#introducing: returned fucking npcs

[deikshen]

Shen Yuan, who opens his eyes and has just transmigrated into some strange demon deep in the Endless Abyss. Well, GREAT! He's a demon, and while he's not OP, if he behaves and doesn't mess with Binghe's women, maybe they could even be traveling companions. Cool! Incredible!!

It doesn't take long for him to find Luo Binghe in the Abyss some time later. He leaves a trail of carnage... And he's speedrunning!! Ignore the wife and solo plots, just mow down monsters and charge forward! He's awesome!

Shen Yuan tries to avoid the red flags that the stallion protagonist isn't, well, forming a harem. Maybe he would form later, when he had more power!! He's not exactly sure in which narrative arc are.

However, his days of watching Luo Binghe through the shadows are soon over. Luo Binghe catches him!! He has obviously noticed Shen Yuan following him. What does he want? Is he looking for him to kill him?

Shen Yuan ducks out a bit, but ultimately decides to impart his honed Abyss 101 knowledge from months of Wiki editing. He disguises himself as a demon who has been searching for a way out of the Abyss, and he knows that he can only do so with Xin Mo, but he knows he doesn't have enough power to wield it. So, he will tell Luo Binghe where the portal-opening sword is, if he allows him to travel by his side and accompany him when he leaves!!

... It's very easy to become travel companions after that.

Luo Binghe is suspicious (of course he would be!! After all, who wouldn't be?!) but he's nice when he's not on his monster-killing rampage. Shen Yuan kills minor monsters, but in reality, he might be getting into more trouble than he should... spiritual flora, ancient artifacts! Luo Binghe should collect them and become more stronger with them! Shen Yuan rambles a lot: he talks about flora, beasts, monsters, demonic history, he throws out fact after fact of PIDW backstories that never got fleshed out from the old demonic civilizations, banished kingdoms, people literally turned into black jade statues...

Luo Binghe seems to find it irritating that he's talking at first, but actually... It's like he can't stop looking at him afterward. Shen Yuan guesses that he must be considering getting rid of him, sometimes: Luo Binghe looks at him with an expression of dismay and doubt. It's like he's searching for something in him. Like he sees something familiar, but Shen Yuan finds it ridiculous. Bah!! As if there's something familiar about him to some random NPC in the world!

One day, after several weeks of traveling, Luo Binghe asks him: "Little Demon. Do you have a name?" And it's not like Shen Yuan has introduced himself, but he considers saying "Shen Yuan" to him not to be wrong.

After that, Luo Binghe... gets worse? He also becomes a little more talkative, which is good, they can have conversations. Shen Yuan enjoys learning little things about his favorite character: how he likes tea, what he misses most is not water or clean clothes but being able to cook with spices, his favorite food, his mother's favorite recipe, about his life on Qing Jing Peak...

That's when everything goes to hell.

A kind Shen Qingqiu? What the fuck? Luo Binghe speaks about his Shizun with more passion than he has spoken about Ning Yingying or any other person or thing. That he had had this horrible qi deviation, but right after, he had been so kind, giving him medicine, a new cultivation manual, fair training, even letting him live in the bamboo house! For the past few years, Shen Qingqiu had practically spoiled him: the best missions, all the running of the Peak, he was basically the head disciple in all but name.

That Luo Binghe had fallen in love with him. Deeply, devastatingly. And Shen Qingqiu had pushed him into the Abyss when his heritage was revealed. However, Luo Binghe will not doubt! He will leave the Abyss, return to his Shizun, and show him that his heritage does not determine who he is. He will become a righteous cultivator and will have his respect to reach his heart.

OOC! So OOC! What the fuck!? Where was the scum villain!? Why is Luo Binghe gay now!? What weird fanfic did he end up in!? Actually, Shen Yuan supposes, well. That means at least he wouldn't destroy Cang Qiong and all that. Wow. Dramatic but calm ending. A better world!! And worse for him, being a demon. Maybe Could he find a way to disguise himself as a human? He believes he has already won Luo Binghe's friendship and sympathy. Maybe he'll even help him to disguise.

Revelations are a rare thing, but Shen Yuan guesses, it's okay. They continue their travel, collecting flowers along the way (for real, not meimeis) who improve the cultivation, and occasionally fight for their lives. Shen Yuan has defended himself very well with his claws so far, but Luo Binghe teaches him how to use a sword, and it's nice to have one.

Shen Yuan has drawn a map, more or less: it is the path that must be taken to reach Xin Mo. He knows that some of those places will be more difficult than others; he explains to Binghe many times that collecting things to strengthen him is necessary: it's a waste of time for him to meet with his Shizun now, but he'll be grateful! He'll need to get strong fast!

Shen Yuan shamelessly takes advantage of all his knowledge of the plot: he teaches Luo Binghe everything he knows, all the weaknesses of the beasts, all the strengths of certain flowers or roots. However, the more Shen Yuan teaches him over the weeks of their travel together, the more Luo Binghe seems... weirder. If he looked at him too much before, now it's incredibly worse. Sometimes he even asks extremely specific questions and seems frustrated when Shen Yuan doesn't answer exactly as he expects. Once, even, when they are crossing some paths surrounded by magma and the heat is suffocating, Binghe improvises a folded fan of leaves for him, and he seems clearly aggrieved when Shen Yuan's first instinct is to fan Binghe!

Luo Binghe is a frustrating little creature who seems to be testing him. Constantly. Shen Yuan assumes it's normal, but still!! He thought he had the protagonist's confidence!! Something seems to sparkle in his eyes when Shen Yuan stops halfway to explore a forest of giant mushrooms and talks at length about the properties and, above all, about the mole-squirrels who get high off their asses biting mushrooms, and he even seems fucking frustrated when he offers some weird herbal blend similar to a bitter tea and Shen Yuan accepts it just out of politeness because it tastes awful. It's like they're running in circles!!

Still, they continue on their way.

There is still a large stretch of the map to go, which Shen Yuan translates into a few more months of travel, when they are cornered by some beasts. They're horrible, disgusting spider-beetles the size of a fucking elephant; it's an unfair fight, seven against two, and even with their swords the bugs are fast, their legs sharp, and Shen Yuan is too exhausted after hours of only being able to defeat two of them.

Luo Binghe fights majestically, but even so, there is one thing Luo Binghe cannot fight: being outnumbered. And when Shen Yuan sees the giant insect's attack at Binghe, his only instinct is to get in the way.

The insect's leg pierces through him. It doesn't quite touch Binghe, but Shen Yuan isn't even aware of the pain from the way his nerves have been ripped apart. He's stunned, disoriented, and only a moment later Luo Binghe enters that desperate berserk mode that the protagonist only got once every two hundred chapters. The horrible insects fall, and Shen Yuan doesn't even know why he's still alive.

He supposes that dying while Binghe is fighting is a bit anticlimactic. He's in a pool of his own blood and he's sure that not even the blood parasites will be able to regenerate any of it. He's dying, he knows it, and from the way Binghe drops to his knees beside him after defeating the insects and holds him, Binghe knows it too.

"It's okay," Shen Yuan manages to speak, weakly patting Binghe's face, "follow the map, leave the Abyss and meet your Shizun. I bet you'll scare him to death, but hey. You're a great boy. A very good one. Show him there's no one better than you for him."

Luo Binghe holds him. Shen Yuan is aware that there were blood parasites in his food months ago, but oh well. Nothing can be done now. It's too much.

Actually, he wants to say something else, something other than a pathetic goodbye talking about how the ex-stallion protagonist should go after his Shizun's bone, but while he recognizes that he is dying (he already died once, damn it, he recognizes death) a blue screen flashes in his head.

[ Recalculating data... Correcting recipient... Downloading files... Importing... ]

[ Bugs fixed! ]

[ Returning the Host to his main user... ]

At the exact moment Shen Yuan dies, Shen Qingqiu wakes up in Qian Cao with a gasp, suddenly touching his chest where a second ago he had felt a hole that pierced him from side to side. His head hurts, his muscles burn, and someone definitely screams in surprise because a bunch of disciples call out to Mu Qingfang and, damn, it's fucking chaos.

He's apparently been in a coma for the past eighteen long months since the Immortal Alliance Conference. A qi deviation? No one knew. It was as if he were just asleep, but nothing woke him. His vital signs were normal, low, but active. Except for Without-a-cure, there was nothing else in his spiritual veins, and Without-a-cure could not cause his current state.

Now, with a huge headache, Shen Qingqiu remembers. He remembers not only the last year and a half with Binghe in the Abyss, but his last years as Shen Qingqiu. And he remembers that, just after of pushing into the Abyss, the fucking System COLLAPSED! Damn SHITTY AI! And Shen Qingqiu believed that he was really going to deport him back to his body even if he pushed Binghe into the Abyss! ... But he hadn't. Just to a random demon's body until the system repaired itself.

The story he tells to Mu Qingfang about the qi deviation after Binghe was swallowed by the Abyss is as good as any. So, Mu Qingfang finally lets him rest until he recovers, and Shen Qingqiu accepts it.

During the Abyss, he had been... Free, somehow. He had no memory of being Shen Qingqiu, and he hadn't had to pretend to be anyone else. It had been the greatest freedom he had had since he arrived. Fuck, he has a lot to think about. How, above all, what the hell he's going to do now that, damn it, he knows Luo Binghe has somehow fallen in love with him. Fuck.

... Well, at least the other transmigrant on the scene will surely have something to say. Eighteen months in a coma! Ha! Shang Qinghua wouldn't even know what hit him.

[felikatze]

THE ISLANDER EUPHRASIE THEORY: THE CRACK HEADCANON THAT RUINED ME FOREVER

HI. you might know me as the kingphie divorce guy. or as the guy who wrote the 6k ludonarrative essay. Today i am going to introduce to YOU @the-bitter-ocean's fantabulous ISLANDER EUPHRASIE THEORY!!!

DISCLAIMER

This post contains SPOILERS for ALL of In Stars and Time. INCLUDING THE ACT 6 SECRET!!

You have been warned.

ALSO!!!!

The original headcanon/theory is VERY MUCH Ocean's fantastic work! I am merely rehashing all the arguments for it that have been laid out across various chats into one cohesive thing people can look at. Also citations! Who doesn't love those.

WHAT IS IT?

Well, it's quite simple. It's the theory that Euphrasie, love of my life and Head Housemaiden of Dormont, is from the forgotten island, same as Siffrin and the King.

(Yes, this is why divorce AU exists.)

WHY DO YOU EVEN BELIEVE THIS?

Quite a lot of reasons, actually.

It's really funny

Let us begin with: the basics.

SUPERFLOUS AESTHETIC DETAIL

HAIR COLOR

This is Euphrasie. She's very pretty. I love her.

You might notice several things about her, like her fantabulous white hair.

Well. What other characters have white hair?

