#i don’t even know what i’m gonna vote here yet. they’d all be pretty interesting

[danielnelsen]

You can interpret these however you like, and I’d love to read your ideas for other origins or extending these ones in the tags (etc)!

#dragon age #dragon age 2 #dragon age ii #da #da2 #dragon age poll #i had a few other ideas but none that i thought were concrete enough to add here #but then i remembered i can only add 12 options on desktop and i’m on my phone rn so it doesn’t matter anyway lmao #idk whether to do one of these polls for dai because the origins are barely integrated #oh and i feel like this goes without saying but ‘human refugee’ doesn’t count #even if it’s what you’d choose given all these options #i don’t even know what i’m gonna vote here yet. they’d all be pretty interesting #i feel like all of these could be reasonably integrated into the story in a similar way to hawke #except circle mage; that’d be tricky to work into the act 1 plot hmmmmmm

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Expanding on the “Schlatt’s book made Dream self-aware” theory

Okay, I know this theory sounds ridiculous...but hear me out.

I haven’t for the life of me been able to come up with any other possibilities for what this mystery’s answer could be, but now I’ve had the idea.

What if Schlatt’s book made Dream self-aware?

---

Let’s go over what we know about Schlatt’s book.

---

With regards to the prison, which Dream mentions the book pertains to:

Dream: “It’s just an option, because if you can’t kill somebody, you might need to lock them up.”

“I have someone in mind, but we might have to wait to do that.”

Bad: “It’s gonna be Tommy.”

Dream: (chuckles) “Tommy’s exiled. I think, for now...Tommy could end up in it, it just depends...if he does more evil, bad stuff, but...”

-

(They discuss the Crimson a little, as it had just been discovered that day)

Dream: “Speaking of creepy things...I actually have not ever to this point brought this up, so this is interesting...Do you remember whenever I switched sides? I was helping Pogtopia and I was trying to...mostly just ‘cause I didn’t like L’manburg, and Manberg, and I didn’t like their government, and I switched sides to Schlatt.”

“But the reason I switched sides was because he gave me something in order to switch sides to him, and I mentioned that...”

Bad: “What’d he give you? I remember that! What’d he give you?”

Dream: “He gave me something...very, very, very good. BUT -- that card is always up my sleeves until...until I need it.”

“I won’t go into specifics, but what he gave me was a book.”

Bad: “What kind of book?”

Dream: “The book.”

Bad: “But what kind of book?”

Dream: “A book with massive value.”

Sam: “A book containing what, exactly?”

Sam: “Maybe information? Oh! He gave him--”

Sam and Dream at the same time: “--information.”

Bad: “Information about what?”

Dream: “Mmmm...I think that it puts me in danger if people know I have this information. I can’t clarify what it is, otherwise -- I don’t think -- you wouldn’t -- it wouldn’t be a danger to you, but to other people, that...”

Bad: “Oh...okay. I’m really curious now.”

Dream: “I...we’ll find out.”

Sam: “Wait, so you’re saying...Schlatt traded you information to join his side, which you accepted, so it must’ve been valuable.”

Dream: (chuckles) “I think it’s the most valuable thing on the server!”

...

Dream: “I think that, in pertaining to the prison, it may be important, but -- so maybe I’ll have to tell you guys once the prison’s construction is done, but...we’ll see.”

“I think you wouldn’t believe me if I told you what he gave me.”

---

Now, let’s go over what Dream had been acting like up until the point that he turned.

- He had fought alongside Tommy and Techno in the Battle of the Lake.

- He was willing to trade a disc to get Spirit’s leather back from Skeppy. He still cared about Spirit.

- He claimed that he’d had a change of heart about L’manburg, that Schlatt was worse than Wilbur because he threatened the peace between their nations that had persisted up until that point.

- He supported Quackity during the Election because he figured that Quackity having a cabinet member from Dream SMP and a cabinet member from L’manburg would be an excellent way to maintain a truce between the factions. He did not vote for Schlatt. He said he “endorsed justice.” 

He had some sort of humanity to him, some sort of moral compass.

- And, very importantly...

He'd been repeatedly outsmarted by Tommy.

In the Disc War, in the Railway Skirmish, the Spirit Scam? Tommy kept slipping away with leverage against him. 

---

So how do these points add up to self-awareness?

Well, let’s go through ‘em!

- Schlatt. That guy in particular.

The only guy to have permanently died twice. Tommy referred to Schlatt’s ban as the first “death” of the server while he was in exile, and it makes sense that Schlatt’s ban would be seen as a canon death - it influenced Tommy’s character arc and was treated like a death in the story.

And when Schlatt came back...well, he was a little bit different, wasn’t he? Somehow, he was always several steps ahead despite being an “idiot.” Time and time again, he kept pulling out the tricks he had up his sleeve. Time and time again, he was more aware than he let on.

Pogtopia never outsmarted him. Ever.

He knew something no one else did.

And now that Dream knows what he knows, notice how he hasn’t been outsmarted by Tommy ever since? Tommy’s tried, but it didn’t work. Now, Dream always seems to be several steps ahead. Always pulling the strings. Always saying the right things.

- It puts Dream in danger if people know, yet doesn’t apply as much to Sam and Bad.

Having self-awareness makes you incredibly powerful. Of course Dream wouldn’t want that information falling into the wrong hands.

But why not Sam and Bad?

Well, what do those two have in common?

Not only are they neutral parties, but they’re both two of the original eight members of the server. They both keep memory of a time before Tommy. Before plot. They’d be shocked to know, sure, but they likely wouldn’t turn on Dream for it. They’ve been here before the Story.

- It’s information. And it’s the most valuable thing on the server.

Think about that for a second. Dream said that the only thing he cares about now are the discs, because they give him power over Tommy.

But this piece of information is somehow more important than those discs. It supersedes them. The discs are the entire plot! And yet this is more important.

Perhaps even the script itself?

- With regards to the prison and its prisoner, Dream kept talking about the future. Someone who’s a threat now or in the future. Sure, Dream’s smart and can plan well, but this is a long, long game plan to have over the course of several weeks. 

And what is Pandora’s Vault if not one giant plot point to avoid killing off characters? The prison is meant for a person who Dream can’t kill.

Dream can’t kill off Tommy, because that would end the story.

- It’s so shocking that the other characters wouldn’t believe it if Dream told them. I’d say gaining self-awareness is pretty surprising, right?

---

So, Dream’s lost all care for anything on the server except for the discs. He no longer cares about Spirit, or even his friends, just the discs, because Tommy cares about the discs.

The discs are what keeps Tommy fighting. Now that L’manburg’s gone, it’s the only thing that’s keeping Tommy fighting. He’s willing to die trying to take them back.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts how Dream’s character motivations seem eerily similar to the writers’ motivations in the meta -- to keep the story going, to keep everything entertaining and fun, to make the SMP thrive.

That’s the only thing that seems to keep him going right now. He doesn’t care about anything else. The discs are important because they keep the story going. As long as Tommy keeps fighting for the discs, Dream’s story will never end either.

Tommy wants the endgame, but Dream would never let him get there. Not on his watch.

Because Tommy’s right: Dream is scared of him. Tommy’s the only one who can end the story.

Dream wants the story to keep going. He wants it to keep beginning again and again, and never end.

---

He said this when Wilbur blew up L’manburg, starting the story anew:

“This is the start, Tommy. It may feel like the end, but this is literally just the beginning.”

And now:

“In all destruction, there is a new beginning.”

“Beautiful, you know? The unfinished symphony, right?”

“Tommy? I’m not done with you. Y’know, our story’s not over -- L’manburg’s story is over -- our story’s not over.”

“I don’t think our story will ever be over, Tommy.”

“I think that...you’re just too fun."

And of course...

“...It’s just a game.”

#dream smp #dream smp analysis #long posts #meta #meta theory

[livesincerely]

inevitability

Part 5 of the Domestic AU (found here)

Also on Ao3

00000

“So, when are you gonna get married?” Tony asks apropos of nothing, looking between him and Davey with keen interest. 

Jack barely manages to keep from choking on his cereal. Davey, who’d been in the middle of spreading a bit of lox on a bagel, slowly sets down his knife.

Charlie aims a kick at Tony under the table. 

“You’re asking them now?” he hisses. “I thought we were gonna ease them into the idea!”

“There is no easing them into the idea when it comes to Jack and Davey,” Tony says, his expression tight with the exasperation of the long suffering. “You gotta give it to ‘em straight, right from the get go, ‘cause they’ll never figure it out on their own.”

“Hey,” Jack says weakly, but he doesn’t have a leg to stand on and they all know it.

“So, I’m asking,” Tony determinedly continues as if Jack hadn’t said anything. “When are you gettin’ married?”

There’s a long pause where he and Davey just stare at each other, neither of them quite sure how to respond.

He gets this from you, Davey’s expression says, clear as day.

I know he does, Jack says with a commiserating look, holding back a sigh.

“Well?” Tony demands when the silence stretches on for too long.

“It’s a little soon to be thinking about marriage,” Davey eventually says, far more delicately than Jack would’ve managed. “We haven’t talked about it at all yet⁠—”

“Because we only just got together yesterday, Tony,” Jack dryly interjects. “In case you forgot about that little detail.”

“—And we should probably start with the question of if we want to get married before we jump to the when,” Davey concludes.

Tony’s nose scrunches up, obviously dissatisfied with this answer.

“Of course you’re gonna get married,” he says, as if this is plainly obvious. “You’re basically married already, I just wanna know when the wedding’s gonna be.”

“Um.” Davey’s gone faintly pink. “Well, like I said, Jack and I haven’t talked about anything like that yet. We’re comfortable the way we are now, no need to rush into anything⁠—”

“And since we literally only just got together yesterday,” Jack says again, a little more emphatically, just to make sure the point lands, “getting married right off the bat would be all kinds of crazy.”

