#listen my only combat strategy is

[plushchimera]

huh I sure do plan to play a lot of casters for someone who is using a fraction of available spells ^_^; 

[heizlut]

omg this is the first time i do this bc i always think i become a burden when i request sth🫠 BUT I PLUCKED MY COURAGE BC I LOVE YOU AND I HAVE A BOMB ASS IDEA BUT MY WRITING CAPABILITIES CANNOT DO IT JUSTICE. Ok so🫢 childhoofriend!/meandom!genshu lin x childhoodfriend!/sub!reader x childhoodfriend!/teasedom!jiyan after the war (lets pretend genshu didnt disappear/get unalived) and they release their pent up emotions by doing the deed and of course reader is more than happy to welcome them. Reader has enough holes for the two as you said😚😚

POOKIEEEE ILYSM🥹🫶🏼 i hope you like this!!!!!

What are Best Friends For?

〰cw: none

〰tags: sub fem!reader, mean dom!geshu lin, teasing dom!jiyan, all childhood besties with each other, creampie, unprotected sex, oral m!receiving, double penetration, anal, a lil degradation, throat fucking, a dash of stinky angst in the beginning

〰nsfw under the cut

〰m!list here

You always worried for your two best friends considering they were always at each other's throats, always arguing about battle strategies, what was right and wrong, or accusing the other of spending more time with you. You still did your best to act as a mediator or to provide them with whatever type of support they needed, no questions asked.

And right now, they both needed you. More than ever.

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Standing in the middle of battleground, the retroact rain surrounds both of them and all of Geshu Lin's soldiers. If looks could kill, Jiyan would be dead on the spot with the way Geshu Lin glowers at him. Jiyan stands his ground, "This isn't right. There's something wrong with this rain. It would be wise to retreat unless you really want everyone to die here."

Geshu Lin's tongue runs across his teeth before speaking in a biting tone, "Last I checked, you were only a combat medic." He scoffs, speaking again with disdain, "If thousands of my men must die, then so be it. Now shut up and keep moving." Jiyan stands there as the general turns away, barking orders at his soldiers, rage and concern bubbling up inside of him.

They both promised you they would be safe, that they would return home to you unscathed. But with Geshu Lin's bullheaded pride, the chances of coming home to the girl they both loved in their own way seemed unlikely. Jiyan couldn't allow Geshu Lin to go through with this.

"General, listen to me", he calls out. Geshu Lin ignores him at first continuing on until Jiyan's next words make him stop dead in his tracks. "What about y/n...? We made her a promise. Do you truly intend to break it?", Jiyan's voice is sad, almost desperate. Desperate for his arrogant childhood friend to just listen to him for once.

Geshu Lin stands still for a few moments before partially turning back to face Jiyan with narrowed eyes. He can see the sincerity and concern in Jiyan's expression, making something twist inside of his chest. "Put aside your pride, Geshu... Stop this before there is no going back", he pleads with deep resolution.

Geshu Lin grits his teeth, fully turning to look at Jiyan. "I'm doing this because of y/n, not because you personally told me to retreat", he growls out. Relief washes over Jiyan's features, letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

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You stand there pacing back and forth by the front window of your house, gnawing at your fingernails, worried as hell for the men you cared for so deeply. Only a few moments later do you hear their voices as they walk up the path towards your home, arguing with each other as usual.

You throw open your front door, running out to meet them with teary eyes and a smile that wobbles as you try not to cry tears of relief, "You're back! I was so worried I-" Jiyan pulls you into his arms, holding you tightly, nuzzling his nose into your hair and breathing in your sweet scent.

"No need to worry anymore, I'm here...", he coos softly earning him a harsh glare from Geshu Lin. Geshu Lin pulls you from Jiyan's grasp and into his own embrace. "I'm here too", he speaks through gritted teeth, keeping his golden eyes narrowed at Jiyan who gives him an incredulous look in return.

You breathe out a laugh as Geshu Lin practically squeezes the life out of you, "I'm happy you're both here." You pull back slightly, only able to because Geshu Lin allows you. You look between the two of them with a little smile, "Let's not fight. We're all here together, so let's enjoy this moment." Geshu Lin grumbles and Jiyan gives a hint of a smile.

"Tell me what I can do to make you both happy", you speak, eyes flitting between the two pairs of intense golden eyes as you offer a solution like you always do. Geshu Lin's lips twitch up in a slight smirk which Jiyan catches, releasing a breath as he addresses him, "Be nice, Geshu..." You raise a brow and Geshu Lin's smirk widens as something glimmers in his dangerous gaze, "No promises."

With that, Geshu Lin scoops you up, making you yelp in surprise as he carries you over his shoulder, practically kicking your door down as he enters your home with Jiyan following behind.

Once inside, Geshu Lin sets you down on the bed unceremoniously which makes you laugh out of both surprise and amusement. Jiyan stands by the edge of your bed, watching Geshu Lin's every move, golden eyes flickering between the two of you.

Geshu Lin begins to peel of his clothes piece by piece with a smirk plastered on his fierce but handsome face. His toned muscles ripple in the soft light of your room, pale cock twitching against his abdomen. Jiyan follows suit, stripping off his clothes and tossing them in a pile on the floor.

Your heart pounds in your chest as you take in the sight of your two best friends bared before you. Their bodies are different yet similar, equally captivating and littered with old scars. Jiyan is the first to move, kneeling between your legs as his hands travel up your thighs, "You're going to be a good girl for us, yeah?"

You breathe out a small 'yes', to his words, making the corners of his lips curl up as he stands back up, both men looking down at you with a mix of danger and pleasure in their eyes. "Then strip", Geshu Lin chimes in with a sharp command as he slowly strokes his cock.

Your breath hitches at his command. Sure this wasn't anything new between the three of you, but only ever separately. You never thought you would be pleasing them both at the same time, but you would do absolutely anything for them. You strip off your tank top and bra, nipples hardening as the cool air of your room brushes over them.

Next comes your shorts, fingers fumbling the with button and zipper as you tug them down your legs along with your panties, exposing yourself fully to your friends' hungry grazes. You watch as they exchange a glace, their silent communication passing through them as though they've finally agreed on something for once.

Their eyes linger on your body as if committing every inch of you to memory. They both approach with predatory grace, Geshu Lin stands close to your face and Jiyan stands in front of your spread legs. Geshu Lin takes your chin in his free hand, tilting your head up to look at him.

"Here's how this is gonna work, doll. You're gonna lay back and put your head over the side of the bed so I can fuck that pretty mouth of yours", his voice steady and commanding.

He nods his head towards Jiyan, "And Jiyan here is gonna play with that pussy." "But don't you even think about cumming until I give you permission to do so", he growls out.

All you can do is nod before you lay back, positioning yourself in the way Geshu Lin told you to. Your head hangs off the side of the bed, Geshu Lin's cock throbbing in front of you as Jiyan crouches between your legs once more, licking his lips at the sight of your twitching hole.

Jiyan's fingers trace over your folds, spreading them as he exposes your wetness. Two fingers tease your entrance, watching intently as your juices glisten in the soft light and make his digits slick.

A soft gasp has your lips parting, allowing Geshu Lin to angle his cock into your mouth. A low groan escapes his lips when he pushes past your soft lips and stretches your mouth open.

The sudden intrusion makes you clench around nothing as Geshu Lin's taste floods your senses. A garbled moan rises from your throat as you feel Jiyan's fingers press against your wet entrance, teasing you before pushing inside. The dual sensations make your body quiver with need and lust.

Each noise you make sends shockwaves of pleasure through Geshu Lin's cock, making him thrust a little deeper. He reaches down, squeezing your breasts in his hands as if using them to anchor himself to you. "Fuuuck... That's right, doll. Take my cock", he moans as he forces his length deeper down your throat, making you choke slightly.

Jiyan's fingers continue to pump into you, his own cock throbbing with need when he feels you clench around his soaked digits, desperate for something bigger to fill you up. His thumb finds your swollen clit, rubbing circles over the sensitive nub.

When Jiyan's finger curl up against your spongy, sweet spot, your back arches up, pushing your chest further into Geshu Lin's grasp. Geshu Lin releases one of your breasts only for his palm to crack down against it, making you let out a choked cry around his cock.

"You better hold off that orgasm, doll. I haven't finished yet", he growls. Jiyan chuckles as you writhe against the sheets, fingers continuously curling up inside of you. "Aww, having a tough time, love?", he coos teasingly, relishing in the way your body aches for more.

You try to speak, to beg them to allow you to cum, but all that comes out are muffled whimpers around Geshu Lin's throbbing cock. You squirm again, helpless against Jiyan's expert fingers, feeling as though your body is on fire. With a snarling growl, Geshu Lin pulls out of your mouth as you gasp for air, "Fuck it. Get on your hands and knees. I'd rather cum in your ass instead."

Jiyan's eyes snap up to his at his sudden change of mind, but pulls his fingers out of you, making you whine at the loss. Jiyan slides onto the bed, leaning back against your headboard as he beckons you towards him, cock twitching and leaking against his stomach, "Why don't you come up here and ride my cock, love?"

Geshu Lin gives him a sharp glare as he interferes with his plans. As you sit up, you look between the two men, one with a playful smirk on his lips as he pats his lap invitingly and the other has a dangerous look in his eyes that dares you to go against him. Geshu Lin scoffs when you crawl over to Jiyan, straddling his lap instead of following his orders.

Jiyan's smirk widens at your choice as he looks up at Geshu Lin, "Uh oh, seems she might have a favorite~" Geshu Lin snarls at his teasing words, but his eyes can't tear away from watching as you sink down on Jiyan's thick cock with a shuddering moan. Jiyan lets out his own breathy groan, eyes fluttering and head lolling back as he bottoms out inside of you.

Geshu Lin's own cock aches and leaks, still desperate to finish what he started. He climbs into the bed, positioning himself behind you. He grabs your hair, twisting it in his fist as he tugs your head back, "I'm not gonna let you two have all the fun."

He presses a searing kiss to your lips before releasing you as Jiyan's hands slide up your waist, pulling you to lean forward against him. With this new angle, Geshu Lin can see the girth of Jiyan's cock stretching out your cunt and your little asshole twitching in anticipation.

Finally, a little smirk plays on his lips as he lines up his tip with your smaller hole, spitting on it and watching as his saliva drips down towards Jiyan's cock. You suck in a breath when you feel it push and tease against the small ring of muscle.

Jiyan licks up your neck, nipping at your pulse point before pressing a soft kiss in the same spot. His breath ghosts against your slick skin as he teases you, "Relax... You can take it, can't you?"

You bite your bottom lip and nod, making the corners of his lips curl up as his eyes lock with Geshu Lin's in a silent confirmation before pressing another kiss to your neck, "Good girl." You let out a sharp cry as Geshu Lin pushing his cock into your ass the same time that Jiyan thrusts up into your wet cunt.

Geshu Lin hisses as your tight muscles throttle his length, "Fucking relax... Shit...." You feel so incredibly full having both of them inside of you at once, the sensation is utterly overwhelming. You try to hard to relax despite the insane stretch in both of your holes as your body struggles to accommodate them.

Jiyan reaches down, playing with you clit to help ease the pressure. "You're our good girl, aren't you, love..." You relax a little, your breasts squished against his broad chest as you whimper.

Jiyan's eyes flit back to Geshu Lin's with a nod. With zero warning, both men begin to thrust into you holes, making you gasp and moan so beautifully for them.

Both men let out husky groans, eyes rolling back as their cocks rub against each others through the thin layer of skin that separates them. The extra pressure and stimulation sends them reeling as they begin a steady, but brutal rhythm.

Jiyan's cock hits the deepest parts of you, pressing up against your cervix with each deep thrust, while Geshu Lin's cock pushes deep into your unexplored depths.

Tears spring in your eyes from both pleasure and pain. Jiyan continues to rub your clit furiously, bringing back that familiar heat that coils up inside of you as they ravish your holes.

Geshu Lin grips your jaw, tilting your head back as he kisses you with a heated and possessive passion. His tongue pushes and moves against yours as his grip tightens and his hips buck forward erratically.

Watching his friends kiss each other sloppily sparks a possessive and jealous flame within Jiyan. Wanting to bring your attention back to him, he grips your hips and thrusts up especially hard, smirking when you gasp against his friend's lips.

Geshu Lin rolls his eyes as he pulls away from your lips, but moves his hand down to your throat, squeezing lightly. "You're pathetic, you know that?", he scoffs.

You can't tell if that comment was meant for you or for Jiyan but the degradation of his words has you clenching down on both their cocks, making them moan.

Jiyan rubs your clit faster as he spurs on your impending orgasm, "Come on, baby. Cum for us." Your eyes flutter and Geshu Lin applies more pressure to your throat as he whispers harshly in your ear, "I wanna feel you squeeze my cock again. Bet you like being fucked in the ass, huh, doll?"

You whimper, wanting to protest but that would be a fucking lie. It doesn't take long for the coil inside of you to snap as your juices gush all over Jiyan's cock. Both holes milk their cocks for all they're worth as they both shudder and groan, releases load after load of sticky, hot cum inside of you.

Their cocks throb and twitch as they begin to soften inside of you. With another shared look between them, they pull out of you at the same time, making you mewl from overstimulation. Their golden eyes lock onto your holes as their cum drips and and dribbles down your thighs and onto the sheets below.

"Goddamn...", Geshu Lin rasps at the sight. Jiyan feels his spent cock twitch again, arousal pooling in his belly once more. You collapse against Jiyan as he wraps his arms around your waist, holding you close. Geshu Lin sits down beside him and puts his fingers under your chin, making you look to him.

"Give me a kiss", Geshu Lin's voice is softer now, but still holds that commanding edge. You lean towards him, pressing your lips to his gently. He sighs into the kiss, feeling all the tension release from his body. When you pull back, Jiyan redirects your gaze to him, pointing to his own lips with a slight teasing smile, "Me too, love."

You smile a little at both of their antics, but lean forward, kissing him just as softly. Jiyan smiles against your lips before you pull back. Looking between the two of them, your closest friends since childhood, you feel your heart ache with love in your chest.

Leaning forward, you embrace both of them, catching them off guard, "I love you both. I'm glad you're here with me." The sentiment makes them swell with emotions they would rather keep under wraps, but they both love you. They truly do. Always have.

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a/n: whew it got a lil emotional at the end there🥲

[astarion-dekarios]

I did a live transcription of the Dragon Age: the Veilguard dev Q&A session today.

UPDATE/EDIT: I made a second pass of this and cleaned it up into a full/complete transcript.

Q: If you could belong to any of the main factions, which would you choose? 

Corinne: Listen Katie, you say softball but this is hard. I'm gonna cheat and I’m gonna give you two. So for fashion, the Antivan Crows all day long. their threads, you're gonna love it. For vibes though, the ones that capture my vibe, Mournwatch. Gimme those necromancers.

John: Those are good answers. I have one for fashion and for just general faction that I’d like to be a part of. Veil jumpers - who doesn't like a nice walk in the forest, you know, even if that forest is filled with horrifying monsters and terrifying anomalies, but uh, yeah.