You have guessed correctly. The ONLY OTHER white haired characters with actual artwork are Siffrin and the King, both from The Island The World Forgot. Thus we can assume that it's a typical hair color for islanders. Makes it stand out very much that Euphie also has it.

(What about the beautiful one- sh sh sh he's blonde. He's blonde.) (Well, actually, considering that they are the only one who acknowledges that Vaugardians are also weird, what if he's from the island as well? Checkmate atheists.)

EYELASHES

(EDIT!!!!! FINALLY PUTTING THIS ON THE MAIN POST!!!

Turns out I was incorrect in this. Some characters (Mira, Isa) also have eyelashes on SOME portraits. The mentioned chars r still notable for Always Having Em, + the Loop lashes are like, literally intended as plot twist foreshadowing, but, hey.

That's what you get for writing essays at 1am.

IN RETURN!!! Someone pointed out to me [i forgot who sorry] that Euphrasie's capelet.... has stars on it!! It's speckled like the starry sky!! Now isn't that a neat coinkydink.)

(Original text left up because I respect my past self's artistic vision. And his lunacy.)

Correct. Eyelashes.

Going back to our portrait of Euphie, she is drawn with precisely three eyelashes. Why is this notable? Because Siffrin and Loop are.

So much so, that being drawn with three eyelashes, is specifically an element of foreshadowing to Loop's true identity.

(squints at character portraits) literally no characters besides Siffrin, Loop, and Euphrasie have eyelashes? Oh my god. What? Nobody has eyelashes? What the fuck? (okay, some moments later: Mirabelle has eyelashes in some battle artwork, but these three are the only ones specifically with eyelashes in dialogue portraits, which is still incredibly odd.)

SPEAKING HABITS

(EDIT!!! Another Point that is Kind Of Off, in that other characters [e.g. Odile] also do this occasionally. Again, keeping the text for my creative vision.

In return I get to inform you that the King makes the "not so bright, Bright One" pun TWICE in different loops, thus implying the King likes puns. Take this as you will. That's been my psychic damage, buhbyeeee~)

Hey, so, you know when you talk to people in Dormont, a lot of the NPCS will have a nametag that just says "[something] One" right? Daydreaming One, Castle-Loving One, Beautiful One?

And I've seen people wonder, are these titles? Nicknames?

And I bring you this: Siffrin addresses these people with these epithets in his head, because they have no fucking clue what anyone's name is.

So Siffrin just naturally lapses into this style of nicknaming strangers.

Which two other people also do.

Bright one... ...... Do you remember? Traveling one! Are you done talking with your companions? Yes, wonderful, wonderful!

Funny little tidbit that these three characters all speak alike isn't it :)

Okay. With aesthetics out of the way, let's move onto the next tier of this iceberg:

THE MECHANICS OF FORGETTING AND BEING FORGOTTEN

I realize in the process of writing that we must outline the nature of the curse. What gets forgotten and what gets to stay?

The particularity that's important to us right now is: what people get forgotten?

All evidence points toward this: an entire person is only forgotten if they were physically present on the island when it vanished.

I'm pulling up two example cases to prove it: Siffrin and the Daydreaming One.

The thing with Siffrin is: we know he witnessed the exact moment the island vanished. And, very notably, Siffrin was in a boat.

You can get the dialogue that proves this only in ACT 2 in a secret room most people don't find on their first playthroughs, which is both very funny and very evil. Here's the dialogue.

Siffrin: "I ran away from home once!" [...] Siffrin: "And so I took our boat! Got to the beach, rowed away from the shore a bit. I was going to come back right away, I just wanted to scare my parents a bit!" [...]

Siffrin: "I started to row back towards the shore... And then, I... I... ..." Isabeau: ... Sif? Siffrin: (Woah! What?) "Um, yes?" Isabeau: Um... You were telling us how you ran away from home? Siffrin: "I... was?" Odile: You... Were. Bonnie: DID YOU FORGET WHAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT WHILE TALKING ABOUT IT?!?

Siffrin is from the island, but was not physically present when it disappeared. This resulted in Siffrin forgetting their entire identity, including given name and spoken/written language.

Additionally, this is confirmed via Word of God to be the exact moment the island disappeared, so here's proof I'm not reading into it:

Shoutout to bibliomaniac's insane google spreadsheet for the easily searchable screenshot. god bless. Brinny, ily.

On the other hand, with the Daydreaming One, we have proof of a person who is not originally from the island, but was physically on it at the time of disappearance.

Siffrin: "Don't you have a sister?" Daydreaming One: I... I don't? I just said I'm an only child, silly!

(For her to forget someone like her sister, so easily... Her sister must've traveled to...)

Secondly, we know that remnants of the island were not completely forgotten immediately.

Memory faded gradually, starting with the ability to still speak and think about it with accompanying headaches, until it ramped up in intensity and everything is simply gone.

The Sparkling Diary in the library is more or less proof. Memory of the island was gone, but... people still remembered that they forgot something. People still knew what they were talking about, (an island north of Vaugarde), just without the specifics.

"Urgh. Also, Dad noticed no one can say the name of the island north of here anymore?" "I tried to say it yesterday and I got like the WEIRDEST headache for HOURS."

And Odile also remarks the following

Odile: We also know that people could remember that country clearly, before.

This will be relevant later. Moving on.

CONTRIVANCES

THE HOUSE'S OBSERVATORY

SO. The House of Change of Dormont has this funny little room on the third floor. It's an observatory. To look at stars with. When entering this room for the first time, Mirabelle says this:

Mirabelle: What...? Was there a room like this in the House? Y-yeah, I remember! Someone was working here... Studying... They looked like... ... Um... Sorry, I can't remember.

This reveals to us several things:

This room is innate to the House, and not brought here by the King's weird redecorating

Someone from the House was using it for study

All memory of who or what was studying and being studied was erased alongside the island's existence

Of course we can say, "yo, what if Euphrasie was using this room and just forgot?" but that is. a headcanon. I ADMIT! It is a stipulation

However, I find the general presence of the Island written all over the House incredibly interesting.

Inside the Observatory, there's a pile of papers with messy handwriting. You can't read these in until ACT 4. Even in ACT 4, you can't read them. But you do learn what's written on them.

(A pile of papers.) (It looks like someone was trying to write your country's name.)

Inside the observatory is also a globe. Upon repeated interaction in... act 4, i think, you get this:

(You see a spot on the globe where the paint has started wearing out, like someone kept dragging their finger on it.) (You drag your finger there too.) (Erased. You almost want to look for lightless paint.)

BOOKS

During the various quests to discover the truth of the loops, you run into a lot of books, written in the forgotten language. Now, Dormont is not close to the island. Dormont is not close to the coast.

Bambouche is. That's why Bonnie has heard about the island before and knows it was a big deal - they lived really close to it.

Bonnie (and then1): I think, I think my village was really close to it!!! My sister said it was all everyone could talk about for weeks!!! Mirabelle (anxious1): That's so frightening... I'm glad that whatever happened, she didn't get caught up in it!

As we can see in this map, Dormont is in the southern half of the country, and very centrally at that, meaning it has basically maximum distance from all waters and ports. So why does this landlocked small town have so many books in this language?

These aren't just dry books, either. In Dormont's library, there's actually a translated version of volume 2 of The Cursing of Chateau Castle.

(You take the book out again.) (You can read its title, now...) (Your heart is beating, badump, badump, badump.) (It's...) (... A translated copy of "The Cursing of Château Castle", issue #2.) (You start laughing.)

CONCLUSION OF THIS SECTION

Islanders lived in Dormont. Maybe even multiple! We've established that whoever is in Dormont when it vanished would not simply disapper, instead

they forgot where they're from.

One day, the islanders in Dormont could no longer remember being anywhere but Dormont. Being anything but Vaugardian. The observatory fell into disuse, as the person studying there gradually forgot what they used it for, even as they desparately tried to hold onto it, boring holes into the globe, and scribbling its name over and over until its unintelligible.

And, in all likelihood, eventually that knowledge was just gone forever. They simply became part of Dormont, none the wiser to their own history.

Books slipped into cracks. Rooms fell into disuse. Nobody remembered to clean out the remnants.

Now. The real cinch of this.

Why, in particular, do I think Euphrasie is one of them?

Answer me this, then.

How does Euphie know what Wish Craft is?

1. How could she read it?

Euphrasie knew specifically that Wish Craft exists, when all books on it are written in a language nobody can read.

The book in the storage room? The diary in the room behind the star door? The book in the secret library? None of them are legible.

There are no legible records of Wish Craft.

2. What about the Favor Tree?

Euphrasie knew specifically that Wish Craft is related to the Favor Tree. It's also a Vaugardian practice to make requests of the Favor Tree, but they're just that - requests. Nobody thinks they actually have power.

Only Euphrasie does. She thinks it's the key to defeating the King.

(This is... A list of people who wished to save Vaugarde!!!) (You look around her desk, trying to find out more.) (Why would she record the people who wished to save Vaugarde?) (... There!!!) (It's a little notebook, jammed between random boring paperwork...) (In it, the Head Housemaiden talks about Wish Craft... How in the days before the King attacked, she noticed everyone was wishing to the Favor Tree for the same thing:) (To save Vaugarde.) (And she started wondering if this wish could be the key to the King's defeat, somehow...) (So the Head Housemaiden knew about Wish Craft!!!)

Except, when Isabeau talks about it...

Isabeau: Well, it's just a random big tree. But when you're a believer of the House of Change, the biggest tree in a certain place is called a Favor Tree! It's like, it’s the tree with the most power, so you can ask it things? As a favor?

He struggles a little to explain it. Almost, as though the tradition came from some other culture, imported into Vaugarde, and no one can definetely remember where it came from.

To note, here, is that the Favor Tree is hugely associated with Loop, and wishes in general. Wishing on a Favor Tree is such a hugely powerful ritual when executed correctly, that it caused the entire timeloops.

And I'm not even gonna break out citations to prove that Wish Craft is associated with the island. Come on. You know that. You played the game. It's required to beat the game.

If you haven't beaten the game, what the fuck are you doing here. Go back and play it, baka.

3. Something's breaking, failing, rotting

At the end of ACT 4, when Siffrin confronts Euphrasie about her knowledge of Wish Craft, Euphrasie is distinctly aware of this: the people of Vaugarde are wishing wrong.

It's true. All of Vaugarde wished to the Favor Tree, wished for us to be saved. We wished for a savior. A way for us to win against the King. And Wish Craft gave us the means to do it, didn't it? Made sure it'd work? [...] But... But something went wrong, didn't it? Something goes wrong, every time!!! [...] The only answer I can find... Is it's because we did it wrong. I don't know what happened But we must've done it wrong!!! None of us in Vaugarde knew the exact ritual, but-- But we must have done it so wrong, it broke, and it doesn't answer to us at all anymore!!! [...] I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!!!

