#anyway i'll shut up and do the story quest now

[rubys-domain]

so... i finished act 2. now what

[c6jpg]

classic genshin trailer making a story quest seem a lot more dramatic than it actually is LMAO

[askinkiskarma]

Illicit Affairs | Chapter I: Willow

Pairing: Neteyam x f!Human!Reader

Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VII Chapter VIII Chapter IX Chapter X

Warnings: Cursing, mentions of death and disease

WC: 3,4k words

A/N: Sooo.. I kinda did something. This is the first fanfic I have written that will actually see the light of day, and also the first piece of writing (outside of master's dissertations, papers, scientific essays etc) that I have done since probably high school, which is longer ago than I'd like to admit. Anyway, I have been hyperfixated on Avatar recently, ATWOW fully bringing back my love and obsession for Pandora that I have had since 2009. I adore the new movie and the Sully kids, but I have a special place in my heart for Neteyam, so here we go. Let me know what you guys think. I work full time as a PhD student, so I'll try my best to write in my spare time and hopefully I can get this done the way I truly want to. This story is also loosely inspired by the incredible @forever--darling and her "One of Us" Neteyam fanfic, which I adore and have probably memorised by now with the amount of times I have read it.

I'm like the water when your ship rolled in that night Rough on the surface but you cut through like a knife And if it was an open-shut case I never would've known from that look on your face Lost in your current like a priceless wine

“Wake up, Ace. It’s late already and there’s so much to do today, remember?” Norm’s voice pulled you out of a beautiful dream, one where you were flying on your chosen Ikran, high above the clouds, the worries…this lab. Albeit hard to swallow, you were almost relieved to be woken up, as feeding out-of-reach fantasies and dreams could lead to no good, anyhow. 

“I’m up… Jesus, Norm.” You felt yourself rise from your warm and comfortable bed and the feeling of your bare feet touching the cold, hard floor of the living quarters of the lab made you swallow a curse. 

“We left you some breakfast, get ready and meet us in the lab in 30, okay? We have the samples ready for you and you can run them after we’ve talked it through.” 

“Aye, aye, captain.” 

This was your life. You, among a few other people, were one of the only humans left on Pandora after the war took them back to Earth more than 17 years ago. Unlike the others, though, you were born here, on this foreign planet, the only home you’ve ever known. There was one more, a beautiful, feisty young man with a dark heritage, who liked to think that he is as much Pandoran as the actual natives. His name was Spider, and although you grew up together, there was not much you could say you had in common. He was wild and adventurous, has been his whole life; fully willing to immerse himself in the Na’vi ways and almost demanding a place amongst the people.

Although you have your doubts, he says the people were accepting of him, as he managed to befriend the most important family of the nearby Omatikaya tribe: the Sullys. Jake Sully, a former dream walker, rose to prominence as Toruk Makto, rider of Last Shadow. He brought multiple clans together to defeat the Sky People in their brutal quest for wealth and colonisation. He succeeded, after which he became Olo’yektan, leader of the Omatikaya. He is now fully Na’vi, after completing a consciousness transfer that allowed him to leave behind his human form and forever live as one of the people. It had never been done before. Jake was a great man, who became a mediator between the Na’vi and the humans left on Earth. His children, Neteyam, Lo’ak, Kiri and Tuk, were brought up to know English and be accepting of everyone, regardless where they came from, as long as they had pure intentions and a strong heart. Spider was considered one of them. And, surprisingly, you were, too. 

Your mum was a medic and researcher, brought here many moons ago to assist the Dr. Grace Augustin and her team in their quest to understand Pandora and its miraculous biology. Your dad, a former Master Sergeant in the US Air Force, joined the RDA for their military purposes. You never met your dad. He died when the Sky People attacked, although no one knows for sure which side he ended up taking. Your mum didn’t even know she was pregnant with you at the time, that’s how new everything was. Your mum loved your dad and she maintained her belief that he ended up doing the right thing in the end. You believed that as a child, but now are not so sure. Nevertheless, you still kept his dog tag, in a drawer at the bottom of your desk, a reminder of where you come from and what mistakes not to repeat. 

Your mum died where you were 10. It was the worst day of your life. The cancer, which slowly spread in the beginning, overtook her being one faithful day, which you will never be able to erase from your memory. There is no chemotherapy, no radiation therapy, no drugs that could have prevented this, not here, not on Pandora. Your mum made a decision to remain on this planet she loved more than her own and it eventually killed her. She had no regrets, she said. She was happy to have lived and loved and died here, among Eywa. The Na’vi loved her. She was good friends and a mentor to Neytiri and Jake, both of whom agreed to give her a Na’vi send off. You were there that day, one of the few times you had visited the Home Tree. You remember the pouring rain, falling so hard it washed away the tears spilling from your eye almost as soon as they emerged. You remember Lo’ak and Kiri, your beautiful friends that have always been there for you, mourning with you. Your mum was their favourite aunt. She introduced them to music and films, and showed all of you her favourite books and painters and made sure you all understood that humans, despite their many flaws, have beauty and love and good in them, that no matter what, will prevail. “It will prevail because of you. Because you will carry it along and share it. You will revel in the beauty and fight to bring it back because what better way is there to live?”

You finished breakfast quickly, some dry toast with some fruit Kiri brought you the last time she visited and made your way back to the lab. You found Norm and Max, alongside two other human scientists, Tim and Claire, sitting on chairs next to the lab benches, discussing plans for the week. 

“There she is, the brightest of us all.” You smirked at the compliment, raising your eyebrows in amusement and sitting down next to Claire. 

“You’ve done great work last week, Ace The ELISAs show promise that Relensa might have some effect against this type of Pandora virus. I need you to now repeat it with the samples we’ve provided and also include a different type of positive control to the experiment, if possible.”

“Will do. How about a combination therapy? I know Relensa is not the only type of anti-viral therapy we have available. Amantidin, maybe? We have to go at this from all angles, you know?” 

“Our Amantidin reserve is running severely short, but give it a try. Try a dose-response? Maybe 100 nano molars to 1 micro molar? Try 1milimolar as a positive control?”

This was your life. Unlike Spider, you avoided the clan. You did not want to be the walking reminder of everything they’ve lost. You were happy to sit back and dedicate your life to helping from the shadows. Your mum was a medic and a researcher, one of the brightest in the world. She wrote the book on Na’vi anatomy and physiology, she wanted to understand the people and hopefully help them mitigate losses brought by disease. You continued that work. Although young, you learned everything there was to learn. Not like you had anything else to do. You worked as a scientist and a nurse and a doctor if needs be. You patched humans up, stitched their wounds, ran experiments on Pandora pathogens and tried to find a cure against viral and bacterial diseases that plagued the Na’vi. You spent your life in the lab, and in the adjacent hub, learning, working out and playing the guitar and piano your mum taught you when you were really young. You couldn’t say you loved it, loved being here all the time, but you were content knowing you were, in your own way, making up for your species’ past mistakes. 

Around lunchtime, you heard commotion from the entryway. A very familiar voice reverberated through the hallways. Your lips raised in a soft smile. Lo’ak. 

Removing your lab coat, goggles and gloves, you made your way towards the origin of the sound. The tall, much-taller-than-you young man picked up a breathing mask from the designated shelf and waved at you with unwavering enthusiasm. You loved this boy. Your brother, for all intents and purposes, your partner-in-crime for all time. He loved you, too, you knew that, and you thought in a different life, in a different universe, you were soulmates, braving life’s tough storms together. 

“Brought you lunch, angel.” Your nickname for you made you roll your eyes. You hated it, but the more you hated it, the more he used it so you remained silent. “I thought you could use a break from the stale excuse you guys call food around here.” 

Lo’ak spoke English with you most of the time. He took to your parents’ (and his dad’s) culture the most out of all the kids. You spent a lot of your childhood together, hunched around a computer with old reruns of shows your mum loved in her youth, shows and movies that were way before even her time. She said she loved seeing what Earth looked like before humans killed their mother. Shows like Gilmore Girls, Friends and Modern Family were some of her favourites. You devoured them as a child, and Lo’ak did so too, with you. You drove her crazy as children, and drove Norm and Max crazy as teenagers, both trying to understand references and sayings, buildings and activities, games and idiosyncrasies. The Earth you grew up watching and reading up was beautiful, a star in the night sky you will never be able to touch. 

Lo’ak made his way to the dining room of the hub, and lay several carefully-packed items on the table. Fresh teylu, cooked over fire and Pandora vegetables, all full of colour and flavour, all much better than anything that could come out of this place. You realise that you are starving as soon as you lay your eyes on them. Before you even sat down, you dug your fingers in and quickly ate some teylu, groaning at the delicious sweet meaty flavour. It was your favourite, and Lo’ak knew. He laughed at your apparent desperation and motioned for you to sit down. You obliged, and you both sat in silence for a while, just enjoying each other’s company and the food he provided. 

“How’s training going? I haven’t seen you in a few days.” 

“I die a little bit inside every time you make me remember I spend my days training like a little robot. It’s going fine. Tiring, you know? My dad is fully back in his Marine ways. He knows it’s been enough time that the humans are bound to return sooner or later. He says they’d never leave this world, and all its untapped riches alone without a fight. So it’s a lot of military training… if we walk like them, talk like them and fight like them, it might bring us some sort of advantage, you know?” 

“Yeah, I know. I know it’s a pain, but he’s only doing this to protect you guys. He’s right. The humans are bound to return one day and when they do, we have to be prepared.” He doesn’t know this, but you have also been training, learning about guns, going through your dad’s old manuals and whatever else the RDA has left behind that could possibly be of use. You use the guns that are in the hub to learn how to aim, shoot, strip field, reload and clean the weapons, so you too can be prepared when the time comes. You might be stuck in a weak human body, but you will not be weak. 

“Neteyam’s driving me nuts. He used to be fun, remember that? He’s such a killjoy, it’s hard to stomach being around him anymore. He’s always giving out orders, always making sure everything is in order and perfect, like him. He’s been training like crazy, and sticking to my dad like he’s some sort of fungus you can’t get rid of. Drives me crazy.”

“Hey, don’t talk about your brother like that. There’s a line, Lo’ak. Neteyam only wants the best for you guys, and he’s the oldest. He has to carry the burden of being the responsible one while you guy cause mischief all the time.” 

Neteyam, Jake and Neytiri’s oldest, is more Na’vi than all the other children combined, in both looks and personality. Whilst the two middle children, Lo’ak and Kiri have five fingers, eyebrows and a more human appearance, Neteyam is all Neytiri. He’s tall and lean and seems like he was born with a bow in hand. A true warrior, you always found him a tad intimidating. Just like his mum, he has his apprehensions about humans and avatars, and although he used to come to the hub quite often when he was younger, mostly to keep an eye on his siblings, the visits have become a rarity as of recent times. 

You wonder how the young man changed in the time you haven’t seen him. You used to be close as children, or at least that’s what you thought. Whereas Spider took to Lo’ak and Kiri, their mischievous personalities a good match for each other, you took to the oldest Sully boy. He was quiet and thoughtful, and he used to look at you like a puzzle he was trying to solve, but couldn’t. He used to sit in the back as you used to play piano, and his gaze on you used to make your skin blush and your heart race. You tried not to think about the pang of hurt that rose in your chest as you remembered that he essentially abandoned you, without so much as a farewell. 

“Earth to Y/N, are you still there?” Lo’ak interrupted your train of thought and you were half grateful that you didn’t have to think about Neteyam anymore. 

“Sorry. You were saying?”

“I was saying you’re right, I know I should be more understanding, I am happy I don’t have to be the one to carry all of responsibility, but it’s hard not to hold a grudge when it seems my brother was abducted by aliens and replaced with a weird, no-fun replica of himself.” 

You groaned at the young Sully’s ongoing verbal attacks, but said no more. Whatever was going on between the two Sully boys was, at the end of the day, none of your business. 

“Anyway…” Lo’ak started, a mischievous grin appearing on his beautiful face, “I know something you don’t.” 

“Mmm, what is that?”

“I’m not telling you, but let’s just say I think it will make you very happy.” 

“Well that’s just cruel. You know I hate surprises.”

After lunch, Lo’ak joined you in the recreation hub, where you kept a guitar and the piano that the humans left behind. You didn’t feel like going back to work just yet. You sat down on the cold floor and picked up your copy of Pride and Prejudice, your mum’s favourite book. The book was coming apart at the seams, worn down from all the times you have held it in your hands, as if gripping it tighter would bring her back to you, even if for only a split second. You sighed as you passed the book to Lo’ak and motioned for him to put it on the table next to him.

