padmeonline‌:

Jude waited through the tide of his speech–as she had been doing for a decade now–and her smile grew a little more with each word. She wished he was in a guild, particularly in her guild, because she missed him when he wasn’t around. But it wasn’t his world, she knew that. She had a hard enough time imagining him being big and scary and intimidating in the old days–the days that made the red cursor above his head, and which only she seemed to realize was downright comical. “It’s my patriotic duty, San.” She was joking, of course, but he had certainly been on the other side of her rants about why all men in Turkey were required to serve in the army and not the weapon–not that she’d wanted to serve. She just believed equal rights also meant equal suffering. 

“Everything you plant is beautiful.” She ushered him into the seat beside her. Jude as biased in this of course. She thought every plant that existed was beautiful–even the ones with a tendency to eat people. “I’m a really good fighter now,” she assured him. “I didn’t get hurt at all in the last fight.” This was a downright lie, but he didn’t need to know that. 

“it’s not your duty or anyone else’s duty to fight a giant fish,” he said, because that was still one of the wildest boss battles he’d witnessed. even if it wasn’t the real fight. still, he understood what she was saying. just because he was afraid...was too afraid of death to fight, that didn’t mean she was. she proved it every day. and he was proud of that. he just had a hard time saying it. he didn’t like justifying the fact that she put herself in direct danger for the advancement of the game. because he knew that one of these days, she might not survive. what’s more, one of these days, they might just be freed. someone on the outside could fix this. it was a hope he held onto with tight claws. 

“i can’t believe you’d lie directly to my face like this,” he teased, knowing full well that he’d planted some wildly crazy plants. some of them smelled horrendous. velia was truly wild for the nature lover. he took another bite of the pastry and gave her a thumbs up while he chewed—and then added another thumb so she’d know just how good it was. two thumbs up. spectacular. “i know you’re a good fighter,” he said, and meant it. she was. he believed in her, at least. “but i just—” no, no. he wasn’t gonna do it. he held up his hand and then mimed zipping his own lips. “it’s fine, i’m sorry. you’re right, you did great, the next floor is unlocked...i’m proud of you kid.” he reached out squeezed her arm. “just you know...give me that sweet daily ‘i’m being careful’ promise and we’re all good.” and with that, he gestured to the orange cursor above her head. “...did you want to talk about it?”

felixwrxtes‌:

Great. Brilliant. 

Felix glanced over at Sauron, quiet for a few seconds before huffing and turning so his back was now facing him, mostly to hide the sadness he could no longer keep from his eyes. 

“Yeah. I decided just now that I would much rather enjoy it alone.” Felix replied icily. 

“So you can… go double check on the weather or something… I hear it might rain.” 

“oh right, yes, of course, alone. you got it.” sauron turned facing forward, still right next to felix, and went about eating his snow cone quietly. that lasted about...eh, thirty seconds. “but you know, this is a public space, so technically...you’re still alone, i’m just standing near you. but consider me a stranger. see? lips are zipped. not a word out of me.” felix had a rough go. a really rough go. and if santiago was the kind of person who abandoned their friends when they needed him the most, then maybe he would have actually left. but he wasn’t. so deal with it, felix. “wow, you know, it actually does look like it might rain a little? which would be nice. i would love a light drizzle right now. you know, not too heavy to ruin the mood, but a little sun shower.”

zcndi‌:

For a moment, they feel kind of bad for snipping at him. It wasn’t his fault they were having some weird family feels, nor was it his fault that they were doing double duty as info broker and primary caretaker to their girlfriend. Not, of course, that that was a problem. They just didn’t do a great job balancing their schedule, which lead to sarcastic Jal. 

Santi threatening their friendship was cute; the two knew each other’s best kept secrets. Their connections to Dick.

“I’m a grumpy boy,” they say simply. “It’s been a long fifty-odd floors. I’m tired. Did Ben program in some sort of like… portal to Floor 100 in one of the buildings on another level?”