There's only one person who knew how to make a Wish correctly. And he made it by sheer instinct. Something they could not place even if they tried. Just... a forgotten ritual, dredged back up by muscle memory. Something he's probably been doing since he's a little kid, something that's so backed into their habits they use Wish Craft to carve figurines out of wood.

To end, I leave you with this. Dialogue you get when you try to talk to Euphrasie again, before you talked to everybody else.

If you talk to me... REALLY talk to me... It's all over. What "it" is, I have no idea... I know... I can feel that... I couldn't change whatever comes next, even if I wanted to. But I know it is the will of the Change God. Or, no, perhaps... The will of something even bigger... ... Something will end, once you talk to me.

There is a way for Euphrasie to know all of this. To know Wish Craft exists, to be aware she's doing it wrong, but not knowing, remembering quite enough to get it right.

If she knew it all beforehand already.

[featherlesswings]

Hey, so if you’re a Critical Role fan & a fiber artist, especially if you have ADHD, and would like a project to work on while watching episodes, I have a fun proposal for you!

More than likely you’re familiar with the concept of Temperature Blankets by now. Well, someone in a crochet group mentioned making a Super Bowl “temperature” scarf, where she pre planned certain stitches and color changes depending on certain things that might happen during the Super Bowl, so she wouldn’t get bored.

My idea is designating your preferred colors and stitch changes based on possibilities of things that might happen during a Critical Role stream!

The list is long, so I’ll put it under a cut.

Critical Role “Temperature” style blanket

-Completely new Sam ad character

-Return of an old Sam ad character

-Uncomfy, cringe, or disgusting Sam ad

-new intro

-oneshot

-miniseries

Matt says:

-toothy maw

-obfuscate

-in the interm (interim)

-map comes out

-combat is initiated

-natural 1

-natural 20

-“that’s cocked”

-HDYWTDT

-“making my way” or the derivative “memawy” it has become

-“it’s been a while”

-“iiiit’s been” (indicating One Week by Barenaked Ladies)

-new song lyric reference

-PC flirts

-NPC flirts

-Sam’s character gets a crush

-Taliesin says “fuck it, let’s get weird.”

-Gilmore’s Glorious Goods is mentioned

-a new vendor character becomes instantly beloved

-guest player is brought out

-guest PC dies within minutes of being introduced

-Matt introduces a monstrous character and one or more player/PC declares them hot

-shopping trip

-new outfits/new character art revealed

-overnight camping during which Watch is Kept

-a new tavern/restaurant is introduced

-Matt accidentally gives someone or something a name that is immediately made perverse by the cast

-a word or phrase catches Laura’s dirty mind and she starts laughing

-guest GM

-slow travel (steeds, on foot, cart, etc.)

-modernized non magical travel

-Teleport, Dimension Door, Blink, Misty Step, or other form of magical travel is used

-secret backstory revealed

-the cast gets attached to a new NPC

-a combat specific ad is hastily read as Matt sets up combat

-Liam makes us cry

-Sam makes us cry

-“what is my mother’s name?” Is referenced

-illegible dice (especially Ashley)

[if you’d like to suggest additions, I’m open! If you make one, and want to post progress online, tag me! If you post on IG, tag me as (at)SparrowfeatherCrafts. These are meant to keep working on each Thursday, or if you’re binge watching, keep working on it as long as you like! You can choose color schemes inspired by characters, or whatever inspires you. Doesn’t have to be a blanket, either. I saw people making Temperature Snakes, and I’m sure it would be fun to see how long a snake, or scarf, or whatever you want to make you can achieve. Enjoy! I’m asking you to open your heart to chaos 💚 ]

[adainesfroggieboggy]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Caramelinda Rocks is a fucking amazing character. Her screen time is limited, and as an NPC, her story isn't the focus of the campaign, but I would read a whole novel about her alone.

She's introduced as an exasperated mother and wife who is struggling to maintain composure and control in a kingdom where every decision falls upon her - not her oldest sister-in-law like it was meant to, not her wide, and not her husband whose title and bloodline make him king. Not only is she the queen, she is the sole ruler of a country she was never meant to lead.

She was married to the love of her life and had become a princess. Her wife was a wizard, and she taught Caramelinda magic, then sacrificed herself and was killed in a hail of arrows. Of course Caramelinda hates the world outside of Candia! Of course she hates the Concord! The very foundation of the Concordant Empire is the war in which every country in Comida fought, and the war in which her wife was killed!

And because all of the Rocks sisters died in the war, she married her wife's younger brother to uphold the political agreements that her marriage created because even as a love match, a marriage between nobility is an intricate contract. She married her wife's younger brother. She is married to the only member of the House of Rocks who didn't die in The Ravening War. Her husband is a constant reminder of the people she has lost.

After the war is over, after producing two heirs, after ruling Candia for twenty years, her husband is revealed to be an adulterer and her homeland is at war once again. Her daughters, who she has tried her best to protect from this very thing, are on the front lines. Her daughters, who she has told over and over and over to be careful with magic, have embraced it. Her daughters, who she loves more than anything, are following in their aunts' footsteps, and she has to watch as they do so, and she loses one of them because of it.

She finds out her husband had a child with the woman from the Dairy Isles, and she finds out that this child suffered through a horrible upbringing while hers were raised comfortably in a castle. As if having her second marriage shattered and her first daughter killed isn't enough to deal with.*

Even though they win the war, even though she survives and the future of Candia is bright, she's suffered through so much in the span of the campaign. If you just consider the things that happened onscreen, she has a lot to process. Add her backstory to the pile?

There's very little I wouldn't do to see just her epilogue. The cast has said returning to Comida would be difficult because of how difficult the campaign was, but I want a season of Brennan playing one-person DnD where he is Caramelinda for the entire thing. I'm so aware it's impossible because of the timeline fuckery, but I want a Rocks Sisters campaign, and I want Caramelinda PCed because she's a queer candy lady and I want her to have her wife.

*I love Saccharina so much and her entire plotline is one of my favorite parts of the campaign, but speaking to Caramelinda's experience, this is another tragedy added to the damn pile.

[littlemisslol-fic]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65925274

Hello, I Love You (Won't You Tell Me Your Name?)

Dr. Ivo Robotnik does not need a babysitter. He is a genius. He has five PhDs. He does not need some government idiot looming over his back every second of every day, nor does he want one. When digging into the newest of Walter's sacrificial lambs, he finds something interesting. The previous agents assigned to Robotnik, while all having their own redacted parts in their files, had maybe a fifth of the ink coating Agent Stone’s. Robotnik can’t help but marvel at the number of things hidden. And, wildly, enough, how Stone’s first name is one of them.

First fic in a new fandom let's gooooo--the toxic old man yaoi took over my brain idk what happened

Title from Hello, I Love You by The Doors

Read on AO3 [Here]

Doctor Robotnik is just about at his limit with GUN’s pitiful excuses for agents.

Well. He was at his limit the first time Walters dared insist that he needed a babysitter in the first place, but with every meat-headed ape sent his way that already thin patience pulls all the tighter. He is a genius. He has five PhDs. He does not need some government idiot looming over his back every second of every day, nor does he want one. But Walters, that senile old fuck, had insisted, and thus the in-and-out rotation of bodyguards had begun.

Oh, for a while it was fun to send them packing. To scream and insult and throw things until even the most stoic of agents had run from the lab in a fit of tears. Gave the Doctor a well placed sense of pride to know that he could snap the best of the best over his knee without much effort.

But after a while even that had gotten boring. Enough that all that was left was a deep-rooted offence at having someone in his goddamn lab. When the last one had run out on a Friday afternoon, her hair on fire and her eyes spilling over with tears, he’d hoped that she would be the last. Surely Walters would take the hint soon—it had been over three years of this, he must be running out of meat for the grinder by now.

Alas. Robotnik shows up at his lab at seven am the following Monday and hisses at the sight of Walter’s suit-jacked back in front of his desk. Fucker. He’s so furious that he barely registers a second man standing in the lab, instead barrelling right for the person he knows is the cause of the headache steadily building in his skull.

“Walters,” Robotnik greets with barely contained venom, “what could you possibly want this early in the morning? Don’t you have some tax dollars to be wasting? Why stop short of throwing them in the Hudson?”

To his credit, Walters only frowns. “Doctor, good morning. After your performance on Friday, you may be unsurprised to learn that Agent Stannic has turned in her resignation.”

Oh, so that was her name. Whatever, irrelevant. Robotnik flashes a smile which only make’s Walters’ frown deepen. It makes the wrinkles on his forehead super pronounced, what an old clown.

“Well. She had a good run. What was it, three weeks?”

“Two.”

Ha. Hilarious! Robotnik’s face must convey his distinct lack of dismay; Walters’ nose curls and he looks at Robotnik like a disappointed grandparent. Not that he would know: he has no parents and decidedlyno grandparents to speak of. But this is what he assumes they would look like.

“But because of that we’ve had to find a replacement. Again.” Walters continues like he isn’t signing some poor guy’s death warrant with the fact. Not that either of them care much; they’ve been doing this dance for far too long for it to matter anymore. Walters sends agents in, Robotnik sends them back out. Give and return, endless. Like atrophy. Only Robotnik seems to acknowledge the futility of it.

“I’d like to introduce you to your new head of security,” Walters waves the latest schmuck forward. The Doctor had nearly forgotten he was there–as is, the guy looks like one of the most NPC fuckers to ever set foot in the lab.

Basic.

“Agent Stone,” the guy says. His voice is a smooth timbre. He holds his hand out like he expects a handshake, for Robotnik to play nice. How very pedestrian.

Boring.

“Didn’t ask, don’t care.”

Stone’s hand hangs awkwardly for a second more before dropping. Good. At least he’s not totally brain-dead. Though, from the way his stupid, basic face doesn’t seem to change at the obvious insult—that designation may yet change. Whether it’s due to Stone not caring, or the jab failing to land, is up for debate. Probably the latter. Robotnik doesn’t have much faith in the vacant brain of the man in front of him.

“Fair enough, sir. Either way, I look forward to working with you.”

Bland.

Robotnik doesn’t dignify that with a response. Instead he turns on his heel and stalks to his computer, flopping down into his chair and opting to get started on his day. Stone will be one more tally on the list of agents removed from his service within weeks; no point caring beyond that.

He hears Walters mutter something. Stone says something back, which causes the old man to laugh. Bastards, all of them. Government goons, brain-dead and bothersome, loyal to the concept of an idealized America while ignoring the one that actually exists.

Whatever. This new agent will be gone soon enough, just like the rest. Robotnik has always been rough with his toys. It will only take time before he breaks this one too. That’s all.

Just time.

>>><<<

Stone soon proves to be a tough egg to crack. Tougher than the rest, surprisingly, as they draw to the end of six months working together. Somewhere along the line he’s become part of the furniture, a working cog in the Doctor’s carefully crafted machine just as the Badniks are. The Doctor’s still not sure if he’s alright with this new development—but it’s not without its perks.