Matt: For me it’s definitely the Lords of Fortune. I’ve had a chance to try out a bunch of them, and I think I’ve finally settled on them, and I think it’s just because pirate barbarian is just such a great combination of elements. Treasure hunting, plus beaches and palm trees and all that stuff, it’s a really good mix, so that’s kind of my default.

Q: I’ve seen a lot of talk about only having two companions in your party instead of three for this game. What is the reasoning this and will we get the same companion conversations and banter as seen in the previous Dragon Age Games?? 

Corinne: Such a good question. Thank you to whoever submitted this one. I'll start and then turn it over to John Epler. As you saw in the gameplay reveal, this is a much more intimate experience. We pulled the camera in. For those that aren't aware, the reason why is we want you to feel like you actually are in this world, like you’re walking these the city streets of Minrathous, you’re looking up at the buildings all around you. You're a part of this place. It's much more intimate, and we believe as the narrative unfolds that this creates a lot more immersion. Now how this relates to the companions is in doing this, we went back and forth on it a lot, but we actually found that having two companions allows them more visibility and presence. We've talked about the incredible depth and focus we’ve put on fleshing out these companions, they're very fully realized, so here you really get to see them more clearly, you get to see them shine. When you see Lace Harding jump into the air and release a volley of arrows, you can only get that because of this more intimate view. So I love the spotlight that’s been put on them. But I think in addition to the banter, one of the things people are wondering about is, ok but what about gameplay. Again, this has come about from our testing, working with the internal team and also our lovely our council of players. We just found that in the combat system, when you're planning your strategies, two felt like the right number to manage. Keep in mind, Rook has a lot of different types of actions: abilities, individual attacks that are more fleshed out than ever before. Timing and positioning matter a lot, so this really felt like the right balance. The number of inputs and actions we’re asking you as a player to take, including directing your companions, is higher than ever before. And I will also say that I engage with the companions, I actively control what they're doing more than I ever have before in any of the other three games. But John, I’ll toss it over to you for the banter.

John: So banter, honestly I don't think you could stop the writers from writing banters. I will say for myself, it's one of the more light but fun things to do. You get to write little stories, little arcs between the characters, and Veilguard is no different. Banter is still absolutely a core part of it. We've got global banter, you know the general stuff that you get in all spaces, as well as mission specific stuff. But yeah. It's definitely still a big thing, if anything it's the most we've ever done for pairings of companions. Beyond that, we’ve also made sure—and I mean, I’ve been on Dragon Age for a while, and I know there’s been an issue, you know, things like, “well, I don’t wanna miss this banter.” So we've even added stuff like interruptable and resumable banter as well, just to make sure that—because again, it’s a core part of the experience. Everyone loves hearing these companions talk to each other. Everyone loves hearing these little stories and relationships develop over the course of the game, and as mentioned before, companions are the heart of this experience. So we still have it, if anything like I said, you could not stop the writers from doing it, even if you tried.

Corinne: Well John, listening to you speak, one thing that comes to mind, maybe people are wondering, with two companions in the field, do I get less interaction? Like do I get a scene with my companions interacting with a broader group more often? And the way you'll gather them around the kitchen table, there's just so many of those moments where they're all interacting with each other. Those are some of my favorite parts.

John: Yeah, and that’s a good callout, because I think the other side of it is, we aren’t talking too much about your home, but we also wanna make sure that they feel like they have relationships and a life outside of just the times you take a certain pair of companions out on the field, so we made sure that they have interactions there as well.

Q: How customizable is the backstory of Rook? Will we get to determine their past in the character creator?

John: Absolutely. So Rook has six different backgrounds that you can choose from. Each  one is tied to one of the major factions in the Veilguard, and each one sets out who Rook was before they were recruited by Varric. While that sets up the broad events, as you go through the game and have conversations either with members of your faction, other characters, you can define not just what those events were but what they meant to you – what was your motivation, what was the kind of person you are as you build up Rook, because again, we wanna make sure that roleplaying is at the heart of this experience, and taking Rook, giving them a background in the world but letting you decide what that means and what that says about you is also a big part of it. And again, there are six different factions in this game. Two which anyone who’s played Dragon Age for a while would remember, you’ve got the Gray Wardens and Antivan Crows. We also have, in addition to them, four new ones because we’re in Northern Thedas. We’ve got the Veil Jumpers, Mournwatch, Shadow Dragons, and Lords of Fortune. A lot of different options, a lot of different backgrounds, and a lot of opportunities to define who your Rook was and who they are now.

Q: Will crafting return and has it been improved since Inquisition?

Corinne: Will crafting return? You can absolutely improve and customize your gear, yes. That is a big part of RPG progression, so yes you can improve and customize it. I will say though, it's different this time around, and it does get into spoiler territory so I'm gonna be a little cagey about it, but there might be a mysterious entity that assists you with that that will be an important part of the narrative.

Q: Can we kiss or romance Manfred the skeleton? 

John: I would say, not that skeleton, but we're not saying no skeletons.

Q: What were some of the development considerations that you had to take into account to ensure this game flows & functions with prior games & dragon age keep, if keep is being utilized? 

Corinne: We did an interview with IGN that goes into some of the details there. To summarize, we have taken a different approach on how you import your decisions this time around. It's now fully integrated into the character creator and serves a dual purpose, to be honest. It’s not called this in game, but I playfully think of it as "last time on dragon age". When I talk about its dual purpose, it's been 10 years since the last dragon age game release, so it serves as a refresher on critical events as well as allowing you to remake those decisions that are critical to you. The thing I love about it is it's very highly visual, it uses the familiar tarot card aesthetic, so it's actually a very visual and playful experience as you go through it. It is very much important to us that it's built into the client, though. You can play this game entirely offline, no connection, you don’t have to link to your EA accounts. That's been a really big request, so the refresher plus make those decisions in client, I think we're all pretty happy about that. I don't wanna spoil anything by revealing what decisions you can import. Y'all don't want the spoilers. But it's been a really interesting creative intersection for us. Because on the one hand, this is a whole new adventure. You're in northern thedas, these locations you've literally never been to before, so that affects what will matter and what we’re not using this time around as far as decisions. But obviously there’s some very very clear connections to existing characters. It’s no secret that the Inquisitor, our dear Inky, is gonna show up, so that's a factor.

Q: Will this next game be an open world game or is it just confined to Tevinter? 

John: Yeah, so you are in northern Thedas, but the game only begins in Minrathous. It doesn't stay there. I think one of the most exciting things for me, and again, I don’t wanna get into too much spoiler detail, but getting to go to and work with the art team, the narrative, the design team to build out these locations we've talked about, places that character have referred to as where they’ve come from, places that characters obviously in previous games have hailed from, has been absolutely exciting. So you do start in Tevinter, you do start in Minrathous, but again that’s not the entire game by any stretch.

Corinne: And the first half of it is, is it an open world game? We've gone back to what we believe delivers the best, most curated, intense narratives. So this is a hand crafted experience, it's mission based. Now these locations can open up, you can go back, solve mysteries, do some really great side content - not fetch quests, not grind quests, some really great side content. But I wanna be clear, it's a really curated, hand crafted experience.

John: Just to bounce off of that very quickly, the most important thing for us and what Corinne was saying about hand crafted, obviously we’ve talked about how characters, story, narrative are critical to us, and this has allowed us to build those experiences in a way that emphasized that really well while still tying it into the story threads and story beats.

Q: Will the companions have unique specializations like DA2 or the same as player?

Corinne: I think the best way for me to describe this is that yes, our companions will have abilities that are truly unique to them, but also the companions do fall into the archetypes of mage, rogue, and warrior. For instance, you might be surprised to hear, because she has a bow, but Bellara is in fact a mage, and I love that. Some of the abilities, the bulk of the abilities of the companions, are based on their own unique personalities. Neve is the only mage that is an ice mage, so you get distinct abilities for her. But because she's a mage, she does have access to abilities that all mages share, like Time Slow. We really like the balance there. It’s a good mix of representing their archetype, their class, and also their distinct specialization or personality or whatever you wanna call it.

John: Yeah actually, I would say the word personality is a great one, because all of these characters exist, have a story, have a history of how they became who they were, and part of that was finding that intersection between narrative and gameplay and making sure that again, we serve the needs of gameplay, but also allow these characters to exist as their own people, not just in conversation but out of conversations as well.

Corinne: I would also say that as part of that core mage kit, healing spells are there. So if your mages, you wanna make ‘em a healer, yeah.

Q: Will the Veilguard have tactical combat still? 

Corinne: Yes. Combat gets quite tactical. Obviously this is an evolution of the combat system. I talked about immersion, wanting to put you in the world like you’re actually living and existing in it, but it is very tactical and I will say we have a robust difficulty system. The tactics are increasingly important the higher difficulty that you go. So if you’re showing up for a highly tactical experience, I would crank that difficulty in particular. But I wanna make sure I’m super clear in my answer. You saw the gameplay reveal. Our pause time tactical mode is not overhead. It stays close to Rook. It does allow you to cycle between targets in and out of combat, there’s a reason for that. As the game progresses, you didn’t see this in that opening hour of the game, but it will display strategic information on the enemies, so what are their vulnerabilities, what are their elemental weaknesses, their enhancements, what are they resistant to, so your type of abilities, leaning into elemental gameplay matters a lot.

I would also say, this is a long answer because it’s such a great question, tactical decision making also takes the form, I would say this is front and center, of coordinating your ability usage between Rook and your companions to create synergies and or really devastating, we call them detonation combos. So let me give you a couple of examples, because it can be really hard to visualize, so hopefully this helps. One of the tactics that I personally enjoy in my own builds, I just recently played as a veil ranger, I love it, it’s one of my favorites. if I'm fighting fade touched enemies in Artlathan, I like to use Bellara's galvanized tear to pull enemies together, it’s like a gravity well. You then Slow Time with Neve – Slow Time affects the world around you, but it does not affect you, so you clump them up, you slow time -- and then with Rook I come in and do a devastating AOE or damage over time spell or ability. And it’s even better if it's a lightning based ability, because the fade touched in Arlathan are vulnerable to that. So there’s so many layers of coordination and strategies and tactics. We did talk about the devastating detonation combos, that's one of my favorite features, because that’s when you’re really leaning into explicit teamwork between your companions and Rook or the companions together. When I build out my team and I'm going into a mission, I try to ensure that I have at least a couple possible synergies, detonation combo synergies, between my team. It might be between Harding and Neve, Neve and me, or both. So here, I'd go into battle, pause time, open the ability wheel, get information on the enemy – and the wheel will actually tell you that there is a synergy combo, you  might have seen a screenshot that says “combo available” – it will remind you of synergies between companions, you can queue both of those abilities up at the same time, close out of the pause time menu, they’ll both execute, both abilities will happen. Then the detonation AOE happens, applies debuffs to all the enemies in a radius of it. It's so satisfying. I can’t wait for yall to see it, but the interesting thing is that too is a tactical choice. I’m choosing to use my companions to do that, and that means I’m not using them to heal me, or to give me that defense bonus, or to knock an enemy off a ledge, so it’s about the opportunity costs. I could spend the rest of the session talking about this, apologies for being long winded, but this is one of my favorite parts of the game.

Q: Can you choose rook's pronouns? If yes, is being non-binary an option? How detailed is the character creator?

Corinne: Well yeah you can select your pronouns. Absolutely. You can actually select your pronouns and your gender, because those are related concepts, but they’re not actually the exact same thing. Yeah, you can be non-binary, we have he/him, she/her, they/them. Yes. Emphatic yes. How detailed is the character creator? Oh my goodness, yall. Very. I don't wanna give away too much just yet but it's very very deep. It has been revealed, it’s out there in a couple articles about the focus on hair, the focus on skin tones that are done respectfully, full body customization, hell yeah, we love to see it. But we’re gonna come back, we’re gonna show you a lot more on character creator, but we wanna make sure we have the time and space to do that.

Q: Will there be a photo mode in game? 

Corinne: That is something we’re actively looking into, we know there’s a ton of interest, so stay tuned on that one, but we are very much looking into it.

John: I can add too, that is a feature that we like, we like the idea of, and it’s not just player facing, but internally it’s a really helpful thing to have that as we’re building things out, so we’ll let you know.

Corinne: Yes, yeah, absolutely. We are as geeked on that possibility as you all are.

Q: A lot of people were asking about abilities. Are we going to be limited in how many abilities we can pick from the wheel?

Corinne: Ability wheel does have a capacity. You have to choose which three abilities you wanna bring for Rook, which three for  a companion, and which three for another companion. What I like about this is there is kind of an emergent gameplay depending on who you and your companions are coming into a mission with. Now the reason for that is it actually creates a really interesting balance between strategizing, having to do that strategy about your combat kit before the mission, and then the tactical decisions once you're in the field deciding what to do. I want to clear one thing up, while there are three ability slots for Rook, there's so much more than that - other actions that you can perform directly from the wheel like you’ll have an ultimate ability associated with your class or your specialization, so there’s variants there. There’s a type of items you can get that function like abilities, they’re typically like buffs and enhancements, in the form of runes, so you’ll control that for Rook and/or the team from the wheel. You may have also seen that you can direct which targets your companions can focus on, but what you might not know is that a lot of the companion gear really synergizes with that directing with your companions. When you issue those commands, that too will proc depending on the gear they have equipped, really interesting and strategic effects. They can be more ability like, more like proc’d effects, there’s just so much from the wheel that once you get in and see everything working together, becomes more and more apparent.

Q: Will fireball and cone of cold be back as spells in Dragon Age: the Veilguard? 

Corinne: All these combat questions, really good. Fireball and Cone of Cold aren't specifically back, however their successors are, frost nova and meteor. These serve the exact same combat role and function as those other abilities. I would also say it gives them quite the glow up. Meteor in particular, so satisfying nuking a group of darkspawn with a well placed meteor. It’s wonderful

Q: What accessibility features are available? Arachnophobia mode? Mod support? 

Corinne: Oh my goodness, arachnophobia. I am wicked afraid of spiders too. My partner always laughs at me, I’m just terrified of them. That said, that's one we're going to save for a little bit closer to launch before we’ll go into full details about accessibility features. But I do wanna assure you we have spent a lot of time thinking about this topic, so that you can play the game in a way that really works for you. I'm excited to share that with you when the time is right.

Q: How long is the time skip from Inquisition to the Veilguard? 

John: Anyone who's paid attention to Dragon Age, and I can say as somebody who’s been on Dragon Age since Origins, timelines are always a little iffy. They change and they morph over development as we see how longs things are taking, but for Veilguard we were actually pretty consistent from the start that it's been about 10 years since trespasser, as you may or may not have noticed, Varric's become a bit of a silver fox. I’ve seen a lot of comments about that on social media. Yeah, 10 years. Solas's ritual has taken time to set up and you’re kinda coming in at the end of that hunt.

Q: Is Solas still bald? 

