#magi and mercenaries

[threepinkosinatrenchcoat]

Thanmedas: I don't understand what the problem is, I simply gained a temporary immunity to pain in my forearm through pyrotechnic means

Felosial: You didn't gain anything Thanmedas, you gained a THIRD DEGREE BURN

[dragonagekeeper]

Dragon Age Inquisition Polls

See choice descriptions from Dragon Age Keep below

Adaar

You are Tal-Vashoth, a Qunari who has rejected the Qun and never even lived in Qunari lands. As part of the Valo-kas mercenary company, you have earned a living by your own wits and the strength of your blade, ignoring the fearful looks you receive from those around you.

2. Cadash

A cast-off "surfacer," unwelcome among the dwarves or most humans, you have scraped by as part of a criminal fraternity known as the Carta, smuggling magical ore known as lyrium. As part of the ruthless Cadash crime family, you spent your life on the streets of various Free Marcher city-states.

3. Lavellan

If Mage:

The Dalish are nomadic wanderers who strive to keep the ancient elven religion and traditions alive. You grew up in the wilderness, a member of the Lavellan Dalish clan and apprentice to its leader and guide, the Keeper.

If Rogue or Warrior:

The Dalish are nomadic wanderers who strive to keep the ancient elven religion and traditions alive. You were raised in the wilderness to be a hunter, relied upon by the Lavellan clan for food and protection.

4. Trevelyan

If Mage:

Born to the Trevelyan noble family of Ostwick in the Free Marches, you were originally intended for a life of privilege—until magical abilities surfaced at a young age and you were forced into a life of confinement within Ostwick's Circle of Magi. Protected but stifled, educated but isolated, the Circle would have been your entire future had the mages not rebelled against Chantry rule.

If Rogue or Warrior:

As the youngest child of the Trevelyan noble house, you grew up in the Free Marcher city of Ostwick and have enjoyed a life of privilege. With close family ties to the Chantry, and many relatives among the priesthood and the templars, you were always expected to follow a similar path in service of the Maker.

[valkyriesaga-if]

Built a few years after the Collapse, the city of Yggdrasil was meant to be a haven, a refuge. A utopia, where everyone could find their place and be equals.

But that’s the thing with utopias and ideals; they don’t last very long.

Yggdrasil was barely 20 years old when the Magi Council rose above their human brethren, firmly splitting society in two: the magi on one side, who wield privilege like a sword, and the humans on the other, whose only privilege was to stay alive and quiet.

After all, how can you deny Magi what they want, when they are the only thing protecting you from what’s outside the walls?

You’ve been living in the Helheim district for almost as long as you can remember, raised amongst crooks, conmen and criminals all your life. While this hardly seems like ideal conditions to raise a child, it was better than having the Council find out your secret. Helheim was the best place for secrets. You knew it, your mother knew it, everyone in Yggdrasil knew it.

You’re an undeclared Magi. In a city where showing the barest hint of magic can get a child taken away from their parents and chain them forever to the Council of Magi, raising a child under the watching eyes of kingpins, thieves and prostitutes was a shield, an armor. The best protection love could offer.

Every day, you live on the edge of the razor. One wrong move and your life could be upended entirely. But when your mother is on the verge of losing her house, her business, her entire life to Greed, you can’t just sit there and watch it happen.

Being hired to steal the Eyes of The Watcher, the most precious gems in all of Yggdrasil, located right in the heart of the Council Chamber, didn’t seem like such a bad idea, at the time.

Genre

Post apocalyptic, urban fantasy, heist

Content Warning

The story will be 18+ for violence, potential sexual themes, explicit content and gore.

Fully customizable MC: name, gender identity, sexuality, appearance, personality and demeanor

Interact with a varied cast of NPCs

Shape your relationships with your fellow gang members, from lovers to platonic besties, all the while keeping in mind that they are all criminals and liars, just like you.

Experience the Nightmares™

Engage in highly illegal, highly dangerous activities, and maybe some light rebellion and overthrow of authority on the side

Polish your skills such as stealth, combat or knowledge, and discover more about your magic

Spend some time in the luxurious streets of Asgard and other delightful places such as a Helheim fighting ring, the city sewers or a defunct meat factory

Hallucinate?

Pet the cat

The selfish mercenary - Lònan [M, he/him]

Money is the only thing that matters to Lònan. He has made that very clear since the beginning. Obviously, he doesn’t seem to care that much about his own life, otherwise he would have found another way to make a fortune. One that doesn’t involve going into the heart of the enemy territory to steal the most valuable and well guarded artifact in town, for example. Just a thought.

The disgraced Magi - Yugō [M, he/him]

Magi have virtually everything they might want. Money, luxury, and an unending hoard of lackeys to cater to their every need. So you can’t help but wonder what might lead one of them to hide amongst the rats in the dark alleys of Helheim, and Yugo is not inclined to answer your questions.

The unwelcome guest - Halloran [M, he/him]

No one really knows who Halloran is or what he wants, but he seems to keep inviting himself in your dreams, taking great pleasure in playing with you and your sanity. Only he is a cat playing with a mouse, and you can only hope that he won’t eat you whole.

The estranged friend - Mavis [F, she/her]

Back in the time you lived in Midgard West, you and Mavis used to be friends, practically joined by the hip. While she remained as kind and gentle as you remember her, there is a hard edge to her eyes that wasn’t there before.

The mysterious outsider - Koyal [F, she/her]

A courier from outside of town, you’re not sure why she joined your ragtag group of criminals. Calm and quiet, she mostly keeps to herself, but you can’t help but feel her watchful gaze on you every time you have your back turned.

The disembodied voice - Morgane [F, she/her]

You’ve never met her in person, your only contacts with her being over the phone, as she gives instructions to you and the rest of the group. She seems to be the only one in direct relation with the person who hired you for some trivial B&E in the most secure facility in Yggdrasil.

Lònan/Yugō and Koyal/Halloran are potential poly routes.

TBA

This is my first IF and English is not my first language, so feel free to send any constructive criticisms and corrections my way.

This is very early development, so many things are subject to change as i work on the story

Asks are welcome and reblogs appreciated!

[gumbootillustrations]

dame katelyn de feu my beloved 😭😭😭

more bits under the cut!!

katelyn first shows up to phoenix drop towards the end of season one under similar circumstances to canon mcd - jeffory's about to be executed for treason, and she's desperately trying to get his name cleared before he dies. however, when it becomes clearer and clearer to her that zane's using him as a scapegoat, she decides to turn on him and side with aphmau and the phoenix alliance ahead of the battle for phoenix drop.

in ashes, ashes, jurors were originally ordained through the bestowal of relics - however, after they went missing a couple of centuries after the first war of the magi, they pretty much became just. super politically powerful guards until about twenty years before the start of ashes, ashes, when the high priest of o'khasis at the time (zane's predecessor) figured out a way to bestow the powers of the juror relics to the jurors without using the relics themselves. anyway, its blood magick and it essentially brands the jurors with a seven-pointed star on their foreheads as a mark of the ritual being completed. katelyn hates what the ritual has turned her into - even though long hair is lowkey pretty impractical in a fight, she keeps hers long so that her mark is hidden (jeffory did the same, and garroth will also grow his hair out a little to cover his mark). when she transforms, a lot of the saturation in her skin in hair is drained out due to the magick not being suuuper holy (in fact, the first casting of the ritual upset the balance of the universe so much that it woke up the primordial gods n they sicked a plague on o'khasis that garte would later blame on tu'lan biological warfare). additionally, because the magick of the ritual sort of like. blends in? with any magicks or witchcraft already present in the juror their juror form will reflect this - katelyn has fire magicks, so when she transforms, her hair turns into this sort of sickly pale blue fire. her fire is hot enough that it burns blue anyway, but yeah.

katelyn burns her juror armour the minute she can once everyone gets out of the irene dimension. for a while, she just wears whatever she can scrounge up from around phoenix drop, but when cadenza finds out about this she gives katelyn this outfit! it's definitely done out of the kindness of her heart, there definitely aren't any ulterior motives don't worry. it's a lot more of a mercenary-ish look compared to her juror armour, but katelyn likes it just fine - especially since a certain flame-haired seamstress with a winning smile made it especially for her.

a little headcanon i have about katelyn - i feel like even though she isn't great at sewing, having grown up in a minor noble house in o'khasis, i feel like she would have some skills with textiles. specifically, i feel like she'd knit and/or crochet in her down time! before everyone heads out to gal'ruk, she knits everyone some mittens/scarves/socks/etc. not sweaters, though - she's loathe to admit it, but she's a firm believer in the sweater curse. otherwise, nothing much changes except that she throws on a coat and calls it a day - i like to think that, similar to laurance, she runs a little hotter than most people due to her fire magicks sort of acting as a bit of an internal furnace, so she doesn't need to bundle up quite as much as the others.

her day-to-day outfit is pretty much her standard guard outfit without the armour. she does wear an underbust corset/belt/thing with a small pouch attached, though - its very useful for carrying around knickknacks n stuff. otherwise, there's not much else to really comment on? idk. i probably shouldve added in some scars on her arms but its 11:30 pm at the time im writing this n ive spent way too long on this dang ref sheet already so yeah.

i decided to change up her conqueror form quite a bit - the form i drew in my original lineup of the second war's divine warriors wasn't really katelyn n looking back on it i shouldve spent more time trying to get it right. anyway, katelyn's mother was from southern tu'la, and was from a merchant family with some distant blood ties to the royal family - katelyn is technically related to the king of tu'la, but the relation is so distant that she doesn't really consider him (or any of the tu'lan nobles, really) to be blood relations. it's through this lineage, though, that she's able to resonate with menphia's relic, although it definitely helps that she's the second war's incarnation of the conqueror. mostly, the design notes from her first conqueror design remain the same - all i've really done is change the colour palette.

aaaand some headshots. i haven't exactly worked out how she got her facial scars - the big one was probably gotten on her first major assignment as a juror. however, it's nasty enough that when it healed it sort of fucked up her facial muscles - the scar tissue has permanently warped the right side of her mouth into a grimace, so anytime she makes a facial expression it's pretty lopsided (it's especially noticeable when she smiles). also, i changed the titling system for the jury to be more similar to the commonwealth knighthood system? like as much as i think "lady katelyn" is sick as fuck, the fact that it's the same title used for the female spouses of lords just sorta,,, didn't sit right? i guess? so yeah. dame katelyn.

anyway, feel free to ask questions if u want! :D

[puella-1n-somn10]

🕊️Puella Magi Madoka Magica x Team Fortress 2: Medic and his Witch Form🕊️

word count w/o intro text: 10,651

(Over...two...months...of writing; thank FUCK I've managed to get this all down right on time for Halloween!)

This has been a long time consideration, and, according to one of my last few polls, ya'll really wanted to see how I would interpret Medic's witch form! Well, after a long-time wait, here's the rundown of how Medic's witch would look like in my mind!

Before we start, I highly recommend that you look at the list of trigger warnings present in the tags; the Team Fortress 2 universe, both in-game and outside of it, is no stranger to gruesome elements, so I strongly urge you to take a long look at them before proceeding. If any of the mentioned makes you uncomfortable in whatever form, look away now for the sake of your own health.

As expected, spoilers for Madoka Magica, Kazumi Magica, Tart Magica, Magia Record (especially the anime), and the Team Fortress 2 comics ahead! We are going to talk about one of the many stingers of the Puella Magi universe, after all! On top of that, there will be mentions of Heavy x Medic x Engineer, so if the ship doesn't sit right with you, I must sincerely apologize in advance; it is recommended to click away from this post if said ship is not your cup of tea at all.

With all that being said, let us begin with this mess of an analysis/ficlet post!

-The Wish, Possible Powers, and Soul Gem-

"Oh ho hoh! I have been in zhe wrong profession. I must learn zhis magic!"

Let's be blunt here for a second- he's already laid waste to whatever concept of "morals" present within the human consciousness that would prevent him from furthering his medical and experimental endeavors, and he's done so much without the use of an incubator's powers; from granting his teammates invincibility to bringing them back from the clutches of death. Ludwig's immoral, sickened mind, coupled with his medical skills and treatment of the human body as an art canvas, has allowed him to play God.

