#I mean I GET WHY bc citadel came after but i mean | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hammythehanner · 1 year

Text

ok i was bored so heres my slugcat tierlist judged entirely by gameplay/the campaign. not many people are prolly gonna read any of this but i love rambling anyways💥💥full downpour spoilers ahead!

RAHHHH I LOVE RIV AND SAINT THE MOVEMENT IS ONE OF MY FAV THINGS ABT THE GAMEPLAY RIGHT NEXT TO KILLING EVERYTHING THAT CROSSES MY PATH (except scavs but i will get to that later) riv is the first dp slug i played on the day the dlc came out and i finished it the same day and bro my expectations were blown out of the water holy FUCK. i wanted to explore rotting pebbles soooo bad and i actually got to do that!!! it was hard of course but i had fun!!!! i liked having to look at rooms and having to carefully calculate how i would get through them. it made pebbles funner to explore bc i wasnt stuck in 0g baby jail all the time. submerged superstructure was cool as hell too but i kept getting super lost in it while trying to find rhe right way to go… exploring after the campaign though was rlly fun!

basically riv is the most slug ever but oh man. does saint come close. it was BRUTAL getting out of sky islands and farm arrays (i didnt have a lantern, i didnt know it would warm u up) but once i did and i acquired a lantern it was fun! finessing predators with your epic tongue swinging skills. but at the same time man i have NEVER gotten a more overwhelming sense of dread from playing a video game before. especially at the part where i went to go to the wall and it just. wasnt there. i had to just pause and stare at the screen because What. and then when i went to shaded citadel, only to realize it wasnt. uh. shaded anymore. and connecting the lore dots in my head right before getting to the husk. gahdam. finding pebbles made me want to cry and throw up so hard (but i didnt. yet) and yeah. that ending. ehat the fukc. shit went crazy. didnt cry tho until i was watching a saint playthrough on youtube and like. bro wasnt even at the end of the game or doing anything in particular but MAN i just started sobbing for like an hour when i thought abt the ending again. i dont rlly even know why in particular the saint ending just Does that to a mf i guess. also shoutout to that one echo that says “I put my faith into the hands of random gods. Now I must endure it to the end” rawest line ever. goes so hard

SPEARMASTER WAS REALLY AWESOME TOO i lovvedddd being the predator and kill die kill kill slurp up everything i see with straw spear. i love how each of the slugcats makes u think like the slug ur playing, and spearmaster does that so well. i love that it makes u think like a ruthless predator, and i love playin on my save file every now and then to see how many kills i can get in a cycle. also exploring moon before she collapses was just as incredible as discovering five pebbles for the first time AIAGSJSGSJ i love her version of random gods so much it goes so crazy. also the bisexual lighting is cool. i hope the miros birds in her underhang explode tho i love being one shot before i can react at all

hunter. i love and hate the cycle limit. on one hand its super unique and changes up how u play the game alot. u gotta plan for stuff and be able to improvise sometimes. but also its really stressful LMAO. right before dp came out i did a hunter run so that i could unlock riv as soon as possible. and like bro wtf shit gave me heart palpitations. i wasnt even close to failing either i deadass ascended with like 9 cycles left idfk why i was shittif myself so hard at certain points. also why can slugpups spawn in their campaign bro thats mean.

GOURMAND. oh gourmand. this is the one i thought i was gonna hate but ended up really enjoying. the tuckered out mechanic isnt usually that big a deal. also bro is a straight up killing machine wtf 3 spear damage????? i didnt use the crafting mechanic much but it was pretty cool when i remembered it existed in a sticky situation and it saved me. also their endgame region….. oh my god that shit is BEAUTIFUL. i could just stare at some of the rooms for hours. and that big tree with a view of pebbles and the communications array? gorgeous. the food quest was fun and the ending is super cute.

survivor was my first experience with the game! i took multiple long breaks because of how frustrated i got at points, i even had to restart my first playthrough cuz i got stuck in filtration without max karma, but i just. kept coming back. the game just kept sucking me back in. i had the biggest ragequit ever at the jump to the wall in chimney canopy (didnt know about throwboosting so i died like 84538363 times. not just to the jump of course you know how chimney is) but i was back literally the next day. i could Not quit. not too much else to say abt them other than that ive replayed survivor like 4 times since it was all i could really do before downpour came out LOL. theyre the standard campaign so it goes in tha middle tier.

arti and monk were originally swapped but i judged arti too harshly i think. i loved the double jump so much, but when i played it i had scav kill squad leniency off and i had no idea how to parry. (also that one long trek between those two shelters in the upper section of metropolis (on the way to house of braids) can fuck right off to hell. ik i could have taken a diff route but ouygh my gowd) artis story is so cool and the ending art is SO badass i love it but scav combat sucks so bad. also i dont like killing them anyways theyre silly and i always get chieftain in my playthroughs :(

monk isnt actually even bad really. its just “ez baby mode”, which is fine! i think monk serves their purpose very well but honestly its not for me, esp after downpour. im a sweaty gamer guys i admit it im so so sorry plz forgive me💔💔💔🥀 i love monks cutscenes tho theyre very cute. a simple but effective story👍👍👍👍awesom

wow ok i wrote way more than i meant to erm. hi. im 🙂🙂normal.🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

#rainworld #slugcat

23 notes · View notes

ayrennaranaaldmeri · 2 years

Text

can’t believe tim illusive had a whole shepard clone that was also a blank slate and he didn’t use them instead of keg landfill.

#I mean I GET WHY bc citadel came after but i mean #if i was evil and had a spare parts shepard around i would train them to be eveol instead of #hiring a discount cybernetic ninja #just clone shep like. existing makes u think.#if tim knew the clone existed wouldn't he keep a closer eye on it considering what he could do with a clone of shepper #fae plays the me:le #sad bitch saturday we're playing me #and yes I totally also feel like that would've been WAY too goofy but considering how goofy kilobyte landmass is...#i mean every word that comes out of his mouth...#i think he's more cringe than the clone lol #But yeah clone shepard instead of him would've probably been a bit MUCH #but i mean...we could've done better than sword ninja #i kept wanting tim to reference another infamous cigarette smoking man with 'you pale to commander shepard' or something bc its what i think #every time kl says something stalkerish abt Shep #which...it's been years and i still dunno why he's so obsessed

4 notes · View notes

xeilon · 3 years

Text

Crazy theory time

Second is the original holder of stockpile.

My evidence:

He holds a surprising much power amongst the vestiges, it seems like his opinion matters a lot. -> That's because the stockpile is originally his.

He wanted to attack Yoichi and stopped bc he saw what state he's in. -> He probably knew that whoever is behind the VAULT DOOR is probably not on AFO's side, but he still was ready to attack. That's bc he specifically came for Yoichi, to get his power back.

He and 3rd have the same kind of armor, which could be explained with them coming from the same group, but also with them wearing the same type of armor inside the group bc of the similarities of their quirks. Stockpile almost equals Fa Jin.

3rd refused to give his quirk to Izuku. -> This is because he didn't saw him worthy and also could be because that way Izuku could imitate the full power of OFA, something that 2nd refuses to let happen.

1st and 2nd are really close. -> Bc 2nd saved Yoichi, but also bc they "share" stockpile.

2nd is the 2nd. -> I mean, Yoichi could have given the quirk to 3rd too, but he gave it to 2nd. That of course could be because they are really close, but also, bc he felt like that's the right thing to do, to give 2nd back his quirk.

We know 2nd as 2nd. -> Literally, Yoichi needed to want to give OFA to 2nd for OFA to activate, and why would he do that if not to give him his quirk back??? (Like, I get it, we want duo holders, but still, there is like 0.5% chance of it happening, since Japan is still not the citadel of LGBTQ representation and rights, especially not in shounen mangas, and there are no other explanation at the moment other then, "yeah they kissed")

0th-> There is no 0th amongst the vestiges, despite the fact, that AFO creates vestiges too. Just a 2nd, who refuses to tell us what his quirk is, holds a hella lot of power in the vestige world, uses a support item instead of his quirk, hates AFO, and wanted to attack First when they met.

Quirks change slightly from person to person.

Here's what this quirk looks like with this guy:

And this is how it looks with this other guy:

Slight changes.

Slight like:

This happened after the first bone shatter party after the vestiges were fully formed, and probably all their powers were added to the "just awaits to be unlocked" list. Except 2nd's whose power is already in Izuku Midoriya's hands, who only has to reach for the key to use it without hurting himself. The key that 2nd holds away from him until he proves himself to be worthy of it.

After all, what would speed things up more, then being able to control OFA?

Also, yes, Banjo said that there are 6 more quirks in one for all, but at the same time, probably no one, but 1st 2nd, and 3rd know about what happened before and when OFA was born.

#bnha manga spoilers #ofa vestiges #2nd one for all holder #1st one for all holder #yoichi shigaraki #bnha #bnha theories #stockpile #putting this out there before it gets disproven #oficially in the manga when 2nd's quirk gets revealed #2nd's quirk theory

43 notes · View notes

podcastlimbo · 3 years

Text

My honest honest opinion on second citadel season 3

Uhhhh... short answer? I didn’t like it much.

Okay wait before I go on to my long answer I need to say that this is all just my opinion and it’s all subjective. If you liked sc season 3 that’s awesome! I get why you do and I’m glad you enjoyed it!

But I really wasn’t a fan of where they went with it (even from episode 1), and I’m gonna go on a long rambly and repetitive rant about it.

I’m not gonna talk about the way the season ended and the setup for s4 because I haven’t fully formed my opinion about that - to form my opinion means to relisten to the season and i don’t really feel like doing that.

Anyways, these are my unfiltered 2am thoughts about the Rest Of It - maybe I’ll neaten it up later to make it more palatable but for now it’s wordy n messy and you can just. Not read it bc it’ll probably make you mad, or feel free to pick it apart and tell me I’m wrong, or unfollow me (and at least one person has already done so lmao) but like that won’t change the fact that I just wasn’t feeling s3 so uh. That said.

Long answer? I love the second citadel... at least the first two seasons

I love the world building, how the setting is such a unique, deliberate step away from eurocentric fantasy, how refreshing all that is! The Second Citadel (the place) is rich with culture and history from the brief glimpses we get of it (mostly in knight of the crown). Not to mention the monster society, with its own rules (or lack thereof) and environments and personalities.

I love the storytelling, how different mediums are woven into the way each episode is formatted. Rilla has her tape recorder, Damien his prayers, Caroline her letters, and each medium is so well suited to each character, and it truly lets us get a glimpse of what’s going on in their minds, and I find it utterly fascinating how a protagonist of one story could just as easily become an antagonist (or at least, an annoyance) in another

And the characters! Each one so compelling, with their own goals and motivations, their own intriguing backstories and potential.

Most importantly, the way these characters play off of each other is what makes second citadel amazing. Getting to see people with similar experiences but different world views clash (Caroline and Mira), people with fundamentally different beliefs reconcile and meet in the middle (rilla and arum), just, Kabert created so many interesting characters, and watching them bounce off one another is a joy.

And that’s what made season 2 so great for me. The exploration of each character, getting to see their good sides and bad, through either a medium tailored for them, or through interactions with others, as they explored a fascinating world.