For the first time, they were hoping he had been withholding information from them. Maybe he’d just forgotten or something. They knew not to hope too hard, if this was Dick’s plan all along there would never be a cheat to get out of here faster. The nightmare would just continue.

that...was true. it had been a long fifty-odd floors. but the constant boss battling, the constant real danger? he put that behind him a long time ago. his solution, or rather, his hope, was that someone on the outside would figure it out from their end. “if he did, he sure didn’t tell me about it.”

they fought in the boss battles—tired meant a totally different thing for them. “how was the last fight? did anything impressive happen?” part of him missed it. mostly, the nerd part of him who was still amazed by the games, still found staring down a giant boss exciting, still wanted to be that bad ass hero who saved the day. but it wasn’t him. “did you come out alright?”

hadeswrxtes‌:

Hades scoffed before shaking his head. “I have a little sister, believe me I can handle school yard taunts.” His sister was never this annoying, so that was a little bit of a white lie. Hades continued to listen to Sauron’s advice before grimacing and nodding his head. Fine. He was going to take the high road. He gripped Sauron’s elbow with the full intention to drag him away, only to freeze when the kid continued to make jabs. 

“Yeah, that’s right. Walk away, old man.” 

Hades has had a rough week. It wasn’t his fault. The pie was right there. He took a deep breath before grabbing at the pie, top piled high with cream, before quickly taking aim and throwing it at the kid’s face with a resounding splat. 

He tossed a pouch of coins at the pie vendor before clearing his throat and taking a step back. 

“I suggest we run.” 

Just as he said that, a group of pre-teens let out what sounded like a war cry before surging towards them with a vengeance.

the world went into slow motion when hades picked up that pie. 

at first, he thought he just wanted a pie, which was a harmless and delightful thing to want. for a moment, he considered also buying a pie. they looked like good pies. he liked a good banana cream. but then, then...that critical moment came when hades reared his arm back, and sauron just couldn’t stop him in time. the ‘no’ that came out of his mouth felt like it went on forever, felt like it was low and deep and dramatic...but what actually happened was that when hades through the pie, sauron shrieked in a way a person might if there was a mouse in the house. “no! don’t—”

ah, but he done did it. 

“why would you do this to me. what have you done. now i’m an accomplice to a pie assault on a fourteen year old. i never wanted this. now we have to go on the run, i don’t have my passports in order, and honestly, i don’t know how well i’d do in another country i’m worried i’ve grown to accustomed to my ways here and if i have to use a different measuring system i might just collapse.” he was being intentionally dramatic, but also, you know...displeased was not a stretch. pie throwing, hades? pie throwing? in front of sauron’s salad? “hey—ah! don’t you do it.” he pointed at the kid who reached forward to grab another pie. sauron held up a menacing finger, which, if you didn’t know him, might have actually been quite intimidating. “don’t you throw that pie. if you throw that pie i’m going to—” to what, exactly? what was he going to do? “...i’m going to be very upset.”

chxticerebus‌:

His ramblings were extremely amusing to listen to, especially when Erebus knew it came from a place of fear. At least someone in this damn place had some common sense to react with how they truly felt instead of putting up some fake facade that they were some brave take-no-shit warrior. “No no no, I want to spend as much time possible with just you new bestie. We’re going to have so much fun together.” As she steered them towards the dart game she set some coins down and the volunteer running the booth hesitantly gave her some darts to throw. “Oh it’s intentional, but I’m just trying to be a better person by socializing.” Without hardly looking at the balloons on the dart board she threw one, and a balloon in the center made a loud pop as she handed the next dart to Sauron. “How’s your aim?”

“naahhhhhh,” sauron said, waving his hand off to the side as if that was the silliest thing he’d heard all day, which it was. “you don’t want to be friends with me. trust me, i’m incredibly boring. that’s not an over-exaggeration. i name my plants. i have a tomato plant named herbert and he’s coming in great this year—do you like tomatoes?” did he believe she was trying to be a better person? well, why not. sure, it seemed unlikely, and he wasn’t naive...just hopeful. he wouldn’t be surprised if she was lying, but he didn’t want to assume she was. he didn’t want to lose that part of him. the part that still trusted the good in people. yes, even this tiny little solid chunk of terror. “well, if you mean that...then how about a real game.” he picked up the dart. see, people usually thought he had no game because he spent all his time refusing to battle. but before they were trapped here? in the weeks and weeks spent testing and perfecting these floors? he ruled velia (sort of. kind of. in his head he did). at any rate, his aim? killer. he tossed the dart  without looking except, you know, he had looked before so it really wasn’t that impressive. the balloon popped. “i win, and you tell me the truth. you win, and i’ll be your new bestie.”

crture‌:

          minnie let out a weak laugh, rubbing one of her eyes to get the schmutz out of it, as well as a way to wake herself up. “ normally i’m a morning person but - “ her words were cut off as a yawn escaped out of her, which resulted in both her cheeks to turn bright red, and her hand quickly moved to slap over her mouth. once she was done, she cleared her throat, before fully turning towards the other person. “ normally i’m a morning person, but these past few days have kind of been, a perpetual morning for me. “ she just nodded as sauron said he was okay, pulling a pen out from behind her ear, and scribbling something down on the papers clasped to her chest. “ i’m totally fine! no need to worry about me. are you enjoying the carnival so far? “