“Sing for me, will you? I missed hearing your voice.” 

You smiled up at him. Nobody knew you like Lo’ak did. Nobody accepted you the way Lo’ak did. Both of you felt out of place in this world, like you didn’t quite belong anywhere. He has spent many an hour confessing how alone he’s felt all his life. You’d like to think you helped. You picked up your guitar and played a familiar song, one you knew he loved.

“Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind , as if you were a mythical thing

Like you were a trophy or a champion ring, and there was one prize I'd cheat to win

The more that you say, the less I know

Wherever you stray, I follow

I'm begging for you to take my hand, wreck my plans

That's my man”

You sat like this for hours, laughing and playing and singing. You tried to teach him a couple of chords on the guitar, which looked puny in his massive hands. With a loud thud, the open to the recreation centre swung open, making both of your heads turn in shock. 

“Lo’ak, what the fuck?” 

The harsh tone came from a man, a man you barely recognised anymore. Tall and muscular, he was not the same Neteyam you last saw. He was adorning a carefully crafted neck piece that matched his hunter’s chest piece and the knife holder he kept by his hips. You took a second to adjust to the man in front of you, that you haven’t seen in so long, that will always have a special place in your heart. Your gaze eventually fell on his face, which, like the rest of him, matured so much in all that time apart. He was beautiful. His hair was freshly braided and you couldn’t help but stare at the beaded strands that framed his face. As much as his body and face changed, they didn’t hold a candle to his eyes. The big yellow orbs that always looked at you curiously and intently were now focused on Lo’ak with rage flashed across them. 

“You were supposed to meet me at the Home Tree a fucking hour ago, Lo’ak. Dad asked you to join the hunting party and pull your weight for once, remember that? Are you physically unable to do anything that is ever asked of you?” 

He is yet to even spare a glance in your direction. You felt your blood pressure rising at the oldest Sully, but you pushed it down to look at Lo’ak, who was staring daggers at his older brother. As he was opening his mouth to undoubtedly say something that would get him in even more trouble than he was already in, you cut him off. 

“It’s my fault.” You say in Na’vi. You doubted Neteyam was in the mood for English, so as to not escalate the tensions further, you opted for your semi-decent Na’vi. “I needed his help with some samples Norm got for me that I couldn’t identify. I’m done now, though. Sorry for taking him from his duties.”

His eyes finally snapped from Lo’ak and laded on your frame. You saw his lips parting in confusion and then settle in a firm line. His eyes scanned your body from head to toe. You changed. A lot. Your hair was now close to reaching your narrow waist, which he hated himself for noticing. You were wearing what the humans called a “top”, that was cut above your abdomen and had the word “Stanford” written across it. He’s sure he’s seen it before, although he couldn’t place where. You were wearing bottoms, short and blue, with cuts in them, which Neteyam didn’t get. Why are your clothes ripped? It’s not like you fought some animal in the wild, you never got out. He couldn’t help noticing how lean you had become, so lean, in fact, he could trace your muscles with precision, something he is rarely able to do with humans. Your species was puny and weak, which is why they needed avatars and exo-suits to survive on Pandora. Realizing he was staring, his eyes moved from you back to Lo’ak, and motioned for him to get up. Although he huffed and puffed, Lo’ak obliged without saying a word. He turned around before exiting the room, giving you one last exasperated look. You winked at him and clicked your tongue in the direction of the forest, a small smile on your face. This skxawng. 

“Hey, you.” You called after Neteyam in English, as soon as Lo’ak disappeared from your line of view. You don’t know what you expected, but you had to try. He turned around and his eyes met yours. It was like looking at a stranger. 

“I really have to go, Y/N.” He said, with a deep voice and slight accent, and his eyes fell on the floor as soon as he noticed the look of hurt that crossed your face. 

“Fine, go.” You said, quickly composing yourself. You refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing he can hurt your feelings. You turned around, and busied yourself cleaning up, not sparing a second look in his direction. His gaze shifted back to your frame, and with a sigh, he made his way out of the lab and your life, once more. 

[strawberrylabs]

Lyney drabbles

ok so...

i know i said id be getting all my other requests out like a month ago and i promise im working on them- just slowly

but i my brain is ROTTING with Lyney headcanons atm because I just finished fontane archon quests and his story quest so yall are gonna have to let my numerous lyney dabbles tide you over until i upload anything else

(also please send me lyney headcanons or prompts i am DYING to write about this man)

ANYWAYS!

reader can be interpreted as any gender! no gendered terms are used

WARNING! this will have spoilers to fontane lore and Lyney's story quest!! I will also be mentioning death, grieving and slight depression! read with caution if you're sensitive to these topics.

spoilers will be under the cut!

I'll be here

synopsis: after the events of Lyney's story quest, his lover comforts him as he finally finds closure after Cesar's death.

After the traveler and Paimon left Lyney and Lynette at the steambird, Lynette turned to look at her brother.

"So, Cesar's honour has been restored."

Lyney smiles to himself

"That it has my dear sister. Now, I do believe a certain someone is at home with Freminet waiting for us." Lyney turns to his sister expectingly.

"Actually, I'm going to the port. I need some time to shut down. And I think you need some time too, Lyney."

Lyney sighed and smiled a melancholy smile. Of course Lynette could see through him.

"You're quite right, as always dear sister. I think I shall take your advice."

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

When Lyney walked through the door to his home expecting to be greeted by his brother and lover, he only found his lover in sight.

"Freminet said he wanted to go diving by the opera house tonight. Something about the tildaga being different at this time of year." (y/n) answered, almost as if hearing Lyney's confusiong.

"Ah I see. Lynette has gone to the port to unwind after the weeks events."

(Y/n) smiled knowingly at the magician.

"And I suspect you'll be needing to unwind too."

Lyney gasped in faux astonishment

"My word! I didn't know you learnt telepathy? I suppose when you spend so much time around such a great magician you do pick up a few things. Maybe you can join Lynette and I and we can form a magical trio?" Lyney emphasised his words with a florish of his hat.

(Y/n) chuckled and moved towards Lyney, grabbing his hand.

"As much as I would love to know exactly what's going on in your mind, I do not have telepathy. I do however, know you well enough to know you need a rest."

Lyney's smile faltered a smidge. Despite knowing he can be vulnerable around (Y/n), he still struggles to let his guard down. Apparently years of working for the house of the Hearth does that to someone.

While in thought, (Y/n) pulls Lyney to their room, and places him on their bed, sitting him down wordlessly, and moving to sit behind him.

Lyney registers the feeling of his hat being taken off, and fingers in his hair taking out his braid.

"Just relax. I'll take care of you. I know everything with Cesar has been tough. You've been preparing yourself for this moment for years-- but I know it's still been heavy."

(Y/n) presses a kisse to his head.

"Cesar would be proud of you. I know you feel guilty about with holding the truth from him, but I just know he'd understand. He would be so, so proud of you and Lynette."

Lyney doesn't remember when the first tear fell down his face, or when his performance clothes were removed and replaced with pjamas, or when he was tucked in against (Y/n)'s chest.

"Cesar can be truly at peace now with his name cleared. You did great Lyney."

Lyney takes a deep breathe, and burries himself in the safety of his lover's embrace.

"..Thank you (Y/n).."

"Of course Lyney. I'll be here for you, always."

this man has me in a chokehold

(thank god I pulled him<3)

-Strawberry

masterlist

Rules

[inalandofsadclowns]

I think it's so funny that Arthur walks around thinking that in Camelot he's the most progressive one regarding magic. He'll be going on his magical quests like

"Don't tell me you believe Gaius' bedtime stories, Merlin. What are you so afraid of seriously, it's so embarrassing for you. Anyway, if there is a sorcerer, you don't need to be afraid. Not to boast, but I happen to have sort of a friendly affiliation with the magic folks. Call it a natural bond. Once, I was saved by a glowing magic orb, that's when I knew I was safe. It's like someone is watching over me. No matter what danger I put myself into as I fight for my people, I can do so knowing I'll survive. Whoever, whatever this force is, it's all-seeing, omnipotent. It favores me. Obviously, you couldn't undertand this, Merlin. As the village peasant you grew up as, I can't blame you for being terrified and confused. But I want you to know, you're safe with me. So you can stop wimpering. Now get behind me and shut up, I don't want you exposing us and getting us killed."

Merlin, *sighs, as he fights off feral sorcerer, nearly losing half a leg in the process*

[bjfinn]

HARRY'S QUEST

Disclaimer: I don't have a Shuar dictionary or grammar, so I had to make up the language spoken by the tribespeople, but I have tried to make it similar to the small sample that I've seen on YouTube. Also, fair warning: since the story is set in Ecuador, there's quite a bit of Spanish dialogue, untranslated -- Harold doesn't know what's being said, so why should you? Lol

Tw: death, murder by execution

Beej did a double take when he got to the office and saw the new arrival. The guy was a good eight or ten inches taller than the demon, and he was wearing a safari jacket and pants with the cuffs tucked into a pair of black hiking boots -- and he was carrying a hunting rifle.

But it wasn't the guy's height, or clothing, or even the firearm that took Beej by surprise -- it was the guy's head. It was tiny -- about a quarter the size it should've been. The black hair had been pulled up into a severe topknot and tied with a red cord, and the guy's lips had been sewn shut.

"Holy crap! " Beej exclaimed. "What the fuck happened to you, pal?"

The guy looked at Beej with bulging eyes -- they were normal sized and therefore too large for their sockets -- and tried to speak, but all that came out was, "Mmm! M-mmm-mmmmmm-mm-mmmmmmmmm! "

"Sorry, buddy," Beej said, clapping him on the back. "I didn't quite get that. Anyway, whatever happened it looks like a pretty shitty way to die. Tough luck, pal. Well, I can't stick around -- I gotta get up to Florida for my next job. They just executed the guy who tried to assassinate Roosevelt -- name of Zangara. I'll see you around!"

*****

Harold J. Wilson III had been in Guayaquil a week before he managed to find someone who was willing to take him into the jungle.

He'd come to South America in search of a creature that would guarantee his name would live forever -- the mapinguari. Supposedly extinct for thousands of years, but there were rumours -- based on accounts by the local Indians -- that it was still alive in the deepest part of the Amazon. And he was determined to bag one and bring it back to the Smithsonian.

"Sí, señor," the guide, a short, stocky man in his fifties named Pedro Morales, said. "I know the jungle -- but it is not a safe place for un americano, especially a rich americano like yourself."

"I've been in plenty of dangerous places," Harold told him. "Congo, in search of the mokele-mbembe, for instance."

"Did you find it, this ... mokele-mbembe?"

Harold shook his head. "Unfortunately, no," he said. "But I'm sure I'll find the mapinguari. Now, will you guide me or not?"

Pedro looked at the American. He took a deep drag on his cigar, blew out the smoke and nodded. "One hundred American dollars."

Harold pretended to consider the amount for a moment, and then he smiled and held out his hand. "You have a deal."

Pedro grinned. "Muy bien," he said. "We should leave tomorrow, at dawn. Before the heat becomes unbearable, sí?"

*****

"Lawrence!"

Beej, startled, whirled around at the sound of Juno's voice. "Hi, Mom!" he said, panicked. He hurriedly tried to hide the files he was holding behind his back. "You, uh ... you got another pickup for me?"

"What are you doing with those files?" she asked, cigarette smoke billowing from the hole in her neck. She took another drag.

"Huh? Oh, you mean these files? I, uh ... I was just curious about the new guy ... how he died, that's all."

"Oh, but sweetie," Juno said, smiling, her voice gentle, "you don't know how to read very well." Then she looked at him contemptuously. "Hand them over!"

"Sorry, Mom," he replied, chastened, and gave her the files.

"Now get back to work, and no more screwing around! "

"Yes, Mom," Beej said in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

"I can't hear you! "

"Yes, Mom," he said again, louder this time.

Juno nodded. "That's better." She stuffed the files back in the drawer and limped away, the thump-slide, thump-slide of her footsteps loud in the sudden silence of the office.

Beej looked around. The others, who had no doubt been watching the exchange, quickly put their heads down to focus on their work.

Beej blinked back the tears and shuffled out of the Processing Department to his next assignment.