On the other hand, though he did align himself with the opposing Classic team for some time within the comics, he explained to the newly-resurrected Sniper that it was purely for financial reasons, and that he never harbored any ill-will towards his teammates. In fact, it would be safe for us to assume that he, in his mind, genuinely cares for his team, and made it one of his missions to turn them into unstoppable killing machines- into gods. He cherishes his fellow mercenaries...albeit in his own twisted, inhumane, and silly way.

Building upon the above, it is also clear that Ludwig is a responsible pet owner and genuinely cares for his doves, especially Archimedes. Yes, he does resort to using animal organs - especially the exotic kind - when fit in order to further his experiments and enhance his teammates' performances, but the contrast between that and his care for the birds is kind of a testament to how he treat other humans - especially the classic team - vs. how he treats the mercs and others close to him. For goodness' sake, he's put Classic Heavy's demands on a back burner and allowed Sniper to escape while he was too busy reviving Archimedes! Ludwig does have a heart and the capacity to care, but not much in terms of morals, if at all.

Wow, he would definitely get along with Alina Gray, huh?

So, right off the bat, it wouldn't be farfetched for Medic to be curious over Kyubey's wish-granting skills; he did make a deal with the Devil himself on two separate occasions within the official Team Fortress 2 comics (though the initial deal's conditions is still unknown to us), after all. How he came to figuring out the existence of the incubators is anyone's guess at this point due to his unpredictable nature, but, in my opinion, it can range from old folklore surrounding the species or simply finding out that one of the mercs had already contracted (my personal bets are either Heavy or Solly). I recommend going off the walls with this one; for all we know, he could have managed to detect spikes in magical activity around the base/island and forced himself into the world of Magi, Witches, and wishes- all the while a certain little bipedal fiend began to showcase an equal amount of interest in him for reasons we are going to dive into soon.

On to the main topic of his wish, it's quite simple, really; it would be related to his hunger for power/knowledge and furthering his research/scientific endeavors; promptly dissipating whatever is limiting his experimental pursuits (maybe even financial, as presented to us in the comics).

Another possible wish that he could have made might be rooted to the bonds he had formed with the mercenaries and the surprisingly deep respect he had shown to each one them on numerous occasions. Such fascination towards his teammates is even presented to us within the beta version of Meet the Medic, where he made his goal of enhancing them and turning them into beings akin to the divine as clear as daylight. I won't deny the fact that this man just keep on finding out new ways to break both the Hypocratic Oath and Geneva Conventions with each passing minute - and it's usually for his own amusement -, but he also seeks to sculpt each mercenary into the best versions of themselves not just as a testament to his own prowess, but also because of his fascination towards them; he just likes those goobers around him and sees the mercs as his fellow pals.

With all that being said, I personally don't believe that whatever power he gained as a result of these wishes would be on a similar caliber as his canonical healing skills; after all, even without Kyubey's interference, he has shown to be exceptionally skilled in his craft to the extent that he had deemed himself to be a god on multiple occasions- and none of them were without reason. Instead, I believe that the core theme of his new magical powers relate to limits- whatever barriers that prevented him from unlocking his and the rest's full potential, and fully dissipating them. Perhaps he can manifest organs, transfer them at high speeds, all the while making his surgeries a little easier for himself. The option of him being able to create little animated "familiars" of his own from the remains of both ally and enemy alike is also there. If you guys have better ideas, please don't hesitate to share; I'll have to admit that this coming up with wish-related powers is a personal weak point of mine, and I will be accepting any and all criticisms coming my way.

Finally, to close this section and move on to the next, I would also like to discuss the matter surrounding his soul gem, and how I would personally interpret it. I am unsure if what I am going to say next has been backed up by canon or not, but a nice detail that I have noticed whilst looking into the soul gems present in canon is that they often correspond with the eye colors of their respective magi; which brings to mind the idea of eyes being the windows to a person's soul. Even if it's not a mandatory rule for when it comes to designing a Magi (especially when we take Nagisa Momoe into account), we can still see this metaphor being at play on numerous occasions throughout the Madoka canons, and where else is it more evident than within Kazumi Magica and the Magia Record anime?

Putting it briefly, aside from just looking at their soul gem, another indicator of a magi's slip into witchhood is by looking into their eyes during their final moments; Michiru Kazusa's sclera turned completely dark as her pupils began to shift into scribbles, and Kuroe - poor, sweet Kuroe - had the same corruption her soul gem was undergoing being displayed from within, you guessed it, her eyes.

So, while I do believe that red could be a nice color for Ludwig's soul gem, as it would also correspond with him being on the RED team - as presented to us on the cover of Fight Songs -, I can also see that a striking blue could also fit our crazy bastard.

As for the emblems present on his soul gem's egg form and its shape upon transformation, I'm gonna be honest; this is gonna be a little more complex than the color part - especially with the soul gems of Tart Magica and Magia Record in mind -, but I will do my best to summarize it to the best of my abilities-

To make this easier for my sanity's sake, the red cross he is already associated with in-game will be present as the emblem on top of his soul gem, though the the one on the middle would probably be based on either his bonesaw, the Ubercharge, a realistic heart (as a tie-in to how the Ubercharge works), or his doves instead. The actual shape his soul gem take on upon transformation, on the other hand, would resemble a large, anatomical heart placed on the center of his chest - connected to the rest of it and his shoulders through glass arteries and veins - due to its sheer size; usually, a magi's soul gem is only large enough to fit within the palm of their hands, while Medic's could be as huge as his curled-up fist or even an ostrich's egg.

The cause behind this peculiarity will be thoroughly explained soon enough, but, for now, let us close this chapter up and move on to the next...

-Descent Into Despair-

Before we kick off this angst fest and start hypothesizing, we're gonna need to take a good look at the nature of the soul and how this ties into the existing similarities shared between Kyubey and Ludwig- yes, this will get wild, especially if you're in only one of those fandoms from the outside looking in, so it's best for you to buckle up, hon, 'cause we in for a fucking joyride.

According to multiple religious and philosophical texts, the soul is a vital, non-physical part of a human being; it is an individual's very core of existence. The soul isn't exactly abstract, per se, as it's believed to actually exist between the lines of this plane of reality and that of the intangible world, and that each person has a unique soul that is distinctly theirs; it is, by definition, metaphysical- that person is the soul, as much as the soul is them.

Despite the limitations placed upon us by the very nature of the soul, it can be treated as a tangible and even physical object within both the TF2 and PMMM canons; in the latter case, Kyubey was able to turn them into magical gems for the sake of both efficiency and "incubation" - the goal of turning his victims into despair-riddled witches that spread the very misery they are drowning in -, all the while, in the Team Fortress universe, they are treated as nothing more than organs that can be removed and then reapplied at will by the very hands of, you guessed it, our very own Ludwig Humboldt for the dual purpose of conning the Devil out of the ownership of his soul and, in turn, extending his own life span.

This brings us back to the very moment where Ludwig made his wish with Kyubey; as presented to us via both Sayaka Miki and Homura Akemi, the process of making a wish and establishing a contract with Kyubey is proven to be quite the painful procedure, as they were able to feel their souls being pulled right out of their bodies by Kyubey in order to remold the very cores of their whole existence into these magical jewels known as Soul Gems; shining with the wishes that bind them to the life of a Magi until they inevitably reach their grisly ends.

Medic, of all people, would absolutely be the first to know exactly how painful it would be to have one's soul be forcefully ripped out of one's own body; he had already done so to 8 other people before grafting the extracted essences into himself. As result of this forced amalgamation, the size of his soul gem would be, as already stated, much larger than average. As for Medic himself and his reaction to his accumulated souls being turned into this grand artifact of magical potential, he would be in a state of shock, awe, and perhaps even a tinge of conflict - from the pain alone, he knew that his souls were tampered with; extracted and reforged -, but they were miniscule when compared to the wave of amazement that washed over him as he held the newly formed symbol of his status as a magi in his hands, shining a brilliant red with the wish he made with the white devil before him.

If Medic had to be honest, he would say, without a shadow of a doubt, that the incubators sure knew what they were doing; despite the tinge of bitterness regarding his souls being torn out of him, it was undeniable that having his life essences be turned into an all-powerful jewel was rather efficient, especially when stranded within the chaotic, unforgiving battlefield. Besides, this deal not only granted him what he desired most in life, but it unlocked a whole new world for him to explore; the realm of the witches.

After his first witch hunt went off without a hitch, he looked at his soul gem...yes, it had dimmed a little, and, according to his newly-formed, four-legged acquaintance, its brightness reflected what magic he had left; the very power he had gained from their infernal deal. This knowledge, combined with the grief seed taking in the impurities he had accumulated, had sparked inspiration within him, and, inevitably, that little glimmer turned into a raging, uncontrollable wildfire.

As his lips curled into that deranged smile of his, he arrived to the conclusion that he needed to research both his soul gem and these otherworldly monsters. Oh, was he was ever-so excited; a whole new world of possibilities had unveiled before him! He knew he had to learn more about these witches, for they were prime candidates for new observations and experiments...

Besides, if things were to go awry, he would have his backup plans as safeguards. He looked at the large jewel on his desk, its light reflecting on his glasses, with a look of complete confidence- after all, he was Ludwig Humboldt, the RED team's medic; he had already played the classic team like the money-hungry fools they were, defied all known laws of life, death, and nature on the regular, and bested the Devil in his own game! What bases of morality and human decency were little more than etches on the wall to him, and he was willing to go above and beyond to ensure his own and the rest's survival.

He cackled; oh, there was no need for any worries, my friend! Whatever that may come to pass, he shall find a workaround. So, with his lips curling into that toothy smile of his, he went to work-

Just like clockwork, it didn't take long for his signature obsession to dig its talons; day by day, he would salvage what parts of these unfathomable creatures and bring them back to his infirmary- even going as far as to capture their familiars and the smaller witches to bring back. After all, killing these wicked creatures outright would just cause them and their barriers to fade away, so he had to think of workarounds in order to harvest as much useful parts of them as he could.

All that, and that is without even getting into the details of the bargain he had made with the little pale ferret- why, that rascal Kyubey could be considered a new good friend of his in his eyes! He had even experimented on the bipedal fiend, and the Incubator held no grudge towards the quack doctor (hence how he came into the knowledge of his entire species and the fact that they were a hivemind). Back on topic- yes, the contract in itself was agonizing, there was no denying that, but at least he had gained a myriad of benefits from their mutual agreement.

Yet, as the saying goes, the higher they soar, the harder they fall.

Within every enforced law and in every deal made, loopholes were an inevitability- Ludwig and Kyubey knew that all too well as the roles of the recipient and contractor respectively. Time and curiosity have worked hand-in-hand in order to nurture their individual experiences and wisdom surrounding this unwritten rule of the universe. As several blazing days turned into howling nights, Ludwig's intrigue towards the limitations set before him as both a mercenary and a Puer Magi grew; his souls being turned into a singular, portable trinket was effective, yes, especially with the magic he had gained and his more than impressive healing abilities making both jobs a lot more easier, but, of course, so much could go wrong in the long run-

Ah, and these witches- at this stage, he had accomplished what many had deemed to be either impossible or far too risky; lining up the walls of his laboratory, amongst the butchered appendages and organs of their kin, were the captured forms of smaller witches and familiars- some were still struggling to be set free, while the others have resigned themselves to their fates. Whenever Ludwig wasn't on either battlefields or experimenting on his teammates, he would be slicing and chopping these poor souls away- trying to see how they functioned, or even analyzing their individual reactions to his little tests. Each of these curse-driven monstrosities' very existence brought forth a cluster of enigmas that only Ludwig could unravel, and the answer to these riddles must be tied to the very core of these beings- whether we're talking about how they would function as a living organism...or their grief seeds.

Besides...in his mind, there was nothing wrong with getting a few more benefits for yourself, was there? So long as such a possibility could help him continue on with both his life and work without any worries over the unknown, he was willing to take that chance. He was more than willing to rise up in the face of these hindrances- even if it took nearly pushing his soul to its breaking point, or unleashing what horrors mankind is not ready for once he manages to crack open a grief seed, he was certain he would find his way through this maze.