Tony levels him with the flattest look in all of existence. “You’re crazy if you think you haven’t already been married to Davey for years.”

Jack’s voice catches in his throat, a little blindsided by the frank truth of that statement. Davey’s mouth opens and closes, the rosy flush of his cheeks shading a touch deeper. 

“We’re not thinking about gettin’ married just yet,” Jack says once he’s steadied himself, in a tone that brooks no further arguments. “Dave and I will talk about it when the time comes, if⁠,” he stresses clearly, “we decide that’s what we want.”

“But what, exactly, is holding you back?” Tony asks, stubbornly brooking further arguments anyway. “Like, do you have any actual reasons?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s none of your business,” Jack snipes back. “Given that that’ll be a conversation between me and Davey.”

“I just don’t understand what the big deal is,” Tony says, crossing his arms across his chest. “Pretty much nothing would change, except that the next time someone assumes that you two are married, they’d actually be right instead of simply noticing what was so obvious that even complete strangers clue in to it⁠—”

“Tony,” Jack groans.

“—coming to the perfectly reasonable conclusion that you’re together⁠—”

“Tony, that’s enough, we get it,” Jack says.

“—instead of the inexplicable reality of the situation which was that you were, in fact, not together, despite being in love with each other for eight entire years because you’re idiots⁠—”

Jack covers his face with his hands.

“—and given that, like, every aspect of your lives are already tangled together, it’s not really that big of a step for you to just go ahead and make it official.”

Jack sighs so hard he feels it in his bones. “If we promise to talk about this, will you please stop talking about it?”

“Eight years, Jack!” Tony cries, impassioned. “That’s half of my life! That’s more than half of Charlie’s life!”

“Do not bring me into this,” Charlie quickly interjects, “I am a passive witness and nothing more.”

“You’re such a fucking turncoat, Choo-Choo,” Tony mutters with no real heat. “You’re supposed to have my back on this.”

“Maybe if you could ever actually stick to a plan,” Charlie grumbles back.

“We will talk about it,” Jack says loudly, interrupting their bickering before it can gain any ground. “Okay?”

There’s a moment of blessed silence. 

Then Tony says, “So, like, right now? Or…?”

“Sure!” Jack says, throwing his hands up in defeat. “Why not? Clearly, I’m not gonna get any fucking peace until this is sorted—

“Finally!” Tony exclaims. “God, was that so hard?”

“—So go away,” Jack finishes.

Tony’s mouth falls open.

“What do you mean, go away?” he protests, looking genuinely shocked. “Why?”

“What do you mean, why? I’m not gonna let you sit here and fucking… moderate our conversation, dumbass,” Jack sputters. “Get out!”

“But I really feel like this is the kind of conversation that needs moderating,” Tony disagrees. “It’s not like either of you have a great track record for effective communication⁠—”

“Anthony Ethan Higgins,” Jack warns, nearly at the end of his rope. 

Tony rolls his eyes so hard his whole body moves with the motion. “I am literally just trying to help, you don’t gotta get all defensive about it⁠—”

“Jesus Christ, Tony,” Jack says, completely and utterly done. “Will you please just⁠— Just go somewhere that isn’t here.”

“But are you gonna talk about it?” Tony insists, really digging in his heels. “Because if you’re just gonna not talk about it the second I leave then I think I should⁠—”

“Tonio, juro por Dios—”

“Tony, honey,” Davey finally steps back into the fray, far calmer than he has any right to be, and somehow, miraculously, Tony’s mulish expression softens into something a little chagrined. Jack gapes, wrong-footed by the sudden change. “I think you’ve made your point and given Jack more than enough heart attacks for one morning, yeah? So why don’t you go ahead and give us a few minutes, and I promise we’ll talk about it.”

Tony deflates. “Yeah, okay.”

“Thank you, baby.”

Tony shuffles away, mollified for now. Davey pauses, then says, “Charlie, that means you too.”

“But I didn’t do anything!” Charlie protests. “I’m just sittin’ here, tryin’ to eat.”

He takes an exaggerated bite of his bagel as if to prove his point, eyes extra wide and innocent.

“Charlie.”

“But my food!”

“Take it with you,” Davey suggests, very patiently.

Charlie looks as though that thought hadn’t occurred to him.

“Okay,” he says, scooping up his plate and scurrying after his brother. He hesitates in the doorway, then adds, “My vote is for an autumn wedding, if that counts for anything.”

“Charlie.”

“Going!”

Once he’s sure they’re both gone, Jack heaves another massive sigh.

“They’re such a pair of little shits,” he says, to Davey and the world at large. “Fucking hell.”

Davey takes a drink of his coffee, holding out his other hand to Jack in offering. Jack reaches over and laces their fingers together, most of his irritation slipping away in an instant at the simple contact.

“But he is right, you know,” Davey comments.

“I know he’s right,” Jack grumbles, rubbing his thumb gently over Davey’s knuckles. “Don’t mean he ain’t a little shit.”

“Well, naturally,” Davey agrees. “He was raised by you.”

“Oh, please,” Jack says with a snort. “That little spiel of his was all you. ‘The inexplicable reality of the situation,’' he echoes, shaking his head. “It was like hearin’ your voice comin’ outta Tony’s mouth.”

“And it was a well thought-out argument,” Davey says pertly, the corner of his mouth twitching up into a wry little grin. “His timing could use some work, though.”

“Ain’t that the fucking truth,” Jack says, huffing out a breath. “Didn’t even let us finish eating before he pounced.”

“It has been eight years,” Davey says, and he’s definitely holding back a laugh. “Guess he’s afraid of a repeat performance.”

“Well....” Jack trails off with a shrug, because that part’s hard to argue with. More than half of Charlie’s life, Jesus. “Yeah, but he was talkin’ like he expected us to walk down the aisle this afternoon. I mean, we can’t just get married. You don’t just get married.”

“Most people don’t,” Davey says, tilting his head. “But then, we aren’t really most people, are we, darling?”

It takes a moment for this statement to really register for Jack⁠, and when it finally does, it lands with an earth shattering boom.

“Are you sayin’ you’d marry me?” Jack asks, utterly floored, heart pounding an unsteady rhythm in his chest.

“Are you asking me?” Davey asks, calmly sipping his coffee like he isn’t rocking Jack’s world, right here over breakfast, for the second time in not even two days.

“You want to marry me?”

This makes Davey pause. 

“Why wouldn’t I want to marry you?” he asks, a confused little furrow forming between his brows.

“Stop answerin’ all of my questions with questions,” Jack demands, a wealth of feelings bubbling furiously in his chest. “Just— You’re serious? Like, you’d really just— Just like that?”

Davey looks at him, his eyes bright blue and utterly sincere. 

“Just like that,” he softly agrees. “If you asked.”

“Well, I’m not askin’,” Jack snaps. His face colors immediately: “No, I didn’t mean it like— It’s just, I don’t want to seem, I don’t want’cha ta think—“

Davey reaches up and gently presses two fingers to Jack’s lips, and Jack’s sputtering slows to a halt.

“Breathe, darling,” Davey says, and the tightness in Jack’s throat eases in the face of Davey’s warm, steady gaze. “What’s got you so worked up about this? I get that it wasn’t what we were expecting to have to talk about this morning, but you seem… upset.”

“I’m not upset,” Jack says.

Davey keeps looking at him.

“...Maybe I’m freaking out a little bit,” Jack allows.

“Talk to me,” Davey prompts, giving his hand a comforting squeeze. “What’s wrong?”

Jack licks his lips, then blurts, “You know that I’m, like, wholly and unshakably in love with you, right?”

Davey blushes, a dash of red pooling high in his cheeks and cutting across the bridge of his nose, his fingers curling even tighter around Jack’s own. 

“Perhaps not in those exact words,” Davey murmurs, smiling as he stares down at their joined hands. Even his ears have turned red⁠—it’s kind of wonderful. “But I had something of an inkling, yes.”

“And you know that if it was just about commitment, if it was just about wanting to, I’d marry you in a heartbeat,” Jack continues. “We could go down to the courthouse today, if it was just that. I’ve been ready for you⁠—for us⁠—for years, sweetheart. I love you. You get that, don’tcha?”

Now it’s Davey’s turn to go speechless.

“Oh,” he says. “I… that’s…” 

“But it’s not just about wanting to,” Jack says. “It’s not about being ready.”

“Then what’s it about, Jackie?”

“It’s about makin’ sure we do this right,” Jack explains. “‘Bout makin’ sure I do this right.”

Davey’s eyes sweep over his face, searching, then his expression turns tender.

“Jack,” he says, his voice full of affection. “You don’t have anything you need to prove to me. Not a single thing.”

“But I do, cielito,” Jack disagrees. “I need you to know that I don’t take you for granted. That you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. That I’d do anything and everything for you. That I love you.”

He lifts Davey hand to his lips and presses a kiss to the back of it.

“When I propose to you, and I am gonna propose to you one day,” Jack says, intently, holding Davey’s gaze, “It’s gonna be special. It’s gonna be sappy. I’m gonna make sure you understand how absolutely, stupidly in love with you I am. I’m going to sweep you off your fucking feet, because you deserve that, Dave. You deserve all of that and more.”

“Jack,” Davey breathes. “Jackie.”

“So I’m not askin’,” Jack finishes. “Not yet. Not today.”

Davey’s smile is a beautiful thing. 

“But one day,” he says, leaning in to press their foreheads together, 

“One day,” Jack confirms, and he seals the promise with a gentle kiss. “One day.”