The end of season 2 left me so satisfied, but still with so many questions and excitement about what was to come. I wanted to see Talfryn come into his own and step out of his brothers shadow. I wanted to see Damien, Arum and Rilla navigating their new relationship. I wanted to know more of the fate of Rilla’s parents, Damien’s past, the consequences Arum would surely face after defying the monster court. I wanted Marc to finally be recognized by his fellow knights, to watch as Caroline lead the journeymen knights, while learning to trust in others as she was beginning to do. I wanted Angelo continuing to unlearn the implicit biases that had been instilled in him as a result of his upbringing, or more details on Caroline and Quanyii’s relationship. I was also curious!! How would human and monster relations change after the events of the finale? And would we learn more of the past, when humans and monsters lived together in peace?

I was buzzing with excitement for season 3, and then.. it came, it aired, and then it went.

And I felt... meh?

Don’t get me wrong. There were moments that I liked. Some of what I hoped to see did happen (see the above paragraph lmao), getting a glimpse of the western wastes with its own culture a joy. The dynamics between Olala and some of the characters were really fun! And the direction the story took at the end was one I didn’t expect, but left me open to more.

That said,,, everything else about the season just. Didnt gel with me.

Everything I loved about second citadel pretty much wasn’t there??? Aside from Caroline, Angelo and Quanyii, all the characters they spent so much time introducing to us and fleshing out over 2 seasons were just relegated to the side??

I think my main problem with season 3 was that it felt like a completely different show. Characters introduced as part of an ensemble became side characters in (what was supposed to be) their own stories. Character arcs that got set up were dropped, and mysteries/backstories teased were forgotten. Heck, the monster court and senate wasn’t even brought up! The aftermath of the fear bugs attack ont the citadel went unexplored! It’s like nothing in the past season even happened!

And I’m sorry I gotta say this, but the problem is Olala.

I mean. Okay I don’t wanna be super mean- she’s perfectly fine as a character. We root for her, we cry when she cries, and we cheer when she wins the day.

But since all the episodes were centered around her, we didn’t get to see anyone else’s inner worlds. And like okay, yes, they did it for this season of Juno Steel too, where Juno, the previous POV a character for 2 seasons, became a part of an ensemble, and was a side character for many episodes. But this choice worked for Juno and not Second Citadel, because it was a natural progression for his story! We spent 2 seasons exploring Juno’s character, his backstory, his motivations, we saw him come to terms with his family history, grow and change as a person, and by the time he joined the Carte Blanche, we’d gotten to a point with Junos story where we’re okay to step away for a while, and see events through the lens of others.

But that just?? Doesn’t work in second citadel? Because unlike Juno, the characters introduced in s1-2 are virtually unexplored! There’s still so much about their stories we don’t know, and so many ways for them to progress.

But we didn’t get any of that! Stuff established in s1-2 barely got payoff in this season. Characters stagnated, and when previously it was amazing to watch them interact with each other? Having each episode throw different combinations of characters together and seeing how they clashed and came together? Yeah we didn’t get that, it was all the same characters bouncing off of Olala, which is fine at first, but honestly? After the first couple episodes, it got stale.

And remember how before, we would get to see the characters tell their story through a medium suited for them? Well I noticed that the format of this season was a lot moreee audio drama-y (basically a TV show but with no visuals) and while there’s nothing wrong with that, one of SC’s strengths was in using the medium in unique ways, presenting the episodes in unique formats depending on the POV character. And with the exception of a few moments, the season really lacked that!

I know there were episodes in s1-2, like caves of discord and the Janus beast which didnt follow that format, but I think it’s a fan consensus that the episodes that do (moonlit hermit, KOTC lots, lady of the lake) are favourites, because they fully embraced the advantages and limitations those framing devices offered, and were truly perfect for character exploration.

It’s like. Idk. Imagine wolf 359 s3 where the si5 were introduced, and there was like 1-2 episodes of them interacting with the rest of our cast, but then after that the rest of the season just completely focuses on Eiffel and the new characters, and everyone else just disappears n twiddles their thumbs and doesn’t even do anything during the finale. That’s what happened this season, and that’s the kinda weird vibe I’m talking about.

Since I’m already rambling, I might as well just say some more stuff. I was disappointed with the music this season. I can tell Ryan Vibert was trying to figure a way to make SC sound different from Juno, and he was getting there in s1-2! The pieces that stand out now are the soft, acoustic guitar pieces, like Rillas song, or the lone melody line of the guitar in the SC theme. I thought he was getting it with s3e1, when Marc fought the dinosaur while traditional Japanese instruments were playing!! But then for the rest of the season, it was just samey echoey ambient electric guitar, like how it is for Juno. There could’ve been so much potential to give this world its own musical identity, but in the end, that attempt was dropped (at least that’s how it come off to me), just like so many other elements introduced in s1-2!

I’ve gotten this far in my rant, and I haven’t even talked about the story. And the story is. Hmmmmm

Like. It’s completely serviceable? Kabert are good at what they do so the story is a okay I guess? But to be completely honest, the characters and story were so tied together in previous seasons, so much so that in this season, even though the plot was just fine, it stayed just that. Fine. it always felt like there was something missing because the characters were the story, and to have just. So many holes in that department meant that the story itself was fundamentally empty.

Anyways uh. All of this is to say that this all boils down to character. I had my nits to pick with other elements but the fact that Rilla, Arum, Damien, Marc and Talfryn got completely sidelined (Tal most of all) when so much of the previous seasons were spent setting them up- in favour of a completely new storyline featuring new characters and settings when there was still so! Much! Left! Unfinished! From unfulfilled arcs to dynamics left untapped, and creative potential lost, the essence of the show was watered down and it left me with the intense feeling of

Idk. Season 3 felt like a completely different show. I liked s1, I loved a2, but s3 just. isnt second citadel for me. I’ll probably still listen to the next season out of loyalty, but I don’t think I’ll ever feel as passionately about the shows future as I do it’s precious seasons, especially if they continue this way.

Sorry.

#wow thanks for reading all that if you made to to the bottom #I’ve been sitting on these thoughts for a while but I couldn’t sleep last night bc Thoughts so here #I feel like I’m swinging a bat at a hornets nest even though I’m not putting this in the fandom tags ah well #and uhh I guess it’s okay to reblog this??#my posts

15 notes · View notes

vyvesvi · 3 years

Text

updated top albums list + recommended tracks from each bc im bored lol

*tentatively* in order

unnatural - wjsn | recommended songs: all of them (especially unnatural, supermoon, and yalla) except for rewind | skips: just rewind bc ballad /// im not sure what style to call this album but they really made such a smash, its crazy that it came out so early in the year and no gg is touching it (album wise). literally the only complaints i have are the obligatory ballad (that they always do bc they can all sing lmfao), the album cover/title (dont love the cover design and i dont love when the album name is the tt name, except in certain circumstances (a full album (especially where the title isnt necessarily from the title track) like montero) or when it's a single album (the inverse of this being rsq's prequel which couldve just been called colorfull since that was the only damn song 😐)). i also was disappointed with the outfits for last dance but that's peripheral.

timeabout, - yukika | recommended songs: insomnia & secret | skips: none /// okay to keep it very real im genuinely scared that she'll never surpass soul lady. i love, and i mean LOVE timeabout, but soul lady was on another plane of existence. like she could've held that album a little bit

the other side of the moon - gwsn | recommended songs: like it hot, starry night, i cant breathe | skips: i sing, depending on my mood /// i dont have much commentary tbh,this is just a very solid mini idk. id like to see a fusion of i cant breathe/tweaks/after the bloom/burn, maybe on their next mini. i love their brighter stuff but maybe a darker concept next (halloween cb pls pls pls)

montero - lil nas x | lowkey too soon for me to pick recommended songs but i'll say montero, scoop, lost in the citadel, sun goes down, and am i dreaming for now. will update! | skips: none /// i cant say that this is this year's sawayama bc sawayama was kinda more like a collection of really strong singles? whereas i feel like these songs shine as an album. i dont even know what to say except that im soooo surprised and impressed because i didnt know that this is the type of music he made???? like he raps but theres a lot of singing? not like belting but definitely not rapping. its kinda...alt ish? in some places? if i had to use ine genre to describe the whole album id probably say alt pop? idk but whatever it is it's definitely working

hide & seek - purple kiss | recommended songs: zombie & so why (tbh all of them) | 2am and zzzz depend on my mood but theyre def not full skips /// no bad song on the album this is crazy....i might rerank since i just listened to it for the first time but as of now idk, its good im just super impressed. ponzona wasnt for me but this cb theyre really doing all the things, lovr tht for them

produced by: [myself] - onlyoneof | recommended songs: coy & night flight | question mark depends on my mood /// im still mad at them (read: 8d) sooooo...idk. i can’t really listen to their music rn. but this mini is still good

play game: holiday - weeekly | recommended songs: check it out, weekend, holiday party | i like memories of summer rain and la luna but it depends on my mood /// very cohesive mini, def their best overall imo! not much to say, but i hope jiyoon gets well soon TTTT

enchant - orbit | recommended songs: gokurakuchouka & never gonna get away but also all of them except flor lunar | skips: flor lunar is nice but boring /// i need kpoppies to get into it im tired of being here alone cmon y’all

set - woodz | recommended songs: feel like | skips: none /// i prefer his bright tracks but this mini was solid as usual. where is the full album tho seungyoun hmmm????

guess who - itzy | recommended songs: sorry not sorry, tennis (0:0), kidding me | skips: in the morning, occasionally wild wild west /// i remember being very surprised that i liked this album, especially given that i dont like mitm. not anything groundbreaking but still solid. i think the naming of tennis (0:0) was really clever

intersection: trace - bae173 | recommended songs: green light, loved you | skips: none (sometimes the intro tho) /// honestly their music is really good??? mbk just hasn’t promoted them well, i feel like they make it a little hard to stan...i really appreciate that they’re not doing the stereotypical hard bg concept thing

lilac - iu | recommended songs: coin, flu, ah puh, troll | skips: honestly id have to relisten, some of the songs a lil boring but idr them at the moment

hello future - nct dream | recommended songs: hello future, life is still going on | skips: idr tbh, probably hot sauce though //// was very surprised that i liked this album, but the outro of hello future really got me after a few listens so i had to check it out. very decent!

killa - mirae | recommended songs: killa, sweet dreams, 1 thing | skips: none really but all of the bsides are a little mid tbh /// i will be 1000% honest in saying that the three reasons this allbum made this list are 1.) killa (the tt), 2.) none of the songs are bad, 3.) lien’s vocals. something about lien....he really just sells whatever song he’s on. his belting >>>>>>>>>>>. he makes their music very enjoyable to listen to, next in that department would be junhyuk. based on their most recent cb, siyoung and khael also contribute a lot as well. shame that the rest of the cb album kinda does nothing for me idk. random but i would really like a gg to cover higher and/or killa

& - loona | recommended songs: ur, ptt | skips: a different night, dance on my own /// these r my girls but this is not their best. ur is wonderful though, and ptt is addicting somehow. wow and be honest are fine but really not their best. i like wow’s choreo tho!

albums im excited to listen to (no particular order):

last year was weird volume 3, tkay maidza (i’ve already listened to a bunch of it but i need to sit and just listen to the whole thing)

troubled paradise, slayyter (same as above, but i didn’t even realize it came out this year, i thought it was old for some reason lol)

jo1, challenger (every song of theirs i hear i like pretty much so i need to take an organized look at them lmfao)

jo1, stranger (same as above)

only lovers left, woodz (duhhh its woodz. not out yet but im excited! i do prefer his brighter concepts and this def isn’t that. he says its not gonna be like what he’s done before but the title and concept photo that’s out rn is giving lift up)

the book of us: negentropy - chaos swallowed up in love, day6 (the title kinda bored me but we’ll see. also sungjin’s gone so.....................we’ll see.)