“well then it sounds like you should probably keep sleeping—only then you’ll just experience another morning. wow, you know, until you said that, i never really thought about how life was just a perpetual series of mornings. how nice. or terrible, depending on where you land on the morning scale.” he was, unsurprisingly, a morning person. he used to be a night owl, but as soon as he’d gotten a nine to five he turned into an old man in bed by ten and not a second later. “i am, yeah. it’s a lot of fun. did you put it together? because you did a good job. i’ve had nine snow cones. i regret none of them—well maybe the first one. but only because i dropped it on my shirt.” he held out his shirt from his chest with the giant purple stain as proof. “guess i can’t fault the snow cone for that one though.”

padmeonline‌:

Jude was grinning from ear to ear. There was no way to be around Santiago and not start smiling. The way he saw the world, the way his brain worked, made everything more fun–and, to him, a bit more worrying. But good all the same. She patted his back just a second before he engaged in the hug, and then she laughed and squeezed his middle, pressing a kiss to his cheek as she was lifted slightly off the ground. “I made the ones you like,” She said as she fell back to solid earth. She scooped up two scones, one with cheese, one with chocolate, and handed them over. “They’re new recipes. Let me know what you think.” 

She blinked. “If you ever bite me, you will regret it until the day you die.” Her voice was very steady and very menacing, and though she was of course joking, he was still the only person in the world that would hear that side of her. At least until provoked into an actual fight. Then immediately, she was back to smiling, sitting back in her chair and spinning a full circle before facing him, waiting to see his opinion on the cookie. “Of course I do. That’s my job, San. I have a guild to protect. And anyway…” She spun again. “I’m perfectly fine. Never been better. You should try it, you know. A guild. You’d make a good asset to any team.” 

“oh, amazing. that’s my verdict. i’ve already decided, i don’t need to taste them to know that they’re going to be brilliant, like little puffy pastries of heaven.” yeah, he didn’t need to taste them. but he wanted to. because they were scones and he was just a man. the took a bite of the chocolate one and put a hand over his mouth as he spoke. “yup, i was right. they are amazing. actually i think i might have sold them a little short—really. like, this is better than amazing but i already made my decision and now i don’t know if i can reverse what’s been written in stone. i have so many regrets.” he was kidding though, and he grinned at padme when she threatened him with unending regret. “jude, i live with unending regret every day of my life. i regret the choice i made this morning to wear this shirt because i knew i would be eating and i should have chosen a color where stains wouldn’t show up because i got grape snow cone syrup on this one already— but i will say that biting you would probably be a hefty regret. it’s like a superman regret.” 

he really did wish jude hadn’t joined catalyst. not that he had a problem with catalyst. most of the catalyst members he’d met had been fine, other than that one terrifying girl. but guilds fought, and catalyst was small, and it just...seemed dangerous. she wouldn’t have wanted jude to join the army. guilds and the front lines and those constant battles...it felt like the velia equivalent of being sent off to war. “i know it’s your job,” he said, because he’d had this conversation with her, and he respected her decision. “but uh...no. i think you’re wrong about that one.” at one point, eye_of_sauron had been a feared and respected name. that was in the days before the main release. in the days before it was all real. now? now he wasn’t a help to anyone. “unless your guild needs a farmer that usually can’t decide what to plant.”

felixwrxtes‌:

“Remus! Wait for me!” 

Felix watched one of the twins call out, hand extended for the other. Almost instinctively, the older slowed down, taking his brother’s hand with a smile before tugging him along to explore the rest of the festival. 

Felix couldn’t help the grimace. The sudden tug in his heart at the sight of twins that nearly mirrored him and his brother when they were young. He swallowed the lump in his throat before leaning against one of his crutches and taking a bite from his snow cone, ignoring the person that seemed to stop just beside him. 

“What?” He growled, pulling up a mask in order to hide the grief that began to color his expression. “Can’t you see I’m busy with this snow cone?” 

