#explanation (i guess)

[lizardsfromspace]

Love the random censorship in Victorian novels. Mr. ------- came down from -----shire in the summer of 18--. Who? Where? When? Wouldn't you like to know, book boy

[egophiliac]

WAIT when did he get FANGS

[arcade-confetti]

Being someone who read Under The Red Hood and came out with the firm belief that, for Jason, it's not about killing Joker, it's about Jason wanting proof Batman would choose him over the Joker (bc shelia chose the joker). Makes seeing any other media where it's all about just wanting the Joker dead is a teeny bit frustrating. to be honest

Jason could've killed the Joker himself, really, really easily. Jason kidnaps the Joker before the confrontation. I can't open my comic for a reference right now, but it felt like he had the Joker for quite a bit before the confrontation. He had him. He beat him up with a crowbar. He had every single opportunity to kill the Joker himself, but he didn't because that wasn't his goal. Make no mistake, he did plan for the Joker to be dead by the end of it, but do you see what im trying to say here

Edit: If I knew this post was gonna get 1000+ notes I would've tried to word it better or something, this was a rant I made on the way to the grocery store 😭

It's not about making Batman kill either. When Batman says he won't kill, Jason adjusts and goes, 'Let ME kill the Joker or kill me to stop me' instead. The test is all about Batman choosing him. The whole final confrontation is Jason's first death again. The parent, The Joker, and the explosives. It even ends with Jason unable to move as a bomb goes off right next to him again because the parent didn't choose Jason. And instead tried finding an option that'd benefit them and (consequencely) letting the Joker walk, again, lol, lmao <-in agony

[valictini]

Drew these in a fugue state. Started out with “ahah Clefable and Gengar have this theory going on about how Gengar might be some twisted/dead version of Clefable? So Siffrin and Loop.” Made some funny duo drawings, their shenanigans as they travel together. Then I drew them as their Pokémon. That was supposed to be it.

And then Mirabelle as Eevee hit me like a truck and suddenly every party members had to become a pokemon and then I was like “aw man now that I think about it, I never draw them as humans let me draw them as humans” and then boom. All this.

Haven’t felt this passionate about the Pokémon universe in a while but drawing all these made me so happy <3 Big throw back to when I watched the series growing up and imagined myself in it <3

[asexualjedi]

It’s vital to me that cody and obiwan have a “whatver the fuck those two got going on” relationship. There’s certainly something happening there. No one knows. But it’s something.

[tridentkickflipper123]

[yes-no-maybe-soo]

POV: You're dating the Burj Khalifa

BONUS: Remember how it's mentioned Sylus has a stiff neck b/c he always has to look down at everyone?

He really does 😭

Again, I refuse to accept that he is a millimeter below 6'4. And 6'4 is really the minimum as far as I'm concerned. In my head he is more like 6'5-6'6.

No one will ever change my mind on this. I'm dying on this hill.

[danieyells]

Tokyo Debunker Stigmas, Artifacts, And Other Possibly Combat Relevant Information

Since we've met all of our current ghouls, I decided to share my non-comprehensive list of the stigmas and powers and weapons of the ghouls we've seen so far!! This isn't all of them because they haven't all been revealed or explained. But it should be everything we've seen so far! Let me know if/where I've missed things! I've also mentioned some other details for some of them, namely the less human ghouls.

Updated for: Episode 17

Jin Kamurai

Stigma

Incantation - Bianerus

Effect - forces the target to obey his command.

Currently cannot be activated without the PC's enhancement. At present, only Tohma, the PC, and few if any others know this.

Incantation can be recited mentally

Continuous commands("kneel") only seem to last a few minutes at most

Artifact

Sword - teleportation

Can be used to cut a portal into the air for teleporting someone with him, but doesn't appear to need this for just teleporting Jin

Jin is able to throw the sword quite precisely despite its size

Teleportation takes more time depending on the distance from his current location to his target location

Cannot teleport out of a location that's being affected by an anomaly(such as an anomaly preventing entrance or exit from a location)

Tohma Ishibashi

Stigma

Incantation - Argeas

Effect - "lets him send vibrations long distances"

Vibrations include the vibrations from his voice, allowing his voice to carry longer distances, making him heard further away

When enhanced he can break through anomalous soundproofing and better specify the direction his vibrations carry(as neither Kaito nor Luca heard his voice from outside the room)

Artifact

Halberd - ?

Able to tremble on its own. How much else it can move on its own is unclear.

Tohma claims it has a "troublesome" nature, and seeks to mow down anything in its path when it senses conflict and it takes a lot of effort to keep under control

Other

Tohma naturally has "brute strength" which, combined with his stigma, allows him to essentially make earthquakes.

Tohma has the trust of Darkwick, allowing him to easily get access to powerful common artifacts such as the skeleton key

Tohma takes alprazolam, "a fast-acting benzodiazepine used as both an anti-anxiety drug and a muscle relaxer. Used to manage anxiety, depression, insomnia, and physical symptoms caused by psychosomatic disorders." Tohma claims he takes them for headaches. Leo says they're very addictive and that Tohma has them refilled more often than is usual for headaches. It seems he's blackmailed a Mortkranken student into letting him have them. It's unclear if this is meant to be a sign of addiction or if they're actually necessary.

Tohma says he has "many attentive attending physicians" which may suggest some form of chronic medical problem.

Lucas Errant

Stigma

Incantation - Iggnaim

Effect - creates a barrier.

When enhanced the barrier becomes visible. It's significantly larger and supported by a large anomaly that's invisible to everyone but the PC and perhaps Kaito, even unable to be seen on cameras or by Luca himself.

The barrier doesn't appear to need to be around Luca specifically, as he protected Nina with it despite not being next to her. However it's uncertain how far he can project it as he was in the same room and for near her quickly to fight the Dullahan.

Artifact

Twin blades - ?

Appear identical aside from a difference in color.

Smashed through reenforced glass to choose him as their new master.

Apparently sound to Luca like a crying child. He believes the child must be begging for his help.

Other

Carries around a knife.

Kaito Fuji

Stigma

Incantation - ? (has an audio file, but the spelling hasn't been shown.)

Effect - "can see auras sometimes"

Does not need to be activated with his incantation, but appears to activate at random.

Auras have different colors for different people, allowing him to discern if an entity is the person they appear to be or not.

Hyde didn't sound certain about what it does.

Kaito has notably enhanced vision, able to see things that are further away and surprisingly makes him skilled at reading lips.

Kaito screams when Luca's stigma is enhanced, looking straight up at the anomaly it spawned despite no one else but the PC appearing to see it. While it's possible he only saw its aura, it's likely he saw the anomaly itself.

Artifact

Rogue bow - ?

Produces magic arrows that veer nonsensically off path when shot, except, seemingly, if there's a malicious or threatening target(?) at which point it will veer to save an endangered target(such as the ghost boy being taken by the arms) and/or go directly for the source of a threat or malice(such as the faceless anomaly about to attack the PC and Riku, the glowing grave of Natalie Hunt, or the mirror affected by the Mirror of Melancholy that was showing his grandmother.) When the magic arrow hit the glowing grave it "blew the whole thing apart." The same happened when it struck the mirror.