*****

The sun was just beginning to stretch its first rays over the rooftops when Harold was awakened by a knock on the door of his hotel room.

"Buenos dias, Señor Harold," Pedro said when the American opened the door. "Are you ready to leave?"

"Let's go," Harold replied with a nod. He grabbed his gear and followed the guide out to the waiting Jeep. He tossed his bags in the back and climbed into the passenger's seat as Pedro turned the ignition, and then they started off, down the dirt road towards the jungle.

"We will have to stop at San Ignacio and continue on foot from there," Pedro said. "No hay caminos en la selva."

Harold nodded -- he knew enough Spanish to understand what the other man had said. No roads in the jungle.

"This village -- San Ignacio -- how far is it?"

"Two hours, más o menos," came the reply. "We will stop for lunch, and then hike in."

"How will we know where to go?"

"A village elder, Tío Chako, says that he has seen the mapinguari when he was a young man," Pedro told him. "We will follow his directions." He looked at his passenger. "But that was many years ago, señor -- who can say if it will still be there?"

"I understand," Harold replied.

*****

In fact, the drive to the Otavalo village of San Ignacio took nearly three and a half hours, and by the time they reached the village the sun was already fiercely hot.

The guide stopped the Jeep in front of a small, single-storey house with whitewashed mud walls and a thatched roof. They got out of the vehicle, and Pedro knocked on the wooden door.

A moment later, it opened, and a wizened old man in a dingy tank top and baggy trousers looked out. "Hola," he said -- Harold saw that he was missing his lower front teeth. "¿Quién están ustedes?"

"Soy yo, Pedro. Y eso es Señor Harold, de los Estados Unidos."

"¿Un americano?" Tío Chako was incredulous. "¿Aquí?"

"Él quiere trover el mapinguari," Pedro explained.

Tío Chako shook his head. "¿El mapinguari? No, es demasiado peligroso -- los Jívaros ..."

"Lo sé, pero es un americano rico ... y tonto."

"Pedro, no es bueno -- irás al infierno por esto."

"¿Y él? Él quiere matar el espíritu de la selva por un trofeo." Pedro smiled. "El Santo Padre me perdonará, creo."

"What's going on?" Harold asked -- his Spanish wasn't good enough to follow the exchange between Pedro and Chako.

"We are just discussing the preliminaries, señor."

"Por favor, entran ustedes," the old man said.

"Gracias, tío," Pedro replied. To Harold he said, "Unfortunately, Tío Chako does not speak English -- I will interpret for you."

Harold looked around the abode. It appeared to have only two rooms -- the kitchen in which they were standing and another that was probably the bedroom. At the table, a woman who was almost as old as Chako sat peelig potatoes.

"Mi esposa, María," Chako said.

"¿Visitantes? ¿Por qué no me dijiste que teníamos compañía?" María asked.

"María, ¿te acuerdas de Pedro?" Chako said. "Y este es el señor Harold, un americano que está buscando al mapinguari."

María's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but she caught herself and said, "Bienvenido, Pedro. Y bienvenido, Señor Harold. ¿Se quedarán a almorzar?"

"Gracias, tía," Pedro replied. "Tenemos un largo viaje por delante."

*****

After a lunch of seco -- goat stew served with rice and plantain -- Pedro and Chako looked over a map of the region, discussing the most likely places to find the elusive mapinguari.

"Yo lo ve aquí," Chako said, pointing to a spot where the Rio Negro looped around like a noose. "Pero no sé si eras allá esos días."

"Lo entiendo," Pedro replied. "¿Y los Jívaros? ¿Donde es su territorio?"

"Casi todo el este es el territorio de ellos." He looked at Pedro. "Rezaré a San Cristóbal para que todos regresen sanos y salvos."

*****

"You know," Beej said, "I don't think I've ever seen anyone else who had their head shrunk before -- how'd it happen?"

The guy looked at the demon with his bulging eyes and drew a thumb across his throat.

"Yeah," Beej said with a nod. "That makes sense -- I mean, it'd be kinda difficult to shrink just your head if it was still attached, right?" He elbowed the guy in the ribs. "But how come it's attached now? I've seen others who've lost their heads, and they're always carrying them, you know?"

"M-mmmm-mmmm," came the response.

"Yeah, of course you don't know. Anyway, I'm wondering how they did it -- shrunk your head, I mean. But I guess you don't know that, either -- you were already dead."

The guy nodded.

Just then the door to Juno's office opened. Beej leapt to his feet. "Well, nice talkin' to you, pal -- see you!" And he scurried away before his mother could see him.

*****

It was an thirteen day trek through the jungle to get to the area where Tío Chako said that he had seen the creature. Harold had long since run out of citronella oil, and he was covered in mosquito bites, but that wasn't the worst of it -- every night was spent pulling leeches, ticks and other bloodsuckers off his exposed skin. He would've liked to bathe more often in one of the rivers, but he didn't dare -- the waters were home to flesh-eating piranhas, as well as anacondas and caimans. And other, more fearsome things.

"Candiru," Pedro told him. "It is a tiny, tiny fish that smells the piss and swims up your ..." He motioned to his crotch. "¿Entiende?"

Harold nodded grimly.

*****

At long last, Pedro set down his pack and said, "Es el lugar."

Harold looked around. It seemed exactly the same as the rest of the jungle -- trees and plants growing in riotous profusion in the eternal twilight, the silence occasionally punctured by the squawk of a bird or the screech of a monkey, or the sound of something larger making its way through the undergrowth. It felt like he and Pedro were the only two people in the entire world -- Harold would have been unsettled if he weren't so drenched and weary.

They set up camp as they had every night for the past two weeks, and Pedro built a fire with sticks that he gathered, smearing them with pitch from a rubber tree -- the smell of broiling latex was terrible, but it allowed the damp wood to burn.

Sunset comes quickly in the depths of the jungle. They had just finished their supper -- boiled mote corn and ch'arqui made from llama meat -- when it arrived and they were plunged into darkness. As always, the jungle came alive then with the sounds of nocturnal wildlife.

"You should sleep, señor" Pedro said. "I will take first watch."

Harold nodded and gladly slipped into the tent. He lifted the mosquito netting strung over his hammock and settled in.

He'd just drifted off when Pedro shook him roughly. "Señor," the guide whispered urgently. "Señor, wake up! I think I hear the mapinguari!"

Harold sat up, instantly awake, and rolled out of the hammock. "Where?" he asked. "Are you sure?"

"I can smell it -- can you not?"

Harold sniffed the air -- a rancid odour, like that of soured compost, filled his nostrils. "Let's go," he said, grabbing his rifle.

The two men exited the tent and headed in the direction of the odour, training their flashlights on the ground in front of them.

A few minutes later they heard a deep snuffling sound. They raised their flashlight beams ...

The mapinguari was scratching itself against an acacia. Harold gasped as it turned its head to look at them -- the beast had to be eight feet tall, with long, shaggy, reddish-brown fur. The three claws on each of its front paws were massive, easily capable of shredding a tree. The beast had tiny eyes and ears, and a flexible muzzle that reminded Harold of a tapir's. He caught a glimpse of the massive tail trailing on the ground behind it -- thickly muscled, like that of a kangaroo.

"I knew it!" Harold crowed. "It's a giant ground sloth!"

The creature made a low, rumbling noise that sounded for all the world like it was saying huuuhhhh?

"I've got you now!" Harold crowed as he raised his rifle and took aim. He pulled the trigger, and the sound of the weapon instantly caused a pandemonium of noise in the jungle as bird, bats, monkeys panicked and took flight. The mapinguari bellowed in pain as the bullet ripped into its flesh, and it turned toward the two men, its powerful forearms raised threateningly.

It lunged at them, roaring in confused fury. Pedro screamed and fled. Harold readied himself to take another shot, but the huge beast was too close. He dropped the rifle and ran, stumbling over tree roots, desperate to avoid those massive claws.

The beast was gaining on him -- he could practically feel its hot breath on the back of his neck. "Shit shit shit shit shit! " he wheezed.

He took a tumble then, rolling down a short embankment into the river. "SHIT! " he yelled, and scrambled back onto the bank before something in the water got him.

He trained the beam of his flashlight upwards, grateful that he'd managed to hold onto it.

The mapinguari was looming over him, looking down at Harold. Its tiny eyes looked ... almost sad. Harold felt a twinge of regret for having caused it pain.

"I-I'm sorry," he said softly. And bowed his head, ready to accept whatever punishment the beast -- this jungle god -- saw fit to mete out.

But then he heard voices -- human voices shouting in a language he didn't recognise. The mapinguari heard them, too, and it calmly settled back down on all fours, turned and ambled off into the jungle.

"Hey!" Harold called. "Hey! Over here!"

Within seconds he was surrounded by a dozen or so spear-carrying warriors, wearing feather headbands, beaded bandoliers and red face paint.

"Wiñámishi jṵna kimiijusiai!" one of the warriors shouted. "Jikanyi ústa kanimuistaiyi! Uukanta!"

"I'm .. I'm sorry," Harold said. "I don't understand --"

"Uukanta!" the warrior shouted again. "Uukanta!"

Three of their number hauled Harold to his feet, and they bound him, tying his hands together behind his back and fixing a noose around his neck.

"Iijintaiyi nan chanwaarka ujaantaiyi na! "

And they led him through the jungle.

*****

Beej couldn't get the shrunken-head guy out of his mind. Or more accurately, he couldn't get the question of how breathers could shrink somebody's head out of his mind. He could do it easily, of course -- but he was a demon.

He decided to go back in time to see for himself -- after all, the information could prove useful someday.

He looked around to make sure that no one was watching, and then he snapped his fingers.

Instantly he found himself in a village in the middle of the Amazon jungle. Fortunately, since he was invisible, his arrival went unnoticed by the inhabitants. But he didn't think they would've noticed him anyway -- there seemed to be some kind of celebration going on.

A crowd of people were circling a large bonfire, singing and shuffling to the beat of drums as the thin, high notes of a couple of flutes threaded through the air. He could smell roasting meat and vegetables, and his stomach grumbled.

"Looks like fun," he said to himself, and moved closer.

Off to the side he saw someone tied to a post -- he recognised him as his new buddy, the shrunken-head guy. Same clothes.

He continued to watch, glad that he'd arrived at the right place and time.

Beej didn't even think of intervening on the guy's behalf -- what the fuck did he care about saving a breather? Eventually every one of them died anyway.

At last the drumming and dancing ended -- just as the first rays of the sun began to paint the treetops with golden light.

The prisoner was cut down, and he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

He was lifted up by several warriors and laid out spread eagle on a stone slab, his wrists and ankles tied to wooden posts. Then one of the warriors, strode up, a machete in his right hand. He raised the weapon high, and bellowed, "UKAIYIII!!!"

"AAAIYIIII!!!" the others shouted in response.

The warrior brought the wicked-looking blade down and severed the prisoner's head with one blow, and the women of the tribe began ululating in applause.

The executioner reached down and picked up the head by the hair, holding it aloft for all to see.

Beej was impressed -- it took some skill to sever a head with a single blow, even with a machete. Clearly this wasn't the warrior's first time.

The warrior gently handed the head to another man -- this guy was older, with grey hair. They exchanged a few words -- Beej heard them say muisak several times, and tsantsa. Two words he'd heard before. They meant "soul" and "shrunken head" in the Shuar language.

He nodded to himself.

Beej had heard of the Shuar, or Jívaro. Fearsome headhunters, they were famous for shrinking the heads of their enemies -- he didn't know if there were any other tribes that did that, though. Always wondered how they shrink the heads -- looks like today's the day I get to find out!

He followed the shaman into one of the thatched huts -- a large pot of water simmered over a fire in the middle of the room. The shaman picked up a knife with a blade of chipped flint, sat cross-legged on the floor beside the fire, and set to work, chanting as he did.

Beej squatted down beside him, still invisible, as he sliced into the back of the head, cutting the flesh from neck to crown, and carefully removed the flesh from the skull in a single piece. When he was done, he sewed the eyelids shut and forced three sharpened pegs through both lips.

The old man then took a baseball-sized sphere carved from wood and placed it inside the skin, and dropped it into the boiling water. He continued chanting, shaking a rattle made of shiny black seeds, as the de-boned head cooked.

This was going to take a while, Beej knew, so he headed outside to see what the tribe was going to do with the body. He was disappointed to see that they were burying it, rather than cooking and eating it. What a waste, he sighed. Ah, well -- can't have everything.