00000

Tag List: @yahfancyclamwiththepurlinside @corbinthecowboy @stroopwafeldetective @amillionandonefandoms

#newsies #javid #jack kelly #davey jacobs #racetrack higgins #crutchie morris #the domestic au #*editor's note #*the writing desk #*final cut #thank you for your patience! #💕💕💕😊

[spell-cleaver]

(Luke Palpatine AU) Since becoming Emperor, Luke had grown accustomed to the fact that people were going to spy on every little thing he did, so when he started watching a holo drama, he knew that it would not last long. What he didn't expect was for Nova to join him.

Previous parts on the masterpost here!

Since becoming Emperor, Luke had grown accustomed to the fact that people were going to spy on every little thing he did, so when he started watching a holo drama, he knew that it would not last long. What he didn’t expect was for Nova to join him.

But there she was sitting next to him, just as swaddled in blankets as he was, the long colo claw fish V— Luke had received the previous night acting as a pillow long enough for both of them to use. The rest of his gifts were snuggled around them on the large sofa as well, and Luke felt so… comfortable, lying atop cuddly toys and watching something pathetic and ridiculous like this, like he was half his age.

When the episode finished, Nova glanced at him. “Do you want to watch the next one?”

Luke blinked. “I can?”

“Of course you can,” she said simply and patiently. “Do you want to?”

He glanced at the holo projector. “It’s not a good show.”

“It’s really not. But it’s fun to watch.”

“And it’s getting late.”

“Yes.”

“And I shouldn’t waste my time on this sort of trash.”

Nova pouted. “That’s your father talking.”

“It’s me talking—”

“C'mon, you’re fourteen. You should be having sleepovers and watching trashy shows until your eyes bleed.” She swatted his arm. “Do you want to watch the next one?”

“I— no,” he decided, getting up. The nexu toy tumbled off his lap and landed on top of the holoprojector, its face being cast into odd, slightly comical shadows by the blue light. “No, I don’t want to.”

Nova said, “Hmmm,” and watched him go.

*

And then the next morning, she said to him, “How many times how you spoken to someone your own age?”

He looked at her. She knew the answer to that. “Zero,” he said.

She wrinkled her nose.

“Well then.” She patted him on the shoulder and walked away. “We should fix that.”

*

“Nova,” Luke said that afternoon, staring at the two teenagers sitting awkwardly on one of the sofas in the entrance chamber to his quarters, as far away from each other as they could get without standing up and being explicitly rude, “what did you do.”

It had to have been her. No one else would’ve done this.

“You said you’d never spoken to someone your own age,” she said cheerfully. Luke flushed berry-red, and hated the look one of the teenagers, a girl dressed in white with a bun of dark braids, gave him at that. It was far too close to pity.

“These two agreed to meet you, and you just have to watch one movie together,” she badgered, taking Luke’s shoulder and steering him closer. He felt like a five year old. “If you decided you all hate each other, then you never have to socialise again, but until then, please give it a chance, Luke.”

She whispered. “It’ll be good for you.”

Luke swallowed tightly, hating the way the two teenagers—likely infinitely cleverer, more socialised, more experienced than him—were gazing at him. It was probably scorn—scorn for the child emperor who couldn’t even talk to his peers—

Then Nova ushered them all into the living room of his quarters and sat them down around the holoprojector. They each took separate chairs or sofas, and Luke was intimately aware of the confused glances his Noghri bodyguards were giving and receiving from the newcomers, but he stubbornly tried not to flush again.

“So, uh,” he said. “I’m Luke.”

“We know,” the girl said.

He nodded. “Right.”

She took pity on him and smiled. “This is Zevulon Veers,” she said, and the other teenager—a tall, dark-haired human—gave her a look.

“I was going to introduce myself, thank you.”

“Well, now you don’t have to.”

“Any relation to General Veers?” Luke asked tentatively.

Zevulon… didn’t frown, but he didn’t smile, either. “My father. I hardly ever see him.”

Ah. If only Luke had had that pleasure with his father, he might not have disappointed him as much.

“I met him yesterday,” he offered. “Apparently Vader roped him into teaching me how to shoot.”

“You don’t know how to shoot?” asked the girl. Her voice was loud, regal, and it brimmed with confidence. Luke felt like a shadow next to her.

“No,” he said tightly. “My training never covered that. But Vader and Nova thought it would be a good thing to learn now.” He decided not to mention the whole fight there’d been about that. “The general was a good teacher.”

Zevulon nodded. “He is. When he’s around.”

“When he’s not off slaughtering people?” the girl chimed in.

Zevulon tensed. “Excuse me?”

“What? He’s a general. That’s what he does.”

“It’s his job, he’s good at it. Doesn’t mean you get to insult him for it.” He bristled. “Who even are you? It’s pretty creepy that you know who I am but never thought to return the—”

“I,” she said, glaring daggers, “am Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.”

Oh.

That made sense—Luke recognised her now. She’d been dragged in front of holocams just as much as he had as a kid.

Zevulon snorted. “Ah. That explains it.”

That was, apparently, the wrong thing to say. She puffed herself up. “And what does that mean?”

“You’re all Rebel sympathisers on Alderaan, aren’t you? No wonder you hate my father.”

“We're—” That seemed to have taken the power out of her engines. She grimaced and said, tensely, “That’s not true, and I never said I hated him—”

“No, you just—”

“Can you two… not fight?” Luke asked. “It’s kinda awkward sitting here watching it.”

Zevulon stopped immediately. Leia’s mouth opened and closed for a moment before she did the same. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Luke winced. “Don’t do that. Don’t call me Majesty. I’m just Luke.”

The princess actually smiled a little, at that. “And I’m just Leia.”

“I’ve met your father as well,” he said to her, smiling back. “During the talks with the senators. He was nice. Had some good ideas.”

She nodded. “That’s my father.”

He turned his head. “And Zevulon—”

“Zev.” He fidgeted. “While we’re exchanging names, I’m just Zev.”

Luke nodded. “Alright.”

Then he glanced at the holoprojector. “Do either of you know what you want to watch?”

*

“This is stupid,” Leia said, her mouth full of cake. “Monarchies don’t do arranged marriages anymore, that’s archaic.”

“Hey, you’re the one who randomly decided we should introduce Luke to daytime holonet shows. It’s called Crown of Stars, what did you expect it would be like?”

“I have heard of a few arranged marriages in recent years, mainly between magnates and industrial leaders and Moffs and stuff,” Luke admitted, reaching for the tray of food Nova had sent a droid in to deliver for them. The jogan fruit was sweet when he bit into it; juice dribbled down his chin. “But yeah, it’s not that common. And why does she need to marry that guy anyway? His system doesn’t exactly have any resources that her family would exactly need, and they’re on the edge of Wild Space.”

“It’s a holodrama, it’s not meant to be logical!”

Luke shrugged. “Shouldn’t they at least try?”

“They’re more interested in the drama,” Leia said, drawing out the word a tad longer than needed. “To keep their viewers hooked.”

“To keep their viewers confused?”

“That too.”

“Oh stars, the wedding scene.” Zev cringed away. “I can’t watch.”

“Getting invested, Veers?”

“She’s about to marry someone twice her age while her one true love watches in agony! I can’t bear it!”

Leia rolled her eyes. “Then let’s turn it off—”

A pillow smacked her in the face.

“Hey!” She glared at Luke.

“Shhh, it’s getting tense.”

She chucked the pillow back at him. He threw himself against the sofa to dodge it.

“Oh no,” Zev whimpered, peering through his fingers, “he’s gonna kiss her…”

“Wait, look!” Luke leaned forwards. “Is that—? I don’t understand.”

“Shhh, let it finish.”

“The lover burst in and read out a law that declared the marriage illegal,” Leia drawled. “A law which doesn’t exist, by the way—”

“Oh, that’s a sweet ending.” Luke smiled at the projector.

“They’re kissing and riding off into the sunset together, it’s literally the most cliché ending in the galaxy.”

“But it’s sweet.”                            

Leia had to smile when she glanced at the holo again—at the woman’s beaming face.

“Okay,” she admitted, “it is pretty sweet.” She glanced at Luke and Zev, and cackled when she saw they’d both inched their chairs and sofas closer to the holo, as well as closer together. “You sappy romantics.”

The credits began to roll.

Luke glanced at the time. “Uhhh,” he said, “the time Nova said she was going to lock us in for is up. If you don’t want to stay any longer…”

“Are you kicking us out?” Leia asked. Zev looked hurt.

“No! I just thought… if you did want to leave…”

“Well.” Leia grabbed the remote. “He can leave, but I’m not going to go until you’ve been introduced to a holonet show that is actually good. How about—”

“Are you kidding?” Zev burst out. “They haven’t resolved the secret letter arc yet, and the Count is still missing! Luke has to finish watching the series!”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“One against one.” Zev crossed his arms. “You’re a senator, Leia—”

“Aspiring senator, I’m actually an apprentice legislator—”

“—you like voting. Luke gets the deciding vote.”

Luke smiled. “Crown of Stars.”

“No!”

“There’s too many plotlines that haven’t been wrapped up yet!”

Leia glared at Zev. “You’ve ruined his taste forever.”

“Shhh,” Luke said as the theme began to play. “It’s starting.”

Send me the first sentence of a scene from this AU and I’ll continue it!

Beginning | Previous | Next

#luke palpatine #sabé #leia organa #zevulon veers #space twins #my writing #random words on a page #luke skywalker

[wishingforatypewriter]

Before the Fall (Chapter 14)

Summary: In which Souma misses a golden opportunity. 

The noon hour Elite Ten meetings were always the worst ones because they coincided with the academy-wide lunch hour. This meant that after hustling from their classes to Totsuki’s Parliament — the Elite Ten’s administrative building — they’d then have to rush back to the academic buildings for afternoon classes.  