ancient dreams in a modern land, marina (i barely got past venus fly trap because its soooooo good. i’ve listened to a little after that but the songs i heard didn’t really compare. i have to give it a shot tho)

the chaos chapter: fight or escape, txt (i liked the blue hour mini so i need to give them a chance i suppose)

333, tinashe (i just feel like i should idk)

honorable mentions (no particular order):

blue hour, txt - discovered this year, came out last year. retroactively makes the 2020 albums list bc whew the market research that went into that thing paid off

hula hoop/ starseed ~kakusei~, loona (why tf does the album not have a name) - duhhh loona + synths = a smash. in fact like i said when it dropped i dont even wanna call them loona anymore. this is kongetsu no shoujo!!! this isn’t on my top albums list because im counting as two songs and my limit is 3. i might add it anyways lmfao. we’ll see

ugly beauty, jolin tsai - discovered this year, came out in 2018. i just really like jolin tsai idk. i had only heard that album w play and i’m not yours, both are iconic but the production quality sounds...low? like its older but ik they’re not *that* old. either way, ugly beauty does everything i wanted it to - dramatic, vocals, rapping, boa vibes...jolin tsai is a queen what can i say

also, there are of course a ton of singles that i love as well, this is albums only though lmfao. i have no idea if i could even attempt to organize the singles lol

#vyvesvi's year #song rec

4 notes · View notes

elfyourmother · 3 years

Text

@wellreadpigfarmer i totally understand what you meant about ME’s handling of things making you feel like you were being put back in the closet (and i wanted to make a post because i didn’t want this hidden in replies)

for me, part of this was the relentless heteronormativity but also in hindsight, also because of Imani’s relationship arc going the way that it did--Kaidan giving her the ultimatum to choose, her breaking up with Liara for him--because it was forced by the game mechanics

it made me feel awful the same way that I felt awful when Gisele’s Thedosian OT4 was initially a dirty secret and pregnancies were being hidden and shit, that my oc was suffering in a way I had suffered irl. An OC I very quickly came to realize represented healing for me, so it hurt extra bad. like no joke, I had that same kind of ultimatum given to me before irl, with the same recriminations and slut shaming and judgment, even though I was totally honest and upfront and communicating about my needs and intentions the entire time, from the very start...he was just angry that he was a man and he couldn’t “tame” me, ultimately

but it’s why that ultimatum scene in the game was so painful to me like literally I was reliving this actual relationship trauma I had experienced

and I think that’s why in the end I had to have her and Kaidan reconcile--after he got his head out of his ass, and did a lot of soul searching. I mean Catharsis was called that because it was also catharsis for me, to write it, because it was everything I wanted to yell at him in the Huerta scene but the game wouldn’t let me

it wasn’t just that the way he was written in Citadel reminded me of why I fell for the goober in the first place, though that was part of it. just like I had to bring Queen Gisele’s relationships out of the shadows and legitimize them, I needed Imani to have this person she loved desperately come to an understanding and realize where he went wrong. and i needed her to make peace with Liara about what happened even if they didn’t get back together (mostly bc I’ve grown to not like her very much over the years)

#fandom fuckery #imani shepard #pompadour kun

5 notes · View notes

pestopascal · 4 years

Note

i remember when me3 came out i hadnt played the others but there were so many articles about the endings and they were referenced in other games too it was crazy so many people were angry

bioware hasnt had a solid fucking game release since me2. hands down. they poured so much as well into dao and me1 they have never been able to replicate it and it shows how badly they wanna do it again. like. they peaked. in writing in emotional depth in literally everything, and honestly the best marketing move theyve had in years is a remaster (ESPECIALLY of me1), bc if they wanna somehow pick up mea after saying its shelved indefinitely and “we’re not touching mass effect again” like... polish up me1, maybe implement stuff they got right in mea, clean up stuff, put stuff back in, fix the fucking saren glitch and sell. me1 was just. never done before on the western market. it was incredible. you cant deny the way it just took off. overshadowed jade empire BUT it rly was that kind of spooky space opera that hadnt been done before. me1 is a flagship game for bioware.

me3 however fell into the classic trap bioware has been playing with since da2 of making too many promises and not delivering. there were fucking petitions everywhere. im pretty sure they got taken to court even over the endings. and hell yeah people referenced the shitty red/blue/green endings in other games because it was the joke of the year for everyone. you literally reduced this series to a colour choice, and tried to be all “oohhh red is bad” at people like you hadnt just explained destroy was probably the best ending without violating bodily autonomy or turning into an intergalactic monster like. okey. did you read your own script (haha no no one read it apart from casey hudson and like three other people and the endings were only decided on like. weeks out from official release hahhahahahahah)

but that’s just the endings. all the promises before. all the cut content. and people looooove code diving like always have always will and boy. so much stuff was just forgotten. along with the original script to actually give the reapers some fucking excuse for rolling around every 50,000 yrs for a culling.

but i will say again, people who played at launch and those like. few weeks/months after do remember just like. the shit. how they released that extended ending dlc to placate people because they didnt want to admit they fucked up. like the original ending required an EMS score too high to get in single player alone. you needed to play online. OH but the moment you start online, your EMS will decay. so you either had to hold out till just before you hit earth, or keep on top of it like stop playing single player and play some mp. and THEN in the destroy ending with a high enough EMS shepard takes a breath. implies theyre alive right? nope. writers on twitter saying “it doesnt mean theyre alive” like why would you shoot yourself in the foot like that. and how the citadel dlc was literally just straight up an attempt to smother the remaining fires. it’s just. every fans wants (i mean i’ve come around to liking it but yknow. what the fuck it doesnt make sense). people who played well and truly post release have a different feeling and interpretation and i respect and understand that. and im happy those people can enjoy the game the way it is. like honestly and truthfully. me3 at release and for those following few months was just so clouded in all bullshit and statements and admissions and just. ok quite frankly thessia is a fucking piss poor attempt to try to make shepard sad, the child seen at the beginning is a useless excuse to emphasis shepards idk PTSD? ANYTHING? when the geth dreadnought sequence was RIGHT THERE to have a comment about fucking alchera, and also how shepard rly hasnt thought about body counts left behind especially considering torfan like they just???????? okey. you made your protagonist too op. you dont know how to handle it. this wasnt quite the way to do it.

“artistic integrity” is how they described the shitshow that followed, and i dont think i’m gonna forget that for a long time.

#replies #am i salty? maybe so #like never mind they admitted to just changing so much stuff #like character arcs too #ignoring things #etc etc #like its a mess. it was back then and it still kind of is now.#Anonymous

7 notes · View notes

callunavulgari · 4 years

Text

TOP 25 FICS OF 2019

1. these roads will take you into your own country by @notbecauseofvictories | American Gods | Laura Moon/Mad Sweeney | WIP | 33k

Here’s a joke for you: a Muslim, a zombie, and a leprechaun walk into a bar in Misery, Indiana. No one stares, because no one in the puckered, shitty asshole of Misery, Indiana gives a fuck. The Colts are playing.

Heather Says: So. It’s funny that another of @notbecauseofvictories‘s stories is at the top of my list again this year. Keep in mind this list is sorted by when the fic was read rather than favorites (because that would get real complicated real quick). Clearly there must be something about January. There’s just something about the writing that is easy to slip into, be it a Star Wars fic or a Labyrinth fic or even a fic about Johnny and the Devil. This was lovely and I can’t wait until it’s finished.

2. eighteen wheels on an uphill climb by @honkforhankcon | Detroit: Become Human | Hank/Connor | 91k

Hank is going to die. He’s going to die right here in Kentucky, 53 years old, halfway to broke, and tragically sober. Survived only by a nine-year-old St. Bernard and the 31-year-old twink who delivered the fatal blow.

Heather Says: I don’t think that this is the first DBH fic that I sought out after beating the game, but it is the first that I loved enough to make it to this list. I didn’t think that I would go for a modern au for this fandom, certainly not a modern au wihere Hank is a truck driver and Connor is a sex worker (albeit briefly?) but here I am.

3. Fuck pride (pride only hurts, it never helps) by ImogenGotDrunk | Detroit: Become Human | RK900/Gavin Reed | 41k

After the android uprising, Connor becomes a permanent fixture in the DPD. That’s fine. Gavin can accept that. The dipshit’s more human than he used to be, and a decent detective to boot. Gavin can deal with him being around. What Gavin cannot deal with is Connor’s replica; two inches taller, blue-eyed, and with a mouth that Gavin doesn’t know whether to punch or take between his teeth. The RK900 model has been assigned as his partner for the foreseeable future.

Heather Says: I also never thought that I’d like a fic with Gavin in it. But I got curious about all the Reed900, and well, this fic really won me over. The writing is fantastic, and it softens Gavin while still keeping him believable. Also, well, I like the enemies to lovers thing.

4. Almost Cool by @blacktofade | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 30k

While filming the Yuma Territorial Prison episode, Shane gets bitten by what he thinks is a bat. Spoiler alert: it's not.

Heather Says: This is actually the first thing that I read for this fandom. In fact, this is the fic that got me into Buzzfeed Unsolved in the first place. I’d seen a lot of art and gifs and fics pass my way, but I was only ever slightly interested in what I saw until this fic came through my inbox and piqued my curiosity.

5. Pride by @astolat | Game of Thrones | Jaime/Brienne/Cersei | 22k

Jaime didn’t understand why Cersei suddenly insisted on trimming his hair and shaving his beard, but he also didn’t care to fight her on it, even though he’d just as soon have kept the beard: it was bitterly cold in the small tower room with its arrow-slits.

Heather Says: Wowza. This fic was intense. I’ve always loved Jaime and Brienne. I’ve loved them since the second book, which was read at least a few years before I started loving them in the show. Adding Cersei to their dynamic would have probably been almost impossible to pull off if it was anyone else, but @astolat lives to surpass my expectations.

6. Skin and Scales by Ernmark | The Penumbra Podcast | Lord Arum/Sir Damien/Rilla | 18k

The man glares, and this time, Damien is certain it isn’t a trick of the light: those eyes are violet as amethyst. He wears disdain like a second skin–- or, perhaps, like the scales that he is missing. “Lord Arum?”

Heather Says: I was one of those people who skipped through all of the Second Citadel episodes during my first listen through of Penumbra. The stories were good, but the pull of Juno was too great. A couple months after I finished, I went back and listened to everything I didn’t. And let me tell you. Lizard monster. Honorable knight. Bookish girlfriend. Poly. It hit every single button I had and then some. This fic really hit the spot when I ran out of story.

7. someone you like by caela | She-Ra | Adora/Catra | 5k

catwithabat u think ur so hipster but u just look like a lesbian 27m she_ra @catwithabat bc… i’m a lesbian. lmao 5m

Heather Says: Noooot usually a big fan of high school fics. Namely because I’m not in high school anymore and well, after you read so many in your teenage years they sort of lose their luster. This one was phenomenal enough to change my mind.

8. Sands of Time by @tirsynni | Legend of Zelda | Ganondorf/Link | WIP | 98k

Link awakens in the desert with no idea how he got there, to encounter his worst enemy...except it was the King of the Gerudo, not the King of Evil, he faced.

Heather Says: I have seen a lot of really good Link/Ganondorf art over the years, but never really stumbled across a fic that didn’t have judicious amount of non-con involved. But the Breath of the Wild 2 trailer happened, and everybody started drawing really pretty art, so I went looking. And lo and behold, @tirsynni saved the day with this gorgeous time travel/fix-it fic.

