#she probably didn’t and the devs didn’t realize it didn’t really work | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

felassan · 3 years

Text

Dragon Age development insights and highlights from Bioware: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development

Some really tasty factoids here.

Cut for length.

Dragon Age: Origins

The continent of Thedas was at one point going to be named Pelledia, a name initially floated by James Ohlen

“Qunari” was a temporary name that ended up unintentionally sticking, much like “Thedas”

Mary Kirby wrote the Landsmeet. To this day, nobody understands how it works, except possibly her. If she’s “really really drunk” she can explain how it works. There’s as many words in it as Sten’s entire conversations put together

Concept art for Thedosian art - as in in-world art - draws heavily on Renaissance-era portraiture, the Art Nouveau movement, religious styles and media like stained glass, and favorite pieces from the golden age of illustrations in the early 20th century

Andrastianism in-world (art-wise) is depicted in wildly different methods depending on who in-world made the art in question. “One religion, 3 different lenses”. There’s the Chantry take, the Orlesian take and the Fereldan take; each with its own different interpretations, different mediums and different stories

The stained glass images were drawn by Nick Thornborrow for DAI, to decorate religious spaces in that game “and beyond”

irl Viking art influenced Ferelden

Greek and Italian art influenced Orlais

The book also had other insights into and anecdotes from the development of DAO, but I’ve transcribed them recently as they’re essentially the stories DG has recently been relating on the awesome Summerfall Studios DAO playthrough Twitch streams. (On those streams he provides dev commentary while Liam Esler plays through DA. The ones with DG are currently once every two weeks. Check them out! Here’s a calendar where you can check when the next one is) Instead of repeating myself I’ll just provide the link to the first transcript. From there you can navigate to the subsequent parts. Note these streams are ongoing. At this point I will also point you to a related post which is cliff notes of the Dragon Age chapter in Jason Schreier’s book Blood Sweat and Pixels.

Dragon Age II

DAO had the longest development period in BioWare history. In contrast DA2 had the shortest

Initially DA2 was going to be an expansion to DAO. A few months in EA said “Yeah, expansions like these don’t sell very well, so let’s make it a sequel.” So it suddenly became DA2 and they had to make it even bigger, although they still only had 1.5 years of time in which to do this

Production of DA2 officially lasted only 9 months, and at the time the team was still supporting live content for DAO! They finished development that January after the design team crunched all the way through the holiday period that year. Then it went to cert 9 times

The limited time they had is why the story takes place mostly in and around 1 city, and over 7 years (so it was temporal, rather than over physical distance, because a more expansive world would have taken more irl time to make)

They had no time to review even the main plot. Mike Laidlaw pitched the idea of 3 stories taking place at different points in the PC’s life, tied together by Varric’s recollections of events. DG rolled with this and made 1 presentation on the idea. This presentation was then approved and off they went

As they were writing DG realized that there was going to be no oversight and that everything was going to be a ‘first draft’. “Because nobody had time.” He sat down with the writers and said “Look, here’s the conditions we’re working under. A lot of what we’re putting out is gonna be raw. We’re not going to get the editing we need. We’re not going to get the kind of iteration we need. So I’m going to trust you all to do your best work.”

Looking back, DG has mixed feelings on DA2. “A lot of corners were cut. The public perception was that it was smaller than DAO. That’s a sin on its own.”

Despite this he thinks DA2 has some of the best writing in the series, especially character-wise. The DA2 chars are his favorite

The pace with which production progressed may in some ways have helped. “When we do a lot of revision, we often file away [as in buff off] some of the good writing as well. Somehow DA2′s whirlwind process resulted in some really good writing”

The pace meant chars landed on the writers in various stages of completion. For example Isabela was fairly defined due to appearing in DAO. In contrast Varric at the start was just that single piece of widely-shown concept art

Varric was conceived as a storyteller not a fighter. His skills are talking and bullshitting. Hence the question became, so what does this guy do in combat? The direction was to make him as different as possible to Oghren, so not a warrior. He couldn’t be a dual-wielding rogue in order to differentiate him from Bela. But you can’t really picture this guy with a bow. “For a dwarf, it would probably be a crossbow. We didn’t have crossbows, or we only had crossbows for the darkspawn. And they were part of the models. We didn’t have a separate crossbow that was equip-able by the chars. They had to like, crop one off a darkspawn and remodel it. And that became Bianca” (quote: Mary Kirby)

“Dwarven mages are exceedingly rare.” [???]

If DAO was a classic fantasy painting, DA2 was a screenshot from a Kurosawa film or a northern Renaissance painting. (Here Matt Rhodes was commenting on art style)

John Epler: “In any one of our games, there’s a 95% chance that if you turn the camera away from what it’s looking at, you’ll see all kinds of janky stuff. The moment we know the camera is no longer facing someone, we no longer care what happens to them. We will teleport people around. We will jump people around. We will literally have someone walk off screen and then we will shift them 1000 meters down, because we’re fixing some bug.” John also talked about this camera stuff in a recent charity Twitch stream for Gamers For Groceries. There’s a writeup of that stream here

Designing Kirkwall pushed concept artists to the limits of visual storytelling, because it has a long history that they wanted to be present. It was once the hub of Tevinter’s slave empire, so it needed to look brutal and harsh, but it also then needed to feel reclaimed, evolved, and with elements of contemporary Free Marches culture

The initial plan was for DA titles to be distinguished by subtitles not numbers, so that each experience could stand on its own rather than feel like a sequel or continuation. (My note: New PCs in each entry make sense then when you consider this and other factoids we know like how DA is the story of the world not of any one PC). Later, DA2′s name was made DA2 in a bid to more clearly connect the game to its predecessor. For DAI they returned to the original naming convention. (My note: so I’d reckon they’d be continuing the subtitle naming convention for DA4)

DA2 was initially code-named “Nug Storm”, strictly internally

The Cancelled DA2 Expansion - Exalted March

This was a precursor to DAI

It was meant to bridge the gap between DA2 and DAI

It focused on the fallout from Kirkwall’s explosion, with Cory serving as the villain

Meredith’s red lyrium statue was basically going to infest Kirkwall and it would end up [with what would end up] the red templars taking over Kirkwall and essentially being Cory’s army

To stop him Hawke would have recruited various factions, including Bela’s Felicisima Armada and the Qunari at Estwatch, forcing Hawke to split loyalties and risk relationships in the process

It was meant to bring DA2′s story to an end and end in Varric’s death. DG was very happy with this because all of DA2 is Varric’s tale. The expansion was supposed to start at the moment Cassandra’s interrogation of him ended in the present. “And we finished off the story with Varric having this heroic death.” It tied things up and would have broken many fan hearts, something BioWare writers notoriously enjoy. But between a transition to the new Frostbite engine and the scope of DAI, the decision was made to cancel EM, work any hard-to-lose concepts into DAI, and in the process save Varric’s life. DG has talked about the Varric dying thing before

Concept art for EM explored new areas previously not depicted in the DA universe, with costumes that reflected next steps for familiar chars. Varric was going to war, what would he have worn? With Anders, if he survived DA2, the plan was to present a redeemed Warden

A char that vaguely resembled Sera in DAI was first concepted for EM. This fact was mentioned near this concept art (see the female elf) and this concept art of Bethany with the blond bob

The writers sketched out plans to end it with Hawke having the option to marry their LI. This included alternate ceremonies for party members like Bethany and Sebastian if the player opted not to wed. There was even a wedding dress made for Hawke. This asset made it into DAI (Sera and Cullen’s weddings in Trespasser). The dress can also be seen in DAI during an ambient NPC wedding after completing a chain of war table missions

The destruction of a Chantry was explored in concept art as it might have happened in EM. This idea ended up carrying over to the beginning of DAI. (My note: Lol, the idea that DA2 could have had 2 Chantries being destroyed in it 😆)

World of Thedas

Sheryl Chee and Mary Kirby started with “a disgusting little dish called fluffy mackerel pudding”. In the middle of DAO’s busy dev period one of them (they can’t remember who) found a recipe online for this, scanned in from a 70s cookbook. “I don’t understand why it was fluffy. Why would you want fluffy mackerel pudding?” MK says. “We loved it so much we included it in a DAO codex.”

This led them to create more food for Thedas, full recipes included, like a Fereldan turnip and barley stew from MK and SC’s Starkhaven fish and egg pie. The fish pie became Sebastian’s favorite. “To me it made sense for it to be fish pie because a lot of the Free Marches are on the coast”, SC says, “It was something that was popular in medieval times, so I thought, let’s make a fish pie! I looked at medieval recipes and I concocted a fish pie which I fed to my partner, and he was like ‘This is not terrible’”

For WoT the whole studio was asked to contribute family recipes which might have a place in Thedas. SC adapted these to fit in one Thedosian culture or another, including a beloved banana bread that localization producer Melanie Fleming would regularly bake to keep the DA team motivated. “Melanie’s banana bread got us through Inquisition”

DAI

It says part of DAI takes place in or near the border with Nevarra [???]

This game was aimed to be bigger than DA2 and even DAO in every conceivable way

The first hour had to do a lot of heavy lifting, tying together the events of DAO and DA2 while introducing a new PC, new followers etc in the aftermath of the big attack. DG rewrote it 7 times then Lukas Kristjanson did 2 more passes

DG: “Our problem is always that our endings are so important, but we leave them to last, when we have no time. I kept pushing on DAI: ‘Can we work on the ending now? Can we work on the ending now? Can we do it early on?’ Because I knew exactly what it was going to be. But despite the fact that it kept getting scheduled, whenever the schedule started falling behind, it kept getting pushed back... so, of course, it got left til last again.”

“The reveal of the story’s real antagonist, Solas, a follower until the end, when he betrayed the player”. “Solas’ story remains a main thread in Inquisition’s long-awaited follow-up” [these aren’t DG quotes, just bits of general text]

Over the course of development they had 8 full-time writers and 4 editors working on it. Other writers joined later to help wrangle what ended up being close to 1 million words of dialogue and unspoken text. While many teams moved to a more open concept style of work for DAI, the writers remained tucked away in their own room, a choice DG says was necessary, given how much they talked. All the talking had a purpose ofc as if someone hit a bump or wall in their writing they would open the problem up to the room

As writing on a project like DAI progresses, the writers grow punchier and weirder things make it into the game. This is especially the case towards the end of a project (they get tired, burned out)

Banter and codexes require less ‘buy-in’ (DG has talked about this concept a few times on the Twitch streams) from other designers. DG liked to leave banter for last as a reward because it was fun. Banter begins as lists of topics for 2 followers to discuss. These may progress over time or be one off exchanges. One banter script can balloon to well over 10k words. “The banter was always huge because we were always like, laughing, and really at that point, our fields of fucks were rather barren, so we would just do whatever”

The bog unicorn happened pretty much by accident. It was designed by Matt Rhodes and was one of his fav things to design. They needed horse variations and he had already designed an undead variant which was a bog mummy [bog body]. irl these are preserved in a much different way to traditional mummies. When someone dies in a bog their skin turns black and raisin-like. The examples we know of tend to have bright red hair for whatever reason. It’s a very striking look and MR wanted to do a horse version of this as he thought it’d be neat. 5 mins before the review meeting for it he had a big ‘Aha!’ moment, quickly looked up a rusty old Viking sword, and photoshopped it through its skull like that was how it died. “And I was like, ‘I just made a unicorn. Alright, in it goes!’” It got approved. “So we built the thing. It fit. It told a little story”

With the irl Inquisition longsword, one of the objects they tested its cleaving ability on was a plush version of Leliana’s nug Schmooples

The concept art team explored a wide variety of visuals for the Inquisitor’s signature mark. It needed to look powerful and raw but couldn’t look like a horrific wound. In some cases, as cool as the idea looked on paper, they just weren’t technically feasible, especially as they had to be able to fit on any number of different bodies

Bug report: “Endlessly spawning mounts! At one point during development, Inquisitors could summon a new horse every time they whistled, allowing them to amass a near infinite number of eager steeds that faithfully followed them across Thedas. “You could go charging across levels and they’d all gallop behind you,” Jen Cheverie says, “It was beautiful.” Trotting into town became an epic horse siege as a tidal wave of mounts enveloped the streets. Jen called it her Army of Ponies”

The giants came from DA Week, an internal period when devs can pursue different individual creative projects that in some way benefit DA. They also had a board game from one of these that they were going to put in but they didn’t have time. It’s referenced though. It was dwarven chess

Josie’s outfit is made of gold silk and patterned velvet, with leather at her waist. She carries “an ornate ledger” and she has “an ornamented collar sitting around her neck, finished by a brilliant red ruby, like a drop of Antivan wine in a sunbeam”

Iron Bull’s armor is leather. His loose pantaloons and leather boots give him agility to charge

On DAI in particular, concept artists took special care to make sure costumes would be realistic, at least in a practical ‘this obeys the laws of physics and textiles’ sense. “While on Inquisition, we thought about cosplay from a concept art perspective. Given how incredible a lot of [cosplays] are, I now am not worried about them. In fact in some cases in the future I want to throw them curveballs like, ‘All right, you clever bastards. Let’s see if you can do this!’”

2 geese that nested on the office building and had chicks were named Ganders and Arishonk (it wasn’t known who was the mom or the dad). Other possible names were Carver Honke, Bethany Honke, Urdnot Pecks, Quackwall, Cassandra Pentagoose, the Iron Bill, Shepbird, Garroose, Admiral Quackett, Scout Honking, HChick-47 and Darth Malgoose

Bug report: “The surprising adventures of Ser Noodles!” DAI was the first time the series had a mount feature, meaning this had a lot of bugs. A lot of the teams’ favorite bugs were to do with the mounts. There was a period of time where the Inquisitor’s horse seemed to lose all bone and muscle in its legs. They had a week or so where all quadruped legs were broken. It was a bit noticeable in things like nugs and other small beasties but the horse was insanely obvious. “The first time we summoned the horse [for this] and started running around, the entire QA exploration room just exploded with laughter.” Its legs flapped around like cooked fettucine, leading testers to lovingly nickname it Ser Noodles. At galloping speeds the legs almost looked like helicopter blades, especially when footage was set to classic pieces such as Wagner’s Flight of the Valkyries

For DAI the artists were asked questions like “What would Morrigan wear to a formal ball? Can Cassandra pull off a jaunty hat?”

On DAI storyboarding became the norm. John Epler: “Cinematic design for the longest time was the Wild West. It was ‘here’s a bunch of content, now do it however you want’, which resulted in some successes and some failures.” Storyboarding gave designers a consistent visual blueprint based on ideas from designers, writers and concept artists

Quote from a storyboard by Nick Thornborrow (the Inquisitor going into the party at the end of basegame sequence): “Until Corypheus revealed himself they could not see the single hand behind the chaos. A magister and a darkspawn combined. The ultimate evil. So evil. Eviler than puppy-killers and egg farts combined.”

A general note on concept art:

In the early stages of any project, before the concept artists are aware of any writing, they like to just draw what they think cool story moments could be. It’s not unusual for the team to then be inspired by these and fold them into the game as the project progresses

– From Bioware: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development

3K notes · View notes

dxrkdreamer · 3 years

Text

Not So Bad

Modern Sukuna x Reader

Working late had been the bane of your existence, only getting worse when a certain man started showing up to your store’s parking lot to light his joints.

Word Count: 2.7K

Warnings: 18+ implied sex, mentions of weed.

(A/N: should I make a part 2? It seems pretty popular

Couldn’t come up with a name for the store so I used Anavrin from ‘YOU’)

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

“11:00 pm? Again?” you rubbed the back of your head trying to hide your frustration, the store manager nodded his head, sighing you agreed to stay late at work again since the closer frankly did not want to stay. So now here you are grumbling as you finish sweeping the floor and checking it off your log. You worked at a high end grocery store named Anavrin, a store that swore to sell organic produce and products to the best of quality. You took up a job here in your senior year of high school, planning on working for a few months to save up for college. And yet… 4 years later you’re still here grumbling at the extra hours you had taken. After your second year of working you had a promotion to supervisor… woo hoo!!... but it turned out it was more responsibility than expected. But it paid a little more and you could not argue with that.

‘I should be a little more optimistic, I’m graduating uni this year’ you’d tell yourself anytime you wanted to pull your hair out because of your measly job. You finished turning off the lights and locking the door, sighing as you felt the cold fall air hit your tired face, taking a deep breath of fresh air… wait a second “Who the fuck is smoking weed!” you yelled in a girly voice, as if this day was not long enough. Since you were in charge of a proper closing you marched off towards a tall man leaning against the back of the store, laughing and conversing on his phone. It was a little nostalgic, you remembered your highschool days, sneaking around and smoking pot in strange places. But he was not as young as a teenager, in fact his build made him look older than you.

“Hey! I’m going to ask you to leave, this is a smoke free property” You tried saying sternly gesturing to the sign right above them that read “no smoking” in bold letters. But your short stature compared to the man made you look like a kid waving your arms around attempting a snake dance.

“What on earth is this?” a man with pink hair and face tattoos said “I’m so scared, I should be so ashamed for not reading the sign” he cackled as he pressed the joint to his lips and inhaled again. “My apologies”

He did not look sorry at all.

“Look, I’ve had a long day. I’d like to go home so please go to a proper location or I’ll-” but you’re cut off with the joint stuffed to your pretty lips.