It was generally understood that no one got to eat lunch on these days unless they packed something ahead of time. And of course, just as his 10:30 practicum ended for the day, Souma received a one word text message from Nakiri. 

Hungry.

It was 11:46. If he took her up on this — and naturally he would — he’d have only fourteen minutes to cook her something and then haul ass to Parliament. She always did have a habit of asking for the near-impossible. He shook his head at the phone as he typed his reply. 

Don’t complain if I’m late. 

Her response came almost instantly, as though she were waiting for his text. But that would never happen with a girl like Nakiri.

Less complaining, more cooking. I’ll see you in 12 minutes. 

He sighed, taking his uniform jacket back off and glancing around the classroom’s ingredient shelf. Beef shank, noodles, cabbage—easy. 

Nine minutes later, he had two servings of beef yakiudon packed in a to-go container. He had just stepped out into the winter air, calculating how fast he’d have to sprint in order to make it by noon, when a black towncar pulled up in front of the academic building. 

The window rolled down slowly, and Nakiri shot him an impatient look. “Wipe the grin off your face and get in.” 

He slid into the seat next to her without a second thought, but was unable to manage a neutral facial expression. “I thought you were gonna leave me to the wolves.”

“I considered it,” she quipped, crossing her arms. “But if we couldn’t start on time, Alice would just find a way to get everyone off task. Plus it’s freezing out, and you never have the sense to dress properly.”

He smirked at her then. “It’s nice to know you care, Nakiri.” 

“It’s a professional courtesy, and nothing more,” she said. “Now what have you prepared for me today?”

His smirk broadened as he watched her eye the takeout box with interest. “Can’t wait to try it, can you?” 

“Don’t flatter yourself, Yukihira-kun,” she said, though her growling stomach gave her away. She regarded him with a murderous scowl even as her cheeks turned red. 

“Betrayed by her own stomach.” 

“S-shut up! It’s just that I’ve been busy all day and haven’t gotten a chance to eat yet. It has nothing to do with you or your cooking!” 

“Whatever you say, Nakiri,” he told her, leaning back on the leather seats.  

They reached the conference room at 12 on the dot and promptly received death stares from all their lunchless colleagues. 

Unperturbed, Nakiri took her seat at the head of the table, chopsticks in hand. “Let’s begin.” 

The meeting started with a review of the budget allotments for new seminars in the coming fiscal year. Arato and Hayama distributed the budget plans for the eight new seminars they’d approved, and the rest of the council voted in favor of their plan—mostly because no one could be bothered to read the whole document. 

Next they discussed the logistics of upcoming events, including the first year promotion exams in Hokkaido and the alumni banquet. Souma had almost forgotten how much work running the academy could be. 

Towards the end of the meeting, Alice — who was now chair of the campus life committee — made a proposal of her own. 

“So your plan is...a party?” Hayama asked in a skeptical tone after she described it. 

“I’m proposing a semi-formal dance for Valentine’s Day,” she explained. “The Elite Ten will commission the chocolate and candy research societies to produce candy grams that students will use to ask each other to the dance.”

“It seems frivolous,” Arato pointed out. “A cooking event I would understand, but what would be the point of a dance?”

“Excellent question, Hishoko,” Alice said. She turned to the next slide in her presentation. “The event will boost morale on campus before finals start up, and all the proceeds will go to Totsuki’s philanthropic branch. There’s no downside.” 

“This is Japan’s top culinary academy, Alice,” Nakiri said with a dismissive wave. “There’s no time for something like a school dance.” 

“And that’s exactly why the student body needs to cut loose,” the other Nakri heiress said. “No one’s gonna cook their best if they’re all uptight, Erina. It’s bad for creativity. So who’s in favor? Ryo-kun obviously supports me.”

“Sure,” said Kurokiba, who most-likely wasn’t even paying attention. 

“I’ll support it,” Takumi added. “I haven’t been to a semi-formal since I left Italy.” 

“Um...” Megumi began. “I really like the idea of all the proceeds going to charity, so I’m in favor as well.”

And once Tadokoro was on board no one really had the heart to oppose the event anymore. 

“So it’s settled,” Alice said with a broad smile once the vote was won. “Totsuki Academy is going to hold its first ever Valentine’s Day dance!” 

---

A week later, Souma walked into the copy room in Parliament, holding a flyer for the dance and a prototype of the candy gram. It was a small, heart shaped box of chocolates with a card attached to it. Sakaki and Yoshino had gone crazy over the design when he showed it to them earlier. 

“Hey Nakiri, can I ask you something?” he asked once he saw her scanning a document. 

“If you must.” She turned around with her usual pre-annoyed expression, and then flushed suddenly. “Wait, you mean here?” Nakiri cast a meaningful glance at Takumi, who had just come in to print something. 

“Yeah, why not? It’s not like it’s a secret.”

If it were possible, the flush on her cheeks deepened, and she started fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. “W-well, if that’s how you feel about it, Yukihira-kun, I suppose I can’t really object, so...” 

“Great!” Souma held out the candy gram to her and she took it tentatively, her fingers brushing against his as she did. She gave one of those fleeting Nakiri smiles and it unwound all of his thoughts the way they always did. Why was he even there again?

“Get on with it, will you?” she asked with a giggle. 

“Right.” Souma ran a hand through his hair, embarrassed to have been caught staring. “So what do you think of the design?” 

Her expression darkened then. “I’m sorry, what?” 

“You know, for the fundraiser and stuff. The president of the Chocolate RS wanted to run it by the Elite Ten before we start selling them. So do you like it?”

“Oh...it’s fine, I guess,” she said with a sigh. Then Nakiri sidestepped him and walked right out of the room. 

Souma watched her go, perplexed. What was that all about? 

“That was painful,” Takumi said to him after a moment. 

“What? You think she really didn’t like it?” 

“It’s not a matter of the design, Yukihira!” the blond shouted. Souma had almost forgotten how intense that guy could be. “That wasn’t the question she was expecting just now.” 

“But how would she know what I was going to ask?” 

With a beleaguered sigh, Takumi pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a moment. “Repeat after me. Ask.”

“Ask.”

“Her.”

“Her.”

“To the dance.” 

Souma pondered this for a moment before responding. “What’s the point of asking one person if we’re all gonna end up hanging out, anyway? It makes more sense for everyone to go as one big group.” 

“Yes, but you should still ask her specifically to express that you’re interested.”

“Who said I was—”

“Oh please. You’re only slightly less obsessed with her and her god tongue than you are with cooking itself, and it’s about as subtle as a herd of elephants.” 

“You know elephants can actually be pretty—”

“Off topic! The point is, you need to ask her out and soon, or lose your honor as a chef and as a man!” 

After this grand proclamation, Souma looked at his friend curiously. “So who are you asking, Takumi?” 

And with that, he sent his second blond of the day storming out of the copy room. 

#shokugeki no soma #sorina #soueri #takumi is all of us

[pokemonswshbutionlyplayedsword]

The boys at the karaoke? Piers destroying everyone is a given, but what about Raihan screaming the lyrics and Leon messing up the words? And Milo surprising everyone with a really sweet voice? And Gordie...well, Gordie probably strikes a lot of poses, he may or may not attempted to do a backflip while singing once but...let's just say that one try was enough 🤣

Group bonding, I love it. Saturdays, they’re for the boys, eh? I’m gonna try something new and do a short piece of writing for this one. Hopefully that’s alright for you.

Thanks for the ask!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’ve got to be kiddin’”

Piers sat back on the sofa of the Karaoke Room, which had been rented out for the night by the group of Gym Leaders, consisting of Leon, Raihan, Gordie, Milo, and himself. No one else was interested, much to Raihan’s chagrin.

“What’dya mean?” Raihan giggled out as he turned to the musician, microphone in hand.

The rest of the company was nearly on the ground, tears in their eyes after Raihan’s spectacle. The dragon trainer had couched on the arm of the couch, screaming incoherently into the microphone simply to piss off the rocker.

“What’dya mean ‘what’dya mean?’ That’s just offensive, mate. Y’call that singin’?” Piers claimed with an accusatory finger pointed at the gym leader. His anger fell flat as he failed to stifle his own giggles.

“That’s the point.” Raihan chuckled, Leon collapsed on the ground with full blown guffaws, Milo not far behind. Tears streamed down from behind Gordie’s glasses. “You’re a singer. I’m tryin’ to get ya to sing for us.”

“It’s as they say, ‘if ya’re good at somethin’, don’t do it for free.’ If ya wanna hear me sing, ya’ll pay for a ticket at my next concert.” Piers teased, shrugging his shoulders.

“Then why’d ya come?” Gordie asked between gasps.

“To make fun of ya lot for not knowin’ how to sing.”

Leon groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. “I vote Raihan does another one.”

“No, I wanna go,” Milo called, waving his hand from his spot on the ground. “Wanna see what Piers thinks o’ me.”

“Come on, then,” Piers challenged, taking a sip of his drink. “Have at it.”

Milo caught his breath, taking the microphone from Raihan and looking through the list of songs. A slow country song appeared on the screen, and Milo focused on not messing the lyrics up. The group clapped as the screen faded back to black. Milo looked at the dark type user lounging next to him with hopeful eyes.

“Not bad,” Piers started slowly, pausing to sip at his drink again. “Better than Raihan, at least.”

The group laughed once again. To be fair, Piers was pretty critical when it came to music, so any positive note meant that Milo was above average in skill. Milo silently passed the mic to Leon, who picked up the tablet to look at the song selection. After a couple silent moments, his eyes lit up and he gasped. “Raihan, get over here now!”

Curiously, the dragon leader looked over his shoulder, instantly lighting up as well. Gordie and Milo waited for them to explain and Piers quirked an eyebrow at them.