Unfortunately, his trickery of the devil himself had rendered him too confident. This unassuming little creature was no devil.

The further he descended down the inferno, the more barricades he had encountered on his way; wounding and injuring him to no end. Even with his soul gem on the edge of shattering, the grief seeds he had gathered were torn apart, watching as his own teammates neared their own limits as he caught up with them during their own witch hunts- the result was the same; he needed to research this even further. The fact that the two objects were apparently made of the same material had led Ludwig to several hypotheses - even coming close to the truth himself -, but, let us be real here for a second- if he did manage to figure out the truth behind the witches, which, logically speaking, he would, would it even come close to bothering him?

In fact...who was to say that, by learning the origins behind these creatures, that he wouldn't embrace the corruption of his soul gem? That he wouldn't lay his old vessel to waste, and treat his ascension to a higher plane of existence as a new experience for him? If that wasn't the case, then wouldn't he also inadvertently boost the process by going through meaningless hoops in the attempt to prevent his pre-written fate?

When looking at a man like Ludwig, a man already too far gone, only cold insanity and sadism irradiated from him- possessing an uncaring glee over the prospect of being able to experiment on the less fortunate souls who got in his way. His insistence on carrying on with his research came to the shock of almost nobody; such was his habit, and the mercenaries got used to his antics over time- yet, as time passed, his grip on his frustrations, desperation, and ever-growing drive continued to waver; everything about this new perspective on life filled him with a sense of wonder, even the countless roadblocks he had encountered still gave him a sense of awe...

His soul gem was as large as it was powerful, yes; it would take a larger accumulation of filth in order to actually affect him in any way or manner, and the reserves of magic he had- oh, how brightly must his gem shine when at its peak! Yet, one must consider at what point will the accumulated filth become...irreversible- how, at a certain threshold, the process of gathering up enough grief seeds to make sure it stays at its brightest at all times will yield more drawbacks than prospects of restoration? That the net value of the magic restored will inevitably hit zero if not the negatives?

How many times must this cycle repeat itself in order for the magi to inevitably give up on keeping their own soul completely pure at all times?

Ludwig still managed to keep his magic reserves somewhat afloat; though his cheerful and friendly mannerisms haven't wavered a bit, he couldn't keep his attention away from the developments that were unfolding before him. The experiments he had conducted on both his soul gem and the grief seeds he had gathered up did not help at all; further damaging and tainting his core only to satiate his own curiosity. He saw no issues as darkness slowly consumed his soul gem- it was simply another phenomenon to experience and document, no? It wasn't like it was hurting him or anything- if anything grim were to occur, he had his backup plans...if he could find one that actually worked...

No matter what Ludwig did, it appeared that his core was strictly bound to this jewel; he wasn't able to separate the souls within it, and, no matter how many times he would place another soul within him, it would just fade away as soon as he reached for it- purifying his soul gem in the process and leaving Ludwig as hollow as he was before the tests.

...He needed to study this further.

Ludwig's worries and starvation for answers gnawed at him. Within his glass heart, shades of ebony and crimson danced around one another, with only a small glimmer of light flickering through the veins existing to provide any form of luminescence, and his eyes-

Mikhail felt a lump on his throat as he gazed into the medic's soul through them- his once bright, fear-inducing blue eyes were beyond bloodshot, and, by his life, he could have sworn he saw the particles of his overheals float amidst the chaos. Still, Misha gulped down his worries as he placed the sandwich on Ludwig's desk and expressed his concerns over his health- to which the doctor thanked him - for both the meal and his considerations -, and assured the Heavy Weapons Guy before him that it was really nothing to flutter his feathers over, in his own words.

It was all going to be worth it soon. He knew it.

Tensions within the RED base grew with every passing day, and nobody sensed it more than Mikhail and Dell Conagher; though Ludwig would insist that he was alright - that it was all a part of the usual routine - and how close he was to a breakthrough, the two couldn't help but look out for the well-being of their medic. For the last few weeks to come, the two would keep a close eye on him- checking on the guy every now and then - as much as they could -, and making sure he hadn't completely lost himself.

His answers were becoming more cryptic as time passed; no matter how much Dell would ask and express his concerns, Ludwig would still act nonchalant, even as his eyes continued to darken with and his health evidently took a nosedive. This was no need for the concern, my friend; he continued to promise the engineer that it was all working out fine, and that he'll be okay once it's all over. Dell still kept his guards up; worried that, one day, Ludwig's gonna go completely off the rails- his and Mikhail's resolution to keep that man safe grew with each conversation they had with him. Something just ain't completely sound here, and he'll have to be there for him when that time comes.

What a hollow vow.

Days blurred with one another in Ludwig's mind. Each passing second held little to no significance to him anymore. No, he had to continue on with his hunts- he needed to. His doves looked at him with worried expressions; the lab was a mess, with papers and feathers scattered everywhere, the lights burnt out, and Ludwig himself slouched on the chair- illuminated by moonlight, and still carrying that damned gem.

And...he was never as satisfied as he was right at this very moment.

He looked down at his beaten-down, darkening soul gem- it was all worth it, no? He gazed into the flickering crimsons as though he was in a daze. He was exhausted, unable to get up on his feet, but he didn't mind that at all. His team will understand soon enough...

The light within his soul gem went into a frenzy- he smiled from ear to ear, for it was finally time; the hour of revelation had dawned upon him. Like a grand supernova, it collapsed into itself.

Ludwig tilted his head backwards, still fascinated by what was happening before him even as all life escaped his eyes. He embraced the corruption consuming him, and, with a crack and a flash of bright light, the entire RED base was sent into chaos.

-The Witch's Nature-

In short, this is tied to the personality/aspect of a magi that did them in; what drove them to slip into despair with their skulls cracking wide open upon impact. To provide a few set examples; Homulilly's was Self-Sufficiency (closing herself off from others as both Moemura and Cool Homu), Oktavia's was to Fall in Love (the infatuation with both Kyosuke and the ideal of a Magical Girl marked poor Sayaka's end), and Candeloro's was inviting (Mami's coping mechanism to deal with her loneliness- and the irony of her dragging innocents into the life of a magi). It can also reflect the intent behind their wish (Sayaka and Madoka) or how they would cope with the life of a magi and the responsibilities that come with it moving forwards prior to their demise (Mami, Kyoko and Homura).

Unfortunately, it is rather....difficult to describe the traits and convictions that cause such complex characters to do what they have done in a single sentence, much less a word or two. For all anyone would know, any of the mentioned above - cause of their wishes, how they cope, and what finally marked their ends - could have been driven by a multitude of a magi's traits and goals, and Ludwig was no exception.

To make this easier on everyone, myself included, I have divided most of the traits that have pushed Lud over the edge into separate segments. The suggested natures listed below are in no particular order; one can fit the bill more than the other. Though I have chosen only one of them for the witch card, ya'll are free to reinterpret it with any of the other suggested natures.

Desperate

Cunning

Wonder

Sadistic

To Experiment

Observant

Curious

-The Witch's Appearance-

"I have a bird head! You're dominated! We're both having a bad day."

This might either be the most fun or the most agonizing segment of the entire thing. As a matter of fact, aside from his descent to despair, this part took me the longest to conceptualize, and it's still not 100% complete in my eyes, oh dear oh me-

Right off the bat- the witch has to be gruesome. I am not placing heavy emphasis on this one just because this is Medic we're talking about and how we're all aware of his...peculiar views on his job and the human body, but it's also due to the aforementioned souls he's surgically implanted into himself prior to contracting. Let me state this again- before managing to find and ensure a contract with Kyubey, the man had already managed to turn the abstract concept of a soul into nothing more than an organ that can be grafted into himself; that ferret's nifty trick is no longer special.

To showcase exactly why the topic of Lud having multiple souls is so integral here, we have to recall that, throughout the Puella Magi canon, we have witnessed witches fusing with one another via various means; it has been stated that Walpurgisnacht was a singular witch who fused with others over time, and Kazumi Magica's Hyades Daybreak was an artificially-created witch born from the fusion of multiple soul gems. You could argue that Madokami is another such example thanks to Homura's resets and wish having her as the main focus; thus binding her to multiple iterations of herself across numerous timelines (as is it made clear to us with Madokami's transformation sequence in Magia Record).

The point being is that not only is Medic's witch's stupidly powerful, but I doubt it would be pretty to the eyes; unlike Madoka, those souls weren't originally his, and the way that he fused himself with said souls is thanks to his, let's say, bizarre surgical skills, and not due to whatever logic is behind the witches' ability to fuse with one another. Think of the core of his very being as an amalgam; whether he's retained his original soul from the Devil's ownership upon contracting or not is up to you, but the idea still stands nonetheless. It wouldn't just be some Frankenstein-esque monstrosity with stitches, additional appendages, and mismatched skin, either; the organs representing the souls he had stolen are there for all to see just beneath his unassuming, reliable, and even charming exterior.

Now that we've gotten some key details written down, we are going to have to examine his role, self-image, history, and the impact his actions had on the rest of the team in order to actually, well, design the bastard's personification of obsession and despair; these four elements are crucial for when it comes to designing a decent witch that would not only fit in the world of Madoka Magica, but also drive home the idea that these witches were once Magi themselves- with their own dreams and goals.

We'll kick this off by looking at Ludwig's role in the canon of Team Fortress 2; he is the de-facto healer, but he's less interested in actually helping the ill and is more into the idea of tinkering with the human form- going as far as to use animal organs for his whack scientific endeavors for the goal of satisfying his curiosity. His healing abilities are also stated to be side-effects of his knowledge regarding human anatomy- even the Medigun wasn't initially supposed to be healing the mercs, according to the lore provided for us.

While on topic, I should also bring Medic's gameplay onto the table; though he is one of the weaker classes when speaking in terms of strength, making sure your team's medic stays on the map for as long as you could is crucial. Think of him as the king piece on a chess board; once your doc out of the picture, not only will your team start to drop like flies, but you'll lose some of that sweet, sweet Uber time. There is a reason as to why Medics tend to stay around the more resilient classes rather than glass cannons like Scout; survival and defenses.

Next up, we'll talk about his self-image and how he is perceived by the rest. As we can tell, he takes much delight in his work and his experiments on other human beings- he doesn't see anything to worry about his interests and the peculiar way he goes about it, no matter how extreme it is. Obviously, the man's not in-tune with the concept of human morality- going as far as to see these unwritten rules of humanity as nothing more than roadblocks on the way of his life.

In spite of his...screws being more than loose, as I already stated above, it isn't like he sees his fellow mercenaries as lesser beings when compared to himself; he does like them, albeit in his own amoral, gory way - he wouldn't have granted them the power of invincibility otherwise, among the other feats in modern science he had accomplished in order to save his team's asses -. Yeah, he does experiment on them, but, at this point, that's just how he says "hello"- and, when compared to what he did to the Classics, the adjustments made were for the active benefit of his team (...most of the time).

From all this, we can tell that his witch is on the more dangerous side (AS IF THE EXTRA SOULS DIDN'T DO THE JOB?)- with a dash of grace, of course; a reflection of his friendly exterior hiding away his twisted interests and "job"- and, fellas, he adores his work. He holds no regards for the safety of his patients and how outlandish his experiments are; he already kept an enemy Spy's head alive in a fridge, for corn's sake. Nonetheless, he is still a competent doctor- more than competent, in fact; when given the right tools, organs, time, and budget- death is no more than a small hurdle to him. He also genuinely cares for his fellow mercs, even going as far as to call them his friends; maybe that's how the witch will see his own familiars? What if he also tries to smile, joke around, and sing lullabies as he cuts open his human victims?

By looking at this being, only unfathomable, suffocating dread surrounded you- for you were in the presence of he who holds the thread between life and death. This creature before you- no, that isn't right...this deity looked down upon his next patient; surrounded by the lifeless husks of his familiars and their victims, he was rather annoyed over the prospect of having his work be interrupted, but he was also more glad that a living being had wandered into the operating room. Yes, he knew it now; a sadistic sense of glee beamed from the monster as he knew that the next medical trial will be a lot more interesting than he had expected.