*****

A few hours later the shaman removed the head from the pot -- Beej was surprised to see that it had shrunk to about a third of its original size, and the skin was dark and rubbery.

The old man carefully turned the head inside out and began scraping the flesh and fat from the skin. Once it was completely clean he turned it rightside out again and sewed up the slit in the rear.

"Okaaay," Beej muttered.

With wooden tongs, the old man took several small rocks out of the fire and dropped them into the neck opening, followed by a few ladles of hot sand from the smaller pot.

"Why are you doing that?" Beej asked, knowing that the shaman couldn't hear him.

He watched, amazed, as the head shrank further, the skin contracting from the heat.

The shaman emptied the head and refilled it with more sand and rocks, holding more hot rocks against the outside to shape the features. This process was repeated several times, until at last the head was the size of a fist.

"Wow!" Beej exclaimed. "That's so fuckin' cool! "

Now that the head was fully shrunk, the shaman rubbed the skin all over with charcoal ash, and then he hung it over the fire to dry.

Finally, the shaman removed the pegs from the lips and sewed them shut with cotton string, making long, decorative tassels, and presented it to the warrior who'd made the kill.

Beej, grinning, took that as his cue to head back to the Netherworld.

*****

"I gotta tell you," he said to the shrunken-head guy, "it was fuckin' amazing! You shoulda been there! Uh, well ... I guess you kinda were, weren't you? Anyway, I'll tell you all about it sometime -- maybe we can grab lunch. Oh -- uh, right. Never mind."

"Lawrence! " Juno bellowed from her office. "Get in here right NOW! "

"Be right there, Mom!" he called back. "Anyway, I gotta go. See you soon, buddy!"

[sometimesrufus]

Rebirth Spoilers

So I'm over 100 hrs in now fam. The completionist in me just can't leave the side quests no matter how much I want to get through the plot. And I need to just say.

HOW DARE Hojo go after my boys Roche and Chadley. HOW. DARE.

Also fricking love all of Rufus's non-verbal communication. Especially with Tseng. And good gravy would I love to see everyone else's faces after finding out Rufus is Sarruf. Doubt we'll get that but man. That seen. Just can see Tseng checking with Rufus each time, asking how much he should tell the others. And Tseng reads him. I love love love all the Rufus/Turks & Turks/Turks interactions we're getting.

I have FEELINGS about the Gongaga protorelic stuff though.

I love the extra bit of Turks lore. I'll get to that in a sec.

What bothers me is Elena just joined. And Rufus just became president. WTF DID THEY UPDATE THIS SIM???? Surely they had more pressing concerns than making sure there was a new training sim with Elena and Rufus being referred to as President.

I can buy that they made the one calling Ru pres years ago since and were just waiting to update given the man made time to mint his own coins, but the Elena thing doesn't make any sense and I suspect had to do with wanting fresh lines for the battle and not having access to more Reno voice content ( :( )

It makes way more sense for the sim to be Reno and Rude, or even random BC style Turks. Unless Tseng was literally like, Elena, your first job is to program the training sim with your details.

I understand it was probably a real life problem; I just have problems with what it does to the canon, even though I love getting more of that badass cutthroat content officially confirmed (even though we all knew company policy would be to leave in a body bag). It's just so interesting given BC content that part of the training is turning on your coworkers.

Also!! Apparently depending on how you do in the fight, Rufus has different responses! He praised me but I love the moody one where he's like guess I gotta do everything myself. I haven't heard the neutral one yet. Lonely rich boy indeed.

I also think it's very interesting that Cissnei hasn't cut ties to the company. Tseng or someone had to be the one to inform her unless she was lying about the company sending her to check things out and she had it rigged herself. But I rather like the idea of the former.

It's so cool that so much of it was what I imagined canon to be... I've been head canoning that Rufus is reluctant to have bodyguards because he can take care of himself for years and that delighted me, but the sim in general with the Elena/President updates also feels disconnected from the rest of the story, which bothers me.

ANYWAY. Shutting up now; I'm just really enjoying this game and all the delicious Rufus/Turks content.

[chocodaffodil]

I don't know what I'm doing. I just slapped on colors and hoped it looked good

Now I will start rambling!

So there was this person in the Omori discord server who drew fine in the Omori art style and my friend, a fellow Omori fan, sent it to me and I was super inspired. It just looked super pretty and my crops were watered and absolutely flourished!! My friend also helped me figure out who would be in Mari's role, with the options being past fine members and of course, Tsumugi had to die <3

I like him very much (and he is one of my favorite Enstars characters... just #5 though) so I wanna give him that really important role ahah

It only makes sense because he's the one who was the most affected by Eichi?? He really considered Eichi a friend and felt betrayed by his actions while Nagisa and Hiyori were just in fine on contract. I honestly do not know much about the Enstars story and it's been a while since I've finished Omori so idk...

But yeah, it has to be Tsumugi!

Anyways, Eichi wouldn't be a shut-in and only stay at home like Sunny. I see him in a coma after the events of the War and Tsumugi's death? And that's why he's in a dream world, where Tsumugi is still alive and things are starting to settle down.

The white egret orchid in the pic is basically a redraw of the one in Omori. The game says that it symbolizes the phrase "my thoughts will follow you into your dreams."

I associate it with Basil and I think he means well when he shows up in Sunny's dreams as Stranger.

As for Natsume... I'm giving him Stranger's role and he definitely does not have good intentions for Eichi so that line, "my thoughts will follow you into your dreams" would be more of a curse. He'd be constantly showing up in Eichi's dream world and trying to force him to remember what he's done.

The inciting event that forces Omori to explore the dream world with his friends (and him eventually remembering Mari's death) was looking for Basil, who is missing.

For Eichi, the inciting event would be Natsume stirring up a rebellion.

I don't think there'd be silly little creatures to fight like sprout moles and bunnies. The battles would be singing and dancing as per Yumenosaki style. Rebels would continuously spring up and challenge fine to a duel.

But of course, there'd be little side quests like Omori where fine, with 3 out of 4 members being part of the student council, have to do some work. I'm being vague because I have no clue. I can see quests being asked by students and they're like pinned to a bulletin board. Is Yuzuru even a part of the student council or was he just there to help Tori out?

Other notes!

There is no Trickstar :)

As in their unit hasn't really officially formed yet. I just don't really see where they would fit?

Eichi is not just impacted by Tsumugi's death. Tsumugi is the face of his guilt and also stands for all the other lives that were lost in the War. A really fitting line I remember is Eichi's 4-star card for the Tempest event in which he says, "I'm destroying someone's dream." I had to check in-game so I guess the lines are actually: "I'm the one who crushes that dream. I, and my dream, could ruin the dreams of others." In order to make his wish of creating a utopia for idols into a reality, Eichi has crushed other people's dreams.

I can see him telling himself that they were necessary sacrifices but perhaps there's another small part of him (or it could be Natsume's thoughts entering his head) that asks if Tsumugi's death and the other deaths were actually necessary. Could there have been some world where all that pain could have been avoided?

Yeah that's the end of my rambling~

I'll talk about the rest of fine and their roles later

I have college stuff to do urghh

Ahh I almost forgot that this would be past Tsumugi, who had no blue/turquoise(??) streaks in his hair.

Also I wanted Natsume to be on the right side of the canvas but the way I drew him, it only makes sense if he's on the left. His longer hair lock is on the left side of his face (if it was our pov, it'd be the right? I feel like I'm making this more confusing) and I want to keep it that way but if he was on the right side of the canvas, that longer lock would be on the wrong side...

Also fun fact, my friend shared that fine Omori art with me 178 days ago so about half a year ago... this has been in the back of my mind for some time but I'm glad I finally drew something and wrote my thoughts out.

The majority of my funky ideas are actually Twst-related even though I have yet to talk about any Twst characters or draw fanart of them...

[ceescedasticity]

Unforsaken, 7e

Or possible 8b? Probably 7e. You guys will probably like this one, though I can't say the same for Turgon.

(All sections on tumblr)

(AO3, lagging behind but more polished)

Celegorm and Whiterot return from the Gundabad expedition in mid-autumn.

Celegorm is visibly gleeful.

There are still orcs in Gundabad, and while they aren't unusually aggressive they certainly wouldn't react well to elves right outside their door. However. He thinks they might be reasonable if someone trustworthy came to talk to them.

All the elves: ?????

"Someone looked up to. Someone—"

Turgon: "I get it, Reckless, I'll go, that's enough."

Celegorm (talking over him): "Someone great."

Yes, fine—

Celegorm: "They can probably be talked around, since at this point they're really just goblins."

Turgon: "I said I'd do it." (Shut up shut up)

Everyone who's been living in Imladris lately is very familiar with Bilbo's stories.

Elrohir, privately to Elladan: Is he implying—

Elladan, privately to Elrohir: I think so, should we say something?

Glorfindel: *in denial*

Risyind, politely: "I think it's very nice that they remember you so — I suppose fondly probably isn't the word?

Khitwê: "Positively?"

Sharlinnu: "Yeah, that's about right. The town is remembered fondly, though. That place was great."

Turgon: *doesn't want to say 'shut up shut up SHUT UP' to Sharlinnu, still less his great-niece and -nephew, but really wants them to shut up* "…Thank you."

Whiterot: *saying nothing because she respects people's wishes about not telling their family things [when she's not trying to take attention off herself, anyway]*

Celegorm: *grinning maniacally, which is alarming on an orc but not actually notably more so than it was when he was an elf*

Maglor: *giving Celegorm a pretty good impression of Maedhros's "tell me what the fuck you're talking about right now" look*

Glorfindel: *denials harder*

Celeborn, who's only read Bilbo's story once: "Would someone explain what's going on?"

Turgon, stiffly: "During a lifetime in which I didn't remember who I was, I was in a leadership position for a relatively large number of orcs not directly under the Dark Lord's orders — still influenced, of course, and very dangerous."

Celegorm: "No need to be modest—"

Turgon: "Moving on—"

Maglor: "Celegorm just tell us yourself if you want us to know so badly."

Celegorm: "What do you think, Bellow, should I tell them?"

Turgon: "Fuck you and the warg you rode in on, Reckless. They called me the 'Great Goblin', and I died in a peculiar enough encounter that it's likely at least Imladris heard about it—"

Elladan, slightly strangled: "Repeatedly."

Elrohir, to Celeborn and Maglor: "Thorin's company, the quest to retake Erebor, Bilbo told the story a lot, also Mithrandir was there and, uh—"

Celegorm: "He built Goblindolin and got taken out by Glamdring. It's so funny."

(Look I know the wordplay doesn't work in Sindarin or untranslated Westron but I don't care because it's funny.)

Maglor, by body language: Okay yes that's pretty funny.

Celeborn: *Also thinks it's pretty funny, but doesn't want to encourage Celegorm.*

Glorfindel: Glorfindel.exe has stopped responding

Elrohir, despite being very tired of Being The Grown-Up: "All right, if the goblins in Gundabad will listen to you, that makes things easier! That's great. Do you think you'll go there and come back, or stay in Gundabad until we're passing by?"

Turgon isn't sure — it depends on what he finds there. He'd like to come back to Imladris right away, but — it depends.

Will someone please reboot Glorfindel. Glorfindel you're an Exile, you must have run into worse cognitive dissonance than this before, deal with it.

And Celegorm, please stop making that face.

Maglor: "He can't, it's stuck that way."

[revvethasmythh]

7 and 21 for the day ask game!

7. if they had to choose one person most important to them, who would that be?

Warden: For better (and worse!), it's Alistair. Worryingly enmeshed individuals, if we're being honest. But then again, losing your entire life and being thrown into a world-ending scenario with exactly one other co-worker would rarely prompt a normal, healthy relationship, would it?

Hawke: Bethany. Only remaining family member, Bethany is truly a load-bearing pillar of Hawke's mental stability.

Inquisitor: Honestly? Her mom. I like to imagine sometimes when she's out on a mission, she and Harding just sit around camp writing letters to their moms together

21. what is their biggest regret?

Warden: Still, to this day, not being able to talk Tamlen out of investigating the ancient ruin with the eluvian. Regardless of the fact that she knows she couldn't have changed it, and if she had the Blight might not have ended, I think she'll never forgive herself for not being able to save her best friend.

