeping Deddie Van Halen around for a while?”

“Um… maybe. but don’t call him that. He’s not dead!”

“Ugh, you’re so boring, Chris!”

“You know what isn’t boring?” She asked, a little smirk playing on her lips.

Oh no.

“What, Chris?” you sighed, not expecting what she had to say next.

“Steeeeeve Haaaaarrington,” she teased, kicking you playfully under the booth’s table, making you almost choke on your drink.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me…” you muttered under your breath, glancing over at the two boys, smiling as you noticed ‘King Steve’ flirting with the cashier. hopefully, that would mean he’d leave you alone for the night.

“No time for whining. They’re back!” Chrissy moved back to her seat as Eddie sauntered back to your table, a huge grin spreading across his face as he slid up next to Chrissy. With nothing of the same enthusiasm, Steve stood awkwardly next to the table, refusing to meet your eye as he handed out the glasses of cola.

“God, man. This isn’t like you! If we were anywhere else you’d be all over Hargrove right now.”

“No, I wouldn’t be! And I’m gonna pretend like you never said that.” You didn’t know his jaw could clench even more, but it was, and it did.

As Steve reluctantly slid back in next to you, you and Chrissy moved in to clink your glasses together. You winked at her; it was finally time for step two of the plan you cooked up on the spot five minutes ago. A well-rehearsed technique that worked on every man, and every woman that was present when you both tried it.

You would both lean across the table, nearly touching each other. Then you would clink glasses together, with Chrissy using a bit too much force; sending the drink spilling over the rim of the glass, which would spill out onto your chest. She would then lick it off with an, “whoops, sorry angel!” and an innocent smile.

And it worked every single goddamn time.

Only this time, blood had also dripped down onto your chest. Another nosebleed already? You grabbed a serviette and patted your nose dry as Chrissy’s tongue ran along the plains of your skin, collecting your spilt drink, with Eddie and Steve shifting in their seats, trying to appear unbothered. A sentence or two muttered from Steve about how the diner suddenly got too hot to handle.

Though he smirked to himself as he rolled the sleeves of his mustard-coloured sweater to his elbows, a sheen of sweat covering an array of colourful inked drawings on his arms—the sight of which sent a bolt of heat straight to your stomach, and other places. Suck a sucker for tattoos.

“Like whatcha see, princess?” He asked, turning to look at you for the first time in about… thirty seconds.

“Now there’s the Steve Harrington I know,” Eddie laughed. “Warming up to Hargrove, huh?” He teased, making Steve frown.

He rolled his eyes. “Maybe.” The amount of sarcasm dripping from that one word was enough to fill a highschool swimming pool and a deep one at that. “Jury’s still out.”

“Your arms look like a high school bathroom stall, Steve. Full of meaningless drawings and words. So…no. I’m afraid I don’t like what I see.”

“You’re annoying me, Y/N.”

“I don’t recall asking for your opinion of me, Steve.”

He rolled his eyes. “Consider that first one free.”

“Well I don’t plan on paying for another, so I guess you’ll have to sit there like a good boy for me and keep your thoughts to yourself.”

He choked on his drink, beginning to cough loudly in a way that has Eddie and Chrissy almost falling off their seats in giggles.

“You good, man?” Eddie asked.

“I’m fine,” Steve snapped, turning away from the group slightly.

The rest of the night consisted of you and Chrissy dancing to Kate Bush and Madonna, Eddie watching with heart-eyes, and Steve pretending like he wasn’t watching. Chrissy’s eyes lit up animatedly as Eddie took her hand, twirling her around.

You took a step back, looking at Steve who was still seated, tapping his foot in time with the music. “You really wanna get up and dance, don’t you, Stevie?”

“In your dreams.” He crossed his arms over his chest, trying to hide the small smile that had started to crawl onto his features. A smile that could steal a million hearts.

But not yours. No. You wouldn’t let him do that.

“Dance with me, Stevie.” You couldn’t believe you just asked Steve ‘King Steve’ ‘The Hair’ Harrington to dance with you, and you almost gagged at your own words. You tried pulling on his arm to get him to stand up, and when you did, he just stood there in silence.

“I’ll dance, but not with you.”

“Aww, why not?” You pouted teasingly, tightening your already strong grip on his wrists. “Too embarrassed?”

“No,” he mumbled. “I just don’t like you.”

You rolled your eyes, letting go of his arm, heading back to the middle of the diner on your own where the other people in the bar were up on their feet dancing along to the beat.

Steve slowly got to his feet, clicking his fingers with each step he took, along with the beat of the song, soon dancing with Chrissy. He spun her around and exaggerated his dance moves while making eye contact with you.

If this was a tactic to make you jealous, it wasn’t working. Instead, you pulled on Eddie’s arm and proceeded to dance with him instead. Close enough to irritate the hell out of Steve, but far enough away to keep Chrissy from pulling all of your hair out. You danced with Eddie for a while before spinning away from each other to dance with other people, with your body slamming into a loudly giggling Chrissy.

“This is so fun, right?”

“Totally! And you— you’ve got a great… dancer… on your… hands, Chris.” You nudged her, giggling, and she smiled back at you, but it never reached her eyes as she watched more and more blood pouring from your nose.

“I think you need to sit down, Y/N. I’ll get you some painkillers,” she said, ushering you back to your booth.

“N- no I don’t. I’m fine…”

Eddie seemed to notice right away, kneeling on his haunches next to Chrissy, barely able to see him in your now dazed state. “Look at me, sweetheart. How many fingers am I holding up?” He asked, holding up two fingers, holding the palm of his hand to your head to check your body temperature. You were freezing cold.

“Uh… Um… Four?” You squeaked, reaching out for Chrissy’s hands. “Stay with me.”

“Should we… Steve!” Eddie called as loud as he could, alerting everyone in the diner, but you were too dazed and confused to even care.

Dizzy at the sight of the room spinning around you, the music distorting, the sound of a clock you didn’t even know was in the diner chiming thrice. And then… nothing.

You opened your eyes wide, gasping in shock at who had replaced Eddie in front of you. It was Steve.

“Murderer.” He leaned in, whispering in your ear. “You killed your brother and you’re trying to cover up your guilt by saying it was me. I know your plan, Y/N. Trying to seduce me, to get me to be yours, all so you can walk away scot free. Is that right?

“What? No. That’s not true, Steve! I- Even though I hate you I’d never do that to you!”

“What? I asked you if you’re alright, you idiot,” he laughed, caressing your cheek softly.

What the fuck happened in the last five minutes?

“I’m fine. Get away from me,” you said, pushing him away from you so you could stand up and head to the bathroom, while the others shrugged and went back to dancing.

Eddie was now dancing on his own, patting Steve on the back as they both spun away from each other. Another girl in the diner pulled on Steve’s arm, bringing him to the middle of the room, and everybody began singing together. Miraculously, the smile finally broke on his face and he began dancing with a bit more spirit.

His expression softened, no longer tense, and he seemed to be enjoying himself a lot more when he wasn’t in the same room as you.

Moments later, Chrissy, Eddie and Steve all fell back into the booth, laughing and joking, slick with sweat. It seemed Steve had finally loosened up a bit, maybe that was just the way he got around strangers. Until you joined them back at the booth.

And nobody spoke a word about your dizzy state again. Maybe to take your mind off it, which didn’t work.