Raihan snatched the microphone, assuming his position on the arm of the sofa and the screen faded in.

It was the song Piers’ released a week prior. The rock start sat up and sputtered, his one visible eye widening. “You wouldn’t.”

“I would,” Raihan teased. “I’m gonna butcher it so you gotta get up here and sing it for us.”

The melody began to play, lyrics popping up and vanishing quickly. Raihan froze. “Mates, I don’t know this song.”

The room erupted with laughter. Piers mocked a hurt expression.

“Ouch, Raihan, I thought as a friend, ya’d already know all my songs by heart.”

“I’m just not used to your kind of music, alright?”

“Restart it, I know the lyrics,” Gordie requested, taking Raihan’s place, yet in a much more relaxed position.

“At least someone cares,” Piers teased, giving Raihan a playful look.

Gordie got unbelievably engrossed in his singing, to the point where he leaped up and tried to do a flip, one of Piers’ signature moves when performing. He vanished behind the sofa with an audible thud, the song playing with no vocals. Once again, the room erupted in laughter. Leon got up and peered over the back of the sofa.

“Bloody hell, mate, are you alright?” Leon earned a grunt in response. “You thought you were Piers for a moment, yeah?”

“It’s a good song,” Gordie mumbled, just loud enough for the rest of the room to hear.

Piers smirked. “That’s what ya get for bein’ unoriginal.”

Raihan stuck his tongue out at Piers, who returned the gesture. Milo scoffed, “Ya both children.”

“Fine,” Piers snatched up the microphone. “I’ll show ya amateurs how it’s done.”

Milo restarted the song, and Piers performed it flawlessly, letting his small audience get lost in the meaning of true music. He even executed his signature flip. They small group cheered and howled when he finished, watching Piers give a pompous bow.

“I suppose you’re the rock star for a reason,” Gordie admitted.

The night played on for several more hours, each trainer taking turns in singing, Piers schooling them in how to do it properly. Raihan, who had planned the entire event, felt confident in his group bonding scheme. The others agreed that it was a great night, and that they’d do it again. Raihan also submitted a request at the front desk to add more of Piers’ music to the playlist.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There’s a small snippet of writing. It’s been a long time since I wrote something, but I hope it’s good anyway. Thanks for submitting this ask, it was fun to write.

#pokemon swsh #ask #anon #my writing #pokemon piers #pokemon leon #pokemon raihan #pokemon gordie #pokemon milo

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #262: Selfie Battle (Pokemon Sword & Shield)

Raihan: (Filming himself in front of his phone) Yoo! What's happening, Galar Region! Your boi, Raihan here is about to compete- ('Heh') Scratch that. I'm about to take home the Selfie Challenge!!!!

Crowds of Raihan Fans: (Roaring in Cheers Right Behind Him)

Gordie: (Look Towards Raihan as he's Filming himself in front of his phone) ('Scoffs') Please. Like he could actually be me in a Selfie Challenge. (Starts Acting Smug like) Everyone knows that I already reign supreme when comes to these kinds of challenges. Am I right, people?!

Crowds of Gordie Fans: (Roaring in Cheers Right Behind Him)

Nessa: (Watching All of this Madness Unfolds) .............Milo, what am I looking at here?

Milo: Oh they're just competing to see who can make the most selfies within the week.

Nessa: (Rolled Her Eyes) Is this seriously their way to boost their own ego status?

Milo: (Chuckles Lightly) You can say that. But I dunno....It kinda looks fun in retrospect.

Nessa: I'm not too sure about that, Milo. I mean taking some selfies is fine every once in a while, but making a whole contest over it for whatever reason is just plain ignorance. ('Sigh') Surely this couldn't get any dumber than this....

Three Days Later.....

Raihan and Gordie continuously take multiple outlandish selfies as both of their respective fans are cheering them on the background.

Nessa: I was wrong......This actually got way more dumber than I thought it would be.....

Milo: I'm surprised they still have more Gigabytes after all the pictures they've taken those days ago....You know I'm actually supposed to be their semi-judge in all of this, right?

Nessa: Really?

Milo: Yep. No one else was interested in to doing it. So I was practically the last person they'd come to.

Nessa: (Place a hand on Milo's Shoulder) I wish you the best of luck in this, big guy.

Milo: (Smiles Brightly) Thanks, Nessa.

Two Days Later......

Raihan: (Clap his Hands) Alright, Milo my man! Let's see those results!

Gordie: (Smiles Confidently and Smugly) I'm not the one brag or anything but I say I'd take the win flawless.

Raihan: (Starts Glaring at Gordie) Don't get your hopes too high there, Rock boy. Cuz the only person who's have any chance of winning this thing is yours truly!

Gordie: (Glares back at Raihan) Keep telling yourself that, Dragon boy!

And with that, the two Gym Leaders began to clash heads with one another....that is until Nessa manage to smack both of their heads.

Nessa: (Extremely Annoyed) Would you two just knock it off and let Milo read the results already?!

Raihan/Gordie: (In Pain) Yes ma'am...... We're sorry.......

Nessa: (Turns to Milo with a smile) Go ahead, big guy.

Milo: (Smiles Softly at Nessa) Thanks a million, Nessa. (Turn back towards the computer and look up some selfies) Now let's see here......By the looks of it, you two have took some pretty impressive selfies so far....(Saw a few Pictures of a clearly Embarrassed Gordie taking a selfies with his loving mother, Melony) Aww, Gordie....I didn't know you would take selfies with your ma.

Gordie: ?!!!

Nessa: (Saw the pictures herself) Aww... That is precious.

Raihan: (Smirks at Gordie) Guess you really are a Momma's Boy after all, huh, Gordster?

Gordie: (Blushes Even Harder) Yeah?! Well at the very least it worth something!! (Turns Away while mumbling silently) And besides....I was only trying to make my mom happy with those posts....

Nessa: (Smiles Softly) And that's very sweet of you, Gordie. (Smack Raihan on the shoulder) Stop making him feel bad, Raihan!

Raihan: Alright! Alright! (Turns to Gordie) Sorry, man.

Gordie: ('Sigh') It's fine I suppose....

Milo: (Chuckles Lightly as he pulls up pictures from Raihan, most of which involves him and Leon just hanging out) You know, for rivals, you and Leon sure do hangout a lot lately.

Nessa: (Saw the photos herself) No kidding. How the hell were you guys able to afford a freaking yacht?!

Gordie: (Starts Smirking At Raihan) So, Raihan, is there any particular reason you would hang out with your fierce rival so very often? Any reason at all?

Raihan: (Starts Blushing while turning away) We're not a couple if that's what you think!

Gordie: (Smirk even wider) Never said you were.

Raihan: I- ('Heavily Sigh') Look, man, we're just two bros, hanging out with each other. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Milo: (Smiles Softly at Raihan) That's perfectly okay with us, Raihan.

Nessa: (Smiles as well) Yeah. We have no room to judge. (Glares at Gordie Menacingly) Isn't that right, Gordie?

Gordie: (Completely Terrified by Nessa's Glare) R-Right! There's absolutely nothing with that at all.

Raihan: (Smiles Brightly) Thank, you guys. You too, Gordie. It really means a lot..... (Went back to Smirking) Still gonna beat you in this challenge, though.

Gordie: (Glaring Back at Raihan) We'll see about that, Dragon boy!!

Nessa: Annnnnd they're back .....(Turn to Milo) You think you could wrap this up so we can go home?

Milo: Sure thing. (Tallying up the votes from Pokemon fan viewers) And now....the winner of the First annual Selfie Battle is.............(Check the results)........huh.

Raihan: What is it, Milo?

Gordie: Did it said who won?

Milo: Well...... according to the votes, it said that....neither of you won the challenge.

Raihan/Gordie: WHAT?!

Nessa: So...if neither of these guys won, then who did?

Milo: You guys aren't gonna believe this....buuut...the actual winner of the challenge of the whole thing.....is Alli.

Raihan/Gordie: ALLI?!

Nessa: Huh. I.... honestly didn't see that one coming...

Raihan: But that doesn't even make any sense!

Gordie: How was Allister able to beat both of us?!

Milo: You guys remember those paparazzi that usually follow us sometimes?

Gordie/Raihan: (Slowly Nodded his head) Yeah......

Milo: And remember how we all agreed that Alli is the most precious being in our lives?

Nessa: Yeah. Alli's such a peach.

Milo: Yeah well.... apparently everyone on the internet thinks so as well. (Shows the gang pictures of Allister being completely camera shy as he starts sprinting away) It seems like these were taken for awhile.....(Shows pictures of Bea punching the day lights out of the photographers) Up until Bea stops them, of course.

Nessa: (Smiles Softly) I'm glad she's being a good sister to the boy.

Milo: (Smiles Softly) Me too.

Gordie: You know....In all honesty, (Smiles a little) I'm actually happy for the little guy winning the contest.

Raihan: (Smiles Brightly) Me too, man. I'm more than happy to take 2nd Place anytime.

Gordie: (Slowly Turn towards Raihan) I'm sorry. Since did you get to decide who gets 2nd Place or not?

Raihan: Since now. (Shrugged while acting Smug like) I mean, With all due respect, Gordie, but I believe my selfies are clearly superior to yours in every single way.

Gordie: (Glares up to Raihan yet again) In your dreams, Dragon boy!! The only one who truly that runner-up spot is me!!

Raihan: (Glares up at Gordie) Yeah right! Like you had any chance to beat me in the first place!

Nessa: (Watching Gordie and Raihan argument unfolds) I'm getting tired of this....(Place a hand of Milo's Shoulder) Hey, Milo, let's ditch these guys and go out to eat somewhere. I'll pay for the both of us on the way there.