“Amazing, Doctor,” Stone marvels at the latest additive to Robotnik’s growing army. A more stealthy version of the original Badnik design, quieter, smaller, and with a basic cloaking program to ward off prying eyes. It rather reminds him of Stone, to be honest. Nothing fancy, but scarily efficient.

V3-R4, freshly painted and ready for her test run, hovers between them. She’s still in need of calibration, but he can leave that to Stone. For now, the more rudimentary tests can be done without such hassles.

“Only the best for good ol’ Uncle Sam,” Robotnik shrugs. There’s no need for Stone to know about his more secret agendas; world domination, while on the back-burner, is always in the cards. Once GUN runs out of usefulness, of course. Maybe when the funding dries up.

V3-R4 lets out a little chirp as she circles Stone, scanning him. The Agent patiently stands still and lets the bot do its thing. The red scanner pings once it’s done, displaying a holographic projection of Stone’s employee file.

Stone claps in glee, gentle and smiling wide. “Wonderful,” he coos at the Badnik. “Aren’t you a smart little thing?”

“Just like her daddy,” Robotnik boasts. He scans across the file, noting how much younger Stone looks in his employee photo, and zeroing in on the amount of blacked-out text there seems to be. He lets out a low whistle. “Damn, Stone, you’ve been a busy boy, haven’t you?”

“Hm?” Stone’s still caught up in petting V3-R4, not looking. Idiot. Robotnik takes the time to pull the projection from V3-R4 over to the main computer, still scrolling. There is so much blocked out it’s almost concerning. The previous agents assigned to Robotnik, while all having their own redacted parts in their files, had maybe a fifth of the ink coating Stone’s. Robotnik can’t help but marvel at the number of things hidden.

And, wildly, enough, how Stone’s first name is one of them.

He skips that fact for now. It’s nothing he hasn’t technically seen before, after hacking Walter’s computer for dirt on Stone the first week of them working together. Standard, at that point, to go snooping on each new agent assigned to him—but he’d only skimmed it all those months ago. Now this wasn’t some nameless agent in a sea of same-y faces.

Now this was about Stone, the man who’s faithfully served the Doctor for half a year. The same man who coos over the Badniks like they’re actual pets. The man who makes the best lattes Robotnik has ever had in his life. The man who keeps the lab spick-and-span despite Robotnik’s insistence on chaos.

No longer faceless. No longer a cog in the government’s machine. Now he’s swung close enough to enter Robotnik’s orbit, and that makes him special. And that makes his blocked out file more than a curiosity. It makes it a mystery.

“Doctor?”

Ah. Fuck.

“What? I’m busy thinking. Something you could do more of, you cretin.”

Stone only pauses. The insults never stick, sliding off Stone like water off a duck’s back. Before it had pissed Robotnik off to no end—now, it’s more of a relief. No eggshells between them.

“Would you like me to start making lunch now that V3-R4 is functional? I was thinking tacos?”

Ooo, tacos—NO, don’t get distracted!

“Riddle me this, my boneheaded barnacle,” he says instead. “What, exactly, would cause your file to look like this?”

He throws a hand up to the screen. Stone looks, puzzled for a moment, before clicking his tongue.

“This is my GUN file, doctor,” he says, like that explains anything. At Robotnik’s silence, he continues, “When I was transferred from CSIS to GUN they only were given the basic information. A lot of it is under national security.”

CSIS… which fucking country is that—wait—

“You’re Canadian?” Robotnik spits it like a slur. Because what the fuck?

Stone only shrugs. “I thought they told you. GUN is based in the UK, Canada’s part of the commonwealth. There’s a lot of collaboration—”

Robotnik’s brain is going to start eating itself. “Ap-bap-bap-bap-BAP!” he snaps, “give me the maple-flavoured file then, make it snappy.”

“I uh. I don’t have access to it, sir. I think they destroyed it when I transferred out.”

Fuck. Those poutine loving assholes.

Robotnik stews a little more, slouching in his chair. Stone merely lets him be, vanishing into the lab kitchen to start on the aforementioned lunch, while Robotnik types his way into undermining the Canadian Government’s online filing system. True to Stone’s predictions, any mention of the man is long gone. He’s been with GUN at least five years now, plenty of time for the Canadians to assume he’s not coming back.

Which he won’t be. Stone is barely even GUN’s now; he’s Robotnik’s agent and the Doctor isn’t letting him go any time soon.

But as he stares at the blocked out bar in the FIRST NAME box, he can’t help but wonder. When Stone comes back an hour later he’s still staring, still thinking.

“What is your first name?” Robotnik asks the air as Stone carefully puts a plate down on the desk next to him. Robotnik snatches a taco and shoves half of it in his mouth, trying not to look excited. Damn, these are good.

The Agent blinks at the question. “Mine?”

“No, the other idiot in the room with us.”

Stone only smiles faintly at the jab. There’s a split second of silence before the man finally responds.

“What’s yours?” he asks, which—hey! That’s not fair! When Robotnik splutters, spewing taco bits everywhere, Stone manages to vanish back into the kitchen with V3-R4 hot on his tail. Bastard. It’s only once he manages to choke back the taco in his lungs that he realizes that Stone hadn’t answered his question. He turns back to the monitor and grumbles.

Interesting. Further research needed.

>>><<<

For a while he’s content to let the mystery lay dormant.

Two years go by faster than a blink. Somehow Stone becomes much more than a cog in the machine—he becomes vital, almost as important to the lab’s functioning as the Doctor himself. Somewhere along the line they grow so comfortable with each other that it becomes hard to tell where Stone ends and the Doctor begins.

He should be more concerned about how close Stone has gotten. He should be wary, should keep the man under surveillance and make sure he’s not running back to Walters with Robotnik’s secrets, or to the Russians, or whoever the fuck else would pay top dollar for the little bits floating around in the lab. He should be paranoid.

Should be.

But he isn’t.

“Hammer,” Robotnik grunts, holding out a hand without looking. The weight of the hammer’s handle slaps into his palm not a second later and he can continue without interruption. He gently taps a wayward bracket back into place before holding the hammer back out. It vanishes from his hand the same way it came.

With the bracket peeled back he can finally get to the problem of the day—a badnik had taken a rather nasty hit during a recon mission, and had knocked her circuit board lose. Silly little thing. Robotnik clicks his tongue at the sight of the circuit board hanging freely in the shell and carefully moves it back into place.

“Flux.”

A practised hand that isn’t his darts in and runs a thin paintbrush of flux along the broken joint. Excellent.

“Iron.”

The soldering iron is considerably lighter. No slap. Just gentle pressure of weight. If he weren’t wearing his control gloves their fingers would have brushed. The hand returns and takes over holding the circuit board, gentle and precise. With both hands free Robotnik is quick to snag the rolled up soldering metal that lays next to him. He holds it lightly and runs a thick bead of solder between two components. Easy-peasy.

“That should do it,” he says, leaning back and cracking his spine loudly.

“Excellent work, Doctor,” Stone agrees. The agent moves his hands back from where they’d been holding the circuit, smiling widely. “She looks good as new.”

His assistant is perched on a stool next to Robotnik’s office chair. He’s as at attention as one can be, looking more like a schoolboy than a government attack dog. If Robotnik were a more sentimental man he’d even call it endearing. As he is, it’s more just cursory than anything.

He snaps the maintenance panel back into place and powers the Badnik back on. She runs through her BIOS with a series of clicks and whirs before finally beginning to float once more.

“Good morning, baby,” Robotnik coos, “did you have a good nap?”

The Badnik chirps again, flipping once and displaying a heart in her iris. Adorable. Stone makes a suitable noise of affection at the antics, especially as the Badnik approaches him for the customary pets. He does so easily, happy to provide.

But that is the crux if it, isn’t it? Stone is always happy to provide. Happy to make lattes, and lunches, and pass the doctor his tools for hours on end. In return all he’s ever asked for is a place to set his coffee machine and the allowance to bring in a few snake plants to liven things up. He treats the Badniks with the same care that Robotnik does. He calls them she, same as Robotnik. Hes essential. He’s important.

And it’s then that the Doctor realizes how deep in shit he actually is.

Because there is so much that he doesn’t know about one Agent Stone. He hadn’t known he was Canadian. He does know Stone’s favourite colour (purple), but not where he went to school. If he went to school at all. He knows what the man takes in his coffee, but not his first name. Robotnik knows so much about who Stone is, but functionally nothing about who he was. How he got where he is.

“I’ll start putting away the tools,” Stone says somewhere to the side. Robotnik feels a quick kiss pressed into his hair, light and casual, before the presence of the agent wanders away with an armful of assorted tools.

Ah. Yeah that was another added element that Robotnik hadn’t accounted for yet. Sue him for being a lecherous old man, or whatever—his assistant is a hot piece of very consenting ass, and Robotnik isn’t about to pass that up. However that does throw the gaps in his Stone-Lore knowledge in an even worse light. Sure, they’ve been regularly engaging in a situationship for well over a few months now, but fuck if Robotnik can tell you anything about the guy beyond the surface level.

Stone returns and cuts the brooding short. His smile lights up the room as it always does, so shiny and bright, that Robotnik can’t help but return it. The Badniks chirp, floating around Stone and demanding attention. He’s not sure when they became as attached to Stone as their creator, but by god they’d managed it.

“Sir?”

Shit, caught staring.

Robotnik only blinks, like he’d meant to get caught. “I’m wondering something,” he says. Stone tilts his head like a confused puppy. God damn it, it’s like he was built in a lab to be frustratingly endearing.

“What is it, Doctor? Can I help?”

A million questions flit through Robotnik’s mind, fast as lightning and twice as bright. Who were you before this? How did you learn to do the things you do? Where did you come from? Why are you still here, staying with me? What were you like as a kid? What are your hobbies? Fears? Dreams?

And, most damningly of all:

What is your first name?

They all press against the back of his teeth, demanding. Begging. But Robotnik doesn’t grant them freedom, instead only pursing his lips and settling his face into its normal, sour frown.

“Probably not,” he says snidely, “It’s to do with the sound canon from a few months ago. Wondering if I should have upped the frequency for maximum hearing damage in the victims.”

Stone’s face falls into a similarly ponderous expression. “I’m sure you had your reasons, Doctor. Too high a frequency would add to the potential for friendly fire, after all.”

That is, in fact, exactly why he’d made that choice. His sycophant isn’t as brain-dead as he’d feared, all that time ago. A thing Robotnik finds himself quietly thankful for. It’s a refreshing change to have someone that, while he may not be totally able to keep up, is at least able to ride the waves behind the Doctor’s genius without trouble.

It’s less an correspondence and more a synergy. A tandem.

Partnership.

Fuck. Fuck, he’s losing his goddamn mind!