Finally, to wrap things up, we glance at his history. Now, I am going to give you guys the heads-up in advance, because not only will this segment be composed of speculations for the most part, but we will be discussing themes of ethn1c gen0c1de. If this topic is in any way triggering, scroll down to the part where we talk about either the latter part of his design, his barrier- or just skip right to the Witch's Card. Clicking away from this post altogether is also highly encouraged.

Much of Ludwig's history is currently kept wrapped under shadows- we were told of Mikhail's, Tavish's, Jeremy's, Dell's, Mundy's, and even Jane's lives before they joined RED/BLU and partook in the Gravel Wars, but, aside from the enigmatic Pyro, Medic was the only one whose backstory was never clearly given to us. All we have to go off of are the bits and pieces peppered across the official website(s) and several official cosmetics-

We all know that he was native to and lived in Germany "during an era where the Hippocratic Oath had been downgraded to an optional Hippocratic suggestion" until he had escaped it by hijacking a catering van during a prime minister's wedding for reasons currently unclear to us - it has been speculated it was due to him having stolen a man's whole skeleton, but he had stated that he lost his medical license soon after the incident -. In the Two Cities update, one of the signs present in Rottenburg, his hometown, was that of a pharmacy advertising a number of...odd products, one of which being Baboon Hearts (leading to the speculation that his name has to be Humboldt- as it was the name of said pharmacy and the confirmation that Medic descended from a line of mad scientists like himself). We also know that he had found and then adopted his doves, namely Archimedes, as he escaped via grand theft catering van.

These should be all he scraps we were given in regards to Ludwig as a character outside of his job and the mercenary business, right? Weeeeeeelll....not quite. There is still one more jigsaw puzzle we should piece together, and, when combined with the time period TF2 takes place in, it does not paint a pretty picture of his life prior to becoming a mercenary. Folks...

We have to talk about Ludwig's Jewish coding, and the implications it has in regards to his backstory when combined with the timeline of the Team Fortress universe.

Though it was never explicitly stated to us, several aspects of Medic do shine a light towards this specific direction; to make this easier for us all, I'll just be listing down the evidence present across the canons of both the game and the comics-

The theme song of his bird, Archimedes, that plays during his surgery on Heavy in Meet the Medic is Klezmer music- Yiddish folk music

His pronunciation of "Danke Schon" is the Yiddish way

In the Gargoyles and Gravel comic, he was dressed up as the openly Jewish Albert Einstein for Halloween

The most damning of all, Valve's insistence that Medic is NOT a N-zi; especially with how fanmade cosmetics that portray him in such a way are often taken down almost immediately

Now, I do understand the fact that Ludwig is far from a saint, but...you have to understand the sheer, vile evil the N-zis and their ideology embody- and, unfortunately, he was also another target for their venomous rampage. Add in the fact that it was at full swing back when Lud was a young adult and he probably witnessed the rise of the heinous ideology when he was a little sap, and...there is no way I can say this lightly-

Ludwig had lived through dark, heinous years. Maybe he's always been this crazy, maybe what was left of his sanity had shattered to brittle pieces thanks to what he and countless others were forced to experience- perhaps he was already insane, but the slaughters and oppression were a whole other degree of evil to him; of course, until the writers at Valve say otherwise, all this falls upon how you personally interpret Medic as a character and how he coped with his backstory.

Though this is all just simple speculation based on what bits and pieces of the man's background we were given officially, it does bring into question what Lud had experienced outside of his medical endeavors. Besides, topics surrounding the second world war have already been explored in the world of TF2- Heavy's backstory is one example, where he and his family were sent to a gulag following the imprisonment and execution of his father, a counter-revolutionist; they only managed to escape once it had burnt down. The trauma of the experience still lingers within Mikhail, as was shown to us in A Cold Day in Hell, so such a backstory for Ludwig is not out of the realm of possibility.

With all that in mind, one must wonder about the kinds of thoughts that were running through Ludwig's mind during that time, and place his escape from Germany under a different light. I must, once again, repeat the statement that Ludwig is not a good man, but did that justify whatever he possibly went through? He even went as far as to crash a political figure's wedding in order to flee; was it because of the hilarity factor TF2 and Medic as a character are well-known for - namely after he stole that dude's skeleton -? Or was there another aspect at play- one of utmost urgency? After all, leaving one's home country for good has got to be a difficult decision- he didn't even return to Rottenburg when Grey Mann took over, implying that, unlike the rest, he didn't have anything waiting for him back home...

Ah, it wasn't like it mattered to him nowadays, anyway; nay, he dared not to think about it any further- all that mattered to him now were his research...his experiments...

So, with all the complicated stuff set on the table, let's move on to the simpler bits of a witch's design- the glue that tie all these bits and pieces together!

Where do we start? With the Magi's own design, of course! After all, Oktavia's knightly theme didn't just come from Sayaka's desire to become a hero/Kyosuke's knight in shining armor, and don't get me started on Homulilly's final form. I am certain that there are other witches that would also help get the point across, like Charlotte, but let's not extend this segment too much.

Upon taking a closer look, we can see that Ludwig's design invokes the imagery of a dove - just like how the little nubs on Nagisa's hat are reminiscent of mouse ears (and we all know how her witch form looks like) -, especially with the ends of his coat resembling a dove's tail feathers. Several cosmetics of his that are present in the game also boost this specific theme of his, especially the Blighted Beak mask, the Wings of Purity, and, of course, the infamous Medimedes bird head.

Of course, this might be a reference to the doves in his lab - there we go, simple as that -, but I don't think that's all there is to it; remember, for an amoral, crazed man like Medic, he is still represented by holy themes, much like any other healer in most media. When you think of a healer, you think of a person who swore under the oath of not doing any harm, and have devoted themselves to the life of pacifism...everything that Medic is not. In fact, Medic himself invokes the fear of being before the almighty; how small and utterly insignificant we are in his eyes, and that, to a being with a mind like Ludwig's, our lives are in the palms of his hands to toy with.

Ah, sacricore and holy themes- don't we just love them? The idea of a savior is definitely written down; a brilliant being with evidence of the slaughter staining his hands. Doves are also gonna be heavily referenced- what kind of Medic-related design are we working on if we didn't give him a pair of wings or two?

As a matter of fact, who is to say that the witch isn't a mad, humanoid-ish dove? With his crooked, bright smile and unfeeling red eyes being hidden by his aura and brilliant, white feathers? You think you might be in the presence of a god of hospitals and medicine, and he even approaches you with such a cheerful demeanor; happy to see a patient stumbling into his lab! That is, until you see how red the ends of his feathers are, how wide that smile is under that plague mask of his, and his eyes...

Hang on- is this a plague mask to begin with? As your eyes finally focus...you can see that it is jutting out of his skin- it's not a mask, but a part of his skull.

Next, we are going to focus on the magi's weapon and what powers they had prior to witchification; now, I am aware that their weapons and their powers are not always reflected in their witch designs - coughs coughs, Kriemhild and Homulilly -, but it does appear to be an "either/both/neither" case for when it comes to analyzing and designing them - I mean, just look at Ophelia -. Besides, Team Fortress 2 is a combat-oriented game, so it would be of great disservice to the game if I did NOT incorporate the main vessel in which you would use to bludgeon your enemies to smithereens with.

Once more, the Medic's main shtick is healing and granting your team a wide number of buffs depending on the medigun equipped; the Kritzkrieg grants a 100% crit chance upon activation, the Vaccinator provides immunity/reduced damage against several damage types, and don't get me started on the number of buffs a Medic can grant their team alone in the Mann vs. Machine mode. For now, we'll just be focusing on the classical Medigun, and how it grants invincibility to both himself and the person he is healing upon activation.

As seen in Meet the Medic, this was possible due to the adjustments made on each of the mercs' hearts- or, what replacements they have received in place of said organs, considering that even HEAVY'S had burst from the pressure caused by his medigun's rays. It is shown to us that the heart begins to pump at an accelerated rate upon activation, likely to spread the influence of the medigun at full power through the subject's veins; turning them into a bulletproof behemoths ready to turn the enemy team into a pile of mush.

From this alone, we can pinpoint the idea that hearts are an important motif in his witch's design. I'd also wager that he'd also possess powers that aren't unlike the functionalities of his medigun; allowing him to heal himself, his familiars, and even other witches at close proximity- bloodthirsty, erratic mercenary or not, he is still the team's doctor. Once the witch starts glowing red, you only have a few seconds to either find a weak point as soon as you could or make a break for it.

To further build upon this theme, attached to his back, not looking too dissimilar to how his medigun backpack, are vials filled with fluid that each resemble the lights of a soul gem at its limit. Within them, he stores his victim's souls, blood, guts, and organs for future usage. How did they get here? Why, with his other appendage hidden inside his forearm; resembling a combination between a saw and a needle. It is easy to use a surgical knife, yes, but some patients are...less than cooperative.

Before we unveil the finalized-ish idea for the witch, I should also take a second to talk about his hypothetical barrier and possible witch's kiss/warlock's whisper. It is true that the most powerful witches in-canon don't exactly need to hide in their barriers - case in point, Walpurgisnacht, Kriemhild Gretchen, Hyades and Shitori Egumo -, but, if we go by the concept art pertaining to Kriemhild Gretchen, we can see that they do have labyrinths they call their own. Even Walpurgisnacht has a pocket space she calls her home; it's the none other than the monochrome hallway Madoka was running through during episode 1, as confirmed by the PSP Game. If neither Walpurgis nor Kriemhild were exempt from this rule, then it shouldn't be surprising to see that this also applies to Ludwig's witch.

As stated in the January 2012 issue of Dengeki Playstation, a witch's labyrinth represents "the magical girl's mental landscape before they became a witch"; Oktavia's was a concert hall- resembling the one where she would watch Kyousuke play the violin, Candeloro's a tea party for one- representing how she would cope with her loneliness and the fact that she arranged her meetings with Madoka and Sayaka as tea parties -, and, according to the aforementioned concept art, Kriemhild's barrier is an obsidian and magenta void full of floating furniture- specifically those of her and her mother's rooms.

From these examples, we can assume that the barrier represent core memories of the magi before they fell into despair, and are either tied to the reason behind their wishes or how they coped with their lives after contracting:

Madoka had a healthy family life in comparison to the other members of the holy quintet, and it is thanks to the environment she was raised in that she ended up becoming the merciful, selfless girl that we all know today

Everything about Homulilly's barrier just represent how much Madoka meant to Homura, even if she didn't exactly see her perspective 1:1; as such, the rundown state of Mitakihara City not only represents her time loops and how it is the setting for all her time loops, but also how she failed to protect Madoka in the end and to grieve the normal life they could have had- had it not been for the universe and everything it stood for standing against them (it might also foreshadow the choice she had made at the end of Rebellion; trapping her team and the rest of the city in a gilded cage so that the incubators will not have a chance at hurting Madoka ever again)

Nagisa didn't have much of a social life outside of school, her run-down home, and visiting the hospital where her mother was at- and it is within that hospital that she proclaimed that she was done with being the perfect daughter to someone who barely deserved it; that it was her turn to take control

We can even tell that Sayaka watching Kyousuke's concerts was such a pivotal moment in her life because of how this specific memory was shown to us at least twice during the series; when she explained what happened to him and the cause behind her wish, and as soon as her soul gem had reached the point of no return- albeit for a split second.

Of course, this is not necessarily a strict rule to follow for when it comes to designing and deciphering witch labyrinths; H.N Elly's barrier resembles a snow globe in composition - according to production notes -, Charlotte is having a tea party with a doll in which both of them are unable to respond, and...I am not 100% sure on what to make of Ophelia's barrier- though I will come back to it later. Barriers don't have to be based on actual locations that are significant to the magi's life; rather, they can be manifestations of their desires prior to witching out- Elly wished to preserve a happy memory that gave her a shred of respite in the midst of the stressful life of an idol; and the tea party symbolizes the relationship Nagisa craved from her mother, that she was the timid one of both parties- silent as a doll, and how ultimately hollow that wish is- in the end, it's just a toy; it cannot respond to her even if she could speak, nor could it comfort her.