Other

Pretty acrobatic despite not training, flipping and cartwheeling across the graveyard to dodge the ghostly arms trying to grab him.

Alan Mido (Alan Todoroki)

Stigma

Incantation - Yagsal Olbalsa

Effect - ? "Seems to be an extremely dangerous ability" -B's Log

Seems to enhance his strength, as he punched Takeru's tulpa in half

Seems to make him uncontrollably violent, seeking to kill his enemies(looking for Takeru's tulpa's head and crushing his throat) and possibly reduces his awareness of his surroundings(light removed from the eyes of his sprite and panel art, grabbing and pulling the PC without realizing he was hurting her, continually attacking Takeru despite being aware he couldn't take him out with punching, only regaining his senses when Sho grabbed and spoke to him)?

Artifact

Lead pipe - ?

Leo Kurosagi

Stigma

Incantation - Haxs

Effect - super hearing.

Increases distance and precision of his hearing. Does not allow him to hear through anomalous soundproofing.

When enhanced increases distance further and allows him to hear through anomalous soundproofing.

Had the PC enhance it in order to find the escaping possessed guard during the prison riot. Uncertain if this allows him to hear ghosts or if he simply needed the increased precision due to the surrounding noise.

Makes Leo sensitive to sounds and noise even when it isn't active, resulting in noticing noises other people can't hear and frequent complaints when in noisy environments or around loud or high-pitched people.

Artifact

Bubble gum - can be manipulated into any shape when blown.

The longer it's chewed, the longer he can manipulate it

"So if I chewed this one a bunch and stuck it over your nose and mouth...

"...you'd suffocate. Bye bye Honor Roll."

suggests that it can't be removed until the time he's manipulated it runs out?

Cannot capture incorporeal targets.

Popping it can cause some form of damage, such as when he destroyed a Cyclops Eye in the staff room after covering it with the gum.

Shohei Haizono

Stigma

Incantation - Spurno

Effect - "just jams stuff"?????

Primarily seems to push things or result in change of direction, possibly able to cause sensory scrambling resulting in uncoordinated movement or temporary stunning(as with Takeru's tulpa?)

Leo says it can be used on incorporeal targets, but Sho says it can't take something down unless it's "super weak"

Used in Episode 2 to prevent Takeru's tulpa from walking straight

When enhanced in Episode 2, pushed Takeru's tulpa back with greater force, but didn't push him away, or cause him to release the PC(stunned him?)

Used in Episode 12 to remove the ghost of the prison guard possessing Alan and push the ghost into a cell to lock it there until it moved on

Artifact

Motorcycle - ?

Her name is Bonnie. She eats food placed in her fuel tank instead of gasoline, including chewing it and even burping. She's picky about what she eats. Her favorite food is barbecue sandwiches, but she also eats jerky.

If she isn't fed three times a day "she gets sulky and refuses to start." Her engine won't start at all if she's hungry.

She's described as a "large motorbike" by the PC's narration, and Subaru apologizes for the amount of space he's taking up on the wharf in Hotarubi to feed her, corroborating this.

She seems to have some control of her own movement as Sho rewards her for staying upright when stopped and made to buck by Luca's barrier.

Sho drives her just about everywhere and drives her around at Leo's request as well. She has a travel permit that needs to be shown when leaving and reentering campus, however she's able to break through the checkpoint with enough speed.

She's kept on her artifact chain when not ridden.

She's able to comfortably be ridden by two people but three is very tight.

Haru Sagara

Stigma

Incantation - Bahnti

Effect - reduces gravity's effects on his own body.

Reduced effect of gravity allows him to move extremely fast.

Makes his body much more fragile when used. Possibly includes weakening his immune system?

Artifact

Deck brush - ?

Other

He rides around on it while distracting Otohime, skidding across the floor on the brush until he tips over.

Cannot damage incorporeal targets

Right arm has been replaced with a prosthetic from Mio Susuhara after being broken by "Gen"(presumably Shion Genkai) which is currently damaged after he caught Ritsu's camera with it. Because of the current extent of the damage he was unable to perform labor tasks that require it and struggled some when playing volleyball.

Towa Otonashi

Was an acrobat back in Dionysia, which explains his athleticism and flexibility and the like.

Claims to be a pacifist now, suggesting he was not while in Dionysia

Stigma

Incantation - ? (has an audio file, but the spelling hasn't been shown.)

Effect - Controls wind and weather(?)

Towa exhibits control over weather as his primary ability, and he confirms it's his stigma when the PC asks in Episode 12.

Others' understanding of Towa's stigma is only that he controls lightning and that other weather patterns are random, not in response to Towa's feelings.

The weather reacts to Towa's emotions, causing the sky to darken in preparation of rain, lightning, or snowstorms when he's angry.

Towa is also able to predict weather that he doesn't control.

Towa can create lightning(which he uses to electrocute enemies), rain, wind(used to create a pillar of water for the PC to land on when falling off the boat, a whirlwind for gathering ducks, and to direct the rain sideways to wash bubble soap off of Kaito), snow, and possibly earthquakes(the ground is noted to start shaking in response to his anger.)

He 'rides the wind' in order to jump high as though flying

Artifact

Bubble wand - blown bubbles cause explosions.

The explosions are powerful enough to destroy glass that withheld a full grown Kraken.

Towa warns not to touch the bubbles, as they will kill you.

Not all bubbles seem to cause explosions as he blows bubbles from atop the Capybus without there being any harm done.

Other

Towa's nature is implied to actually be quite malicious and uncaring, especially towards things that are weak and especially towards humans, however he claims he changed because of "love." Several home screen lines, his full awakening line, and his response to being touched by the turtle anomaly in the Dragon Palace support that he hasn't fully changed his mindset, only represses it.

Towa cannot speak during the daytime and is only able to talk when it's night. This includes being in Obscuary, where it's permanently night, however the cover of clouds doesn't allow him to speak during the day meaning it's not related specifically to the visibility of the sun. However this is drawn into question when the presence of the giant cat anomaly in Episode 12 casts a shadow over him, briefly allowing him to speak.

Can speak to and understand anomalies, even those that lack speech capabilities(such as the tree on the hill.) Haru is aware of this ability.

Able to see and hear ghosts(Zenji) and possibly other things that only people who are "special" can see(the tree on the hill, which even Ed cannot see.)

When Towa is away from Jabberwock for an extended period of time(in Episode 4 it happened after 24 hours) the nature conditions deteriorated significantly, with water drying up and the sky dark despite it being sunny the previous day and the anomalies beginning to behave violently. According to Ed, if Towa is away from Jabberwock for too long the anomalies within will begin to die. Ed suggests that Haru is unaware of this fact. In Episode 12, despite being away for 3 days, this doesn't appear to happen.

Anomalies fear him and obey him, particularly when he's angry, even to the point of kneeling out of fear when he's furious. Normal animals experience the same fear, freezing and behaving anxiously in his presence.

Says the PC smells nicer than before, perhaps able to smell their curse's advancement due to the flowers that would grow on her as a Kyklos.

Ren Shiranami

Stigma

Incantation - Raothtas

Effect - ??????