9. killed with kindness by veterization | Persona 5 | Akechi/Akira | 52k

Goro can't quite figure out why so many people keep acting like they're his friend. (Or: the one where the Phantom Thieves decide to know thy enemy, befriend thy enemy, love thy enemy, crush on thy enemy).

Heather Says: I’ve read a couple of veterization’s fics over the years, and to date they have never disappointed me. They published this in June, and I think I clicked on it mostly because I was bored and hadn’t read any good P5 fic yet. This was basically just what the doctor ordered, and I was really happy to find something where Akechi’s story went ever so slightly different.

10. paper thin by @ebonybow | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane/Sara | 9k

Shane’s new neighbors are a morning-sex kind of couple.

Heather Says: So I went into this one knowing very little about how Sara fit into things. I didn’t know she was Shane’s girlfriend. I’d never even seen her, but I clicked because I like poly and I trust the author. I was 100% not disappointed. There’s also another fic with a very similar dynamic here, which is also aces.

11. damn.nation, now available on itunes by @kaikamahine | Good Omens | Aziraphale/Crowley | 11k

When lowly tempt-pusher Amphora (formerly of Stairwell 7B North, before she Fell,) gets the notice that end times are nigh, she gleefully quits her job and cancels her Netflix subscription and takes her place among the legions of hell. This, it turns out, was a bad plan.

Heather Says: Elizabeth may have only written one fic this year, but she made it a damn good one. I’ve always loved her OCs especially, so I was pretty tickled that this is 10k+ of outsider pov. Also, demons! Demons are great! This demon is great! I want like 9 seasons and a movie about Amphora, just saying.

12. The Dragon and Her Wolves by hapakitsune | Game of Thrones | Jon/Sansa/Daenarys | 60k

When the truth of Jon's birthright is revealed, control of the North and Daenerys's claim to the Iron Throne are both called into question. To preserve their tenuous alliance and secure her rule, Daenerys puts aside her personal feelings to arrange a marriage of political convenience between Jon and Sansa Stark.

Heather Says: What do you mean season 8 didn’t exist and the show totally ended with a three way relationship between the two most powerful women in Westeros and Jon Snow? Never been a big fan of Jon/Sansa before this, but this is another of those writers that I would literally trust if they wrote a fic about a fork and a spoon.

13. never tell me the odds by @wildehacked | Wolf 359 | Eiffel/Hera | 9k

“I tried Star Wars," he says, adjusting the phone under his neck, "and it was way underwhelming.”

A shaky breath from her end. “Well, where did you start?”

Heather Says: I don’t remember which of @wildehacked‘s fandoms I started reading first. Most recently it’s been The Magnus Archives (more on this later). The point is, they’d written Wolf 359 fic and it had Hera and Eiffel and it was literally everything that I’ve been looking for since the series ended.

14. Find Me Somebody by raiining | Good Omens | Warlock/Adam Young | 11k

“You left me,” he said. “You both left me, for him. And I can’t even blame you, because I’d have left me for him too.”

Heather Says: There was an Art. The art was lovely. So I went looking, because that’s what I do when faced with beautiful art depicting a rare pairing. And I found the holy grail. Like, possibly my favorite Good Omens fic? Ever?

15. flirting with fire by @brawlite | Stranger Things | Billy/Steve | WIP | 7k

Steve's a cop, Billy's a firefighter. It's not a grudge, it's just a regular old small town rivalry.

Heather Says: Okay so brawlite has written a lot of great stuff this year (more on that later), but I read this in bed at the beach house this August while I was reeling from both a horrible sunburn and like seven hours of mild to moderate day-drinking while everyone else was still throwing back shots right outside my bedroom door. Jaws was playing on the tv and I wasn’t even paying attention to it, because THIS. Long story short, I’ve been thirsty for more ever since.

16. gold, when you find me by mmtion | The Flash | Iris/Barry | 53k

It's not that Iris hates The Flash, per say - more that she hates writing about The Streak in a weekly, pun-heavy comic based on The Flash.

Heather Says: I never would have thought that a canon pairing would make it to my Top 25 list, but here we are. I like Iris/Barry a lot better when they don’t grow up together and spend a lot of time playing the Superman game, apparently. Also, this was really well-written, and sexual tension has never been something I’ve felt from Barry and Iris, but I felt it in this fic. Just. Damn.

17. never gets old by @brawlite & @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger| Stranger Things | Billy/Steve | 78k

Falling in love with a cam boy named KingSteve isn't the smartest thing Billy Hargrove has ever done, nor is it the most healthy -- but the good choice is rarely ever the fun choice, and Billy is all about living life fast and loose.

Heather Says: Told you I’d come back to it. brawlite and toastranger are a fantastic team. last year was cherry pie and under the covers, this year it’s camboys and cop/firefighter dynamics. Also, I have a really strange fascination with fics where a character has an instragram. It’s really, incredibly strange. Also also, every time I see this fic title I get that one Discovery Channel song stuck in my head. And no, it probably isn’t the one you’re thinking.

18. ways to save the world by @wildehacked | The Magnus Archives | Martin Blackwood/Jon Sims | 19k

“I left you,” Martin says softly.

Heather Says: And we’re back at wildehacked too! The Magnus Archives was a thing that happened to me. This is I think the first fic I read for it while listening, and it was so very close to what we got in canon. I think when it comes down to it though, I still prefer this fic, even if the ending of this season was pretty fantastic.

19. The Denial Twist by beethechange | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 35k

“This is kind of surreal,” Shane says, taking a sip of his tea. It’s piping hot and delicious, except it tastes like hot chocolate and not like tea at all. “Sort of—Wonka-esque, right? Or Alice in Wonderland.”

Heather Says: While the vampire one is my favorite both because it is excellent and because it was my first, this one was bizarre and sexy and also I read it like only a month or so ago! The dancing was my favorite part, but having dreams to work with made this story fantastically interesting and I loved every second of it.

20. silver in our lungs by taywen | Spinning Silver | Miryem/The Staryk Lord | 4k

The marks had been with Miryem for as long as she could remember. There were a number of them, all the same shade, following one after the other around her left wrist. They were pale as old scars, though they felt no different from the rest of her skin, and her mother claimed that Miryem had been born with them.

Heather Says: I really like soulmate aus. There’s so many different ways to twist them and the way they can sometimes change the dynamic entirely and other times not change them at all is just fascinating. I’ve been hoping there would be more Spinning Silver content on ao3 and running into this while I was trying to decide what I wanted to do for yuletide was a real treat.

21. you got me begging, begging, i'm on my knees by plalligator | The Queen’s Thief | Attolia/Eugenides/Costis | 5k

Costis has a particularly enlightening evening. (or, that struggle when you're a guard who's in love with your rulers and it turns out you would kind of like it if they bossed you around a little)

Heather Says: I accidentally re-read the King of Attolia and it made me consider ships I had perhaps not previously considered. This was really lovely and just steamy enough.

22. something more alive than silence by pageleaf | The Queen’s Thief | Attolia/Eugenides/Costis | 21k

It was a good thing that six months after the king had promised to halve the guard, he still hadn’t done it, because since then, there had been two attempts on the king’s life.

Heather Says: I want to only type the words AGONIZED NOISES to describe this fic because that’s basically my headspace when I get 21k of a shiny new ot3, but I mean. Really. This is super good and maybe my favorite yet? Why didn’t I start reading this fandom when I first read the books?

23. Timing it Right by DragonBandit | The Bright Sessions | Mark/Damien | 14k

The dragon chooses, Mark knows that as well as any boy born in a weyr. He'd never considered what that would mean if the dragon picked someone you hated. He's starting to think that was a mistake.

Damien's gold rises at Whitney. Mark tries to make things right.

Heather Says: This should actually be somewhere back in March, but I apparently closed out of the tab at some point. I never really got into Pern much. I have the first three books, but got most of the way through the first one a long time ago and then never picked it back up. I didn’t think I would like this, mostly because of the fact that I hadn’t gotten into the books, but was surprised to find that I absolutely loved it.

24. Keep It In Your Sights Now by LuckyDiceKirby | Shades of Magic | Lila/Kell/Holland | 9k

Holland travels with Lila and Kell. Somewhere along the way, they reach an equilibrium.

Heather Says: I love the new things I’ve discovered during my yuletide trompings. I don’t think I ever actually considered this pairing when I first read the books, but I am just so enamored with the idea of the three of them together. Like, why did I not realize that potential back then? This was lovely, and I loved it, and I want so much more out of this pairing than what ao3 has to offer me.

25. Charioteer by petrichoral | The Queen’s Thief | Gen & Costis | 13k

Captured in battle and stuck in the Mede capital, Costis has given up all hope of seeing his country again. But Eugenides has a habit of turning up where he's least expected.

Heather Says: Technically this shouldn’t be on here because I only read it today, but it was really wonderful and so canon typical. Gen and Costis were perfect in it, Irene was perfect in it. Everyone was perfect and nothing hurts.

31 notes · View notes

legobiwan · 5 years

Note

UUUOOOHH LEGO ILY AND YOUR META! Please please one of these days can I read how you feel about dooku's nihilism and all that like In Detail bc holy shit would that be the most delicious thing. Also. Also I just adore him and obi wan, like you have no idea how happy you make me with all the stuff you post, like honestly dude. Incredible. Thank you so much!!!!

OH THANK YOU, FRIEND! This is so fun and I’m happy to have pleased at least one person with my ramblings. And I now *finally* have a moment to sit down and expand on my Dooku thoughts, so on that note -

OHHHH BOI OH BOI HERE WE GO

This is going to get long, so I’ll put a bunch of stuff under the break because I came in with CVS-style receipts for this.

Let’s start what with what we know about Dooku.

He’s a patrician. (Dark Disciple)

He has a snark side as well as a dark side. (Citadel Rescue)

He was pretty broken up about Qui-gon’s death. (Star Wars Galaxy Series 7)

Albeit with an interesting interpretation… (Star Wars: Jedi - Count Dooku)

But what is Dooku’s deal? Why does he turn? And what makes him tick?

Corrupt Jedi/Qui-gon’s death

A lot has been said about this by others (and me) already, and since that’s not the point of this ask, I’m just going to skate over this topic. Dooku mentions more than once that he feels the Jedi have become corrupt, that they serve politics, that they have abandoned their ideals. If we take the EU into account, it really seems like the Battle of Galidraan had a huge effect on Dooku, after the Jedi got involved with the Mandalorian Civil War (of course it was the Mandalorians. Interesting stuff, although almost always referred to in an oblique manner.) Bottom line, the Jedi killed close to 300 Mandalorians, Dooku became appalled and started to lose faith, with the culmination being in Qui-gon’s murder by Darth Maul, as pictured above.

Home/Orphans/Parents/Existential Angst

Now, this is where it gets interesting.

Dooku seems to have never really gotten over the fact that his parents handed him over to the Jedi. This is fascinating in that a) he can remember that and b) he feels such a sharp sting of betrayal that this happened. I mean, look how he chews out someone else later on in Dark Rendezvous for giving up her child to the Temple.

WOAH. Dooku, even into his adulthood, has some MASSIVE abandonment issues.

And it’s not only in Dark Rendezvous. Check out this snippet Karen Traviss’s Clone Wars novelization:

“The galaxy will be torn apart by orphans,” Dooku said at last. “I think that everyone I know who has the potential to bring down empires has been robbed of parents.” He seemed to be talking to himself.

Even Sidious has picked up on it, when he visits Dooku on Serenno in the Jango Fett: Open Season series.