“You’ll what cutie?” he smirked as you stared at him dumbfounded, the joint stuck to your lip as you tried to figure out a reaction. But the man was already on his way towards his motorbike. Of course he had a motorbike. “First one’s always free darling, next time I’ll charge ya” he winked as he put his helmet on and sped off.

“Mother fucker” you swore and banged your head against the brick wall. ‘Never am I staying late again’ you groaned. You walked to your car, but not without tucking the joint safely in your pocket for when you got back home.

---

And that was your first of many nightly encounters with the pink haired man. You were not surprised to see him anymore in the parking lot, either smoking, laughing with friends or just sitting on his bike staring at his phone. You learned his name was Sukuna… you had asked for it during the nth time you threatened to call the cops. You also learned he sold weed to the store manager, so he pretty much had a free pass on smoking here.

“Working late again (name)? My, they must pay you a lot for you to stay here.” he smirked, watching you with grinning eyes. Your annoyance shot up at the mention of your little over minimum wage pay. They definitely were not paying you enough for the store, but giving you a delinquent like this guy… you had written your resignation letter a few times after his nightly visits. You ignored him as you walked to your car, heavy footsteps followed “I brought ya a little something” He grinned handing you a baggy with a cookie “It’s on the house, made ‘em myself”. Eyes narrowed as you tilted your head up to glare at him, but realized you were a lot closer than you expected. You could hear him breathe, feel the heat off his body and smell the spicy cologne he was wearing as you breathed a little too loudly trying to inhale the scent. “Not today darling, that package is for another date” he winked.

Oh my God.

What have you done? Sure he was hot and you didn’t mind the view, but his mouth made up for that. He was like an evil version of a talking cat. Opening his mouth to smite you, prideful like one and given the opportunity would sit on your face if you were lying down. Wait what?

“I’m not interested in you like that!” you squeeked.

He tilts his head to the side, resting his cheek in the palm of his hand “Then how are you interested in me?”

“I’m not interested unless you’re a customer, or an employee here or something!” Frustrated, you grabbed the zip loc with the cookie in it “And I’ll be confiscating this!”

“Sure thing, I made it just for you. It's a special recipe”

“I’ll let the cops know!” you yelled getting in your car, throwing the cookie on the passengers side as you sped home for the night.

“So if I was an employee…or something...” he wondered gazing at the stars, his thoughts frenzying around as his mind came up with the most brilliant idea. Cackling loudly “you’ve really outdone yourself this time me.” Laughing as he got on his bike, speeding towards his apartment.

---

“A new employee?” You mused, It was pretty hectic at work recently, one of your employee’s had quit and they finally found a replacement “I wonder what they’re like”. You asked yourself as you prepared a training checklist to go over, making sure to not make it too hard on the new guy- you heard it was his first job after all. “Hello! And welcome to the Anavrin family!” you say smiling with closed eyes, as you open them your mouth went agape. ‘What the….’ had the demon cat from the parking lot shrunk and gotten more youthful?

“Hi, I’m Yuji Itadori. You must be my brother Sukuna’s friend. He said to write your name down as someone who referred me to the job”

Chuckling nervously with the clipboard in hand you checked off the box for introductions “I’m (name) the grocery supervisor, and you would be working under me mostly.” Friends with Sukuna? Cutting your wrists open and watching them bleed sounded like the better option.

As the shift progressed Yuji showed you he was the complete opposite of his older brother. Always finishing his tasks, being kind and sweet. Everyone else loved him too, just on the first day. He was stocking milk and eggs the way you had shown him, one of the last tasks of the night. The crowd of customers thinned out as it got late and the store was closer to its closing time. You watched to make sure he was doing them correctly and if he needed any help. ‘This wasn’t so bad’ you thought, closing your eyes and leaning back.

“So how’s my little brother been (name)?”

Your eyes shot open at that voice God no please. “He’s been amazing, but you can’t just put my name as a referral without asking me-” There stood a tall Sukuna in a dress shirt with his sleeves rolled back, probably coming after finishing his day job. Majority of his tattoos were covered except the lines on his wrists that were exposed, making you gulp inaudibly. Suddenly feeling underdressed in your uniform’s polo shirt and measly work pants and sweater as you stared up at his glory.

“Sorry darling, I can’t do what?” he smirked. Mentally praising himself as his plan got into action. He couldn’t lie, (name) was interesting. Always yelling at him, cursing him and swearing that she would murder him if it was the purge. His usual charm not working gave him more of a challenge. Not to mention the way she was kind to younger brother made his heart swell a little.

The annoyance returned once you saw his shit eating grin “You can’t write my name down without asking me!”

As he opened his mouth to speak, the intercom went off, notifying everyone that the store was now closed and any remaining customers should bring their purchases to the front to pay for them.

“Yuji you can go home now, I’ll put this away and start heading out myself” you say massaging your temples with your fingers.

“See you soon (name).” Sukuna winked as he walked towards the exit, waving behind at you as he went outside to wait for his brother.

---

Unfortunately soon had never come… at least not for the last 3 weeks. Making you miss the tall man in more ways than one. Maybe he wasn't so bad now that you thought about it. The usual nightly teasing might make you seethe but you’d be lying if you said you didn’t laugh about it later in your car. Somehow his laid backness and mocking smile made your night light up a little. And the weed that you would “confiscate” really did help you unwind after a long shift.

“Maybe it was because he saw me in my uniform” you grumbled. That had to be it. You weren’t a sore look on the eyes. Right? But compared to him… you hissed as you felt your lower half heat up and tremble at the thought of the man. “Well it's only 11:00 pm… and my first class is at 9:30 am… and then I have work at the 4:00.” Debating your options…. ‘This is why I’m probably so grumpy all the time, I think too much’

“And probably need to get laid” you said aloud. Living alone did have its perks, no one could call you crazy for talking to yourself. Your friends always nagged you about your dry spell too, but one night stands weren’t really fun to you anymore. They were too shallow and you always found yourself feeling more frustrated by them than relaxed.

Quickly rummaging through your drawer, you found your lovely device and turned it on. The buzz filled the room as you fell on the bed and groaned. Your mind was wild as you thought dirty little things about the man. Your eyes rolled back and you felt little whines erupt from your throat as you imagined him on top of you with his signature smirk, choking you and teasing you, calling you terrible names and whispering dirty things in your ear.

But as quickly as you heated up, the device buzzed and suddenly stopped. Too hazy to think straight you tried turning it on and off again, soon realizing it was the battery that was dead. “For fucks sake” you threw the vibrator and it hit the wall and fell with a loud thud. Good. Pulling your covers up, scowling as you shut your eyes to sleep.

The next day only went further downhill. Your lecture was long and uneventful, you forgot there was a guest speaker instead of the usual prof, most of the class skipped anyways so you sat alone and pretended to be interested. And as you went home from campus, your car broke down on the way leaving you stranded in the heat as you waited for the tow truck. You really just wanted to buy some batteries and get some time to yourself before work. But life had another thing planned once you got home, you only left with half an hour before you had to leave for work. Which barely gave you enough time to shower, change into an excuse of an outfit, grab your uniform and run out the door. You heard a few whistles as you ran to the bus stop, most likely because of the skimpy outfit which was pretty much just a long t-shirt made into a dress with stockings. But this was not the time to be picking fights.

Work was more mundane as ever. Emptying, stocking, organizing and talking was all that seemed to happen. You frowned for the nth time in the day when you saw Yuji was not scheduled to work today and you remembered him mentioning that he was going somewhere with friends for the next two days. The boy could always turn a bad day around. He was a blessing to the department and the store as a whole. The long day finally came to an end and the weekend awaited. Stuffing your uniform in your bag as you walked out you saw a familiar motorbike and a man leaning against it getting ready to light a joint.

You didn’t think, all you could hear were your footsteps smacking against the pavement as you ran to the man. Blood rushed to your head as you slowed down, stopping barely an inch away from him. He was wearing jeans and a dress shirt and most important, that smirk.

“I didn’t realize you missed me this much darling, otherwise-” but he was cut short as your hands gripped his head and pulled him down to your lips for a not so innocent kiss. You had to admit, you liked the guy. But as he responded by deepening the kiss and sliding his wet tongue into your mouth to taste you, you realized you wanted more of him. And you found yourself in his apartment, stripped down with his face buried between your legs as you came down from your second orgasm. Him licking you clean and not missing a single bit.

“When” you panted “when is Yuuji-” but he shushed you by gagging his fingers deep in your throat.

“Not until Sunday at least” he smiled with a sinister look, your wetness coating his lips “we have the whole weekend darling” He had waited almost two months for this so he was definitely going to take his time and relish the next few days. How could he not? You were beautiful with a fiery personality, and that showed by the ways you disobeyed him on his bed to get a reaction. It seemed the roles were reversed, but this time there would be consequences. For you at least.

He was relentless but you were no pussy and would not back down either. Both of you with fire and heat taking over your bodies as you brought spark and life into the night, wanting to explore every bit of each other, not stopping until you noticed the sun starting to rise causing exhaustion to take over.

He had let you stay to sleep in, provided you with a clean shirt to wear and even made breakfast for you. Presented you with a “gourmet plate of eggo waffles with the finest Aunt Jemimah maple syrup” he said which earned him a giggle from your pretty lips.

“I can make pretty good waffles from scratch” you told him proudly, puffing out your chest in pride. But these were special to you, the whole moment was special.

“I intend on trying them,” he spoke after a moment. He thought it was out of character for him to ask for a relationship but he wanted to be with you more than just a few times. And wanted more of you in different ways. He wouldn’t get his brother involved if it was a casual fuck relationship that he wanted. Which reminded him he owed the brat 50 bucks.

“Maybe you should come over sometime” you smiled sweetly, blushing a bit.

“I’d like to see you more, take out and get to know you” he said, interrupting your invitation.

“I’d like that too.” you said smiling.

#sukuna x reader #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen #reader inser #ryomen sukuna #yuuji itadori #jujutsu kaisen x reader #sukuna fic #sukuna imagine

216 notes · View notes

nikosasaki · 2 years

Photo

FISHBONES ⋆ act II

Dev learns a lot more than he bargained for. Isaac takes a risk.

act I | act II | act III

word count: 4.4k

A day later, the body had been reported missing. Her name was Rachel Davis, and knowing that had made everything worse. Dev knew of her, but he’d never really known her. She was the girlfriend of Scott Hayes, one of the football players Dev worked hard to avoid. After the news, Scott became the center of attention—even more so than usual—and would talk about Rachel almost constantly. Dev had almost felt sorry for Scott, until he remembered what an insufferable asshole Scott was. Still, he felt sorry for Rachel, and that was far worse.

Thinking of her made Dev sick to his stomach. He constantly heard her muffled underwater screaming, felt the burn of water in his lungs, the taste of salt on the back of his throat. He hardly slept, eyes sunken and dull, and he had become even more quiet than usual. It would have drowned him, if it hadn’t been for Isaac keeping him afloat.

They hadn’t exactly become friends, but against his own better judgment Isaac had stopped trying to distance himself from Dev. Mostly because Dev wouldn’t exactly let him. Being near Isaac made Dev feel safe for reasons he couldn’t even explain to himself.

It was a good feeling, but it wasn’t enough. Rachel's killer was out there, and Dev still couldn't sleep because of it.

“Devin?”

Shit. Dev quickly tried to play off the fact that he had been falling asleep at his desk.

“Yes, sorry, present. Hi,” He looked right at his biology teacher, Mrs. Paulson. Her face was creased with disappointment, and it twisted Dev’s gut. He liked biology, and the last thing he wanted to do was disappoint the teacher who had repeatedly and explicitly told him that he was her favorite student.

“You okay?” The boy next to him, Sam Brown, asked. Dev knew Sam, though admittedly not very well. He was the mascot of the Windfield Trouts, their high school football team. He was scrawny and small, and certainly the most disarming member of the team. He was one of the few people in school that Dev could handle being around.

“Y-yeah. Sorry,” Dev mumbled. “I’m usually a bit more, uh, present.”

“I know,” Sam replied with an awkward laugh. “That’s why I like sitting next to you.”

Dev didn’t respond, instead staring at Sam until he turned away again.

I’m being weird. Shit. Dev knew he was doing the wrong thing. He needed to be normal, and present, and not raise any suspicions. If anything, he needed to be able to pretend. It’s what Isaac had told him to do. Don’t let them know something’s wrong.

A normal Dev would pay attention during class. He’d answer questions, listen to instructions, and make notes. Just be normal, his own thoughts echoed, even though they sounded suspiciously like Isaac now. Just be normal, and everything will be fine.

A bit too late Dev realized he'd forgotten his pencil case at home.

"Uh, Sam?" He asked in a whisper. Sam looked over, one eyebrow raised in a question. "Can I borrow a pen?"

"Oh, yeah. Sure," He smiled, showing off a row of crooked, yellowed teeth, and bent down to pick up his bag. Dev watched as he zipped it open, digging his hand in to take out a worn-down pencil case, the front of his bag sagging down slightly. Dev could see the corner of a People magazine peeking out at him, though there was something off about it.

The letter o had been cut out from it.

When the bell rang Dev fled the classroom before Paulson could talk to him. She probably wanted to ask him what was wrong, and Dev wasn’t even really sure where to start. Paulson was smart. Dev would never be able to think of a lie smart enough to convince her.

He kept his head down, hands wound tightly around the straps of his backpack, as he rushed through the school hallways. He wanted to—needed to—leave. He needed to be home, or maybe even further away. Away from this shitty town and its horrible people. Even as he walked out onto the quiet parking lot, Dev's mind was still screaming at him.

He could see the flattened back tire from a distance, and the screaming only got louder. The back tire of his bike had been slashed.

Someone had cut his tire. Not someone. Sam Brown had cut his tire. Small and disarming Sam Brown. He'd threatened Dev, and now he'd slashed his tire.

Dev was spiraling. He could feel the whole world turning around him. He was back underwater, water in his ears and darkness closing in on him, until he couldn't breathe anymore. His vision became blurry, not even seeing that someone had walked up to him.

“Woah—hey,” Two hands wrapped around Dev’s shoulders, and he whipped up his head to look right at Isaac. “You look like hell, Fishbones.”

Dev didn’t give himself time to complain about the nickname. Isaac’s tone was light—almost friendly—but it didn’t ease the tension in Dev. He could feel his blood rushing through every inch of his body, loud enough to drown out the sound of his own heavy breathing. The sound of Isaac’s worried mumbles was miles away. It wasn’t until Isaac lightly shook Dev’s body that he noticed Isaac had even been talking at all.

“You’re freaking out,” Isaac stated, Still holding Dev by both shoulders. The touch had by now become oddly familiar to both of them. “What’s wrong?”

Dev wasn’t sure where to start. Nothing is wrong. Everything is wrong. He felt the water in his chest as it choked him. Shit. I’m having a panic attack.

“Okay, wrong question, I think,” Isaac said. “Can I—do you want me to help?”

Isaac sounded genuine, worried, and kind. Isaac’s here, he can help. Dev nodded, taking a deep, shivering breath, and looked right at Isaac. Familiar face, familiar eyes. Good.

“I know.”

Isaac frowned at that. “Okay, know what? Just in general, or…?”

Dev wanted to laugh, but it came out as little more than another shaky breath.

“No,” Dev shook his head. “About the… you know. I know. Or, I think I do. I have a suspicion, and I have to do something about it.”

“Dev,” Isaac started, as if he was about to protest the idea, but Dev stopped him.

“No. Don’t say we can’t. You—I can’t live like this. I owe it to Rachel to figure this out. It’s just—my bike, i-it’s fucked, and I can’t do this, and I’m going to do something and you can either help me or fuck off.”

“Okay.”

Dev had prepared himself to continue his speech for hours, until he’d worn the stubborn boy down, so Isaac’s sudden agreement took him by surprise.

“Oh. Okay, as in: you’ll help?”

The corners of Isaac’s mouth curled up slightly. “Yeah.”

Dev stood completely silent for a moment. He was waiting for Isaac to laugh at him, tell Dev that he was being an idiot, but he didn’t. Isaac simply stood as well, looking at Dev and waiting for him to say something.

“Okay,” Dev finally responded.

Isaac grinned a little wider, wrapping an arm around Dev’s shoulders.

“Want me to give you a ride home?”

Dev sat in the passenger seat of Isaac’s old red pick-up truck, his bike having been tossed in the truck bed. The stomach ache hadn’t let up yet, and the stares of his classmates as he climbed into Isaac’s car had done nothing to improve the situation. Though, he could hardly blame them. He was being driven home by Isaac Adler of all people. He would have done the same thing, if he’d seen someone else get into the truck.

His mom was going to have a heart attack when Dev got home.

“So,” Isaac mumbled, eyes on the road. “Do you want me to drive you home, or…”

He was offering Dev an out. Isaac obviously knew people didn’t want to be seen with him. Dev decided at that moment that Isaac was more important than not calling attention to himself. He was Dev’s friend.

“Yeah, but,” Dev could see Isaac’s smile drop at an instant. “Wanna hang out, first? I don’t really—I don’t want to be alone, right now.”

Isaac let out a relieved breath, quietly enough for Dev to get the hint and pretend like he hadn’t noticed. He had, though, and it was another thing for him to add to the ever-growing list of things that haunted his thoughts when he couldn’t sleep at night.

“Yeah. Sure,” Isaac agreed, and he drove them to the bridge. Our bridge.