Robotnik peers back to his desk, to the next project. He needs to get himself together; no amount of handsome agents or perfect lattes will ever change that their situationship will remain just that. His mind, as fixated as it is, must be reeled in and calibrated.

Stone’s still thinking about the sound canon. It’s obvious in the way he bites at his lip and tinkers with a loose screw on the desk.

“Remind me next time to double the damage,” Robotnik says finally. “I want to see those worms squirm, regardless if the idiots firing it can’t keep out of the way.”

Stone’s smile is blinding.

“Of course, Doctor.”

Fuck.

>>><<<

Early mornings in the lab are more than a little dangerous.

Robotnik only just rouses at the feeling of warmth leaving his bed. Most of him is content to continue to doze, soft and serene in the space between sleep and consciousness, but the lack of a familiar body next to him is enough to keep him from slipping back into sleep.

He stays a while longer, chasing the last dredges of Stone’s body heat, before the smell of cooked bacon wafts into the bedroom and finally convinces him into leaving the warm comfort of the bed.

Stone’s probably been awake for a while; usually the man hits the GUN employee gym first thing before making breakfast. Robotnik must have been more tired than he thought if he slept in that long. Ah, well. It’s a Saturday, technically they’re on overtime regardless. Best part of leading your own department of two people—you’re in charge of your own schedule to the bitter end.

The kitchen smells amazing when Robotnik enters. True to prediction Stone is dancing his way through making breakfast, the sizzle of bacon and french toast well underway.

Six years of knowing each other (four of which had seen their situationship develop into such smoochy feelings that could only be called love) had seen them well. Stone’s just as perfect as he was the day Robotnik met him.

Robotnik drops down into his chair. It creaks ominously under his thrown weight. A perfectly crafted latte appears under his nose, set forth by Stone. It has an adorable little drawing of Robotnik’s tired face in it, complete with an Ebeneezer Scrooge type night cap. If this is how Stone sees him, it’s a wonder the man can get out of bed at all.

Sometimes he wonders about that. How Stone sees him. The man’s never faulted in his loyalty, nor his devotion, no matter what kind of scenario they find themselves in. Robotnik knows how he sees Stone, resolute and solid, but…

They don’t even know each other’s first names.

But what are names in place of six years of devotion? Of over half a decade of partnership? What does it matter that he doesn’t know Stone’s first name when he knows the man better than he knows himself?

Robotnik sips at his latte. Does Stone care? Should he?

His sycophant whistles quietly at the stove. Stone’s always so happy in the kitchen, messing around with his recipes to his heart’s content—Robotnik knows he must look the same peering into the guts of whatever mechanical bastardry he’s bringing to life that day. The joy of unleashed passion. Or whatever.

Stone scoops the last piece of french toast out and sets it on a plate before sliding the pan over to an unused burner. He sets the plate, stacked high with delightfully fluffy breakfast delights, down on the table along with a bottle of real maple syrup. Robotnik hadn’t known there was such a thing as fake maple syrup, but apparently having a Canadian in the house came with a very vested interest in the authenticity of breakfast sweetener.

He’s getting off topic.

His agent presses a kiss to the side of his head again. The man sits down as they finally start to eat. It’s sickeningly sweet. Just like Stone, really. God, he really is down bad as the kids say.

Because Stone’s… everything. He’s the floor beneath Robotnik’s feet, the sky above his head. The wind in his sails and the fire in his heart. All consuming, belonging to Robotnik in a way no one ever has. For all Stone is the verbal one about his adoration it is decidedly not one-sided.

And perhaps it’s because it’s early. Perhaps it’s a lapse in judgment. Perhaps it’s some misfired synapse in his brain, but before Robotnik can stop himself he’s opening his mouth and breaking the comfortable quiet between them. Stone’s voice echoes in his mind.

What’s yours?

“Ivo,” he says suddenly, impulsively.

There’s a pause in the air. Stone’s hands still from where he’d been spooning cubed cantaloupe onto his own plate. His brown eyes are narrow for a moment, before widening in realization.

“Sorry, Doctor?”

Robotnik swallows past the lump in his throat. “Ivo,” he repeats. “My first name is Ivo.”

Stone blinks rapidly. Cataloguing the information, committing it to memory. There’s a split second where Robotnik worries—about what, he can’t tell you—but it’s quickly dispelled as Stone leans over and presses a soft kiss to Robotnik’s cheek.

“Ivo,” he purrs. It’s a good thing the Doctor is sitting, as his knees immediately turn to jelly. Stone only smiles, keeping close to Robotnik’s ear. His voice is borderline sultry, seductive. “Nice to meet you, Ivo,” he coos, “my name is Aban.”

Aban.

Somewhere in the back of Robotnik’s brain, a puzzle piece slides into place—but it’s more than that. A warm flutter builds in his chest, one he’s only really felt when Stone cracks right through his walls and offers such trust and love that it sets Robotnik’s entire chest on fire. The feeling of being trusted, inexplicably, with a secret piece of Stone not meant for anyone else.

Aban.

It suits him. Water, clarity, lucid. Fluid and ever adaptable, yet steady enough to wear down even the strongest cliffs. Collected and focused. Yes, it suits his agent very well. Robotnik meets Stone’s grin with one of his own.

“Aban,” he says. Stone, minutely, shivers. Excellent.

“Ivo.”

“Aban.”

“Ivo.”

For some reason they start to giggle. Stone presses another kiss to Robotnik’s cheek, more sappy than before. The Doctor is quick to snag him by the chin and pull him into a proper kiss, one that’s worthy of the man in front of him. He tastes like cantaloupe and cinnamon sugar.

When they finally break it’s easy to sink back into his chair. Stone’s watching him through his eyelashes, carefully casual. Something in Robotnik’s chest settles, a puzzle solved, a piece slotting home. Just another string to tie them together.

And, in another four years, when they’ve finally given up the trappings of the American government and struck out on their own path, shed the skin of propriety and adopted the cloak of evil deeds, Ivo is happy to be the first to sign their marriage certificate.

Full name and all.

[rowenllyn]

Batfam meets Carrie Kelley

Ok, I need the main timeline Batfam to meet Carrie Kelley.

And not in a writers just throw all the different timeline robins into one family, or a crack social media fic. I need proper post-Dark Knight Returns Carrie to universe travel or something and meet this Bruce Wayne and his family. Like, her life is wild. She is a pre-Tim Robin. She got introduced before Jason died?! Her characterisation is built up off Dick, off the original concept of Robin, as a symbol and nothing more, not really a mantle, but an idea. She is a whole different kettle of fish from the modern Batfam and modern interpretation and retconning and rewriting of the Robins, the Robin mantle and the Batfam, not even getting into the fact she's from the 80s. She actively lives in the 80s, like Reagan is president, modern technology is non existent and all that.

Like, from an outside perspective, Carrie's Robin is the leader of a guerrilla paramilitary Batman cult and vigilante organisation, with hundreds of "Sons of Batman". And sure, Bruce is behind the scenes, teaching and truly organising, being supported by pirate-coded, one-armed Oliver, but no one else knows that. To the outside world? Carrie's the big boss. And she's this tiny little pipsqueak in scaly shorts who just so happens to swear like a sailor or a goon on Gotham Docks. It's hilarious. The Batfam would be so confused and concerned about this girl. She has almost no training before going out, she literally got boot-camped in the like 2 weeks Bruce had between meeting her for the first time, where she proceeded to jump in the batmobile, set his arm and sass him, and him then having to go fight Superman and have a heart attack and fake his death.

And that's the other part! They would lose their mind about what the hell is going on in her world?? Vigilantism got outlawed?! People got forced to retire, leave the planet/country or face consequences. Oliver lost an arm?? Clark is an arm of the United States forces, acting as an attack dog pointed wherever Reagan wants?? They fought and Bruce had a heart attack and died?! Well he didn't stay dead, which is actually in character, but what the fuck Carrie?? And I just need her to be so nonchalant about everything that happened to her but also absolutely amazed by the technology and how many family members Bruce has. Also, seeing Bruce young is wild. She only knows old man grump Bruce, the true I work alone Batman. Seeing this Bruce and his family would be wild to her.

Also, the way that she would react to Bruce would be so interesting. Cause all of his kids are in fact his kids, yeah, even Steph to some extent, but Carrie? She's his Robin first, his student second. And his child never. Can you imagine the "good soldier" conversation? Whether that be her mentioning him saying it to her or her finding Jason's plaque (which by the way was Alfred's doing, which adds so many more layers to it) and being all like, awww it's lovely. And everyone else is horrified, including Bruce, cause he's realised that that is not how he should compliment his children and that is not a healthy means of declaration of care. But for Carrie that is true and it is what she is and she appreciates it. Because she is not his kid, and I don't think she really wants to be, she has parents, though they clearly don't pay too close attention to her if she's able to jump out windows and fight crime regularly, but she still has existing parents that fill that position in her life and Bruce is much more a martial arts sensei or a favourite strict teacher to her.

Like, she cares about the dude and all, but when they're sat around and Dick or one of the family members starts prodding Bruce about feelings and his personal life or whatever, she gets awkward, cause that's not her business. That's like seeing your teacher at the supermarket. She sees Bruce in the cave, during training and when he's giving advice, he's not a real person with a life, he's an NPC in her life, she jokes that he already fulfilled his dead sensei anime plot device when he faked his death for Superman, so now she sometimes ignores him when he's being pigheaded and pretends he's a ghost. BUT! That would be so confusing for the Batfam, cause yeah, he's their teacher too, their trainer and mentor, but he's also a parental figure in their lives, there's more to him and how they perceive him and having one without the other would confuse them so much. So when they see she's awkward about him being emotionally open they take it as a sign that they need to try hard and bring her into the fold, teach her how to get her Bruce to open up and she's just fully like, nuh huh, absolutely not, I don't wanna know any of that.

I just really want Carrie to be explored more in canon and in the fandom, beyond just an easter egg appearance, she's so interesting and so underexplored.

[bananathebookworm]

TLOVM S3 Eps 4-6 Ramblings

Ep. 4

Ashley is just... so good at what she does...

Hell is disgusting. I love it.

I know splitting the party is almost always a bad idea in D&D, but I really like how they've done it in this series. It helps to get through so many important plot points. (And also makes it easier on the animators to have less characters involved in each scene.)

The concentration check fail to drop their disguises is a nice touch

I like that we get more about the NPCs stories simply because they introduced things like EXU later. They expanded on lore that didn't exist when this campaign was originally played and it's really cool to see. I'm only disappointed we didn't get to see Senokir.

Loving this card game between Pike and Zerxus.

I really want Bell's Hells to go to the Hells and talk to Zerxus. I mostly just want Luis back at the table. Let him take over like Abu did.

Also the Aabria, Brennan, and Matt in the stained glass pictures while Zerxus is retelling of his friends during the Calamity is phenomenal.