“i can, actually. i can see that. as a person with two fully functioning eyes, i’ve recognized that you’re having a snow cone but picture this—your moment could only be enhanced by a second person enjoying a snow cone...concurrently.” with that, he pulled his own snow cone out from behind his back, part of it melted down his hand in a grape mess, and held his arms out wide like the the personification of the word ‘ta-da!’. 

crture‌:

location: unity fundraiser  players: minnie & ???

          minnie was essentially asleep on her feet, face pressed into the palm of her hand as she let herself close her eyes for just a moment. she was running on the last little dredges of her energy, and one can only go so far on potions before there are some health concerns. the world around her was bustling, but she had to take a second to breathe, and get a few milliseconds of sleep. she jumped up as someone walked up next to her, quickly wiping the little bit of spit that had appeared off her face. “ i’m awake! hi! yes, hello! is there anything i can do to help you? is everything alright? “ she asked the person who spooked her awake, immediately going back into work mode. “ are you having a good time at the fundraiser? “ 

“swiss on a sandwich,” he hissed, jumping a bit when she popped out of her sleep like an unexpected jump scare. you know, the ones that happen when you think you’re safe: during the day, in an information dump segment, at a carnival. “do you always wake up so...helpful? because that’s very nice, don’t get me wrong, but it seems exhausting.” was everything alright? he looked around them both, turning right and then left...everything seemed fine. hunky dory. “uh, i think so?” he looked at the girl again. “are you okay?”

zcndi‌:

“Sorry, who’s the one talking about being morally upstanding?” Jal teased, tossing her head back a bit.

They pull their hair into a ponytail once their hands are free, a light breeze moving across their neck as the pile of curls is moved away. Jal is tempted to show Santiago the mages putting together a building, but realizes they’ve already reached their max capacity of one reference to Aspens and his company for the next 5 months. “It’s payment, Santi,” they finally respond. “You know, when people do things like help me? I pay them. It’s sort of how being an info broker works. Except I get paid much more for putting together all of the info.”

“ouch!” he put his hand over his chest, and, looking mightily offended, turned to look into the camera. except there was no camera. that didn’t stop him from living as though velia was a televised event. like game of thrones only all the actors want to know where the wifi is and no one knows how to ride a horse. “that was a low blow, and you know it. you’d better be careful if you keep saying mean things about me i’m gonna have to really think about our friendship.” that was a lie, honestly, thanatos could cut his arm off and he’d probably forgive them. “why am i being ‘sarcasm’d’ right now like i’m a noob that doesn’t know how basic exchanges of goods and services work. i took an economics course and i have real life experience as the purchaser of things.” 

chxticerebus‌:

Picking out the weak from the strong was Erebus specialty since the beginning of Velia, and this guy made it too obvious that he was walking on eggshells with everything around him at the festival. He was practically begging for her to mess with him, so without a hesitation she walked up behind him and reached up to wrap an arm around him like they were old pals. “Say I’m trying to get to know people around here more better and you seem like just the right guy that I want to get to know. Want to play a carnival game together? If you say no you’d hurt my feelings, and I mean I don’t think you want to be known as the dude who hurt the Circus guild masters feelings, do you?” The question sounded like a tease, but had an underlying threat to it as she moved them towards a balloon darts game. “Hell, I’ll even win you the best prize if you want.” 

@onsauron

homygod, it was velia chucky. how could something so small be packed with so much terror? closer to hell, closer to satan: it gave her superior levels of creepy. because she was creepy. he knew creepy when he saw it. “well i’m not really in the market to hurt anyone’s feeling regardless of guild or uh, other...personal preferences—you don’t really want to know me, there’s not much to know. or i could tell you everything there is to know all at once and then you can fulfill your new people quota and meet someone else new. you know what? why don’t you make a day of it just, you know, bounce from person to person, continuously, until you’re like...not here. not that you aren’t lovely. i’ll hang out with you. you just frighten me. you’re frightening. do you know that about yourself? i’m assuming it’s intentional.” he grimaced, fully aware that he had just said a lot of words. “boy i am saying a lot of things.”

padmeonline‌:

The moment she saw him, she jumped up from her chair and threw her arms around his neck. “I’m so glad you came.” She kissed his cheek then bit her lip to hold back a laugh. “That’s everything I said, San.” She grabbed several different bakes goods that she was serving, ripped off a tiny piece of each, and put them all on a plate. She handed it across the table before he could completely derail in his train of worry. Jude had known Santiago for over a decade, and she knew these speeches well enough. He had almost lost his mind the first time she asked him to buy her alcohol and he’d had to weigh the pros and cons of legality. 

“That was one time, San.” Yes, she’d bit him. But she’d been sixteen and in a particularly bad mood, and he had just shown her the third Star Wars movie without warning her at all about how sad it was going to be. “You really need to let that go.” 