The smell of rotting eggs hit them the minute they opened the car door, and where Isaac ignored it, Dev gagged a little. Both boys walked in relative silence towards Crossroads. Dev had noticed that Isaac didn’t talk much at all, but he didn’t mind it much.

When Isaac climbed up on the bridge railing, Dev hesitated for a moment before joining him.

“You don’t like this,” Isaac wasn’t looking at Dev to read his expression, but he didn’t need to. He could read Dev even if they were both on the other side of town—Dev was nothing if not an open book.

“I-I’m just scared, I guess.”

“For yourself?” Isaac questioned. “Or for me?”

Dev didn’t respond. He didn’t need to, again. Instead he looked over towards Isaac, still staring ahead. Underneath the dark curls that hung over Isaac’s eyes Dev could see him frown, lost in a thought that Dev might never hear. Isaac wasn’t an open book at all, and Dev hated that he couldn’t read Isaac in the way Isaac could read him.

“I would have done it, if you hadn’t been there,” Isaac finally said, voice soft.

“You mean—”

“Jump.”

Dev couldn’t breathe, again, water dripping back in. No matter how much he wanted to—to take a break and breathe—Dev couldn’t look away. He was afraid that Isaac would disappear if he did.

“It’s the shitty thing about small towns,” Isaac said. “People feel a certain way about you, and that never changes. No matter how hard you try. I just wanted—” Isaac’s voice broke, pitching, and the sentence died in his throat. Everyone in Windfield knew Isaac Adler. They’d decided he would be a fuck-up like his father, and they would never give him the chance to prove them wrong. He would always be his father’s son in their eyes.

Dev moved until his knee was touching Isaac’s. He wanted to show him, in some way, that he understood. He wanted to comfort him, even if he didn’t know where to start.

“I wanted out,” Isaac continued. Dev could see a faint smile on his face at their touch, something he took as a signal to move closer. “But I couldn’t—can’t. Not without… you know. I’m not smart or rich enough to move away, so I’d be stuck. Stuck with my dad.”

Dev was afraid to ask. He’d always assumed—heard the rumors around town—but he never wanted to think it was true. He couldn’t stomach the idea that everyone knew, and didn’t do anything about it.

��T-the—your eye…” Dev dared. Isaac turned his head to Dev now, showing off the ring around his eye. It had faded to a yellow-ish green spot, barely visible on Isaac’s sickly pale skin. Isaac nodded, small and a little ashamed.

“It’s not always, just…” Isaac was whispering, eyes looking down to his hands. He paused for a long time, seemingly unsure of what to say next. “Yeah.”

It was quiet after that. Not the pleasant quiet Dev had gotten used to, but something thick and uncomfortable. Dev wasn’t sure what to say. Instead, he leaned in even closer, pressing his shoulder against Isaac’s. The other boy tensed, for a moment, and Dev feared he’d gone too far this time. He wanted to pull back, but Isaac leaned in, pressing against Dev. he moved his hand slightly, until the side of his hand was resting against Dev’s. They sat comfortably, save for the way Dev’s heart was beating loudly against his ribcage. But for the first time in days, it wasn’t out of fear.

When they got back to Isaac’s car, Dev’s head was swimming. He felt dizzy because of it, having to steady himself against the door before stepping in and sitting down. Something was indescribably different between them. Something was different within Dev, as well.

He couldn’t sit still, inviting himself to dig through Isaac’s glove box while the other boy drove. He riffled through the different cassette tapes that had probably, at one point, been neatly stacked, and pulled out a random one.

For Bird, the sharpie on the label read. Dev’s heart sank, and he immediately chastised himself for it. He had no ownership over Isaac. If he wanted to make mixtapes for some girl, he had every right to do so.

“Who’s Bird?” Dev still questioned, lifting the tape slightly for Isaac to see.

“Oh, that. Uh…” Isaac’s cheeks heated up, something Dev had never seen before. He would have liked the sight of it, if his stomach hadn’t been so tied in knots. “It’s—my mom made that. For me. She used to call me Bird.”

Yikes. Embarrassment crept up on Dev, and he slowly put the tape back.

“You can put it on, if you want,” Isaac said, eyes still on the road. “It’s mostly old rock music, so I’m not sure if it's your thing, but that’s all I have.”

Dev looked at the tapes again: The Smashing Pumpkins, Depeche Mode, The Cranberries. It was music that Dev had never really listened to before. His parents greatly disliked the western hits of the last few decades, and the most American music that would ever be heard around their house was Sinatra and Ellington.

Dev grabbed the for Bird tape again and let it play. He was immediately greeted by the sound of a loud, howling guitar and a moody male voice that sounded vaguely familiar.

“Nirvana,” Isaac informed him, barely audible over the loud music. Dev leaned his head back, enjoying the noise. It sounded right. This was exactly the kind of music Dev had expected Isaac to listen to. Maybe Dev couldn’t read him as well as he wanted to, but he was getting better at it.

As Isaac drove up to the Singh household, Dev had almost forgotten about the situation he'd found himself in. Isaac had turned up the music and started singing along, unashamed, and Dev enjoyed every moment of it. He watched Isaac with a wide grin, hands drumming along to the music on his knees. He hadn’t even been thinking about where they were going until they slowed down slightly, Isaac turning down the volume and looking at Dev.

“So, where to go?”

Dev frowned, turning to look ahead. Oh, right. “It's the one down the road.”

Isaac nodded and turned the volume back up, picking off right where he’d left off. His thumbs were drumming on the steering wheel, and his head was leaning slightly back. He sang with a smile on his face—it was the happiest Dev had ever seen him.

“There we go,” The engine turned off with a pitiful whine, and Dev was inclined to agree with the sound. “Home safe.”

Isaac was still smiling. Dev wanted nothing more than to stay in that car—in that moment—forever. A moment where both of them got to be happy.

Before he could say anything, the front door of his home swung open.

“Devin?” The sound of his mom’s voice sounded distant, but Dev could feel it down in his bones. Dev was still looking at Isaac, watching as the boy’s smile faltered slightly. Dev quickly got out of the car, almost tripping over his own feet as he walked up to his mom.

“Is that the Adler boy?” His mom asked in a hushed tone as she closed in on Dev. “Why is he driving you home? What did you do?”

“It's nothing, mama, I just—” Dev began to plead, but he was interrupted by the sound of a car door slamming shut.

“He didn’t do anything, Mrs. Singh,” Isaac answered for him, making both Dev and his mother turn in surprise. “Some glass got stuck in his bike tire, so I gave him a ride home.”

Isaac was trying hard to sound polite, Dev noticed, making sure to pronounce every syllable clearly and correctly. If Dev hadn’t known any better, he would have thought Isaac was making an effort to make a good first impression.

“Oh…” Dev’s mom had yet to look away from Isaac as the boy lifted Dev’s bike out of the truck bed, walking over to hand it back to Dev.

“Sorry,” He mumbled directly to Dev, their eyes meeting.

“No need for sorry!” Dev’s mom was loud all of the sudden, startling both boys. She was smiling at Isaac, but the air around them felt too tense for a smile like that. Perhaps she hadn’t even noticed. “Thank you for bringing Devin home safe.”

“Yeah. No worries,” Isaac’s smile didn’t entirely reach his eyes. “Have a good night.”

Isaac didn’t look at Dev as he turned around, and it twisted something in Dev’s stomach. He wanted to reach out and stop Isaac from leaving. He couldn’t let him go back home, not after everything Isaac had told him.

“Why don’t you stay for dinner?” The voice of Dev’s mom startled both boys yet again. When Isaac turned back around he was slightly wide-eyed. “As a thank you. Unless you have to be home on time?”

There was something in his mom’s voice that Dev couldn’t exactly place. Isaac seemed doubtful at first, but there was no denying the kindness of Mrs. Singh. If his mom wanted something, it was going to happen.

“Okay, yeah—yes. Thank you.”

Dev spent the entire evening barely able to breathe. It passed him by in a blur: Isaac meeting his family, eating at their dinner table, making Dev’s little sisters laugh—it felt like Dev had been stuck in a fog throughout all of it. But now he was standing in the middle of his own bedroom, and Isaac Adler was sitting on his bed, flipping through his marine life encyclopedia. This was really happening.

“You really weren’t kidding about the fish,” Isaac commented, inspecting the book in his hands. “Not an insult. I think it’s kinda cool.”

Dev couldn’t even pretend to laugh. He was too tense for it.

“You okay, Fishbones? You look like you’re about to vomit.”

Dev nodded, but it didn’t seem to convince Isaac. The boy twisted, putting the book down behind him, and turning his attention to Dev.

“‘M sorry about your bike,” Isaac offered. “I know shit’s been… bad. But we’re gonna figure it out, right?”

“Right,” Dev agreed. Isaac turned to look at Dev, but he couldn’t quite understand the expression on Isaac’s face. It took him a few seconds too long to realize that Isaac was waiting on him to start explaining his freak-out from earlier that day. “Right. What I said.”

“You know,” Isaac agreed with a nod.

"I think so, yeah. It's—well—it's a weird situation, but you never know," Dev paced back and forth, wildly motioning his hands. "So I don't want to—"

"Please get to the point, Fishbones," Isaac interrupted. Dev turned to face Isaac head-on, stomach still turning at the memory of the magazine in Sam’s bag.

"It's Sam."

Isaac grinned for a moment, as if Dev had been joking, but it faded when he noticed Dev wasn’t smiling along with him. "Brown? Nah, he—that doesn't sound right. What—why do you think it's him?"

"The note," Dev answered. He began digging through his backpack, pulling the note out and pointing towards the o. "He was sitting next to me during bio, and he had a magazine in his bag. It was missing a letter. This letter."

Isaac was still shaking his head as he looked over the note, more in shock than disbelief now. "Sam Brown?" He repeated, looking up as Dev affirmed him with a nod.

“I know, it’s—I’m not sure he did it. Or—well. He might’ve. He doesn’t look the type, but then again that’s what people always say about serial killers. Sam’s not a—not that we know, anyway. He could be! I don’t—”

Dev could feel a hand wrap around his wrist, tugging at him to come sit down on the bed. He shut up immediately, looking down at Isaac’s big brown eyes. He could see the worry in them, as kind as it was unexpected. Still. After everything Dev had learned about him, Isaac was unpredictable. Still unreadable.

“It’s okay,” Isaac assured him in a soft voice. Dev sat down next to him, their knees touching. Dev’s bare skin against the fabric of Isaac’s jeans. He was still holding Dev’s wrist, thumb circling the back of his hand softly. “We’re going to be okay. We’ll figure it out.”

Dev was sitting close to him—too close. Close enough to see the little moles trailing across his face and the faded scar that stretched across his nose. Close enough to see the ring of golden brown around his iris. Close enough that when Isaac leaned in, his lips were on Dev’s before Dev could even notice that he’d moved at all.

He’s kissing me, Dev thought as panic rose in his throat. Scared. Not of the kiss itself, but of how it made him feel. I want to kiss him back.

Isaac was gone before Dev could react, frozen and wide-eyed as Isaac jumped up off the bed. He was frantic, turning around himself to grab his jacket and boots. “T-that was stupid. I don’t—that wasn’t—”

Dev stood up too, eyes still wide, hands fumbling in front of his chest. “Isaac—”

“Look,” Isaac turned around sharply, expression wild and angry. “If you’re gonna call me shit, you can save it. It’s nothing I haven’t heard before. Just—I’ll leave, yeah? Won’t even come near you anymore. Just… don’t tell anybody.”

Isaac sounded hurt, and Dev wanted nothing more than to make that hurt go away.

For the second time in his life, Dev acted without thinking. He reached forward to grab Isaac’s face with both hands and kissed him before either of them could change their minds. Isaac tensed for a moment, but before worry could so much as find him Isaac let out a deep breath against Dev’s lips, and he kissed him back. Really kissed him, warm and open-mouthed and like he belonged right there. He did. He does.

For the first time in days, Dev wasn’t drowning.

Isaac pulled away first, dizziness catching up to Dev and almost making him fall over.

“Oh,” Isaac was smiling, pupils blown wide as he looked at Dev like it was the first time he’d ever really seen him. In a way, it was.

“I-I like you. A lot,” Dev admitted hastily, shaking slightly.

“Good,” Isaac spoke softly, slowly, one hand on Dev’s cheek. “I like you too. A lot.”

Dev was still in a daze when he arrived at school the next morning. He’d slept soundly for the first time in at least a week, and he hadn’t thought about Sam or Rachel all night. Instead, his mind was completely occupied with Isaac. He was blinded by his own thoughts, not even noticing the commotion in the school hallway as he walked in. It wasn’t until someone bumped into him that Dev’s head was pulled out of the clouds.

“Sorry!” The girl that ran into him said before continuing on her way.

Dev shrugged it off, looking around the hallway to see all of the students crowded together in groups, all looking down at their phones. Weird. He continued down the hall, towards his locker, only to find that Isaac wasn’t there. After last night, he’d expected to see Isaac before class, at least, and his absence hurt Dev a little. The familiar burn of anxiety began heating up in the pit of his stomach.

Dev walked up to his locker, only to find half the football team standing in front of it. Including Sam Brown. Dev’s heart sank at the sight of the wiry boy, thoughts going back to the note that burned in his backpack. Still, Dev needed to get to his locker—needed to keep acting like everything was fine. Without evidence, there was nothing he could accuse Sam of. He took a deep breath before daring to reach out, softly tapping Sam on the shoulder.

“I—uh, excuse me, can I—what are you guys looking at?” Sam turned with a confused face on his frown, and only seemed to tense more at the sight of Dev.

“I-it’s Rachel,” He explained, turning his phone towards Dev with a trembling hand. “They found her body. Apparently that weird Adler kid did it. Police is asking everybody to keep an eye out for him.”

No, no, no.

Dev barely managed to get to the bathroom on time to bend over the toilet, a shiver running down his spine before his breakfast came back up and out of him. He was shaking, holding onto the sides of the stall for support as he retched into the toilet. It tasted like brine and fish and the bottom of the marsh. No matter how empty his stomach felt, his lungs still burned. The water was still there. It had flooded his lungs without him even noticing.

Dev took a deep breath—in, hold, one, two, three, out—and gathered himself the best he could. He had to find Isaac, they had to talk to the police, and he had to fix everything. Dev couldn’t lose him. Not like this. Not at all.

The halls had emptied out by the time Dev managed to find his way out of the bathroom. He couldn’t even think about going to class, instead heading towards his locker. He would get rid of his books for that day and leave. He would find Isaac, and they would figure this out together. Just as Isaac had promised they would.

Dev was digging through his bag with one hand as he opened his locker with the other, stuffing his books inside before slamming it shut again. Lifting his bag, Dev saw a small, folded piece of paper on the ground, the pit in his stomach sinking impossibly deeper.

No. Not again.

Dev reached out and picked it up, barely able to unfold it with the way his hands were trembling. The paper was hardly bigger than a post-it note, and the message on it was written in a horribly messy handwriting that could really only belong to one person.

taglist: @kendelias @chlobenet @bravelittleflower @lukespatterson @lizziesxltzmxn @wokenhardies @delicateblackrose @eddysocs @heavenlysurf @ocfairygodmother @phoebestarks @villanele @nolanhollogay @stanshollaand @lovehermioneforever @camiemendes @raith-way @kiara-carrera @hiddenqveendom @decennia @luucypevensie @hughstheforcelou @jinxsflame @aaudace @foxesandmagic @jewelswrites-ish

( also tagging @witchofinterest )

#ocappreciation #ochub #original story #chapter update #*tib #fishbones #my writing #my edits #ch: bird #ch: dev #hi hello heres this

22 notes · View notes

vivid-wisp · 3 years

Text

Friday Night Funkin but I compelled a list of every lore/canon thing confirmed about FNF, specifically story elements said by the devs themselves

DISCLAIMER: YOU CAN TAKE THIS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT IF YOU WANT. Despite the devs confirming things, remember they can obviously change their mind. This list includes minor/semi-important bits, so lore you probably don’t know. “Major” lore most people know won’t be on this. Long post. This includes most if not all canon details the devs have stated on their social medias like Twitter, Twitch, Reddit, etc. These are not personal ideas or headcanons. REBLOGS GREATLY APPREICATED.

Boyfriend

- Hair is naturally cyan, not dyed. He is 19 years old. Boyfriend is a college dropout. He likes just speaking in "beeps and boops" sounds, it's not a language. He has ADHD. He's afraid of lightning.

- Both his parents work in accounting, they also own a dog BF has but can't take care of himself. Not known what dog breed it is.

- He and Hatsune Miku are siblings, and because of this BF is most likely asian specifically Japanese. Miku will be aged up to be the older sibling if she ever gets into the actual game.

- He loves pepperoni pizza from Dominos. Loves donuts the most out all FNF characters.

- Him and Pico are exes. This makes BF apart of the LGBTQ+ community.

- BF is very dumb just like GF. This also means he’s very confident, essentially fearless.

- Boyfriend sucks at FromSoftware games. However he's a really good scout player in Team Fortress 2. He's also likely to say "pog."

- Boyfriend is very good at finger board tricks, it’s one of the reasons he won Girlfriend’s heart.

Girlfriend

- She is 19 years old and afraid of lightning. She’s a demon and is a lot more chilled back than BF, she’s very fearless. She’s taller than BF by a good bit.

- Her favorite soda is Cherry Dr. Pepper and Cheerwine. Her favorite pizza topping is olive.

- GF likes to play video games, her favorite being Tetris.