B's Log: "According to him it seems to be a power with little use."

Artifact

Was used to clean Calamari's ink from the floor when wiping it up normally failed.

Was used to boil water faster on the beach

Swim ring - restrains target.

Cannot be removed by the wearer.

Has a rope attached that allows the wearer to be reeled in.

Cannot restrain incorporeal targets.

Taiga Hoshibami

Stigma

Incantation - Malab

Effect - ?

Artifact

Tommy gun - takes anything broken into small enough pieces and fired from it as ammo.

Damage type seems to vary based on what was placed into it. Shards of glass created a swirl of glass shards, whereas bronze from a statue shot heavier rounds.

Doesn't seem to require ammo to fire.

Doesn't seem to work on everything as Taiga says his bullets don't work on anything lately. Possibly limited to hostile entities? (He was able to shoot the Oblivion Dealer, but not able to shoot the Kyklos--which ran away--or the Barong--which was non-threatening.)

Other

Carries a knife and a pistol.

Appears to occasionally be aware of things that he has no way of knowing about, sometimes even seeming to know the future. Haru asks hin when several characters are returning, which suggests Haru is aware of this and occasionally asks him to predict outcomes.

Taiga asks Haru for a coin, saying he'll allow Haru to choose his desired outcome based on heads or tails. However it's uncertain if this means he can actually alter outcomes himself. His losing dialogue suggests that he attempts to, but doesn't always succeed.

Eats anomalies, though not exclusively, and gets hungry whenever he goes on a mission. His hunger for them results in varied behavior from minor irritation to nearly losing control of himself to the hunger. He can eat any physical anomaly thus far, being shown or referenced to eat anomalous animals, plants, objects, and "enzymes", and he finds anomalous plants and enzymes converted into beverages suitable for human consumption to taste unpleasant. He eats normal food and drinks normal alcohol without a problem. It's difficult to tell how he feels about and after eating anomalies, as it varies, although he enthusiastically expresses his desire to eat the Kyklos. It's hard to tell how new this behavior is as Romeo seems disgusted but not surprised by it and Taiga attempts to warns Romeo when he wants to eat the Barong mask(not in speech bubbles but able to be discerned in his audio.)

His hunger may be able to be triggered or increased by smelling or seeing anomalous blood(such as the PC's.)

His memory is very poor, although he can remember things and people with prompting.

Noted that, as he's not Haru, he can't jump up a building.

Romeo Scorpus Lucci

Stigma

Incantation - Tiris

Effect - "turns things into bombs".

Able to turn anything into a bomb, including non-explosive objects. Seems to require that he throws them?

The size of the blast depends on how attached to the target object its owner is. If Romeo truly values something he's blowing up, the explosion is quite destructive.

Hyde has him testing various types of prototype anomalous explosive materials for Darkwick on missions.

"To me, these prototypes are a path to catching anomalies in one piece." which implies most of Hyde's prototypes cause non-lethal explosions. One of his home screen lines mentions, for example, a tear bomb.

Artifact

Sniper rifle - bullets pursue targets until they're struck

Maintains his bullets himself.

Doesn't always carry the same types of rounds. For example, he only had smoke bombs in the prologue.

When used against the Arachne in Episode 9 it blasted a large hole into its head? However when he fired it to gain the attention of the audience and when he shot at the door in Episode 8 the impact didn't seem as great, suggesting the impact/size of his bullets varies as needed.

Other

Has the trust of Darkwick(or at least has Hyde's favor?) allowing him to carry around common artifacts as though he owns them(hammerspace briefcase which he added a custom case for; fox robe)

Implied to be missing his right leg or foot (likely having been replaced by a prosthetic like Haru's.) Kaito mentions that Romeo cannot run fast. He also shows noticeable pain and discomfort after being run into by Kaito.

Ritsu Shinjo

Stigma

Incantation - Acimo

Effect - hardens his body. Increases his weight.

The increased weight causes him to move more slowly while it's active.

Prevents damage from concussive attacks such as kicks and bullets. If you kick him while it's active it'll hurt you.

Doesn't seem to experience pain in this state.

Can survive explosions and escape from collapsed buildings unharmed, even to the point that his clothing isn't damaged or dirtied, suggesting that his stigma extends to his clothes.

Artifact

Compendium of Laws - ?

Has the contents memorized?

Taiga taught him to use it as a blunt weapon, although he forgot he did this.

Appears to glow somewhat when held, although what this suggests is unknown.

Subaru Kagami

Stigma

Incantation - Talnandio

Effects - psychometry.

Experiences memory fragments through almost anything he touches or that touches him.

Passive, activates on contact with people, animals, anomalies, and objects without incantation.

Using it exhausts him to the point of needing a significant amount of rest, possibly even passing out shortly after usage.

Wears gloves and avoids crowded places to try and avoid accidentally setting it off. Feels bad about being able to learn people's secrets.

Artifact

Parasol - ?

Sturdy enough to destroy a possessed doll.

Haku Kusanagi

Stigma

Incantation - ?

Effect - ?

Implied he prefers not using it?

Artifact

Flute - ?

Used flute to remove himself and the PC from Kisaragi Station, knocking them out with some sort of ethereal water and causing them to wake up back on the empty train car.

Other

Able to see and communicate with spirits.

Able to perform various rituals such as laying spirits to rest and making talismans that allow people close to a spirit to see and hear them.

"Cordoned off the area" of the train and station the PC was on, which should have prevented interference from civilians. May be part of his Artifact or Stigma, or part of his capabilities as a Shinto priest.

Performs the stigma test for Darkwick.

According to Taiga he's able to remove curses if the anomaly that caused the curse is in front of him. It's uncertain if this is his stigma, part of his artifact, or another power.

Haku has the trust of Darkwick, allowing him to easily get access to powerful common artifacts such as the skeleton key

Zenji Kotodama (Taro Kirisaki)

Stigma

Incantation - ?

Effect - ?

Artifact

Doll - ?

Heavily resembles his brother as a child, according to Zenji. When Zenji and the doll protected Jiro, Zenji said "You've always been there for him when he needed it most." suggesting that there may have been a third Kirisaki brother.

Won't let anyone but Zenji and Jiro touch it. Protects Zenji and Jiro.

Appearance slightly changes to that of an oni when angered.

Has a mind of its own, or is perhaps possessed. Wanders around campus without Zenji, much to his concern.

Able to damage and destroy ghosts?

Joined Zenji in protecting Jiro from being eaten by the Arachne and seemed to be fine after the Arachne was destroyed while it and Zenji were inside it. Attacked the Arachne from within (with Zenji?) to distract it with pain so Jiro could attack it.

Other

As a ghost, Zenji cannot be touched, meaning he can't be damaged or killed. However he covers his ears when Haku performs a ritual to lay spirits to rest and covers his face in Subaru's warding card with incense, suggesting that he would be laid to rest under the right circumstances.

Zenji is not bound to Darkwick despite being a ghost who died on campus, and can come and go as he pleases.

Darkwick is unaware Zenji is present as only Haku and Towa(and eventually Subaru and the PC) are aware Zenji's spirit lingers. If Darkwick were to become aware of Zenji's presence they would want him laid to rest.