“That was the most fun I have had in a long time!” Chrissy squealed, hugging Eddie’s arm, while Y/N and Steve sat in slightly uncomfortable silence.

“I guess…”

“Oh, don’t act like you weren’t having the best time ever up there, Stevie!”

“Everybody’s calling me that now, huh?” Steve frowned, but quickly his expression softened and he laughed. “It’s fine. I don’t mind nicknames!”

“Good, because we’re not going to stop, right Eddie Bear?” Chrissy said, caressing the side of his face and snuggling into him.

“You two seem cosy already,” you chimed in.

“And you two look colder than popsicles in winter. Come on, guys, you could cut the tension with a knife!”

“Haha yeah, the sexual tension!” Eddie added. God, it was disgusting how in sync and lovey dovey they were being.

You and Steve rolled your eyes simultaneously. It was going to be hard to keep a conversation at this rate, but Chrissy was willing to try. “So, Steve. What do you do in your spare time?” She offered the man a sweet smile.

“Yeah, Stevie,” Eddie asked, wiggling his eyebrows. “What do you do?”

Y/N tried hard to mask the laughter that managed to escape her with a cough, which only worsened when Steve said, “I like to golf,” at the same time Eddie shouted, “He hits balls with his stick!”

“Golf? Seems… posh. But in a good way!” You knew exactly what she was doing. Still on her mission to get you to give him a chance. “What else are you into?”

“I know what he’s into.”

“Eddie, don’t—”

“Why does everything have to be about King Steve anyway? Why can’t Eddie have a go at speaking?!”

Y/N snorted from next to him, covering her mouth.

“What?”

“Sorry! Who talks about themselves in the third person?”

“Eddie when he’s drunk and me when I’m high,” Steve said, deadpanned. “It’s a long story.”

“You’re drunk, Eds?”

“No. And that flask of vodka outside isn’t mine,” he said, laughing as he wrapped his arms tighter around Chrissy’s shoulders.

“Whatever,” he added, then he turned to Chrissy with the biggest grin on his face you’d seen thus far. “Wanna have sex in my trailer?” Despite the horrified looks on both Chrissy’s and Steve’s faces, you had to respect Eddie’s boldness.

“Wow, so charming, Eddie.” You smirked. “I won’t scare you by sharing a bed with you but I’ll fuck your brains out the next morning.”

Chrissy covered her mouth with her hands, completely and utterly gobsmacked. “I…um…” she took her hands away and looked at you. You just shrugged.

“It’s whatever. Go ahead, I’ll find a way home. Have fun, you two.”

Eddie rummaged through his pockets and retrieved some change and notes, tossing them in Steve’s direction. He grabbed Chrissy’s hand and they both left the diner hand in hand.

The presence beside you felt almost overwhelming once you were alone with Steve, still sitting on the same side of the table, too close for comfort. You could feel the stolen glances, and felt his eyes on you, his gaze heavy. Heavier, heavier… More intense by the minute.

“Why not take a picture? It’ll last longer,” you chuckled, “accidentally” rubbing your foot along his calf again, smirking at the low groan escaping his plump lips.

“I guess that’s my cue to leave as well…” It was as closed-off and uninviting as you could make it, yet Steve stayed frozen in place, unable to move aside to let you out of the booth.

“Well? You’re gonna let me out or do I have to sit on your lap again to get out?”

He cleared his throat as he shuffled into the aisle to his left to let you out. “Oh right, yeah. Do you, um, need a ride home?”

You smiled sweetly, tracing your slender finger along his jawline, the pad of your fingertip brushing against his soft, freshly shaven skin. His dark brown eyes fluttered closed at your touch. Your lips moved back up to the shell of his ear, burning his skin.

“No. But thank you for the offer.”

Lies. You’d rather gauge your eyes out than admit that you wanted him to take you home. To take care of you...

Instinctively, Steve wrapped his fingers around your wrist, keeping you close to his side. “An alternative would be giving me your phone number and letting me know you get home safe.”

Steve let your hand go to wrap his arm around your shoulders as he noticed a group of jocks entering the diner, and he felt weirdly protective over you.

Did he want you all to himself? Yes. Would he ever admit that to anyone? No. Imagine everyone’s faces if they saw Harrington dating Hargrove. Even associating himself with you, the sister of the boy who beat him in every fight they got in together.

“That sounds a lot like an order, Stevie,” you mused. “So, what would happen if I took your number, promised to call and never did? What would you do? Punish me?” You leaned in, to the shell of his ear again, hot breath ghosting his skin, prickling goosebumps in its wake. “I bet you would love to bend me over your knees, Stevie. Am I correct? Or would you prefer me to do the spanking?”

He barked a laugh. “As if!”

Yes. Yes, he would.

Something dark flashed in his eyes, a glimpse at who he truly was, perhaps. Confident and dominant, and very comfortable playing this game with you. He placed his hand firmly on the small of your back as he helped you out of the booth, trying to play off grabbing your thigh as helping you.

“Something tells me you wouldn’t smack my ass in front of people,” you whispered, your hot breath now ghosting his lips as you run your fingers along the collar of his sweater, gripping the fabric, tugging him closer to you. “Or maybe you’d like to do… something else to me in public.”

“Something else? Didn’t take you as the shy type, princess.”

Steve watched as you boy down on your lip, your tongue running over the bite to ease the sting. “Like your girls with a filthy mouth, do you?”

He offered you a grin, walking you back so your lower back was pressed against the part of the wall where two booths met. “And if I say yes?”

You chuckled softly, moving your hand up to caress the side of his pretty face with your knuckles, daringly pressing a kiss to his soft, plump lips. After one peck, you were addicted. You wanted to get drunk on his scent, on the way his lips moulded perfectly with yours, on the way his body felt like the perfect half of a jigsaw to complete your puzzle.

“Then I’ll ask you to kindly remove your fingers from my wrist and your hand from my back before I knock you out. And go splash some water on that gorgeous face of yours. You look all hot and bothered, Stevie. What happened?” You asked innocently, delicately extracting yourself from his grip.

“It’s from all the, uh, the dancing! It’s from all the dancing and the heat in here.” He pulled at the neck of his sweater, exposing a sliver of his collarbone to you. “And please stop calling me Stevie, angel. It’s making me—”

“You look like you’re about two seconds from creaming your pants, Harrington, and not even I hate you enough to let you embarrass yourself like that.”

“Y- you don’t like me?” He asked. “Don’t you think that’s harsh? You barely know me.”

“Were you that delusional to think that this was something more? Wow, Stevie.” When he didn’t answer, you winked and turned on your heel away from him. “Maybe you can think about me when you’re jerking off later,” you called over your shoulder, before exiting the diner.

And if he spent the rest of the evening doing just that, well, that’s none of your business.

But yes, Steve spent the next seven days doing exactly that. Your touch seared into his mind; the pressure of your fingertips tracing along his jaw, up and down his sides, the way his body reacted to you, obvious desperation even before he’d let it get this bad. Your sweet, innocent nature as he watched you dance with Eddie and Chrissy last Friday in the diner.

The urge was slowly growing out of control, and he told himself each morning that today he’d call you to ask you out. And that had been your play the night at the diner. As you promised you took his number, but never called, instead choosing to tease him whenever you saw him. Whether that would be from parading around in your short skirt, bending over purposely, always having a lollipop between your lips whenever you would enter Family Video…

It was killing him.