Unsurprisingly, I can see that Ludwig's barrier could be an infirmary...no, that can't be right; after all, Ludwig does what he does not out of compassion for the sick, but because he could. He seeks to change and perfect the mercs; turning them into unstoppable killing machines forged by his own hands and mind. He usually does all this to satisfy that itch in his mind and the excitement whatever results he gets from these surgeries bring him. It looks like a place of respite for one's health, but it is a death trap, first and foremost.

As a reference to his escape from Germany, maybe Ludwig's doves are still flying around the barrier; blood and feathers staining the floors and hallways, and themes of uprooted trees are peppered in as paintings and ruined potted plants. This represents the panic setting in and high speeds of the van, on top of how he came to discover and adopt these feathery companions of his, while the uprooted tree symbol suggests that he has nothing waiting for him back home in Germany; the other mercenaries went back home after the events of Rings of Fired (sans Pyro and Engie) except for Medic, after all. Maybe he was just lucky(?) enough to immediately land a job amongst the classic mercs, or perhaps...he just couldn't go back "home", not after everything.

Going back to the canonical barriers for a sec, one part of when it comes to designing a proper labyrinth is that, sometimes, a person can sway your heart so much they could change the trajectory of your ideals and influence the way you look at both your actions and the world around you.

This is most evident in Ophelia's barrier, as seen to us in Madoka Magica Portable; though it's hard for me personally to decipher exactly what it is, there's a fuck-ton of symbolic elements literally swimming around there, including musical notes floating from the ground and into the air. I don't think I need to specify exactly what said notes represent here.

Since there are multiple rooms within a barrier that can serve different functions, perhaps there's an outdoors segment where the magi first end up in; a frigid winter wonderland threatening to turn this labyrinth's visitors' limbs into unfeeling, darkened blocks of frozen meat falling off their bones. The only salvation from this bitter cold is to enter the interior segments of the barrier, and, even then, you are still not at all safe; his familiars are still on high alert- whenever they aren't "looking after" the other patients present -, and the infirmary in of itself is nothing more than the lure of an anglerfish- fooling the humans who have stumbled into it and punishing them to a fate worse than death.

The conveyor belt stretches through the halls of the labyrinth and leads right to the center; the operating room. There, the doctor awaits either his next batch of organs - human or otherwise - or a new patient. Ah, how everything runs smoothly; the bloodshed, the violence, the screaming- such fine melodies, they nearly compelled him go and play a tune on his "bone" saw at this very moment.

Another small detail that I want to pepper in is that there are the sounds and vibrations of a heart beat that echo through the halls of the labyrinth's interior sections. Perhaps there are slices of lavish wedding cakes (the van), pretzels (Germany), and all manners of bread (the mercs and that bread monster) that are being served in the canteen- and, before you ask, no, I would not recommend eating them. I know I already said that hearts are a core theme of the witch's design itself, and maybe the canteen thing is a bit too farfetched, but, hey, a nice detail is a nice detail.

Finally, so we can wrap this whole segment up already, we'll discuss the details of his witch's kiss/warlock's whisper. Now, Witch Kisses in-canon are...weird; they hold less consistencies than the witches themselves and their barriers, so it is hard to draw out the necessary similarities needed to create a decent design. Some witch's kisses are tied to the witch's type (Uhrmann, Homulilly), designs (Oktavia, Elly), and their grief seeds (Kriemhild). Sometimes, I have no idea on what they represent at all! (CANDELORO) I'm just gonna go on a limb here and just...wing it.

-BADUM TSS-

Okay, okay, that was horrible, I'm sorry. Indeed, wings will be a key theme- specifically 6 of them; not only are they reflective of him being a dove, but also to boost the holiness theme he has going on and to symbolize his earlier deal with the devil. In the middle of it, a clawed, red hand grabs on to an anatomical heart; whether he is handing it out or taking it for himself is unknown. Upon closer inspection, one can see that it is affecting the victim's veins, causing the area around the whisper to turn into a deep, glowing red; remember how the ubercharge works, people.

Finally, finally, after two months of hard work - two months of AGONY -, we have it; the moment we have all been waiting for...

-Witch Card-

Asclepius, the Warlock of Reconfiguration. His nature is wonder. A revolting, mad avian who conceals his sickened mind with the appearance of a plague doctor, and a charming, silver tongue. Upon gathering up those who would become the volunteers and patients for his latest medical trials, his very own ward begins to choir and hum with every slice and stitch made on his victims' bodies; readjusting and mutilating their forms to fit what piqued his mind at the hour.

The leftover organs are then either stored for his future endeavors, swallowed whole by the warlock in order to improve upon his own self, or are kept alive - perhaps even conscious - within his barrier as a testament to his prowess; eternally trapped and wailing for the liberation of death.

-Familiars-

Galatea. Servants of the Warlock of Reconfiguration. Their duty is to worship. The warlock's beautiful creations- the culminations of his medical curiosities. Right out of the operating tables, they would test out the enhancements blessed to them, and continue to be of good use to the warlock by defending his infirmary and the operating room. Those who cross paths with the Galateas will not see a hint of hesitation- they are willing to keep the bloodshed around the labyrinth ongoing for the sake of their doctor, even at the cost of their own lives.

Though the warlock prefers the blank slates that are the humans who get admitted to his infirmary, he would still pick apart at and experiment on his Galateas, whether in order to fix them, enhance them using the organs of his victims, or to salvage as much of their parts as he could- perhaps in order to rebuild them in the future.

(Familiars are said to be "projections of a magi's heart before they became a witch"; as result, their duties can range from directly serving the witch - the Holgers representing Sayaka's desire to be in the center of Kyousuke's attention, and the Anthonies are tasked to care for the roses Gertrud cherishes from the bottom of her heart -, to becoming obstacles to all, sometimes even to the witches themselves - the Klarissas' only task is to dance around Oktavia, Anja's stated to have been separated from Albertine, and dare I talk about how the Clara Dolls represent Homura's self-loathing over her inability to save Madoka? -. It isn't uncommon to see that a familiar can be based on significant key figures in the magi's life, especially if they were either related to the wish they made or the cause(s) behind their despair.

These buggers here symbolize Ludwig's love for not just mutilation, but also reinventing the way his teammates' organs function- and, as I mentioned before, his deep trust in the mercenaries. He also compared himself to the divine on numerous occasions and is followed by multiple holy motifs in spite of his little deal with the devil going on; he was even followed by a choir and his doves flying behind him as soon as he stepped into the battlefield in Meet the Medic.)

-

Hubris. Servants of the Warlock of Reconfiguration. Their duty is donation. Bound by their hauteur and the broken bones of their bounties, these pathetic prisoners of the warlock have been chained and are treated as nothing more than livestock by both their master and his other servants. Watching their own organs and other body parts be pulled apart from one another before regenerating once more for the continuation of this cycle has drained all hope of ever escaping their punishments from their eyes- not with these atrophied limbs and sore boils.

Their stringy, rotting flesh provide little to no sustenance for neither the warlock nor his other familiars, and are too fragile to use for his medical trials - hence the need for human patients -. Nonetheless, they are bound to these spare operating tables, awake at all times, as the claws of the other servants pick apart and toy with each and every one of their fibers. The warlock finds humor in their agonized howls.

(They resemble misshapen versions of the TFC team - barring their own medic -, since we are going with the assumption that he took their souls rather than those his own teammates. Why I went with the idea of the classics themselves becoming his familiars is and are not just projections of how Medic saw them during his time working with them is due to how both Walpurgisnacht and Hyades Daybreak had their respective original forms re-manifesting as their own familiars.

Yes, Cheavy gets the worst of it.)

-

Archimedes. An old friend of the Warlock of Reconfiguration. His duty is attendance. As he glides through the bloodstained halls of the infirmary, this dove, whose pristine feathers have long since been soaked with a deep crimson throughout his master's countless trials, would not only take part in the warlock's surgeries as the role of a willing audience, but he would also stand by and even assist (Asclepius) - all the while satisfying his own morbid, sickened curiosity -. Of all familiars, the warlock treats this one with the most respect, understanding, and fatherly affection.

(Not a familiar that looks like the bird, not a familiar that is inspired by the bird- it's the fucking bird itself.)

-Inspirations-

In-game:

His doves, and the fact that Archimedes was a WEDDING DOVE before Medic found him

Him hijacking the chancellor's van during his wedding in order to escape Germany (and eventually finding then adopting Archimedes who was within it)

His silver tongue clashing with or weirdly complementing his deranged personality and actions; would it translate into his witch looking more humanoid, among other traits? Well...

His usage of animal organs to compensate for the fragility of human organs might make the humanoid aspect of his witch sort of moot

His bonesaw and how he plays it like a violin (non-conventional musicals?)

The Vita-saw

Ubercharge

Him playing cosmic systems like a damn skipping rope to his advantage (reviving Sniper and having multiple souls sewn into himself in order to scam the Devil out of their deal). This does not work with Kyubey, like, sir, your surname ain't Kaname, if memory serves me right

The Blighted Beak cosmetic; its Vibrio Cholerae style specifically, as it would better fit Inu Curry's art style

Medic's gameplay in both the vanilla game and the V-Script Zombie Infection mode

"And no wonder! For even the devil disguises himself as a being of light." - His association with themes that are considered "holy" and "good" in Meet the Medic and several of his own cosmetics...yeah, no need for me to go into detail as to how ironic this all is

Outside Influences:

The Greatest Living Show by Itoki Hana and Toby Fox (wow, I have an addiction to Itoki Hana's songs, don't I?)- evident especially with the heart beats in his barrier

Repo! The Genetic Opera

German fairytales- especially with how some of them revolve around mortals dealing with otherworldly beings

-Closing Statements-

To be completely honest, I wish I was able to actually draw this shit and not make ya'll read through this drag of a document and leave the gist of it up to your imaginations. I also have to apologize for how rushed it is near each segment's ending; I initially wanted to publish this around the start of October, but it was far, FAR from finished by the time it rolled around.

This has been a wild 2 or so months; constantly looking up references and refining the concept time and time again along the way, and it is still not perfect (especially with how the description of the warlock's appearance), but, overall, I am very happy to have managed to deliver it during spooky season.

I should also give a huge thanks to @bluethepearldiver! Not only did they support me incredibly so throughout the process of writing this in ways I cannot write down so easily, but they've also helped me with the names of his familiars and that RAW line ("Unfortunately, his trickery of the devil himself had rendered him too confident. This unassuming little creature was no devil.")! So, please, do give them the support they deserve ;0;

Once more, I am more than willing to listen to suggestions and criticisms; I'm aiming to not just improve upon Asclepius, but also the other mercs' witch forms when the time comes (I even have a concept for Scout's)! Do not be afraid to send an ask or even tag me regarding the matter- I'll do my best to reply (if Tumblr gets its head outta its ass and does its job notifying me for once)!

Thank you all so, so much for reading all this! I appreciate any and all engagements and feedback coming my way.

[salemelas]

OC Masterpost

hihi! having to redo this because my previous one got borked, and posting it publicly so that i can link it easier without redirect issues (^^ゞ y'know how tumblr is, etc etc.

warning: this post is very long and has multiple images! (and speaking of those images, this site was used to create the tokens seen below.)

◈ Elder Scrolls

Rildras

Male, he/him

Dunmer

The Nerevarine and Nerevar reborn

Father of Vedyra, grandfather of Vedathyr, son of Nedrala and Azura

Former lover of Dagoth Ur

May be a demiprince, but hates the daedra (and admittedly also the aedra) with all his heart

Sword warrior and destruction caster

Retired to a life of being a mushroom farmer after raising his daughter to adulthood

TAG IS ATTACHED!

Dagoth Vedyra

Female, she/her

Dunmer

Scion of House Dagoth and Founder of the House Dagoth Reforged

Daughter of Rildras and Dagoth Ur, mother of Vedathyr and Strides-Through-Ashes, granddaughter of Nedrala and Azura

Arcanist

Scholar with a focus on the dwemer, especially their disappearance

TAG IS ATTACHED!