Due to Obon, people in Japan are more sensitive to spirits and anomalies are more frequent, causing Zenji to sometimes be visible or audible during the summer.

Zenji brings his doll with him most everywhere, however people can only see the doll and not him. The same happens with his biwa. If he carries them, they appear to float.

Zenji is able to fly, although he normally sticks to walking.

Zenji can touch physical objects with sufficient practice(his doll, his biwa, and his phone) and his footsteps are audible if he doesn't silence them. When attempting to touch or even sit on something that he isn't accustomed to touching he simply goes through it. He can ride the Galaxy Express as well. Because one has to show their phone to the conductor cat to take the Galaxy Express, it's possible that the cats can see or hear him, but nonetheless they don't seem to report him.

Afraid of ghosts, possibly the dark, and maybe dead bodies. Seems to be afraid of 'scary' things in general.

Able to spawn clothes onto himself at will.

Edward Hart

Stigma

Incantation - ?

Effect - ?

Artifact

Other

Cane - ?

Ed mentions that their artifacts are frequently "inconvenient" during a discussion about whether or not Jin could use his sword to warp out of an anomalously affected location was possible, suggesting his own may have some sort of limitation. He implies this is deliberate on Darkwick's part.

Edward is, or was historically, the world's strongest vampire, implying a great deal of hidden power. As he is 400+ years old, he knows a great deal about anomalies that Darkwick doesn't listen to for some reason. However being old has also made his body and mind much weaker. . .allegedly.

Ed has immense power, which we've only heard of him using on the singular mission he participated in. Using it he obliterated an anomaly and a building in such a way that Darkwick struggled to cover up(unlike Tohma's destruction which was able to be explained as poor maintenance and age) suggesting he more or less vaporized it. It's unknown if this is a vampire power or his stigma.

Ed is able to produce a purple mist that seems to be able to enthrall humans when inhaled(Rui and Lyca didn't need to hold their breaths when he used it but the PC did, suggesting it doesn't work on ghouls.) The PC mentions feeling "good", comfort, euphoria, her mind slowing down, light on her feet, and she began to think thoughts that aligned with what Ed wanted of her made and her body feel weaker. When she managed to fight against it and speak for herself Ed stopped producing the mist and she was able to recover quickly. When Ed used it on the humans in the mansion they experienced similar symptoms(feeling good and beginning to think they didn't need to call the police for help) but fell into sleep quickly unlike the PC. It is unclear whether or not this is his stigma or simply a vampire power.

Ed mentions on the home screen that there's a miasma in the garden of Obscuary that humans are susceptible to. He also mentions a miasma in the breeze during summer. It's uncertain if he's referencing the mist he produces, although it's unlikely in the second case as he mentions no desire to go outside.

If Rui touches him, the touched part will break off(at which point it can be reattached simply by pushing it back into place,) ache intensely for a time, or he will die temporarily.

As a vampire, Ed is immune to curses and is immortal. He claims that sunlight will eventually reduce him to ash and in the pre-prologue before jumping off of the balcony he implies that whatever is waiting for him at the bottom will be the death of him as well. One can become a vampire by drinking the blood of a vampire, and this will overwrite curses such as the Kyklos' curse. It's uncertain if this would overwrite Rui's reaper curse.

Ed is physically and mentally weaker during summer months, but stronger during autumn and winter.

As a vampire, Ed is rapidly exhausted by sunlight. Sunlight won't kill him instantly, but it will cause him to collapse. He claims sunlight will turn him to ash eventually, and he cannot be outside in the sun without a parasol. If it's cloudy enough or he's in enough shade, Ed is able to be outside during the day. He's usually tired during the daytime, but still seems to sleep during the night. Despite these claims Ed was able to spend over a day exposed to the sun in Episode 17, although he was able to be in shade or inside of a building frequently, which suggests that his exhaustion by sunlight is somewhat exaggerated.

Ed seems to be weak to garlic, and he finds that it smells "unusual" when cooked.

Ed primarily drinks tears, although he mentions that he does drink blood in his character story and on the home screen. He finds that human food doesn't taste like much of anything, and he doesn't need to eat it.

Ed is able to transform into a bat and fly around in that form. He doesn't seem to be able to speak in this form, only screeching and squeaking. Based on the campus chibis he may have bats as 'familiars' too.

Ed mentions that Lyca's soul is misshapen, however it's unclear if he can actually see his soul or if he was merely teasing him.

Rui Mizuki

Ed cannot see the tree on the hill that Towa speaks to, but seems to be aware that something is there.

Ed has an enhanced sense of awareness, even to the point of slightly breaking the fourth wall on at least one occasion(referring to the PC's thoughts as "captions above her head".) He's aware of things like the presence of a forcefield around the island they were on in Episode 17 without any personal interaction with it as well.

Says he's saving his life force for Rui and won't easily give his life up to anything else.

Stigma

Incantation - ?

Effect - temporary relief of pain and discomfort

Incantation has only been said in his head.

It's unclear if blowing a kiss is required to activate it or if that's just for flair, but it did produce a gold smoke that applied to the hurt area.

Artifact

Scythe - allows Rui to conceal himself in darkness.

Other

Rui admits to using his artifact to keep an eye on others on campus.

As long as there's shadows for Rui to hide in he's able to obscure himself, however the minimal shadows from the midday sun prevent him from having sufficient cover.

Suffers from a 'Reaper Curse' which effectively makes him a reaper.

Cannot make skin contact with most living things without them instantly dying. This includes humans, animals, plants, and even mold! Sufficiently strong living things(such as Ed, a vampire) will not die instantly when touched, but most things are too weak to survive. On contact, the touched thing's life force is absorbed into Rui's body through his mouth as a sort of green smoke that emerges from them.

Absorbed life energy goes straight to his body, extending his life filling him with so much energy that it prevents him from sleeping. He keeps himself as busy as possible as a result of having so much energy to spare.

In the case of Ed the reaction we've seen in-game when he was touched was the touched limb popping off(resulting in a spray of blood.) On the home screen he mentions Ed simply dying temporarily on contact and Ed mentions places they accidentally touched aching nonstop. It's uncertain what other creatures are strong enough not to die right away and how they would be affected by contact.

Lyca Colt

Wears gloves, a turtleneck, and avoids crowded places to avoid committing manslaughter and killing anything he touches.

Has repeatedly told Ed that his "vessel isn't worth it" when Ed brings up giving him his life force.

Stigma

Incantation - Ramsochisa

Effect - allows him to follow any scent he's smelled before.

Artifact

Claws - ?

Other

Half werewolf. Able to show or hide his wolf tail and ears at will, but they pop up when he's sufficiently aggravated.

Transforms with exposure to the full moon. "The speed of his transformation is affected by how much he's exposed to moonlight and his mental state." Sometimes feels his skin crawling when the full moon is near?

Covering his head when he's outside under the full moon prevents or regresses his transformation. Collapses after his transformation regresses from half wolf and doesn't transform while unconscious. Nothing happens to him if he's not exposed to the full moon on a full moon night. Obscuary is always a crescent moon, allowing him to be there safely during a full moon.