- GF is extremely dumb just like BF and puts a lot of faith into BF to handle things. She does have emotions, she’s just very chill, aloof, or too dumb to realize. Or all of the above.

- The rest of GF's family aren't famous rapper/singers, just Dad and Mom.

- BF is the “top” but GF lets him be. (Phantom Arcade said this directly)

Daddy Dearest

- Because DD is retired, he gets his income from DMCAing people on Youtube for using his songs and music.

- At some point DD pretends to “accept” BF, which really makes it harder for BF and does more crazy tricks on him. It’s a case of “keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.”

- GF’s dad may have known BF’s dad before.

Skid and Pump

- They get afraid sometimes but not at the right things, like monsters they aren’t afraid but are of natural things like heights. Somewhat similar to BF and GF.

- Skid and Pump were tricked by the Monster to get GF as a “treat” which is why they rap battle BF. When they fail the Monster comes out in the scrapped song for Week 2.

Pico

- He is 20 years old. Pico's School is canon to the Friday Night Funkin' universe. He's depicted having a tooth gap as a kid.

- Pico is a mercenary who was hired by Daddy Dearest to kill BF, he was only given a location and not a picture or name. Turns out BF is actually someone Pico used to know, implied by Phantom as not seeing BF for a long time, possibly years.

- Pico has schizophrenia, likely caused by trauma from Pico’s School, it’s likely the reason he always carries his gun with him as he’s very paranoid of people. He may have more than just schizophrenia.

- Him and BF are exes. He's been described by Tankman/Captain as "sexually ambiguous friend."

- Likes to drink McDonald's Sprite. And just like BF, he's likely to say "pog."

Mommy Mearest/Mommy Must Murder

- Unlike the Dad who is a ex-rockstar, MM is still working her job as a popstar.

- Likes to drink White Claw.

- The Henchmen that appear in the back are actually 5 days old, because they were grown/bottles in jars. They are clones.

Monster/Lemon Monster

- Hijacked Week 5 at the mall after the battle duet with the Dad and Mom, everyone at the mall scattering after Monster’s appearance.

- Tricked the Spooky Kids to get the GF as a “treat” so that it can eat GF and BF.

- The head of Monster is not actually a lemon, it’s just how it’s head is shaped.

- Is able to twist perception, presumably why after the hijack by Monster everything looked gorey and twisted.

Senpai/Spirit

- Senpai is just an AI in the game while Spirit is a completely separate entity from Senpai, who is self aware and is related to the real world.

- Senpai is used to being loved and admired, so when he’s not loved and doesn’t get his way he becomes a jerk. Senpai is a pathetic sore loser, that’s why he got angry after he lost to BF.

- GF used to play the Hating Simulator game all the time when she was younger like 8 years old and liked Senpai, but after being sucked into the game with BF and seeing how Senpai acted she doesn’t like Senpai and dislikes him.

- Spirit was trapped inside the character Senpai, Senpai is not being controlled by the Spirit. Senpai still acts as himself.

- The Spirit was trapped inside the game by the Dad, meaning there’s history of the GF’s dad having past relationships with other people.

- Senpai was originally a teacher and designed as one, but was later changed.

Ritz

- Ritz and BF are canonically brothers, in the sense of a "Stuart Little" situation. So adopted in a way.

- Ritz skateboards to travel sometimes.

Tankman/Captain

- The war area that Tankman and his men are on is a military base that BF and GF trespassed on, unlike the apocalyptic setting in the original Tankmen series.

- The Captain doesn’t actually know Pico, BF, or GF which make the assumptions he says “don’t you have a school to shoot up” and “no prom for you this year” false. He just says them because he’s an jerk.

Miscellaneous

- Every "week" takes place on a Friday.

- Week 2 happens after Week 4. And Week 6 happens after Week 5 or Week 2. This may be changed in the future.

- The characters' birthdays are on November 1st since that's when the game came out, not specified if it's just 1 or multiple characters' birthdays.

- Everyone's favorite fast food is Arby's. (Ninjamuffin however says he's only saying this since he wants to be promoted by them on Twitter)

- Yes Boyfriend and Girlfriend are their canon names, not Keith.

- Week 5 happens because BF takes GF on a date to visit Santa for Christmas, but the parents show up to ruin everything. Mall Santa is dead if you “game over” in Week 5.

- Week 7 happens because GF’s parents sent BF and GF on a “vacation” which was to crash a plane to kill BF, knowing GF would be fine. They land/crash near military zone which GF’s parents didn’t know or intended. Pico shows up because he was sent to “fetch the corpse” of BF, he didn’t kill BF obviously and is now in deep shit from GF’s parents after messing up his job twice.

#friday night funkin #fnf #fnf boyfriend #fnf pico #fnf girlfriend #fnf skid and pump #fnf monster #tankman #fnf senpai #daddy dearest #mommy mearest #i went through a lot of digging for this mostly as a note for myself but youre totally free to use this too since these Are in fact canon :#i fact checked everything guys this took so long everything here is literally canon #this post has been sitting in my drafts for MONTHS #long post

136 notes · View notes

hermannsthumb · 3 years

Note

If you're still taking requests!! Fake Dating situation where Newt and Hermann go to a public event together. they're used to being mistaken for a couple at the Shatterdome, so they expect to be mistaken for a couple at the event. But then they meet someone who definitely Does Not mistake them for a couple (because homophobia) and assumes they're just Very Good Friends. cue Newt and Hermann aggressively pretending to be a couple.

always and forever taking requests!!! this is such a fun one, THANK YOU

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

“We’ll have to go in eventually,” Newt says.

Next to him, Hermann silently fumes, apparently unable to decide whether to continue tugging at his stiff collar or grinding the bottom of his cane—over and over, in a sort of circle—against the sidewalk, leaving streaks of black rubber behind. “I hate these damn things,” he says under his breath, though it’s unclear whether he means his outfit or the event. Hermann’s dressed up tonight in a suit that’s hilariously oversized (even for him) and fraying in places, with a bowtie that he’s knotted crookedly. Newt wonders if the suit’s a hand-me-down from his brother. “Begging for funding, as if we haven’t anything better to do with our time. As if we’re not working for the better of all of them. It’s bloody degrading.” He works his jaw angrily. “And if that isn’t enough—everyone always makes—assumptions—about us.”

Oh, okay. The event. “Assumptions?” Newt says.

Hermann lets out a hiss of air between his teeth. “Assumptions,” he repeats, delicately. “About—ah—the certain nature of our relationship.”

“Oh,” Newt says. “Oh.”

At the last one of these things they went to, someone (actually generous enough to open their checkbook for once) asked Hermann whether they should make it out to the PPDC or Dr. Gottlieb and his husband. At the one before that, a dinner event, the name placards at their table said Dr. Newton Geiszler-Gottlieb and Dr. Hermann Geiszler-Gottlieb. Before that, at a more casual affair at an up-scale bar, some tech hottie sent Newt a martini, before hurrying over and apologizing in person that (gesturing between Newt and Hermann) he didn’t realize Newt was with someone. Newt really wishes Hermann would just get it through his head already that introducing someone as your partner and dropping the important research part of it tends to hold drastically different connotations outside of, like, the group of people who know them on the Shatterdome base, because that would clear up probably sixty percent of the confusion. If not just so he can pick up a few numbers at these things for once. Still, though—for some reason it’s never really bothered him like it clearly bothers Hermann, but Newt supposes he’s not exactly a catch by any standards, so it makes sense. “I just don’t know where they get the impression—” Hermann begins, and Newt interrupts him.

“Yeah, well, you should take it as a compliment,” he says. “You could do a lot worse than me.” He opens the door for Hermann and ushers him in. “Seriously, we’ll be late if we don’t go in now, and that makes it, like, twice as awkward.”

As usual, they have to sit through some incredibly boring speech about how they’re sitting among some of the best scientific minds of the century right now, how they’re honored to play host to their colleagues at the PPDC, how the buffet will opening shortly for dinner, and then a different person gets up and makes another speech, and then another person with another, until finally the first person gets back up and promises that closing remarks will be in three hours, and how they should all enjoy themselves until then. Claps. Under his breath, Newt says to Hermann, “Doubt it.”

“Which side shall I take, then?” Hermann sighs. He’s probably the only one in the room not clapping. He told Newt a while ago that he doesn’t like to put on airs, and especially not in the service of flattering someone’s ego, and he’ll only clap for a speech if he feels it deserves it. He’s such a weirdo.

Newt surveys the room, considering. Luckily, people tend to flock together in similar little groups at these things. Birds of a feather shit. “Left. Everyone on the right is too young and hip-looking, so that’s out of your range.” He gets a cane to his shin, and grins even has he winces. “Kidding. Let’s just do it together, it’ll make it more bearable.”

Their first target is a forty-something marine biologist who’s very excited to meet Newt— “I followed your research on jellyfish for years!” she says. “I had no idea you’d be here tonight!” —and who is more than happy to promise donating a little to help fund the war effort. Their next is someone younger than both of them, whom Newt suspects is heir to his dad’s tech company or something, and who is easily guilted into promising even more than the biologist. “We’re having a lot better luck than usual,” Newt says, as they watch the kid hurry away to mingle with a group of other twenty-somethings. “Do we look more, like, respectable tonight or something?”

“It’s the open bar,” Hermann says.

“Yeah, probably,” Newt agrees.

“And anyway, we’re still terribly behind on our goal, so there’s no use getting too pleased over ourselves,” Hermann says. He sniffs. “If you still want that bloody—whatever it was—kaiju spleen, we need at least—”

“Okay, okay,” Newt says.

He nods at a small group standing by one of the buffet tables, holding half-eaten plates. People tend to be in better moods when they’ve eaten something. Hopefully more generous moods too. “Let’s try them,” he says.

Hermann is the one to initiate the conversation this time, launching at once into a variation of the little script he and Newt penned so long ago the night before their very first gala. “Good evening,” he says. They get a few polite smiles and nods of acknowledgement in return. “I’m Dr. Hermann Gottlieb, and this is my partner—” Newt tries not to groan. “—Dr. Newton Geiszler. We’re here representing the PPDC tonight. I don’t suppose we could have a moment of your time?”

The mood of the group changes immediately, but why Newt can’t figure out; it’s like they suddenly go hostile on them. Hostile, and tense. Newt is suddenly astutely aware of how each of the three dudes have a good few inches on both him and Hermann. “The PPDC?” the guy in front says. He's not smiling anymore. Maybe they all supported the jaeger program defunding or something. “Sure.”

“Er,” Hermann says. He clears his throat. “Newton—that is, my partner and I work for the kaiju research division at the PPDC’s Hong Kong base. As you may well be aware, the latest cuts to the PPDC’s budget have been quite dev—”

“So you and your friend,” the guy says, with a little more emphasis on the friend than Newt would like, “are going around asking for donations? To help buy pencils or something?”

“Well. Essentially,” Hermann says. He doesn’t seem to have picked up on what Newt did, though he grows visibly nervous anyway. Outright hostility isn't anywhere near as common as indifference at these sorts of things. “Though, pencils is—er—a vast understatement.” He casts a furtive, desperate glance at Newt—a help me if Newt ever saw one. “My partner—Dr. Geiszler—simply doesn’t have enough funding for the samples he needs to study—and donations would certainly help with our funding for other necessary supplies—"

“I sure we’d love to help you and your friend,” the same guy says, and there’s no missing the emphasis this time, “but we’re a little busy at the moment. Please come back and talk to us later, though.”

Hermann clamps his mouth shut. Newt narrows his eyes, and in a move bold enough to surprise even himself, snags Hermann’s arm and links his own with it. “Sure thing,” he says loudly. Hermann goes rigid and stiff under him. “Come on, babe, let’s get something to eat. I know how you get when you’re hungry.” Then, before he can stop himself, he brushes a single kiss at Hermann’s cheek, and tries not to laugh at the looks they get.

He waits until they’re out of eyesight (Newt having had to sort of drag Hermann along with him) to drop Hermann’s arm. Hermann hasn’t moved a muscle since Newt touched him, and even now, he just sort of blinks at Newt. “What on Earth—?”

“Dude,” Newt says. “That guy was a total jerk. He thought we were together, and—”

“He did not,” Hermann says. “He kept calling you my ‘friend’. It was a bloody nice break from what usually happens, I might add, and now you’ve gone and—”

“Hermann,” Newt says. He sighs. “You’re, like, totally missing my point. He thought we were together.”

“But he called you—”

“Yeah, exactly,” Newt says.

Hermann blinks a few more times. “Ah,” he says.

“No way in hell do we need his money,” Newt says. “Anyway, sorry about the—” He touches Hermann’s cheek, and then gestures to Hermann’s left arm, which is now just sort of hanging limply at Hermann’s side. “I just wanted to screw with him. I won’t do it again, though—”

“No!” Hermann says quickly. The tips of his ears go red, and he fumbles as he grabs Newt’s arm again. A sudden warmth situates itself like pressure over Newt’s chest, identical to the kind that’s creeping up his wrist where Hermann’s fingers just grazed his bare skin, and he’s struck with the sudden bizarre urge to duck his head and blush himself. Since when has Hermann had this kind of effect on him? “What I meant to say is—” Hermann licks his wide lips. “He might still see us. We ought to—to keep up the ruse.”

“To really screw with him?” Newt says.

“For what other reason?” Hermann says.

Newt forces himself to keep a smooth, neutral expression as Hermann unwinds his arm to lace their fingers together instead, with a lot more awkward fumbling. “Uh-huh,” he says. He remembers how soft and smooth Hermann’s cheek had felt, so unlike his own, which can never seem to hold a clean shave. How nice Hermann's hand feels in his now. He’s definitely going to have to unpack this later. “Yeah, that’s—good idea, Hermann. Let’s do that.”

#newmann #maria's fanfiction tag #Hermann's POV in this fic is just newt touching his hand - REALIZATION #Anonymous

78 notes · View notes

whentheynameyoujoy · 3 years

Text

So the ATLA Movie Is... Good, Actually?

Just kidding, of course it’s not, it’s so bad it sucked the paint off my walls. But after ten years of people pointing out its glaring flaws, why would anyone bother talking about this garbage heap if not to go the other direction? So here’s a very brief and very superficial list of things the movie does get kinda... not atrociously wrong.

And they won’t be fake hipster pokes, like “It’s fun to laugh at”, “The Rifftrax for this is OK”, or “Kudos to the actress for managing to say we believe in our beliefs as much as they believe in theirs with a straight face”.

(though now that I mentioned it, it is fun to laugh at, the Rifftrax for this is OK, and massive props indeed.)

Rasta Iroh

Yes, I know it’s not exactly the aesthetic of the real Iroh or that it makes no cultural sense for him to sport this do when no one else in the racebended Indian “OMFG what were you thinking Shyamalan” Nation does but goddamn, long-haired dudes are my one mortal weakness and I will ogle the hell out of him.

Jesus is that a man bun I see that’s it mum I’ve been deaded

Yue’s hair

No.

Now we’re talking. Yue’s hair turned white when the Moon spirit gave her life, so it makes sense for it to go black again when she sacrifices herself to revive the koi fish. It’s a neat detail I find myself expecting whenever I rewatch the scene in the show. Yes, I realize it’d be a pointless hassle to animate since she, unlike in the movie, immediately goes on to become the Moon herself but still. I like.

The Blue Spirit’s mop

Zuko, hun, what’s with the dance-off?

First of all, I want to imagine that Zuko the Theatre Nerd was about to leave his ship with just the mask like in the show but then stuck his head into the cleaning cupboard and went, “Yeah, more coverage might be good, even though it do seem mighty fried to shit”.

Which makes me giggle. I like to giggle.

And secondly, the hair’s movement is what makes the static mess of the Blue Spirit’s solo fight scene appear at least bit more dynamic because God knows the cinematography isn’t doing it.

Any particular reason why it’s at the edge of the action, shot all boring-like?

Now, I get why circular shots would be reserved for Aang while he’s in the practice area and then used once the two join forces. What I don’t get is why Aang’s part of the action scene has a defined visual style while Zuko’s delegated to a few stationary wide shots from afar as though he’s a tertiary goon, meaning that when the time comes to combine the respective pieces of cinema language and visually convey collaboration, there’s not really much to combine.

But as long as Zuko is stuck in this static mess, it’s that awesome disaster on his head flopping about that draws the eye, helping me understand that something even is going on over there.

It also prevents me from paying much attention to how the extras are mostly just staying put and a lot of the hits don’t land, so that’s good.

The music slaps

James Newton Howard is too good for this.

youtube

Pls ignore that the word “gods” is used in the ATLA universe

I can’t be the only one who constantly uses this piece to daydream about writing specific fanfic scenes instead of, you know, actually sitting down and writing them. It’s just so good at communicating a sense of sorrow while speaking of rebirth that I find myself getting misty-eyed whenever I listen to it. Unfailingly, the soundtrack as a whole manages to break through the mile-thick crust of horrible acting, confusing writing, and uninspired cinematography and make me feel things. And considering how everything on screen is working against it, that’s no small feat.

Imagine what a powerful experience it would be if the score was used in service of an actual movie.

Dev Patel

No wonder since he’s the only one in the film occupying that crucial intersection between “is a good actor” and “was given something to work with”. It also doesn’t hurt that he breaks with the trend of actors starring in martial arts flicks despite never having done any martial art.