"Do you want your family here?" Damn Pike. Get him.

"We all have blindspots." I refuse to believe that wasn't a deliberate reference to Ashley's show. Especially after Scanlan's reference to Phoenix Wright a few episodes ago.

I need a mini-series of Zerxus life in Hell please.

Ep. 5

Kima and Allura being badass is always a plus. I want a mini-series of their adventuring days.

I wish they had included Scanlan slaying the pit fiend with Mythcarver. It was one of the only times Scanlan used his sword and we got one hell of a cutting words song from it. And also no one but Keyleth saw his victory which would've added to the "Scanlan is not appreciated enough" story.

"Let's get weird." I love that they throw in the various player phrases too. Not just the one-liners from characters, but the actual quirks of the players at the table that span all characters.

Kaiju battle! The only thing missing is Pike's Divine Intervention punching Vorugal out of the sky.

The Magnificent Mansion baby!

Ep. 6

Chateau Shorthalt! Love it.

Okay, but the cannonball contest is one of my favourite downtime moments. I know it was probably passed over for time, but I'd love to see it animated.

Oh god, the bath scene. I knew they wouldn't pass it over just because of how everyone reacted to that moment, but I wasn't sure how they were going to do it. Welp. Here we are. Fucking hilarious as always.

I love these moments of character bonding so much. I know we can't have as many of them in the series as in the game, but it's good that they include at least a few.

Oh this scry is rough... Scanlan is not well.

Well shit. I didn't think he'd leave at that moment. Though I do like that Pike both knows and encourages it because Ashley wasn't there for this whole thing. Sam said that if she'd been there Pike would've been the only one that could've convinced him to stay. I'm really curious if we're still going to get the "What is my mother's name?" breakdown.

Are Kash and Zahra going to return? I know they were there for at least part of this lead up to Thordak.

I really love how these different battles are choreographed. I love that they can combo and support each other's abilities now that initiative order doesn't need to be tracked.

General

I'm really enjoying this season so far. So many important character things are happening both independently and as a group.

I don't necessarily love the pacing, but I also understand that condensing a 500 hour campaign into seasons that are about 4.5 hours long total is a fucking behemoth of a task. Like even if we go two more seasons, that's only 20-25 hours total. So much has to be cut and reworked to make a coherent story.

[kinopioa]

Welp bored, gonna catch up for IDW

Issue 76

So we begin with...this spat

Technically they wouldn't even know this, they were locked up the entire time by Clutch when that news was revealed. Meta writing strikes again

Regardless, there's no reason for them to be mad. Sonic saved people's lives again

And yet

"In cahoots" bro Espio, you really shouldn't know this. And Sonic, why are you telling them what Amy and Tails obviously did given those two rescued them?

This summarizing would work for literally anyone not actually in that arc

First, Jewel's fault for the Restoration when the ocean was RIGHT THERE

2nd, Phantom Rider didn't do shit till Mimic stirred shit. Like Sonic went out of his way in disguise to save people fucked over by Surge and Mimic

But instead of noting these points, Flynn instead opts for Sonic to...dismiss and ignore cuz IDW Sonic is an asshole that can't be held accountable for anything

And then of course, Clutch is a D tier villain. There's 0 reason to make him seem more important as is

And then of course, more meta strictly to instigate bs drama. Sonic should not know that Eggman tricked the Chaotix in Heroes

Goodness I hate how 180 Sonic is interacting with them after Evan stopped writing, this pettiness is lame

And now Silver and Blaze looking at the Garden

This is arguably the least wooby Flynn has ever written him

Unfortunately for readers, they'll only be aware of 2 time travel instances in this comic, the latter Silver *still* hasn't returned from for no real reason. Rivals, Rivals 2, Colors DS (which isn't even a ruined future), and Forces do not apply unless you have prior knowledge of the franchise

...despite how this comic immediately contradicted Forces and frequently gets events wrong for sass/drama

Oh cool, Flynn finally is aware his fav food is apples

Ah fuck, he'll randomly obsess over them and act like he was only recently introduced to them...

Where's that Twitter post bout Dick Grayson and cereal?

Anyway

Nothing's really implied she isn't in games. In Rush Cream hugs her after the last boss her story, and the olympics have Amy girl out with Blaze accepting it

Flynn genuinely seems to not accept that Blaze's char arc already is mostly finished, I've noted this before for the 2023 annual

This shit looked like a mall earlier issues, but more importantly, there's no way you had this "home base" apply to the ENTIRE world for services post Forces. This comic gets me for how artificially important this is

Not to mention this oddly is the first we see mention of other regional offices, like wow...before it was just 2-3 towns

Reminder that post war restoration genuinely was forgotten for NPCs after Zombot until the 5th anniversary 4 page comic randomly. And it appears to still be outside the offices...

Shout outs to Aaron, he's doing heavy lifting to make Silver not seem wooby. Even though the Diamond Cutters never should've talked down to him like he isn't experienced

Genuinely overqualified...

Like really, none of you are helping in the supposed other regional centers? You're just pouting?

Really?

Goodness

And then Jewel admits her insecurities

First Lanolin, no it fucking wasn't

It's ironic cuz Jewel suspected that Clutch was off the more she interacted with him, even being one of the main planners to stop him. But that'd give too much credit to Jewel

But regardless this entire thing is stupid. There's clearly no need for the Restoration after the Zeti, there was no reason the Chaotix never told anyone about Clutch, no reason to do a lot of shit in IDW outside false drama

Tangle wraps her tail and reassures her that if it wasn't for her, most would give up on Tangle. Which...I mean...

But anyway, fake apology

Note how she isn't specifying what she actually did. Just how others reacted

Also weird to wait and apologize now. Not directly to Whisper earlier, it just HAD to be a show after Jewel stated frustration

I know what you are

So she proposes to work in a town, which Jewel immediately calls out on

Damn girl, couldn't even lie fully. I actually like this humility, but I know Lanolin will be bossy Sally 2.0 again later, or just nonexistent after this :/

I hate to be cynical, but that actually might be what's being set. They're disbanding

They're only disaster magnets cuz y'all are mischaracterized to push bs drama frequently

Anyway they have a sappy "see ya later instead of a good bye" and go on their ways

And then it ends with Sonic and Chaotix...honestly not doing much yet working to start a search. For again, a D list villain that really is nothingburger

They then leave

The letterer had fun with fonts...

SONIC: ComiCraft Killjoy W5 Italic (stretched further)

CHAOTIX: Fight To The Finish Rough BlamBot Bold

Rest: ComiCraft Doohickey Lower W05 Regular (stretched for bottom, curved for Next time)

Overall, meh. It's a filler issue effectively, but it's clear Ian doesn't collab as well with Evan as he stated

[jainydoe]

rook questionnaire

tagged by the wonderful, magnificent, the amazing @emmg truth be told I also don't care about my rook but hopefully showing mine will make you show me yours

this is claudia

1: Where in the Thedas is your Rook from? nevarra!

2: What is your character's alignment? uhhhh is true neutral an answer? I think she's the type to follow rules until they don't suit her

3: Race and subclass? rogue elf

4: If your Rook was a companion, where would they be found? excellent question, maybe either at like a museum in Orlais that they're casing or a casino? very danny ocean

5: What emotion did they usually pick? mm I think when chatting with companions they'll make jokes, but with strangers just the neutral polite option - very rarely gruff

6: What companion are you platonically close with? neve and bellara, mainly because my first rook was close to davrin and lucanis

7: Romantically close with? emmrich obviously cmon

8: Who are they suspicious of? solas and that dude who introduced harding to that lady? you follow?

9: Does your Rook get along with their chosen Faction? oh yeah, she's a nevarran darling, just too slippery sometimes

10: Are they proficient in playing any instruments? never considered it. maybe piano?

11: Weapon of choice? ooh I think she's more comfortable as a ranger but happy to go melee when it comes to that

12: What is their orientation? mm I would say straight but comfortable messing around with whoever joins in

13: What are their thoughts on killing? Is it a necessary evil or do they enjoy it? ooh. I think my first rook enjoyed it but claudia doesn't really care

14: What hobbies does your Rook have? probably going to ballets, painting, playing cards, I imagine dancing is what made her such a talented rogue

15: What NPCs do they like? Which one's do they dislike? ooh I think she probably has the same reservations about Taash originally that emmrich has but they find common ground. I think she's also like cordial with antoine and evka but is very happy to leave the wetlands

16: Do they have a favorite creature in the Thedas? the fat crocodile things in the wetlands - only good thing there

17: Do they enjoy life as an adventurer? I think it suits her devil-may-care attitude but she's a creature who enjoys her comforts. if she has a lighthouse to return to she's fine

18: What would your Rook be doing if they weren't recruited by Varric? probably hustling idiots with the help of spirits or shacked up with some artist

19: How do you think they'll meet their end? woof, maybe an old enemy come to pay their debts? poisoned tea type shit? but also maybe she'll just fall off a cliff who knows

20: Would they side with Solas or fight him? don't know yet!

21: What is your Rook's favorite ability? ooh probably the charged up shield break, or that spin move flurry of knives

22: What languages is your character fluent in? ok yeah here we go, definitely antivan, common of course, elvish, orlesian, and I think she studied tevene as like an extra curricular in youth

23: What do they do after an absolute crisis? smoke and take a bubble bath

24: Does your character believe in the afterlife? I think she's agnostic but wants to believe, giving her nevarran upbringing

25: What specialization best represents your Rook? not sure how to answer this?

26: What animal best represents your Rook? ooh. maybe like a persian street cat. something you know once belonged somewhere but now is a creature of the night to be feared

27: What was their life like before the events of Veilguard? I think she was a high-level thief

28: Is your character the de facto leader of the party? Or do they consider someone else to be the leader? I think she's the "leader" but doesn't care if someone feels passionately about specific aspects. that being said, she's never worked in a team before but knows jobs can go awry when there's a fucked chain of command so she always makes sure plans are clear, even if they're not plans she came up with

29: If you could choose a different faction for your Rook, which one would they have joined and why? probably the crows. just suits her skillset

30: What's your favorite thing about your Rook? she's ultimately kind. I find her amiable and lovely

this was fun I didn't know all this random stuff about my rook thanks for tagging me emm. I actually do wanna know about yours but will also tag @farore05 @caffeinatedmunchkin and @eavangeek because you're all writers I really love the work of and would love to get to know better!!!

[merlinfromberlin]

Theoretically, if I ever were to consider writing a TF One Shattered Glass retelling/continuation, I would definitely base it off of Animal Farm.

A few more details/ideas below the cut bc of TF1 spoilers.

Also, it's been a while since I've last read Animal Farm so I'm sorry in case I got any names wrong/am a bit wonky on the plot. I don't have my copy with me right now, so I can't look any of it up.