Matt: Yeah. I mean if you’ve watched the gameplay thing, we can all confirm that Solas is still bald, Solas is still Solas. I really like how Solas has turned out this time around. I will say, here’s a comment on this specific question that’s gonna sound like a non-sequitor, but once you get a chance to play a little bit more, maybe you’ll – In Thedas, ancient elves go bald when they are millenia old, so Solas wasn't always bald. So if you end up seeing what Solas looked like in the past, things might be a little different. Now that said, I’m sure some of you are wondering what happened to Solas’s wig from Tevinter Nights. I’m sure he still has it somewhere, so… It’s his most important possession.

Corinne: Some pride there, huh.

Q: Will we be able to change companions appearances and outfits or are they fixed, similar to Dragon Age 2? 

Matt: Dragon Age 2 was, we loved how the followers turned out in that, but it was sad given our constraints that we had to keep them with just one basic outfit. We really tried to make some space for them this time around. They have iconic color palettes and things like that, but they do have a wider range of appearances that you can find for them, some are just cool but then there are some  that are tied to directly to their narrative and just kind of what’s happening in their life.

Q: Will we be seeing or visiting Kal’Sharok? 

Matt: What’s been really cool, so in previous games, we’ve kind of alluded to this before, it was a lot of fun to hint at the locations that were off the map, the mysterious places you were not going, and so you could just bring in some props, some characters, a piece of art, things like that. Even Tevinter was only vaguely hinted at and we’d just add drips and bits and pieces, so that stuff was really fun. In the Veilguard we’re actually getting to visit a whole lot of those locations that had only been hinted at for real, so you do actually run around Tevinter and a bunch of the other locations that we’ve revealed. But this also means that we're not completely filling out the map, and that there are new things we can start hinting at and we can start drip feeding. It’s kinda fun, I’d say for what we can show of Kal’Sharok and other locations, there’s more to do.

Q: Will the dialogue wheel/options be similar to Inquisition and Andromeda in the sense that it's more tone based?

John: We have a number of different types of wheels in our game. All the dialogue wheels are based off the same principle, anyone who’s played a dragon age game and remembers what they look like. In Dragon Age: the Veilguard, we have tone wheels which are roleplaying your character picking consistent tone. We also have emotion wheels where you can pick specific emotional reactions, and choice wheels which are, I don’t have a strong emotional or tone tie here, but I do want to make a choice based on what I do. Investigate’s obviously return as well. We want players to understand as much as possible what it is they are going to be picking, we want the choice to be clear even if one of the best things about consequence is making sure that’s not entirely clear.

Q: How extensive are Rook’s dialogue decision trees? 

John: Huge. Again, it’s a Dragon Age game. We wanna make sure you have choices, we wanna make sure you can choose your roleplaying, but also choose outcomes of conversations, choose how events unfold. Again it’s a Dragon Age game, we wanna make sure we also react to decisions you’ve made. So for example, you may be talking to a follower who is an elf, and if you yourself are an elf, obviously you'll have a different perspective on events than someone who’s not an elf. Sometimes that means different conversation options, sometimes that’s going to be entirely new dialogue trees, as well as based off decisions you’ve made throughout the game, so again, making sure the game feels like it notices what you’re doing is a huge part of how we’ve written out the dialogue wheel and dialogue trees in this game.

Q: All companions romanceable by all player characters regardless of race and gender? 

Corinne: Yeah, yeah. We have talked about this in some of the interviews, I’ve seen a few articles about it, so I'd recommend everyone check out those articles, but let me just give you a quick interview. Each of the seven companions has full romance arcs and they are romanceable by all genders. Absolutely. But something that’s really important to us on the team, and so I just wanna make sure and double down on, that doesn't mean playersexual. If anyone’s unaware of what we mean by that, it doesn’t mean they conform or twist their identities to who you the player are. They won’t suddenly have a preference for men or women based on what you’re playing. Instead they have their own fully fleshed out identities. They are true and authentic to that. So in this game they are all pansexuals, they all have histories and romances, sometimes you’ll hear about preferences and things of that nature. And what I really love is if you don’t pursue a romance with them, they’ll actually build their own romances with each other. So in one of the interviews I talked about Lace Harding and Taash getting together. I give that example because it’s one of my favorites. I’m gonna put a question back to the community though. I’ve heard we’re going with Laash for that ship name? You tell me what is that ship name?

Q: What are the markings on the faces of the elven warden and veil hopper?

John: So there’s quite a few, I think more than we’ve done before, tattoos from various cultures. We're bringing the vallaslin back of course but there's a ton of different options, especially when we’re going into these new regions. Each area has its own kind of visual language for that. We are bringing the vallaslin back and a couple characters have them, but we've customized them a bit. They’re a bit more specific to their personality.

Q: What are you as a developer most proud of and excited for players to experience? 

Corinne: I suspect for most of us, myself included, it's the depths and authenticity of the companions journey along with on their arcs, learning about their hardships, what they care about, being by their side. That authenticity is just so good, they all feel like my dear friends. But I have to say, the closest runner up for me has to be the character creator. Has to be. That character creator, the makeup options, the range of sliders... I'm a Qunari fan, so even just the way you customize the horns and combine that with the really great looking hair. Character creator has to be my very close runner up.

Matt: As far as what I can say I’m most proud of on this one, I can speak for the art team, we worked incredible hard to make the story more visible than ever. Games are a visual medium, but sometimes it's easier to do things in text format or written in a codex somewhere or alluded to off screen, but we really leaned into trying to make sure that every design, prop, character, environment, that the effects we’re choosing, all these choices were putting the story on screen so you can see it unfold, and I think having worked on all the dragon age games, I'd say Veilguard represents one of the best attempts at that we’ve made yet.

John: I’m gonna cheat and kind of combine both Corinne’s and Matt’s answers. Honestly the companions for me are the absolute highlight. Just being able to work across all the disciplines, building characters who look and sound and behave in very specific and characterful ways. These are the deepest companion arcs we've ever done, not just on Dragon Age but in BioWare in general. Each companion has their own story arc you can go through, decisions you can make. They really do take center stage. As you play through them, you see the care and love that the team has put into each and every one. I mean, there’s moments in each arc that make you cry, make you angry, make you excited, and the way they integrate into the story as a whole for me is something that’s been really fun. Finding ways to bring these characters together, ways to bring this story, this narrative, of you know, you need to put together a team and stop the end of the world, has been absolutely exciting and thrilling. And again, you see the team's love in every single piece of it. As for what I’m most excited, Dragon Age has been part of my career and part of my life for literally the last decade and a half, I’ve worked on it since Origins, and there's something about the Veilguard that feels an amazing mix of novelty and familiarity, it’s like coming home in a way that I feel is going to be very exciting for people who are existing Dragon Age players, but there’s also so much here that’s just new and exciting for people, new players and old players alike. Going to parts of the world, seeing things we’ve never seen before, and just getting to take this amazing world and series and expand on it and build on it in ways that I’ve just been, honestly an absolute thrill, the best part of my career, and I’ve been in games for 17 years now and this has been the absolute highlight for me, so that’s what I’m excited about.

Corinne: I just wanna yes and that. I so completely agree with you. There’ve been times in companion arcs where even knowing what's going to happen, we work on the game, with some of these decisions, I've had to set down the controller, let out a heavy sigh, and go “oh my god, what am I gonna do here?” The depth of them is wonderful. I do wanna put this out there, when we talk about as a developer what we are most proud of, can we just give a big shout out to the dev team? I am so proud of them. This team has poured their hearts into this. Anyone from BioWare who’s listening in, thank you so much. Y’all are just the best.

Q: Why does Varric have dark hair now? 

Matt: He's been adventuring for a while now. His hair is more gray, but he's been in very dark scenes so far, so we’ll see him in some more contexts.

Q: Will the Inquisitor be appearing in the flesh or are we just choosing their major DAI decisions?

Corinne: Yes they will. The Inky does appear. We've know how attached y’all are to the Inquisitor, we’ve seen the love for your OC. Yes, the Inquisitor shows up. We'd already confirmed that a few places, so let me just say you can also customize them and it includes some of our new customization options. Yeah they’re gonna show up and they’re gonna be your Inquisitor.

John: And I think beyond that, the story of Solas and the story of the Inquisitor obviously are tied together as much as any story, so it would have been strange for us not to bring them in for this one. They’re gonna be a part of this story.

Q: Will there be any planned DLCs and transmog armor? 

Corinne: Right now our focus is entirely on the quality of the game, it's so important at this stage for us to be all in, all attention on finishing this game and delivering on the quality and the promise of it. So that's all I can really say on it, we're 100% focused on this being the most complete game we can make it. I wanna emphasize, there's not gonna be any microtransactions or battle passes, you don't have to connect online. Our focus is making this the most complete single player we possibly can. Now this was kind of a twofer question. Will there be transmog? Hell yeah. I’m the kind of player that believes fashion is the real endgames. Yeah there’s a transmog system, absolutely. It’s sick.

Q: Will any of the characters be asexual? 

Corinne: Such a good question. So, look I'm gonna be really forthcoming with yall and a little bit vulnerable, I'm ace. I'm a gray ace, I don't mind sharing that, I’m kind of public with it. I will say though that none of our companions this time around are explicitly ace. We look at the characters, their motivations, who they are, we always assess is this the right time. This time it wasn't. What I will say for everyone on the ace spectrum on there, I would love to represent an ace relationship sometime in the future when it feels like the most authentic fit for a companion, when we can do it best. And I do see some questions, what do we mean by ace? Asexuality. We often refer to it as the ace spectrum.

Q: Can mage Rook do blood magic? Will blood magic be a skill tree separate from regular magic?

Corinne: OK, this gets a bit spoilery, so let me just say, Rook has some pretty good reasons to avoid blood magic. Rook is not gonna wanna be interested in that. But I will say, the mage skill tree is packed with all kinds of spells, traits, and perks to give you a ton of flexibility in your magic. Gonna go off script just a little bit because I’ve seen “just tell us about the specializations”. I’m not gonna tell you the deets, but there is a necromancer one. There is an elemental one, and there is one that’s actually more of like a combat mage. It’s my favorite.

Q: Can we name the griffon? We also have a griffon emoji in this Discord server.

John: Excellent. So, someone in your party, again, spoilers, may have already named the baby griffon, but don’t worry, Assan is a very good boy.

Corinne: All these griffon emojis, y’all are killing me.

Q: Will we have a camp/home/headquarters that we’ll be able to customize?

Matt: Well this time around, in Inquisition you had Skyhold. In this case you have a headquarters called the Lighthouse. More to be seen on that, but narratively it serves kind of a different purpose, but also the same purpose. As far as customization goes, there are elements of it that change over time and some things you can adjust. I don’t know how much we’re really going into that at the moment. One thing I like about it is that it definitely does start to feel very much like home over time.

Q: We need to know, does pasta and noodles exist in Thedas? 

Matt: I’ll take it as a chance just to geek out about worldbuilding. Again, the Veilguard for us is a really kind of dream opportunity to go to places we've only ever heard reference to or we’ve seen in set. In going through the world building process, and trying to build these things out not just as neat things from the IP, but also as, if you’ve read about this stuff, you've got your own version in your head, you’ve imagined what it might be like and you're probably hoping for something spectacular, and our brains are always far better at creating this stuff than any game developer or any artist can really do justice to, so you really have to swing for the fences to make something very satisfying and exciting. That can be everything as big as architecture and landscape and biomes and ecosystems, but it does get into things like art and culture and costume design, and also food. This time around that was one of the many things we did look into to try to catch the character and feel of a place to make it feel believable and lived in. So that’s my really long answer for yeah, I'm sure at least one place does have pasta.

Q: Are we getting a mabari?

Matt: Ooh, that’s a good question. I will say you’re spending most of the game in the north of Thedas. Mabari are not nearly as big of a thing up there, so in this particular instance, no, you will not get a mabari, sadly.

Q: Can we pet the griffon? 

John: You, I’m really sorry to have to be the one to tell you—Nah, I’m kidding, yes you can. It's not even just petting the griffon, I've actually hugged the griffon, so that feels like even there a step up.

Matt: There’s lots of opportunities to interact with the griffon.

Corinne: Can we see Assan in chat if we wanna see him in the Lighthouse hanging out? And hey, y’all, this was so important to the team, too. Like this is the team’s like, just huge support for this feature, so props to them.

Q: Will we get to see any of the character creator before the game releases?

Corinne: Yes. Yes you will. You've probably seen we are laying out a roadmap for what we're gonna show and when we’re gonna talk about it. You will see it  as we get a little closer to launch.

Q: Will we be able to play as a qunari dwarf elf or human? 

Corinne: hell yeah you will. All 4. And all 4 have that full body customization. I already talked a little bit about, I’ve always loved the qunari, I will say in Dragon Age: Inquisition it was hard to get a good looking qunari hairstyle. So yes you can play as them, you can customize them, the horn options are rad, the hair options are rad. And also related to this, your lineage gives you a lot of really unique dialogue options. So that’s really one aspect of choosing your lineage as well.

John: So actually just to bounce off that, earlier questions about backgrouds. Each lineage, depending on the lineage you choose and the background you choose, there are some specific callouts to, for example, if it’s a Mournwatch, Mournwatch being from Nevarra and mages, if you play as a dwarf, obviously your experiences in that faction is going to be different from, say, a human or an elf, so there are also specific callouts tailored to those combinations and, with the intention of giving each lineage a little flavor as to how they fit into that faction as a whole.

Q: Where is barkspawn and is he ok?

John: Barkspawn is safely gnawing on a bone next to a fireplace somewhere in Ferelden. Don’t worry, he’s fine. You may ask yourself, “but John, it’s been so long.” To which I say, Mabari live exactly as long as they need to.

Q: Will Rook have a set of default name?

John: Yeah, so Rook’s last name is defined based on their faction, again we wanted to tie that into your backstory, but also there's a name generator that can give you a selection of first names, obviously if you wanted to make your own first name, that’s definitely something we support as well. If you’re somebody who maybe has a little more difficulty coming up with a name, so for example you name every single character Bob because that’s the only name you can think of, we also give that opportunity for that generation.

Q: When will the voice acting cast be announced? 

John: We worked with a lot of very talented actors on this one. I am super excited to talk about the voice acting cast, we’ll be talking about it more over the summer, we’re not quite ready to announce names yet.

Same answer for collectors editions and preorders, and required PC specs.

Q: Any special musical guests? Tavern songs? 

Corinne: Yeah there are tavern songs and a huge credit to the audio team and performance teams, because they’re pretty great. There’s one at a little tavern in Minrathous called the Swan, and the song you hear there might just be my favorite of the tavern songs.

Q: DA2's main theme brought back motifs from DAO main theme. Can we expect DAV to recall more or less of that original thematic material than inquisition? 

John: We are not quite ready to talk about music yet in specifics. But in broad strokes I can say that the process for us is always the same. Working with the composer, figuring out themes, figuring out what kinds of elements we want to keep, tying specific elements to maybe specific characters, it's very in depth process and a very collaborative process. We have some fantastic audio people on our team that have done some fantastic work, that have done an amazing job working with composers and with the team as a whole to make sure that again, we said earlier about cohesiveness, making sure that the music feels like a cohesive part of the experience.

Q: When writing the overall story of this game, what themes did you want to have as the prominent focus? 