The first polaroid he saw of you was a photo of you fresh out of a hot shower, hair wet and droplets trickling down your chest, a white, almost transparent bathrobe barely hanging from your shoulders and the photo taken in the mirror. Placed under a VHS tape in Family Video just for Steve to see.

Written on the back of it in pretty writing was;

I made it home safely. And since you’ll be alone soon, have fun touching yourself. Or don’t. You’ll never see me again if you do x

Empty threat, he thought.

He’d barely been in bed five minutes when he got home that day before his jeans and boxers were pushed halfway down his thighs. It had become a routine for him after a long day at work thinking about you; he’d come home to an empty house due to his parent's absence and think about you some more. Imagining you in a million and one positions, and on your knees. Anything to get him off.

Instead of calling, Steve would fall into his bed at the end of the day and let you take over his thoughts for the rest of the night, the morning after, and all through that day—and so on.

Forever.

It was starting to annoy him how much you were taking over his mind and couldn’t go an hour without thinking about you. You. Y/N Hargrove.

He couldn’t concentrate at work, constantly messing up tapes and the order they would be stacked in, daydreaming about you. It was beginning to cause problems.

God, Steve had started to get greedy—always wanting more, imagining more, and it never took long. A vague memory of the musky perfume you wore last Friday, the way the scent imprinted into his clothes (which he would never wash again if that meant keeping a part of you with him), his skin… The haughty look on your face as you studied his blank expressions, trying to decide if you wanted to worship him or ruin him. And that drove him crazy.

Somehow he’d managed to become enticed by the one woman in Hawkins who found his charm repulsive and off-putting. And it wasn’t like he could even suffer in silence either. Eddie had caught on quickly, two days after bumping into you and Chrissy at the diner in fact, because Steve didn’t have much time or desire to go out. And now, suddenly he did. He’d been able to fumble for some sort of excuse, something about working late at the video store and having to take care of Dustin, El, Mike and Lucas—because he couldn’t exactly tell Eddie he couldn’t stop jerking off over a woman who wanted nothing to do with him and still be able to look his friend in the eye afterwards.

Their friendship didn’t have many limits, but that was most certainly one of them.

Part of Steve wanted you to know how you made him feel, wanted you to see how undone he became just at the thought of you. He almost wanted you to humiliate him for what he was doing, and his hips and breath shuddered one last time at the thought.

He was so tired of this constant need for you, his wanting, and the fact that you were so cocky to him in the diner, yet sweet to everyone else.

And he wanted to know why. Why were you treating him like this?

He begged his brain to just figure it all out and get it together long enough to just call you and ask you on a date. If he got rejected, well, at least he would have some closure. And he would finally be able to go more than two seconds without thinking about you, about how you had turned him into a writhing, horny mess.

After he called you, he answered the door to see you already standing there in a velvety red dress and some killer heels. You took his hand and brought him into the first room you saw; the guest bedroom on the first floor.

You took a hold of his neck, wrapping your fingers around it and pulling him closer to you, your other hand on the small of his back as you kicked the door shut.

You broke the kiss, planting your hands on his chest, and walking him backwards against the wall. You were a sight for sore eyes before him; your champagne-coloured satin lingerie set that had been hiding underneath your red dress leaving nothing to the imagination. Besides the mountain of unholy thoughts racing through his mind. Steve’s fingers twitched at his sides, itching to reach out and grab hold of your luscious hips.

You took a step backwards, just out of his reach. “You’re a very naughty boy, aren’t you, Stevie?” You teased, taking him in. “Can’t keep those hands of yours to yourself, can you, big boy?”

Lighting himself on fire would be like an ice bath right now, he thought. His blood burned his veins, thick with such a heavy, lustful desire that consumed him, the act of respiration becoming increasingly more difficult for him as you run your fingernails down his torso, leaving bright marks in their wake. He concentrated on his breathing for a few moments as your voice, the scent of your perfume filled every inch of his being, echoing all around him.

His breath began to still after a while, though he could still feel a burning sensation in the pit of his stomach as your fingers brushed over his skin, the bright sunlight dancing in your hair.

His breath faltered as he gasped, still fully clothed yet completely unravelled; so hard it was painful. He just needed you to keep talking to him, needed you to touch him, needed you to-

“Y/N, please,” he groaned, his hips betraying him as they bucked up against nothing. “Please, baby.”

“Please, what? Words, Stevie. I need words.”

“I— Mmm, fuck Y/N. Please um…”

He watched with wide eyes as a slow, sultry smile appeared on your lips. “Didn’t take you for the shy type, Harrington.”

Steve whines again at his words being parroted back to him, almost verbatim.

“I’m not!”

“And now?” You asked. “Would you beg for it? Would you beg for me?”

“Yes,” he breathed out, no hesitation. “Whatever you want.”

You slowly raised one of your eyebrows. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to give someone that kind of power over you? You never know what they might do with it, sweetheart.”

Words came tumbling out of his mouth before he could reconsider or even register what he was saying. “No one has complete power over me.”

And then he immediately knew he was fucked, knew it, even more, when that sultry smile stretches further across your face. You were so composed, just standing there in front of him like a Greek Goddess as if he wouldn’t drop to his knees and do whatever you asked of him; as if you had all the time in the world and this was just a minor inconvenience for you. As if you weren’t taking him apart by the seams, popping each stitch out one by one and letting him hang in a free fall.

Beating him at his own game. Yet again.

He was now 1 for 2. With you winning.

“Is that so?” You took one step closer, studying his movements. Every breath, every twitch of his body under your stare, saw the way his eyes fluttered shut in anticipation. Every intake of breath was almost a plea. “Should we put those words to the test?”

You dropped to your knees, still too far out of reach, your tongue rolling across your lips just enough to state your intent and get a rise out of him. “What do you want, Steven?”

His heart jolted at the use of his full name, the sound obscene in your mouth. “I—”

His brain and his body were at war, too much information to process that he couldn’t find the words, and couldn’t formulate a single coherent thought. “Y/N, I—”

“Surely someone so in control could use their words, hm Stevie?” He was fucking ruined. “I’m on my knees in front of you and you can’t think of a single thing you’d like me to do?”

“I want your mouth,” he breathed.

“That’s not very specific, honey. There are lots of things my mouth can do.”

“Yeah, like chatting a lot of shit,” he scoffed.

“Yes, but that’s nowhere near as fun as the other things it can do,” you huffed a laugh as you moved close enough to drag your freshly manicured fingernails down his thighs. “Pants off, now.”

You were still staring up at him from your place on the floor, your attention doing absolutely nothing to help the way his hands were trembling. It wasn’t the first time he’d had a woman on her knees for him… But it was the first time he couldn’t stop shaking to drag his pants down his legs to pool on the floor. Usually skilled fingers had been rendered completely and utterly fucking useless.

“You could make yourself useful and help me, y’know,” he quipped. Something between a relieved groan and a hiss escaped his plump, delectable lips as your ethereal gaze dragged over his strained erection.

“Would you rather I help the baby that can’t pull his pants down or make him come down my throat?” Steve was too dazed to answer. “You need to think before you speak, Stevie. That smart-ass mouth will get you into trouble.”

“I’m already in a world of it, angel,” he responded, barely audible as his voice caught in his throat, along with his breath when you brushed your tongue over your lips again, moving to palm himself through his boxers.