And all EIP-jokes about “stiff and humorless” aside, he’s a pretty decent Zuko considering how abridged this version of the character is. A while ago, I remember hearing a reviewer say that with his comedic chops, Patel should have been cast as Sokka. And on one hand, yes, god, absolutely, I need to see that asap. But on the other? He captures all layers of Book 1!Zuko, the desperate obsession, rage, and self-loathing, and at the same time gives you a peek at the soft momma’s boy dork that’s buried underneath. For Christ sakes, he exudes intensity and ambivalence even when acting against an emotionless hunk of wood that’s giving him nothing in return.

Oh, and I guess there’s a tree in the frame.

Ba dum tss

What can I say, the guy’s good.

Showing vs telling

OK, so this movie is all tell and no show, except for one single moment. And it’s the exact moment where the original goes in the other direction in terms of how information is conveyed.

See, I never liked this. The revelation is preceded by Iroh giving advice to Zuko who scolds him for nagging. Iroh then apologizes, moves in to say the line above, and is interrupted by Zuko who seems rather uncomfortable with Iroh laying his feelings out like this. And once they’re out, Zuko verbally confirms that he knew already and Iroh didn’t need to bother.

All this extraneous information and pussyfooting ends up weakening what should be a profound scene that reveals to us, the viewers, how deep the relationship between these two in fact runs.

Compare to the movie where Dadroh acts like a parent by fussing and worrying, with Sonion needing a single look to tell him and us that he understands what it’s all really about.

It’s genuinely efficient and just good.

No Cataang

Fine, a bit mean-girl bitchy from me since I only start minding the ship in Book 3. And probably unintentional on the part of the creators since there are moments where I think they’re trying to set the romance up? There’s a, well, an attempt to recreate the famous introductory shot of fateful meaningful destiny of meaningness, there’s some slight note of saving each other’s bacon going on, I’m pretty sure they’re the only ones in the film who smile, and oh, right, Katara’s shoved into her post-canon useless role where she doesn’t ever do anything, and is all about Aang right from the get go.

Yes, I will blame the “executive producers” because a) I’m incredibly petty, and b) it’s perfectly in line with their vision of the character so why the hell not.

Hilariously, none of it reads on screen because the actors are just... yeah. These poor kids are struggling so much with delivering their own lines and portraying their own characters they don’t seem to have any strength left to create something between them. To be fair, the bare-bones shot-reverse shot style of their scenes doesn’t exactly lend itself to the idea they occupy the same universe, let alone are friends or each other’s crushes.

And I enjoy this immensely because it allows me to forget the depressing horror show Katara’s life turns into post ATLA.

Yes Zutara

I need to delve into this because it’s fucking hilarious. So in a movie which fails to establish the original’s central romance so spectacularly that if Aang got lost in a crowd I don’t believe Katara would notice, SomEOnE thought it’d be a good idea to add an utterly unnecessary non-canon moment where Zuko for some reason feels the need to pause his character-defining hunt for the Avatar which otherwise has him ignore everything and snap at everyone, and explain his central conflict to an unconscious peasant he doesn’t know, complete with gently pushing the hair from the pretty girl’s the soulmate’s the Water Tribe Ambassador’s the Fire Lady’s the love of his life’s her face away, AFTER his uncle nagged him twice to find a girl and settle down.

I just wanted to make sure we’re all on the same page and this is what we really saw.

Celibate Avatars

I have no idea why the decision was made, if TPTB thought expecting viewers to understand the story through the lens of Buddhism would be too much, or if the “executive producers” already worked their retconny magic. What I do know, however, is that there’s a big shift in worldbuilding and Aang’s struggle with his role as the Avatar stops being a personal conflict defined by a) his grief for Air Nomads, b) his notion of being robbed of the loved ones in his life, and c) the selfish attachment to Katara he confuses with true love. Instead, what he has a difficulty to accept is apparently a general notion of who Avatars are supposed to be, i.e. a fantasy version of Catholic monks, no family and worldly relations, period.

I guess either someone understood the original’s portrayal of de/attachment as “hermit no freaky”, or thought the audience would so why not go there outright.

Now, do I like this on its own? No, God no, it makes the world infinitely poorer and changes the story from an exploration of ideas which aren’t all that ingrained in the West, to a cliché tropester about a Catholic priest going Protestant so that he could be with a girl.

At least I assume that’s where they were going to take this eventually.

I mean, I think the direction was “look conflicted, this isn’t the final stage of your journey”?

But consider this—the show went there, it built on the concepts of Eastern philosophy and touched upon the ideas of spiritual awakening, only to swerve in the end and strongly imply they’re bullshit and Aang should have never wasted his time with them.

So honestly, I much prefer scanty worldbuilding to an insulting retcon by a damn rock.

Multiracial Air Nomads

Probably the most substantial “no hint of irony” point on this list and a genuinely good addition to the universe’s worldbuilding.

See, the notion of the elemental nations being perfectly separate and never mingling before Sozin has always been sketchy but it’s especially ridiculous in the case of airbenders. It never made sense to me for all airbenders to be Air Nomads and for all Air Nomads to be monks and for all monks to be chilling at the temples all the time to facilitate a quick everyone-dies genocide should an imperialistic warlord ever decide to commit one.

Because committing everyone to a single way of life at a handful of places kinda goes against the central philosophy behind airbending. Like the freedom and nomadism part.

Instead, there should be more variety to the airbending culture, with some staying at the temples as monks, hermits, and teachers while others live as nomads, travelling the world and creating more airbenders, with the resulting children in turn being influenced by the non-airbending cultures they grew up in.

And thus, not only should airbenders not be modeled after a single culture to create a one-size-fits-all lifestyle, but they should have the most diverse and dynamic culture out of the four nations.

And it’d be precisely this diversity which would pave way for an eventual reveal that some of them survived, that their complete extermination is impossible.

Because they’re everywhere.

You know.

Like air.

#atla #atla movie #zutara #anti bryke #dev patel #the last airbender #anti-kataang

172 notes · View notes

horansqueen · 3 years

Text

Stuck With You - Epilogue 2

Epilogue 2 : Anyone But You

🡪chapter 1 🡪chapter 2 🡪chapter 3 🡪chapter 4 🡪chapter 5 🡪chapter 6 🡪chapter 7 🡪chapter 8 🡪chapter 9 🡪chapter 10 🡪chapter 11 🡪chapter 12 🡪chapter 13 🡪chapter 14 🡪chapter 15 🡪chapter 16 🡪chapter 17 🡪chapter 18 🡪chapter 19 🡪chapter 20 🡪chapter 21 🡪chapter 22 🡪chapter 23 🡪chapter 24 🡪chapter 25 🡪chapter 26 🡪chapter 27 🡪chapter 28 🡪chapter 29 🡪chapter 30 🡪chapter 31 🡪chapter 32 🡪chapter 33 🡪chapter 34 🡪chapter 35 🡪chapter 36 🡪chapter 37 🡪chapter 38 🡪epilogue 1

College Enemies To Lovers AU

characters // masterlist // instagrams // mood board

I don't change my mind for anybody I won't waste my time on just anybody I won't share my life (with anyone but you)

It's such a long road (with anyone but you) That I couldn't follow (with anyone but you) Never anyone but Never anyone but (anyone but you)

THANK YOU! thank you for reading this story, for commenting this story, for reblogging and liking this story. Thank you to everyone on the update list, everyone who sent me requests and ideas, everyone who followed this story and everyone who was excited for every chapter. Thank you to everyone who messaged me, complimented me, thank you for all the emotions you shared with me through the characters. THANK YOU SO MUCH! i love you all. i can’t explain how much!

This is the final chapter. i hope you enjoy it and that this story reached your expectations. and i hope it makes you want to read my next story!

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH THANK YOU TIMES INFINITY!

NIALL

I stared at the painting on the wall as people walked slowly around me. I was proud of my girlfriend for her first exhibition but it was the very first time I was seeing this specific painting and although I knew no one had seen the picture it was based on, I recognized it immediately. She had asked me if she could expose the pictures but I couldn't see them anywhere. Instead, she had painted one of them and I was staring at it. The feelings invading me were the same than when I looked at the actual picture and I realized it was probably the moment that made me feel like that.

I felt her soft touch on my upper arm and detached my eyes from her art, blinking a few times to look at her. She raised her eyebrows slightly and bit her bottom lip nervously.

"You hate it."

"No!" I quickly replied, shaking my head and frowning a bit. "No it's just, so different than what you normally paint."

"I know, I think painting the human body is so complex and it really depends on how you see the person. It gets so much more emotional when you paint someone you love."

Her eyes found the painting and she breathed in before sighing. "Maybe I shouldn't have painted it, maybe I shouldn't have exposed it... I just thought it was a way to expose the pictures without really showing them to anyone."

"It's amazing, Devie." I whispered, making her turn around to look at me again.

Our eyes met and she sent me a shy smile. I turned to her and cupped her face, running my thumbs on her cheeks gently before bending down to kiss her lips.

"Dev!"

My girlfriend broke our kiss when she heard her name and I looked up to see Lewis, Daxia, Louis and Eleanor getting closer. We had been hanging out a lot recently and it was nice to be around people like them. Louis and I were also getting closer, probably because of Devon, and I liked that. I had missed him.

"This painting is beautiful." Daxia let out, making her glass turn in her hands as she stared at it. "I mean they all are, this one is just different."

"I was just telling her that." I smiled, glancing at my girlfriend.

"A lot of emotions thrown on that canvas." Louis pointed out, raising his eyebrows, and I immediately knew that he had guessed.

I thought about the real pictures that we had left at my apartment. Devon had created a mobile with them and we had placed it in a corner of my bedroom. Sometimes, I stared at it, just watching it move to see the lyrics written behind one of the pictures,. It brought so many memories to my mind and I knew It always would, no matter how many years passed.

"Hey, where are we celebrating tonight?" Lewis asked as Louis sent a smirk to Devon.

"Nope, not tonight guys, but we'll plan something soon." I quickly replied, shaking my head. "Tonight I'm just spending the night alone with my main girl."

"Seriously, why do you guys call each other like that?" Louis asked with a grimace. "Does that imply you have side girls and guys?"

Devon chuckled but I shook my head. "It's a secret between us, Tommo." I just replied, hitting his arm gently and making my girlfriend laugh.

I didn't answer his question because I knew he was joking, but it made me wonder if Devon really knew why I called her like that. It took an hour and a half before we finally arrived at my apartment and as soon as we walked in, I pressed her against the wall, pushing the door with one of my feet.

"It's my turn to be proud of you." I whispered, feeling her hands slip under my hoodie. "Your art moves me, Devie. You move me."

She grabbed my bottom lip between hers and sucked on it, making me groan.

"You know why I call you my main girl, right?" I wondered in a whisper, my lips brushing against hers.

"Mmhm, because of that conversation we had, when I said I wanted to be the protagonist." she moved closer to kiss me again and I let her before licking my lips.

"Not only that." I admitted just as low. "Devie, my real story didn't start before I met you. It was just a long prologue before the main thing."

Her lips parted and her eyes watered as I kept staring at her in the darkness of the room. I didn't know how to explain to her what she meant to me but seeing the way she was looking at me at that exact moment made me think she may know anyway.

She brought one of her hands in my hair as she stared at me. I loved feeling her fingers in my hair and I kissed her lips gently again. I thought I knew what love felt before but I really didn't. I knew it sounded cliché but it was true. I was ready to bet on anything that Devon was the love of my life and that what we had would last forever.

"I love you," she whispered, shaking her head slightly. "And we're going to your room right now."

I chuckled at her words and shook my head too. "No, we can't. I have a surprise for you." I admitted, making her frown. "Close your eyes." She stared at me and i smiled. "Do you trust me?"

Instead to answer, she closed her eyes and breathed in before I turned the light on. I put myself behind her, placing my hands on her eyes and leading her slowly to the living room, making her stop next to the couch.

"Okay, keep your eyes closed alright?"

She nodded and slowly, I took my hands off her eyes, making sure she was not cheating, and I took a few steps back. I stared at her for a while, feeling my heart thump against my chest, a bit scared of what she'd say, and when I softly told her to open her eyes. I watched confusion appear on her traits until she saw the little puppy, laying on the floor, asleep. I had tried to put a bow on his head but it was falling down and Devon chuckled, her lips parted.

"Niall!" she let out without sending me a glance before getting on her knees and moving closer to the small dog.

Slowly, she took him in her arms and he woke up, making my lips curl. "It's a miracle he didn't bark before, would have ruined the surprise."

"Niall I... I can't." she shook her head, looking at the puppy with loving but sad eyes. "My parents will never let me bring a dog home, you know it."

"He can stay here." I just shrugged, pushing my hands in my pockets.

She chuckled and rolled her eyes, turning to me with an amused smile. "Ah, you bought yourself a puppy, then."

"No, it's your puppy." I explained after swallowing the lump in my throat. "And he's gonna need you 24/7. And... and I need you 24/7, too."

She frowned and slowly got up, walking to her, the dog still in her arms. "Niall, what are you saying?"

I breathed in and swallowed again, taking a few steps closer to her very slowly. I had no idea why it stressed me so much. Perhaps I was scared that she'd think it's too soon, or that it was a stupid idea, but deep down, I really wanted her to accept.

"Devie, I'm ready to spend forever with you." I confessed in a gentle tone, taking my hands out of my pocket to grab one of hers. I opened her palm and placed a key inside before sighing. "It would be an honor for me if you moved in here, with me. What's mine is yours, and all that."

"That... That would mean we'd go to bed together all the time, and wake up together all the time. And I could watch you get ready for work in the morning, and we'd take showers together, and cuddle in front of the tv, and make food together... Every single day?"

"No." I shook my head with a chuckle. "Sometimes I'd bring take out or we'd order."

She chuckled and rolled her eyes, putting the dog down before he just ran away, making her laugh. She brought her attention back to me and I raised my eyebrows. "So? Is that a yes?"

She got on her tiptoes as her lips curled and slid her arms around my neck, pulling me gently closer. "Yes. It's a yes." she whispered, making me sigh of relief. "Did you doubt it?"

I chuckled nervously and kissed her lips. "Was just nervous." I admitted, raising my nose up. "How are you gonna name your puppy? Something original!"

"No idea yet, but you're right, we need an original name for our main dog."

I laughed and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her closer. "Thank you, Niall." she whispered, licking her lips. The way she looked at me all lovingly made my heart jump in my chest. There was something about the way her body fitted perfectly with mine that I couldn't stop thinking about.

"What for?"

"For being you. For seeing me. For loving me."

"Easiest thing I ever did, petal." I admitted in a murmur. "I love you."

"I love you more."

#niall horan #niall horan fluff #niall horan smut #niall horan fanfic #niall horan fan fic #niall horan fanfiction #niall horan fan fiction #niall horan story #niall horan writing #niall horan enemies to lovers #niall horan au #niall horan uni au #niall horan college au #my fanfics #swy

70 notes · View notes

beelspillowpet · 3 years

Note

If your requests are open - it says they are but I always like to double check- could you do the OM brothers with a F!Mc that starts dating a girl from RAD ? I want pretty demon lady ... please devs make a female option.... 😳😳😳😳😳 if the relationship doesn’t work out that’s fine! I’m just simping for women

Requests will most likely always be open because I can never get enough of reading about these ideas and stuff... IDK I’m obsessed lol.

More lesbian MC stuff.... feeding me lately, Mira. Because I’m impulsive af I am now casually inserting an OC how everyone will eventually get to know better~... DW. She’s mostly nice.

Introducing, The Manipulator! Or as you may call her, Liza!

She has a bit of history with the boys, but nothing intimate. Without further ado, let’s get into the HCs.

F!MC Dates a Demon Girl from RAD

Lucifer is the first one trying to put a stop to this. How the fuck- why the fuck- what the fuck? When did you even get in contact with another demon? You were meant to be monitored 24/7 while out, especially at RAD. Did Mammon or any of his other younger brothers leave you unattended for that long!?

Not only does he, and most of his brothers, not like Liza, but they’re also incredibly jealous. It’s not like they’re owed anything, but...

Really? Of all the demons in this realm you’d pick, it’d be her? Now sure, none of them are perfect... Maybe with exception to Asmo with how often he cries about it, but...

Okay so maybe the pickings aren’t that great. They’re all guys and... maybe you just want to spice things up with a girl? They can understand that. I mean they clearly all like you in some shape or form.

Satan tries to understand her. They both have issues to work through. Serious ones. Ones regarding their situation around birth. He’s meant to be a constantly angry person, but he doesn’t want to seem that way. Liza is seen as someone who only lies, cheats, and manipulates to get what she wants... but Satan can see that’s not all she is. He’s suspicious of her, but doesn’t question it too much.

Belphie, just like Lucifer, is not having it, though. Liza? Really? If he weren’t trying to be respectful of your choices, he’d immediately list every reason why you shouldn’t have picked her. She’s manipulative- worse than him- she’s a liar, and she’s really mean. There were rumors she was created to be the exact opposite of Asmo, even.

But alas, they all keep their mouths shut. Life is good for you here in the Devildom, and who are they to stampede on that?

Things with Liza are actually great too. She takes you out almost daily, and while she can’t spend the night in the HoL for... various reasons... she visits when she can. Usually baring a gift.

She brings food or little plushies most of the time. Eventually she starts upgrading to gifts that last longer in your room. She takes to even bringing over beautiful Galaxy Roses just so you have something to have from her.