Werewolves have four stages: Human, partial wolf, half wolf, and full wolf. At 'half wolf' Lyca is an anthropomorphic wolf. However, he loses control of himself after he's been transformed for a while, and may attack indiscriminately.

He doesn't remember much when he transforms. He might remember less if he fully transforms?

Yuri Isami

Stigma

Incantation - Agnihaet

Effect - "hyperstimulates his braincells"

"allows him to logically process information and solve complex equations almost instantaneously."

when enhanced seemed to make the information processing instantaneous and extremely accurate?

Artifact

Syringe - ?

Was used on Jiro before he fought the Immortal Inpatient. However because the reflected damage is because of Jiro's stigma it's hard to say what exactly the effect of Yuri's syringe is.

Other

Immune to Jiro's stigma for unknown reasons, allowing him to treat Jiro without taking damage.

Jiro Kirisaki

Stigma

Incantation - ?

Effect - Reflects any damage sustained back onto the one who dealt the damage

Activates automatically and involuntarily in response to sustained damage, without use of an incantation.

Anything that is injected into him will also be injected into the person who injected it into him. The same with someone trying to poison him. If someone tries to open him with a scalpel they'll also be cut open.

Does not work on Yuri for some reason, which is why Yuri is the only one who can treat him.

Artifact

Chainsaw - ?

Blunt, making it a bad match for webs(which simply got stuck in it) and things that need sharpness for effective cutting, but able to 'cut' through more solid things that don't require sharpness or precision, presumably by just crushing them with the rapidly spinning dull blades.

Other

Jiro is noted to be especially strong.

Jiro was in a coma from Eternal Slumber Syndrome until an undisclosed time ago, when Yuri was able to awaken him from it. When he was comatose and for how long and why hasn't been relayed yet, however he was said to be particularly violent during The Clash, meaning he was likely awakened before or during it, or fell into a coma during/shortly after it.

As a side effect of his condition and mysterious illness, Jiro has a poor memory, immunodeficiency, and his wounds reopen very easily. He occasionally has focal seizures.

Jiro doesn't react much to his wounds and being in pain, but he will eventually collapse from overexertion or illness if he misses a treatment or has taken too much damage.

Jiro normally needs four treatments a day, and they take around an hour to complete. Yuri is the only one who can administer them, and Jiro isn't able to do so himself. Even with his treatments he's forgetful and prone to being sick and has a bit of a fragile constitution. Abrupt changes in temperature, for example, make him choke.

As of Episode 9 and Episode 17, Yuri has worked on medication for Jiro that is able to be taken once every three and five days respectively while suppressing his illness and episodes to a minimum. Jiro is thus able to go on missions without Yuri, although he still intends to return in the event of emergency illness that his medication can't prevent

Jiro has experienced sudden attacks of his illness in the presence of the ghost of a young boy, mentions of his having a family, and at the sight of Zenji's birthday(June 19th.) In the latter case he reacted to the sight by ripping down the balloons that spelt out the date, which provided him relief. Hearing the PC say Zenji's name didn't result in the same response, however he did respond with an expression like hurt and a suspicious tone when the PC quoted Zenji.

[kthulu278]

MACHINE. We NEED to COOK.

[meruz]

casey ideas feat. raph

[tricodekus]

gotta go fast!

[imagine-notnatural]

More Task force 141 x Janitor Reader

It starts when you offer a neck massage to Rodriguez. They’d just returned from some mission, and all she and the rest of group did was complain about how sore they were. As shes a close friend with Michael, and a good friend of yours too, you decided to offer her relief. A quick massage, just while you had time between tasks and she had her own downtime.

You once done it absentmindedly when you stood behind Michael at a meeting. He sat on the bench in front of you, so you just simply rested your hands on his shoulders. Nothing over the top. However as the meeting progressed, he’d started feeling your hands gently squeeze his shoulders. Michael didn’t react, he didn’t move or give any indication that he felt what was going on; figuring you might stop the pleasant movements of your hands. This continued for another twenty minutes, by the time the meeting ended you’d thoroughly worked out all the kinks in his neck and shoulders, had gently run your hands through his hair enough times where his eyes had to fight to stay open, and left him in a daze.

Ever since, any time he’d feel your hands on his shoulders he’d still, hoping that you were entranced enough with whatever it was Bill(your boss) was talking about that you’d do it again.

“You can say no, Im just offering a service, you don’t have to tell me yes if you’re uncomfortable. Genuinely, I only offer because you seem like you need it” you say, awkwardly turning away from her as she seemed on the fence.

“Marisol, trust me, it’s good. You’ll probably get put to sleep. I call (Name) NyQuil behind their back because they nearly put me to sleep once-“

“Mikey what the fuck-“

Rodríguez laughed, “Sounds good, Thanks (Name) I really appreciate it.” Once she gave you the go ahead, you rounded behind her.

“You still good?”

She gave you a nod.

You started gently kneading the muscles at the base of her neck and worked down from there. The way the three of you were positioned was that Mikey (and you previously) had your backs facing the recreational rooms’ tv, and now you were able to face the tv with Marisol. Some reality tv show had caught your attention, and with time, the sounds from the screen and the show itself distracted you.

By the last comercial break, when you looked down you found Rodriguez was chin-to-chest. Her head rolling over to allow you to gently trace the base of her neck with your nails.

“You still okay?” You asked, chuckling when she grunted happily as her answer.

Just then, more of her squad came bounding in..

“Rodriguez we’ve been looking for you what are- Hey what’re you doing?”

“What’s it look like?” You respond, noting that Marisol had yet to lift her head and her eyes remained shut.

“Aw dude- Me next! My fucking back has been killing me!” Someone from outside the door said, when you turned to look it was another member of their squad.

“You want one? Twenty dollars for however long real housewives of Dubai is on-“ Mikey instantly sat up from the old couch, his arm outstretched and hand open. You instantly shot Michael a glare, while the others looked at him in disbelief.

“Man what-“

“Mikey I didn’t-“

“It’s worth it” Marisol said, loud enough to catch everyone’s attention. She placed a hand over your hand own and gave you a quick thank you. She got up from the folding chair she’d been sat at and riled her shoulders. “It’s fucking worth it. Watch this,”

She made a show of rolling her shoulders and neck.

“Im gonna sleep like a fucking baby tonight. Ten out ten, will recommend ” She smiled and gave you another thank you. You were distracted by her smile, and didn’t hear what Mikey said next.

“So? You heard her, and you know Rodriguez doesn’t lie for shit- what do you say?” Michael smirked, hand still outstretched.The two men looked at each other before they looked back at you.

Still distracted by Rodriguez’s smile, you didn’t notice when the men pulled out their wallets.

“You got change for a fifty?”

“I do”

You turned to see the men exchange bills in front of you before offering you twenty each.

“Im not- I mean- uh-“

You sighed as they gave you a pleading look.

I mean you’re a college student paying out of state tuition fees AND the majority of check went into rent and bills… Having a bit of extra cash is like totally in your best interests…

“Who’s going first?”

And that’s how you became a part time masseuse.