Dagoth Vedathyr

Male, he/him

Dunmer

Heir to House Dagoth

The Last Dragonborn

Member (not the leader!) of the Companions, werewolf

Dual-handed warrior

Son of Vedyra, grandson of Rildras and Dagoth ur, great-grandson of Nedrala and Azura

Mercenary much to his pleasure, legendary figure of history much to his displeasure

TAG IS ATTACHED!

Nedrala

Female, she/her

Dunmer

Ashlander exile from the Urshilaku Tribe

Former consort and chosen of Azura

Potter by trade

Mother of Rildras, grandmother of Vedyra, great-grandmother of Vedathyr

No tag yet

Strides-Through-Ashes | Dagoth Nehota

Female

Argonian, she/her

Found by Vedyra as an abandoned egg

Shadowscale aspirant, assassin

Adopted daughter of Vedyra, biological parents unknown

Member of House Dagoth

No tag yet

Dagoth Tsabi

Female, she/her

Khajiit

Found by one of Vedyra's scouts as the sole survivor of an ambushed khajiiti caravan

Vedyra's apprentice for dwemer studies

Illusion and restoration caster

Scholar with a focus on dwemer technology

No tag yet

Dagoth Nenyael

Female, she/her

Altmer

Joined House Dagoth after being abandoned as a teenager by her family in Morrowind following a tryst with a dunmer boy that resulted in a pregnancy

Mother of a yet-to-be-named son

Vedyra's apprentice for arcane studies

Arcanist

Scholar with a focus on Apocrypha and Hermaeus Mora

No tag yet

Dagoth Dralyn

Male, he/him

Dunmer

Was once a of House Redoran, but was exiled for sympathizing with Vedyra's desire to rebuild House Dagoth; was subsequently welcomed into the House Dagoth Reforged with open arms

Restoration caster

Dabbles in a little bit of every trade that he can get his hands on

No tag yet

Lyrius | Wades-Through-Deep-Waters

Male, he/him

Altmer

Hero of Kvatch

Listener of the Dark Brotherhood

Was adopted by two argonian fishermen after his parents died in a shipwreck off the coast of the Black Marsh

Has worshiped Sithis since he was very young, as that his adopted parents worshiped Sithis

Dual dagger fighter

Accidental daedric prince

Lover of Lucien Lachance

TAG IS ATTACHED!

Kanbael

Male, he/him

Dunmer

Vestige

Champion of Vivec

Nightblade, dual-hand wielder nonetheless

Devout believer in the Tribunal

Part of the Thieves Guild

No tag yet

◈ Dungeons & Dragons

Vesper Dysgeyma

Nonbinary, they/he

Tiefling (Mammon)

Demigod of Umbra, god of the dead and dusk

College of Spirits bard

Lawful neutral

Joined the party to help them kill a despot king seeking immortality, stayed for the food

TAG IS ATTACHED!

◈ Dragon Age

Talasan Mahariel

Male, he/him

Dalish elf

Hero of Ferelden (main)

Lover of Zevran

Father of Kieran and the glorious Barkspawn

Two handed weapon warrior

Brokered for peace between the Dalish and the werewolves

Sided with the mages

Sided with Prince Bhelen and Paradon Caridin

Saved Connor with the Circle of Magi's help

TAG IS ATTACHED!

Andromache Surana

Female, she/her

Circle elf

Hero of Ferelden

Lover of Leliana

Spirit healer and blood mage

Brokered for peace between the Dalish and the werewolves

Sided with the mages

Sided with Prince Bhelen and Paragon Caridin

Sacrificed Isolde to save Connor

TAG IS ATTACHED!

◈ Baldur's Gate 3

Vharis Zhendiae

Male, he/him

Drow

Dark Urge

Paladin of Vengeance

Lover of Astarion

Rejected the Urge

Twin brother of Luminara (my boyfriend's Dark Urge, who is not listed here for the reason of not being my OC)

TAG IS ATTACHED!

Red

Nonbinary, they/them

High elf

Dark Urge

Assassin rogue

Lover of Karlach

Rejected the Urge

No tag yet

Not yet added:

Dragon Age: Garrett Hawke; Inquisitor Athevera Lavellan; Inquisitor Ilrian Lavellan, Rook

Mass Effect: Ariane Shepard

Baldur's Gate 3: Azran, Serene

[darkfeanix]

Thedas Tuesday

Oh, boy, this is just scratching the surface of my guy Elio. Or at least his history. You'll understand what I mean when you see the quotes I included. Also, if you're curious, he's going to look like the Rook from the release date announcement trailer, because that guy is just so handsome. I hope he's a preset so I won't have to painstakingly try to recreate him in the CC.

He'll probably be more of a "fanfic Rook" than an "in-game Rook", because I have accidentally embedded him in the Nevarran royal family and I somehow doubt that will be an option in The Veilguard.

Now, without further adieu...

Elio Van Markham

Human Mage | Mourn Watch | Voice: Alex Jordan

"Today there are fourteen branches of the family—eighteen, if one counts our relations among the Van Markhams—each consisting of multiple families and twisting bloodlines connecting us to almost every major house across Thedas."

—From a letter by Baroness Alia Pentaghast, 9:38 Dragon

"I have hundreds of relatives so distant, they need charts to prove we're related at all. And they have them, oh, yes."

—Cassandra Pentaghast, to the Inquisitor, 9:41 Dragon

Elio Baltasar Leonidas Caspar Van Markham (born 9:24 Dragon) is a Marcher-born Nevarran of the noble Van Markham family, and a member of the Mourn Watch within the Mortalitasi. He is the oldest child and only son of Lady Davinia Van Markham and her husband, Lord Guillermo Selbrech. Born and raised in the city of Hasmal, Elio grew up on tales of the Grand Necropolois and Mortalitasi, with his mother making sure he had a proper education in the traditions and customs of her home. More than one journey was made to Nevarra city to attend the funeral of one distant relative or another, and it grew to be a point of fascination for Elio as he got older.

In 9:33 Dragon, shortly before his ninth birthday, Elio was attempting to perform funerary rites for his recently departed pet cat when he accidentally summoned a spirit of compassion into the body. Far from being frightened by the unexpected possession though, Elio was actually fascinated, and he carried on a lengthy conversation with the spirit before his parents found him and discovered what had happened.

His father, a dedicated Andrastian and Maker-fearing man, wanted Elio immediately sent to the Hasmal Circle, but Lady Davinia wouldn't hear of it. No son of Nevarra would be confined to a common Marcher Circle, particular not with all the recent rumours of unrest coming out of Kirkwall – to say nothing of his clear natural affinity with spirits. No, Elio would be sent to the Cumberland Circle where his talents would be appreciated, and his abilities could be nurtured.

As his mother hoped – or perhaps it would be more accurate to say she expected – Elio did indeed flourish at the Cumberland Circle of Magi. He flourished for the next seven years, until the Circle leadership voted to secede from the Chantry. Having never experienced the kind of oppression and abuse that so many of his fellow mages had, Elio was reluctant to become involved. When the Seekers of Truth declared every member of the Mortalitasi an apostate, however, he was just one of many who rose up.

Many mages died on that day, but the templars were routed, and most of their number driven from the city. More than any other country outside of Tevinter, the Nevarrans appreciate the work of its mages, and the attempt to annul the Circle brought a swift and deadly response from the city guard, along with a number of mercenary companies paid by noble houses with family among the Mortalitasi.

[isshua]

Spoilers for The King Deshret and the Three Magi Archon Quest:

Creator reader after waking up inside of Nahida’s body after Katheryne gets stabbed by the Emerite mercenaries: “Ayo where the fuck am I.”

Scaramouche forging a mental connection with them from who-knows-where and speaking directly into their mind: “I SEE YOU.”

Creator reader: “GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!”

[thetinyshiloh]

Nine People You'd Like to Know Better

Tagged by @thana-topsy, thank you!!

3 Ships Yyra Denirien x Teldryn Sero (OC x Elder Scrolls) - If you're following me and you don't know this... you must scroll tumblr with your eyes closed or something lmao. They are INCESSANTLY in my head 24/7/365. They are both so broken but trying their best and the most important aspect is that (in my canon story) their friendship happens FIRST and is MOST important before anything else occurs between them. I know all the smut I draw says otherwise, but I draw the smut because my main story is so slow-burn hahahaha. FemShep x Garrus Vakarian (Mass Effect) - I went hard for this one... it's almost like there's something about red-headed strong-willed women with snarky, non-human mercenaries with distinctive voices that just does it for me... Jude x Cardan (The Folk of the Air series) - Despite the fact these are "young adult" books, holy shit did they do something for me. Also 100000% better than any published erotica I've ever read AND a fantastic example of enemies-to-lovers. Anyways, I finished the main trilogy recently and these two have been rotating on a smaller platform in the background while Yyra and Teldryn continue to rotate in the foreground lol. I HAVE TO ADD ONE MORE, SORRY, I'M BREAKING RULES BUT NIKAIDO x KAIMAN (DOROHEDORO) HAS TO BE INCLUDED TOO, I am obsessed

First Ship I have such a hard time remembering stuff from my early life, but technically the first pairing of people that I fixated on (though this would be way before "shipping" was a thing I knew about) was Aerith x Sephiroth (despite how that canonically goes lol, but i guess i've always loved saying fuck canon).

Last Song "Magia" by Kalafina - Despite almost never watching anime, I binged Puella Magi Madoka Magica in one day (it's only 12 episodes) and holy cow that fucking show what the fuck. Anyways, the end credit song rocks and this is it.

Currently Reading Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain by David Gerard I recommend both of these so far, but I'm also only partially through them because I always take a thousand years to read nonfiction.

Last Film Dearest Sister (2016) - It's weird if I'm not watching at least one horror film in the past week, but this was actually two weeks ago? I think I need to re-watch it, but I thought it was pretty good!

Currently Craving I was craving salted nori today but I do actually have some and so I had it a few hours ago. Right now I'm not really craving anything! I guess this question is more about creative works but as usual, I go with food haha.

I tag: @downontheupside @mishikaiya @ocheeva @dontiform @perilously @fliinnie @orfeolookback @bendingsignpost @drowsy-fantasy

[typingatlightspeed]

TF2 Fanfic - Vacation, All I Ever Wanted REMASTERED - Darlings

It's done! And here, as promised, is the content I cut from the fic, aside from small wording changes and such. This is everything of actual substance, if you get me. I had to kill a few darlings, but I made sure to keep them, as I often do. So here are the darlings! These scenes are no longer canon, but they're still worth a read. Some details (like how Pyro dies from asphyxiation rather than actual burns) will probably be reestablished in another fic tho, since I like that lol.

Ao3 Link!

---------

The foot traffic in and out of the convention centre was busy, people coming and going at all times throughout the day. Weaving in and out of the crowd, Medic and Miss Pauling stopped for a moment's respite after finally making it out the doors. Many hours of shopping, panels, and workshops later, neither was willing to add any more time or weight to the bags on their shoulders, calling their day at the Symposium a success.

"You two there! You seem like the sort of folks who might need the services of an experienced mercenary!" a voice called over the din. Medic and Miss Pauling looked about, confused, before looking down to see a fair-skinned man who stood barely over three feet in height, with a head of messy red curls, and a pair of spectacles perched over his bright green eyes. His ears came to short points, and a greatsword was strapped across his back. His grin was bright as the sun as he pulled a business card from the inside pocket of his coat.

"Any pesky sorcerers horning in on your turf? Wizards trying to co-opt your research and squeeze you out of the credit? Magi of any sort making trouble for you and yours? I've got decades of experience fighting practitioners of magic for both fun and profit. For a modest-and-negotiable fee, myself and Arcanoclast here," he jerked a thumb at the blade on his back, "will sort out any eldritch exterminations you need handled. I work non-lethally as well, even non-violently, in case liability is a concern. A beautiful lady such as yourself should never have to dirty her hands, so let me do it for you," the halfling said with a rakish grin, offering the card to Miss Pauling.

"I dirty my hands just fine, thank you," the exhausted diviner replied with a sigh, ducking past the mercenary and charging off into the crowd.

Medic gave the chatty little man a shrug and a wave, and continued after his employer, jogging a bit to catch up. "Was was that?"