Hawke: Helping Anders collect ingredients that he would later use as a bomb. Now let's pause real quick to discuss why, because it truly has very little to do with the political reality of what he was doing, and has 1000% more to do with what he did to Hawke personally. And by that I mean, my Hawke was very in her lane. Her only goals in life were to have a nice place to live and enough money to live well and hopefully be able to take care of whatever family she had left. When Anders did what he did, it quite literally blew up Hawke's entire life. She was clinging to her hinges for all of act 3 trying to have an actual life, and in one fell swoop it was completely gone. She worked for nearly a decade to make Kirkwall her home and now the city is in physical shambles, Anders directly put Bethany's life at risk thereby effectively forcing Hawke to personally intervene, and subsequently she became the Chantry's #1 Most Wanted all because Anders asked for a personal favor. I don't think she thinks about what Anders did in a political way, or even really thinks about if Bethany is going to have a better life in the future because of Anders' actions than she would have otherwise (she probably will, actually!). I think she sees it as "Kirkwall being my home was the last thing I had, and Anders ripped it all part. And I helped him do it." And in that, there is a lot of regret

Inquisitor: Wait, i have a funny story about this one. The answer is "Adamant Fortress." Just literally, the entirety of Adamant. But the story here is that I did actually know in advance that I was going to have to choose Alistair or Hawke, okay? Based on my world state, I knew that would happen. I thought about it for a long time and made my decision in advance. So before going, I talked to Alistair and unlocked that "Contact the Hero of Fereldan" war table mission, right? That war table mission takes 18 goddamn real world hours to complete. I did it late at night, shut off my game and was like it's fine I'll get the results from the mission and then go do the quest tomorrow.

Well, turns out 18 hours is actually a VERY long time and I am impatient as hell, so when I opened up the game the next day and it still wasn't complete I said fuck it and did Adamant anyway. I left Alistair in the Fade (for a variety of reasons I honestly thought about for far too long). The SECOND I got back to Skyhold, the war table mission finally completed. IMAGINE my face when I opened up that letter and read the words, "Please take care of [Alistair]. Like me, he was instrumental in ending the last Blight. I trust his compassion and his strength above any other's, and I would not go though such effort to overcome our Callings only to lose him to your Inquisition" immediately after leaving his ass in the Fade. It was such upsetting timing that I could NOT stop laughing about it.

I think that letter haunts my Inquisitor more than anything else. I think it gives her chronic insomnia and she just reads it again and again in the dead of night torturing herself over that decision. She's such a bleeding heart of a character, I just know it'll weigh so heavily on her for rest of her life.

ask me about my canon DA world state!

[fluideli123]

[Original Ask Post]

🦈Tell us the name of your/one of your WIP(s)

While my inspiration has been low these past few years (2021 doesn't feel like 2-3 years ago) and I've been bouncing through different fandoms, there are SO many WIPs that have sprouted up, half formed. Some are short stories such as Alberto (Luca) learning the violin and working through his trauma through the art of music, fics about Macaque and MK (Lego Monkie Kid) and how their relationship is the most profound. To long fics of diving into Sonic Prime's world-building through deeper lore and shit gets explained across multiverses as to why the franchise's multiverses are as they are. Not to mention the original stories such as The Fox and Eagle.

But one I'd like to share is my one and only (started) fic idea for the video-game series God Of War that is placed between GOW 2018 and GOW: Ragnarök. It would follow the side quest of the Ring Of Andvari that would follow how Sindri and Atreus lost the ring between games, as mentioned during a battle with a Soul Eater in Vanaheim within GOW: Ragnarök.

The title is "All That is Gold Does not Glitter" which is not only a connection to my other obsession's poem (Lord of the Rings) but also to a saying that means in one way or another that "something may not be as good or as valuable as it first appears." Which ties into why Sindri and Atreus lose the ring, what causes these events to unfold in the first place and how they connect to how Atreus had found the ring in GOW 2018.

I obviously am not a complex writer who researches lore and connects things a lot, what do you mean./s

Anyway, just because I can, I'll share what I wrote last October. Enjoy!

When Atreus had planned all of this from a small, fresh idea that bloomed in the back of his mind. He had never once planned on battling a soul eater in the middle of the night while a dwarf shouts weak encouragement from somewhere hidden between realms. Because no matter how much he adores Sindri to death-- and he really, really does --now was not the time to have the dwarf nauseous from nerves while Atreus concentrates on trying not to get incarcerated.

In fact, Sindri was not the best person to be at his side when swiftly dodging a cascade of fire shards with only enough time to leap behind a pillar to protect him from the following searing heat of a beam of pure, concentrated flame.

Even though he'd get a glare and a lecture of a lifetime from his father, he was definitely missing his combat support.

The ring shouts heatedly at him from its place in Atreus' small pack, and it's enough for the kid to growl and shoot a few arrows into the soul eater's opened chest to release the frustration into something useful. "I know, I know, now shut up! You got me into this!"

"Well, technically-"

"Not now, Sindri!"

"Yup, got it!"

Atreus rolls away from the pillar and past the crumbling walls, fire licking at his heels before pressing his back firmly against the chilled, chiseled wall. The Soul Eater's thundering footsteps shake the world around him as it stalks closer, trying to set eyes on the boy's soul once more.

"Why did I ever trust you?" The boy bites into the frosty night air, the heat of battle keeping him from shivering his furs right off as a particularly nasty bellow of air hits him, sending snowflakes clashing onto his bare face and hands like needles.

The ring doesn't answer, its aura darkening in anger and guilt. Atreus can't bring himself to care all too much as he sucks in grounding breaths. Allowing the sharp shards of freezing Fimbulwinter air to soothe his racing heart.

It was supposed to be simple.

This was all supposed to be for his father. A father who would now be sorely disappointed in him.

Atreus hits the back of his head against the wall, squeezing his eyes shut.

⁀➷ 

It wasn't entirely unusual for Atreus to spend his early morning slowly digging through old gear and equipment from his and his father's journey to Jotunheim. But it wasn't entirely something he did often, either. In fact, it was something he hadn't done at all in the way he was now until now. 

Was it unusual for Atreus to be doing it in general? No, not really, if you think about all the times he has looked through their things for the usual training session and favor from Brok and Sindri. But was it weird he was looking through it for nostalgia's sake after months and months of never having it cross his mind? Yeah, probably. 

But, while his father worked outside and Mimir sat at his designated table reading through tales, Atreus went on to indulge himself anyway. 

It still felt so weird that it had been so long since he and his father sat atop that mountain, raised Mother's ashes into the sky, watched her settle against the peaks of her land, and danced across the remains of her people and the place she once called home. And from that day onward, they found new people to take place in their lives, new voices, new stories, new everything. 

He didn't know how Father felt about it, but it was like Mother brought them all together. She wanted more people for Atreus to learn from and grow from. It felt like their family had grown, and his mother had planned all of it, planned it all for them, so they wouldn't be lonely. Because really, Atreus definitely didn't feel lonely anymore. Not in the way he once was.

The bag that once held his mother's ashes was still rough against his fingers, the fibers well taken care of, the rope barely frayed as the young archer ran the pads of his fingers across it.

It feels as though the first memory he should recall would be his father collecting her ashes in it, even the sight of it hanging off his hip as they made their way across familiar grounds to enter ones he could have never dreamed of. 

But, no, the first memory to appear leaves him smiling, fondness, pride, and determination warming him from the inside out as he remembers the moment his father held her out to him, entrusting her with him, charging him with so much more without a single word despite everything he'd done to leave his father angry and disappointed. It was a step in the right direction, one Atreus takes strength from. 

His father trusts him, and he will make sure that he continues to make him proud, just as much as Atreus tries to make his mother proud with everything he is.

Atreus brings the tattered bag to his forehead, closing his eyes and muttering quiet phrases, a greeting, and a promise before settling it carefully out of the way as he dips his arm deep into the fits of armor and ruins. 

He looks through each thing carefully, soaking in the reminders and memories, careful not to lose the ruins under his bed and between cracks of wood where some of the smallest could disappear when the tips of his fingers find something peculiar. 

Atreus stretches to reach for it between his father's beautifully crafted furs and metal, tongue sticking out as he fiddles with the thing, exclaiming in victory once he's finally grabbed it. 

"What'd you find laddy?" 

Atreus beams down at the little ring in the palm of his hand, shifting it around with a finger as he leans back to answer Mimir, "Nothing! Just looking through father's things!"

"Your father's things, eh? Sure he wants you to go snoopin'?" 

"Oh, don't worry about it, Mimir. I'm just looking!"

"Sure sounds like it."

Atreus can't help but roll his eyes at Mimir's sarcasm, grinning at the sound of the head's quiet chuckle. 

Before the boy can continue, the door opens, and the young tween quickly tosses the ruins back into the chest, closing it shut as he stuffs the ring into his pack, whirling around to meet his father's amber eyes.

"Let me guess, training?"

A grunt is Atreus' only response, and it's the only one he needs as he plucks his bow and quiver from off the wall and rushes toward the direction of deer. 

As Atreus leads the way through the freezing woods, Kratos' gaze is a sturdy reminder. 

He will make him proud.

⁀➷

“Mimir, can you tell me Andveri's story again?” Atreus settles against the wall facing the head, crossing his arms and lightly kicking at the ground.

”Of course laddy,“ The head looks towards the young boy. “But why the sudden interest?”

(Atreus tries to get the ring to talk to him again, gets Sindri in on it, they go on an adventure that the ring takes them, one Atreus wants to go through to get something for his father, it goes unexpectedly and with the ring getting lost)

Kratos quickens his pace down the forest's worn down trail to the obstacle in their path, skillfully lifting the boulder up and around them without dropping their hunt as Atreus continues to jog forward, scanning the frosty forest area, glancing back over to Mimir when the coast is clear.

The former-counciler let's out a curious hum and a amused snort, “Well, I'd be glad to laddy, but I must wonder, why the sudden ask? You know your father wants you focused and I'm sure I can scrounge up a better story you haven't heard yet, little brother.”

Atreus pointedly looks at the visiable runics worn upon his father's armor and weaponry. ”Well, ever since we helped Brok find his hammer and Father's kept him for when he's useful, I've been wondering about him?“ Atreus falls back at his father's side as they crawl under a freshly fallen collection of trees and rock.

”You've been thinkin' about 'im for that long?“

”Well, no, not really,“ Kratos glances Atreus' way, and the boy doesn't miss the warning in his eyes as they leave the tunnel and lightly dash for the snowy banks. ”I was just looking through my things and found my old armor from when we went on that adventure for mom, and than I remembered him.“

”Discuss this later,” Kratos grunts, sending another look his son's way. Atreus nods, sighing.

”Yes, father.“

[aspenmissing]

𝙱𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙲𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚗 (𝙿𝚝 𝟸)

Veronica walks over to Elizabeth as Y/N steps back over to Meliodas, not wanting to get caught up in any more fights. Veronica is quick to take Y/N's coat off of Elizabeth and instead take off her coat/dress and put it on Elizabeth- leaving Veronica half-naked. 

"Thank you for lending me this Veronica," Elizabeth says, smiling. "It's cute but downstairs it's kinda breezy."

"Honestly, what the heck am I going to do with you?" Veronica questions. "And besides, I don't want you starting to stink of this mutt." She sneers towards Y/N, who is not crouched down beside Ban and Meliodas. Veronica throws Y/N her coat back.

"You can borrow it if you'd like-" She's cut off by Griamore's glare. "Okay, sorry for saying. I'll shut up now." Y/N puts her jacket back on. Veronica sighs and looks back to her sister, the gentle smile back on her face.

"I'm glad that your okay, course we're talking about you. Guess I should have known you'd be alright?"

"That's nice of you to say," Elizabeth says.

"Did you think I was done stupid!" Veronica snaps. Y/N's eyes slightly widen, let going out an uncomfortable sigh. Elizabeth jumps back slightly, startled by her sister's snap. "Seriously, how worried were you planning to make me anyway? This is way different from that time you decided to sneak out of the castle to play on your own back when we were kids. And even back then you make everybody panic when that bridge collapsed."

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth says.

"On top of that, rumour has it that your out hunting holy knights with the Eight Deadly Sins!" She glares at Y/N, who shrugs back with a tilted smile. "You know I thought it was a rumour, I hoped it was a rumour but I guess I was wrong.

"You don't understand!" Elizabeth shouts. 