It was a well kept secret. Michael had taking to managing the operation, his payment being on demand head scratches. He’d made it so only people vouched by someone you’d already worked on or by you or Michael personally, would you even consider. It was all kept on the down low so that you wouldn’t end up in some sort of trouble, you accepted payment in cash, goods, and trades of services. And everyone was kept in check by some sort of code of honor they’d established amongst themselves.

Marisol and Michael and taken it up to personally warn (threaten) everyone that if you got caught and didn’t give massages anymore they wouldn’t take it lightly. (Blah blah blah breaking knee caps blah blah blah Marisol is so creative!)

And sure there were physical therapists on base, but for whatever reason you seemed to excel in relaxing people to the point of sleep. That’s what people really came to you for.

One night when you were on graveyard shift, you recieved a text from Michael.

TMNT: Hey, just fyi sgt MacTavish and Garrick r gonna head over to you soon

You: ??

TMNT: The ones w the thiq thighs n fat asses

You: be more specific this is yam city we’re in partner

TMNT: SCOTLAND FOREVAA n the guy w the cap from the 141

You: yOU MEAN KYLE?! ur lYING!! HOW?!

You: who couched ?!

You: vouched*

TMNT: Marisol

You: Ah :o

TMNT: Yeah ;)

You: (ToT)

You: Bye then

TMNT : toodlelu~

You waited nervously for the two sergeants in the rec room. You eased your nerves by scrolling through the streaming services on the TV. Just as you had finally settled on a series, there was a knock of the opened door.

“So yur’ NyQuil?” The Scotsman was the first to enter, an inquisitive eye as he looked over your humble single chair set up. His resting smile, made your stomach do flips as you watched him look you over

“ a wee bit jumpy no?” Soap smiled, getting side eye from his fellow sergeant who was still outside the door.

“Fucking Michael- Yes but no, don’t call me that. It’s (Name), the dipshit trying to get the name to stick is my friend…” you fought to maintain eye contact with those bright blue eyes of his

The Englishmen made his appearance soon after,

“ So it is you! What? Threatenin’ us to keep clean wasn’t enough for you, you’d to start knocking people out?” Kyle walked in with a grin.

“Well, you’re some big hotshot guy so when I couldn’t get to you I had to find an outlet.” You chuckled,

“So Marisol let y’all in on the operation. What’s going on fellas?”

“Near dam dislocated my shoulder when training last week and haven’t been able to sleep it off,” Johnny answered, tentatively rolling said shoulder. You nodded then turned to Kyle,

“Well, truth is I’ve just been tired.” You nodded again,

“Alright then gentlemen, I’ll get started with-“

“Call me John, Bonnie”

“Okay, I start with John and I’ll get to you after.” You gesture for Johnny to sit in the folding chair beside you, “there’s snacks- well the layout is almost the same as your own personal rec. room so you’ll know where snacks are. Kick back on the couch, watch the movie and n’” you turn slightly to see how much more of the movie remained… an hour and forty five minutes.

“Like 45 minutes I’ll have y’all switch.”

The two men looked at each other briefly before stepping to their spots. Gaz on the couch and soap in the chair.

“Oh can I actually get you turned the other way?” You ask, Johnny quickly stands to turn around and sit as you positioned him.

“Okay, now, just let me know if anything hurts in the not good way, okay? I’m going to get started on your neck and then work from there. Sound good?” You asked, placing a bit of scentless lotion on your hands.

“Let me know if I hurt you,” Kyle couldn’t help but turn away from the screen to see you get started on Johnny. As you couldn’t see his face, Johnny scoffed lightly and gave Kyle a small smile at your words. Chin restringing on his arms, Johnny began speaking

“Nah, I’m sure’ve had worse, ‘think I can handle-“

Kyle had the pleasure of seeing his teammate’s face freeze and contort into something between pained and relieved-

“Jesús, Mary, n’ Joseph, the grip on you-“ Johnny grunted, hiding his face in his arms. From his angle, Kyle could see the way your thumbs dug into the base of his neck.

Gaz laughed, “What mate? You good?”

“If it hurts I’ll stop, just say the word,” You said, seemingly unfazed,

“Don’t you bloody dare-“ He muttered, leaning his weight into your hold. He began muttering phrases under his breath, some unfamiliar to you and other indiscernible.

“That good huh?” Kyle smirked,

Johnny, who’s face was buried in his arms only grunted at muttered “-bile your heid” or at least that’s what you managed to understand.

“It’s alright, it’s a compliment to me, yeah?”

Johnny made a noise of agreement

The three of you laughed it off, continuing with light conversation, soon enough you got into your rhythm.

See? nothing to be afraid of! Just passing the time and getting some of that green!

“So how did you find you had this talent of your’s, (Name)?”

“It was just something I did since I was younger. I’d usually only do it for my family but I haven’t..” you paused, thinking of how to continue.

“Ay, dinae stop I paid good money for dis’” Johnny joked sleepily, his breath had begun to steady and his voice sounded more muffled, like his mouth wasn’t moving at all. You chuckled and carried on.

“Relax sergeant, I’m not stopping.” You moved back from his broad shoulders to the base of his neck. You could’ve sworn he’d began purring as your fingers began raking through his hair and working at the junction between his neck and skull.

“But yeah, just something I’ve always done.”

Kyle nodded, taking note of your hesitation but not commenting. You all remained in a comfortable silence afterwards, the movie playing in the background.

Before you knew it, the forty five minutes were up. Your phone buzzed on the counter and you lifted your hands though no without immediate protest.

“Timers’ rigged-“

“No sir. Go ahead and get up, I’ve got to do your friend next before I head out for my actual work. “

“Get out the chair bruv- it’s my turn.”

He only grunted.

Johnny groaned but rose this time, he tentively lifted his arm and rolled it in its socket,

“Braw Job la-“

“Move!”

“Cannae you see I’m going ya jobbie?!”

You laughed, not entirely sure what the Scot was saying but understanding the fact he was pleased with the results. Johnny grumbled annoyed as he laid back on the coach,

“N’ I was falling asleep too!” He complained halfheartedly, placing his feet in the arm of the couch.

“Ay mate but you were cutting into my time.”

“Ah Git Awa’ and Bile Yer Heid,” John huffed, watching as Kyle took his seat in your chair. “Alright same rules, let me know when something’s not working for you or hurts in a bad way, ‘Kay Garrick?”

“Garrick? What happened to Kyle? You cross with me?”

He’d turned his head back slightly, his expression ameused.

“This is a professional setting Mr. Garrick, I’ve got to be professional.” A smug smile pulled at your lips. You placed your hands on his shoulders to begin.

“So this is where you two disappeared to.”

You turned around to trace the source of the unfamiliar voice. You were lead to the doorway- oh hey it’s the grim reaper

“ AH!”

By now both men in the room, had begun stifling their snickers.

“We have to stop meeting like this!I mean you no offense but you’re one scary S-O-B you know that” You swalllowed, raising your head from beside Kyle.

He didn’t respond, but telling from his eyes and the minuscule movement where his mouth would be, you figured he was amused.

“Stalking us’ Lt.? And here we thought yee couldn’ stand us,”

He giant of the group of giants found his place in the corner of the room, he leaned against the counter and allowed for Johnny to yap away.