"Mercs who specialize in the supernatural love these conventions, but only the bigger companies can get booth space to advertise, so the loners and independent groups like to hang around outside the entrances and exits to crowd-bark," Miss Pauling explained, shaking her head.

"I am surprised BLU hasn't taken the opportunity to advertise, then," Medic chuckled. "Considering how supernatural we have become over the past year or so."

"BLU doesn't advertise," Miss Pauling replied. "We're not exactly doing jobs outside the Gravel War."

"Aheh, fair enough, I suppose."

"I'm just lucky that guy didn't recognize me; he'd talk our ears off."

"You know him?"

"He interviewed for Scout's position a few years ago when we were putting the teams together. Didn't get the job obviously."

"It is almost too bad," Medic mused with a laugh, "Heavy loves red-heads."

*

Scout moaned with delight, his lips messy, drops threatening to roll off of his chin. His eyes rolled closed as he savoured the flavour in his mouth. He'd never had a burger so good in his life. He huddled over his plate at the picnic table, humming his enjoyment as he swallowed and took another bite.

"Bloody 'ell, Scout, it's a burger," Sniper grumbled around the rim of his cup of beer.

Swallowing another bite, Scout looked up from his meal, "It's the best goddamn burger I ever had, Snipes, holy shit."

"Thank ya kindly," Engineer called from behind the grill, waving his tongs in appreciation. He wore an apron that had 'Thank Louis Camille Maillard' printed on its bib, and held a beer in his other hand.

"I am loath to say it, but few things do compare to a grill when preparing American foods," Spy added, having sliced his burger in half to make eating it a bit less fiddly. "And bringing a cast-iron pan outside to caramelize the onions was, perhaps, inspired."

"It's so good I'm gonna fuckin' die," Scout rejoined, scrubbing grease from his chin with the back of his wrist.

"Honestly I'd figured ye for more 'o a hot dog man yerself," Demoman teased, miming fellatio.

Heavy chuckled at this. "Scout enjoys lots of meat," the giant said, raising an eyebrow and lightly elbowing his lover beside him, making him almost choke on the last of his burger.

"Well there's plenty meat where that came from!" Engineer called from the grill. It had almost sounded like the joke had flown over his head, but for the man leveling a pointed look to Scout before returning to his work, piling a hotdog and a few ears of corn onto the plate of a waiting Pyro.

"You better keep your word on that!" Scout called over with a broad grin and a lewd gesture.

*

Jane swallowed thickly, feeling it all unravel in his hands. "We can't fix this, can we?"

"I dinnae think so," Tavish confirmed. "Between all that, and all this," he gestured to Jane in general, to the man he now knew to be undead, "I dinnae ken if we can trust like that. Tae make a go of it as anythin' more'n mates. I dinnae ken if that bell can be un-rung."

"So that's it, then? It's over?"

"Aye," Tavish sighed heavily, his hands shaking as he gripped the ratty, come-stained sheet of the bed they'd shared. "Last night was a lovely end tae it, though. I prefer that tae another war."

Jane sighed wistfully. That was very true. At least they'd had one last night where they could pretend it was old times, where they could pretend this mess could be salvaged. "You said we can't be anything more than mates. Does that mean we can still be friends?"

A small smile pulled at Tavish's lips. In spite of it all, Jane was still Jane. And he was quite fond of Jane. "I wouldnae have it any other way. Might be a first step tae makin' peace with all this, maybe."

"Good." Jane ached, inside and out. His muscles and joints were all tense, and his eyes were sore with tears that he could not allow to come. His gut was twisted up in knots, and his heart lay in a shattered heap within his ribcage. He'd known this was coming. Hoped against hope that it wouldn't, and was grateful that it was less vicious, less hurtful than he'd feared. But it was bound to happen. Didn't make it hurt any less. He let out a shaky breath.

"Oi," Tavish caught Jane's attention, drawing him out of his thoughts as he tapped a cigarette out of his pack and brought it to his lips, making a grabbing motion at the other man with his free hand.

Jane tossed him the book of matches and watched him light up, already lamenting the lips that held that cigarette.

Tavish took a drag and exhaled slowly, trying to calm himself down. "Look, let's get out o' here, aye? Go get us some breakfast 'fore they stop servin' it for the day. I ken a diner down the street."

"Okay."

*

"Wait wait, so back up. Now what is all yer team, exactly?" Tavish slurped at his coffee, holding up a hand to slow down his friend's story. "I'm gettin' lost, here."

"I am a dullahan—" "Glad we cleared that up," the bomber interrupted with a smirk.

"Scout a faun, Pyro is a djinni..."

"The kind that grant wishes?"

"If your wish is to hear the sappiest cutesy-talk ever with him and Engie, maybe," Jane laughed, poking at the hash on his plate with a fork. The two of them occupied a corner booth in the diner, their voices low enough to not cause too much of a ruckus as Tavish attempted to wrap his head around his friend's actual life. "Also he's made of fire."

"Made o' fire?"

"Not actual fire, I don't think. He doesn't burn things by touching them, he has to do that the old fashioned way still. But he isn't hurt by fire and can change his shape a little. Engie says he spreads out across surfaces when he's overwhelmed, like when they're screwing around."

"But he's died tae our Pyro before," Tavish countered, gesturing with his half-full coffee cup.

"Pyro says it's asphyxiation that actually does it, not the fire itself."

"Huh."

"Right?"

"Makes some sense I suppose, the fire eatin' up all the air in his mask and suit."

"That's what he told me."

"Alright so go on, what about the others?"

"Sniper is human. Engineer's human too, but our boss says if he keeps replacing parts of himself with robotic ones he'll end up being reclassified as a cyborg and end up with a bunch of rules and restrictions to match."

"Fair play I suppose."

"Spy is a kitsune, which some kind of Japanese fox fairy shapeshifter. He has three tails."

"Explainin' why he cannae be yer Scout's da, then."

"Yes. Our Spy is not actually French. Also our Scout knew his dad before he died."

"Fair play. Keep goin', then."

"Or Demoman is a werewolf." "That's what he is? Bloody hell, that howlin' we been hearin' every so often is him, then?"

"Either him or Sniper underneath him," Jane snorted.

Tavish nearly choked on his coffee. "Away with ye! Bullshite, there's nae way!"

"They're dating, but Demo being a werewolf is what got them started," Jane explained with a chuckle. "Sniper is an absolute size queen. Only one bigger is Medic."

"Oh?"

"Medic's a garuda; he messed up a spell and ended up turning himself into that. But Heavy is why I say Medic's a size queen. He's half-jotun. Frost giant."

"Half-jotun?"

"On his father's side."

"As in, his da was a frost giant?"

"Yes."

"God bless his mum."

"They had four children together." "And the woman's still alive?"

"Should be asking that about the Doc too. He figured out a spell that turns Heavy into a full-on jotun." Jane sipped his coffee. "Mostly uses it for sex. The first time was the worst; Doc screamed so loud nobody on base got a wink of sleep that night."

"...come tae think of it, one night we caught wind o' screams and roars across the field. I thought it might be a hauntin' at first. Then Engie broke out a listenin' device and told us it sounded like yer Heavy and Medic shaggin'."

"He was right," the dullahan confirmed, chuckling around another sip.

"Bloody hell." Tavish stuffed the final bite of his sausage into his mouth and chewed, swallowing as a thought occurred to him. "Ye ken, we might owe 'em thanks."

"Because we were exhausted on the field the next day?"

"Nae, we were knackered too, and I'll tell ye why: we didnae get any sleep for screamin' and shaggin too."

"What?" "After Engie broke that news, our Doc and Heavy got real quiet, real awkward. They'd been best mates since day one, but everyone sorta knew there was chemistry there. Apparently they'd not acted on it, but it was absolutely there. Turns out hearin' their doubles havin' what sounded like a legendary shag all the way across the field got the gears turnin'. Doc told me about it later at the weekly session with Engie—"

"Session?" "Cans with the lads," the bomber clarified, "anyway, turns out on the way back tae their quarters later on, Heavy stops Doc in the hallway, flat out asks him if he wants to see if he can make him scream the way BLU Heavy can make their doctor scream. Doc says yes, and they finally resolve all the bloody sexual tension we been dealin' with for over two years." He laughed and finished the last sip of his coffee. "Dinnae think they got to quite the volume of your doc takin' prick bigger 'round than his arm, but the good doctor was nae slouch. Not a one of us got a wink of sleep that night, and Scout didn't stop havin' a moan about it for days. Those two make a right sweet couple though. 'M happy for 'em."

"Ours too."

Feeling the conversation thread reach its end, Tavish shifted topics. "So did yer team ken ye were a dullahan from the start?"

"No. I hid it from them too. Even from the boss ladies. Until Scout walked in on me changing heads."

"Changin' heads?"

"Yes. Like I said, they go bad, so I have to change them every few days. It's why I keep spare heads after work."

"And he saw ye...headless?"

"Yes."

"What was that like?"

"He was mostly curious. Immediately figured out my neck is an erogenous zone. He was the first person I ever...without a head..."

Tavish smiled softly, leaning back in his booth seat. It was a ghoulish thought, and he tried not to picture the faun riding a headless corpse. Instead, he took in the warm sparkle in Jane's eyes. It had been another one of those things the bomber had thought he'd noticed about Jane, but chalked it up to imagining things. But now, he felt himself far more sure. "So, ye and yer Scout?"

"What about us?"

"Ye said yer shaggin'."

"He's screwing everyone on the team," Jane replied, matter-of-factly.

"And he was the one who found ye out and was all intae it."

"...he's into most things."

"And when ye just told me all that ye looked like a smitten bloody schoolboy," the bomber teased.

Jane dodged that, "He has two boyfriends already. He is dating our Heavy and our Medic."

"That's nae surprising," Tavish chuckled, leaning forward conspiratorially. "Remember, though I shun the supernatural, I know an infuriatin' amount about it. D'ye ken what a 'revel' is, Janey?"

"No."

"Fauns and satyrs tend tae be polyamorous. Lots o' partners, both sexual and romantic. They tend tae organize 'emselves intae big polycules and polyfidelities called revels."

"Polyfid—"

"A polyfidelity is like a big relationship where everyone in it is datin' every other person in it, and nobody outside. Some of 'em can get sizable, too."

"Sounds half-like what our team's doing anyway," Jane snorted.

"'s what I mean, Janey. Yer Demoman and Sniper are datin'. Engineer and Pyro are datin'. Heavy and Medic are datin' and datin' Scout. Everyone's shaggin' Scout regardless o' who they're in a relationship with. Yer all halfway tae a revel already."

"Why do you bring that up?"

"What I'm tryin' tae tell ye, ye daft arse, is I'm willin' tae bet cold, hard cash that yer Scout is pinin' for ye same as he was for Heavy and Medic. And from the look on yer face when ye talk about him, I think yer doin' the same for him."

"We just broke up and you're trying to set me up with someone?"

"Yer me mate, and I want ye tae be happy. With somebody who can love ye as ye are. Somebody ye trust."

Jane turned that thought over in his mind for a little bit, before a smile began to cross his face. "You really think so?"

"Listen, mate, let's finish up and I'll give ye a ride tae the airport. Ye can probably catch the next flight out tae yer Engie's neck o' the woods and make it tae that party o' yers."

"You're sure?"

"Jane Doe, I want ye tae get tae that party and tell that boy how ye feel and be happy for bloody once in yer unlife! Seize the day, lad!"

Jane shot to his feet, slamming his hands down on the table, sending the dishes to rattling loudly in the restaurant, drawing all eyes to him. "CARPE CANUM!"

"No, that's nae what—," Tavish sighed and waved to the waitress with an apologetic look, "er, can we get the check?"

*

The smell of frying bacon attracted yet another straggler as Sniper plodded slowly, sorely, into the kitchen, his usual sweats hanging off of his narrow hips as he rubbed at one bleary eye. He entered with a yawn, throwing up his other hand in greeting as he met the rest of the team, mostly assembled and chowing down. Engineer finished plating up the last two servings of breakfast, ambling over to hand one to the lanky assassin. A messy-looking sandwich of bacon, ham, over-easy eggs, and hash piled between the split halves of a croissant sat on the plate, drizzled with what looked and smelled like a bechamel sauce, heavy on the nutmeg.