John: Again, it’s interesting. When writing these games, and this has been true on every Dragon Age I’ve been a part of, what you start with and where you end up aren't always necessarily the same. Sometimes you start writing a theme, you realize actually it’s more interesting if you attack it from this angle, or maybe it ends up twisted a little bit. I will say for Dragon Age: the Veilguard, from the beginning one of the biggest themes has been regret. How regret shapes people’s lives, how they deal with their regrets, how maybe people move past regrets. Each of the characters and the story as a whole have elements of these. We wanted to have that thematic, that cohesiveness to the game’s story and the game’s writing.

Q: Can you play a dwarf and does the world react to your race and backstory?

John: Yes, you can play as a dwarf. Yes, the world does react to your race and backstory. And again you’ll have unique dialogues or unique conversations based on that backstory as well as that race.

Corinne: And to give you a little nugget here because I saw it scrolling through real quickly, you have beards. So when I think of dwarves, I think about glorious, fantastic beards. Hell yeah we do.

John: Yeah I can say, as somebody who plays a lot of games, the character creator—I don’t know what magic they did, but the beards, they feel like a beard should feel like, it’s great, they look awesome.

Q: Will our heroes and companions leave us if we go against their wishes? 

Corinne: Do y’all just love pain? Do you want us to make you cry? Um... if you go against their wishes and make decisions they don't like, I will tell you, you can piss them off, they might not agree with you, and they will take some time away. That said this is the biggest threat to Thedas we've ever seen, so they will always be willing to defend Thedas, but yeah you can piss them off and they’ll leave for a minute. As it relates to them showing up to defend Thedas, well yeah they will, UNLESS…

John: No spoilers, Corinne. No spoilers.

Corinne: Alright, alright. But they want it!

Q: Did any songs, books, movies, or anything inspire character writing? 

John: Art is always a synthesis of your own experiences both in the real world but also the art you consume, the art you pay attention. I don't think that any characters have a direct reference or inspiration, but yeah, they're all inspired by the things we do both in the real world and in the media we consume. And you’re gonna see elements of characters that yeah. The things that we’ve enjoyed show up in these characters. For me it comes down to, writing can be a deeply personal experience, so even if you don't intend for it to be the case, parts of you will show up in the characters. I think that’s true for all the characters in the Veilguard. Sometimes it's exploring things about yourself that you may like or may not like, and sometimes exploring things about characters you like or don't like. So that’s my longwinded way of saying yes, it’s impossible to not have that happen when you’re creating art, but I don’t think there’s one where you can say, “oh this is this character, this is this character.”

Q: What was the thinking process behind making Harding a companion this time around? 

John: When we released Inquisition, it was impossible not to see the love that people had for our murderous girl next door dwarf. She has always been a fan favorite obviously. But I think beyond that, it's something that Harding's writer wanted to explore, there was more of a story to tell there and more perspective. And beyond that Harding also has a strong connection to Solas, to Varric, and the events of the last 10 years. So I wouldn’t say it’s always been but I’d say Harding’s probably one of the first ones we settled on as like yes, this is a character we want, and the writer had a story that they wanted to tell with her, so it just made sense.

Matt: You know, actually, to piggy back on that, that’s something I hadn’t even thought about that much and it’s not a huge part of her character, but she tends to be one of the people that have the most insight into who he was.

John: Yeah that’s exactly—that’s a great way of looking at it, too, it also provides you with a little bit of perspective, for players who’ve been around for previous Dragon Age games, but also for new ones, who was Solas? What kind of character was he? Yeah it’s a great, using characters to provide windows into the world is honestly one of my favorite things.

Matt: And when I say was, I just mean in Inquisition.

John: Yes, that’s exactly, yes. Thank you for correcting that.

Q: What approach are you taking to quest and world design in the Veilguard?

John: I think for us it just comes down to relevance and narrative heft. We wanna make sure that each quest provides either a perspective on the world, a perspective on the characters, or it feels immediately and obviously relevant to what you’re doing here. You’re here to save the world. At the end of the day, one of the things that we heard loud and clear was the feedback about how relevant, or in our case not relevant, previous quests have felt, so for Veilguard, we really wanted all quests to feel like something somebody faced with the end of the world would believe was necessary and important. So again, there’s quests of all sorts and sizes, but all of them share that same feeling of, this is the kind of thing that the Veilguard would do. This is the kind of thing that my hero would do. Especially faced with the end of the world.

Corinne: That’s really good, John. That’s so right. I would just again double down on how hand crafted all the quests are. Whether you’re doing the main story or you’re journeying with your companions or you’re out exploring and you encounter a mystery, everything's hand crafted, intentional, we spend a lot of time listening to what yall said, and of course everyone has slightly different tastes, but you're not gonna be gathering shards in the Hinterlands. Everything is built with intention and they’re lovingly handcrafting the experience.

Q: Are there any locations in the game that can only be accessed by making specific story choices? 

John: So I don’t wanna get too much into spoilers here, but I will say that locations can fundamentally change based on decisions you make. Some of the parts of the world that you go to, you can have, the choices you make have an impact on how these spaces exist and develop.

Q: Will we be able to control companions in combat?

Corinne: If Rook gets KO'd, the player character gets knocked out, this time around it is time to reload your save, or better yet, the companions have really interesting progression. You can spec them out to be able to revive you, but that’s if you’ve invested in their progression and what they can do. And that said, I mentioned this earlier but I personally spend more time in the nature of this combat system when everything comes together, interacting and directing the companions than I have in any of the other games. So like that’s interactivity between them. Once you play it you’ll see just how engaged the scene is.

Q: Will Solas still occasionally or dramatically speak in iambic pentameter? 

John: I actually spent a little bit of time trying to figure out if I wanted to answer this question in iambic pentameter, and then I very quickly gave up. Massive kudos to Patrick who always writes Solas so well. Again, Solas is a returning character. It's the same Solas you know and love or hate depending on who you are. The same writer. So I think this is, the answer is yeah, it's Solas.

Q: Will our decision of who was left in the fade be important? 

John: While that decision does not show up—not for the Veilguard, now that said, that doesn’t mean that’s not a decision that won’t ever be important in the future. Not for this one.

Matt: I’m glad to hear you say that, John, because one of my favorite stories was Bob getting stuck in the web in Reboot.

John: That’s a deep cut! The sound of my childhood.

Q: Will we have mounts again? 

Matt: No, mounts were, they addressed a need in Inquisition that we don't have in Veilguard, and you’ll see why when you get to play.

Q: How is the side quest design? Will they be mostly story based or will there be a lot of radiant and quests for power like in Inquisition? 

John: We talked about this a bit earlier, but they are all hand crafted and story focused. The narrative, the companions, not just the companions but the characters and the world as a whole, are so much at the core of the Veilguard that anything other than handcrafting quests just felt like it would be a disservice to the game we were building.

Corinne: And maybe we can clarify as well, because with power was such a devisive mechanic in Inquisition, there’s no mechanic like that that blocks your progression until you fill a bar. That’s just not a thing in this. You have the autonomy to engage in these quests as you like, there’s no grind out gates before you can progress.

John: That’s right. Again we want to make sure that doing this content feels as natural and part of the logical flow of the story as possible.

Q: Will there be a similar system to war table? 

Corinne: We haven't talked much about the player's base, the Lighthouse, and we're gonna save that, but what I will say is that the Lighthouse, your headquarters so to speak, it has its own unique purposes and functions this time. So that's an area that we'll leave for you when we talk more about the Lighthouse and when you have a chance to hop in, you’ll be able to see what those unique purposes are.

Q: If there is dual wield for warriors, is it dex or str? 

Corinne: So we did wanna bring dual wielding back. It is part of the rogue kit this time, warriors are really focused on mighty two handed weapons, I can’t wait until you see, when you swing those weapons there's a real heft to it, and then of course sword and shield. So we’re leaving the dual wielding to the rogues, but you can see, the amount of hits you can get in in rapid succession dual wielding as a rogue is really satisfying.  

Q: What have been some of the challenges and advantages of working on a single game for so many years? 

John: That is a fantastic question. I have often joked, and I don’t know how much of a joke it is, that when this game is out and I suddenly don't have to keep all these pieces of game and lore and story and everything straight in my head, I'm suddenly gonna be able to speak Latin or something because there’s gonna be a ton of brain power freed up. But for me it’s just, the thing that keeps me sustained is just knowing the game we're building is the right one. Knowing that the pieces are coming together, and knowing just how much people care about this franchise, care about these games, and how excited people are going to be when they get to see the fantastic work the team has been doing. I’ve been on this project since the start, and even today I see things on a daily basis that I’m like holy smokes I can't believe what the team is doing, I can’t believe how good this looks. It's a huge game and I don't see every piece every day, so I get pleasantly surprised on a daily basis. Sometimes if I’m having a particularly long day, I'll spend about an hour late at night just watching cutscenes come in, watching the work coming together, and just sitting back and being like, holy smokes, I can’t wait for someone who hasn’t seen this every day as I have, to see this and just be blown away by the work.

Corinne: It's been very real, hasn’t it? I will just say speaking on behalf of the dev team, everyone's working so hard and putting so much passion, so much of themselves into it. This is a franchise they truly love and seeing your support cheering us on has meant a lot to them. So let me just say thank you to all of you.

[copperbadge]

Immediate Writer's Block

Had a comment on another post where I thought I'd probably need more space than the notes in which to respond, so:

constant-state-of-self-discovery Oh I get the envy I feel it right now how the fuck do you manage to write without impassable writers block after 5-9 sentences because I haven't fucking figured it out lol

I do have some advice on this!

I think most writers get blocked from time to time, it's normal and my general strategy is just to wait it out, but if you're frequently blocked after only writing a very little bit, I think the problem is one of two things: either you don't know what you want to achieve with the scene you're writing, or you don't know what should happen next within the scene to achieve that goal. If you frame "I'm blocked" as "I don't have an answer I need" then often you move from just sitting there, sweating and staring at a blank page, to thinking productively about how you're going to get where you're going. It's the difference between not knowing an answer and not knowing an answer but knowing where to look for it.

An invaluable piece of advice for this, which I think I picked up from someone who got it off a National Novel Writing Month messageboard, is "When in doubt, ninjas attack." It's not meant to be literal, you don't need to have ninjas or fight scenes just because you don't know what to do, but it helps to get the creativity flowing again. If you don't know what should happen next, or you know but you're having trouble actually writing the scene, it can be very helpful to induce a moment of uncertainty or surprise -- to have a metaphorical ninja attack. One time I did this literally -- the POV character was just on the road somewhere and I didn't know how to get them from a pastoral country road to their actual destination in an interesting way, so I had them get attacked by highway bandits and have to fight them off, which also allowed me to demonstrate that the character had significant unarmed combat skills. But it can also just be like, two characters who are having a boring conversation can be interrupted by a third person, even just a stranger asking for directions, or there can be, IDK, an explosion, or something goes missing, or etc.

Sometimes it also helps to leave it alone but keep it in your mind and go do something else -- listen to a podcast, take a walk, read a book, not because those things are distracting but because all our inputs eventually feed into our brain and come out as reactions. If you're thinking about your book while you're wandering around a park, something you see in the park might have an impact on it. If you've got YOUR story in mind while reading someone else's, you might be more inclined to look at what they're saying and see what you think of it, how it might play into your work.

And honestly, sometimes you just gotta go past it. I'm working on the next Shivadh novel right now and it opens basically with Simon the chef getting into a spat with his love-interest-to-be over some cheese. He want the cheese, she won't sell him the cheese, so they get off to a very contentious start. But I suck at writing conflict especially when it's basically "A character I like is being pompous and another character I want people to find likable is being stubborn and somewhat unpleasant". I've been stalled on it for a while. But I know where the scene ends up, like I do know what the goal is, so I just...skipped it and went on to writing a scene I like better, where they meet a second time and actually discover each others' identity and that they're about to be forced into the grownup equivalent of a school project. Once I've gotten dug deeper into the story I'll come back and write it, and by then I'll have the benefit of knowing the love interest a bit better.

So yeah -- I think a lot of breaking a writer's block, especially when you don't need rest but are just stumped about what to do, is to twist and look at it from another angle. It's not that you don't know what to write, or don't want to write what you know you have to -- it's that you don't have the correct answer to a question, or you need to leave that part alone to ferment and come back to it later. At least, for me.

[anxiousnerdwritings]

Himbo!Baratheon!Reader out here just stealing everyone’s hearts and living in their minds rent free. He’s probably the only Baratheon brother who thrives in the Red Keep and is closest to Robert, who insisted that Reader live/stay with him as a trusted strategist (Lets be honest though he just wants to keep having fun with his little brother who’s down to do almost anything)

I can see Cersei absolutely developing feelings for Reader when he is respectful and caring for her and listening to her ideas, even discussing them in detail. These genuine interactions has her wanting take the throne and have Reader instilled as the King with her as Queen consort. Not only that but he’s the best “uncle” her children could ever have. Giving them the warmth and care that don’t receive from Robert and can’t receive from Jamie. Speaking of Jamie, do you think Reader’s open friendly attitude yet sharp skill in combat and strategy awakens something in him 👀 Like at first he’s like “Stay away from my sister >:(“ but after getting to know Reader he’s like “You should come train with me :) Or maybe I can should you around Casterly Rock :)”

Omg what would happen if he managed to meet Dany after everything goes to shit? I don’t think he would have any personal qualm with her (if anything he’d probably only have an issue with the mad king) She’d probably see this big smiley puppy of a man and reconsider her decision to only have her dragons as her children. He’d probably tell her about Rheagar (possible exes 👀) and what he was like if she wanted to know 🍃

Oh, Himbo!Baratheon!Reader is stealing the hearts of both men and women alike, and definitely leaving too lasting of an impression to ever forget so no doubt he’s living in everyone’s heads rent free. Honestly, Himbo!Baratheon!Reader is the type who could happily thrive wherever. He’s terrifyingly good at making friends and allies wherever he goes, with most of those allies/friends wanting more than just that.

I really like to imagine that Baratheon!Reader has a good relationship with all his brothers, just an overall special connection with each of them respectively but Robert is the one most outwardly closest to the Reader (along with Renly) given how the two are similar in their enjoyments of having a good time. I like to think that Baratheon!Reader doesn’t whore around very much, he more so enjoys the company of others in general (especially making people laugh and let go) and of course to indulge in a fair share of wine and ale while he’s at it.

Like, this man has literally done the unfathomable by not only being the only one to make Stannis smile let alone chuckle, but he’s done the same with Tywin (although the Lannister will never admit to it or acknowledge it whenever brought up). Honestly, the stag man has got everyone wrapped around his finger whether they know it or not.

Cersei would definitely have set her sights on Himbo!Baratheon!Reader because he was everything she wished Robert was, especially in how he was with her and the kids. He’s respectful, he’s kind, he’s exceptionally in shape (and maintains it), he actually listens to her when she speaks and doesn’t just disregard her. I really love the idea of Himbo!Baratheon!Reader heavily respecting women, he drinks that respect women juice day and night so much so he’d die by it. Like, Baratheon!Reader totally sees how powerful and terrifying a woman can really be if she just so wanted to or was pushed to her limit, and he’s all for it. Cersei would definitely fall fast and hard for the Reader, especially seeing him be so attentive to her children and interacting with them so openly and warmly. He’s able to do what Robert has never done and what Jaime could never do, and all without much of a thought about it. How could Cersei not become captivated with Baratheon!Reader?