"Oh come on, don't give me that! Look at right now, you here with the Eight Deadly Sins aren't you!" Veronica says, looking over at the Sins on the ground. "They're the ones who tried to overthrow the entire kingdom Lioness!"

"That's not true," Elizabeth says, looking back at them. 

"And Meliodas and Y/N are the worst of all!" Veronica says. Y/N hangs her head low in shame. "They're a monster! Ones that bring destruction and death to everything around them!" Y/N clenches her fist as Elizabeth begins to remember the time when Meliodas was in the doctor's room with markings on his face and the time Y/N has rambled on about how it wasn't their fault about what happened at Danafall. "You see! You're having doubts yourself!"

"Sir Meliodas and Lady Y/N aren't like that at all!" Elizabeth says, standing up to her sister that the group she's travelling with is nothing like the stories they were told. "And they'd never do something so horrible.

"Elizabeth." Y/N trails out, frowning. She knows what Elizabeth is saying is wrong, she didn't gain her sin for anything. Nor did she gain her name 'The Reaper' for nothing. And Meliodas didn't gain his sin for anything. The two causes equally as much pain to others and themselves.

"I've had enough," Veronica says. "There's no point in standing here and talking about this. We're going home" Veronica grabs Elizabeth by the wrist roughly and begins dragging her.

"No! Let go of me!" Elizabeth says, struggling. Suddenly a hand grabs Elizabeth's, tearing it away from Veronica's gasp. Veronica stumbles back to be caught by Griamore's. She looks up to see Meliodas, standing protectively in front of Elizabeth. 

"I'm gonna protect Elizabeth." He says.

"Sir Meliodas," Elizabeth says. Y/N watches with a tilted head, before getting up and walking over to them. She too stands beside Elizabeth with her axe over her shoulder.

"Even if I die trying." He looks up at Veronica, determination in his eyes.

"And I too," Y/N adds. "We promised to help her in her quest to save the kingdom from the likes of the holy knights and we're not gonna break that promise any time sooner." Elizabeth hides between the two, trying not to cry and she holds them by their shoulders.

"It's exactly like Hendrickson said," Veronica says. "He told us that you brainwashed her somehow and it looks like you've done just that."

In the castle, Veronica stands holding a purple diamond-shaped necklace, she looks down at it. Griamore stands behind her while Hendrickson stands a few meters in front of them.

"This is goddess amber," Hendrickson says. "It's a rather useful item that affects only evil creatures when they're in a few feet of it. Take that with you and try to get close to Meliodas."

"But if she does attempt such a thing, Princess Veronica's life could be put in danger," Griamore says.

"Griamore," Hendrickson says. "You're just like your father, Dreyfus. Overly conservative. These are criminals who bare ill will towards the kingdom. Swift action required by us."  He looks back over to Veronica. "When doing this make sure that Y/N is out of the area. Heaven knows what could happen if those two were trapped in that amber together. 

"And what of Y/N?" Griamore asks. "You never said what to do with her."

"Find someone to test out some wolfsbane on her and if it's strong and it weakens her then just leave her to suffer for a bit before killing her."

"And if it doesn't?" Veronica asks. Hendrickson smirks.

"Then just kill her with a sword to the heart. It should do since she doesn't fully have her abilities back it seems. And once she's out of the way and Meliodas is trapped, Elizabeth will be able to return home." He says.

"I'll do anything it takes to help my sister," Veronica says, looking up to Hendrickson.

"Please, you mustn't!" Griamore pleads, looking at her.

"You are Princess Elizabeth's  only hope."

"Alright, how does it work?" Veronica asks. Hendrickson walks to Veronica, bending down to her.

"Once you get near enough to Meliodas, recite the following words..."

Veronica holds up the Goddess Amber towards Meliodas. Y/N's eyes widen as she runs forwards with her axe raised. 

"Don't you dare!" She shouts, swinging the axe down only for it to be caught by Griamore. He's quick to punch her down onto the ground beside Elizabeth, seemingly unconscious. 

"Y/N!"

"Lady Y/N!" Elizabeth bends down to the Sin, concerned.

"Rosco, Basla, Melcito." Veronica recites. The amber shines purple as many purple tentacles of some sort surround Meliodas. to which he's suddenly sucked into the amber, his sword landing on the ground.

"Where did Sir Meliodas go?" Elizabeth asks, getting up off the ground- which she had fallen to because of the power. "What happened?"

"H-He got sucked inside that rock!" Hawk shouts. Veronica holds up the amber, laughing and chuckling in relief.

"Meliodas was some wicked monster after all!" She says. "This stone's power only affects those who are evil, trapping them inside. Proof enough!" Veronica shakes the amber in front of Elizabeth. "Will this open your eyes! Now to just kill Y/N, judgement day has finally arrived for her" Elizabeth rushes forward and grabs Meliodas's sword then snatches the amber out of Veronica's hand. Ellie holds the stone and Y/N close while threatening her sister and Griamore with the sword.

"You're not gonna touch Y/N! And I want you to bring him back this instant!" Elizabeth cries out.

"Sorry I have no idea how to do that."

"I hate you for this Veronica!" Elizabeth says, crying. "You don't know Sir Meliodas or Lady Y/N! Not a single thing about them!"

"Griamore!" Veronica says.

"As you wish," Griamore says, taking out his sword. It shines then suddenly Elizabeth is encased in a purple bubble. Y/N isn't so lucky and wasn't taken up into the bubble, but instead dropped back to the floor and vulnerable "Perfect shell. You leave us no choice. Now we'll bring you back this way. As for Y/N-" He smirks down at her and moves forwards, grabbing her roughly by her neck. Her axe drops to the floor. "-Seems as though one punch did it. Hendricksen was right, she is weaker without her weapon." 

"N-No! Let her go! Don't hurt her!" Elizabeth pleads. She looks to Veronica "If you kill her, I'll never forgive you!"

"M-Meliodas, I can't sense you. I, you feel so cold...So lost. Where are you?" Y/N thinks, her body completely slack. 

"This is nothing!" Hawk says, jumping over to the bubble. "I bet my trotters can bust right through your bubble with no problem at all." Hawk begins kicking the bubble with his hind feet but to no avail.

"Not even the meteors that fall to earth can destroy my wall," Griamore says. He holds Y/N up by her neck in the air and holds out his sword, ready to push it into her. "Now, to finish her off.

"If that's how it is, I guess I'll break this with one arm." A voice says. Griamore stops what he's doing then they look over to see Ban now with Veronica, one hand over her face as the other is pointing at her neck. She trembles in fear. "On second thought, maybe just one finger could slice through it." He taunts. 

King stays up in the air, looking over the valley. His chastiefol floating up beside him.

"That's weird." He says. "I haven't felt the Captain, Y/N and Diane's energies for a while. And Ban's is fading." He turns his head. Down below, Gulia and Jericho now stand.

"What's the matter? You're looking rather pale." Gulia says, "Fairy King."

"What have you knights done to the Captain, Y/N and Diane? Ban to I guess." King asks. The two don't answer and instead just smirk up at him. "Fine then, I'll go check on them myself." He turns back around. "Oh and just so we're clear if you two get in my way again-" He's cut off by fireballs blasting towards him. However, it was just a distraction for Jericho to appear behind him and perform a cross explosion on him. She drops back to the floor beside Gulia. "Let people finish when they're talking." The two look up to see King completely unharmed by the attack,

"He flew up that high so quickly?!" Jericho questions.

"If you two try to get in my way again, I'll end you," King says. The ground cracks and out pops a massive stem with a large closed flower. "Spirit spear Chastiefol, fourth configuration!" The flower opens up to reveal a large glowing sunflower. "Sunflower!" Jericho and Gulia look up in shock. "I'll admit, you two are fairly powerful. Just train for another century and you'll be on the right track." 

The sunflower's middle then glows the brightest and outshoots hundreds of pelts or some sort, which attack the holy knights below. However, the attack is soon called off when the sunflower is suddenly cut in half, causing King to be shocked.

"What?!" King questions. Down below lays many large shaped holes which his Chastiefol soon falls besides in half. "My chastiefol! Who could have done that?" He looks around.

"Oh no! Old Fart's upset because his finishing move was interrupted!" A familiar annoying sound announces. King looks down to see the announcer from the fighting festival.

"The fighting festival ref?" King questions

"Did his battle in the festival make him queasy!?" Love Helm says, looking around at the non-realistic audience   "Looks like Holy Knights Gulia and Jericho have been wiped out by the childish old fart's ferocious attack! That won't do though!" Love Helm spins and his dress of some sort grow bigger which Gulia and Jericho fall out. "Today's rescuer has been your friendly referee, Love Helm! Who's true identity is...!" 

Love-Helm begins transforming and his pinkish dress clothing is changed to purple. He flies into the air and begins transforming fully, a large sword coming out of his dress wear. King's eyes widen.

"I-It can't be! You're-" King stutters as the once small man is now a grown large man in golden and cyan coloured armour with a purple cloak and a green sword. "Your Helbram!

It's good to see you again, Harlequin." Helbram greets. "Or is it King, now?"

"How are you alive?!" King questions, glaring at Helbram. "I saw it myself that day, I'm sure!"

"It doesn't matter, that's in the past."

"Sir Helbram!" Gulia shouts "Allow us to assist you." Helbram looks down at the two holy knights. "No, It's quite alright. While I keep King occupied, you two go retrieve what we were sent to this place for."

"Right!" Gulia shouts and she and Jericho jump off.

"Now then, what seems to be the problem?" Helbram asks. "You appeared worried." King had transformed into his fat version and he's sweating and tensing. "Not unusual for a coward like you." King lets out a laugh.

"Do you think you can keep me busy all by yourself?" King asks. His chastiefol now fixes and pointed right at Helbram. "As expected of the spirit spear made from the holly tree. Even split into two it sill restores itself." Helbram knocks King down to the ground, to which he summons his chastiefol to spin like a saw and land between the two. However, Helbram grabs it with no injuries, causing King to widen his eyes before suddenly being smacked in the face with it. He stumbles back onto the ground.

"What's the matter?" Helbram asks, throwing King's weapon away. "Out of breath already? Your magical strength belies your physical one." King begins trying to get back up on his feet "You truly are weaker than most"

Chastiefol transforms into the dozen knives and all go for Helbram, only for him to lift his hand up and for them to stop in their path. King's eyes widen once again at the sight of Helbram stopping his weapon. However King had something up his sleeve and lifts his arm for a single dagger to come up from under and strike Helbram in the helmet- however, Helbram also manages to strike King's chest, leaving behind a large wound. The dagger that hit Helbram in the helmet causes it to fly off and reveal his true face.

"What's this? You still have some fight in you I see." King sits on the ground, a hand stretched out towards Helbram while the other is over his wound. He breaths heavily. Helbram moves his hand to reveal his eyepatch "Well then, why don't we enjoy the festival for a little longer, my old comrade in arms."

"Y/N, I-I know this isn't very strong of me, but I need your help right now. I-I hope your okay, just if you can please help." 

[thatluckybear]

What kinda gamer is ThatLuckyBear?

This is a long post. So I'm into video games maybe a bit too much. Here's what I like:

Tetris + Dr. Mario (puzzle games): Core to my gaming spirit. I like to do speedruns of 0-21 on Dr. Mario 64 and I've been known to play 0-20 on Dr. Mario for the NES as well. I loved Tetris since NES but fell back in love with Tetris DS and now I mostly just do sprints on tetr.io. I'm also a 8 chain Puyo-Puyo scrub and I like the game but lack the energy to get better at it. Since this is kind of in the vein of puzzle solving the Ace Attorney games as well as oldschool Point and Click adventure games are wonderful for me as well.

Soulslike: These are all fun. I haven't played most of them though. Dark Souls 1 and Bloodborne are my favs and I've put a lot of time into Elden Ring but Miquella shut down my run and I haven't had time to grind it out. I'll finish it eventually though.

Metroidvania: Huge fan of the genre. Hollowknight is my favorite at time of writing but Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow is an ultra banger and I would have a hard time not mentioning it. I've played all the DS Castlevanias and I love them all.

Schlooters: Looting and shooting is fun. I play coop with my wife and we really enjoy Borderlands. We also had a good time with Outriders. Destiny 2 has been kinda tough to get into but we're trying to get a feel for it before investing any money.