“Ah-ah,” you cooed, catching his wrist and moving it back to his side. “No touching yourself or me. You touch either of us… and I stop. Got it, princess?”

He resisted the urge to ask what in the hell was wrong with you, couldn’t you see how desperate he was? How he was already on the edge and you’d barely touched him aside from grabbing his wandering hand? That you’d already won?

Instead, he barely managed a nod, planting his hands against the cold plaster of the wall at his back. And he waited.

And waited.

You were still kneeling on the floor before him, but that smug grin playing on your lips was new. “How in control are you?” You asked.

“What?”

“Am I correct in saying that you said nobody has complete control over you?” You moved to lay backwards, propping yourself up on your elbows. “And would you be in control if I took these off?” You asked, skimming a finger along the trim of your panties.

His breath thickened in his throat. “Yes.”

“Oh, Steve. You should know by now that lying is not okay, angel.” Your voice reverberated through his entire body, your eyes burning into his as if hot, melted candle wax had been poured onto his blushing face. Hips bucked into the air as you shimmied the garment down the expanse of your legs at an agonizingly slow pace. “And you should know that I hate liars, Steve.”

If Steve was having trouble breathing before, he was nearly suffocating now as he took you in again; laying bare before him, your nails grazing along your skin. Slowly, teasingly, he watched, hypnotized as they neared your core.

A hitched breath, wondering if you were going to touch yourself as he watched. A silent prayer that the answer would be yes. And it was. Fucking hell, it was.

You repeated your question; “Are you in control now, Steven?” and he didn’t know the answer. He was, and he wasn’t. He knew the reality didn’t quite match up with what he wanted to say. It was a struggle to keep his twitching hands to himself, let alone think up a smart response to hide how untethered he was. To maintain that ‘King Steve’ façade.

“Y/N, I—”

“Wanna touch yourself, don’t you, angel?”

He groaned, his fingers grasping at nothing as they tried to dig into the wall, into his sides. But nothing worked. It was all too much for him; a sensory overload. The sight of you, the cockiness in your voice as you teased him.

Though almost unbearable, he had never felt more alive.

“Y-yes,” he finally choked out.

Your eyes locked on his gaze as you said, “Go ahead. Disobey me, princess, and see what happens.”

He gulped as he reached out to stroke his throbbing dick: the first stroke bringing so much relief he was certain he was going to black out any second. A loud moan comes within the second.

“Why so whiny, princess?” You teased as the third moan escaped his lips, which had his toes curling against the wooden floor; that all-too-familiar heat pooling in his stomach, ready to release at any moment.

“Fuck, Y/N— Oh my god,” he whimpered, just as you stood to your feet, grabbing his wrists, forcefully turning him around. “Holy shit, you’re strong.”

“I worked out with Billy every day for the last five fuckin’ years, Harrington. And now that he’s dead I do it even more. I get both of our workouts in,” you hiss in his ear, sending a harsh slap to his ass. “Don’t ever underestimate me again, got it? And stop moaning like a fucking girl.”

Another harsh slap to his ass had him pressed even further into the wall, so hard he cried out in pleasurable pain.

“Fuckin' pretty, aren't you, angel? So fuckin’ pretty like this. My babydoll, all unravelled for me the moment I mentioned I worked out. Or was it when I mentioned my brother?” You asked, pressing yourself harder against him. “Did my little princess have a thing for Billy? ‘S that why you hated him so much? Why you hate me so much?”

“M’— Y-yes. Yes, it is,” he sighed as you reached forward, bare chest against his back as you took him in your hand, your wrist flicking in the same momentum as his rapidly beating heart. And it wasn’t even a second later that he—

It was nearly 8 am when Steve jolted awake, his heart ready to break free and burst through his chest. He didn’t bother taking a peek under the covers, already knowing without even having to look, what a mess he’d made of himself. Once again.

It had never been this bad when he was in high school, and it was this thought of you dominating him, smacking his ass, calling him your princess and making him scream that had him stumbling to the shower to wash away his sin and his indiscretions.

He set the temperature to as cold as it could possibly go and stepped inside, standing right under the spray.

It was so pathetic how he couldn’t stop thinking about you. Couldn’t stop replaying in your mind how you felt, how you made him feel. The sound of your lowered voice crawling underneath his skin, the sensations of the pads of fingers on his skin. Your earthy perfume and the taste of your mouth. The sight of you with your legs spread like a buffet, wanting, and coming undone in front of him.

If you’d managed to overwhelm every one of his senses in a dream, what would the real thing be like?

You’d told him to keep his hands to himself, and that he would suffer consequences if he disobeyed. Which he did. But not even the sting of cold water on that cold Saturday morning was enough to cool him down. So he thought about it once, twice, three times before he slipped his hand underneath the covers.

The water beat down on him as he tried to rid his mind of the mountain of unholy thoughts about you. You didn’t need to know what he was doing. What you didn’t know wouldn’t kill you, and he was certainly not planning on coming clean.

“King Steve” having a wet dream about Y/N Hargrove? No way. That never happened. Not once.

He needed to take the edge off somehow. It would be much worse to head into Family Video and walk around all day with a raging erection, he told himself. But the wait was torturous. Time itself seemed to betray him more and more, the clock opposite his bed barely moving every time he snuck a glance.

If Steve would go to hell when he died, it would just be this, he thought; the insanely slow wait for you to call.

Because that’s all it was. He had to remind himself before he exploded, taking care of himself in the bathroom before slamming his foot down on the accelerator and driving to work to see that Robin had already arrived, panting and out of breath.

“I tried calling you, dingus. Did you sleep in again?” She asked, unlocking the door. “You know you’re on your last strike with Keith, right?”

“Yeah, how could I ever forget,” he deadpanned, holding the door open for Robin before they both headed inside, the sight of you still playing in Steve’s mind on a loop.

The first thing he noticed after the little smirk playing on Robin’s lips was a polaroid picture on top of a stack of tapes, in the eyesight of anyone that would walk in through those doors. He turned the ‘closed’ sign on the door to ‘open’ before waking over.

He nearly blacked out as soon as he picked up the polaroid with trembling fingers. Desire pricked at his skin like a wildfire destined to burn out of control as he drank in the sight. Your almost completely naked body contrasted against the crisp white sheets you were wrapped in, your lips slightly parted and your eyes half-lidded; the photograph showcased you laying on a bed.

There was just a hint of indecency, a promise of a whole lot more, and Steve suddenly couldn’t remember having seen anything so perfect in his 19 years of life, couldn’t focus on anything except the sound of blood rushing in his ears and the picture in front of him.

A strained whimper escaped the back of his throat as he flipped it over, reading the message on the back that had been written in a pretty, delicate font to contrast the feral thoughts running through his mind.

You can’t take me out, but I might let you invite me over if you behave like a good boy and keep your hands to yourself until tomorrow, and a heart drawn in pink gel pen next to the note.

“Whatcha got there, Dingus?” Robin teased, switching on the TV to the current news. “I bet it’s more interesting than whatever’s on the news...”

Steve shoved the polaroid in the front pocket of his jeans, trying to adjust himself as he did so, a blush reaching his cheeks until the ringing stopped in his mind. Until he started listening to the news until he heard Robin dropping the VHS tape she was holding, her eyes glued to the screen. “Oh no.”