Milo: (Happily Accepts Nessa's offer as he got up from the chair and walk away with her) D'okay!

@keyenuta

@26shann

@cyber-wildcat

@ink-correctsmashbrosbloo

@ma-lemons

@mariah2014

@gengar-sans

#pokemon sword and shield #raihan #gordie #nessa #milo #leon #melony #allister #bea #selfie battle #humor #friendship #fluff #nessa x milo #raihan x leon #gordie is a momma's boy #bea is best sister to allister #allister is too precious for this world #I've just played sword and shield and enjoyed it a lot #have to edited it again to make it perfect. sorry about that

[artificialqueens]

Tree House Kisses, Chapter 27 (Adorney) - Scorpio and Veronica

A/N: Click here for previous chapters. xoxo!

Chapter Summary: Just another day at the beach...

Chapter 27: Small Doses

“Aaaaaugh!” Laganja shrieked, running from Thorgy into the crashing waves.

“Who wants a sandwich?”

“Darienne, I love you, you’re such a mom,” Courtney giggled, hugging the older girl around the shoulders.

“So...Adore…” Bob began, grabbing a sandwich from the cooler.

“Yes?”

“Tell us all the hot gossip about those girls you chill with!”

April hit Bob on the shoulder. “Can you please not be gross?”

“I’m not being gross! I’m just showing an interest in my friend’s life!” Bob said, eyes shining mischievously. “I mean, I heard you broke up with Raja. Does that mean you’re hooking up with Violet again? She’s super hot, I wouldn’t blame you. Or Pearl? Pearl’s sexy. And she’s like, down the block. Convenient.”

Roy shook his head. “Bob, keep up, dude. Violet and Pearl are totally a thing. They flirt like crazy all the time.”

“I thought Pearl was with that pretty wardrobe girl, Shea,” Darienne said.

“Oh yeah,” Roy said.

“And anyway, isn’t Violet like, openly crushing on Fame? Willam said that she used to send her boyfriend all these anonymous threatening notes until Fame caught wind of it and made her stop.” Bob laughed. “Violet is kind of rad. Terrifying, but rad.”

Adore looked at Courtney. “Why do they know so much about my friends? This is fucking creepy.”

Courtney shook her head. “I have no idea.”

“Because, Adore, your little group is full of drama, and people gossip,” Roy explained, taking on that patronizing tone that made Adore’s skin crawl.

“Oh, really?” Adore asked. “Drama, like how you threatened to release the texts between Darienne and Jamin from last year if she ran against you for ASB president?”

Roy grinned, flashing his dimples. “That’s not drama. That’s blackmail.”

“Nice, Roy. Such a stand-up guy.”

“Hey, come on. It was for both our benefit. We know all the same people. We would have split votes and both lost. This way, she’s vice and I’m gonna support her for homecoming queen. Right, Dar?”

Darienne held up her middle finger. “Too soon.”

Bob laughed. “Tell him, girl.”

“Babe, let’s go in the water,” Roy said, resting his chin on Courtney’s shoulder.

“I dunno…” Courtney looked at Adore.

“Please, come on…” he whined, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“You should go,” Adore said.

Courtney still hesitated as Roy kissed her shoulder, whimpering. “I don’t have to. I haven’t even eaten anything yet-”

“I’ll save you a sandwich. Nobody wants the veggie ones anyway,” Adore said with a laugh. “Go.”

Courtney bit her lip. “Okay.” She turned to Roy, letting him help her up, following him into the water, then laughing as he picked her up and raced into the freezing cold ocean.

“What was that about?” Darienne asked quietly, burying her feet into the warm sand. She looked at Adore with a curious expression.

Adore looked away, squinting into the bright sun.

“Ummm...I dunno. I guess, sometimes I feel like a third wheel around them. I made Courtney promise that she wasn’t gonna be all over him all day, since...you know, she’s the only one here who really wants me around.”

“That’s not true.”

“Well, you know what I mean.”

Darienne watched Roy and Courtney in the water for a few moments, then said, “Let me tell you something, Adore. You know...it’s really easy, right now, for everything to feel like forever. The ocean. Courtney and Roy. High School. This fuckin’ day...But you know, nothing in life lasts forever. So, just remember that. All we have are moments.” She held a handful of sand, letting it slide through her fingers. “Lots and lots of moments. If we’re lucky.”

“That was really deep.”

“Well, I’m really deep.”

“And cheesy as fuck.”

“That too,” Darienne laughed.

Adore smiled, leaning a head on Darienne’s shoulder. “Thanks.”

“And for the record. Courtney isn’t the only one here who wants you around. I love you, and I always have, but if you’re more interested in hanging out with your other friends right now, I get that. It doesn’t mean that I don’t care about you.”

“Alright, alright…”

“Sorry, but you know I can’t let that one slide,” the redhead said, grinning at her.

Adore laughed. “I’m sorry too. Mostly I just feel dumb around you guys.”

“You feel dumb around Gia?”

Adore burst out laughing. “Maybe not Gia. But the rest of you are smarty pants and you know it.”

“Good grades are not always a sign of intelligence,” Darienne said. “You’re smart. You’re just not a school person.”

“Understatement,” Adore laughed.

“Yeah, well, I have to tell you, I’m not worried. You’re extremely talented, and beautiful, and charming, and like...you’re gonna do amazing things.”

“Are you hitting on me?”

Darienne burst out laughing. “Yes. Is it working?”

“Kind of…” Adore giggled, fluttering her lashes.

-

Courtney and Roy emerged from the water, bickering.

“Omigod, stop it!” Courtney exclaimed.

“Hey guys, did you know that Courtney is Jewish now?”

“Mazel tov!” Jamin exclaimed. “Welcome to the tribe!”

“That is not what I said,” Courtney laughed. “My mom’s boyfriend Slate took us to this Kabbalah Center and it was just cool, that’s all.”

“Slate. He sounds really smart,” Roy joked.

“At least her boyfriend cares about the universe. My dad is still shacking up with that whore, Katya. She’s like, the actual fucking worst,” Courtney grumbled, flopping onto the blanket beside Adore.

“Baby, if you want to get spiritual, you should come to my church. You can watch me carry candles and swing incense around.”

Courtney looked at him with an incredulous expression. “Roy. I’m not like, trying to judge you or anything, but I’m not going to support the Catholic Church.”

“What? Why not?”

“Uhhh, I don’t know, how about how the like, basically approved of the slave trade and looked the other way during the holocaust-”

“Hey, a lot of nuns and priests helped people during the--”

“Covering up child sex abuse!” Courtney shrieked. “Come on!”

“Homophobia? Sexism?” Adore piped in.

“Yeah, exactly!” Courtney agreed emphatically. “You’re siding with arguably one of the biggest oppressors in history.”

“I…”

“But keep on swinging that incense, Dimples,” Adore added, punching Roy on the shoulder.

“Damn.” Roy scratched his head. “But how do you really feel?”

Courtney laughed. “The...candles are nice?”

Roy reached for Courtney, pulling her against him. “So I guess we’re not having a church wedding?”

“Definitely not.” She squirmed a little, trying to move back towards Adore.

“And the kids aren’t getting baptized?” he murmured against her neck, fingers trailing up her bare thighs

“Roy, come on, stop it.”

“What’s the matter? I’m giving up eternal salvation for you, you should be very proud of yourself right now.” He tilted her chin up, leaning in for a kiss.

Courtney wriggled out of his arms, rolling her eyes at Adore. “I said stop it!”

He scoffed. “Fine.”

“Oh, now you’re gonna pout like a baby,” she said.

“I’m not pouting.”

“Are too.”

“So, you don’t want me to touch you, but you want to control how I react when you push me away?”

“Ughhhh,” Courtney rolled her eyes again, flopping onto her stomach. “Nevermind.”

“Sorry for wanting to spend time with you,” Roy said testily.

Courtney glared up at him, slipping her sunglasses on.

Adore rolled her eyes and stood up, brushing off her jean shorts, announcing to no one in particular. “I’ll be right back, gonna go to the bathroom.”

“Dory, wait!” Courtney jumped up and followed her. “I need to go too.”

-

Adore stood at the sink, rinsing her hands. “So. Does Roy always talk about marriage and babies, or does he just save that for when you have an audience?”

Courtney came out of her stall, shaking her head. “I have no idea where that came from. So weird, right?” She washed her hands in the sink beside Adore.

“It was...interesting.”

“Ugh, and I hate the way he manhandles me all the time.” Courtney dried her hands and rolled her eyes, twirling her hair.

Adore scoffed. “Since when?”

“I just mean, like…” Courtney leaned against Adore’s arm, playing with her hair. “It’s just...constant. He acts like he owns me.”

“Bullshit!” Adore exclaimed, shoving Courtney away, startling her. “Anyone with eyes and half a brain can see who owns who in that relationship. Roy may not be my favorite person in the world, but he’d take a fucking bullet for you and you know it!”

“I just meant-”

“So if you don’t want him to touch you, fucking tell him! Or break up with him! I don’t really give a fuck, but don’t tell me that he thinks he owns you, because that’s utter fucking nonsense!”

“Why are you yelling at me?”

“Because! You’re making me defend your fucking boyfriend!” Adore crossed her arms.

“Sorry.”

“You should be.”

Courtney hung her head, pouting her lip. “Do you hate me?”

“Yes.”

She looked up at Adore through a fringe of lashes, blinking her big eyes sadly, until Adore stuck her tongue out childishly. Then she grinned, wrapping her arms around Adore’s waist and leaning in slowly to kiss her.

Adore’s heart pounded. For a moment, she considered letting it happen, but then memories flashed through her head, and the thought of another “just friends” kiss was just too much to handle. So at the last second, she turned her face, letting Courtney’s lips land on her cheek.