MMORPGS: I've been doing these since 2003 if you can believe it. I was playing Ragnarok Online pre-beta by sneaking onto jRO. I really hit the road running with the iRO beta. Since then I've put a lot of love into Tera Online (Elin berserker just tickles my "hehe" bone, I had a popo too but Elin was the best imo) - I enjoyed FFXIV (Lala paladin) but it's too expensive for me to keep up with the monthly. I really wanna finish FFXIV's story someday. Phantasy Star Online, and Dungeon Fighter Online get a honorable mention but I really haven't had a chance to be in love with them since my MMO muscles are weak and my gaming time short in my age.

RPGS: Classic and modern I'm a big fan of RPGS. I've fallen in love with Dragon Quest recently although it was one of the first RPGS I played (Dragon Warrior NES.) I remember looking through Nintendo Power Magazine and looking at the illustrations and descriptions of the weapons and just getting SO JAZZED. Anyway Super Mario RPG is the best RPG of all time followed by Pokemon Blue/Red would be my call. I love modern Pokemon games but I haven't spent much time with others.

Action RPG: Monster Hunter, Yakuza (love but never played much,) Cyberpunk 2077, Resident Evil (2/4/7) and so many more. I'm a hunting horn main and I am head over heels for Monster Hunter and will always love it.

Competitive: I like to compete but I don't do it much because I have /emotional issues/ and I can't keep my lid on proper. That said I really have a great time playing Smash Ultimate (not a Melee guy sorry it's too hard for me) Street Fighter, Tekken, Granblue VS, and Smash are kind of the only ones I like playing these days. While I used to do a lot of FPS competitives I'm boycotting Actiblizzard so no COD or Overwatch til they remove Bobby Kotick. Valorant is too hard and time consuming but I love it (I'm bad at it sadly.) I might play Fortnite someday but idk if I'll get into it.

the COMF: I love some comfy games. Some of the above fit that category for me (Pokemon Red/Blue to be specific) but Stardew, Animal Crossing, anything Wholesome games, Minecraft, Stray etc. Anything that can make me sleepy usually fits me well.

Platformers: I get into some 3d mario games. I especially enjoyed Odyssey. I kind of get most of my platforming jazz out of the metroidvania stuff but I couldn't get through this without mentioning how much the 3d (and 2d for that matter) mario games matter to me.

There's obviously millions more games that I forgot and couldn't touch on. Day of Defeat was a formative competitive shooter experience as well as all the other HL1 mods I played. I could go on forever but I hope this helps you understand what kind of gamer I am. While I'm pretty eclectic in taste I'm also pretty formulated. These days I spend most of my time trying to find coop experiences to have with my wife so lmk if you've got some cool ones I should look into. 🧡

[aesopsbaby]

Game anon hereee!🎮✌

It's been quite awhile,huh! Well,I bring you a new game!

Place some voice lines/dialogues from your ocs! There is no limit,go crazy and have fun 💕💕🎮

-🎮

Hello 🎮 anon :D

Happy to see you again ^^ You said I could go crazy soooo I did >:]] I'll be doing my RPG!Ocs voice lines only for this as I did create some for them--

Celtic:

Idle Animation/Audio:

"Ready? Come on."

"Let's keep moving."

"The dragon was not at all what the rumours had entailed. The dragon was just a lonely beast who wanted nothing more than for someone to love it genuinely."

"Are you tired? Should we take a break?"

"I do enjoy Vince's company. Although,it would be for the best if he wasn't so afraid of everything."

In battle: (Hurt/Injured)

"I..uh..I think that health potion would come in handy now,don't you think so?"

"Shit.. No,no I'm fine. We can move on."

"Just leave me! I'll stall them for awhile!"

"My best still just wasn't enough..I'm never enough.."

In battle: (Victorious)

"I'll end this quicker for you."

"This is it. This is the end."

"To another victory,my friend."

Obtaining something:

"You obtained a new sword. Would you like me to equip it?"

"I'm.. not sure what that potion is.. But maybe don't try it on me...yeah?"

In Story Mode/Quests:

"Would you just...shut your mouth..or wherever it is that you are speaking from."

"We have to stay quiet.. Although I know it would be impossible considering Zane is on my team."

"It..its that dragon again.. Wait..please. Please can we not do this quest..I can't.. I can't kill it."

"I'm so fucking tired of all of you. Except you Vince,you're alright."

Vince:

Idle Animation/Audio:

"E-eh?! You picked me?? Me? Are you sure?"

"This quest is..scary.. Can't you choose someone else to go..?"

"WHAT WAS THAT WHAT WAS THAT!!" (Sobbing)

"I think we should keep moving,I don't want to wait to find out what was that rustling in the bushes.."

"I just wished that I had done something sooner on that unfortunate day.. Damn it..why am I such a loser.."

In battle: (Hurt/Injured)

(Crying) "I-I told you I was we-weak!"

"I'm trying my best,please don't be upset at me.."

"That hurts! Help me!"

"I knew I would fail..I always fail."

"Please..leave.. I don't want you to-to see me like this.."

In battle: (Victorious)

"Hah..we-we won.. We won!"

"Ohh I feel so..brave! AH WHAT WAS THAT! ....Oh..it was just a rabbit.."

"I'm glad you trusted me."

Obtaining something:

"You got a new item,it seems to look like..BUG!! A BUG! GET IT AWAY TAKE IT TAKE IT TAKE IT!!"

"You obtained a new outfit! .... You..You want me to try it on..? Th-the dress??"

"It's your item! You shouldn't have to use it on me! I don't think I'm worthy of it anyways.."

In Story Mode/Quests:

"Just because I'm a vampire doesn't mean I can be "scary" or "intimidating"!"

"Did you ever stop to think about how I feel??"

"That village..I'm not sure what it is but..it gives me the chills just seeing it.. I-I think it'll be for the best if we avoid it.."

Zane:

Idle Animation/Audio:

"Alright! Let's go!"

"Hah! You did the right choice picking ME!"

"Hurry up dumbass,we don't need rest."

"GOD DAMN IT! WHY IS SYLVESTER ON OUR TEAM??"

"People have always avoided me. They think I'm some sort of.. villain or some shit.. Well whatever,I could care less."

"You're tired,really?? Fine,let's take a break."

In battle: (Hurt/Injured)

"Heh..You're good."

"I'm not going to give you any satisfaction,so don't even THINK about me giving up."

"Tsk,lucky shot."

"Hey,moron. Care to control me better?"

In battle: (Victorious)

"Pssh! That was just my warmup!"

"Well,that was easier than I thought."

"Choose your last words wisely."

Obtaining something:

"Don't you fucking dare put that outfit on me. I am NOT your little dress up doll."

"You got this new item. Its a book if you couldn't tell,blind mf-"

In Story Mode/Quests:

"I just hate everyone equally."

"Who am I? HAH! Just the GREATEST PERSON ALIVE!"

"I..I don't know what went wrong. Is it me? Am..am I.. Shit..am I a mistake..? Am I the problem??"

"Celtic,when are you finally going to let go of her and move on?"

"Shut up. Just shut up! There's a fucking reason why I never speak about the past!"

Sylvester:

Idle Animation/Audio:

"Nice,wanna go blow something up?"

"History was written by the victors. And trust me sweetheart,I have lived long enough to tell you that most of the facts are wrong."

"If you'd excuse me,I got to go make a scene now."

"It's funny seeing how people change themselves just to accommodate other people. I mean,just be yourself. Who gives a shit about what other people think about you?"

In battle: (Hurt/Injured)

"I'm just tired."

"Woo! HOO HO! You're fast! Just not fast enough!!"

"...Sorry. I tried my best,really I did."

"Now that hurts! You're pretty okay if I do say so myself!"

"Aye aye! Don't hit me,that shit hurts man!"

In battle: (Victorious)

"You're really starting to get on my nerves!~"

"You underestimated my power."

"Thank god that is over,I was getting bored!"

Obtaining something:

"You got a new item! It's a level 1 armor. Hehe,you should put it on Zane just to piss him off~"

"You got a potion! A..a love potion?? You-you want to use it on me? Darling,I don't think that's a good idea now--"

In Story Mode/Quests:

"I have avoided many things in my lifetime. That..was a horrible idea and now look at the outcome."

"Wait wait,are you flirting with me? Or..are you trying to start a fight?"

"As a wise man once said,there is no one that is capable of saving you,expect for you. Its me. I'm that wise man."

"Save her? Why should I do that? If she wants escape from this horrid place,she should have the freedom to do so. It's her life,who am I to control what she does?"

Zion:

Idle Animation/Audio:

"Whatever,let's go."

"She wasn't just some..ordinary girl. She was..like a dream. She was everything I ever wanted,no,needed. Then she just..slipped through my fingers... one day,just gone."

In battle: (Hurt/Injured)

"I could've save her. I could've save all of them."

"So,who's going to be on this quest? Ah..right..those idiots.."

"Do not show me pity. Its pathetic."

In battle: (Victorious)

"Don't fucking touch me."

"I promised her I wouldn't lose that fast..I can't just break my promise like this..not like this.."

"I'm not losing to you."

"Damn it..why am I still so..weak."

Obtaining something:

"What? Didn't expect me to win?"

"I need more caffeine.."

"Oh "goody". We won. What a surprise. Now can I go rest?"

"I..I won.. I won for you,my love.."

In Story Mode/Quests:

"Woohoo. A new accessory. Don't even think of making me wear that bow."

"You obtained some bandages. I need you to use that to patch me up- wait. Hey- DID YOU JUST SELL THOSE BANDAGES FOR COINS?? ARE YOU INSANE-"

"I'm not losing anyone. Not again.."

"As if she'd ever forgive me.. I..I had the chance to save her and everyone else! But I didn't! I'm a fucking selfish person!"

"I don't expect anyone to forgive me. Even I don't forgive myself. I never will. I don't deserve forgiveness."

"I would suffer every single day if it meant that she'd be alive again.."

"Friends..? They..they consider me as one of their friends?... I..I don't know what to say.."

[bearpillowmonster]

FF6 Review (Overall)

I'm going to rate similar to the way I did FF7 Remake, but in only 2 parts, so there will be an overall review then a separate deep dive into the characters.

I played this game using an emulator and I'm not ashamed of it because I used the FF6 Relocalization project which I'll link

Basically nerd talk and explanation of what that means: It's basically a retranslation of the original SNES script using the GBA port as a base and mixing and matching some of the best parts so there you go. They have a way to mod the PC version to have the OG sprite work because sheesh is that thing ugly and they also have a way to resprite and resound the GBA version but this is the easiest and logical solution to get the best of all worlds. There's also "Anthology" which is the PS1 port that adds some CG custscenes which I just watched off of YouTube because it's only a few of the major scenes.

Anyways, yeah, I'm glad I emulated it especially because of the fast forward function. That first chunk would've been rough without it because you're left just waiting for one of your party's commands to be ready but it eases up as the game goes on because you get pretty busy with the combat.

I'm not a fan of turn-based RPGs which was the main reason I haven't touched a 2D FF game until now so this is my first and oh boy, what a first!

Could you just watch a playthrough or read the story then? I wouldn't recommend it. There are certain things that I feel are better experienced.

Gameplay actually wasn't all that gruesome, as I mentioned, it got better thoughout but I know for a fact that I didn't do everything it had to offer because I see other people doing it online and I just had no idea how. That's not to say it's not newcomer friendly though, I mean I beat the game, didn't I? I think it would've just gotten complicated and made me confused if I learned how to do everything in the game anyway.

I found myself liking some of the mechanics and recognizing some of the systems from games as late as today (I'm not sure if this is where they started but I wouldn't be surprised). The random encounters weren't all bad because of the emulator's speed up function but there were definitely times where it felt a little out of hand with the amount I was getting. (I'm looking at you Cave to the Sealed Gate!) So it's all pretty familiar, though there are "Relics" which are kind of like Materia but each member has 2 each where it gives you an ability, f.e. Reflect, every attack hits, extra power, auto cast protect, heal with every step, etc.

One of the drawbacks of using BSNES though was that there was no toggle for a L or R shoulder button, just turbo and while that's not a big problem, that is the button to Flee a battle, so I just never fled. There is an item that lets you escape any dungeon or battle but I didn't really use it, same with the permanent item that Mog has in the cave (pretty late in the game). I'd rather there be a repel than the warp stone, but I figured that if I just fought whenever the opp arrived then I wouldn't have to grind, which is another thing I hate about RPGs! Luckily, I didn't really feel the need to grind other than for the ending.