“…We’re in the Forest Hills trailer park in east Roane County. We don’t have a lot of details but we can confirm that the body of a Hawkins High cheerleader was discovered earlier this morning in critical condition after suffering severe life-threatening injuries. Police have not yet released the name…”

“Holy shit,” Steve whispered, eyes focussed completely on the screen, his stomach tumbling down a flight of stairs the size of Mount Everest.

“…although we are told they’re currently in the process of notifying her family.”

“Forest Hills. That’s where Y/N lives, right? And she’s a cheerleader…” Robin subconsciously asked, hypnotized by the images of a green, yellow and white skirt, white converse and ambulances flooded the screen. “And- and Chrissy was with her last night. No, I’m remembering wrong! She was with… Eddie! Yeah, she was with Eddie. And I’m rambling again—?”

“No,” Steve cut her off, ignoring the feeling of his stomach dropping through the floor. “You’re not ruining my morning, Rob. It wasn’t Y/N.”

“And how would you know that?”

“Intuition. She would’ve put up a good fight no matter who she was up against, Rob. She’s a Hargrove, after all,” he stated, just as the door to the video store burst open, revealing a dishevelled-looking Dustin and Mike in the doorway, Max following closely behind with fresh tears pricking each of their precious little eyes.

They didn’t say a word as they jumped over to where Steve and Robin stood, bottom lips trembling as the news reporter continued her report. Trying to put on brave faces but failing miserably.

“The body is being taken to the hospital for a careful examination, and being put on life support. It has been said that the girl is now in a coma, on the brink of losing her life. Her chances of survival are slim to none, but all of our best wishes to her and we hope she gets back home alive and safe.”

Oh, so if she lives there which is a very high chance…

Oh.

Oh no.

“We will be back to you when further news has been released. This is Donna Burgess from Indiana Daily, thank you for your time. Back to you, Priscilla.”

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felassan · 1 year

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A few more snippets of interest and insight from Mark Darrah, from an older Mark Darrah on Games YouTube video where he was livestreaming playing Dragon Age: Origins some months ago -

Chat said "One day we will get a BioWare game with good hair. One day." Mark replied, "I hope they have good hair this time. I think they'll have good hair. There's some really cool tech in Frostbite now that FIFA is using for pretty good hair, so might be expensive, but."

[please note this video streamed 4 months ago] "I've been pretty inaccurate on my predictions for DA:D news. I mean I would be shocked if they don't plan to do something for EA Play 2023, but then there would be no reason for them to do anything before then, to try to make their own event, but. Yeah, I would say that, if they're planning to release this year [2023], which would still be my expectation, they'll announce at, they'll have stuff at EA Play and probably date, so they can open up preorders in Europe. If they're still concerned about their date then they won't date. Normally EA Play would be in June, same time as E3. Do we have confirmation of an E3 this year?" Here chat commented, "Could you see them potentially showing up at something like the rumored Microsoft conference?" Mark replied, "It's possible, the problem with going to a console-specific conference is it's implying things that you don't necessarily want to imply. If you're a really big game like GTA or COD or something then it's fine, but for something like DA you never want to even softly imply, you have to be really careful about potentially softly implying that this is a Microsoft exclusive or a Sony exclusive. They could do it, if Microsoft made the deal sweet enough, there's always that possibility. But it's a lot easier for the really big games, you're never gonna be confused that GTA is Microsoft exclusive or that COD is a Sony exclusive, but you could make that mistake with DA, and they'd want to be very careful not to make that happen. But it could happen, but I doubt it."

Chat asked "So for whoever ends up giving the live presentation - would you have any advice for them? I imagine it's a stressful time." Mark replied, "Live, it is stressful, it's interesting though because the press conferences, the stage press conferences, you have a live audience but it's a lot quieter than say doing a PowerPoint presentation to a roomful of say 50 people. So in a way it's a lot easier, but you have to kind've get over the fact that there's 3000 people in the room with you. But if you can then it's easier than a normal presentation, because you can just practise and get smooth. Now EA practises a lot for their press conferences, which is good if you're nervous, but it does have a tendency to kind've squeeze a lot of the authenticity out of the presentation style. You can really see that in the Anthem one where it's me and Casey Hudson. We practised that like fifty times. Maybe not fifty times. At least a couple of times. It's not a good format. It takes a format that's supposed to be authentic and on the fly and turns it into something where all of the spontaneity has been squeezed out of the thing. I do think authenticity is the key, but the problem with authenticity is sometimes you get someone like at TGA saying that the Oscars are garbage. So EA would rather have 20% less authenticity, with 50% less chance of someone going massively off-script. I actually don't agree, I think it's the wrong tradeoff, but they would rather take the safe route."

Chat said "I feel like the Warden and Darkspawn story arcs have taken a back seat to the templars and mages. Do you think it's likely they will ever revisit the Blight threads?" Mark replied "I think the Blight will be probably relevant."

"I would be very surprised if the Architect showed up in DA:D. They could collapse the quantum of him though, if they wanted to bring him back, they would just do that. If he was killed, he body-hopped, same as Corypheus did. They could do that. I don't think they will."

"Isabela is quite quantum."

"Boss design like the Mother in Awakening definitely would not fly today."

"Any of the books that happen after a game are canon only so much in that they, the events that happen in them are treated as happening, but they aren't necessarily treated as 'whose alive and whose dead', for canon. But things that happen before stuff, like The Calling, I think are treated as fully canon. Like I think Absolution will be treated as canon, like Fairbanks will be dead. There's nothing in there that violates any possible worldstate. But sort've like, from a canon perspective, there's sort've like several layers. There's, what is, base canon, in terms of what we choose, like fully canon would mean it applies, is canon for everyone. Whereas there's also the, like, what is the default, what is default canon, what is written to. But if things that can potentially be violated by different playstates, the writers will tend to try to write away from them so that we don't suddenly have something happening that violates your playthrough. So something that can be true for everyone is more likely to occur. Something that might happen for someone else, I mean, obviously that's been violated, like Leliana shows up even if she's dead in DA:I, but that's why it's lampshaded. So that if you kill her, it's explained why she's alive. Masked Empire is fully canon for the same reason, because it doesn't have any way of violating anything. Doesn't mean that some things that are presented aren't recontextualized, but."

"RPGs don't demo [at conferences and events] super-well because they require so much context. The best I ever saw honestly was probably, I saw Skyrim once at an E3 but I didn't play it. They'd set it up in such a way that when you were standing in line to play it or just kinda walking by you could see other people playing it. I actually didn't play it at that E3. Standing there for five or ten minutes watching other people play it was probably the best RPG demo I've ever seen, because you were distant from it, so you kind've accepted a little bit less context. So you kinda want that, but you can't really get that, so you either ended up doing what BioWare usually does which is a behind-closed-doors 45 minute demo, which gives the context, but you can only get a certain number of people through it. Or you have something that's really tight for stage. When demo-ing an RPG you need to set up the story, the conflict, but you also need to somehow sort've establish how this plays. With a shooter you kind've know. Do you show character generation in an RPG demo? You never do but kind've people care about that a lot so you kinda should."

"One of the best [demos] from a story perspective that I ever saw was Mass Effect 2, it showed the beginning of the game, the bit with you walking through, the bit where Shepard dies, and showed it as if it was the end of the game. So a big misdirection. But I think that you kind've have to do some sort've, and I guess we did something, not as effective, but kind've the same in DA:I where we showed Future Redcliffe essentially as an ending of the game or as something that would happen."