There’s this…hole, it seems, in Dooku, this emptiness that sees the universe as a pointless, lonely place and it seems to stem from the very action of Dooku being given up to the Temple in the first place. And so in some ways he almost expects betrayal, goes looking for it, and finds it within the Jedi, prompting him to nurse that open wound deep inside himself, to rage against it, turn to turn to the Dark Side.

It also totally explains his teaching obsession, and, in my mind, his desire to bring Obi-wan to his side. As a teacher, Dooku can delude himself into thinking he is in control of this relationship, that he is not dependent on his students for companionship, for someone to share his knowledge his life with. This, of course, is a damn lie, but seen in this light, it explains his never-ending parade of Padawans and apprentices, and surely why he wanted Obi-wan, who, as I have mentioned before, shared so many characteristics with Dooku - just without the existential malaise.

Because Obi-wan has that light in him. He has to, it’s the only way the man wouldn’t have completely broken after the life he led. And it’s a choice, to be a light in a universe that is ultimately uncaring, and no one understands this better than Dooku’s teacher.

But Yoda goes on to explain -

Dooku tried to choose the light, but ultimately could not. (Again, from the Clone Wars novelization.)

Don’t think, Padawan Dooku.

“You were wrong then, Jedi,” he said aloud. “And you’re wrong now.”

Destiny was not about feeling; destiny was about thinking, about rationality. Dooku didn’t see reacting blindly to feelings as some mystic virtue, but as a weakness.

In a child, he would have punished it as giving in to impulses, a lack of maturity and self-control.

As a child, he had been trained not to think. As a child, he had been trained to be a Jedi.

Don’t question so much, Padawan Dooku. Feel. Don’t doubt. Believe.

Well, he questioned things now. And he didn’t believe.

Because Dooku does not believe in a kind universe, not with betrayal bored so deep in his soul.

No belief in the afterlife, in the Force, so unlike the Jedi.

I mean, that is BLEAK. And so he rages against the meaninglessness of his existence, because what does it matter? He is alone in the universe, merely a sack of flesh, another life that will dissolve into the “featureless wet spill.”

And yet he cares enough about the Jedi to turn to the Dark Side, cares enough about the Republic to try and save it through his twisted means. The opposite of love is not hate, but apathy, and Dooku loves (and hates) but would never admit to it. Otherwise, why even try? Why not leave the Order and retire to Serenno in peace? Because he was abandoned in his own mind? Because his new family in the Jedi also eventually betrayed him by betraying their ideals? Because it is easier to be alone, to think yourself alone - to be beholden to no one, to nothing - to pretend that none of it matters when in fact you are just looking for ways to fill that void? Your last student murdered, your family absent, the ideals you tried to cling to now fetid, rank with hypocrisy.

Yeah, Dooku has an ongoing crisis, and the sad part is, he would probably have never filled that void unless he was able to reach out and accept Yoda’s offer. And even in trying to recruit Obi-wan - it would be the next best thing, would give meaning to Dooku’s existence, but it would still be a fractured relationship, even if Obi-wan gave himself totally to the dark (and Obi-wan’s own reasons for turning are very different than Dooku’s). And yet, I think he yearns for this messed-up version of family he keeps pushing away. Look at Dooku’s first reaction when Jango asks for an unadulterated clone:

A son? I mean, wow, that’s a telling statement on Dooku’s part. And yet he never quite gets there - not with Ventress, not with Savage, and not (most likely to his severe disappointment) with Obi-wan.

#Anonymous #LONG POST #yan dooku #count dooku #yoda #YEEAAAAHHH #i have a lot to say about this one #sorry guys i got carried away #ANYWAY #my favorite sith #GO READ DARK RENDEZVOUS #For the love of all that is holy #DEW IT #its brilliant and sad and atmospheric and also featured obi wan being a bro to anakin even though he KNOWS ABOUT PADME #hello there #ask legobiwan

65 notes · View notes

tmae3114 · 5 years

Text

Diath & the Waterdeep Underground

Okay!! So!! It’s high time that I actually got around to cross-posting this over here!! I can’t believe it’s taken me so long!!

This is a theory that I’d been working on since *wobbly hand motion* mid- to late Season Three? I polished it up enough to post about two months ago but only ever got around to doing so on the DCA subreddit (bc that’s where there was more activity at the time) and always intended to get it over here as well and then just. never did.

So! Here’s the theory, as originally presented two months ago. I intend to add an edit/update at some point with all the new evidence from Episodes 116 and 117 but I haven’t had the time or energy to do so yet.

So! Without further ado! My “Diath’s got a history with Waterdeep’s criminal underground” theory!

(Note: due to the recent complications re: Tumblr And Links and the fact that I want this post to show up in the tag, all the timestamps which were linked in the subreddit version have been changed to URLs in this one. It’s a bit clunky to read but it’s the best I can do rn *shrug*)

I think Diath has a history with some part of the criminal underground in Waterdeep. Specifically, that he was part of it.

Diath’s past is something about which we know very, very little. He very rarely talks about it and usually in the broadest possible terms when he does; Episode 73 is the exception to this, with the stories he shares there being the most detail he has shared about events in his past. There is, however, one consistency which can be identified on the occasions when he does talk about it – he only ever talks about his time on the streets as a part of his childhood. This is not a solely in-universe thing either – Jared and Chris both do the same. (I believe so, at least. If I’m incorrect, please let me know and maybe provide me a timestamp/link to when whatever they say is said, if you can! It’d be useful information to have on hand for future theorising in this regard) Diath very much seems to be a precision oriented person by nature. His wording of things is often very deliberate. Therefore, with his time begging on the streets being specifically referred to as a part of his childhood, along with the meta-aspect of this additionally being consistent out of universe, we can surmise that he was no longer in the position of begging on the streets after his childhood.

If we’re to assume that childhood is including his teenage years (which seems a reasonable assumption, with how often Diath is teased about being a child post-Youth Potion) then Diath was, presumably, off the streets either at or around the age of eighteen/nineteen.

In Episode 73, when telling the story of how he met Strix, Diath states that he “was just trying [his] hand at being an adventurer” (https://youtu.be/6SuM1qebiXM?t=19m29s), indicating that they met relatively early into his adventuring career, which we can use to make a rough estimate of what age he began adventuring, admittedly with a lot of guesstimating.

We know that he was twenty eight at the beginning of the show. As of Episode 1, the Wafflecrew had been together for a “short while”, which we know was long enough to have been on a few adventures together but short enough that they were still figuring out group dynamics and the like – I would place this period of time as somewhere between two months and a year. We also know that he and Strix had known each other for “a few years” before they met Evelyn and Paultin – a period of time which I would place as being roughly three or four years, as five or more feels too many to be accurately described as “a few”.

Therefore, working with the largest numbers estimated above, it’s possible that Diath began adventuring somewhere in the range of five years prior to Episode 1, at age twenty three.

With the previous conclusion of Diath having no longer been begging at eighteen/nineteen and this new conclusion of him having not started adventuring until twenty three, this gives us a four/five year window in which to wonder ‘what exactly was he doing?’

But why think that he may have been involved in crime during that potential period? I have a few reasons, which are as follows:

Firstly, it has been alluded to on multiple occasions throughout the show that Diath has been in trouble with the law in Waterdeep either a significant number of times or one very memorable and impactful time. While I haven’t gone through the whole show to track down every reference to this, mostly because I don’t remember which episodes they’re all in and I don’t have the time (or, admittedly, patience) to go searching for them, I have got a very early one – in Episode 7, when he’s being arrested by the guards in Vallaki, Jared remarks that this is “not [Diath’s] first time [being arrested]” (https://youtu.be/STnBV8C61vM?t=19m52s). Additionally, Jared mentioned in an Idle Champions interview that Diath “technically […] has a criminal record.” (https://www.twitch.tv/videos/292683322?t=38m03s) While that could be a reference to the times that Diath (and the rest of the Wafflecrew) have got into trouble over the course of the show, the use of the phrase “criminal record” implies, to me, that that is a circumstance that is rather more official than most of the trouble the ‘crew have been in. Additionally, when he triggers the trap door in Castle Ravenloft and gets dropped into a dungeon cell in Episode 30, Diath’s response of being sad is explicitly noted to be because “[he] never wanted to be behind bars again.” (https://youtu.be/Y03julVmXNE?t=40m27s) This could quite likely be linked to Diath’s issues with cages (as displayed in Ironslag (https://youtu.be/dS_QMZOO5Og?t=1h4m33s)) but, again, the wording leads me to think there’s other possible connections – that phrase is usually used to refer to being in a jail cell or in prison, after all. Diath’s response to being in the cell is also quite markedly different to his reaction to being in the cage – frustration and sadness, as opposed to a borderline panic attack. The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, though; Diath’s dislike of ending up in that cell could be related both to past trouble with the law and to whatever his trauma regarding cages is.

Secondly, in Episode 53, it’s revealed that Diath was sold by his family when he was young enough that he barely remembers them (https://youtu.be/jZrd26ImgyU?t=56m49s). A human brain generally starts laying down retrievable memories at roughly the age of three, so the presence of any memories of them at all means that Diath must have been at least that old when those events transpired. We also know from later reveals that he remembers at least enough to know his father’s name – Ashton – though this was clearly a later recollection as he did not recognise the name at all when first confronted with it when given Gutter by the dworc in Citadel Adbar. With that information, I would estimate that Diath was between the ages of three and six when he was sold. Additionally, as far as we know, he came from a working class family with an adventurer father.

Why is this significant information to this theory in particular? Simple.

Diath can read and write.

There is no point in his backstory that we currently know of where he could’ve learned or been taught those skills. Even had his birth family had access to the skills or resources to teach him, he wasn’t with them, and spent a large portion of his childhood begging on the streets. Diath having either of those skills, let alone both, is odd. And in addition to reading and writing, he’s also got a fairly refined speech pattern and even knows some words that Evelyn, a noble-born child primarily raised in a temple, doesn’t (see: the stationary exchange in episode 94) which is, again, pretty unusual for someone who seemingly went straight from beggar to adventurer. It’s possible that Diath is self-taught but it’s just as possible, if not more likely, that there’s some unknown period in his past where there was someone who taught him. The questions left to us in that scenario, then, are who and why? Knowing Diath and how things generally go for him, it’s unlikely it was someone performing an act of altruism. In concert with the other possible pieces of evidence for this theory, it doesn’t seem too out there to speculate that he was, perhaps, taught because it could be a useful skill for him to have for whoever he was working for. This could also explain his speech pattern, as it could account for him being around a person, or people, who spoke like that enough to start doing it himself, something which would be much more unlikely on the streets.