Characters

Quintessons = Humans Sentinel = The Farmer Orion = Napoleon D-16 = Snowball Elita-1 = The third pig (?) Various miners = the other animals

First Half of the Movie

The first part of the movie would largely stay the same except that Orion is not as naive or nice. Instead, he's clearly power hungry, he saves Jazz not bc he cares about his co-worker/friend dying but bc Jazz will be in his debt, he's looking for the Matrix not bc he wants to help the miners but bc it will make him more powerful and maybe even allow him to overpower Sentinel.

I think I'd even keep D's darker moments - he can still want to kill Sentinel, but I don't think he'd try to kill Starscream anymore. Mostly bc the High Guard's motto has changed to sth like "Together We Are Strong" (no, that's not a quote from Reinhardt in Overwatch - you are imagining things). Not yet sure if it's him or Orion executing Sentinel.

Pretty sure I would have them abandon Bee (who is slightly more bitter and jaded than in the movie) in Sublevel 50, though. Maybe it's even B-127 who wants to go back bc he is afraid of the things (punishments) that may be awaiting him in the outside world and they just let him, Orion maybe even convinces him that it's better to stay safe down there. This way, he has one less competitor for power. Then they move on and never think about it again. D might remember him later, once he's Megatron and banished and go back to get him bc he realises that that was very fucked up. But tbh. as much as it hurts my heart to treat my blorbo like that, I think it would be the best statement for the story if B just vanished from the story and we never get to see him again. Because this time they (Orion) are not out to actually improve stuff. They just want to change who's in power.

Rest of the plot till they return to Iacon stays largely the same for now.

Some more plot points:

The uprising of the miners/Orion leading them into battle? That's the Great Battle between Animals and Humans.

Sentinel's execution? That's the animals banishing the humans from the farm.

Orion receiving the Matrix ? That's the pigs taking control of the political system of the farm bc they are "best suited" to it. All seems to be fine and dainty for a bit. :) (Not yet sure how Orion would receive the Matrix. Not yet sure if he actually even gets it. If he does, it's not almost sentient like it is in the movie where it only bonds with good leaders. Instead it is just a pure power-up. Instead of Megatron, Orion gets the transformation/power-up scene.)

All the miners receiving T-Cogs? First Liberation of the Animals. All Animals Are Equal.

Optimus banishing Megatron (would happen later than in the movie - only after the first functionist rules have been introduced)? That's Napoleon banishing Snowball. We don't see Megatron (or the High Guard) again for the rest of the story.

Some more:

Not yet entirely sure what I would replace the windmill with. Maybe some sort energon refectory/distribution system.

The everchanging/vanishing rules on the farm? Some animals are more equal than others? That's OP and his governement slowly introducing more and more functionist rules.

It ends, rather suddenly, when one day one of the miners realises that oh damn, OP is barely distinguishable from Sentinel. Except instead of cogless miners we now have Functionism.

Maybe there is another racing scene with two new miners (Hot Rod, anyone?) And someone, maybe Jazz or a random NPC we met in the first chapters/during the first racing scene is like: Huh, when did we start needing miners again?

And that's it.

Maybe, if I'm weak, there'd be an epilogue/additional oneshot where we get to see B-127, Megatron & co. again and learn what happened to them. But at the same time, I think that would dramatically weaken the story. + It would be depressing af bc they are not in a good place.

[commanderhorncleaver]

18 and 5 for Gauis and Rytlock? (love oc/npc pairings!!) or 11 and 20 for Euryale/Bellatrix (euryale mention >:D)

Belatrix/Euryale!!!!

I don't know if I've even officially introduced Bela here yet, thank you for the opportunity, I know it's fun seeing someone playing with the same npc as you! To be brief, she's my alt-commander, Blood legion daredevil with some legion specific headcanon hangups!

Euryatrix

11. Have they ever hurt each other, be it physically or emotionally, intentionally or accidentally?

Now uh, Belatrix is transfem, and in particular, only comes out during LWS2, specifically after Omadd's Machine. Her relationship with Euryale, though founded on genuine affection, is also based in Euryale being the only one who "knew" about it for a while-- and a lot of this was expressed through manners of "males, am I right?" The point being that Bela had a tendency to treat Euryale's advances as satisfying her end of an exchange to make Euryale's continued emotional support "valid". Because of these expectations, things eventually begin to sour as Bela tries to fulfill her self-actualization--another big reason being Bela coming to terms with the fact that she's straight.

20. What's something they'd change about their partner?

Difficult question, but I imagine Euryale would fucking kill for Belatrix to be more decisive, and vocal about it--with her, with anyone.

Belatrix can't really answer that question.

Gailock!

5. Is the relationship living up to their initial expectations?

No <3. Currently, I do like to imagine that Gaius and Rytlock have reconnected; Rytlock's coming and going to and from the Black Citadel, Gaius being more of an office worker what with HGO, they see each other somewhat often, they interact a lot professionally. And so Gaius invites Rytlock to hang out recreationally.

18. What was the lowest point for them as a couple?

I'd say their lowest point comes a long time before they actually "break up"-- Heart of Thorns opens, and Rytlock returns from the Mists, having been gone for around a year and a half; Gaius jumps for an explanation, and.... Rytlock rebuffs him. In slight departure from the canon interaction, Rytlock snarks him and, referencing Gaius's own mist-hopping abilities (he's not a revenant but has a fancy magic dagger attached to his soul) asks, "what's the matter, mad you aren't the only one with mist magic?"

Gaius effectively doesn't talk to him if he doesn't need to for the rest of the HoT campaign, but then they wind up having some interesting, emotion-fueled hook-ups all along the way to PoF.

[cosmicheartz]

Ok so I decided I wanna throw my hat in the tadc au ring. It’s not gonna be super consistent update and content wise esp since hyperfixations fluctuate but I’ll try my best

Anyways without further ado lemme introduce you to

The AMAZING DIGITAL BAND

( Inspired by the dancerush au and the black parade au but also rhythm games, no straight roads and games like battle of the bands for the Wii, guitar hero, this one game I remember playing where you make your own band etc )

GENERAL PREMISE

the au follows Pomni, similar to canon she ends up in a digital world but instead of a circus it’s a music studio in some sort of city district ( think NSR ) and is suddenly recruited by Caine ( the manager for the band which I’m gonna call Digital Circus for now ) to take the spot of the former band member kaufmo who suddenly disappeared one day ( some rumors say he up and quit while others say he died/abstracted ). Digital Circus has recently been having some ( read: a lot of ) troubles due to constant arguments between the band, Kaufmo leaving and a slew of other things and Caine thinks Pomni can help restore the band to its former glory.

Pomni just wants to go back to her regular life but decides to play along in hopes that if the band can reach no 1 in the charts than she ( and the other humans ) can return back to the real world.

But there’s something darker brewing behind the scenes

CAST/ROLES

Digital Circus Band

( Note: the band is multigenre bc no one can agree on what genre to focus on. Rock has been genre that’s been the most prominent lately due to Jax’s influence. They also cover preexisting songs too )

Caine: Band Manager

Bubble: whatever the term for ppl who set up the stage for the band to preform is among some other misc roles

Pomni: drummer ( originally Kaufmos role ) and eventually starts doing some backup/secondary vocals

Jax: lead vocals and guitar. He’s the self proclaimed “ leader “ of the band

Ragatha: pianist/costume designer

Gangle: tbh I don’t think she actually performs in the band but she designs posters and album covers. Also is the primary lyricist for the band bc Jax CANNOT be trusted to write songs for the band

Zooble: DJ/Guitarist and Bassist when the situation calls for it. Also helps with the special effects

Kinger: used to be the lead vocals but after an incident he refuses to sing so now does various back up instruments. His mental state also isn’t the best either

OTHERS

( will get updated as more eps come and we get to see more npcs and stuff )

The audience are npcs ( varies between the mannequins and like actual fleshed put npcs )

Queenie and Kaufmo used to be part of Digital Circus but disappeared ( Queenies disappearance is a part of why Kinger doesn’t sing anymore)

Currently for competing bands and musicians we have Loolilou ( a solo pop artist ) and Gummigoo and his mates ( a country/bluegrass band? )

I haven’t decided on a band name for Gummigoo and co yet

Notes

- they are able to have sex ( Jax def has groupies ) but it isn’t a huge thing in this au and id consider the au mostly pg-13 with some occasional adult themes sprinkled in

- swearing is somewhat allowed? They can’t say fuck though ( it gets bleeped out ) and Caine cannot swear

I’ll add more to this later/when I have more stuff to add

[lucas-deziderio]

Dezi reads Pact: Null 9.3

Ms. Lewis could step on my throat. But joking (not joking) aside, she was a really cool character that offered Blake a ton of help last time we saw her. And even in an antagonistic position, she maintains the same class and ruthlessness that appealed to me originally. Yes, even though she works for literally the evilest faction we've been introduced to in this story. What can I say? I support women's wrongs.

But there is one moment that is specifically interesting to me:

That... That is a promise, right? Blake sure didn't, but I would definitely call her out on that and make her summon whatever minions she has. Even though they might hurt me a lot in the moment, the power one could get from making her forsworn might be worth it. It could just be a way out!

Bleh, no point imagining hypotheticals. My crush leaves the scene and Blake moves on to talk to the next NPC. This one is a lot more helpful, but not nearly as hot. I guess you win some and lose some...

They reach a very interesting topic I was wondering about before: what happens to a demesne after its master is gone? Does it just returns to being “normal land"? Can someone else inherit it? Here it's revealed that one of the possible options is that it is sucked by this Blighttown dimension and becomes a part of it. But not only that, forgotten gods and other powerful beings may also fall through the cracks and end up here.

Which means there is power here to be taken! Not all hope is lost! I really hope Blake now goes on a scavenger hunt to find one or more of such forgotten gods and make deals with them for a new arsenal of abilities to use. My man desperately needs actual spells. Overall, this chapter ends on a way more hopeful note than what I was expecting.

Oh yeah, except for Rose. I have no idea how she could say no to the fucking anti-war-crime pact! She isn't planning on using actual demons is she?? Someone stop her before her hubris does!! THIS PRICKLY PRICK WILL BURY US ALL!!

Previous • Next

[palidoozy-art]

I love big hat, and I love Imrae. I can't wait for her to be introduced proper.

So I don't think I've talked about Kjosev's backstory here, but I've written it in personal notes, lol. We have a small wiki that I keep track of and I fleshed it out there. I wanna stress that when I make PCs for D&D/PF, I don't make them like, this detailed or extensive, because I think that development should come from the campaign itself... Buuut Kjosev was a previous plot-important NPC that we all loved before becoming a prequel-campaign PC.

Anyway long rambling summary under the cut. be warned, it's like, a book lol.