"The PAX demo of DA:I was the game as we understood it at the time. A lot of stuff we showed at PAX ended up not getting into the final game, so people get mad when demos misrepresent the game, but sometimes that's happening because the game changes after the demo. Not because it was a lie, it was the truth at the moment, it's much more likely to happen with an RPG than it is to happen with other things. With shooters you might get something like big fidelity degradation but you're unlikely to get significant changes to mechanics."

"Hira in Absolution starts out being really bad at [levitating/flying on a disc], and then gets really good in like a later episode, I feel like she should've, or I guess it's in the same episode, she's way better all of a sudden at levitating, at flying."

[source]

He also talked more generally about DA:O and the franchise and things in general. These bits are collected under a cut due to length -

Chat said "I still say Velanna would have made way more sense for turning Justice into Vengeance." Mark said "Yeah, Velanna definitely has a lot more revenge in her than Anders does at this point." Chat then commented "Like, if it was about justice for the elves, that would have been a better fit for Velanna." Mark replied "Yeah it wouldn't have made sense for DAII, like what is she doing in Kirkwall?"

"With darkspawn [structures and items] it's always a little over, there's a lot of decoration for something darkspawn cobble together"

"Awakening is a bit blobby"

In the Mother's Lair, chat said "The lair is the same as the place Morrigan found the eluvian. Is this on purpose or just asset reuse?" Mark replied "I think it was asset reuse"

"The Sacred Ashes trailer was made by Blur. Blur is not cheap. I don't think you can compare it with in-game cutscenes"

Chat asked "Was the thrown dagger mechanic in Mark of the Assassin too large a file packet to be in the base game? It changed everything for rogues." Mark replied, "It didn't exist in the base game, it was added just to give them a ranged weapon, it's not that it couldn't fit. Why didn't it get put back in? It's not so much that it was definitely going to be big, but it would be hard to know for sure without very carefully testing the whole game all over again. Because it is extra memory. Some of the stuff in Awakening for example does actually blow memory on consoles on the main game if you take it back, which, there was some way you could do that. It did something bad, so it had to be changed"

When the Architect appears to the Warden before the confrontation with the Mother, chat mentioned that he doesn't mention how the Fifth Blight started and refers to being "born". Chat said "I wonder if the Architect is just a magister like Corypheus? He says he was 'born' but maybe that's just a play on words." Mark said "At this point he's acting like he doesn't remember. Yeah, he's acting like he doesn't know what he is. Yeah I don't think you learn any of that stuff here. Does he not know/remember? Or is he hiding it?"

Chat said "I've never killed Leliana, what was the explanation in DA:I for her being alive?" Mark replied "The explanation is pretty loose but it's basically, the Urn was right there so it brought her back to life. Though it is possible that you decapitate her in that fight, so that is a bit of a stretch in certain circumstances."

"Solas is the master of 'didn't think this through'"

"It wasn't that it wasn't being contemplated, DA was just never intended to be a series. DA:O was always conceived of as a standalone game, which is why there are all these weird things in the end screens of DA:O, especially where it's like 'oh, you know, the entire world fell into a volcano'. By the time that DA:O was coming out, EA wanted a sequel. It was actually before EA that it was conceived of as a single franchise, it was to work on a sequel to DAII before DA:O was even out. That's when/why I came on. So it wasn't, what became DAII wasn't what was being worked on in that time. The SW:TOR delay made DAII, but it didn't make there be a sequel"

"I don't know if they'll ever do a Dragon Age legendary edition. EA does not like spending money. With DA:O you kinda have to decide if you're remastering or remaking. If you're remastering, you just let all of the iffy bits stand"

"A lot of the end screens in DA:O and Awakening, they're causing weird things for the future. The one I used to bring up a lot was the werewolves. You could literally end DA:O with werewolves just rampaging over parts of Ferelden. Or there's also like a potential dwarven civil war coming."

"DA:I was definitely considering collapsing the quantum state as much as it could, whereas DA:O doesn't care, it's just like whatever, make the world be a completely ridiculous quantum state, you're basically not guaranteed that anyone makes it through this alive"

"The problem with Oghren in Awakening is it's like they rewind him back to how he is when you meet him, so it undoes everything. Oghren is very 2D in Awakening"

"An RPG is more like a buffet, it's about providing a lot of features and you engage with some of them, you kind've like some of them, you can tolerate some of them, you don't engage with other ones. Whereas a lot of other game genres are much more about excellent execution on your core loop. An RPG isn't really about that as much. I think that's to some degree one of the problems with Anthem has, is that, you know, it's made by a company that's used to 70 B features combining into an A+ feature. And for a looter shooter it's not really that, it's two or three A features combining into an A+ feature. So there's just a friction in some of the pieces of Anthem that are fine for RPGs but not fine for a looter shooter. And you know, looter shooters aren't even the pinnacle of that"

[source]

(pls note that in places there is a bit of paraphrasing of the info, the best source is always the primary source with full quotes in their original context)

#dragon age #bioware #video games #long post #longpost #dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age: absolution #dragon age: absolution spoilers #solas #sw:tor #anthem #mass effect #morrigan #queen of my heart

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parageist · 7 months

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RAIN WORLD ARTIFICER AND RIVULET DOWNPOUR SPOILERS

okay i’ve spoken about how much the sundown theme being used in sparkling pendulum (which plays in the rot) makes me emotional, but i’m going back and playing another art run to try getting the ascension ending, and stepping into metropolis is still as magical as it was the first time. partially because progfox’s outstanding job on this track that plays when you first enter it.

youtube

i don’t know how to explain other than by playing the game itself. any song with the sundown motif is instantly 1000 times more emotional. i can’t find the words for it, but in Lost City it’s almost, orchestral? but only one instrument lol. it just feels so grand but hollow. melancholy, like an anthem from a dead civilization.

i think a better way to put it is that it SOUNDS exactly how metropolis looks. i don’t have synesthesia but something about listening to this song, the image of these towering abandoned skyscrapers on the desolate dusty rooftops of iterator cans and walking through the graffiti-adorned concrete gutters and alley whilst looking up at the sunlight above, fills my mind, and the same thing vice versa whenever i look at metropolis or play through it, even if the threat theme is playing already. it’s just that powerful of a track and a location.

my rain world hyperfixation has gone to the next level. this isn’t just some ordinary obsession. i am CAPTIVATED in every way

#rain world #rain world artificer #rain world spoilers #rain world metropolis #metropolis #artificer #Youtube

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ilikestuff69 · 7 months

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(Kinda spoilers for Hunger Games and Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, sorta? maybe?)

(Also keep in mind, I have not read the books so I’m just going off what I’ve seen in the movies and read online)

I love that they added the detail that Lucy Grey Baird was the person who wrote ‘The Hanging Tree’

Like, imagine you’re President Snow and the girl you love writes this song about a traumatic experience that both you and her experienced, and then you try to kill the girl you love and she goes missing, and then, DECADES later, you’re in the middle of a revolution against YOU and the face of the revolution sings that exact same song and it becomes an anthem for the rebellion and you’re probably reminded of that girl you loved and how you fucked it up every time you hear that song.

Also I love that Katniss probably doesn’t even know what that song means to Snow. Like this girl just traumatized her greatest enemy and didn’t even know it!

(Please correct me if I got any details wrong btw!)