Regarding Jaime, I love the idea of him seething with envy and resentment that not only his beloved sister prefers the Reader over him, but also because of how the Reader is in general. The charisma, the respect, the overall love that the Reader receives from those around him; it makes Jaime feel especially threatened. Not to mention when his father eventually comes to hold some form of favor for the Reader too that certainly doesn’t make Jaime feel an better. It really wouldn’t be until Jaime saw and experienced Baratheon!Reader in the midst of battle that he would see him in a completely different light. All this time he thought the Reader was just an overrated, glorified idiot who was all muscle and a pretty face, that was until he was watching the man he internally labeled his arch nemesis in action. Honestly, Jaime would be in awe (not that he would ever tell anyone, not even his sister). Like, he has to physically keep himself from being slack jawed in front of everyone in that very moment. He would definitely have a new found respect and admiration for the Reader after that, not that he would let that on but he would act much better towards him.

Also, as much as I doubt Jaime would ever tell a soul (except maybe Tyrion, depending) that he finally came to understand everyone’s talk about the Reader and himself now harboring some like for the Reader, I love the thought of Jaime just running to Cersei after everything is said and done and the battle is won like an excited little kid and gushing about how cool and amazing the Reader was when in action. If anything the closet he would get to that would be by forcing Tyrion to listen to him ranting away about the whole thing, being both admiring and jealous in his rambling. It would be kind of funny and interesting to see if Jaime were to actually grow a romantic interest in Himbo!Baratheon!Reader, especially whether he would want to try and steal the Reader from his sister or maybe share with her?👀

When it comes to Daenerys, I could totally see Himbo!Baratbeon!Reader going himself to go seek her out. Especially after Robert said he didn’t want her dead anymore. I definitely think that Baratheon!Reader took Ned’s side when talk of killing off Dany came up. He didn’t see the point of it. I feel like Baratheon!Reader would stand by the idea of how a child shouldn’t have to or be forced to pay for their parent’s words or actions. He has no problem whatsoever with Daenerys, he didn’t share his brother’s disdain for all Targaryens alike. He only had his beef with the Mad King and maybe Rhaegar, but he saw no point in bringing Daenerys or Viserys into it.

Honestly, Himbo!Baratheon!Reader would probably leave without telling anyone before he sets off to make things right with Daenerys on his brother’s behalf. There’s a good chance that he may have told Ned of his plans but that’s about it. The Reader would definitely think that going to Dany himself would mean more than sending a raven or messenger. And when he does finally make it to Dany, she wouldn’t know what to do upon being met with the Reader right in front of her. Especially when he apologizes to her, telling her that his brother had called off his want for her assassination on his death bed, that he wanted to ensure she got word that, as far as he knew, the crown didn’t have any ill intentions for her anymore. Given that this would most likely take place after Khal Drogo’s death and Dany getting her dragons, I could see Dany saying she would only accept what the Reader was saying if he married her. Not only as recompense for everything (including the deaths of her brother and father and the loss of their home) but also as assurance that nothing will happen to her or her people. And I have no doubt that the Reader would feel all too inclined to do so just to make amends. Meanwhile, when Cersei gets word she absolutely loses her shit and is completely under the belief that Dany took the Reader hostage and forced him to marry her. It’ll be a hell of a fight between the women, physically, mentally and emotionally for the Reader.

Also, Himbo!Baratheon!Reader would be so kind and understanding towards Dany. She knows only what she’s been told about her father and brother, things that have been either misconstrued or made to shelter both her and Viserys at the time. She doesn’t know the truth or the other side of what exactly happened and the Reader would only be all the gentle and honest in telling her whenever she asked.

Imagine Cersei’s absolute horror upon the Reader getting back to King’s Landing with a heavily pregnant Dany in tow?? She would be utterly livid and enraged. Ooohhh! What if Himbo!Baratheon!Reader became the modern Aegon the Conqueror with Cersei and Dany becoming his Visenya and Rhaenys???? Or maybe instead of Cersei its Margaery who takes her place along with Dany in becoming his wives??

Also, after Renly’s inevitable death, I totally see Loras and Brienne latching onto the Reader as a surrogate for Renly in a way.

[mars-and-the-theoi]

Low energy Devotional Acts for when you don’t have a lot of energy (or time, or money, etc.) pt. 8

🌾Demeter🌾

- if able go on a walk and enjoy the outdoors doesn’t have to be anywhere fancy it could literally just be a walk around the block

- if you can’t go on a walk either sit outside for a bit or just open some windows for some fresh air

- play farming simulator (you think I’m joking but I’m not) or watch vids of ppl playing it

- watch documentaries or do a deep dive on farming and all the stuff that goes with it (maybe you’re wanting to know more about tractors, or farming techniques over the years, etc.)

- if able attend a farmer’s market or look into any that are in your area you don’t necessarily need to buy anything you could just go look around (I do that regularly)

- learn about the role of a farmer and what it’s like to be a farmer (I worked on a farm for a bit in high school and while I loved it I couldn’t do it as a living it takes a very special someone to do it) and look up ways you can support them

- learn about the native plants in your area

- watch foraging videos and learn about it (how to safely do it especially, if it’s something you wish to do at some point)

- if able support local farmers by buying their products (I know here in wi it’s not uncommon for farm stands to pop up this time of year and they sell all sorts of stuff for good prices! One in my town sells the best corn and for only $1 a piece which is perfect)

- point out cows, horses, sheep, goats, etc. while going by them in the car

- learn about homesteading and watch videos about it (though I will issue a heads up that some of these folks veer into uh….’crunchy’ beliefs so just be careful I guess)

- look up recipes you’re interested in trying, try to write your own recipe, or cook something using a family recipe/you’d own recipe if able

- enjoy a fruit, vegetable, or grain/bread product! Have some toast with jelly/jam! Have a salad! A fruit cup! The fruit/veggies can be frozen as well. It’s still that fruit/veggie.

- listen to a devotional playlist for Her

- listen to nature soundscapes

🦉Athena🦉

- learn your rights and by the gods I can’t stress this enough (if you rent learn your tenants rights, learn your workers rights, etc.)

- watch a war movie, show, or documentary (plugging Band of Brothers again because there’s some examples of excellent leadership and all that)

- read or listen to an audiobook about war (can be fiction or nonfiction- my personal favorite is Conversations With Major Dick Winters it’s great)

- listen to a devotional playlist for Her

- is there a weapon you’re interested in? Or maybe a style of combat? Or something else pertaining to combat? Read about it! Watch a video about it!

- if able pick up a handicraft of some sort: knitting, crocheting, sewing, etc.)

- if unable to do that watch tutorial videos for it (I can knit but can’t crochet to save my life but I love watching crocheting videos)

- read or listen to an audiobook about literally anything

- if you’re a student, and are able, do some studying

- or just watch documentaries or read articles and such about stuff that interests you

- if able play a strategy game if unable to do so look up videos for techniques for strategy games you like and pick up some new tricks for when you next play!

- if able do a puzzle (can be as simple or complex as you want)

- if able do something like a word search, sudoko, crossword, etc.

[moonstruckme]

Steve x Wednesday!reader and the gang really didn’t expect Steve to end up w someone so different from all his exs but also low-key think she’s way out of his league??? Found your fics and your writing is sick 😋😋😋😋

Thanks for your request sweetheart! I haven't written wednesday!reader before so idk if this was too much? Or too little? Anyway, I hope you like it, mwah <3

Steve Harrington x Wednesday!reader ♡ 698 words

You hadn't been at all nervous to meet Steve's friends. Really, they probably should have been more nervous about meeting you.

You could be a bit off-putting at first, with your impassive stare and clipped, to-the-point manner of speaking. The few other girlfriends Steve had introduced to his friends had greeted them with smiles and nervous laughter, and Steve had caught Dustin and Mike whispering about just that when you'd gone to the bathroom.

Overall, though, Steve thinks this is going pretty well. Nancy had liked your giant combat boots, Eddie loved that you had the same taste in music, and when the kids found out how much you knew about mages and battle strategy, they'd grilled you for a solid twenty minutes before Steve had called them off, complaining that he was going to dream about their nerd jargon that night if they didn't shut up.

Now, Eddie and the boys are discussing the edition of their nerd game they'll be playing next week (how it even changes from week to week, Steve can never figure out), and you seem to be listening with mild interest when you turn towards him suddenly.

"I have to go home," you say, in your matter-of-fact way. "I left a potion on the stove, and its six hours are almost up."

Steve blinks at you. He should be used to this by now, but sometimes your hobbies still take him by surprise. "Alright," he says after a moment. "What's the potion for?"

Impossibly, your expression darkens. "Something ate my venus fly traps, and I intend to find out what."

Steve declines to ask what you plan to do when you do find them, or how whatever you're brewing will accomplish that. "Okay," he stands, looking for where he left his keys. "I'll drive."

"No, you can stay," you say, as if it makes no difference to you. "I want to cut through the woods to find some belladonna on my way."

He's not going to ask what you want with the poisonous berries, either. "You sure, honey?" You nod, and Steve sits back down. He knows better than to bother arguing with you once you've made up your mind. "Okay, be safe, alright? Text me when you're home."

He tilts his chin up, and you lean down to peck him on the lips, a brief, chaste thing compared to what you prefer behind closed doors.

"Bye, Y/N!" Eddie calls, and a chorus of goodbyes follow you out. As soon as the door closes behind you, every eye in the room turns on Steve.

"Steve, what the hell? She's so cool." Dustin says, sounding almost shocked.

"Yeah," Eddie chimes in. "Where the hell have you been hiding her, Harrington?"

Steve grins proudly. He known they liked you, but it doesn't hurt to hear it out loud. "Yeah?"

"Um, yeah," Max says. "She's hilarious."

Robin nods enthusiastically. "She is! She's so funny, and smart, too. Honestly, Steve, it's a good thing you're nice, because she's, like, way out of your league."

Steve blinks. Okay, ouch. This compliment session seems to be taking an unexpected turn. Up until today, no one was out of Steve Harrington's league. "You really think so?"

"Duh." Robin looks around for support, but only Dustin is nodding, everyone else having fallen unusually silent. "Oh, you guys are cowards. She's gorgeous."

"I know that," Steve says defensively.

"She does have better hair than you," Nancy says, somewhat apologetically, "and that's kind of your thing, so."

Steve blows out an exasperated breath, slouching back in his seat. He thinks you have better hair than him, but he didn't know everyone else would think that. And of course you're far too good for him, but aren't these supposed to be his friends? Any modicum of loyalty they'd had between them seems to have vanished.

"Whatever," Steve says. "You guys are just jealous."

Eddie sighs, his eyes sparkling with exaggerated infatuation. "I know I am. Don't let her get away from you, Harrington, or I might take her for myself."

Steve rolls his eyes. As if he'd be dumb enough to let that happen. He's happy to be your charity case forever.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 9/17/2024

come take this very very friendly little man out of my bathroom! he is fiv+ and we are in houston tx! i am willing to drive a couple hours for the right home! he is a good boy he's just orange! more details here!

listening

emily jeffri's DENY off my spotify recommended weekly playlist: i can only describe it as "throbbing". immediately attention grabbing lyrics:

What kind of lover does your mother want? I'll do whatever, oh but you could not

very distinctly indie electronica. this would be the song in a cyberpunk/80s hacker movie where the chase takes you through an goth/alt fashion show where the models are actively giving blood as they walk or something.

i love the spotify daily mix for me and my bestie bc there's a guaranteed four bluey songs on it and it's a nice jumpscare. i know my mental health is taking a turn for the worse when a lot of mother mother starts popping up, i know my bestie's is taking a turn for the worse when a lot of girl in red starts popping up. suicide-watch-level sapphic angst singer-songwriter, generally. except for this song! extremely fun! didn't even recognize it as her! DOING IT AGAIN BABY is a more traditional selling-you-a-dodge-charger car commercial song and it's such a startling departure from her usual work that i wonder if it was a commercial commission? hard to immediately find out tho

I'm on a new level Something's got me feelin' like I could be inflammable And I might be I'm gonna light it up Nothing's gonna stop me if I say this is what I want

-

reading

i read twilight (yes that one) at the behest of my bestie and bc my mental health could not have gotten any worse in that moment. it has led to some uncomfortable realizations about my high school experience i will save for a therapist. i am mostly putting it here to remind myself that i read this book this year.

^ this is some silly goofy nonsense. not that i think people shouldn't be recognized at their retirement, but what happened to giving people nice watches instead of a thousand dollars in plaques

Saying that, the records did reveal something actually interesting: although the individual contract I sent a request related to was for a few thousand dollars, an attached blank purchase agreement (BPA) says that “the government estimates, but does not guarantee, that the volume of purchases through this BPA will be $360,000.00 over the term of the BPA.” So, a lot more than a few thousand bucks.

-

watching

Hang 'Em High (1968, dir. Post). certainly not clint's sluttiest role but really up there. i do wish he kept the fucked-out little rasp for the whole movie :(

When an innocent man barely survives a lynching, he returns as a lawman determined to bring the vigilantes to justice.

it has a typical bizarre shoehorned romance that (i think) deeply undercuts the theme it wants to explore, but there is no on-screen rape. the bar is on the FLOOR with westerns and yet i DNF so so so many.

hell of a whump film. literally everything happens to jed cooper. i will trumpet this again from the rooftops: that character needs cbt both ways.

-

playing

HIGHWATER, a 2022 adventure/turn based strategy thing from Rogue Games, courtesy of Netflix Games, whose game library is a fucking nightmare to navigate on mobile.

i loooove a water-based postapoc. the boat does in fact handle very poorly and like a horrible inflatable raft on mobile, which is both charming and frustrating.

i do not love a turn-based combat. despite the vibes off the charts, including a very well integrated "pirate radio" station as the game's soundtrack, i am not patient enough to muddle through complex turn-based combat. i'm sure someone had fun fighting off six guys and two bears (who aggro anyone and can one-hit anyone) and then a further three guys who show up for backup but i gave it the good old college try over two days and wasn't able to swing it. it would be nice to have either a difficulty setting or some way to spectate the ideal fight, but alas. a lot of fun environmental stuff in the fights you can use to your advantage, like the bears and these trees you can flatten your opponents with in a much earlier fight. there's a fun mix of different characters with different abilities and different weapons you pick up and keep during fights. i have no specific beef with this game's choice to make this the way you move through the game, it's just not my preferred genre.

a lot of book and newspaper collectibles in this one that i feel of several minds about. it feels less like environmental storytelling through newspapers and just the devs telling me their opinion when they provide little book summaries like this. also i wish The Industry as a whole was more thoughtful about using the word "insurgent".

not a game for me, i have once again confirmed that i cannot tolerate a turn-based combat no matter how much seafaring postapoc you drench it in :(

-

making

got a Phantom Menace era curtain panel for $4 at the thrift, and i was convinced it was fabric someone had made into a curtain panel until i got home and discovered it was an officially licensed product with bafflingly generous seams.

it's about two-ish yards of a 50/50 cotton/poly blend, which i feel like i haven't seen in a while? i think the current fashion leans more 70/30 or 100 poly for curtains i've purchased. after i finish unpicking the seams and pinking it, i am going to throw it in the wash again with some vinegar and see if that softens it up any, or if it makes the transition between the wear lines on the seams and the body of the fabric any nicer.

thinking about what kind of dress to make that 1) shows off this extremely large scale pattern 2) does not look like i am wearing a paper bag, and 3) does not look like the late aughts craft trend of sewing a twin flat Star Wars sheet to a tube top and calling that a dress, bc that's how hard up we were for feminine merch. much to consider. maybe it Will be a maxi skirt with pockets and i can wear one of my seventy black tees on top?