Kjosev was born when Serafim (one of the kings) cheated on his husbands with Kjosev's mom, Miruna, the royal seer. He didn't love her or anything, the guy was just under a metric shitload of stress and he and all of his husbands were going mad. He never addressed Kjosev as a son and Kjosev was never told (but he kind of figured it out, based on the obvious 'this guy is kind of nice to me and his husbands fucking loathe me with every fiber of their being so some shit happened here').

So he grew up without a dad in the palace. Their society was heavily based on a caste system (something I mention here), and because of his mother's status Kjosev was born as a Palnir. So he was left pretty isolated from the populace. Still, his mom was a chill lady. She taught him how to be kind, smuggled in forbidden outside books that he could read, and otherwise just acted like a cool mom. He became obsessed with stars based on the books she gave him. Stars aren't something that are visible in Twilight Woods -- because, y'know, the whole 'constant twilight' thing -- and so it made him dream of leaving the woods one day and seeing them for himself.

As he got older, he was sent to the University of Temir (an academy of magic, basically). Several years in, he caused a scandal when he shared a cup with a bol'yok (a pariah caste) and was quietly withdrawn and moved back to the palace to learn under his mom. This further isolated him and made him bitter against the caste system as a whole.

He was generally known around the palace for being pretty standoffish and rude. He loathed the people around him, and so he'd often sneak out and go hang out in districts "beneath him," both because... well, he wanted to, and out of spite. He'd often moonlight as a fortune teller in the slums.

He did this for a few hundred years ago until his mother, after telling Kjosev she loved him and to be kind, headed off into the woods and never returned. The official reports are that she killed herself -- something that routinely happened with royal seers, in that they would all inevitably lose their grip on reality and eventually succumb to it. Serafim has alluded to Yoli that he thinks the other kings murdered her. Nobody knows the truth. The end result is she was gone, and Kjosev was made into the royal seer in her stead.

This meant there were more eyes upon him, and so he could no longer leave the palace. His days, for a hundred or so years, were essentially -- sleep, eat, go watch for threats/make premonitions, talk to kings, sleep again. He grew bitter and loathing. He was generally misanthropic towards everyone in the palace, despising their opulence and wealth. His only respite was that he'd scry outside of the woods and watch people in settlements outside.

One day, Kjosev got a premonition about a great disaster falling upon the kingdom -- its absolute destruction, the murder of the kings... all caused by a criminal who escaped death. When he informed the kings of the plot, he was told to check with the guards to make absolute certain that all prisoners were disposed of. Kjosev did so, but...

... Here's the thing. When you set up a brutal society where failure can often end up in torture or death, you kind of set up an incentive for people to lie to you. And so when Kjosev spoke to the guards, they all assured him that the prisoners were dead and none had escaped.

Well, they were lying. One did. You might know him. His name was Rahadin.

Cut to Rahadin leading Barov's armies into the woods and destroying the fuck out of everything.

Barov and his men raided the palace, dragging out those within it to watch their kings be executed. Kjosev was present during this. The kings were lined up at the top of the steps, and Rahadin did what he did best -- beheaded them. Their heads were put on spikes and their bodies were paraded prominently around the city (they got better, because, y'know, the spell 'clone' exists, buuuuut... that's a different story).

The rest of the palace's denizens were taken to Zarova's capital, Thatking, where they were imprisoned and tortured. Part of it was for information -- the dusk elves had access to a lot of cool shit, like golems and magic and stuff, that would definitely definitely be of interest to a warlord. The other part was their 'experiments' in figuring out how to stop spellcasters. Kjosev was part of that. His teeth were smashed and his hands were broken repeatedly. Kjosev was born with his lazy eye, but this is why he's missing teeth and his hands look weird -- his back two fingers no longer bend properly. The entire thing left him unable to cast arcane spells.

This went on for several years, until Barov got his dumbass killed when the Tergs invaded. The Tergs stormed Thatking and released the prisoners in the chaos. Those imprisoned dusk elves were freed, and many of them fled the city.

Kjosev did not follow the others. Instead, he wandered back to the only place he ever knew -- the burnt remains of Twilight Woods.

Like his mother, he originally intended to end his life there. But perhaps he saw a reflection of himself in the burnt and broken ruins of the place, and that gave him a determination to rebuild. And so he started tending to the woods. Over the course of 200 years, it regrew... and Kjosev, too, adapted. He figured out how to make himself wooden teeth. He started figuring out how to adapt somatic components with his broken hands. The guy was lonely as shit, and desperately desired companionship, a family, and love. But his guilt kept him there.

Prior to the Eclipse campaign, Kjosev's story was that he remained in the woods for about 400 years as its caretaker. He'd try to help guide those lost in the woods to safety. That was his original role in the From the Mists campaign -- he was one of the few helpful NPCs in the woods that was trying to actively guide the party to safety and protect them. They wound up convincing him to leave with them. In their efforts to end a brutal war caused by the Lord of Twilight Woods, Kjosev was killed by a disintegrate spell (technically by his own dad! yay!). One of the driving forces of the party towards the end of the campaign was to not only avenge him, but find a way to bring him back (which would result in them gaining access to wish).

The prequel campaign has retconned some of that. 200 years in his stint in the Woods, Kjosev got a premonition of "a great darkness that would spread death across all the lands." This drove Kjosev to leave the woods and attempt to warn people. He was immediately captured by slavers and shoved into a cell with the rest of the party... which is how these bumbling fucks all met. He never got a chance to warn anyone -- he was too enraptured by the outside world, and too distracted by FINALLY receiving some actual positive human contact. So the eclipse hits, and now he and the group are traveling to survive.

He was originally drawn to Tereza and Florette because they represented something he always wanted -- a happy loving stable family. He's so determined to reunite Tereza with her husband and Florette with her dad because they represent that ideal to him. It's assumed he'll PROBABLY catch feels for Tereza because I cannot resist love stories but he is driven in his quest to bring her to her home, Thatking -- the place he was once tortured.

A lot of Kjosev's actions are driven by something he told the main party once. "All I've ever wanted is to love and be loved in return."

anyway sorry that's my Kjosev book. Again, I would normally not make a PC this in-depth, because I find my favorite characters develop based on their experiences in the campaign as a whole. But Kjosev's background was already pre-written, before we even had our current campaign in mind. He's a fun character to play, and his original intent was to add some contrast to all of the remarkable downer/asshole dusk elves present in my campaign -- and despite his status and what he lost, someone who didn't actually blame Rahadin for his actions. One of the first things he did upon meeting the party was heal Rahadin's eyes before fleeing into the woods.

Other fun random Kjosev facts: he was originally inspired by Bruno from Encanto, and we have all agreed that if given a voice he'd probably sound like Sova from Valorant.

[coffeeworldsasaki]

meowdy my dear, tis later and i humbly request some Dragon Age ... explanation? of the medias.

Oooh yes this is long! So there's obviously the games

Dragon age origins (2009)

Dragon age 2 (2011)

Dragon age inquisition (2014)

Dragon age the veilguard (coming out this summer)

Which are the main thing, if you're not extremely obsessed you can ignore the rest but I'm very obsessed so obviously I've read almost everything else which are in order and with a vague explanation of why they would be a good read:

Books:

The stolen throne (dao prequel, I don't remember much about these first 2 books tbh there's hhh lots of one of the main adversaries of dao?)

The calling (another prequel of dao, mostly interesting because there's one of dao's characters mother and I love her)

Asunder (post da2, first apparition of one of dai's companions, the spirit boy, and a return of 2 of dao's characters. Important background to know how some mess in dai started)

The masked empire (important background for one of dai's main quests, all characters in this appear as npc in dai, THERE'S FELASSAN. Also a nice reading in general because Patrick Weekes is a good writer. Toxic canon yuri)

Last flight (I... I've never read I this because my package got lost and I didn't order another. I'm gonna read it for the first time now. It's apparently where we find out the griffons aren't extinct)

Tevinters's nights (short stories collection, it sets up a lot of stuff for datv and introduces 2 of the companions, lucanis and Neve. There's also a story I've enjoyed immensely about the assassins group)

Comics:

The silent grove/those who speak/until we sleep (honestly, totally missable in my opinion. It was boring and out of character from what I remember. Post da2)

Magekiller (it hhhh I've read it and I didn't dislike it? But I absolutely don't remember what this is about tbh)

Knight errant/deception/blue wraith/dark fortress (these are good!!! I still haven't read the last one because I was waiting for the game but I've read the first 3 and I've enjoyed them. Also in there appears fan favorite Fenris and only by me favorite Sebastian. The last volume looks important for datv)

Extra:

Some very short stories on the website that I still haven't read but one of those is about the old man necromancer that everyone wants to fuck that will be a datv companion

Dragon age absolution, a 6 episodes animated miniserie apparently not connected with the games but I'm still holding hope to see some of them in datv

So mmhh this is a lot obviously and I'm not even particularly sure on how someone new should start? I think dai would be a good start if you're mostly interested in the new one. I wouldn't go into datv without dai because there's no emotional impact like that. I do think that da2 is the best one but if you like dai you can always go back. Or also you can just get datv to pet the griffon and then start from the beginning, whatever you prefer fjdkdk

Anyway my personal list of stuff I wouldn't miss is in order

Da2 -> dai -> tevinters's nights

[mdhwrites]

Zenless First Impressions (Spoiler Free)

I just got through what I would consider the first proper storyline after the prologue. The impression I'm getting of ZZZ is this: Zenless is swinging for the fences presentation wise and I think doing a genuinely great job at it. It has leveraged being Hoyo's theoretically safest gameplay structure so far in order to try and be all it can visually and sonically. It's not perfect but for all it's trying, it knows what to focus on so far mostly and the heart of these first couple stories is hitting me exactly right.

To get away from the writing though: I genuinely really enjoy the combat. I was really scared going in about it being an action gacha game but to me it keeps closer to Kingdom Hearts 2 than KH 3 in terms of being an anime fighter. Quicker, satisfying combos over long, overdrawn animations that leave you wondering what each button press actually translates into. The parry mechanic feels INCREDIBLE. To me it's kind of a marriage of the Arkham parry, where it's a flash that you need to immediately respond to, with a more traditional parry in that it translates into an absolute fuck ton of damage in return for succeeding in it. It helps give a flow to combat that Genshin never had and that I haven't really found in any gacha action game.

I also have to give credit to the pacing. While it's not perfect, they aren't trying to front load everything you can do in the game. Instead, they allow it to come more naturally as you bounce between downtime from story missions to charming main quests that introduce you to the NPCs for shops and the like. It makes sure it never feels entirely bogged down that way in just tutorials or just story.

It's just got a charm to it that I'm loving, helped by a good mix of bog standard dystopian bullshit and heart to keep the plot interesting and engaging. Seriously, this is blowing my expectations out of the water.

I have a couple more blogs I want to make, including expanding on my thoughts on the first story line and its climactic cut scene, but this is a strong start to the game I think. You've got me, now just reel me in Zenless and we'll see how far this goes.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.