#the hunger games #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #lucy gray baird #president snow #coriolanus snow #katniss everdeen #the hanging tree #mockingjay

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someawesomeamvs · 5 months

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youtube

Warning: Violence, potential spoilers

Title: AAA

Editor: SonsofKorhal9

Song: The Anthem

Artist: Good Charlotte

Anime: Didn't I Say To Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Ao no Exorcist, Zombieland Saga, Kekkai Sensen, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni series, Death Note, Fuuka, One Punch Man, Futurama (cartoon), Tokyo Revengers, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, The Eminence in Shadow, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, Fly Me to the Moon, Engage Kiss, Kore wa Zombie desu-ka!?, KonoSuba, Spy X Family, Chronos Ruler, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha series, K-On!, Noragami, Captain Tsubasa, Parasyte, To aru Majutsu no Index, Re: Creators, To aru Kagaku no Railgun, Ni no Kuni (game), ERASED, Charlotte, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl (film), Shinobi no Ittoki, The Cat Returns (film), The Disastrous Life of Saiki K, Persona 5, A Destructive God Sits Next To Me, In/Spectre, Dropkick on My Devil!, Danganronpa 3: Zetsubou-hen, The Demon Girl Next Door, Kurokami the Animation, Hayate the Combat Butler, Chainsaw Man, Akira (film), Lycoris Recoil, Fate series, Kanon, Okko's Inn, Gintama

Category: Comedy

#anime #amv #comedy #good charlotte #the anthem #video #music #song #youtube #editing #aaa - amv #sonsofkorhal9 #anime mix #too many anime to list #Youtube

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ifyoucandaniel · 1 year

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Crimson Rivers as Reputation Songs

hi ive decided that taylor wrote reputation for Crimson Rivers and I'm sure you've all had the same thought, but i wanted to write down all the little ways i see them in the album and my interpretation!!!! soe spoilers for CR ahead so be warned! @mayzarbewithyou

…Ready for it?

jegulus!!!

“In the middle of the night in my dreams / you should see the things we do, baby / In the middle of the night in my dreams / I know I’m gonna be with you / so I take my time”

very regulus to james !! dirty scandalous man hehe

regulus talking quietly to James when they’re alone and not being watched and he opens up and tells james the things he dreams about for them

I see how this is gon' go / Touch me and you'll never be alone / Island breeze and lights down low / No one has to know

regulus at the beginning of the fic when he was in his parting gift era

"no one has to know"

Obviously the “baby let the games begin” is very Crimson Rivers of her!!

“I see how this is gonna go"

Regulus seeing the ending before it can even begin and never letting himself just want and have until be finally does

“Knew I was a robber / first time that he saw me / stealing hearts and running off never saying sorry”

WHEN THEY WERE LIKE “ stole your heart, did I?” “Return it to me will you?” “No I think ill hold onto it for a bit more” IDK if that’s word for word but off the top of my head that’s what I remember and ??? That’s so them im???

“Every lover known in comparison is a failure” regulus after exactly one night and thinking Barty wasn’t as good as James LMFAO

End game

This one is also jegulus I’ve decided

“Big reputation / you and me we got some big reputations / and you heard about me / I got some big enemies / big reputation / you and me we’d be a big conversation”

This is so them before their games!!! Like there isn’t a single person who doesn’t know their names and if they were in love??? They’d be a big conversation indeed

“I don't wanna touch you / I don’t wanna be / Just anther ex-love you don’t wanna see / I don't wanna miss you / Like the other girls do / I don't wanna hurt you / I wanna be your end game”

This is so James to reg. Like he wanted him to love him so badddd he just wanted to be reg’s endgame!!! He didn’t want them to be something only to be nothing to him later :(

“Knew her when I was young / Reconnected when we were little bit older / I Did Something Bad”

Them growing up and being in love so close yet so far and then when they’re older falling in love fr this time??? Yeah this is so them

Don’t Blame Me

dorlenes ANTHEM

“For you, I would cross the line / I would waste my time / I would lose my mind / they say she’s gone too far this time / Don’t blame me love made me crazy”

You’re going to look at me and tell me this ISNT Dorcas meadows starting a WAR to save Marlene ???

“Lord save me my drug is my baby”

Dorcas literally on her KNEES doing whatever she can to save Marlene oh my god they’re so in love they invented love

“And baby for you / I would fall from grace / just to touch your face / if you walk away I’ll beg you on my knees to stay”

This is it. This IS their song it belongs to them and them alone I don’t care

Like dorcas went against both riddle and Dumbledore for Marlene. She made her own side and went against the person she’s been fighting for for years for the love of her life

This whole song is just so them!!! I love a woman on a mission <3

Delicate

Lilymary!!!!! Also wolfstar, but lilymary!!!

“This ain't for the best / My reputation's never been worse, so / You must like me for me / Yeah, I want you / We can't make any promises / Now can we, babe? / But you can make me a drink / Is it cool that I said all that? / Is it chill that you're in my head? / ‘Cause I know that it's delicate “

The first part is so remus to Sirius because he met him at his lowest point and still fell in love. they are the definition of love. Look up love in the dictionary and its them

Then lily <3 she was always so afraid of love and what it can do and how It can rip you apart, but she knows what she has with Mary is so so so special and she wants to treat them with so much love and care!! They have a delicate beautiful thing that she’s holding so gently!!

“Just think of the fun things we could do / ‘Cause I like you”

When lily only wanted a fun time with Mary at first and wasn’t ready for anything else, but then going from that to just “it cool that I said all that? / Is it chill that you're in my head? / ‘Cause I know that it's delicate”

Yeah just them being so lovely and treating what they have with so much love and care

Also very remus and Sirius learning to trust and tentative touches and gentle kisses and washing dishes together and !!!

Just delicate things

Look What You Made Me Do

this could go either way and a little bit of both between dumbledore and riddle.

But either way it’s directed at Dorcas.

Dorcas finding out the things dumbledore has done to ensure he wins this war HE started

“I don’t like your little games / the role you made me play of the fool / no I don’t like you / I don’t like your perfect crime / how you laugh when you lie / you said the gun was mine / isn’t cool / no I don’t like you”

Like we can all agree this is Dorcas @ dumbledore right? Okay cool

“But I got smarter I got harder in the nick of time/ honey I rose up from the dead I do it all the time/ I got a list of names and yours is in red underlined”

DORCAS MF MEADOWS BABYYYYY she’s so cool wtf I want to be her and be with her I just need her

“Oh look what you made me do” riddle bc he fucking sucks

But also Dumbledore when he made Gideon and fabion take the fall for dorcas

And dorcas when she started a war because neither side was doing anything so she took things into her own hands.

Dorcas looking at Dumbledore and saying “look what you made me do” is so powerful!

Dorcas is a badass mf put some respect on her name I want to kiss the back of her hand so bad

Getaway Car

this is one of my favorites off the album and it is very much dumbledore and grindelweld. (unfortunately? idk bc zar did so amazing fleshing or their backstory that its fascinating and i dont like them as people, but their characters are fascinating and the PARALLELS mmmm so good)

“It was the best of times, the worst of crimes / I struck a match and blew your mind / But I didn't mean it, and you didn't see it / The ties were black, the lies were white”

Albus falling in love during the worst time of his life (best of times worst of times)

Grindelweld not seeing albus’ betrayal coming or maybe he did but the lies were white

"X" marks the spot where we fell apart / He poisoned the well, I was lyin' to myself / I knew it from the first Old Fashioned, we were cursed / We never had a shotgun shot in the dark”

He poisoned the well I was lying to myself- albus when grindelweld betrayed him and killed Ariana, he was lying to himself thinking grindelweld wasn’t the man he was and that he wouldn’t do anything to get him back

You were drivin' the getaway car / We were flyin', but we'd never get far / Don't pretend it's such a mystery / Think about the place where you first met me / Ridin' in a getaway car / There were sirens in the beat of your heart / Should've known I'd be the first to leave / Think about the place where you first met me

This part belongs to the moment when dumbledore finally kills him.