Don’t think your clothes are safe either. Nuh-uh. She’s taking your sweatpants, hoodies, jackets- all of it. Sometimes she gives them back. Most of the time she doesn’t. Your stuff is now her stuff. And her stuff is still hers but... she’ll share. :)

Because the guys clearly aren’t a fan of her, you two spend the majority of your time out together. Liza promises Lucifer that she’ll take good care of you. He doesn’t believe it, and thinks she’s plotting something, but realistically, she’s in love. Truly in love. Father may have made her differently from Asmo, but he gave her the ability to love and treat what’s hers properly.

Hell, there was a time when some demon was threatening your life over something. Probably a stupid thing, like bumping into them while walking. Before either of you could even swing, she had the demon in a headlock, threatening to snap their neck if they didn’t get down on their knees and apologize to you. You’d never been so moved in your life.

Speaking of her strength; it is considerable. She catches Beel at the gym often- in fact, he’s caught you both at the gym a few times before. He thinks its... a bit awkward. He and Liza hada few conversations, and she was nothing but considerate to him. But something always felt off. Like she was hiding something.

While respectful and willing to listen, Liza isn’t too keen on being... soft? She doesn’t mind vanilla, but I mean... You’re her little bunny. Are you gonna upgrade to Rope Bunny or what?

She is one of those types of people who are very straight forward. If you have a problem, she works to find a solution instead of outright comforting you right then and there. She often forgets there’s an emotional side to tend to, rather than a logical one. She does try to fit in the comforting afterwards, offering a hug and cradling you in her arms. She shushes you and kisses the top of your head, hoping that she’s doing it right.

As for having space...? Yeah, you can have it. Just ask. She doesn’t mind it. Honestly just tell her anything and she’d be willing tot ry and make an adjustment. Keyword is try.

She’s not really known love for thousands of years. True love anyways. It’s a work in progress, but if you tell her you don’t like one thing, she’ll try to do the exact opposite. If you tell her you need some time alone, she won’t throw a fit. Just huffs a little before leaving.

She’s a biiiig texter. Like... your phone will be blowing up. Morning texts every day without failure. They’re unique too, not a copy/paste. Way too many emojis.

Good🐣morning🌅 My MC💖🔥! I hope 🙏🏿 you had a great 👍🏿 sleep 😴. Here’s to a ✨ really great👌🏿day, 🏞️ my 💗 beautiful❤️incredible🌟love! I left you 🥺 a special bento 🍱 this morning! Please enjoy it! 💝💟

She’s honestly not perfect. She’s sometimes too clingy, and other times she’s a bit aggressive. She’ll ramble on about the guys, forgetting you live with them and know them so well. They’re like family to you, and you’re actively bad-talking some of them. Especially Lucifer. She’s pretty defensive about it too if you try to tell her to cut it out.

“MC... You have no idea how much suffering I’ve been through because of them. They’re cool people and all but... I can’t always been friendly about them, ya’know?”

She tries though. Kind of. The only one she can kind of have a conversation with is Satan. Maybe Beel ona good day.

Oh and competitive... don’t play games with her, please. She’ll get pissed off and sabotage everyone. No one is safe from her when she plays CLUE or Scrabble. She’s a lil’ dorky.

Having a pact with her isn’t that much of a big deal, really? She sort of... offers it to you one day. Like “Hey, so when are we gonna make that pact?” And then cringes at herself because she could have done so much better.

Like she sort of sees pacts as an engagement. Is she moving too fast? That’s up to you. But please make a pact with her. She loves you, MC. She wants to protect and hold and love...

Aside from all this, when you do go back to the human world, she’s right there at the portal giving you a hug and kiss goodbye. She doesn’t shed a single tear. At least not in front of you. When you are gone though, she’s much more angry and irritated. She’s snappy with the people around her, and she’s hurting because she never realized how dependant on you she was.

She needed you to feel like she was normal. Like she was excepted. It’s not like you’re gone forever, but you won’t be back in.... who knows how long?

You’re allowed to summon her whenever, at least. But just... obviously not as often, because getting back home can be annoying. Also because Lucifer is usually there, scolding her about “heading out without letting someone know.” As if she has much of a say. She usually doesn’t, with him talking so much. The bastard.

All in all, with Liza she is a girl who has your back. A bit much at times, but who doesn’t like a bit of excitement in their lives? She wants you to be able to understand her struggles, but it’s not her place to even tell her own story anymore. She just wants to forget, move on, and be with you. So please. Please stay in the Devildom a bit longer, next time...?

#wow #a bitch is tired #ive been so excited about this ask lmfao you have no idea #obey me #obey me hcs #obey me headcanons #obey me oc #liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiza #you finally have her nameeee #The Manipulator #is actually.... not as evil as you think(?)#im definitely adding more at some point or another lol #im just so sleepy tonight eek

96 notes · View notes

abluescarfonwaston · 3 years

Text

Hey why do y'all think edgeworth moved to Europe that year during aa3? To be fair given he was there during aa2 it seems more like he just went back but...

Like. On one hand the prosecutors office is objectively a terrible place during that time period and was an incredibly toxic environment for him since it is the site of so much trauma for him. Not being ready to work there again makes sense. Plus researching and learning other legal systems to eventually improve there own, which we know from later games is an interest of his.

And we know hes making steps towards recovery of his past trauma - his nightmares stop - and that being in Japan/LA probably sets him back some given how common earthquakes are in those locations. (How can you feel safe and open up if you're always on edge?) So Not being there is probably beneficial to him. (Let's not work in the courthouse I watched my father die in)

And we know Franziska went back to Europe too and i think a big reason he returned in 2-4 was cause he was worried about her so both of them there can try to connect and support each other. (They were key supports for each other before they started prosecuting and then they got separated by Manfred for those four years. You can't tell me her working in Europe wasn't because she was one of the few people who, abet indirectly, protected and supported him. That Manfred didn't consider her a potential flaw in his plan. So he makes sure she can't by keeping her away. She won't help him if he frames Miles for murder if only because then she'll become the 'only' child again and maybe Finally get the attention she craves. She won't of course but you know.)

And then there's that weird line of dialogue you get if you press iris on the wrong person. About how Edgeworth too has a Dark secret in his heart he's hiding that never gets explained. It doesn't make sense for it to be about DL-6. The set-up makes it sound like it's about Wright - takes one to know one- but even if we consider alternatives.

Edgeworth could have left the country to get away from Wright who he likes too much. Always a good well to draw from. He went to Europe cause he was sick and didn't want anyone to know. Subsection: He went to Europe for therapy. (Extremely stigmatized in Japanese culture so hiding it would make sense) I can't think of anything else that would necessitate a Dark secret.

Course aa3 focuses heavily on couples and miscommunication (intentional or not) so we can try to read between the lines with those.

Ron/Desiree is about money troubles at the start but at the heart why they last when none of the other couples do is because they both are focused on the truth. Ron told her up front what he was doing and who he is (not that she believed him) and plays a 'fair' game of crime.

Actually money plays a huge motivating force in this game. Between tres Bien and Tigre, Dahlia and the diamond, and Ron the thief 3/5 of our murders are money related. But we know that's not Edgeworths problem because he charters a private jet. (Although I does imply a problem during the seven year gap)

So then the other huge thing is Trust. Trust your client, trust your partner, trust what they're saying is true. See- well all of them. Sometimes it's broken (Dahlia/Wright, Dahlia/Fawles, Tigre/Valerie) and sometimes it's not. (Maggie/Gumshoe, Ron/Desiree, Wright/Edgeworth, Mia/Godot) And yes even the 'good' relationships struggle with misunderstanding their partner. Maggie thinks Gumshoe is throwing her under the bus, Desiree doesn't realize he was the thief, and Godot fails to understand what Mia would have wanted (that she lives on in Wright). But! They all come to understand their partners and that's what saves them/their relationship.

But the thing is we already had that arc in 2-4. Wright misunderstood why Edgeworth left. 'Ah if you think that's why I left then no wonder you hate me'. And we know Wright held on to that anger - it's not until the Garden scene he admits to being ready to 'hug it out'.

You weren't the man i thought you were - i know, that's why I left. To become the person you thought i was.

So trust. We know despite everything Wright stood across from edgeworth in 2-4 and still Trusted edgeworth. He admits as much even though it shocks him. Wright trusts him to protect Maya and to defend Iris in his place and with the magatama.

But that still doesn't explain why Edgeworth left. It explains the first time but not the second. Yes I know it's cause the devs couldn't have him be there but narratively Why? Why did Edgeworth leave? Yes there's Reasons and Franziska and Wright even comment on how no one understands him. Cause he never explains himself. Gumshoe even says maybe it was to look cool. Another minor reason.

Like. Edgeworth going back to Europe makes sense if he wasn't really ready to come back in 2-4 (which i don't think he was. I think he came back for Franziskas and Wrights sake) but something shoved him back out the door. The pull to follow Franziska, the urge to be someplace 'safe', the desire to continue his studies, wanting to Look Cool.

But there is a secret hidden deep within your heart Mr. Edgeworth.

Is what pushed him out- urged him to follow those pulls - Wright? Still angry at him and pushing him away because of what he'd done?

Thoughts? Please?

#miles edgeworth #ace attorney #aa3 #Phoenix wright #honestly i think this is why im so stuvk on the next part of boundaries of life and death #that and i havent finished bridge to the turnabout #Im just not positive what the game is trying to say yet #which shouldn't really matter but #also i got super excited about godot and edgeworth and nope they dont interact at all #and im super temped to make them but #i think i have to write the ebtire case and then go back to the filler #so i can make sure ive got all the setup i need and arg #anyway.

22 notes · View notes

random-imagines-blog · 3 years

Text

He Will Love You {Dev Patel x Female!Reader}

Requested by: Anonymous Wordcount: 2647 Summary: Even when things are rough, you know you can always count on him.

When Dev first walked into your shop, you were, admittedly, a little star-struck. He was with his mother, and was picking up a custom made gift for her. You weren’t actually the one to do the transaction, but your boss needed to have a couple of words with the mother to make sure that it was exactly what she had wanted. He told you that this meeting may take a little while, and to fetch Dev, who had accompanied her, a glass of wine while waiting for it to be finished. He and the woman went to the back to look at the jewels that were going into the bracelet, making sure that she knew they were up to quality, while you were set to entertain one of the handsomest men alive.

“Do you prefer red or white?” You asked, opening up the wine cooler where your boss kept the expensive wine for the more distinguished guest. That would certainly apply to Dev, you thought. Even just standing there in a grey sweater and jeans, a red ballcap covering his long hair, he looked like he just stepped out of a movie. Be cool, you reminded yourself. Be cool.

“Red,” He said. You nodded, uncorked the bottle in front of him, and poured it into a waiting glass. You didn’t expect to have to play bartender at a jewelry store, but this was a very upscale place. You handed it over with a smile, and he took it, his fingers just touching yours. “I’m Dev,” He introduced, taking the glass with one hand, and held the other one out. You took it, shaking it politely.

“Y/N - nice to meet you,” You said, the warmth of his hand contrasting with the damp coolness of Autumn in England. “I just have to say, I’m a bit of a fan.”

“Oh, thank you,” He said graciously, and took a sip of the wine. “Aren’t you going to have any?”

“I’m working,” You said, cheeks going a little pink as you had to remind yourself that yes, you were on the job. You had to be professional. Going all fan mode wasn’t what you were hired for. “I took a peek at what the boss was working on for your mother - it’s beautiful, I’m sure she’s loving it.”

“Good, I wanted it to be special,” Dev nodded.

“Oh, it is,” You nodded. The room fell into a comfortable silence as Dev walked around, taking a look in the different display cases. The store usually catered to custom-made jewelery, but there were some pieces that were a little on the generic side. He asked you about a couple of items, and you gave him all of the information that he could want. Even going as far as to bring a few things out so he could take a closer look at them.

It felt like only a moment had passed but it was at least fifteen before Dev’s mother, and your boss, came out from the back of the store. The woman was absolutely glowing. She rushed to her son to show him the creation that was now sitting on her wrist. “It’s beautiful,” Dev said, setting down the now-empty wine glass. You took it quickly, running it to the break room so that you could wash it. You did so quickly, then went back to your post, expecting to find the actor and his mother to have left but to your surprise, they were still there. Your boss had disappeared, probably to work on more custom-work, so it was just the three of you.

“Is everything okay?” You asked, cheerfully, going back behind the counter. The woman nodded, still admiring the bracelet on her wrist. You turned to look at Dev now, who you saw was smiling at you, with that hundred watt smile. “Dev?” You ventured, feeling a little uncomfortable using his first name.

“Rain check on the wine?” He asked, raising one of his black eyebrows. “Say - tomorrow night?”

“Oh, umm...” You said, startled by these developments. Taking a deep breath, you nodded, graciously accepting his invitation.

When you came to, you found yourself staring up at the black interior of a car. The little light was on, which usually signaled that there was an open door. But there was none of the familiar beeping. Instead, there was some classical music coming from speakers around you. You blinked your eyes, trying to figure out where you were, since this wasn’t your car.

“Can you turn off the music, please?” You asked, since the sound of it was making your head start to pound. It instantly was turned off, and you were greeted to the sight of Dev in the front seat of the car. You were lying in the back, feeling a little dizzy. It all started to come back to you. You were walking down the street with him, heading to lunch after a stroll around the park, when suddenly you stopped remembering what had happened.

“Are you okay?” Dev asked, looking at you concerned. You held your head, trying to figure out why you had passed out. “You’re in my car, you’re alright. You er - you passed out while we were walking to the restaurant.”

“Oh,” You said, scrunching your eyebrows together. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” He said, with a little laugh. “You’re the one who passes out and yet you’re sorry?” He reached to the back and took hold of one of your hands, giving it a squeeze. “There was a nurse in the park. She said your pulse was strong but you should lay down until you feel a little better, and get you something to eat.”

“I did skip breakfast,” You admitted. You were so excited for this date that the thought of eating before it hadn’t even occurred to you. Your second date with Dev, and you were embarrassing yourself already. He tutted at you, shaking his head, and you felt his disappointment.

“How do you feel now? Well enough to walk?” He questioned. You slowly sat up, hand to your forehead to block the sun from getting too much into your eyes. He had tinted windows which helped a lot. You steadied yourself and then nodded slowly as the dizziness started to dissipate. “There’s a restaurant right across the street, let’s go there.”

He got out of the car first, then came around and opened the door for you. He took your hand and helped you to get out of the car, standing tall in the sunlight once more. He even closed the door behind you, still taking hold of your hand. He listed some things that the nurse had said would be good for your blood sugar - and you were more than flattered that he had listened enough to take note of it all.

It was that first restaurant that you went to that became yours and Dev’s place. The food wasn’t even that good, and the waitstaff only paid special attention to him due to his celebrity status but it was still your place. For more special occasions, you two went to better places, but for things like breaking news, or just wanting to get out of the house, this was it. And it was for the former reason that you were here today.

You got there first, requesting your usual table which was towards the kitchen of the restaurant, far from where people looking through the windows could see you. You ordered a glass of water rather than your accustomed glass of wine, the drink that brought you and Dev together.

His career had really been taking off in the past year. He’d been nominated, and had won, quite a few awards and now was being quite sought after. He’d been to an audition that very morning while you had been to an important Doctors appointment. He had wanted to go with you but you convinced him that there was likely to be many other appointments in the future, and he only had this one shot for a role that he loved. Of course, at the time, you had expected it to be good news.

He came in a few minutes late, apologizing profusely as he took his seat across from you. His hair was in his face, his forehead sweaty. It almost looked like he had run here - and since he had taken the metro to the interview, it was very likely that he had. He still managed to look so damn sexy while flustered. “So - what did the Doctor say?”

The expectant look on his face was almost too much to bear. You had gone to the Doctor with the hopes of finding out that you were pregnant. You and Dev had been trying since you got married, but things haven’t always been smooth sailing. It didn’t make much sense at first, since he had a high sperm count, and you thought the problem must have been with you. But when you missed your last period, and you’ve been feeling more worn down than usual, you made an appointment for a pregnancy test rather than a fertility one.

You took hold of his hand. You were about to tell him the results but the waitress came around and asked what Dev wanted to drink. He looked at the water that you had, and you realized he thought that because you had that rather than wine, that you were expecting. He grinned and loudly announced, “A glass of your finest red, no matter how expensive it is!”

The waitress walked away and you squeezed his hand. “Dev, baby, I need you to relax for a second and not interrupt me because what I have to say is very important.”

He nodded, once more grinning, still expecting the good news. It hurt more to tell him the news than it had getting the news from the Doctor in the first place. But he would be quiet and listen, which was all that you could ask for at this point. You took a deep breath, took a sip of your water, and then started.

“I’m not pregnant,” You said, first and foremost, getting that out of the way. The smile was wiped from his face then, as he processed that information, and what it could possibly mean. However, you asked him not to interrupt and he obliged that, squeezing your hand tightly. You continued. “However, the Doctor was still worried so we ran some tests. Including a skin biopsy.” You showed him a bandaid that was on your upper arm, hidden by your sleeve. “And though the results aren’t in yet, he thinks it’s highly likely that I have celiac disease.”

Just as years ago, Dev had memorized a list of foods that you should eat to help you when you had passed out, you recited a list of things that you had been told about Celiac Disease. “But the worst part is-” You said, after telling him that since you caught it early, it may be manageable. “The worst part is that it may make me infertile.”