“of course i came, are you kidding? i love carnivals—i mean, sometimes. actually, i’ve only ever been to like...one carnival. most of my carnival knowledge comes from television shows. they usually have a great time—sometimes someone is murdered...come to think of it carnivals are pretty popular horror movie settings. which is so sad, i’m a little bummed merry-go-rounds got such a bad rep.” he returned her hug with both arms. a real good hug. he wasn’t the half-assed hug kind of guy. no no, he went all in with hugs. “but i’d brave it for your food.” would he really? no. probably not. but this was in a safe zone, and the some of these scones had cheese.

“jude, i gotta tell you—i just—it seems like one time is already too many times,” he said, wincing in sympathy as he started to work on his plate of free samples. “i can’t let it go, young padawan. it was part of my hero origin story. i have to hold onto that until a moment comes where it’s my time to bite you, to get revenge, but i heroically show you mercy and prove that i’m a good man.” yeah. that made sense. that tracked. he tried a cookie. “i’m glad you’re doing better. i heard what happened. i’m telling you, you really don’t have to put yourself on the line like that. it’s dangerous.”

zcndi‌:

Players: Thanatos & open Location: Floor 54, watching some new construction go up

Jal was collecting herbs for some potions she was planning on making for some of her informants when some loud mages distracted her. As she starts to tuck the bundles into her inventory, she pauses and looks over to them. Air and earth mages working together to dry out clay and wood for a new… store? cabin? who could tell at this point. Some of them are NPCs they can only assume have been contracted by players, while others are players who, for some reason, want to be doing this manual labor.

Her uncle was an architect for Velia; he designed buildings specifically in this game. Seeing new construction go up was odd. They’d spent so much time wondering which buildings were his, which ones he could have put messages into, that they never even thought of the fact players could have put up some of the residences and shops. Their thought stream is interrupted, and they press their lips together and start shoving the bundles into their inventory again. “Don’t mind me,” they say, packing everything away. “Just in my own head.”

“well i would sure hope so. i don’t think it’d be very morally upstanding of you to be in anyone else’s head,” he said with a small smile. he understood the expression, but thanatos seemed like they might need a little bit of humor. he wasn’t so sure what they were looking at, but he did note the herb collections. “what a bundle. are you going on some deep floor quest? because that sounds...terrible. and you should bring a friend. i mean, obviously not me. but you know. someone. someone else.”

smash or pass + padme

“i really, i just, why? why with this question. alright first of all, pass. because i’ve known padme for years she’s like my little sister. also she’s my little sister’s age. but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t be smashed, just...not by me. she should be smashed by people who love and respect her. not that i don’t love and respect her. you know what i’m trying to say, i wouldn’t fuck my sister. wow, can’t believe a situation arose where i had to say that one. figured that was always in implied context. anyway, now that we’re on the subject, while i hope she’s being treated with care i really don’t want to think about her smashing people. it’s not like, a pleasant thought. not that i’m not sex positive. i am sex positive everyone should go out and just smash to their hearts content—you know what? i think i’m done. i think that about sums it up. we’re good here, right?”

smash or pass + starlight & mercutio :)

“okay, well, you see, it’s not so simple as just ‘smash’ or ‘pass’ you know? i need more information because there’s a lot that goes into a decision to, uh, smash. as you so delicately put it. like you know, do our respective smashing styles align, and is there an emotional connection. not all people need an emotional connection but i think it’s nice. does that mean emotional connection fits under smash style? probably not, because i think smash style is more of a physical thing, right? like positions. of which i know two. and then it’s like, alright, for instance, starlight. sure she’s twenty-something but is that still too young? what is too young anymore? because i feel like anyone under 25 is too young. but then it’s like, what about the mental age, you know? because maybe she’s at a mature 30. oh, but if we’re going mental age then i’m at like a 55 so it’s still a little weird. and mercutio is a nice guy but i don’t know what he likes i’d have to ask and that’s always an awkward conversation have you ever had that conversation? the ‘what do you want me to do’ conversation? it’s a really awkward conversation! what if he’s into a position that’s outside of my two positions. do either of these two people want to go on a date first? what do they want for dinner? and what is included in the definition of smashing, is it just smash or is there like pre and post smash things automatically involved? but i don’t want to pass either because what if i’m missing an opportunity there? what if one of them is my soulmate because i passed on a smash that’s it? missed chance?

this is a really hard question did anyone else answer this?”