“Don’t,” she whispered into Courtney’s hair.

“Don’t hate me,” Courtney whispered back, fingers digging into her back.

“Too late,” Adore said, holding her stern expression for a few seconds before breaking into a smile, giving Courtney a light smack on the ass. “You’re hopeless.”

“I know.” Courtney bit her lip. “Hey, Dory?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t really think I ignore you when I’m around Roy…do you?”

“Um…” Adore considered her answer. She did often feel like a third wheel around them, even in a crowd. Things had just unquestionably shifted ever since they’d gotten together. It used to be Courtney and Adore, the two of them, all the time. People said their names together as if it was one word. Courtneyandadore. All the others: their neighbors, their other friends, even their families, were just roaming around the periphery. But when Courtney and Roy hooked up, suddenly she had another person, another pair to be part of. Adore knew that Courtney loved her, and that she probably felt like their friendship hadn’t changed at all--because for her, it hadn’t. So how was Adore supposed to explain the way she felt without revealing her humiliating jealousy? Finally, she settled on, “No…not on purpose.”

“I don’t ever want you to feel like-“ Courtney’s voice broke, and then she swallowed. “You know you’re my favorite person, right?”

“You mean one of your favorites-“

“No. My favorite.”

“Court…” Adore’s head swam, suddenly self-conscious. This moment was way too much for a filthy, disgusting public bathroom on the beach. “Someone could’ve heard you.”

“I don’t care.” Courtney’s eyes burned, and Adore had to look away.

It was only after a few moments of charged silence that she quietly admitted, “Me too,” still avoiding direct eye contact.  

Arms circled her waist, hugging her tightly, face buried in her neck. Adore allowed herself to relax, enjoying it, telling herself that it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that Courtney had a serious boyfriend, that she felt things for him that she’d never feel for Adore. Because her position as best friend was even more important. It was immature and she knew it, this reassurance she needed that she was number one. And honestly, it shouldn’t matter. There was plenty of room in Courtney’s life, and her heart, for both of them. Adore should be happy that her best friend was with someone great, someone kind and funny, who loved her and treated her well and tried so hard to make her happy. Adore suddenly felt a little guilty about potentially causing a problem between the two of them.  

“You’re not actually mad at him, are you?”

“No, not really,” Courtney said. “I just…didn’t want to break my promise to you.”

“Well, I think we can safely say that you kept your promise,” Adore laughed. “Now come on, let’s go back before they think you fell in.”

“Ughhh, nooooo!”

“Bitch, they’re your friends! And our ride back.”

Courtney giggled and nuzzled her shoulder. “Let’s hitchhike. Summer road trip fun!”

“You’re way too trusting. We’d end up dead in a ditch.” Adore slung an arm around her shoulder. “Come on.”

“Fiiiiiine.”

-

“What took you guys so long?” April asked as Courtney skipped back up to the group, Adore at her heels.

“Courtney was taking a massive shit,” Adore said, climbing onto the blanket and stealing the bag of Cheetos from Thorgy, who burst out laughing.

Courtney put her hands on her hips. “I was NOT!”

“Don’t be ashamed, Court, everyone poops,” Bob said cheerfully.

“Well, that’s not what I was-”

“Although, that one was particularly ungodly. And the smell...you guys should probably not go into that bathroom for like, 30 minutes or so…”

“ADORE DELANO YOU STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!” Courtney shrieked, tackling her. “TELL THEM YOU’RE LYING!”

Adore, now fully enjoying herself, continued, “I just didn’t know that such violent noises could come out of such a small person.”

“Stoooooop!” Courtney pinched her, sitting on her thighs. “Take it back! This is slander!”

“Now I know what they mean when they say ‘shitstorm’...” She shielded herself from Courtney’s assault, laughing and squirming.

Courtney held her arms over her head, unable to hold in her laughter. “Are you done?!”

“Jeez, get a room,” Laganja muttered, shaking her head, and Courtney looked up at her, distracted for long enough for Adore to throw her off into the sand.

Courtney watched Adore, who was now avoiding eye contact, crawl over to where Bob and April played cards. Goosebumps broke out over Courtney’s skin and she sat for a few moments, willing Adore to look back over at her. But she never did, and so after a minute, Courtney gave a small, resigned sigh and stood up, heading over to where Roy and Jamin were making a valiant attempt at frisbee catch.

Courtney sauntered up to them, giving Roy her best puppy eyes. He pretended to ignore her at first, and then dove to catch the frisbee, ending up on the ground with a mouthful of sand. When Courtney offered him a hand, he accepted, allowing her to pull him to his feet.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” She brushed the sand off of his chest, hands lingering, then looked up at him. “I’m sorry about before. I didn’t mean to make you feel like I don’t…” Courtney sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Roy rested his forehead against hers, feeling his irritation melting away as his hands slid around her waist.

“You know, Adore just broke up with her girlfriend, and she’s been really bummed about it, and I thought it was kind of weird to be all happy and couple-y in front of her. That’s all.” It was a bit of a white lie. The truth was, Adore hadn’t really mentioned Raja at all recently. But it sounded plausible enough.

“That’s all, huh?”

“Yeah. But...what do you say we spend some time together this weekend, just the two of us?”

“Sounds promising.” Roy raises an eyebrow.

“Um, my mom’s gonna be in Mexico with Slate. I’m supposed to be staying with Darienne but I could probably sneak away on Saturday. Wanna have a sleepover?” She pressed against him.

“Yeah, that-I think I can safely say that I’m super fucking down with that,” Roy said, tilting her chin up for a kiss.

She giggled against his mouth, then walked away, tossing a flirtatious wink over her shoulder. Roy watched her, eyes glazed over, as Jamin ambled up with a devious look.

“Congrats. You’re about to become a man. Took long enough.”

“Huh?”

“The sleepover? You’re getting laid this weekend, dude,” Jamin said, punching him on the shoulder.

Roy shook his head. “I don’t think that’s what she meant.”

“Uh, bro, you need to read between the lines. Let’s get a second opinion. THOR!” he bellowed, beckoning Thorgy over to them.

-

The gang put their stuff into the trunk of Darienne’s minivan and Alyssa’s SUV, negotiating who would go in what car. When Adore tried to call shotgun, she was soundly rejected.

“Sorry kiddo, as the youngest one here, I’m afraid you’re stuck in the far back with the other skinny bitches.”

April and Courtney waved to her.

“Welcome back to the kid’s table, puta!” April sang.

Adore climbed in the back, taking the window seat on the other side of Courtney. Half the ride consisted of the two girls giggling and whispering to each other, Courtney snuggled up to Adore, practically in her lap.

“Oh, she’s mad at him,” Adore said, nodding towards an older couple in the car next to them.

“What ‘cha think he did?” Courtney rose up a bit to get a good look at the grumpy couple.

The woman glared out the window, rolling her eyes at something the driver was saying.

“Missed the exit. He definitely missed an exit,” Adore nodded. “John, I fucking told you that was our exit back there, but you never want to listen. Just like when I told you-” Adore mimicked in the voice of a middle-aged white woman.

Courtney snorted, causing Adore to throw her head back in laughter and Courtney to have a giggle fit as she tried to get Adore to stop laughing at her.

-

When nothing but the radio filled the silence, Roy turned around to get Courtney’s attention. His dimpled smile quickly dropped and his eyebrows rose when he saw how comfortable his girlfriend was in Adore’s arms.

Courtney was humming along to the song on the radio, head nestled back against Adore’s chest as she ran her fingers along Adore’s arm, making invisible patterns. Adore leaned against the window, seemingly lost in thought.

When Courtney noticed Roy, she smiled at him, eyebrows lifting in curiosity. He only shook his head before turning back in his seat, shifting at how uneasy that moment had just made him, even though he wasn't quite sure why.

-

April woke as the familiar setting of their neighborhood engulfed them, stretching her arms and yawning.

Looking around the car she nearly cooed when she saw Adore and Courtney asleep, adorably snuggled up to each other. She whipped out her phone, taking a quick picture.

Needing someone else to fawn over the two friends with, April leaned over the seat, tapping Roy awake and shoving the phone in his face. “Aren't they so cute?”

Roy squinted at the picture, glanced behind him at the two girls, then back to the picture before grunting, “Absolutely adorable.”

“What's adorable?” Darienne asked, glancing back in the rearview mirror.

But before April could answer, Bob grabbed the phone out of her hand.

“Aye, perra!” April stepped on the seat, launching herself forward as she wrestled to get her phone out of Bob’s grip.

“Hey! Stop that! Bob, give her her phone back. Roy, break them up!” Darienne demanded.

Thorgy turned around in the front seat, reaching to try to help April take her phone back. Bob had slid onto the floor, cackling, making it difficult to reach him.

The commotion stirred the two sleeping beauties awake. Adore tried to stretch her stiff limbs in the tight space of the back seat with Courtney laying on her chest.

Courtney opened one eye, a small smile spreading across her lips as she tried not to laugh at April and Bob wrestling and Roy trying to avoid getting hit, before snuggling into Adore.

Adore rubbed her eye tiredly, placing the other on Courtney’s waist, her thumb rubbing circles on the smooth exposed skin there.

Then it hit her like a truck where they were, the position they were in, and what it could look like. Adore quickly sat up, pushing a whining Courtney off of her.

Courtney pouted, “Dory, I was comfortable.”

“Well, we're… we're almost home.” Adore said with shrug, turning towards the window, refusing to meet Roy’s surveying stare.