He let go of your hand, only to caress your cheek as you felt the weight press down on you. You felt your eyes start to fill with tears as something you’ve always wanted felt like it was beyond your grasp. He wiped away your tears with his thumb. “We’ll get through this together. As long as it’s us, does it matter if our kids are biological?”

Dev read the labels on every bit of food that he purchased from now on, making sure that it was something that you could safely eat. You had just remembered what was okay and what was not, tossing it in the cart, but Dev always had to take two minutes to make sure. He still worked on the baby room that you had started in the hopes of filling it one day. He moved the stuffed animals around and put up cute paintings that he had found during his travels around the world for work. Nothing really changed, except for the fact that now, you were looking for a child to adopt, someone to fill your world with even more joy.

You were sitting on the couch one night, feeling tired as you usually did these daze, watching a movie with Dev when his phone rang. You paused the movie using the remote and looked at Dev with hopeful eyes. This was hopefully one of two calls. It could be either his agent saying that he had gotten the role that he had been really wanting. You would be extremely happy for him if it was, though it meant that he would be flying out for a couple of months. Or, and you hoped it was this one, it was a call from the family lawyer that you had hired to help you look into adoption.

He answered it without hesitation, wrapping his arm around your shoulders and pulled you in. “Hello?” You could hear a voice on the other line, but couldn’t make out what they were saying. Dev pulled the phone away from his face and pressed the speaker button. “We’re both here,” He said, which made your heart race. There was no reason he would do that if it was just his agent.

“Hello!” The lawyer said, in her usual friendly tone. She was unusually upbeat for a lawyer, and that’s why you liked her. She seemed to genuinely enjoy doing what she did. Putting families together. It was a loyal job. “I just wanted to let you both know that we’ve put in your application and we’ve already found a child that we think would be just perfect for the two of you!”

You squealed with happiness and hugged Dev close to you. You felt energetic and hopeful for the first time in months. “That’s amazing!” You said, kissing him on the cheek. You wanted to celebrate already, though you haven’t even met the kid.

The lawyer filled you both in on the details. It was an eight month old girl, born to teenage parents who tried but just could not make the relationship, the child and school work. She could be brought over next week for a trial period, and if it all seemed to work out, you could adopt. You thanked the lawyer profusely, telling her how much this all meant to you and how you were positive that this was going to be life-changing, not just for you but for the baby girl.

“I have another call to make,” Dev said as soon as they hung up the phone.

“We have several!” You said, starting to list off people. “Your parents, my parents, our friends-”

“My agent,” Dev finished. “I’m going to tell him not to worry about the role. We’re going to be parents, I want to be here.”

“Are you sure?” You said, knowing how much this had meant to him. He had been bothering his agent for months to even get him in to auditions. He nodded though, a smile coming over his face as it all began to really sink in.

“We’re going to be parents!” He repeated, this time louder, and much happier.

Throughout everything, he loved you. Like he said in the vows, through sickness and in health. But he had been taking care of you long before you ever made it to the altar. And now, it looked like you were both going to get your happily ever after, after all.

#Dev Patel #Dev Patel x reader #Dev Patel oneshot #Dev Patel One shot #celebrity #celebrity oneshot #request #oneshot #one shot #x reader #devp

112 notes · View notes

unstablesophistication · 2 years

Text

4/11/22 - Day 7

Today was busy, but good.

I woke up around 9:30 and got coffee right away (still felt hungover from Saturday — just foggy and anxious). I sat at my desk with my coffee and did the tasks I needed to to start the day, checked my email and slack messages, and slowly woke up. After I finished waking up, I took a shower and got ready for the day. I had a meeting at 11 with my Englewood evaluation team. Ate breakfast on the call. Didn’t love the way I looked in my zoom window. I had to do majority of this meeting from my car on my way down to campus. I got to my noon class just a couple of minutes late, but it didn’t matter. Started feeling really tired in my class, but repeating my affirmations actually helped me a lot. Class got out at 2:45 and I met with AS about our GIS final project. I was anxious because this class has been kicking my ass, but she and I were on the same page as far as what we want done for the project and where we are in actually getting it done. That was reassuring. After the meeting I got some lunch at Roti and a coffee from La Colombe. I had to get back to campus quick for my 4pm meeting on the corridor. Thankfully the corridor team has been showing initiative and came to the meeting with actionable ideas. Felt really scattered throughout the day, but especially during this meeting as I hadn’t prepared at all for it and there were three or four things I wanted to have finished. I barely even remembered we were having the meeting. We finished around 5:30 and I had 30 minutes before my next class. I booked my flight for Thursday and texted my mom. My econ dev class was next. Only nine of us showed up, so I had to really participate. I enjoy this class and I’m genuinely glad it’s my concentration area. It combines so many of my interests yet still provides me with career advancement and opportunities to both make money and have a large positive impact on people and communities. During break I noticed M’s hydrangea tattoo and she told me she got it because she had hydrangeas in her front yard growing up. Made me think I might want a lilac tattoo. My parents have three lilac bushes in our front yard. One from my grandparents house, one from their first house, and one they planted 30 years ago when they built our house. It’s perfectly fitting. Class got out at 8:45 and I was out of there. I was just exhausted and really on edge. Irritable and hungry and tired. I called my mom and we chatted on my way home. Walking to my apartment from my garage I realized it was beautiful outside and I was so sad I didn’t get a run in today. In the elevator up to my apartment I had these overwhelming thoughts about bashing my head into the wall or slapping myself. This has happened a couple times this semester. I haven’t self-harmed in probably six years, and I haven’t had to fight the urge either. I’ll talk about this in therapy tomorrow. S had dinner waiting at home which was as wonderful as ever. We chatted a bit and I bitched about my day which was cathartic. After dinner I texted with AD about setting the agenda for our meeting tomorrow. Took a lot in me to get off my bed and sit at my desk to do the work that needed to get done. Worked for another two hours, but still didn’t finish everything I needed to, so I’ll be getting up early to finish it. The next four weeks will be this way, and I’ve accepted it. I did a very good job today of having a positive mindset and not ruminating/analyzing/judging myself today despite it not being perfect. It’s funny how some days it’s so easy and some days it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I really do think so much of it is mindset. When I believe I’m in control I am able to be the person I know I’m meant to be. I just need to keep reminding myself that I already am him, so I can be him whenever I want. Tomorrow is another busy day. I will be disciplined and industrious and show myself again that I am capable of achieving my goals and I am deserving of that success. I hope you know it’s never too late to have the life you want. And every day is an opportunity to change course. Sleep well. xoxo pat

#journal

1 note · View note

felassan · 3 years

Text

Some DA trivia and dev commentary from Twitter

There’s a lot of different tweets, so I’m just pasting and linking to the source rather than screencapping them all or making several different posts or something. Post under cut for length.

User: Was dragon age 2 your favourite in the franchise?

David Gaider: DA2 was the project where my writing team was firing on all cylinders, and they wrote like the wind- because they had to! Second draft? Pfft. Plot reviews? Pfft. I was so proud of what we all accomplished in such a brief time. I didn't think it was possible. [source] DA2 is, however, also where the goal posts kept moving. Things kept getting cut, even while we worked. I had to write that dialogue where Orsino turned even if you sided with him, because his boss battle had been cut and there was no time to fix the plot. A real WTF moment. >:( [source]

Mike Rousseau: I remember bugging that! And then being told it wasn't a bug, and being so confused. Doing QA for DA2 was an experience. Trial by fire. [source]

DG: So I think it's safe to say DA2 is my favorite entry in the DA franchise and also the sort of thing I never want to live through ever again. Mixed feelings galore. [source]

User: (I personally blame whoever it was for ruining most romance arcs in other games for me; they don't live up to Fenris's romance storyline)

DG: I wrote Fenris, so uh - me, I guess? Or maybe his cinematic designer, who put in the puppy dog eyes. [source]

User: If DA2 had just been an expansion, do you think it would have been better received? There was a lot of great stuff in there, and I think my initial dislike of it was because of the zone reuse. If it hadn't needed to be a full game, would that issue not have arisen?

DG: Hard to say. It was either going to be an over-scoped expansion or an under-scoped sequel. If it had stayed an expansion, it might never have received the resources/push it DID get. [source]

User: I'd love to visit the universe where you had an extra year or so to work on it. You did a very good job as it stands, but it definitely had rough edges. Not just the writing team either. The whole game had hit and miss moments, that just a little more dev time could have fixed.

DG: On one hand, DA2 existed to fill a hole in the release schedule. More time was never in the cards. DA2 was originally planned as an expansion! On the other, if we had more time, would we have started doing that thing where we second guess/iterate ourselves into mediocrity? [shrug emoji] [source]

Jennifer Hepler: This is what I love about DA2. Personally, I greatly prefer something that's rough and raw and sincere to something that's had all the soul polished out of it. Extra time would have helped for art and levels, but it would have lost something too. [source]

DG: Right? I think we could have used some time for peer reviews (and fewer cuts), but I think the rawness of the writing lent a certain spark that we usually polished out. [source]

JH: Definitely. I think the structure (more character-driven) and the tightness of the timeframe let each individual writer's voice really come through. Polish can be very homogenizing. [source]

DG: I should add I'm not, by any means, against iteration. Some iteration is good and necessary. The problem that BioWare often had is that we never knew when to stop. Like a goldfish, we would fill the space given to us by constantly re-iterating on things that were "good enough". [source]

Patrick Weekes: I appreciate your incredibly diplomatic use of the past tense on "had". :D [source]

User: DA2 was my gateway into the series and I’m so happy it is. I love the game the way that it is. It’s one of my favorites of all time. But I am also aware of everything that was said here. If it were remastered, do you think it would change?

DG: I'd be surprised if it was ever remastered. If it was, do you really think they'd change things? Do remasters do that? No idea. [source]

User: Both sides got undercut as I recall. Didn't that whole sequence also end with the mage leader embracing blood magic? It was very much "a plague on both your houses" moment, at least for me.

DG: Yep. Orsino was supposed to have his own version of Meredith's end battle, which only happened if you sided with the templars. That got cut, but the team still wanted to use the model we'd made for him. So... that happened. [source]

DG: I would personally say that DA2 is a fantastic game hidden under a mountain of compromises, cut corners, and tight deadlines. If you can see past all that, you'll see a fantastic game. I don't doubt, however, that it's very difficult for most to do that. [source]

PW: I love DAI with all my selfish "I worked on this" heart, but DA2's follower arcs and relationships are probably my favorite in the series. [source]

User: As I've expressed many times, I love the game, especially it's writing and characters but, for me, the most impressive aspect of it, in consideration of it's lack of time for drafts and revisions, is the 2nd act with Arishok. What amazingly complex character and fantastic duel

User: Just played it again and I have to agree. Though he is bound by the harsher tenants of the Qun, he makes valid points about free marcher society. Though it is obvious that he and Hawke will come to blows eventually, the tension builds gradually and understandably

DG: Luke did such a fantastic job with the Arishok I found myself sometimes wishing the Qunari plot had just been THE plot. [source]

User: What do you think would have changed, story wise, if you had more time for DA2?

DG: I would have taken out that thing where Meredith gets the idol. It was forced on me because she needed to be "super-powered" with red lyrium for her final battle. Being "crazy", however, robbed her side of the mage/templar argument of any legitimacy. I hated hated hated that. [source]

User: I deeply lament that there wasn't/couldn't be some sort of DA2 equivalent of Throne of Bhaal's Ascension mod.

DG: I'd have done it, if DA2 had allowed for anything but the most rudimentary of modding. ;) [source]

User: I mean, and I think I understand where you were trying, but how much legitimacy did the Templars and her as top Templar have after they're keeping the mages locked up against their will in the old slave quarters? Feel free to not reply.

DG: I think it's the kind of discussion which requires nuance, and which discussions on the Internet are not prone to. [source]

User: Was a compromise that the quest lines don’t branch? It felt like it was supposed to be that way but then you end up in the same place later regardless of what you pick. Like I hoodwinked the templars so good to help the apostates escape but in Act II they were caught anyway.

DG: I remember us having a lot more branching in the initial planning yes. Most of this got trimmed out in the first or second wave of cuts, in an effort to not cut the plots altogether. [source]

DG: "If you could Zack Snyder DA2, what would you change?" Wow. I'm willing to bet Mark or Mike (or anyone else on the team) would give very different answers than me, but it's enough to give a sober man pause, because that was THE Project of Multiple Regrets. [source] I mean, it's the most hypothetical of hypotheticals. It's never gonna happen. I wouldn't be surprised if EA considered DA2 its embarrassing red-headed stepchild. We'd also need to ignore that in many ways DA2 was as good as it was bad BECAUSE of how it was made. But that aside? [source] First, either restore the progressive changes to Kirkwall we'd planned over the passing of in-game years or reduce the time between acts to months instead of years... which, in hindsight, probably should have been done as soon as the progressive stuff was cut. [source] I'm sure you're like "get rid of repeated levels!" ...but I don't care about that. All I wanted was for Kirkwall to feel like a bigger city. Way more crowded. More alive! Fewer blood mages. [source] I'd want to restore the plot where a mage Hawke came THIS close to becoming an abomination. An entire story spent trapped in one's own head while trapped on the edge of possession. Why? Because Hawke is the only mage who apparently never struggles with this. It was a hard cut. [source]

User: I would LOVE to hear more details about this! I don’t suppose there’s any chance of a short story?

DG: I don't even remember the details of the story, sorry. There was a fight, and you caught the bad guy and then realized none of it was real and woke up idk [source]

DG: I'd want to restore all those alternate lines we cut, meaning people forget they'd met you. Or that they knew you were a mage. Or, oh god, that maybe they'd romanced you in DAO. So much carnage. [source] I'd want to restore the Act 3 plots we cut only because they were worked on too late, but which would have made the buildup to the mage/templar clash less sudden. Though I don't remember what they were, now. Some never got beyond being index cards posted on the wall. [grimace emoji] [source] As I mentioned elsewhere, I'd want to restore Orsino's end battle so he wouldn't need to turn on you even if you sided with him. And I'd want an end fight with the templars that didn't require Meredith to have red lyrium and go full Tetsuo. [source] Heck, maybe an end decision where you sided with neither the mages nor the templars. Because it certainly ended up feeling like you could brand both sides as batshit pretty legitimately, no? That was never planned, tho. No idea how to make that feel like an actual path atm. [source] Maybe an option to go "umm, Anders... what are you DOING?" 👀 [source] And, of course, a Varric romance, because Mary took that "slimy car salesman" character we'd planned and did the impossible with him. I can feel Mary glaring at me for even suggesting this, tho. [source] Lastly, the original expanded opening to the game which allowed you to spend time with Bethany and Carver BEFORE the darkspawn attacked. And, um, that's about it off the top of my head. Zack Snyder, WHAT PANDORA'S BOX HAVE YOU OPENED. [source] Shit, I remembered two more things: 1) Restore the "Varric exaggerates the heck out of the story" at the beginning of every Act, until Cassandra calls him on it. Yes, that was a thing. 2) Make DA: Exodus. Yes, I am still bitter. [source] God damn it, I meant "Make DA: Exalted March". The DA2 expansion, NOT Exodus since that was DA2's original name and makes no sense. Because the expansion ended with Varric dying, and that will always be on my "things left undone" list. [source]

User: Whaaaat?

DG: Well, you know that scene in Wrath of Khan where Spock goes into the dilithium chamber because he's a Vulcan? Well, imagine that but with Varric and red lyrium and because he's a dwarf. ;) [source]

John Epler: I distinctly remember referencing the bit from MGS4 where you crawl through the microwave corridor in the split screen, while cinematic battle rages on the other half. [source]

DG: It would have been glorious, John. Glorious. [source]

JE: I don't think I've ever been so certain what a shot should look like as I did Hawke coming in and finding Varric in the broken throne, just like when he was telling Cassandra his story. [source]

DG: It would have come full circle! Auggghh, it still kills me. [source]

User: Lord, you folks are a little too good at this.

JE: The true secret behind videogame narrative is knowing how to make yourself seem a lot more clever than you actually are. [source] 'Oh, we TOTALLY planned that.' [source]

User: Ok, this thread [the DA2 regrets thread, which is the big chunks above] but Inquisition.

DG: My regrets about Inquisition are, more or less, the normal kind. Nothing so dramatic, I'm afraid. [source]

User: You can keep your Varric romance, I want a Flemeth romance goddamnit!

DG: I would allow for one flirt option, and then a recording of Kate Mulgrew laughing for three minutes straight. [source]

User: I had a hypothesis about the repetitive caves in DA2. They're repetitive because it's Varric telling the story and he didn't consider them important. They're like sets in a play. (Okay, I really suspect it was a time/money/resources thing but I like my fake explanation better.)