Difficulty wasn't really a grind but make sure once you get to the floating island, that you know what you're doing because that level was annoying and I felt a very stong spike in difficulty as soon as I landed on it. Another thing is that sometimes it'd glitch and an enemy would have infinite health so I'd just sit there on fast forward, watching and watching then finally use Libra and no damage was made, might be an emulator thing, might be a game thing and although rare, it still happened.

There are these sections called scenarios where the game branches off into multiple different paths and you can choose which order to follow the specific sets of characters. I really like that aspect and makes it seem less linear and interactive because it's letting you choose how to tell the story. I have a thing for games that let me interact with it (That opera scene is pretty interactive too).

For a 2D sprite game, it has quite a personality with its cutscenes. They can be very cinematic and defintely makes the characters just that more engaging with some of their mannerisms.

Ok, I get it now. The music is bomb. If anything, that would be worth doing a remake for, to get orchestral and updated versions of some of the themes. (I'd probably cry at that opera scene) But Celes' theme is probably my favorite. The PC port has pretty good remixes for the most part though.

Could this use a remake? It's a trivial matter because I think a good majority of fans want it to be remade and I understand why but at the same time I understand the other side of the argument as well. This was the last 2D FF game and that's special, in a way, the story kind of reflects that. And I think with all the personality comes a bit of caution because you might see something in these characters or scenes that may be misinterpreted or done differently in a remake, similar to how you read a book and just imagine how it's playing out. I think it lays enough ground so that you don't "have to interpret" like with most NES games (how the Super Mario Movie was born) from an outsider's point of view, it may first seem that way though. (myself included (yes, I know this was SNES era. Shut up!))

What would I want out of a remake? I would want the airship to return and be able to move around freely but keep the towns pretty faithful (which makes for more linear opportunities). I could see Edgar's tools being used similar to Barrett's but we have "First Soldier" now which is a 3PS Battle Royale, why not have his tools play similar to that? Then actually give him story opportunities to pick up his tools rather than "just because you bought them" It would be a nice natural progression. I would suggest the same with Sabin and Cyan, have them learn their Blitz and Bushido moves by being taught by Duncan, you do learn one move from Duncan in the vanilla game but I'd see it as more opportunity to build your characters and make it feel rewarded. So, in those aspects, I would like to see FF6 remade or improved but as for everything else, they should keep it a lot similar to the original than FF7R did. I think that's where a lot of the criticism with FF7R came from (as well as what I mentioned in the previous paragraph) While I'd prefer a gameplay overhaul similar to what they did with R, I'd rather keep the essence. There aren't sequels or spinoffs or anything of this game so this is all it has (unless you count the ports but that's minimal).

In the CHARACTERS section, I compliment the side-quest system but I would like there to be a better indication as to "what" you're doing, rather than just looking up the next steps or be left to travel around until the goal is clear. They have the quest completion menu as well as waypoints in FF7R, I could see that being put to good use in a game like this. It would also be cool to actually "visibly" wear the gear that you equip to your character but I understand why that isn't utilized in most of the games (probably makes for better character models) especially considering most of these characters' costumes could use an update. You didn't get to use the Magitek suits nearly as much as I thought you would from the marketing and even the dang cover and logo, so a remake could improve on that as well. Another small complaint is that it doesn't tell you what the items do WHILE you're in battle, only when you're in the menu, sorting them and while some are staples like Phoenix Down, I still don't remember what the heck a 'Gold Needle' does.

Overall I'd probably rate the FF games that I've played (but maybe not finished all of) as such: FF7 > FF13 > FF6 > CRISIS CORE > FF15 > FF12 but I think 6 and 13 are kind of interchangeable because if you said one over the other, I wouldn't really argue.

[chiliiscereal]

Here’s the link for the full version ^ ——

Sister dear (Steve x sister reader)

(This is preseason one to show you what the background is on the whole story)

(let me know if you think this should be published as a separate book!)

You and Steve had a rocky start to being siblings.

You were born four years apart.

He was born in a time when your parents actually loved each other. They had time for birthdays and family weekends together. They went out to the park on saturdays. They were a picture perfect family.

It just so happened that when you were born, your father stopped being quite so faithful to your mother. When you came into the world, your father was in Europe on a business trip. And he wasn't only up to business.

Little Steve had adored you at first. He always wanted to hold you or play with you.

But then their parents no longer had time for him.

It was always work... and taking care of you.

It slowly changed over the years to only work, as your mother could no longer trust your father. Steve was left to watch you for weeks on end. He was good at it at first. He used to watch you carefully. He used to make sure you were happy and well...

Until he could no longer see his friends.

He was ten. You were five.

He began to leave you at home. At first it was only for thirty minutes while he went to the park. Then it was an hour every day during his elementary school days while he went to the movies.

You were seven when you began cooking your own meals.

You TRIED talking to him. You really did.

You tried catching his sleeve whenever he breezed past. You tried showing him crafts you made. You tried playing music you thought he might like.

That ended with twelve year old Steve pushing you away.

It ended with your works of art thrown in the trash.

Your music cassettes were thrown onto the road.

Your mother made sure both of you knew to never walk into the middle of the road, so you could only cry as some unknowing stranger destroyed your wonderful music. The music you had saved up all your allowance for. The music that you had thought your older brother would like. The music that you thought might bring you two together.

When your mother and father returned, you tattled.

Steve was grounded for a whole week.

But he always needed to have the last say. So he sold your boom box and spent all the money on comics. He threw your sketchbook in the quarry water. He shoved you to the floor, saying that if you ever tattled again then you would join your drawing book in the cold water.

You stopped trying to give Steve your attention and love. You no longer wished he would spend more time at home. So you began exploring the town by yourself at the age of nine. You didn't really have friends to hang out with so you would browse through stores.

The arcade was your favorite place.

You loved showing up early on Saturday mornings, before Steve was even awake, and leaving behind a new high score on the dragons lair.

Why?

Because it always riled up a group of boys your age. They had no idea who kept beating them over and over. Every Sunday morning you watched them walk in... only to scream a few seconds later about how someone had beaten their score by ONE point. Again.

You loved having some sort of connection to them. Even if they didn't know it was you. Or even who you were at all. They were a weird little group, strictly sticking with only other A.V club kids. Besides, you hardly ever talked. What would be so special about you?

It also didn't help that your older brother had begun to build himself a reputation. When you were ten, he began to be known as king Steve. You knew he bullied one of the kids (wills) older brother while beginning to flirt with another's (mike's) older sister.

You knew this because your father began forcing Steve to drive you home from school. That was the rule he set when he gave Steve the car.

Every day you trekked to the high school, only to watch Steve hang around Nancy Wheeler and push Johnathan Byers. You would have intervened and told him that you really didn't want to wait twenty minutes (out of sight) for him to be done. But the last time he did that he made you ride the way home in the trunk of his car.

When you were eleven, you started hanging out at Melvald's convenience store in the town square. Your favorite time to go there was at 7:00, because Mrs. Byers would always work the morning shift.

Wills mother was really quite wonderful. Every time you walked in she greeted you with a smile and lowered her magazine.

——-

"Whatcha lookin for today, kiddo?" She smiled softly, leaning on the counter to watch you browse.

"Any new cassette tapes." You shrugged, fingering each music case that caught your eye. "Do you have any Clash? I... lost mine." You didn't lose it. Steve broke it when he heard you mutter about how much you hated Tommy H.

"Yeah, we got a new box of cassettes delivered this morning." She hopped up and waved for you to follow her to the back room. "I miiiight have snagged a Clash cassette for you when I saw it." She grinned as she held the door open for the young girl.

"You didn't need to buy anything for me!" You gasped. You knew that the Byers needed all the money they could get. "Can I pay you back?" You immediately began digging through your pockets for spare change.

She placed a guiding hand on your back as you both entered, pulling you away from your search. "Oh no it's fine! It's the least I can do for my most frequent visitor."

She plucked the music case off the shelf and handed it to you. "You go to Hawkins elementary, right? You should talk to my son. Will. He also loves the Clash."

You turned red and clutched the cassette. "I've...seen him around before. I don't know how to talk to him."

"Oh it's easy!" She grabbed the spare paper and crayons you always used when you visited. "You just need to find common ground. For example," she pulled up a stool beside her for you to sit at, "you both like to draw!"

You placed down the paper and got working on your art. "Will it make a difference if I draw cartoons and he draws realistic? What if the difference is too big for him to want to talk to me?"

"It'll give you more to talk about!"

——

So began your quest to pursue friendship.

You attempted to speak to Will and his friends in the hall.

They were talking too loud about their latest campaign to hear you.

You tried asking to sit by them at lunch.

They were too busy launching potato's at the ceiling to notice.

Right when you almost gave up... Will and you were paired together as partners for a history project.

——-

'Don't mess it up, don't mess it up', you told yourself over and over as you moved to sit by Will. 'Don't be weird. See if he'll talk first. Don't be clingy.'

Wills was equally quiet. He just read through the rubric of the project and stayed silent.

'What can we talk about... what should I say?'

A drawing poking out of wills bag caught your eye. It looked like a wizard casting some sort of spell.

"I like your drawing!" You blurted out, wishing you could just shut up.

Wills jumped, startled. "Yeah... umm.. it's from... uh... it's from our last campaign.." he began fiddling with his thumbs, unsure of what to say to a girl. "Our DnD campaign... I mean."

You nodded along. "I like to draw to! I've never... I've never played DnD before... so I like to draw people."

Will cracked a shy smile. "I'll show you my drawing if you show me one of yours."

You agreed hesitantly.

He took your cartoon and you took his master piece. You desperately wished you could draw like him. Your cartoons looked so simple, as Steve always said.

"You're a cartoonist!" Will smiled, holding the paper out in front of him. It was a caricature of Mrs. Byers. "You must be the girl my mom sees at her job!" His eyes were wide with recognition. "This is so good! I wish I could draw cartoons. But whenever I try... they look like potato's." He laughed.

You flushed a deep red. "I... I'm also the one that beats your scores every Saturday." You admit.

His jaw dropped. "No way. We've been trying to figure out who that was for months! We formed a whole list of people to interrogate!" He ran a hand through his hair.

You giggled. "I can prove it... if you want. Next Saturday I could show you and your friends? At the arcade?"

"Yeah! I'm totally down to hang out at the arcade!"

——

Will had brought you to the A.V club after to ask the rest of the party. You had protested at first. What if they didn't like you? What if they said no? You would look so stupid! You tried to use your brother driving you home as an excuse.

But if you brought Steve up... no. You couldn't start a potential friendship like that.

Will proposed the ideas to everyone excitedly.

It seemed that Lucas had a problem with it immediately.

——-

"Sorry Will, but we can't." Lucas shook his head. "We've got plans."

Your heart dropped.

"Wait," Dustin frowned and turned to his friend. "What plans? I wasn't aware of any plans."

Lucas crossed his arms. "Remember? Our campaign?"

"We don't have a-."

Lucas elbowed him harshly and looked at you. "Can you leave for a second? We need to talk. ALONE."

You nodded and stepped out of the room. "Yeah totally! Just let me know when-."

The door slammed in your face.

You know you shouldn't have but you pressed your ear to the door anyway.

"What's your damage?" Mike Wheeler hissed quietly.

"Don't you know who she is?" Lucas accused.

"No... should we?" Will whispered in confusion.

"That's Y/N Harrington!" Lucas spat out.

"Steve Harrington's little sister." Dustin stated, now understanding.

Mike groaned. "The douche bag my sisters hooked on?"

"Yes! What if she's exactly like him?"

"You mean a total mouth breather? A player? An absolute jackass?"

You sunk to the floor. Of course Steve ruined the only chance you might have of a friendship. How could she think that these kids would look past her family's reputation? No one ever did. Even her teachers expected her to be disruptive and rude.

"Guys." Will intervened. "I talked to her in history."

"What?!"

"Traitor!"

"What about the party?"

Will lowered his voice, causing you to lean a little closer to the door. "She doesn't act like him. She never called me any names. She never told me that I'm a freak. She tried to talk to me about art."

"Steve definitely doesn't appreciate art." Dustin mumbled.

Wills continued. "She's a cartoonist. And I think she might be like us. You know who kept beating our dragon lair record?"

"Who?"

"Please tell me it wasn't Troy."

"Y/N Harrington."

"WHAT?!"

"IT WAS HER?!"

"GIRLS PLAY VIDEO GAMES?!"