Meanwhile you’d restarted your timer hesitantly, starting again and hoping that the sound of John’s voice and the tv kept your voice out of earshot.

You leaned over slightly, just enough for Kyle to hear you. ( And for a tingle down his spine n heat reach the tip of his ears)

“He won’t kill me right? He looks the like kinda of guy that could kill me.”

“I mean he could, but he won’t….‘Least I hope…”

“Fuck right off then Garrick, if it wasn’t for the money you paid me I’d leave right now.”

“So you’re telling me you’re only here for money? I thought you liked me?”

“Just because you’re hot doesn’t mean you can’t be insufferable, sergeant. I’ve gotta keep the bills paid somehow.”

“You think I’m hot?” He smirked,

“Yeah,” you scoffed, “- and insufferable, don’t forget that part. It’s key that you understand that’s more important .”

The two of you continued to bicker, not noticing that the Lieutenant and other sergeant had been watching the two of you interact.

“Lively one ye?” Soap turned slightly to get a look at Ghost’s expression. Despite being hiding under that skull themed baklava of his, Johnny felt he’d seen enough and been through enough with the man to get a general feel for him.

Ghost took a moment to take in the scene.

Kyle trying to rile you up while being forced multiple times to keep his head facing forward. A broad smile on his face and the sound of his laugh just slightly louder than the television.

You, who eventually forced him to plant his face into his arms so that the whole ordeal would be over with. A smile tugging on your own lips no matter how hard you tried to fight it.

He then turned back to Johnny, who watched the two of you as well. The look on his face seeming content, his eyes following the way Kyle’s eyes lit up and switching off to the way your lips moved when you smiled and spit back another comeback. There was a heat to it all but.. The whole scene was so… domestic. Ghost quickly turned away, instead focusing on how you decided to torture Gaz, completely giving up on the relaxation part of the massage and instead aiming for as many weak spots as you could find.

Lively indeed.

[kaiserouo]

(prev | next | first)

nom

[eats-a-berry]

can everyone please do me a favor and post this image under anyone talking about this panel from now on or something i am so tired

[kisforkerosene]

im reading Lord of the rings for the first time and you guys. I'm losing my mind. sam. oh my gosh. rotating him in my mind. samwise gamgee this guy I CANT

[crypticcanidae]

what's happening in the south of thedas?

throughout veilguard the inquisitor occasionally sends us messages from the front. they paint a pretty bleak picture as to what's going on down there and honestly, by the time vg ends, i think it's safe to say southern thedas is absolutely fucked. like irreparably so.

but! several times now i've seen the argument that it's not as bad as it sounds, that everyone down south will recover and be fine, and that anyone even slightly upset abt southern thedas being destroyed in a series of easily-missable notes is just overreacting. (that's probably a little bit of an exaggeration. but not by much.)

so. maybe i read those letters wrong and missed some obvious improvement to the situation! therefore, i've gone through all the missives and done my best to put the events in them onto a map. cause i'm very bad at visualising things. and it turns out uh. yeah no i'm pretty sure it's as bad as it seems down there. maybe even worse! i've also ended up with. yknow. even more questions tbh. i hope these fucking maps are readable. !! beware long post ahead !!

the fight for the south (obtained after meeting the inquisitor for the first time)

ostwick's shipping - what do they export? to where? whatever it is, the disruption's obviously enough for the inquisitor to notice and mention. (also, isn't a trevelyan inquisitor from ostwick? i suppose they don't say anything more about this?)

the antaam corsairs - are they harassing any other ships? have they cut the waking sea off from the amaranthine ocean entirely?

venatori-aligned nobles - which nobles, and where? are they spread across the country? do they have noticeable regional strongholds? more importantly, why have they allied with the venatori? what are they getting out of working with a fringe tevinter cult that was mostly dismantled ten years ago?

'far southern wilds' - is that just the korcari wilds in ferelden? or are the arbor wilds in orlais also seeing blight appear? (the blight consuming orlais later has to come from somewhere, after all)

the fall of weisshaupt (obtained after. well.)

'wherever darkspawn once had a presence' - every place that's had darkspawn? all of them? cause thats. most of thedas? including several regions we visit in vg, but i don't remember hearing anything abt darkspawn appearing in the silent plains, which you'd think might come up in the graveyard of nevarra's capital city. at the very least, this might explain why the south's hit so hard despite lusacan and razikale being on the other side of the continent, i guess? anyway i marked what i think are the the three largest, worst blighted spots, and i left my blight notes on the map too for lack of a better place to put them. you can see how many places might now be getting swarmed.

^^ - if i'm right and darkspawn are appearing everywhere they've been before. well. this could have been a fun way to incorporate worldstate choices? if the inquisition allied with the wardens orlais has warning of a horde emerging in the western approach, if the wardens were banished orlais suffers heavier casualties from having to fight unexpected darkspawn on top of the venatori. something like that.

'reports of darkspawn advancing to its very gates' - advancing to weisshaupt's gates? the fortress we just lost to the darkspawn? this sounds like the inquisitor's getting reports that weisshaupt's just under siege, not overrun entirely and abandoned?

'erasing all the gains that the wardens and dwarves had made' - the darkspawn getting to weisshaupt is erasing dwarf-warden gains on the surface, in the anderfels? or do they mean progress reclaiming the deep roads has been lost? because weisshaupt's gates are on the surface, and haven't had to be retaken before now (weisshaupt has been sieged by darkspawn before during blights, but it's never fallen entirely). unless they're meaning that darkspawn numbers in the roads during the siege were so high they've overrun dwarf-warden positions? or the loss of wardens assisting the dwarves and recalled to weisshaupt was that damaging?

'called them all back to weisshaupt' - once again. worldstates. past events. what happened to that warden civil war that was brewing in inquisition? what happened to the orlesian wardens possibly breaking off from weisshaupt entirely? what about the wardens in amaranthine, possibly allied with the architect, possibly working with avernus to research the blight? all of them got orders to up and head to weisshaupt, and they all obeyed, despite the internal conflicts we've been hearing whispers of for the past few games?

the tide turns (obtained after fighting the dragons in hossberg)

the felicisima armada - nice to see the armada mentioned, obviously, but it might have been even better if we got to actually learn anything new about it. instead of the half-baked beach and arena we could have had a hub in llomerryn/estwatch, experienced some of what makes rivain so distinct from the rest of thedas. we could have seen isabela acting as an admiral of the armada, maybe had some quests that lead to the armada harassing the antaam. yknow, gotten to be involved in the interesting things happening in the world, instead of hearing about them after they've already happened. (mostly i just. really don't understand where the lords of fortune came from in the first place? a rivain-based pirate faction already exists? it seems like isabela's a leader in both groups? what's going on here?)

the venatori - did the inquisition just do a really bad job ten years ago? i was under the impression the venatori as a group were finished, that they'd failed their plans, lost their god, and splintered apart. hadn't tevinter even publically denounced them? i know that doesn't mean much really, but yknow. after inquisition it sure seemed like whatever group succeeded the venatori would be starting pretty much from scratch, or having to use a new name, at least. but they're not only openly back in power in tevinter, they've got the resources to stoke conflicts across the continent? yet again. worldstates. thedosian politics. what happened in the past decade??