Thirdly, it seems to have been implied that, in certain parts of Waterdeep at least, Diath has a reputation that paints him as a thief, or someone with the potential to be one. In Episode 73, when talking about how he and Strix met the rest of the Wafflecrew, Diath is very, very certain that the hostility and accusation from the innkeeper was because of and directed at him (https://youtu.be/6SuM1qebiXM?t=25m16s). The only elaboration that he gives on being so sure that the innkeeper was accusing him specifically and not targeting him and Strix because of Strix being a tiefling is stating that "when you stay in Waterdeep long enough, doing the things you do, you do develop a sort of... reputation, either by- either through truth or not.” (https://youtu.be/6SuM1qebiXM?t=23m59s). He doesn’t actually tell us what that reputation is or give any hints as to how it may have come about. While stereotypes could arguably be at play, given that the Rusty Pommel was apparently fairly seedy and in a seedy part of town, it seems unlikely that Diath was the only former street kid or the only rogue in the establishment. His certainty implies it was something about him specifically that caused that incident, especially with the comment about reputations. In Episode 90, Evelyn of Shar’s use of the fear spell reveals to us that one of Diath’s worst fears is Awful!Diath, his mirrored self. Specifically "He hates seeing that that is what everyone else sees him as, and that's what he could have been, that he tries to fight every day to not be." (https://youtu.be/PDG4KidCIXU?t=1h28m48s) This fear is likely linked to the aforementioned implied reputation. What is of particular interest to this theory, however, is the latter part of that sentence – “that’s what he could have been, that he tries to fight every day not to be.” While this could simply refer to how Diath could have taken a different path growing up, it could also mean that it was a path he had already started down, and turned back from. With that possibility in mind, it’s also entirely possible that the reputation he seemingly has that caused the conflict in the Rusty Pommel is not, as would seem the first interpretation of his statement from what we know of Diath, an untruthful reputation of being a thief, but rather a truthfully earned one of being a criminal – after all, everyday people who don’t know Diath would have no way of knowing about his personal moral code against stealing. If he had a reputation as a criminal, there would be no reason for people not to assume that this would include thievery. The ambiguity of his wording, “doing the things you do”, could also lend credence to this possibility. Diath is very good at keeping secrets and using an ambiguous phrase to not technically lie is something he could very easily have been doing with that statement.

My final reasoning is that, since the return to Waterdeep but particularly in Episode 102, we have been shown that Diath has a pretty wide network of contacts – referred to by Chris as his “society of confederates” – to the point that with their help he was able to rally the city guard to catch the Xanathar Guild members who stole Waffles within hours of returning to Waterdeep. Combined with the potential evidence for this theory, this is interesting, since it could point to what degree he was involved, but it isn’t strictly evidence for this theory on its own.

None of these things alone necessarily point to Diath having been involved with some aspect of the criminal underworld in Waterdeep but I feel like they make for a compelling case when looked at together. What do you think?

#dice camera action #dca #diath woodrow #it's!! been way too long!!! since I posted theory content on this blog!!!#waitwaitwait hang on what was my theorising tag theme #I HAD A THEME #WHAT WAS IT #OH RIGHT I REMEMBER #Tmae overanalyses DCA #THERE WE GO. KEEPING WITH THE THEME.#also I can't wait to add all the stuff from 117 because there was SO MUCH FUEL FOR THE FIRE

20 notes · View notes

ffxvhoe · 7 years

Note

How would the chocobros react if they found out their s/o had two full time jobs and was also a full time student? I'm in that situation right now and I need someone to hold me 😢

Gladio

when gladio finds out how hard you’re working yourself he’d literally have a small intervention

“I get you have to keep a roof over your head somehow but there’s healthier ways of doing that”

gladio would also be a little upset by the fact that you tried to hide it from him and didn’t think you could/didn’t want to rely on him

gladio very much likes being a provider for those he loves it’s a way of proving more so to himself that he’s someone that’s worth having an s/o

he honestly wouldn’t take any sort of argument you threw at him over the whole ordeal

he’ll give you plenty of alternative options, quite a few of which don’t even involve him helping out in any sort of way in case you don’t want to feel dependent on him

but yeah you’re definitely not getting away with continuing to work yourself to the bone like that

especially after he found you on the floor of the bathroom in the middle of an anxiety attack

Prompto

Prom would find out after you call him to come pick you up from your last job

it was raining cats and dogs and there was no way you could make it home when you could hardly see five feet in front of you

when prom finally came by and you were in the car he asked about why you were getting picked up here

he knew about your other job, just…not the second

when he finds out that it’s actually another full time job and not a part-time he pulls the car over and turns in his seat to face you

you’d started crying as you explained the whole situation to him and with some maneuvering he was able to wrap you in his arms to try and offer you some semblance of comfort

in a soft voice he’d ask you if you’d be willing to let him help you figure something out that would result in a less stressful life

should you accept he’d offer to help pay for school so long as you quite one of your jobs as he didn’t want you to over work yourself any more than you already had

as you attempt to find a part time job to replace the full time one, the two of you would actually set up a small side business for photography, with prom as the photographer obviously and you as a manager of sorts

Ignis

Ignis, ever brilliant at piecing together information found out after several months of trying to understand the somewhat strange schedule you had

out of all of them iggy would struggle with whether to bring up the situation the most

he understands needing to show that you can take care of yourself and not wanting to burden others with your personal life troubles

but when you end up with a fever nearing dangerous territory from overworking yourself he finally decides he needs to talk to you about this

he’ll be gentle about it and there’s that undertone of true understanding to his voice that keeps you from trying to stop the conversation from happening

you hear him out, already knowing that you can’t keep up this charade, the fever you had now was proof of that

ignis offers to help you get by, of course, promising that he’ll only do so until you find a way – together – for you to bring in the money you need and continue to keep up with your studies

Noctis

Our boyo Noct, crown prince of lucis, he got some connections my dude

if he found out that his s/o was struggling with working two full time jobs ON TOP OF trying to keep up with classes well…

well first he’d fuckin applaud them bc he couldn’t imagine doing somethin like that cause like my dude…when do you fuckin sleep?? you probably dont???

second he’d offer to get you a job at the citadel probs bc

one it would mean he’d get to see you more

and two he’d be able to get you better hours to work so you don’t nearly kill yourself from overexertion

he’d make sure that you know you’re allowed to turn him down tho bc he knows that you don’t wanna rely on the Prince

you’ve had a few discussions like this before where you’ve made it clear you would rather rely on yourself than rely on the power of Noct’s royal blood

if by chance you don’t take that particular offer he’d still urge you to quit at least one job and he’d help you out however he could until you found a job with better hours

#ffxv scenarios #ffxv imagine #ffxv headcanons #ffxv drabble #ignis x reader #gladio x reader #prompto x reader #noctis x reader #noctis lucis caelum #gladiolus amicitia #ignis scientia #prompto argentum #prompto writing #ignis writing #gladio writing #noctis writing #anonymous

147 notes · View notes

scribblindown · 7 years

Note

Loving the headcanons of the bros at asian parties! Think you can do one of them interacting with their s/o's fam if they were asian in general??? Like everyday stuff

The Chocobros interact with their Asian S/O’s family

Ahhh! First ask! Thanks, Jan! You’re the best! I love youuuu 😘😘😘❤️❤️❤️

Here’s a continuation of this post, which became a lot more popular than I expected. I hope you all enjoy this as well!

Noctis Lucis Caelum:

“Why does he wear so much black?” Your mom turns to you. “It’s because you have such a grumpy face on all the time that you attract people like this.“

This Tiger Mom didn’t want you to date, so you kept it from her for the longest time, until you couldn’t hide it anymore.

You even rejected Noctis at first.

Noctis has been pinning for you for a couple months now, but has been in love with you for even longer. He just…didn’t act on it, so when Prompto finally encouraged him to try, he finally worked up the courage to ask you out.

…Only to be politely rejected.

This boy was a mess. He was stuttering, his face was pure red, his stomach was in knots, and he kinda wanted to cry a bit too, but you’re quick to assure him that you do like him back, but you can’t date right now.

This makes him feel a little bit better.

So you leave it at that, but it seems as if the Fates had better plans and kept on pushing you in each other’s path. You were partners for a group project, he was lacking in a subject, so you helped him, etc..

Since you technically rejected him, he still turns red when he talks to you.

Until it finally came out that you aren’t happy with the way things are, and you agreed to date him.

She automatically tells you to break up with him, even before knowing who it was, because "studies come first!!” (I’m speaking from real-life experience, people.)

But then you tell her that you’ve been dating Noct for the past couple of months, and it didn’t make a dent in your grades, so she hesitantly agrees, and will want to meet him to judge him.

Will interrogate the shit out of him. Yet she still doesn’t know that he’s the prince.

You facepalm when he says that his hobbies are sleeping and he doesn’t get good grades.

She tells you in your language, “He doesn’t have any redeeming qualities.” (aka I thought your standards were better than this.)

BUT HE’S BEAUTIFUL MOM She eventually sees how happy he makes you, and sees how in love he is with you, and eventually relents.

Stutters and blushes like a firetruck when she eventually realizes that she’s been tough on the prince this entire time.

But then he smiles and thanks her for letting him date you, and it’s the most brilliant smile she’s ever seen.

Is completely dumbfounded.

Your dad is the passive, laid-back dad, so he didn’t really have an opinion on Noctis. His opinion is his wife’s opinion.

He used to take you on fishing trips with him as a kid, but then you grew older and it wasn’t cool anymore.

He now takes Noctis.

This is why his casual outfit looks so Asian Dad Patented.

You mom is still wary about him being a suitor, but “My parents will like you more if you ate the vegetables they made for you."

He eats it because he loves you.

You aunts will try to find you a suitor, because they don’t believe you when you say that you’re seeing Noct.

"Um, Auntie, I don’t think that I should meet this guy…" "What do you mean? Just give him a chance! He has connections in the Citadel, you know. Wouldn’t it be nice to rub elbows with royals?" "Uhhh…."

Your intrusive uncle will slide on in and ask you, "Did you two have sex yet?” while your mom gives you that look in the background if you two say the wrong thing.

The fam always asks you when are you going to give birth to the Crown’s next in line.

Prompto Argentum:

“Did you eat yet?” is the question your mom asks him every time he comes over.

Since he’s so happy-go-lucky, he will come off as annoying to your relatives and parents at first, but since he’s so sweet and sincere, he’ll grow on your family. His personality is very off-putting, especially since most Asian adults come off as stoic.

Be careful, if he starts to hang out too much with your family, he’ll start to do that one Asian dad pose when he takes the pictures for your family.

You have a strict mom, which is a step down from the Tiger mom, but even she melts when she sees the precious boy that is Prompto.

But at the beginning of the relationship, be warned that if you two sit too close to each other, she’s going to make you two separate.

This boy can’t handle strict Asian parenting, so when your mom is tough on him at first, he will be shaking like a leaf.

He’ll almost want to cry.

She’ll have to tone it down when you lean over the table and tell her to go easy on him in your native language bc o m g this child is about to break into tears and h e l p

“I want to protect and love him, mom."

"Let me meet his parents." "You can’t mom, he’s adopted and even his adopted parents are barely home."

Other than using this for Juicy Gossip™ to tell the aunts, she basically coddles Prompto like her own in the only way she knows how.

By feeding him lots.

Prompto doesn’t know why he always leaves your house wanting to burst at the belly.

If he gets a red envelope, he’ll be so surprised and happy that he’ll legitimately hug the person who gave it him and pick them up.

"You mean I get money just for being young?!"

But the true kicker is his technology knowledge.

Let’s say that there’s an issue with your mom’s phone. Your siblings are all busy and you can’t do anything about it because, from her words, "All you do is eat!"

"Why don’t you ask Prompto, Mom? He knows about that technology stuff.”

Prompto politely and slowly goes over the issue for your mom and fixes it for her.

She’s going to sign that marriage certificate herself omg. Yes, join the family so you can fix all of their technology.

Welcome to the family, son.

Gladiolus Amicitia:

Okay, seriously—If you brought home someone like him, your overprotective parents will think that you’re dating a gangster.

I mean he’s got the long hair, muscles that pop up even if he just lifts his arms, tattoos, and nipple piercings.

Your siblings didn’t even think that he was your type, and technically he wasn’t.

You knew that Gladio was a womanizer, and you weren’t about to date him, just so he can get under your skirt, but this boy was persistent.