[dice-sociation]

Girls Who Don’t DnD

Quick Info

Audio Quality: High-Quality Audio, Effects, Music. (Occasional fan-submitted recordings)

Vibes: Throne of Glass, Doctor Who, Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Princess and the Pauper

Extras: Patreon rewards, Discord Community with Book Club, and more!

System: 5e DnD

Campaign/ Show Length: Long Term Campaign

Average Episode time: 1.5 Hours (varies a bit)

Uploads 1 episode a month. 

Diversity: Majority Women

Platforms: Podcast, Audio Only. 

Number of Episodes This Review is based on: 30+ 

** If you want the TLDR, scroll to the bottom of the post **

Why Girls Who Don’t DnD?

How often have you said to yourself, “Man, I wish I could experience that for the first time again?” While we can’t reset your brain, you can live vicariously through the Girls Who Don’t D&D podcast. 

If you're looking for a podcast with relaxed gameplay, fantastic humor, great editing, and effects, you should read on to learn more. This wonderful adventure showcases the beautiful experience of watching three girls fall in love with Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). 

Starting the Pod

The podcast starts with Cory, the Dungeon Master (DM), explaining that he has invited three girls, Indy, Alana, and Stacey, who have never played D&D, into his world of Kalee with premade characters. If you, the listener, haven’t played before, you’ll learn a lot just from listening. Cory purposely doesn’t edit out explanations of how to play. I’m confident my experience was better because I was still learning to play the game myself as I started listening.

Right from the start you will hear how much work Cory puts into editing and pre-recording. He recruits people to voice-act for non-player characters (NPCs) or to play out memories or scenes. Some additions are just for the listeners, giving us a little extra information about the lore of the world. This includes the origin of magical artifacts, gods, and sometimes an NPC’s perspective that the players don’t get to hear.  It feels like listening to an audiobook and honestly, I think “booktok” would love Girls Who Don’t DnD. 

We learn that the three player characters, Freya, Kaa'Riin, and Morrigan, have lost their memories and need to recover them. The story and the discovery of who the player characters are and what happened to them work in tandem with the players themselves learning the game in a beautiful way. 

Power gamers and hardcore strategy? We don’t need that here. (Tosses book over shoulder). This group is made of story-tellers who usually choose to progress the narrative over strategy. At first, it's like watching Without A Recipe or the British Bake Off challenge where they have no clue what they are supposed to be making. This makes it all the more special when the players get more comfortable with the gameplay and more grounded in their characters. 

About the Team

Cory, "(who owns all the books but hasn't read them)"* completely absorbs the chaos the girls bring to the table and somehow also keeps them immersed in the story. He holds onto the rules of D&D loosely, letting his players use their abilities in different and unique ways. You still get full epic fights with no pulled punches, yet they feel more cinematic than the usual D&D grind. Outside of combat, Cory introduces challenging puzzles and encounters that present more opportunities for his players to think outside the mechanics of the game.

I adore Alana, Indy, and Stacy. I have some difficulty with telling their voices apart, but I never felt like that took away from my enjoyment of the show. Over time they develop their characters and have different play styles. They all have so much personality and bring their own flavor to the table. 

Indy, playing Freya the Rogue, has to be the most classic of first-time players, starting a little hack-and-slash happy, but eventually, she gets really into the strategy of the game. Freya is a cheeky scamp of a character and Indy leans naturally into the rogue class.  

Alana, playing Morrigan the Sorcerer, is usually the most sensible of the group. She is a leader in a way. There is so much more I want to say but I can't think of anything that isn't a big spoiler. Playing a sorcerer for your first time playing D&D is never easy, but Cory was able to ease her into the role and she runs with it.

Stacey, playing Kaa'Riin the Bearbarian (Druid with some Barbarian), has some epic combat moments. She can change from one animal to another without reverting to humanoid form, which deviates from traditional Druid rules. This decision, as well as other tweaks of the rules, help the pacing of the overall production. 

And sure, you're probably thinking their whole schtick is that they don't know D&D, so wouldn't it lose its charm after they get better? Absolutely not. Not even a little bit. This table is casual, silly, charming, and gripping. They make me feel like I am with my best friends playing our chaos gremlins together. 

A special shout to Mia Stegner (https://www.miastegner.com/) who composed and performed the opening and closing songs. It’s the cherry on top of this podcast sunday.

*Referenced from the Podcast Description. https://www.girlswhodontdnd.com/ 

About the world

“There is a saying among the good people of Kalee, when you know what is right, do what is right, and then deliver it all into the endless sea” From Episode 1: Throw it Into the Sea, Aug 16, 2021.

Cory presents a world both complex and informed by the player's choices and features some of the more bizarre parts of typical High Fantasy settings. 

There is just something so satisfying about learning the characters' backstories and how their stories are expertly baked in the many-layered cake that makes the world. Flavors include; wild magic, strange and whimsical characters, Evil Queens, “timey-wimey” stuff, super cute plans, snails, Gods, magic crystals, trapped souls, and Alan (the real star of the later episodes).

Extras

There are so many Patreon perks! You get behind-the-scenes talks, recipes from Indy, DMing tips, Lana's book reviews, and more! You can also join their Discord server where Cory is pretty active and they encourage community gaming and have a book club.

TL;DR: 

This podcast is about girls learning to play D&D using premade characters with amnesia. The girls learning to play parallels the story’s progression as they regain memories. 

Reliving the experience of learning to play for the first time all over again. 

Loosely follows the rules of 5e to keep the pacing up.

DM Cory recruits people to voice act for NPCs or to play out memories or scenes. Some additions are just for the listeners, giving us a little extra information about the lore of the world.

It's a little hard to tell the girls apart, but I don’t think it takes away from my enjoyment at all. 

Wild magic, strange and whimsical characters, Evil Queens, “timey-wimey” stuff, super cute plans, snails, Gods, magic crystals, trapped souls, and Alan. 

DM Cory presents a world both complex and informed by the player's choices and features some of the more bizarre parts of typical High Fantasy settings.

Special thanks to Artax of Who's Taking Watch for helping with editing!

No Context Gifs:

[sparklepirate]

Alright, final thoughts on Inheritance.

;-;

Eragon continues to be the guy of all time. I love him. He really displayed a maturity in this book that I think supersedes anything we've seen of him in all the previous books, and just like... His strength really is that he is compassionate and thoughtful towards everyone. Even Murtagh, now, too. He had the realization of how close he was to sharing his fate, sought to understand him, and that was ultimately what led him to realizing his true name had changed, tearing down Galbatorix's wards, etc etc. I don't know that I could properly articulate everything about him here, but Eragon definitely became the hero he needed to be by the end of the series, 100%. He is the only person who could've possibly thought of the final piece of magic to defeat Galbatorix. Even the dreams of starlings are equal to the worries of a king. Ahhh, it's so good. ❤️ I'm so proud of him.

On the other hand, Barst was some bullshit. Bro. Like, on the one hand, it was a very good climactic battle for Roran to participate in, and his triumph was the perfect culmination of his character- cunning in battle, cunning in strategy, the intelligence and charisma to sway everyone around him into cooperating and working together, sheer determination so intensely strong that he was able to crush and Eldunarí with his bare hands. His role was perfect! But Barst as a villain was kinda... Well, first of all, he came completely the fuck out of nowhere. He wasn't mentioned at all until they were already on their way to Uru'baen, and then he was only MENTIONED. They didn't hype him up enough before the actual battle in my opinion. And ONE human and one Eldunarí being enough to beat the QUEEN OF THE ELVES in hand to hand combat...? I mean, I guess that could work but... Ehhh... I dunno. It kind of felt like an excuse for Islanzadí to die, and Roran to triumph more than anything. It was cool, but it was probably the weakest part of the plot in my opinion.

That said though I think it's pretty safe to say this was my favorite book of the series. I'm having trouble recalling all the iconic shit (I took a pretty long break from reading about halfway through the book) but there was soooo much cool stuff in here. The Nasuada being kidnapped and being helped by Murtagh arc is GOLD, Vroengard was amazing, and all the battles were SO well written??? I need to study these books more closely just to learn how to write compelling fight scenes. Honestly, it's gripping stuff. I was on the edge of my seat, despite knowing how everything turns out.

Nasuada is amazing, Arya is amazing, Saphira is amazing, Roran is amazing, MURTAGH is amazing... I think I already liked basically every character in this series going in, but I somehow like them even more now that I've read it again. Everyone is so good, and interesting, and I want to be everyone's friend. I think the only character I liked less this go around was Orrin (sorry to my Orrin stan friend out there). That said, though, I don't dislike him, I think I just went from positive to neutral about him.

Orrin honestly just didn't get nearly as much screen time as I remembered? We only see him a handful of times throughout the book and each time the only thing he's doing is getting drunk and making an ass of himself, though... Idk, he also has a point? He has his own unique point of view, and his own unique experiences that lead him to his own ideas of how to conduct things, and it is definitely kind of true that like no one ever really listens to him or takes him seriously, despite being the King of Surda for w while at that point. I don't think there was a more graceful solution to the division of power/territory after Galbatorix was killed than what was decided upon, because like... Realistically, Orrin was never gonna be high king. He had good reason to assert for the throne, sure, but actually ascending to the throne? That is SUCH a far reach for power, unless the aim was to assimilate Surda in and have all of the humans under one crown. Nah, Nasuada giving up territory and ascending to the throne was the better choice, even if I do empathize with Orrin's point of view. It seems like Nasuada did as well, because even though she was persistent, she seemed to be gentle and sympathetic with him. He even had his line about like... "Why do you even want to do this?" "None of you would understand." Idk. Very interesting, but not tremendously notable compared to others, and he definitely was a bit of an asshole at times.

Murtagh my beloved my BELOVED I'm honestly just gonna make a whole separate essay post about him because his shit is Complicated™️ but one little note it was such a small detail at the end but I love that he said to Eragon "Hey check in on Arya about killing Shruikan. It couldn't have been easy for an elf to kill a dragon." And Eragon hadn't even THOUGHT of that and Arya probably would've been the last thing on his mind but he still was just so thoughtful. He is thoughtful like his brother and he cares so deeply and AHHH!!! And actually I want to see him and Arya be buds. I think they would have a cool dynamic. And also I love that he never once hesitated to acknowledge Eragon as his brother and just wanted to be with him and finally Eragon also acknowledged him as a brother too that last scene with them was just so good 🥹

Also I love how Thorn's like only spoken line in the whole series (until November) is to boop Eragon on the forehead and say "Hi. Thank you for not killing my rider. :)" and Murtagh is just like "Yeah thanks for that. 😒"

Love how quick Saphira and Fírnen hit it off lol. They really played tag and wrestled for like five minutes and then were like "Alright we're gonna go fuck like now see y'all later ✌️" And Eragon's like "Is this??? Okay???" And Saphira's like "Pfft dragon's don't mate for life 🤷‍♀️" Their little romance was so cute.

CAN WE FUCKING TALK ABOUT QUEEN AND RIDER ARYA??? That shit is by FAR the wildest endgame decision Chris made because like. That. That's so fucking. Oh my god??? Like, one, poor Arya!! She just wanted to be a rider and have adventures! She probably would've either spent her time happy herrying eggs across Alegaësia, or she would've gone with Eragon to Mount Arngor, but you can NOT convince me that she would be particularly happy as queen. She's grieving the loss of her mother that she barely had a relationship with, and denied the other eleven leaders for a full week before they convinced her to do it!!! Girlie!!! You deserve to be happy!!! And, two, the obvious point of holy shit that is such an enormous power imbalance in favor of the elves. Like, there is a REASON the riders were separate in the first place!! And, you know, Galbatorix JUST died and now there is another rider/monarch and it's the ELVES who have historically been both the most powerful race, and the race with the best relationship with the dragons. And Arya is the ONLY RIDER LEFT IN ALEGAËSIA!!! Because Eragon is gone (and stubbornly convinced that He Shall Never Again Return Oh Woe Is Him) and Murtagh is... Also gone to an extent. He at the very least holds no political power. Basically everyone hates him, and those that don't can't do more than, like, pardon him, for whatever that's worth. I just can't see this not rubbing people the wrong way, and not coming to an eventual head. Nasuada and Arya are both great, but I just get the feeling there is going to eventually be some sort of conflict between them, no matter how much neither of them want it. I do think Arya is perhaps the least corruptible person, other than maybe Eragon but... I don't knowwww maaaan it's complicated!!

Also I regret to inform everyone that rereading the last little bit did make me ship Eragon and Arya a teensy tinsy itty little bit. Just a liiiiittle bit. Like idk the last fairth and the telling each other their true names and calling each other their true names and Eragon's grief at leaving and his vow to love her forever and her insinuation of maybe one day just got to me alright???

There were a lot of cool magic things in this book! Like the pocket space that the Eldunarí were kept in? Cuaroc's body? More shit that I'm forgetting? God I would just love, like, a magical encyclopedia or something idk. Lots of cool shit. And artifacts!! I want to learn about more magical artifacts.

Also at my Galbatorix stan mutual? I'm a certified Murtagh Girlie™️ and therefore obligated to hold a grudge but like. I do get it. He is a... Very competent villain.

Alright I think that's it for now but. Wow. Man oh man. There is a reason I love this series. I'll probably think of some more things to talk about later, and I'm gonna be participating in the Big Bang, and I'll probably post about The Fork, The Witch, and The Worm as I reread that but yeah!!! Can't wait for November!!

[cer-rata]

Fic WIP: "Beware My Power"

Conrad bounced like a boxer prepping for a fight.  He seemed excited, which Tai thought was strange, considering that they were probably about to just throw nonsense at each other for a few minutes to impress their mentors. He didn’t understand what there was to get hyped up about. 

“Hey, Tai?” Conrad shouted over at him right when it felt like they should get started.

“Yeah?”

He flashed this goofy, cheesy smile. “Just so you know, I’m not gonna hold back just cause I think you’re cute.”

Now, to Tai’s credit, he clocked that as the distraction play that it was almost immediately. Unfortunately, “almost” only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, so by the time he processed the situation, he was only barely in time to deflect the hammer that Conrad had swung at his chest after rocketing towards him at what had to be near supersonic speed. Tai didn’t expect him to move so quickly. Sure, they could, but most lanterns didn’t start out by blitzing their targets, it was unnecessary generally, and an odd use of the ring’s capabilities. And a hammer? A melee weapon, used in melee range was also a weird choice. Even Killowog tended to open up with artillery before he got in close. Guy used bats, but he used BIG bats and still tended to keep people at length. It was all so against type for what they were, weirder still for a Sapphire, and Tai couldn’t understand why that was his strategy.