val royeaux to kirkwall - so the venatori are marching forces across nevarran territory into the free marches, these forces presumably including some amount of orlesian soldiers? i know kirkwall/the free marches are apparantly busy right now (getting blighted?) but as far as i can tell. nevarra doesn't really have anything going on? but they're just letting hostile orlesian forces cross their borders to attack the marches? i would have thought that would provoke some sort of response, given that nevarra (and parts of the marches) have been invaded by and fought wars against the orlesian empire several times?

the coming storm (obtained after speaking to the inquisitor again)

'little trace remains of the antaam dreadnoughts' - i'm assuming the antivan resistance has picked up enough momentum for the antaam to struggle to maintain control by now, and that combined with the efforts of the armada has lead them to pull their fleet back somewhat to keep from overstretching their forces. but i do like the idea that the antaam, competent trained soldiers, were beaten and driven off by a pack of pirates.

the drums of war (obtained after discussing how to attack tearstone island)

'the free marches have unified' - i know extraordinary circumstances can force things like this to happen but also. we know the free marches are divided enough that city-states will make alliances just to spite their neighbours. we know blights don't really bring people together without effort. i would love to know what sort of political manoeuvring has been going on for the entirety of the marches to unite to assist ferelden - or just the inquisitor? if the inquisition disbanded, why does the inquisitor still seem to have so much influence? also. the marches are doing this when they're in the middle of conflicts? hasn't kirkwall been entirely evacuated to starkhaven now?

blight in ferelden - putting those words onto a map makes them look way worse, doesn't it? the darkspawn now have redcliffe, much of southern ferelden, and most of denerim (if not all, by now), they'll spread the blight everywhere they go, and the blight itself has reached lake calenhad. as a reminder, this letter in da2 tells us the land around lothering is poisoned so badly by the blight it'll take decades to recover, if ever, after only a year. other places still haven't recovered after centuries. vg's blight might be changed in some way, but it doesn't seem to be any weaker, and only the blight in minrathous is destroyed at the end. assuming vg only takes a couple of months, it ends with ferelden blighted even worse than after the fifth blight.

the beginning of the end (obtained after escaping the regret prison)

blight in ferelden - (continued from above) by now, ferelden's certainly lost the korcari wilds, brecilian forest, hinterlands, and a decent chunk of the bannorn to the blight, as well as possibly all of lake calenhad and its shores, depending on how blight spreads in water. that's the majority of the country's settlements, farmland, and natural resources uninhabitable, unusable, or obliterated - again, the blight poisons the land, it takes decades to centuries for anything to grow there again. on the bright side, the tiny amount of unblighted land left in the bannorn will probably be enough to support the surviving population, since the refugees were few enough to fit into skyhold. from veilguard on, ferelden is likely reduced to amaranthine, highever, west hill, the northern edge of the bannorn, whatever region runs above lake calenhad, the island of brandel's reach, and the islands home to jainen and alamar. the new ferelden capital would probably be highever or amaranthine, possibly amaranthine given the arling's run by the wardens, and they'll likely become far more influential now that ferelden's blighted nearly as badly as the anderfels. at least they got to keep the circle in jainen!

blight in orlais and the free marches - it would make sense to me if the blight here has spread out from the wastelands of the western approach and the silent plains. honestly i might have overestimated how much land's been consumed? but equally we're told the blight's moving fast so. maybe i'm underestimating. who knows. regardless, orlais has probably lost it's southern regions, as well as a large part of the heart of the country. like ferelden, it looks like a lot of what's probably farmland has been blighted, as well as several major cities. that combined with the venatori-supported civil war they've been fighting this whole time means orlais is. possibly in a worse state than even ferelden! i don't know how they'll recover honestly. maybe orlais will fracture into a dozen smaller states, maybe they'll somehow have enough military strength left to attempt to expand and claim nevarra's unblighted land. either way, they're probably not a major power anymore. also, the dales are probably blighted too, though maybe not entirely? which is unfortunate for the dalish, assuming they haven't been completely absorbed by the veil jumpers and given up on the dales for arlathan. for the free marches, again assuming the blight's spread from the silent plains, kirkwall, wildervale, starkhaven, and tantervale are most likely to have been hit, if not lost entirely. the eastern city-states are likely alright. also. a lot of nevarra's probably been blighted? most of it, even. including the capital. and grand necropolis. cumberland might be fine though.

blight in tevinter? - we aren't told anything about what the blight and darkspawn are doing in tevinter, i think? aside from minrathous being miraculously cured so it can become the center of civilisation in the future, obviously. we're bringing back the pre-andrastian empire! anyway. the silent plains would be the main threat here, and if the blight spread up to the nocen sea it could split the imperium in two, which could be fun i think. and the blight from the anderfels could affect the western border somewhat too.

orzammar - yet again, worldstates could have had an impact here, affected whether orzammar has alliances that could help it hold out or not, things like that. but honestly, considering everything else that's been going on, it seems safe to assume orzammar's been entirely wiped out. kal-sharok might be the last surviving population of underground dwarves, aside from the ambassadoria in tevinter. who might now have lost their home entirely.

blighted leviathans - *blackwall voice* i would have liked to have seen it. but yeah once more the cool things are all happening in the background. seems like we could have run into these in a felicisima armada questline, or possibly with the wardens if the ten year old griffons were adults instead of hatchlings still. i don't even know what to say here honestly. this makes recovery even harder now, i suppose. orlais and nevarra have lost sea access, ferelden and the southern marcher city-states might struggle depending on how far the leviathans spread towards the amaranthine ocean. fishing might be a little difficult now too.

conclusion

rivain and antiva seem to have come out largely unscathed by the blight, and we know from rivain that andrastianism, the qun, mages, and spirits aren't entirely incompatible, so there's a real chance for things to improve there. the eastern free marches are probably fairly stable, all things considered. tevinter and the qun might be forced into peace, however temporary, given that the antaam's been decimated and the imperium's apparently going to be doing some restructuring. ferelden and orlais have effectively suffered an apocalypse. nevarra and the western free marches are likely only doing slightly better. the anderfels are. probably largely unchanged, tbh. very cheerful! what's happening in the south? nothing good!

as i've seen some others say, i don't inherently dislike the idea of the south, the places we're most attached to, suffering some catastrophe in service of underlining how high the stakes are. my problem is the way it's executed. all these events were thrown together into a handful of codex entries that were very easy to miss entirely. there was no attempt to work with the very different worldstates people could have, despite marketing reassuring us that our past choices would be respected. it felt like an afterthought added into the game to try and cheaply increase the emotional impact of a somewhat lacklustre story. many of the things people felt were missing from veilguard - the politics and intrigue, the relations between nations and peoples, etc - aren't missing at all, it turns out. they've simply been relegated to the background. we can see where they might be happening, guess at how our protagonist could have been involved, but we aren't allowed to actually participate anymore. and i think that's unfortunate for a series that used to be so determined to think about those things, even if it didn't always handle them very well.