"Croque Ingénieur," Spy supplied, sipping a mimosa at the breakfast table. "Quite delightful, might I add."

"Thank ya kindly," Engineer replied to the rogue, and grinned as Sniper took his meal, bringing his own plate to the table and taking a seat.

"Dig in, Stretch! Coffee's ready over there, sugar's next to it, 'n there's cream in the fridge."

"Thanks mate, but you know I take it black," Sniper replied as he headed over for a cuppa.

"That ye certainly do!" Demoman cackled with a waggle of his eyebrows, much to the eye rolls of the rest of the team.

"You Irish that coffee up already?" Scout asked, giving the Scot's mug a sniff.

"I recall Dell sayin' today was the absolute bender portion o' the weekend so it seemed only appropriate tae do me part in such festivities," Demoman leaned into Scout's face so they were nose to nose, "ye absolute tattletale." He kissed the faun's nose and sat back up, laughing as he took another sip of his coffee.

"Be nice, Pup, and pace yourself. I'll not 'ave you off your tits before the day's even 'alfway over." Sniper set his plate on the counter and began eating there, leaning against it.

"So speakin' a how you take it, is that why you ain't sittin' down to eat?" Scout asked with a wide grin.

"Maybe," the bushman admitted around a mouthful of sandwich.

Scout turned to Demoman and high-fived him.

[plushcat42]

Got back into Wakfu again out of nowhere and made my primary oc Vanessa into a Wakfu character :]

Lore Dump Below

Born into the culture of the Sacrier, she lost her family early on to a raid from rogues. They were one of the few fatalities. She was found and raised by a member of the Order of The Shushu. Where she spent a lot of her life. Neither the part of a Sacrier nor the path of a Shushu guardian seemed to fit her even if pain and battle gave her the same rush and boost of strength it did any Sacrier.

The first one Vali saw and met a Xelor she was enthralled. The practice called to her more than the violent and painful path of the Sacrier. And, because her aunt and grandfather had been one, Vali had shot at picking up the practice of genetics favored her. Which it did.

Vali was a quick learner. She replaced pieces of her flesh with mechanics which clicked and whirred with the smallest movement. Vali was devoted to it, the practice of the Xelor, time magi. But it wasn’t the studious path she wished to take.

In some ways, she’s similar to Nox. But unlike him, she focused on chasing a path of vengeance. Picking up the bloody path of the Mercenary/Bounty Hunter. In a way, spending the rest of her formative years and teenage years around Iops rubbed on her. She has their strong sense of loyalty and justice. Without the downside of their,,, lacking intelligence stats.

After becoming more in tune with the path of the Xelor she started using the Alias Voxakriva. To distance herself from who she was once.

Glimpses of her Sacrier roots come out when she’s in a tight spot. Although quick, she’s only hever man and will end up taking a few hits regardless in a fight. When that happens it draws out the almost masochistic rush of adrenaline and strength pain gives Sacriers. And her more distant fighting style becomes more brutal and up close.

[the-witchs-cafe]

Miss Pauling from Team Fortress 2 would turn into a witch in Puella Magi Madoka Magica!

Cause of Witchification: Aside from just about the entire series of events spanning from Rings of Fired up until the latest comic, her life, from what we know of it, just flat-out sucked. While we aren't aware of her backstory prior to working under the Administrator, we do know that she's long been desensitized to the bloody violence of the mercenary work; not minding the idea of taking a life with her own hands every now and then without a hint of remorse behind those eyes, aside from perhaps a hint of...what can be best described as a mix of duty and casual enjoyment.

The exact reason as to why she's been working under the Administrator was revealed in issue #5 of Mann No More; where she flat-out admits to a dying (perhaps already long-dead) Gray Mann that she is more than aware of the Administrator's capabilities- and that, in spite of her knowledge of her boss' wicked heart, she still went ahead and committed all these heinous deeds for her, just so she could be by her side when she enacts her final plans against the world at large.

[bad-star]

Skull Cat and friends exist within the Shadow Tower, and ancient and evil dungeon. The Shadow Tower is a realm all of its own, with many creatures and factions vying for dominance and pursuing their own goals.

The Thralls of Quake are an invasive force within the Shadow Tower. their God, the Aspect Quake, is interested only in carnage and slaughter. Thralls do not brave the Shadow Tower in search of treasure or ancient secrets, they are there to kill. They will fight the denizens of the tower and adventurers alike.

Creatures:

The Asphora are conduits to the aspect Quake. They are powerful memetics, able to craft living flesh from dreams.

Abolithes are a hateful race of ancient warlocks. The Asphora commune with the Aspect Quake, but the Abolith translate Quakes desires into action. They are powerful magic users, able to warp reality and control minds.

Gugs are mass produced Sorcerers. Each one a captured enemy artificially implanted with magi organs. In combat they serve a support role, directing Ropers and ensorcelled thralls wile releasing deadly gasses and other alchemical ailments.

Ropers are grown and bread cannon fodder. Simple creatures with rudimentary brains, they are capable of actions only programed into them by their Gug handlers. Their mindless resolution makes them deceptively ruthless combatents.

Gasts are thuggish, alien mercenaries in the employ of the Aspect Quake. They care little for the omnicidle tendencies of their employer. Gasts are willing and happy to be teleported through Asphora dreams to the far corners of the universe to fight and die in pointless wars.

Shelled Nihalithes and freaky little dudes that love shooting lasers and breading. They are slow, but shoot a powerful biological laser from their stalked eye. They are not as mean as everyone else, they might not know what is going on.

[puella-1n-somn10]

Question surrounding Fortress Magica

Once more, the topic of timelines have left me a woman scorned now that I have caught up with the comics proper.

To make things short, I am currently struggling with exactly where - or rather when - the AU will take place, since the established points I have currently are;

Humans can use magic without the assistance of an incubator, hence Merasmus

Miss Pauling was approached by Kyubey and, for some odd reason, refuses to cease budging her even as an adult

Scout has contracted before becoming a mercenary for the strength to survive his situation/protect his ma

Soldier contracted after the events of "WAR!" in order to repair his friendship with Tavish; this resulted in him being able to join RED

Mikhail also contracted prior to becoming a mercenary, this time while he and his family were in the gulag, and wished to protect his family

Medic found Mikhail's soul gem right before the events of Meet the Medic, and he's set off to find and contract with Kyubey

After Ludwig contracted, his soul gem ended up being larger than most's due to the extra souls; think the size of an ostrich egg's. His soul gem upon transforming looks like a large, glass heart in the middle of his chest

Spy contracted long before Scout was born; His wish is currently a mystery

Demoman, Sniper, and Pyro are the only humans who haven't contracted; Engie may or may not contract in the future

Saxton is the epitome of Badass Normal, but if Kyubey finds out the amount of karma he has...

So far so good? Good. Now, we get to the issue at hand-

If Fortress Magica were to take place after Issue #7, then how the ever-loving FUCK will Scout's death play out, since he is a magi?

BUT, if it took place before the events of these comics, where on earth did Medic get these souls if not the Classic Team?

If it was right after Rings of Fired, well, I hate to sound like a nagging bitch, but I have been planning the details on how Medic will witch out and the reactions of Heavy and Engineer towards his crumbling mental state (yes I see them as a poly couple, ehe-).

I hate to be on my knees, sobbing and begging to the overlapping fans of Madoka Magica and Team Fortress 2, but...

[drops-of-moonlights]

but essentially what do Fonterossa specialists do? They go to military bases they go into politics etc

So Fonterossa/RF is just a mercenary/military school in a way lmao. they train you to fight and pilot stuff, you get a license to use weapons and that's. really about it! Specialists are sort of a new Caster class, as they DO use magic but not directly like the other classes do. Unlike Torre Nuvola/CT and Alfea, who are long-standing and beacons of the Witch and Fairy branch respectively, Saladin himself was the one that founded RF and therefore creating this new form of magic usage. The Order of Mana is BEGGING him to finish the goddamn papers so they can register this unique mix as a legit form of magic usage and Saladin keeps putting it off lmao. This isn't relevant to the main story of the AU but it's not until the guys's graduation that Saladin strongarmed by Codatorta and Alabaster to get off his ass and finish them the Order of Mana keeps sending us email we are Done sir announces the official name for this style of magic, Armamancy or the usage of magic exclusively through weaponry. RF keeps the name Specialist as a sort of legacy title but the official one is Armamancer.

THIS WAS NOT EVEN YOUR QUESTION SORRY LMAO, but they just train as this style of magi and then when they graduate they usually either go back home and get a job related with defense or military (can range from Insanely Good Security Guard to royal knight) or become freelance heroes in a similar way other casters work.

[daitranscripts]

Cassandra Conversation

It Occurs To Me

Cassandra Masterpost

The PC approaches Cassandra to chat for the first time.

Cassandra: It occurs to me I don’t actually know much about you.

PC: What do you want to know?

Cassandra: I’m… not sure. Where are you from?

1 - Dialogue options:

Investigate: You don’t know? [2]

General: [Tell her.] [3]

General: [Make something up.] [4] - Cassandra disapproves

2 - Investigate: You don’t know? PC: I thought you knew that. Cassandra: I suppose I could ask Leliana. She has collected a frightening amount of information on you. But I don’t want to ask her. I want to hear it from you. [back to 1]

3 - General: [Tell her.]

Human non-mage PC PC: I was born in Ostwick, and that’s where most of my family is. Cassandra: The Trevelyans, is it not? A large clan with a rather clever coat-of-arms. Tell me, do you consider the Free Marches your home? Are you eager to go back? [5]

Human PC PC: The Circle of Magi at Ostwick, at least until the rebellion began. Cassandra: Yes, I suppose that… would have required you to stay on the move. Tell me, do you consider the Free Marches your home? Are you eager to go back? [5]

Dalish PC PC: My clan never stayed in one place for long, though we primarily roamed the Free Marches. Cassandra: Oh? I didn’t think your people roamed that far north, but clearly I’m mistaken. I’m told some members of your clan might still be alive. Do you intend to go back? [5]

Dwarf PC PC: Ostwick primarily, though my… business took me around the Free Marches. Cassandra: Ah, the Carta. Odd that organized crime could be a dwarven pastime, but there it is. Tell me, do you consider the Free Marches your home? Are you eager to go back? [5]

Qunari PC PC: No specific place. My mercenary band worked mostly in the Free Marches, however. Cassandra: At least until you crossed the Waking Sea to reach the Conclave, I suppose? Tell me, do you consider the Free Marches your home? Are you eager to go back? [5]

5 - Scene continues.

Dialogue options:

General: I hated it. [6] + Cassandra approves (non-mage human PC)

General: Home is wherever I am. [7] + Cassandra slightly approves

General: Eventually, perhaps. [8]

General: I’d go now, if I had a choice. [9] - Cassandra slightly disapproves

General: None of your business. [10] - Cassandra disapproves

6 - General: I hated it. PC: If I ever go back, it’ll be too soon. Cassandra (human non-mage PC): Yes, I suppose I feel the same way about my own family. Cassandra: Really? That is… good to know, I suppose. [11] ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤ 7 - General: Home is wherever I am. PC: Wherever I am is home enough for me. Cassandra: That’s how I feel now, after years of tending to business for the Divine. [11] ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤ 8 - General: Eventually, perhaps. PC: I might, once this is done. Cassandra: It will not be the same once you do. [11] ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤ 9 - General: I’d go now, if I had a choice. PC: I’d go home right now if I could. Cassandra: Then I hope you can, once this business is done. [11] ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤ 10 - General: None of your business. PC: That’s no business of yours. Cassandra: True enough. [11]

4 - General: [Make something up.] PC: I came here from Seheron, actually. Cassandra: That far away? PC: My family came there from the northern islands. We landed there after crossing the great ocean. Cassandra: The… great ocean? PC: Yes. Lands in the far East have mountains twice as large as the ones here. Cassandra: I see. Perhaps asking Leliana was the better choice after all. [11]

11 - Scene ends.