Don’t pretend it’s such a mystery, think back to the moment you first met me- they were never going to have a happy ending and grindelweld should have seen it coming, they met during the hunger games where he was putting him and his sister in an arena to fight for their lives. They could never exist like they wanted to.

“Until I switched to the other side, to the other side / It's no surprise I turned you in / 'Cause us traitors never win”

Albus turning on the man he loved, betraying him and killing him, but never winning.

“It’s no surprise I turned you in”

Just thinking about dumbledore killing him and saying “don’t pretend it’s such a mystery” as if he would ever do anything less to avenge his sister, even to the man he loved.

Gorgeous

Regulus through and through

This song is literally his internal thoughts about James 24/7

reg wrote this song about James I know bc he showed me his sad boy poetry and this was in there

“You should take it as a compliment / That I got drunk and made fun of the way you talk / You should think about the consequence / Of your magnetic field being a little too strong / you’re so cool it makes me hate you so much”

Liiiiike? Regulus coded. Taylor knows CR reg personally and wrote this for him

Him making fun of James because otherwise hell just talk ab how pretty he is and how in love he is

You're so gorgeous / I can't say anything to your face / ‘Cause look at your face / And I'm so furious / At you for making me feel this way / But, what can I say? / You're gorgeous”

ITS SO REGULUS.

Like come onnnnnn he can’t even look James in the eye most of the time bc every time he does he’s just a deer in the headlights

James is so pretty im in love with him

Regulus get in line I wanna kiss James face so bad

“You should take it as a compliment / That I'm talking to everyone here but you / And you should think about the consequence / Of you touching my hand in the darkened room / ‘cus you’re so gorgeous it actually hurts”

God this is so regulus idk what more I can say

“Ocean blue eyes looking in mine / I feel like I might sink and drown and die”

I know James eyes aren’t blue, but the comparison to regulus drowning in them is too good

“You make me so happy, it turns back to sad, yeah / There's nothing I hate more than what I can't have / You are so gorgeous it makes me so mad”

UUUUUUUUGH they’re so lovely im clawing at the wall I want what they have ugh ugh ugh

Dress

this is both wolfstar AND dorlene

“Secret moments in a crowded room / but they don’t know about me and you / there is an indentation in the shape of you / make your mark on me”

This is so CR wolfstar Zar might as well have written the song himself.

Secret moments in a crowded room but they don’t know about me and you??? You’re joking. Like it’s so them😭 Remus at parties as a server while Sirius is siting with sponsors like 3 feet away with hickies he left the night before?? Yeah

“Say my name and everything just stops / I don’t want you like a best friend / only bought this dress so you could take it off”

DORLENE DORLENE DORLENE

LITERALLY THEM. When they tried to be friends but Dorcas wanted so much more! Them being in love and being friends never being enough!

When Marlene asked Dorcas to take her dress off!!! God I love them so much oh my god

“Everyone thinks that they know us / but they know nothing about / all of this silence and patience / pining and anticipation/ my hands are shaking from holding back from you”

WOLFSTAR <3 I love them so much. When the hallows think they have Sirius and Remus all figured out and put in their little boxes, the boy who give out sexual favors for sponsors and the servant to the hallow, but they know nothing about them

When they’re around the hallows and have to hold back from each other but all they want is to be in each other’s arms😭

Also dorlene!!! Again everyone thinking they know Dorcas and Marlene and they have them in their little boxes, but Marlene would never be the girl they wanted or thought she was and Dorcas was literally undercover for a war.

The pining and anticipation / my hands are shaking from holding back from you !!!! Dorcas and Marlene!!!! They’re so in love oh my god I love them sm

“Flashback when you first met me / your buzz cut and my hair bleached / even in my worst times / you could see the best of me / flashback to my mistakes / my rebounds my earthquakes / even in my worst lies / you saw the truth in me”

This is so wolfstar and dorlene. Flashback to my worst times- Sirius knowing Remus saw both his games and has seen him at his worst and Remus thinking about grayback but even then Remus saw the best in Sirius and neither love the other less for their lows

Flashback to my mistakes- Marlene finding out about lily and despite not being together still hurting because it hurts! They’re so heartbreaking and I just love them so much

Call It What You Want

THIS IS CR WOLFSTARS SONG I DONT CARE THIS IS IT

“I brought a knife to a gun fight / they took the crown but it’s alright”

Sirius winning his games but never actually winning

“My baby’s fit like a daydream / walking with his head down / I’m the one he’s walking to / so call it what you want”

Remus walking with his head down bc he’s a servant but he’s always walking to Sirius!

Sirius thinking Remus is so fit all the time and basically drooling nonstop- me too babe, me too

“My baby’s fly like a jet stream high above the whole thing / loves me like I’m brand new”

Remus never paying attention to rumors and loving Sirius for him and nothing else, loving him like he’s all new and never been tainted by the hallows or the games

“All my flowers grew back as thorns / he built a fire just to keep me warm / all the drama queens taking swings / all the jokers dressing up as kings / they fade to nothing when I look at him”

Sirius feeling like after the games he only destroyed things and like he grew thorns and ruins everything he touches, but Remus showing him he’s loved???

All the hallows trying to get their hands on him and sink their claws in but he only has eyes for Remus (specifically that one scene when Remus is working at the party and all the hallows are throwing themselves at Sirius but as soon as he sees Remus his eyes follow him all night and yeah them)

“ I’m laughing with my lover / making forts under covers / trust him like a brother / yeah you know I did one thing right / starry eyes sparking up my darkest nights”

It’s literally them. That’s all. It’s them building trust and loving each other and laughing together and being in love.

“I want to wear his initial on a chain ‘round my neck / not because he owns me / but because he really knows me / which is more than they can say”

No you’re not listening. This is literally cr wolfstar

NOT BECAUSE HE OWNS ME BUT BECAUSE HE REALLY KNOWS ME

Remus is the only person aside from his friends who can say they KNOW Sirius because Sirius let’s him know him. He KNOWS Sirius. All the hallows who want to own Sirius and to make him THEIRS don’t get it. Sirius could never be theirs because they don’t know him and they never will. Sirius wants to belong to Remus because it’s his choice! He wants to belong to the man he’s built trust with and who KNKWS him. Oh my god they make me SICK. They’re so perfect

“Would you run away with me?” Sirius to Remus all the time pls pls pls I love them

anyways I have to go do some work so this is all i have but i just love these characters so much and !!!!!

#sirius black #remus lupin #marlene mckinnon #mary mcdonald #james potter #regulus black #dorcas meadowes #lily evans #aberforth dumbledore #ariana dumbledore #albus dumbledore #crimson rivers #jegulus #wolfstar #dorlene #marylily #zeppazariel #marauders #the marauders

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