You eventually agreed to go out on one date with him, and he tried so hard for you to give him a chance that you slowly fell for him.

Now it’s time for the real obstacle, your parents.

“No dating until you get married” parents indeed. If you brought home someone like Gladio, they’ll think you’ve gone astray.

But then Gladio goes the extra mile to make you happy, and to make your parents accept him, so they have to reluctantly agree.

Your parents will eventually grow to like him, because Gladio is a charmer.

No one can protect you like he can, after all.

Your aunts would totally do that thing where he says something, they giggle, and they pat his bicep just to feel him up.

If you patch him up at your house after his spars or workouts with Noctis, and he gots hurt somehow, your mom is totally going to whip out that Asian Tiger Balm.

Asian families know how to drink, and he will get totally wasted with your uncles.

If you were pure before, your mom will totally be onto you if you two finally did it.

“You started to walk more like a woman…" "Mom, that doesn’t even make any sense.”

He can also kiss goodbye to not wearing a shirt around your family.

“Put on this jacket!" "Huh? But, babe, I’m not cold." "Yea, you’re not cold, but my mom is."

They’re going to be a handful, especially considering his appearance, but he puts up with it because he loves you. And if he loves you, that means he loves the whole family too.

And also, the ever beautiful subtlety of a middle-aged, Asian woman:

"He looks like he has a big penis." "Mom!"

Ignis Scientia:

He is everything an Asian parent has ever dreamed of.

He’s smart, handsome, he didn’t go to regular school, but he probably would’ve had top-notch grades. He also does housework, and he already has an upstanding job.

You’re starting to think that they’re more proud of him than they are of you.

Whenever he comes over, he always leaves with at least three recipes to try out at home.

When you take him out to the market, be prepared to stay there for hours on end, because he will be contemplating every new ingredient.

Your mom is smitten with him, and sometimes she tells you that you’ll be going out for a family dinner, and you ask if you can invite Ignis:

"Oh, I already invited him."

It’s worse because he speaks your language.

Usually the whole language barrier kind of prevents them from getting too in detail about your embarrassing moments.

Not with him.

He’ll probably know your whole life story.

Not that she needs it, but Ignis will butter up your mom by buying her random gifts from designer brands. Like watches or purses.

He doesn’t do it because he wants to buy his way into your family, but because he thinks that it’s a nice thing to do.

Your dad was a different case, he was very indifferent towards Ignis, because he felt like Ignis was taking better care of you than he was.

Ignis soon warms his way into your dad’s heart as well, and you see them share a cup of tea on the porch one night.

I think the only time he would butt heads with your mom is when it comes to washing dishes.

“But why would you have a dishwasher if you don’t use it?” “It came with the house when we got it, and my mom refuses to use it.”

Usually with boyfriends, the aunties will always refer to them as ”[Insert Name Here]’s boyfriend.“

Not with Ignis, he already won them over too. He goes on a first name basis with them.

Your uncles will think that he’s uptight and prissy. Ignis always dresses up well, so they think that he’s just trying to flaunt his money.

Then they’ll not-so-subtly drop some mean comments about him when he’s walking by, and Ignis will not hesitate to roast them.

He apologizes to you later, since "I spoke so terribly to your family,” but then you said that it’s fine, and your hard-headed male relatives respect him now.

Not only that, but he will also take care of your grandmother with you.

He’ll drive her to places, buy groceries with her, chat softly with her, and cook with her. If he’s walking with her, he’ll be ever the gentleman and hook one arm with hers and walk extra slow to match her pace.

He’s the most perfect man ever created.

#noctis #noctis lucis caelum #prompto #prompto argentum #gladio #gladiolus amicitia #ignis #ignis scientia #ffxv #ffxv headcanons #ffxv imagines #asian family

96 notes · View notes

moonraccoon-exe · 7 years

Text

Supportive Clarus

I was thinking about that supportive Clarus in Gladnis AU post and I’ve tried to come up with more headcanons like

Tbh Clarus could tell there would be a connection the moment baby Gladio met baby Ignis and first thing he did was hold his hands out to put his palms on baby Ignis’ eyes, thing that baby Gladio did to stuff he found to be specially pretty; he just hadn’t understood what kind of connection until they came to this (that is if they met as babies, I’m not sure when they met).

At first Clarus feels a bit awkward because of who his son is dating, not because it’s about a guy but because it’s a guy he personally works with- he’s office co-worker to his son’s partner, so it feels a bit strange.

Ignis tries very hard not to show it, but Clarus notices everytime the young adviser is a bit troubled by sitting and walking normally. So that makes Clarus very awkward for the rest of the day. Very.

Not that Ignis is bad at hiding it; Clarus just has a very perceptive eye.

I just hope they’re using protection...

First time Ignis has dinner with the Amicitia, Clarus personally cooks and Ignis feels a bit upset and in panic he’s not in the kitchen too.

“Gladio, I’m the guest, your boyfriend, and I theorically work for him. I should be making him happy and comfortable, not him serving me.”

“Iggy that doesn’t make sense.”

Ignis shows himself specially quiet during that dinner: he gets awkward because he deeply cares about the impression he’s leaving there so if I speak too much he will think I am troubles; if I don’t speak more he will think I’m personally upset in this situation. Do I eat more slowly or faster? Is it an insult if I pick my food from left to right? Omg. What do I do. What do I say. Gladio help me.

Clarus is quiet too, but tries really hard (awkwardly, but he really does try) to earn some conversation with him.

Iris ends up saving the day and making it the less awkward as possible for both sides.

After dinner Gladio goes to drop Ignis at his apartment and after thanking him he’s like “Also, I didn’t expect that you’d tell your dad what my favorite meal is. He did perfect, but it wasn’t necessary.”

Gladio smiles at him and kisses his eye like “I didn’t tell him.”

Ignis is puzzled because “Was it Iris? Does she even know?”

“Iggy, you’re adorable but a bit dumb. He knows himself.”

Ignis is flustered and instantly blushing mad in the face because he’s in the realization that his father-in-law may seem quiet, dry and maybe even distant at times, but he cares for Ignis far more than he really does show.

Indeed he’s so moved that second dinner with the Amicitia is faaar more comfortable bc he just relaxes; the man makes him feel he’s in family, so there’s more conversation and laughter this time.

First time Clarus called Ignis by “son” he got all awkward by remembering he was Gladio’s boyfriend.

“It’s okay, son. I meAN IGNIS. I mean...Scientia. Ignis. Son. As in...it was a nickname. I do not...uhm...never mind. I’m sorry, Ignis.”

Ignis understands it was just a nickname, but also understands Clarus second-interpreted it as “son-in-law” as if it was about a married couple, and that’s why he got awkward. “It’s fine, Mr. Amicitia.”

Clarus gets to know Ignis so well without noticing that he is who suggests most what to gift him at random times.

“Look, a cooking book. Ignis would like that. You should but it and give it to him. Add it to the cart, I’ll pay.”

“I think this is Ignis’ size. It seems to be his style. Do you think he’ll like it? Add it to the cart, I’ll pay.”

“The other day I saw Ignis using his phone...it seemed a bit outdated. We could get him a new one.”

“Ignis likes this magazine. Take two.”

“Dad, you buy more things for Ignis than you ever buy for me or Iris.”

“That’s not true.”

It totally is true. The man silently adores Ignis to levels not even he understands or notices himself.

Clarus forever changes the coffee brand he’s used to in his house for Ebony.

“Ignis likes it, doesn’t he? We should have some in case he visits.”

Except all the things he does for Ignis’ wellbeing and happiness stay all in the dark. Clarus is not one to brag about or explicitly recall on “it’s Ebony, by the way”. He will just serve the damn coffee.

Ignis ackowledges all the nice things Clarus does for him, though. He, as silently, is grateful for it.

After a couple years of relationship, Clarus deals with some comments at the Citadel of the sort: “Clarus, the thing between your son and Scientia’s has gone on for too long. Don’t you think it’s time to do something about it? Get in between, I mean. Talk them into understanding. I mean, prince Noctis is going to have a heir of his own one day...Gladiolus needs to drop a future Shield of the King, and Ignis a future adviser. They need of women.”

Clarus, usually polite and decent with his Citadel co workers, suddenly frowns at them and starts listing.

“First of all, women are human beings with emotions and aspirations, not baby delivery machines.

Second off, my son is more than just my last name. He’s my family, and a human being. He will spend his future with whoever he chooses to.

Last off, it would be idiotic of me to tell my son apart of Ignis. Ignis Scientia may not be perfect, but he’s a hard-working, mature and wonderful man, with a loyalty not found anywhere, and an intelligence that surpasses the average. He’s strong, smart and kind to ridiculous levels. He cares for the people he loves more than he cares for himself, and would gladly give his life for prince Noctis or king Regis. He may not be able to genetically give my son a kid of his own, but he doesn’t need that to make him the happiest man of Eos, and that’s all that matters.

If they decide to not leave any heirs to their titles, that is their choice to make, not ours. And if they ever do decide otherwise, and with Ignis as the wonderful human being that he is by his side, I would be the proudest, happiest grandparent in all of Eos to the Amicitia-Scientia without a single doubt.

I thank your worry, but I could not care less about it. Have a nice day gentlemen.”

Ignis had been on his way to deliver some papers to the other side of the building, and accidentally heard the starting of the conversation- stayed behind the door all over the rest.

Having heard it all, Ignis’ currently containing the tears and failing and he suddenly doesn’t care about his work and just runs to the training hall, interrupts Gladio’s training, and hugs him like the world’s about to end.

Gladio’s all puzzled because omg no, why are you crying, why are you crying so much, what do I do, what happened, Ignis who died.

Ignis won’t tell him until later because he just can’t speak: Clarus loves him more than Ignis thought. And I love him more than he knows, too.

One of the last things Clarus said to Ignis before the party left Insomnia was “Ignis, I will miss you dearly. Have fun, take care. And be aware that, whether you and my son stay together or not in a future, you will always be a son to me. Okay?”

That was one of the few times Ignis lost his sense of formality and just hugged the man who is his dad a million times more than his real dad has ever been.

Agh I love supportive Clarus SO MUCH. I think I just made a tiny fic of sorts rather than headcanons. Oh well. Still posting this because I love the fluff.

#i need more supportive clarus in my life #the man's gold #agh i love him #gladnis au #clarus amicitia #ignis scientia #gladiolus amicitia #gladnis #i also love awkward clarus for some reason #along with awkward ignis #lol an awkward mess #but filled of family love <3 #final fantasy xv #ffxv #chocobros

182 notes · View notes

nn010 · 7 years

Text

Hunting a Rogue Prologue

Author’s Note: This prologue was written for AU April on AOS ficnet 2.0 (hope I’m not too late (EDIT: I wasn't)). This is gonna be the first chapter of a Mass Effect AU where versions of SHIELD seasons 1-4 happened but Daisy is reassigned to rooting out corruption in the Alliance under the guise of “giving Humanity the hero it needs” after Season 4. Also the ME games never gave specific dates for the events of the games; just the years so I’m gonna date them on my own. Also I don’t think I did a good job of describing the Batarians so here’s an image of one: https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/masseffect/images/0/0e/Codex_ME_-_Batarians_%28after_BDTS%29.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20140820044603

REQUIEM, SYSTEMS ALLIANCE BASE, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA, MARCH 8, 2183: As Systems Alliance Lieutenant Commander, decorated N7, superhero, and undercover SHIELD agent Daisy Johnson, more commonly known by her codename, Quake, her Alliance nickname Shepard (which came to be after the then Serviceman 1st Class showed excellent leadership skills during the Skyllian Blitz), or “Commander Quake” as some have taken to calling her after her promotion the previous year, stepped onto the SSV Normandy SR1 (a white Frigate (a starship “weight” mostly used as escort or scouting ships) with black accents and red stripes) she felt like she was part of something notable. While the Alliance Navy tended to name Frigates after major battles from throughout human history; naming the first ship designed by the Alliance in conjunction with the Turians (a militaristic species with bird like faces, humanoid bodies, and tribal tattoos (a turian without tattoos on their face is considered in their culture to be untrustworthy)) after a battle so (in)famous and notable that its first day came to called “D-Day” is rather appropriate.