But it did nearly catch him dead to rights.

Conrad spun with his momentum and went in for another swing, but Tai was ready to parry him properly with a guandao before flinging a brick wall at him, and got airborne while Conrad smashed through said wall like the Kool-Aid Man. Then Tai actually dropped the Kool-Aid Man on him and it managed to get a good hit in, partially because Conrad looked completely caught off guard. Tai smirked to himself and conjured a shower of jade meteors, raining them down on the Sapphire who had just finished shattering the trademarked monstrosity. 

Conrad then raised his ring hand and…enveloped all of Tai’s meteors in his own aura, stopping them in mid air. That one caught Tai off guard. Sure, sometimes he’d cover something in light to pick it up if he didn’t feel like making an actual hand…but he’d never actually considered using it like telekinesis. Conrad shattered the meteors all at once and smiled up at Tai. 

“You’re actually sort of good at this! Wanna see a magic trick?”

Tai actually did not want to see a magic trick, and threw a minivan at him instead. It looked like a direct hit, so he didn’t expect to feel fingers poking his ribs, and a chin on his shoulder. 

“Hi.” Conrad whispered into his ear.

Tai launched himself away and spun around to face him properly. His temporary nemesis looked incredibly pleased with himself. Tai was less excited. “What, how did you--” Tai’s eyes widened as he watched Conrad disappear in a burst of light. He can teleport? They can do that?

Sure, he was surprised, but he’d seen enough action movies to know that Conrad was right behind him, and swung a polearm around to catch him…but no, Conrad wasn’t there. He looked up, and he instantly realized that was the wrong half of the 50/50 split to go for when he felt a pair of hands on his ankles and was suddenly yanked out of the sky and slammed into the lunar surface, face first. 

That one kind of made him mad, actually. Mad enough that when Conrad paused to ask if he was alright, Tai smacked him away with a giant flyswatter before picking himself up. Conrad bounced off of the ground once  before twisting in mid-air and righting himself. He wiped the corner of his mouth and smiled at Tai again, though it looked a bit more nervous than playful. 

“Alright, fair enough. Hey listen, I think it’s important that we have fun--”

Tai created his favorite Gundam directly behind Conrad, and got airborne again while he turned to dodge it. He’d decided that close combat was a bad idea, and noticed that for some reason, Conrad was just…not making ranged attacks. Which again, struck him as incredibly odd.

But he was definitely going to exploit it.

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

I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die--

I narrowly dodge out of the way of what appears to be like, a Transformer or something, as it tries to nail me with its sword. He’s way better at making shit than I am, like waaaay better, it’s like fighting a tsunami of random bullshit. Maybe I shouldn’t have tried the cheeky play, I think I made him mad. Shit shit shit. I spin my hammer and use it to shatter an actual kitchen sink--this guy has actually thrown a kitchen sink at me. I decide that I need to get back on the offensive and spin on my heel, changing my grip on my hammer’s haft as I do. I swing and teleport into the air and behind him at the same time, and the result is me landing a nasty hit on his back and sending him crashing into one of the moon’s many craters. 

I take a moment to let out a sigh of relief, and that’s a mistake. I assume he’d be disoriented for at least a second, and so I do not expect to get hit from behind by a train.

It’s a nice train too, he’s also better at making trains than I am. By a lot!

Oh, also: Getting hit by a train sort of hurts. Having a train smash you into the surface of the moon hurts more. Face first too. Fortunately, since I'm not concentrating on any other constructs and saw it coming, I’m able to fortify my barrier enough that I’m not instantly out of the fight, but I am stunned for a sec, dizzy and with a mouth full of moondust. 

The toe of Tai’s boot taps my ribs, and I’m thankful that my mouth is too full of dirt for him to hear the embarrassing sound I make. “Yield?” He asks, and I think he sounds a little concerned. So he doesn’t hate me, that’s good. 

Actually. I can use that. 

So I do.

I spit most of the dust out, roll over onto my back and look up at him. “Ow.”

His mouth twists with what might be guilt. “Is that a yes?”

I pull my shirt up to wipe my mouth, and yeah, there it is, I can feel it. I dunno what Tai is into, but almost anyone will appreciate a decent set of abs. All I need is the smallest feeling of attraction, and I get it. I hope this doesn’t make him too mad…but I don’t want to lose my first lantern fight.

I smile at him after pulling my shirt back down. “...Like what you see?”

Tai opens his mouth to shoot me down probably, then stops. “...Wait…wait, what? Why am I--are you--”

I rocket into him and tackle him into the dirt. He catches my punch midway to his face and growls at me. “I’m actually going to beat your ass now.”

“It’s not my fault that I’m cute and you’re a little confused.”

“Trying to psych me out tells me that you know you can’t beat me.”

I make myself smile. “Or maybe I’m just a flirt. It's not my fault you get distracted so--hurk!” A giant hand plucks me hard in the side, knocking me off of him before following up by swatting me into the ground before I manage to orient myself again.

...Okay, so I might need to close this out before I piss him off too much.

[seeminglyseph]

My mind going on a journey of like. Odysseus being more often than not only speaking to Eurylochus in private or combat moments during Troy, so he got used to a relationship where the two either goaded each other on, or Eurylochus was one of Odysseus’ soundboards for battle strategies

War is difficult to leave behind and after ten years camping among the ships, then being stuck sailing among those same men he’s been camped with, this is purely speculation but like… it feels like Eurylochus represents that this army has bonded in a way, separate from Odysseus. Odysseus who is King and bargains with kings and gods alike.

But the bond of brotherhood in soldiers is a well documented phenomenon. I don’t know the exact military structure of a fleet of 600 theoretical Ancient Greek soldiers and I’m not going to. The point I’m trying to make is that the structure had clearly been fracturing due to the boundaries that had clearly needed to be changed and dissolved due to the 10 years of war and extended sea voyage gone wrong. This was a polycule from hell. Probably. To grossly oversimplify.

And I think some of Eurylochus’ breach of conduct with “hey, can we take this somewhere private?” Is fully a side effect of like. Odysseus might have some privacy, but otherwise…

We’re on a motherfucking boat Odysseus!! What the fuck is private???

Like. Odysseus is a sneaky bastard shaped bastard man. Love him. But. He’s a king. How much of his Troy siege experience was the same as the army camp experience of like… “I know everything about everyone I know against my will” or was it still awful but with slaves and attendants and space enough that you don’t hear your neighbours fuck at night? Do you have a cabin in your ship or do you bunk with your crew? I’m not dedicated enough to this point to stop and search for archeological evidence of boat construction of the era.

And I mean. Technically neither of them are wrong because if they had listened to Odysseus they would just be home already and it would be fine. But you can’t have Gods and Men without exploring the whole concept of why a man chooses the actions he does, and every wrong action can have the right reason. And that creates art in a tragedy.

It could have been different, but because it wasn’t it was beautiful.

[contentment-of-cats]

WiP Bit - Thraralani

He's absolutely brilliant with tactics, strategy, and combat.

He's capable of missing everything else around him unless it's art.

Ziara has known this about Thrawn for most of his time at Taharim. In fact, a number of cadets and even some of the faculty call Mitth'raw'nuruodo her first command. She's been hammering him through upper division coursework because it's a very very bad no good never let it happen idea to let Thrawn get bored. It's like having a pusheen who has learned to open things and subverted it's feeding program like her late and beloved Mu'cher.

Hm. Having an overintelligent pusheen might be the best possible preparation for dealing with Thrawn. There's a thesis for you.

Of course, having him as her junior survival course partner is going to kick the firesting nest, but there are multiple reasons for doing so. One is that it keeps her friend in line of sight, therefore unlikely to dig himself a grave. Secondly, it keeps him out of sight from those who would push him into said grave and shovel for dear life. Thirdly, Thrawn misses a lot of things and he's missing a very important one and Ziara needs to correct this. Right now, he's intent on dinner, a new holochip of Late Middle Regency nightstone sculpture, and giving her half an ear about their upcoming two-week survival test.

"-and then I will take a chair and beat you to death with it."

"Sounds good."

"You didn't listen to a word I said, Thrawn."

He marks his place and then repeats every word she's said while Ziara restrains herself from pointless violence.

"Fine. You were listening. We ought to rest early since we don't know where they're going to drop us."

The mess is almost empty and Thrawn takes their trays to dump in the recycler before they walk back to their barracks. The rules of the survival test say only that they won't be dropped into hard vacuum or a toxic atmosphere without appropriate, tested, and functional equipment. Likewise, they will be warned about extremes of temperature since Chiss have diverged far enough from their human origin that they have lost their pores and hair aside from their heads, eyebrows, and eyelashes - they can't sweat. The testing grounds will be challenging, but unless one is stupid, they are not deadly.

Sometime in the night, they're drugged and wake up in a lifepod plummeting into atmosphere. Strapped into crash couches, all Ziara can do is watch the fire of entry and hope the heat shields held, Thrawn has the yoke in hand and visibly wrestles them into a controlled descent. There's just enough fuel in the tanks to scoot them out of trouble's way. The landing is rough, and the tanks are on fumes by the time the sun sets. They activate the beacon once firmly on the ground, then stagger to the sanitary unit before falling into bed to sleep off the tranks.

Morning is unpleasant. The hangover leaves Ziara feeling slow and stupid and Thrawn actively sick - a bucket between his knees and nothing staying down. Both of them are certified to operate the small med unit, she Thrawn gets fluids and medication while Ziara curls up and tries to sleep her way through it. Rations go down and stay down, and for some reason Thrawn has spiceleaf tea.

And eight layers of clothing.

A pair of multitools.

Knives.

He strips out of layer after layer until he's in his underwear and socks, looking pleased with himself and the haul of items on the floor of the pod.

"Oh, my life. Thrawn. How-?!"

"I knew that they'd come for us sometime this week, keeping us in the middle of the cohort for testing. So I slept with everything on my body as they are not allowed a body search."

Of course he did.

[leclercx]

There’s certainly no reason to think he won’t at some stage; after all, the Monegasque native is battling an unstable car that he has never truly settled with. “I’m not completely comfortable with this car at the moment, a bit too much understeer for my liking and I struggle to drive around it,” Leclerc said. “And because of the unpredictability of the car, I cannot have the oversteer that I want.”

Despite that open revelation, Leclerc still only ended up 0.079s away from snatching pole in Singapore. Indeed, only a slight mishap at Turn 17 denied him from ending up with the fastest time and the right to earn the preferential treatment on strategy that potentially would have seen him win.

Contrast that to Sainz, who was consistently winding up several tenths away when combating a car that didn’t allow him to express his full capabilities, and it’s still obvious that Leclerc has the greater upside when he gets it together. Only when he is equipped with a car that is benign in its balance and pointy at the front end will a true gauge of Leclerc’s ability be issued.

For that reason alone, he’ll be desperately hoping Ferrari’s “brand new” car for 2024 removes the intrinsic flaws that have stymied his and the team’s potential this season.

Speaking of Ferrari, the prized team debatably could have its own problems to contend with regarding its driver pairing. While Leclerc and Sainz get on cordially outside of the car, cracks have started to appear on the track this year, and there’s reason to doubt whether they can co-exist in the same operation. While Sainz favours understeer, Leclerc is at his lethal best when he can manipulate an oversteering machine.

Ferrari effectively sacrificed Leclerc’s race in Singapore to secure a morale-boosting victory. Whilst only a one-off for the time being, prioritising Sainz on development thereafter would be a long-lasting sacrifice to Leclerc’s phenomenal skillset.

With contract negotiations set to intensify over the coming months, it’s crunch time for Leclerc both on the track and away from it. He would be well-advised to listen to Vettel’s previous words of wisdom when it comes to utilising his talent: “Don’t waste it”.

Motorsportweek.com

Really good article and basically what we're all saying for a long time. When we say the current pair at ferrari will never work, because of their completely different preferences of the car, it's not hate, it's just plainly obvious for anyone who's paying attention

[gottawritesomething]

Cooking Lessons

Tav tries to take over cooking from Gale, very briefly.

____________________________________

“I did not duck…”

“You did not duck,” Tav confirmed, shaking her head in faux disapproval. Her hair fell like a halo around her face as she peered down at Gale. “I know I promised to keep you intact, but I’d appreciate your help with that.” She smiled and offered a hand to the downed wizard. Which he gladly took. The moment he was upright, pain from the orb shot through his shoulder like a bolt, setting his arm aflame. He felt a gentle arm around him, steadying him. Tav’s face swam into focus, her eyes full of worry. Gale turned his face away, taking a deep breath. Focusing on the pain instead of the warmth of her nearness.

“We’re done for today, let’s pack up!” She called out to the others.

He heard a disgruntled sound from Lae’zel and a scoff from Astarion. 

“There’s really no need to pause on my account; I have some potions in my pack. Really, I insist we move forward.” He managed through gritted teeth. Tav eyed him suspiciously before giving him a slight smile. 

“It isn’t because of you; I desperately need to wash the viscera out of my hair. It, coinciding with you taking the full brunt of an ogre swing, is simply a coincidence.” She fished potions out of her pack and handed them to him, stepping away. 

Three potions later, he was feeling vastly better but still unsure on his feet. The trudge home had added an additional layer to the exhaustion; he was ready to collapse when they finally arrived. He’d laid down his pack, prepared to cook as he’d done every night since their group had coalesced, only to find Tav stoking the fire. 

“Well, now, I really must protest. If you depose me as cook, I’ll be left task-less, and I'm not certain how helpful I could be in another capacity. ”

“I’m just showcasing my culinary prowess on top of my combat strategy. Plus, the hit you took today might have impacted your palate.” Tav flashed him a roguish grin.

Gale threw up his hand in mock defeat. “Who am I to resist you? Though if you'd indulge me, I'd like to observe, always something worth learning in the vast landscape of gastronomic delights.”

Tav gave him a sidelong glance, a slight smile whispering over her lips as Gale settled himself nearby with a groan and a book. He caught her concerned peek at his knees before returning her attention to the pot, assessing what new ingredients they’d procured over the day's events. She sifted through the sparse spices that’d been hastily acquired, as her hand drifted over a sprig of rosemary; she heard a slight tsk. Tav shot Gale a look, but his nose was thoroughly buried in his book. She returned to the herb options, only to again hear a slight puff of air in protestation. At this point, Tav had to actively smother the laughter bubbling from her. 

“Gale, would you assist me in spice selection for tonight?” Tav asked, a hand precautionarily placed in front of her growing smile. His eyes appeared over the top of his book.

“Oh! I’d happily offer my two sense if you’d like. Together, we shall concoct a feast fit for kings and queens, or at the very least, our little troupe." He beamed, looking quite pleased she'd asked for his help.