DG: Hang a lampshade on it, maybe? Cassandra: "But that's the exact cave you were in last time?" Varric: "Whatever. They all look the same, I'm not THAT kind of dwarf. Can we move on?" [source]

User: that makes sense, hypothetically to make Varric romanceable and keep his arc—that had to happen for the main plot—I imagine you would have to make double the content (or more)? which would've been a tall order given the time/budget constraints the game was under

DG: Right. When it comes to "romance arc" vs. "follower story arc", we generally only had time to do one or the other. Never both. Romancing Varric would have meant not getting the story of his that you did. [source]

Mary Kirby: The one exaggeration I really, REALLY wanted, that we never got to do was Varric narrating his own death scene with Hawke weeping over him, then cutting to Cassandra's pissed off glaring at him. [source]

DG: Haha! The one I wanted was Varric's plot where he takes on the baddies single-handedly, sliding across the floor like Jet Lee, action movie-style, until finally Cassandra gets irritated and he has to admit Hawke & the rest of the party showed up to help. [source]

MK: We did that one! (He didn't do any Jet Lee moves, though.) Jepler gave him letterboxing to get The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly showdown vibes while he shot a ton of mooks single-handed. [source]

DG: Wow. Shows how much I remember. [source]

JE: I found it! I remember seeing this sequence as my treat for doing a bunch of much more challenging work. It was fun to see how far I could push our limited library of animations. [link] [source]

DG: Heh awesome. I could have sworn it was cut, honestly. I think I was even in that meeting. [source]

User: no disrespect but that’s surprising and rich of Mary “Hard in Hightown” Kirby to think DA2 shouldn’t have had a Varric romance when she wrote an entire book of Varric’s self-insert character pining over his Hawke insert character… HIH is the reason we had VHawke Summer 2018

DG: I can't *really* speak for Mary, or how she feels about it now compared to back then. I only know how she felt about it back then, and I'm not sure it was as much the concept of the romance but that Varric's entire story would be bent to "romance arc" ...a very different thing. [source]

JH: I remember pushing to have the first DLC start with Hawke having an option to ask Varric, "Did you tell Cassandra about us?" and if you picked it, Varric would answer, "Of course not, baby. I told her you were sleeping with X..." and then proceed as if you had had a full romance. [source]

DG: I still wonder how that would have gone over. x) [source]

JE: Okay, one more DA2 thing. Putting together the cinematics for this scene was a blast. [link] [source]

MK: These lines are my greatest legacy. I want "Make sure the world knows I died... at Chateau Haine!" inscribed on my tombstone. [source]

JE: I was so glad no one said 'no' to the crane shot. [source]

MK: It needs that crane shot. It's the perfect icing on that cake made from solid cheese. [source]

DG: The designers were all "we need more combat" and I think we were all "I think you underestimate just HOW interesting we can make this dinner party". [source]

JE: And finally. I think @SherylChee wrote the one-liner. I think we had a collection of like, 20. [link] [source]

Sheryl Chee: Yeah! Something like that! I remember submitted a whole bunch and Frank said you only needed one. Wish I'd kept the other fifteen. [source]

JE: A random chooser where, each time through the scene, you get a different one-liner. [source]

JE: DA2 is the project I'm the proudest of. I also absolutely get that it didn't land for a lot of people. But I don't think it's inaccurate to say that, in a lot of ways, DA2 defined my career. [source] Everyone spent a year working at their maximum ability. I was a fresh cinematic designer and was given all of Varric's content, as well as the Act 1 Finale mission. It was a lot for someone who had been doing the Cinematics thing for literally 6 months. [source] There's some stuff in there I can't look at without wincing. And there's some stuff I'm genuinely proud of. Not to mention, it was my introduction to most of the writing team. Several of whom I'm still working with today! Albeit in a different capacity [source] Also, weirdly, one of my most enduring memories of Dragon Age 2 is how much Bad Company 2 we'd play at lunch. It was a LOT. [source] Every game I've worked on has a game I played attached to it. ME2 is Borderlands. DA2 is Bad Company 2. DAI is DayZ. I, hmm. There's a progression there. I don't know how I feel about it. [source]

User: Is DA4 going to be tarkov then?

JE: I've kind of churned out of Tarkov for now. Probably Hunt Showdown, at least right now. [source]

User: I think people also don't take nuance into consideration -- like I FULLY acknowledge the flaws in my favorite games and will openly criticize them, but that doesn't mean they're not my favorite games anymore??? You can like and thing and still be critical of it.

JE: A lot of my favourite shit is deeply flawed! I acknowledge it and I think it's interesting to dissect the flaws. [source]

User: I still wish Justice was an actual character in DA2 rather than a plot point.

DG: There was a moment during DAI where we *almost* put in you running into Justice with the Grey Wardens, and he's all "Kirkwall? I never went to Kirkwall" [source]

User: Does that imply that Justice was shoehorned in to DA2?

DG: Nah, it was an in-joke where we thought it'd be fun to suggest that "Justice" was simply some demon that tricked Anders in DA2. Wooo those tricky demons! We didn't do it, though. [source]

User: [about templars] except, I don't think it had very much legitimacy to begin with. keep in mind, we interact with other characters with the same argument. The one that comes to mind is Cullen, a sane templar in power. The templar's side of the argument is inherently flawed.

DG: I don't doubt that many people agree with you, and yet people can and do argue on behalf of the templars as well. My place isn't to pick a side, but to provide evidence that players can interpret for themselves [source]

User: Can you shed some light for us on how DA was able to do multiple same-sex romance options for different genders but the Mass Effect team treated them like the plague? What process existed for your team that just wasn't their for the other tentpole franchise?

DG: Different people making the decisions, almost different cultures. I don't know what it's like now, but for many years the Mass Effect team and the Dragon Age team were almost like two different studios working within the same building. [source]

User: It truly boggles the mind. Kudos for doing demonstrably better on consistent queer representation than the ME teams. Y'all never needed us to make petitions to try to get the studio's attention and ask them to do better by us. That's the fight we're once again embroiled in now.

DG: Honestly, I don't feel like tut-tutting the Mass Effect team. They did their part, and if they were a bit later to the show than the DA team they certainly did more than almost every other game out there -- and willingly. [source]

Updates begin here

User: So what was the reason for naming Dragon age 2 "Dragon age II" and not using a subtitle?

DG: As I recall, that was purely a publisher decision. I think they wanted to avoid the impression it was an expansion. [source]

User: Is there no chance of ever remaking DA2 under better circumstances? -Somehow remove the repetitiveness of gameplay by making changes and updating the tech and adding much more to the storyline. It could almost be a new very exciting game.

DG: I'd say there's zero chance of that. Let's keep our hopes up for the next DA title instead. [source]

User: I am a little confused here, help me out here please! How exactly was the cut boss battle with Orsino supposed to work out? How it would've kept him from turning against the player?

DG: It means that, if you sided with the templars, the entire boss bottle at the end would have been against Orsino and the mages. No fight against Meredith. The end decision would have been more divergent. [source]

User: I do remember that one of the reasons going around for that, was that resources were going to the transition to Frostbite. I'm still not fully sold on that having been a good choice. I felt that more time should have been given for that transition considering it was made for FPSs

DG: We didn't transition to Frostbite until DAI. Given our time frame for DA2, I don't think we *could* have transitioned to a new engine. [source]

User: Since your talking about the what could have been for DA2. Could you say what your script was for Anthem? Cause I remember reading that you wrote the plot on that game.

DG: I created a setting for Anthem and scripted out a plot - but, as I understand it, almost none of that ended up being used. So it's a bit pointless to talk about what I'd planned, as that'd be for some completely different type of game. [source]

User: [in reference to the exchange above where DG said “Being "crazy", however, robbed her side of the mage/templar argument of any legitimacy. I hated hated hated that.” re: Meredith] except, I don't think it had very much legitimacy to begin with. keep in mind, we interact with other characters with the same argument. The one that comes to mind is Cullen, a sane templar in power. The templar's side of the argument is inherently flawed.

If I missed a tweet, got the wrong source link or included a tweet twice, feel free to let me know and I’ll correct.

Edit / Update: Post update 22nd April

#dragon age #bioware #video games #fenris #the Fenaissance #long post #longpost #cassandra pentaghast #my lady paladin #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #mass effect

257 notes · View notes

annab-nana · 4 years

Text

Flowers Of Forgiveness - Colby Brock

You and Colby had known each other for five years, dated for two, and you’d think he would remember your birthday, right? Wrong and with birthdays being such a big deal to you, it hurt like hell. He messed up big time and it might be the last straw before your relationship crumbles unless he can manage to save it.

Requested by an amazing anon 💙

Warnings: some curse words; mentions of alcoholic parents

Word Count: 2.1k+

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

You look around the table to see who all is there. Tara is to your right, then it's Jake, Kevin, Reggie, Cassie, Devyn, Xepher, Griffin, Sam, Katrina, Corey, Mike, Aryia, and then there was an empty seat to the left of you. Colby's seat. You don't know why he isn't here yet. He couldn't have forgotten, could he? No, because last week he told you he cleared up his schedule for your birthday. So, where the hell was he?

"Excuse me for a second, guys. I am going to call Colby really quick to see where he is," You say as you stand up and walk out the front door of the restaurant.

"Hey babe!" you hear his chipper greeting flow out of the phone.

"Hey Colbs! Where are you?" you question. He must have got in some bad traffic and is just being held up a bit.

"I'm at my apartment, catching up on some Unus Annus videos." Your heart dropped to the pit of your stomach. He forgot your birthday. You had originally thought he was just being annoying or was trying to hide a surprise or something when he didn’t text you about it and avoided saying 'happy birthday' all day long. But he wasn't. He had forgotten it completely.

"Oh." The only response that came to mind spills out of your mouth.

"Yeah, what are you up to, babe?" He asks so nonchalantly.

"Um, I'm just out with the girls and wanted to check up on you. But I will let you get back to your videos," you say as tears brim your eyes. Your boyfriend of two years forgot your birthday.

"Okay, I'll talk to you later." You blink the tears that threaten to spill over away.

"Yeah, I might swing by your place before I go home. Talk to you later. Bye." Ending the call, you take a deep breath to calm yourself before heading back in.

"Okay, so Colby is just running late. He got caught up with some work stuff, but he'll be here soon," you lie as you sit down. You don't want to make the dinner awkward by saying that Colby forgot. You just want to enjoy the last bit of your birthday with the people who actually care enough about you to remember your birthday. You all order your food and talk and have a good time.

"I have to go to the bathroom. Y/n, wanna come with?" Tara asks. You nod before standing with her and following her to the restroom.

"Colby isn't coming, is he?" She asks as soon as the door shuts.

"No," you tell her the truth as the tears come back. "We've been together for two years. Friends for three before that and he just forgets. He has never forgotten before and he knows how much it hurts me when someone close and important to me does. My parents didn’t care enough to celebrate my birthday when I was younger which is fine, but Colby told me he would never do that to me. But here we are. He forgot."

"Oh y/n," Tara whispers as she pulls you into her tiny frame. "I am sure there is some reason for this, and you know better than I do that he is an idiot most of the time."

"Yeah," you laugh before going to the mirror to make sure that the few tears that did manage to escape did not mess up anything.

"I lied so that I wouldn't make anything awkward," you inform her as the two of you head back to the table and she nods understandingly. When y’all get back, the food had arrived, so you all eat. You thank everyone for coming as you leave the restaurant.

"Happy birthday y/n. I hate that Colby couldn't make it," Aryia tells you as he pulls you in for a goodbye hug.

"Yeah, traffic got the better of him, but we'll be doing something tomorrow," you lie again as you pull away from the embrace. After receiving many hugs and happy birthdays, you get in your car to go to Colby's.

Knocking his door, the anger and sadness in you boil. He swings the door open and lays his eyes on you, noticing how angry and upset you are.

"What happened babe?" He says as he opens the door wider to let you in. You walk in and turn to face him.

"What do you think happened?" you question him. His face drains of color as he thinks back on everything he has done to figure out what has set you off.

"Sweetie, I really don't know. Just tell me what I did," he pleads, completely oblivious to what was wrong.

"Did you forget something?" Again, he goes through everything he can think of and is stumped.

"I don't think so. I-"

"You aren't forgetting anything special. Like a holiday or someone's birthday..." you trail off, trying to get it through his thick skull.

"No, your birthday is tomorrow, and Kevin's is next week-"

"Oh sorry. I didn't realize my birthday was tomorrow. I thought it was on June 17th like it always has been for the past twenty or so years, but I must be mistaken," you sarcastically spit out. At this point, you were fuming.

"No, your birthday is on Thursday which is tomorrow," he retorts as you roll your eyes.

"Where is your phone? Have you been on that thing at all today? Normally your eyes are glued to it," you ask him. You can tell he is getting angrier with you, but at this point, you don't seem to care.

"No, I was taking a day away from my phone. I only answered important calls or texts but that was it," he informs you as he walks to where his phone was in his room.

"Tell me what today's date is, Colby."

"It's June 16th, I know it is because..." His voice fades out. He comes out of his room with his eyes on his phone. "It's the 17th," he states bluntly before looking up to meet your sad and angry eyes.

"Y/n, I'm so sorry. I-"

"No Colby. You know how much birthdays mean to me. You know that. Do you know how embarrassing it was tonight when I was at dinner with all of our friends and the person who means the absolute most to me doesn't show? I hated being there and I couldn't even enjoy it because you weren't there."

"Did you tell them I forgot?" He asks me as he sits down on the couch, all ashamed.

"No, I didn't. Instead, I lied to all of them, but it was not to protect you and your feelings. It was for them so that they didn't have to feel awkward or feel bad for the girl that they were supposed to be celebrating. I told them you were caught up with work stuff and then got caught in traffic and couldn't make it. But Tara still figured it out. She was right. You are a damn idiot."

"No, I'm not!" He fights back as he rises to his feet in anger.

"Yes, you are," you laugh at him. "My parents even told me happy birthday this year Colby. They haven't done that since I was five. I guess they weren't drunk off their asses enough to forget it this morning." You take a breath before continuing.

"You must've not checked the group chat. They were all going off about my birthday and the dinner tonight. And you weren't on Twitter or Instagram either because then you would have seen your fans wishing me a happy birthday as well. People who don't even fucking know me knew my birthday was today."

"Y/n, I'm sorry. I don't know what to do."

"There's nothing you can do. You can't replace the feeling I have of not feeling good enough. You of all people know that when my parents forgot my sixth birthday, I was crushed. Then they forgot year after year after year. Then I met you and all of your amazing friends and you guys have made me feel so special and loved, especially on my birthday. You know that on anyone else's birthday, I make sure that they feel so loved and cared about because I know what it feels like to not be."

"I'm sorry, babe. I didn't mean to forget. It just happened."

"Wow Colby, that makes me feel so much better. You know what? I am sorry. I probably sound like such a diva for getting upset about this, so I'm gonna go-"

"No y/n, please don't go."

"I'm going to leave and go back home. Probably cry myself to sleep? I don't know. We'll see." You place your hand on the doorknob.

"I've noticed how you never miss a beat when it comes to work stuff. But this isn't the first time you've forgotten something with me. It's just the first time it was something important. Get your priorities straight Colby if you want to keep me around." And with that, you leave his apartment, get in your car, and head home.

After walking in, you do exactly what you didn't want and start crying. You slip out of the clothes you were wearing and wipe off all your makeup. Throwing your hair into a messy bun, you walk to your phone to see the many messages and missed calls from Colby which you choose to ignore. The constant buzzing gets on your nerves so much that you turn the damn thing completely off before falling asleep.

…

"Oh, I'm so sorry, y/n," Devyn says as she walks into the living room with a bowl of popcorn. She had texted you last night when you had your phone turned off because of Colby and was asking if you were okay. She knew you were lying about the work and traffic stuff too. You called her this morning and asked her to come over because you were in need of some girl time, especially with your Dev, and she happily obliged. You told her all about it, providing the details of your past and all, and then you two decided a movie would make you feel better, specifically your favorite Moana.

"Yeah it sucks, but I'm going to give him a few days. I'll still like text him and stuff. I just don't want to see him for a bit," you tell her as the movie begins. The two of you sit back and enjoy the movie and popcorn until a knock at the door interrupts you.

"I'll get it," you huff as you make your way to the door before looking through the peephole to see the last person you wanted to at the moment.

"Colby," you mouth to Devyn. She nods, pausing the movie and skipping into your room. You open the door just enough for him to see you but that's it.

"Hey," you speak softly. You know you probably look like shit, but you honestly do not care. He should see how he made you feel.

"Hey, umm, y/n, I am really sorry and I-" you couldn't help but notice him steadily trying to peek behind you. Does he actually think you have some guy over or something? Is he really that jealous and think that low of you?

"Forgetful and jealous? Man, you really have changed Colby."

"No, I'm... never mind. I am here to apologize. I was a shitty boyfriend yesterday. I still am one today and I'll probably never be the best boyfriend in the world, but I will continue to try to be the best I can be for you. I know this isn't much at all, but it is something. It shows I pay attention to some details," he says as he pulls a bouquet of flowers out from behind his back.

After getting a better look at them, you notice that they are daffodils, your grandmother's favorite flower which became your favorite flower. You might have mentioned that once, maybe twice, but it was a long time ago. The fact that he remembered it warmed your heart. You smiled at him before taking the flowers from his grasp.

"You aren't completely off the hook, but I forgive you. Come here," you say as you pull the blue-eyed boy into your arms, wrapping them around his neck. His arms snake around your waist and lift you off the ground slightly.

"So, I haven't lost you yet?" He questions in your ear and you giggle into his before he sets you down. You bring the hand that wasn’t holding flowers to cup his face.

"Nope, but I suggest you don't forget my birthday again," you whisper as you place a small kiss on his nose.

"I won't. I promise. Your birthday will forever be engrained in here," he tells you as he taps on the side of his head.

"Oh yeah, what day is it?"

"June 23rd?" He jokes and you roll your eyes.

"That's Kevin's birthday sweetheart."

211 notes · View notes