It was also the first of the new “Normandy Class” of Alliance vessels. The Normandy was a sign of improving relations between humans and turians and, (hopefully) by extension, the Citadel Council (a 3 person committee made up of the Asari (a race purely made up of humanoid blue skinned women with solid “crests” instead of hair with a penchant for Biotics), the Salarians (a species bearing a startling resemblance to the aliens seen in the alien invasion stories of the 20th century), and the Turians) that rules a good chunk of the galaxy). These improving relations are good considering that 30 years prior, humanity and the turians had been fighting against each other in the First Contact War. They remained distrusting for a couple decades after the war ended.

But the Chitauri and Loki’s attempted invasion of Earth in the Battle of New York 8 years ago and an encounter with Thor and the Destroyer a year prior forced the Alliance to attempt to improve relations with the Council and for SHIELD to figure out new ways to keep up as while Earth has heroes like the Avengers (who aren’t in good shape themselves) to protect it, if another cosmic threat comes about, Humans and Inhumans alike will need all the help they can get. When Daisy arrived at her bunk on the Normandy she stared out the window, reflecting on key events in her life.

LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA, JANUARY 25, 2176: As the then 21 year old Daisy (then thinking she was 20) (going by the name “Skye” at the time) was going about her day, doing voice over for a Rising Tide video she was going to post to their extranet site, she heard the van door open and saw who she’d come to know as agents Phil Coulson and Grant Ward (the now 28 year old Johnson felt disgust when she saw Ward in her memory after what he’d done, Coulson chose to spare Ward on Maveth, she’d wished he killed him that day, it’s not like Hive was in need of a body as Hive had managed to overpower Fitz). They then preceded to black bag her.

The bag was taken off what Skye presumed was a half hour later. Skye found herself handcuffed in what Skye presumed was an interrogation room but the walls, ceiling, and floor had a honeycomb pattern that made Skye think otherwise. Coulson and Ward were both in the room with her. Skye decided to make herself sound important. “You guys have made a big mistake,” she said to her captors with a hint of snark. Ward responded with “Really? You don’t look that big.” ‘Well T-1000 over here either doesn’t have a sense of humor or he’s onto me,’ Skye thought to herself. Coulson pulled out what looked like an Omni-Tool (an orange hologram-like cylinder that summoned around his left arm), “Look, we know you’ve been in contact with someone of our interest. A certain hero,” Coulson said to Skye. He then laid out her options there and then: “The way I see it, you want to help this guy just as much as we do and I want to help you; so you can either work with us, or we’ll let you go and let you go back to your fellow hackers and your gang friends you clearly want to escape.”

SSV NORMANDY, ALLIANCE FRIGATE, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, MARCH 8, 2183: Daisy remembered her first encounter with Coulson fondly, she was glad she’d taken his offer. As the Normandy began preparations to take off, Daisy started to recall what happened to Lincoln and how he- ‘NO, don’t go there’ Daisy thought. She instead reflected on the Skyllian Blitz and her heroic actions during it:

ELYSIUM, VETUS SYSTEM, JULY 3, 2180: The then Serviceman 1st Class Johnson was on much needed shore leave at Elysium for her birthday (which was the previous day). She was in her hotel room, just having recovered from a massive hangover from the previous night when she heard gunfire. When she got outside she saw two Batarian pirates (the Batarians being a race with four eyes, human/asari type body structure, bunches of hairs on their face and cartilage formed lines on their faces) rounding up the people. Happening to have a Kessler pistol (a grey pistol that looked like a mix between a Star Trek phaser and a regular gun; it used Mass Effect fields like any other modern weapon) on her, she fired at them. She managed to cap one but the other got away. She picked up the M7 Avenger assault rifle beside his body and chased after him. After a few minutes she caught up, and fired a controlled burst (so the rifle would hit its target). It did and she saved the colonists he rounded up. Daisy decided to give them a rousing speech; “Look, I know things aren’t looking bright and that people you love may have died. But that doesn’t mean we can’t fight back and stop this attack!”

SSV NORMANDY, ALLIANCE FRIGATE, VANCOUVER, BC, MARCH 8, 2183: Daisy was taken out of her memory as she heard the PA announcement that the Normandy was about to take off. She looked out the window as the ship took off, on its way to the Charon Relay (this being one of many Mass Relays; symmetrically shaped mass transit devices used for travel between systems (as not even FTL Travel alone was fast enough for that); it’s believed that an ancient, extinct race called the Protheans built the relays, scattered their beacons across the galaxy, and left knowledge of their tech for future species to find, as humans did on Mars). She looked out the window at Earth, in all its beauty.

“Well, What about Johnson? Not much is known of her childhood,” Ambassador Donnel Udina, (a white, aging man with graying hair, and brown eyes) said in an audio call with two others.

“She grew up an orphan, went from home to home until she was coerced into a gang at age 13 and got out and joined the Rising Tide 3 years later,” Captain David Anderson (a middle aged black man with black hair and brown eyes).

“She’s the only reason why Elysium is still standing,” Admiral Steven Hackett (an aging white man with grey hair and blue eyes) added.

“I’ll make the call,” Udina said before cutting the chat before calling Nihlus, a Spectre that owed Udina a favor (Spectres being agents of the Citadel Office of Special Tactics and Reconnaissance who are considered to be above galactic law).

“Nihlus, I think I have that candidate to become the first huma- I mean Inhuman, Spectre,” Udina said.

“Send me the file,” Nihlus simply said.

#aosficnet #aosficnet2 #au april #multi chapter #aos au #mass effect au #daisy johnson #phil coulson #donnel udina #david anderson

1 note · View note

princess-stabbity · 7 years

Text

corvidoe replied to your post “tbh i really want to know what the ryders’ family dynamics are like so...”

the family aspect is the part I'm most interested in tbh and ofc it's the one we know nothing about. lmao. I'm in the same boat. i want to plan stuff for once and i feel like i can't bc we don't know these ppl or how they fit. and i worry it's going to feel less like my own character bc of it.

corvidoe replied to your post “tbh i really want to know what the ryders’ family dynamics are like so...”

also i feel like we knew a lot more about the hawke fam dynamic before da2 came out?

i know exactly what you mean

the problem with being so mum on everything is that fans don’t have enough cool shit to get distracted by, and instead keep picking apart what little you’ve released until they notice every flaw. ultimately the less info you release, the more they either imagine the worst (making them not want to buy the game and wary for its flaws if they do) or build it up so much they’re disappointed with the real product

honestly bioware, y’all brought this on yourselves

anyway, as far as the ryder family goes--i’m gonna warn for mild spoilers here even tho i’ve avoided watching the “first [x amount of time] of me:a!!” videos past checking out the cc and how it affects papa ryder (answer: from what i can tell, he changes skin/eye color based on your ryder, and his facial features rely on what preset you used, much like the hawkes--that’s why the skin color options are limited, so you don’t end up with a black albino dad (which, of course, assumes you don’t want that, but que sera sera))

my point is, i don’t know much, but i have picked up a few general facts about the family that seem fairly solid for character-building purposes

“Born on Earth in 2129, Alec Ryder says his love of new frontiers was fostered by a childhood in the Sierra Nevadas. According to his service record, he joined the Alliance military and was eventually assigned to Jon Grissom's historic expedition through the Charon Relay. His experience made him a candidate for what would later be known as N7 training back on Earth. Alec continued military service, most notably on Shanxi in the First Contact War against the turians. Assigned as a military attaché to the Citadel in the late 2160s, Alec became interested in artificial intelligence as a means of human advancement.”

alec ryder is something of a tech genius in addition to legendary soldier, given that he also apparently helped with sam’s creation? and was dishonorably discharged for it?

at least the kids were born after their dad decided to take a potentially one-way trip thru the charon relay

sounds like he’s kind of critical--there’s a bit where pc!scott says something is “pretty good” and alec replies “pretty good isn’t good enough” (to which scott replies “yes, sir”), and i’ve heard another part described where it sounds like alec begrudgingly praises you for taking the exploratory, roundabout path, and you can respond sarcastically that “that is what i was trained for”

your mom is dr. ellen ryder. she didn’t come with you to andromeda (it sounds like she died before the game), but she was aware of its existence, since your dad says that she made him promise to take both kids to andromeda (would he not have if she hadn’t made him promise? no clue, nor do i know if he would have shown hesitation out of a sense of protection or not thinking they were up to the task or what). she was the original creator of the ai sam.

“Born on the Citadel space station in 2163. With informal training aided by Alec Ryder's N7 background. Scott joined the Systems Alliance military and was assigned to an outpost near Arcturus Station overseeing Relay 202. A primary route to Arcturus, this mass relay leads into contested space and has an unsavory reputation. Scott was needed to protect Arcturus, but also had "a front row seat to everyone else going off to fortune and glory.””

“Born on the Citadel space station in 2163. With informal training aided by Alec Ryder's N7 background. Sara joined the Systems Alliance military, which was continuing its search for Prothean technology after successful discoveries on Mars. Initially assigned to peacekeeping duties. Sara was approached to serve a support role for these Prothean researchers. She often describes the thrill of serving with scientists like Mateus Silva on the brink of the next great discovery.””

mateus silva was previously mentioned as being the namesake of a planet in the euler system, described as “leader of the prospector team that unearthed the Prothean Archives on Mars”

my headcanon is also somewhat impacted by the training histories--basically, starting classes. they’re almost like service histories, since they describe what role you played as part of the alliance, and though you can specialize however you want, i personally like the sound of “leader,” which is basically a sentinel:

“You were a team player and natural leader in the Alliance military, working closely with your cohorts for their safety and the safety of others.”

besides putting me in the basic class i wanna play as, that sounds like exactly the sort of person alec was seemingly raising his kids to be? elite yet well-rounded, a leader as well as a soldier and tech specialist, using every skill available to get the job done. although on that note, the fact that both kids have innate biotic potential makes me wonder if alec didn’t purposely expose them to element zero in the womb, even knowing the likely cancerous effects, which conjures shades of henry lawson, but maybe i’m reading too much into this

anyway, going in, all i had was “hey, since bioware is giving me a dad in this game, what if i make him look like my other favorite space dad besides anderson, bill adama”--which, y’know, once people try out more presets we’ll see how much that’s possible, but actually works kinda well given the “following in distant military dad’s footsteps” drama that both lee and zak went thru. in this case you could argue sara/meeley is lee and scott is zak, in terms of potential vs desire to do dad proud

#corvidoe #thinking abt all this is the most hype i've felt for the game so i'm trying to hold onto it #i'll tag this as spoilers just in case #me:a spoilers #mea spoilers #i'll also use those tags liberally once i'm playing #assuming i can even get it to work on my machine ¯\_(ツ)_/¯#also gonna tag this as #long post #bc i kind of got carried away

1 note · View note