From there, Tav listened intently as Gale described the importance of aromatics in produce selection, then moving on to the best manner of garlic peeling. Gale soon realized that he’d entirely taken over cooking from her, though it seemed she’d not minded…

 “You know, I’ve found, when learning a kinetic skill, you should watch the hands at least once during the demonstration.” He teased, his own face tinting pink under her prolonged gaze.

“Oh yes, of course.” Tav turned her face back to the fire, taking the warmth of her eyes with it. He wished he kept her gaze, cursing himself for making mention of it. 

“I thought you’d have tired of your chef duties, given the day you’d had,” Tav said, maintaining a lightness in her tone. 

“No worse than anyone else’s, I’m sure. Our predicament continues to be as befuddling as it is rife with conflict.” Gale wondered what he could say to return her eyes to him. “Besides, I don’t think I could ever tire of this, or your company for that matter…”

Like a gift from the gods, he was given her full attention again. The look of softness in her eyes reached into his chest just to cradle his heart.

“Nor I.” She said simply.

[casualsnickers]

Month of Emmet Quick Write #10

Prompt #10: New Pokémon

Subway Master Emmet tends to work with his beloved team to battle challengers on the Battle Subway. Depot Agent Cameron has noticed that challengers have started devising ways of combating Emmet's repetitive team. But not to worry! Cameron has a suggestion: switch up the team. The only issue? His choice of viable pokémon are... questionable at best.

Read the whole thing below the cut.

“Boss Emmet. Can you pleeease stop signing papers for just one minute and listen to me?”

“If it’s about the announcement regarding the recent update to the banned legendary pokémon list outside the station, I do not want to hear it, Cameron.” Emmet did his best to ignore the depot agent as Cameron stepped forward and stood ominously over Emmet’s desk. He had been pestering Emmet the entire day, taking advantage of Ingo’s absence due to a physical therapy appointment to pester and bother the more persuasion-susceptible twin. So far, he hadn’t been winning.

“It’s not about the announcement. It’s about you.”

“A complaint?”

“No.”

            Emmet’s eyes narrowed. “The press?”

“No again.” With an exaggerated sigh, Cameron cleared Emmet’s paperwork to the left with one arm and instead plopped down his work-sanctioned tablet in the middle of the desk, the global trade system’s main page illuminated on the screen. “Discussion time! Boss. You need to switch up your team in the Battle Subway,” Cameron emphasized. “People are starting to notice patterns. They’re designing ways to throttle your team.”

“My team and I are a well-oiled engine,” Emmet casually retorted, making no move to retrieve his papers. He instead reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a spare battery, tossing it into a nearby Joltik web where a cluster of the electric type pokémon descended upon it in a mad fury. “No amount of repetition or type matchup strategies can derail us so easily. My team and I have been conducting our challengers and stopping them in their tracks for years.”

“You could use some new faces, though. Throw your challengers for a loop.” Cameron pulled up a chair and then shot Emmet a devious look, leaning back in his seat to a perilous degree. “I’ve got a few pokémon in mind that could really be an asset to the subway.”

Emmet frowned. He had known the slightly younger man for years at that point and while all of his depot agents knew Emmet’s boundaries- his sometimes-unreasonable boundaries- Cameron was the only one who pushed at them the slightest bit. In a sense, the other depot agents respected both Ingo and Emmet, but Emmet knew that a few of his employees found him to be creepy due to his way of monotonous, often lifeless way of speaking and his unrestrainable love of pokémon battles that tended to manifest in a way that almost resembled obsession. It wasn’t something he could help.

Cameron had feared both brothers when he had originally signed on to become a depot agent. But after gaining confidence in working on the lines and through working alongside each Subway Boss separately, Cameron had gotten quite used to treating his bosses as his friends. And in particular, Cameron loved to mess around with Emmet, much to the latter’s chagrin.

“Cameron.”

“C’mon, boss! I spent a lot of time thinking about this! At least look at the list I made!”

            Emmet snorted, pushing the tablet back to his employee. He had attempted to wait out Cameron’s episodes of brief hyper fixations in the past to no avail. Today would be such a day. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Emmet sighed, crossing one leg over the other as he too leaned back in his chair. “Fine. Please introduce me to your potential candidates.

            Cameron beamed. “Yes! Okay. Let me just pull up the list.” He swiped at the screen, his eyes shooting up to Emmet’s own bored stare. “I spent so much time thinking about the possible combinations and which pokémon you would probably put on your team. Did some studying. Looked at a handful of vs recorder footage of trainers getting destroyed on both the double and super double lines. Figured out what stumped them the most.” Cameron finally settled, clearing his throat. “Okay. First up: Focus Sash Smeargle with a priority on setting up entry hazards.”

“Clever. Verrry clever.” Emmet grinned, recognizing the strategy almost immediately. Smeargle was a popular pokémon in the competitive battling scene. He wouldn’t raise any eyebrows bringing a Smeargle to the Battle Subway. “Setting up is my specialty. And Smeargle is a normal type. Access to almost every move type via its typing.” Emmet considered it for a moment. “Which ability?”

“Own Tempo. No risk of confusion. Oh! And here’s another suggestion: how about Tinkaton? From the Paldea region? Fairy and steel type.” Cameron then grinned, his eyes crinklling to mere slits. His voice began to tremble with laughter. “I hear they’re really hard-hitting.”

“…Get out of my office.”

“No, no, no! Hear me out, boss! Tinkaton. Fairy and steel type. Mostly a physical attacker. Equip that baby with a Rocky Helmet and you’ve got a little bruiser on your team.” In an offhand comment, Cameron murmured, “Kinda fits the way you scare the pants off most of your challengers, boss. Tinkaton’s very infamous in the Paldea region due to how… devious they are.”

            Emmet squinted. “Intimidation is a valid tactic, Cameron.” He then smiled, still finding it amusing how the public had framed him to be the menacing twin all the time. He quite enjoyed it. “Hmm. Tinkaton use their hammers to knock Corviknights out of the sky with rocks according to the Paldea dex.” Emmet tapped one finger thoughtfully against his chin. “I will consider that combination. Give me the next one.”

“Zoroark.”

“Zoroark?”

“Zoroark. Absolutely Zoroark.” Cameron’s eyes gleamed as he began to ramble. “Illusion ability obviously. Put that sucker right in the startup position, okay? Now give it some choice specs or a life orb. Okay. Listen to me. Listen. To. Me. Nasty Plot boosted Night Daze with U-Turn for a clean switch out.”

“That sounds gimmicky,” Emmet noted. “I do not like gimmicks.” Emmet then scowled. “Gimmicks allow for cheap tricks, and I will not encourage the use of gimmicks in the Battle Subway. They are not strategies! They are imitations of strategies, and they do not make battling fun!”

“Mind games, boss! Mind games! That’s the whole point! You get to mess with the challengers! In a professional setting! Sending out a Zoroark could make a fun first impression after removing Smeargle from the forefront after it sets up hazards for the opponent.”

“It’s viable,” Emmet begrudgingly conceded. The Zoroark lineage almost always had illusion as their main ability. Emmet had seen it in use numerous times from trainers looking to get the drop on him. He had also been tricked once into buying two disguised Zoruas sandwiches from the Icirrus Station’s vending machines.”I will think about it.” Emmet looked kindly upon Cameron, smiling. “They are good suggestions. Your strategizing is getting better. Yup! Good job.”

“Thanks!” Cameron’s tablet began to shake, and he hurriedly picked it up. “I’ll find some other cool pokémon for you, boss. But for real. Switch up your team. It’ll bring some fresh air to the subway and to the challengers and besides- Ingo already switched up his team!”

            Emmet’s eyes twitched. “Ingo assembled a brand-new team in Hisui. He did not specifically construct his team to battle in the subway, nor are his Hisui pokémon used to casual battling. They are exceptions.” 

            His brother had indeed brought back strange new pokémon with him after disappearing to Hisui for an entire year. Ingo’s Hisui team consisted of common pokémon; ones that already existed in the modern day that had only needed a few trips to the pokémon center and a few vaccinations to clear for public appearances. His other pokémon however…

Emmet stiffened when a heavy weight crawled up his leg and settled into his lap, a familiar golden-yellow paw scrabbling to reach for his pen. Gently, Emmet tucked his pen away. “Shoo, Mustard. No ink for you.”

Mustard was a Sneasel, and not just the regular dark and ice variety, no. Mustard was a shiny Sneasel that had been hatched from the last pokémon Ingo had brought with him to Unova: a long extinct regional evolution of Sneasel called ‘Sneaslers’. It just so happened that Ingo’s Sneasler was both exceptionally large and exceptionally strong. Ingo had referred to the massive cat-weasel pokémon as a ‘noble’ but Emmet hadn’t quite understood the connotations behind the moniker.

“Hey! Why not recruit Mustard?” Cameron suggested.

“I am Emmet, and I would like to not end up on the news tomorrow. Ingo’s Sneasler would kill me.”

Cameron nodded almost immediately, schooling his face into a neutral expression. “She would eviscerate you.”

“Skin me.”

“Probably hang you from a cliff to dry.”

            Emmet squinted, crossing his arms. “Cold.”

“What? She would! The claws on her? She’s not even allowed to battle in the subway yet and she’s big enough to scrape her head against the cab ceiling. She could probably eat us if she wanted to. There’s no way she’d hesitate.”

“She wouldn’t hesitate for even a second. You are right.”

“Snea!” Mustard, having been listening in on the conversation, immediately climbed onto the table and grabbed onto Emmet’s hand, a pokéball clutched in its paws.

“Oh, come on, Boss Emmet! Look! Mustard’s totally down to battle, aren’t you, little guy?” Cameron reached out and playfully ruffled the shiny fur along Mustard’s head, the weasel pokémon letting out a tiny purr as it leaned into the man’s touch. “Mustard follows you around all the time even when Boss Ingo is here. It’s obvious he likes you! Let him join the team! I’m sure he’ll thrive.”

            Mustard squeaked in confirmation, playfully rolling the pokéball around on the table as if considering the notion of one day being a battling pokémon. It smiled, its fangs poking out from its mouth as it jumped back into Emmet’s lap and curled up, continuing to purr loudly.

Emmet reached down and let his fingers settle into Mustard’s soft fur. “I will… consider it.”

            Once again, Cameron’s tablet vibrated. The young man reached over to check his tablet and almost immediately, his jaw dropped. Eyes wide, Cameron squinted at the screen, practically shaking with excitement. “Oh, sweet dragons. This is gonna be so fucking rad.”

“Language,” Emmet chided.

“Boss. Boss, gimme your trainer card. I need to send you two pokémon I just got in a mystery trade. Please. Hand me your numbers. Give them to me.”

“At least take him on a date first,” Cloud snarked, having walked into the room. He took a seat in a chair near Ingo’s desk, crossing his legs. “You gonna ask him to come over to your place next, huh Cameron?”

Emmet ignored the jab. “What pokémon did you receive?”

“You’ll find out,” Cameron replied smoothly. “Just give me your trainer card.”

“Cameron’s probably gonna send you a Zubat.”

“I will flood your pc with Ratattas if you keep talking over there, Cloud” Cameron threatened. He then whipped around to stare pathetically at Emmet. “Boss, please.”

“… Okay. Fine.”

            Cameron hurried over to the station’s mobile pc station in the next room and quickly typed in Emmet’s trainer card number, rocking back-and-forth on the balls of his feet as his eyes jittered across the screen. As he worked, Emmet felt his Xtransceiver vibrate a few times on his wrist. Multiple notifications. Multiple pokémon sent to his pc from Cameron.

“Panpour-Pal, modernized,” Cloud muttered under his breath. “Wouldn’t be surprised if whatever pokémon you get ends up bricking your pc. That or it bursts into flames.”

“Can it, Cloud,” Cameron bristled.

“Win in a battle against me,” Cloud snarked back.

“Loudmouth.”

“Angry that I’m right?”

“Not in the slightest!”

            Emmet chuckled lowly, taking Cameron’s place as he inserted his trainer card and checked his pc, immediately noticing the notifications about the traded pokémon Cameron had sent him. He was immediately greeted by a pop-up screen accompanied by a long wall of text. “Dex error? Does not exist?” Emmet frowned, scrolling to check the descriptions of his newly traded pokémon. “Caaameron,” Emmet drawled angrily, irritation creeping into his voice. “The pokémon you sent me do not exist. Somehow.”

“I know! Isn’t it great?” Cameron hurriedly scooched in beside Emmet, pointing at the first one he had sent. “Got these from some trainers in the Paldea region! Did you hear? Apparently, there’s been some rush to document some foreign pokémon that appeared in this big, huge crater there. And the pokémon I just sent you? They’re examples. They’re from that crater!”

            Emmet scrolled over to the first one. “Slither Wing?” He squinted. “Bug and fighting type?” He then pulled up the description, the corners of his mouth turning upward as the image of the pokémon flickered across his screen. 

“Oh, dragons. That’s one fucked-up looking Volcarona.” From behind them, Cloud snickered, taking long drags from his energy drink. “Should’ve left that thing in whatever hole it crawled out of. Reminds me of your Archaeops though, boss.”

“Archie is perfect in every way,” Emmet grumbled back.

“It’s called a Paradox pokémon in Paldea,” Cameron cut back in. “And they’re not illegal to battle with!”

“Are they supposed to be illegal elsewhere? You’re not really selling your case here, Cam,” Cloud pointed out.

            Emmet ignored the two squabbling men, flicking over to the second one. That one he definitely recognized, feeling the muscles of his face begin to ache when he reflexively scowled at the image before him. “Iron Bundle... This is literally just a steel-wrapped Delibird.”

            Cloud whistled. “Yeah, I can’t imagine anybody battling with that thing, let alone letting it into their house. That just looks like a robot with extra steps. I wonder if it could connect to Bluetooth.”

“Give. It. A. Chance.” Cameron was practically begging at that point, clapping after each word. “Just get to know them a little! I hear that they’re cool pokémon and I think you’d do well with them, boss.” 

            At Emmet’s side, Mustard let out a curious chirp and climbed his shoulder, pointing eagerly at the array of pokémon on the pc screen. Mustard rubbed its cheek against Emmet’s face, continuing to point and squeak until Emmet eventually relented.

“Very well. I am Emmet and I will reconsider switching around my team. But. Only for a week or two. A trial period.” Emmet moved his coat back and slid the pokéballs containing his main team toward the left side of his belt- right toward his dominant left hand. He then withdrew the two paradox pokémon along with the suggested pokémon that Cameron had mentioned before. “I have one condition, though.”

“And what’s that?” Cameron asked innocently.

“Under no circumstances can either of you inform Ingo about this.”

            Cloud raised an eyebrow. “You’re gonna try and destroy him, aren’t you?”

“Try?” Emmet echoed, grinning from ear to ear. “No. I will obliterate him. Completely decommission him. That is not a threat; it is a promise! His Hisui team is strong,” Emmet alluded, monologuing more to himself than talking to Cloud or Cameron. “But! I can and will assemble a stronger team!” He then picked up Mustard and set him into the crook of one arm, settling his new partners along the right side of his pokémon belt. “And it all starts with Mustard.”

            Cameron giggled. “Hehehe. Name the Tinkaton ‘Ketchup’.”