#rpdr fanfiction #tree house kisses #scorpio #veronica #adorney #adore delano #courtney act #bitney #bianca del rio #darienne lake #bob the drag queen #april carrion #acid betty #lesbian au #high school au #angst #fluff

[ridiculousn3sswrites]

Tuesday - Student Council Pt. 4

*Lafayette x Reader

*Summary: Reader sets up meetings so she can avoid interacting with Alexander and Jefferson. Burr overhears something he really should not have.

*Warnings: Swearing, a little bit of jealousy. Let me know if I missed anything.

*A/N: So a lot is going on now. I hope everyone is staying safe and please practice preventative actions for you and everyone else. I might do a life update post just because I like spilling everything every once in a while.

Part One || Part Two || Part Three || Part Four

Outfit

**********

Planning pep rallies was never fun. Sure, there were instances that could be fun, like actually seeing the pep rally in full swing, but most of the planning was very annoying, just getting the small details to work out. Normally you’d have the stress of Hamilton and Jefferson at each other’s throats added onto that, but for once they were actually behaving. And it was all because they wanted your vote. If you hadn’t made the circumstances clear, you knew that it’d be hell. They’d be trying to text you to undermine the other, send thinly veiled bribes, anything to butter you up to vote for them, but for once, they let you do your thing without bothering you.

You had a few meetings planned for the next few days, each one sure to keep you out of ASB for the period. You made sure you’d be unavailable to Jefferson and Alexander, lest they try to sway your decision during class. The next time you’d be in class, it would be time to vote. Yes, the budget vote was very important for the upcoming semester, but you had more pressing matters at hand. You brought Lafayette with you to these meetings, even though he wasn’t even in the events committee, which John made sure to point out when you told Lafayette it was time to go.

The first meeting of the day was with Vice Principal Adams to actually get the ideas for the pep rally approved. Vice Principal Adams had little actual control in the school, so where he did have power, he really took hold of that. Thus, Adams being an actual tyrant concerning pep rally ideas - or as he called it, ‘student affairs.’ 

“So, here’s the idea list. Right now we’re planning on making it fun, have a few games and a couple prizes for some students, with a few raffles throughout the pep rally,” you explained, handing Adams the official paperwork you’d put together with Eliza. Lafayette sat there, letting you do your thing as you pitched the rally. You’d made the idea list pretty long, knowing Adams would say no to at least half of them. You and Eliza had perfected the whole foot-in-the-door approach when it came to Adams, and you were making sure you’d get what you actually wanted from the introductory pep rally.

“And where are you planning on getting the funds for these prizes and the rentals required for some of the activities?” Adams questioned, flipping through the pages without actually reading any of it. Lafayette sat up straight, knowing the paperwork detailed exactly that. He shot you a questioning look, but you just shook your head. You were used to Adams’ power plays. It was completely stupid that he was trying to establish dominance over kids he was somewhat in charge of, but you could tell it was the only way he could feel like he was actually in charge of something.

“If I could direct your attention to page four, my committee outlined our sources of funding, as well as where we plan on arranging for other things we don’t need to rent. We’re going to use the school’s sound system, utilize a student DJ - who will play a pre-approved set list and be compensated for the hour - and use decorations we already have or can make using items in the ASB room. We have funds allotted from the school’s fall semester budget, as well as some funds from last year’s fundraising efforts,” you explained as Adams flipped to the page in question. If you had to print that using your own paper, you were going to make sure he’d look at it.

“I thought Washington said you kids hadn’t done the vote for the fall budget yet?” Adams asked, looking up from the paperwork.

“We still have our tentative budgets. Everything is outlined in the paperwork.”

“I’ll look over this and send Washington the finalized list in the morning,” Adams told you. He placed the papers on his desk, next to his computer. You didn’t know if he’d keep to his word, but you’d be damned if your first pep rally was ruined by the likes of John Adams. “Now, get back to class. I have another meeting in a few minutes.”

It took everything in you not to roll your eyes until you were safely in the hall with Lafayette. “The fucker doesn’t even have a meeting, his secretary told me we were the only ones pencilled in,” you immediately complained. If anything, you probably had more meetings this week than Adams did in a year.

“Is he like that every time?” Lafayette asked, taking your hand is his as you walked to the next meeting of the day - the music room to speak with someone you knew was a pretty good DJ from the few house parties you’d been to. You figured you’d be in and out in about ten minutes, 

“Yup. Why do you think he hates Alexander so much?”

“I thought it was for obvious Alexander and authority reasons.”

“Well, yeah, but Alexander isn’t intimidated easily so that just gives Adams even more reason to hate him,” you explained. Lafayette made a little noise of understanding, following you lead down the halls. It only took a few minutes to get to the music room, and you immediately spotted your target. You turned to the teacher after you scanned the room. “Can I speak to Benjamin for a moment? I promise it’ll be quick.”

“Of course, just don’t take too long, (y/n),” the teacher agreed. Benjamin immediately went to you and Lafayette, eager for any excuse to get out of class. The three of you left the room, stopping a few feet down the hall.

“Hey (y/n), what’s up? What’d I do to piss off ASB?” Benjamin joked. You were in a few classes with Benjamin before, and the two of you were pretty cool with each other. Imagine your surprise when you saw him playing DJ and he wasn’t bad at all.

“I dunno dude, you tell me,” you jumped in. The two of you just looked at each other for a second before laughing. Lafayette seemed a bit confused, which was fair considering Benjamin was more of a class friend than an actual friend. “Nah, but really. We need a DJ for the intro pep rally-“

“Ew.”

“Hear me out. We wanna get more students involved so I wanted to know if you could DJ for the event. You’ll get the same get out of class free card as we do for the day, and you’ll get paid for it too,” you explained. You knew you needed to get this deal done fast or Benjamin would lose interest. You had a bit of an advantage since the two of you were friends, but you still needed his enthusiasm.

“We’re talking like actual money and not exposure, right?” Benjamin questioned.

“Actual money. We’d never insult you like that,” Lafayette jumped in. You looked over at him, but let it slide. You never made an agreement that you’d be the only one talking in these meetings, but it was kind of assumed. If anything, you would probably say something eerily similar.

“Alright, I’m in. Do I gotta bring my own equipment?”

“You have your own equipment?” You asked.

“Hell yeah. You think everyone just has the same sound stuff? You know what, I’ll bring it, but it’ll cost extra,” Benjamin tried bargaining.

“How much extra?” You had your expenses estimates down to the last cent, with only about $100 for a margin of error.

“Twenty-five for transport, and I’m gonna need someone to be here to help me unload.”

“Alright. You get a hundred for the hour, and that’s including your transport fee. We got a deal?” You put your hand out for him to shake. Benjamin looked between you and Lafayette before shaking your hand.

“Deal. And thanks for bringing this to me first,” Benjamin said.

“Alright, get back in there before your teacher complains to Washington,” you replied, immediately jumping back to the joking tone you took with Benjamin.

“Aw, no chance I get to stay out for the rest of the period?” Benjamin whined, walking back to his classroom door. 

“You get pretty much the whole day off in like a week, chill,” you laughed. Benjamin went back to his class, leaving you and Lafayette in the hallway with about fifteen minutes before the period ended. You turned to your boyfriend, who was still looking at the door Benjamin had just disappeared into. “Alright, we should probably go check back in with Washington.”

“Right, we should probably do that,” Lafayette said with a bit of a strained smile. You took his hand and led him in the direction of the ASB room. After a few moments of silence, Lafayette spoke again. “I didn’t know you knew Benjamin.”

“Oh, yeah. We had a few classes together so we’re kinda friends,” you explained. “I didn’t even know he did DJ stuff until we went to Jefferson’s party.”

“Alright. So the two of you never?”

“Babe, we’ve been dating since sophomore year and I met Ben the same year. I’ve never had anything beyond a classroom friendship with Ben, and I’ve never wanted something with him,” you reassured Laf. 

“That’s all I needed to know. And what about your little scheme?” He asked, turning attention back to more important matters than fleeting jealousy. 

“They haven’t caught on yet, and I’ll be fine until we actually have to vote on the budget.”

“Haven’t caught on to what?” You heard Aaron’s voice from behind you. You stopped dead in your tracks, Lafayette walking forward a bit before fully realizing you’d stopped. 

“Aaron, what’re you doing out of class?” You asked, turning to face this new problem. You shouldn’t have been talking so openly about your schemes, look at where it got you now. Aaron simply held up his water bottle in explanation before going back to the matter at hand.

“Now that we’ve established that, who are they and what haven’t they caught on to yet?” Aaron questioned. 

“Her parents, mon ami. Their anniversary is coming up and (y/n)’s been planning a surprise evening out,” Lafayette immediately jumped to your defense.

“And what does that have to do with the budget?” You had to hold in a groan. You hated the fact Aaron was so attentive to everything, especially if he could use it against someone later on. Aaron really wasn’t going to let this go, and you really needed him to.

“My parents know not to bother me when I have something important coming up in ASB. After the vote my parents are gonna start being a lot more involved in what I’m doing,” you lied. Lafayette really set up the perfect cover story for you and you weren’t going to throw away your chance. 

“Hm, I suppose that makes sense,” Aaron said, nodding slightly. You could tell he didn’t quite believe you, but was willing to let it slide for now. You knew this was bad, and if Aaron brought his suspicions to Jefferson and Madison, your entire plan was down the drain. Aaron took one last look at the both of you before walking past you and continuing to the ASB room. As soon as he was out of earshot, you turned to Laf. 

“I’m dead. If they find out I’ve been withholding my decision until the vote, then neither of them are gonna be willing to work with me this year,” you immediately started rambling.

“First, we need to stop talking about this at school, obviously it’s no longer safe. Second, I told you this would happen.”

“Okay, right, we’ll talk about it at your place. And of course you were right,” you gave in. You took a second to compose yourself in the hall before having to face Aaron in class. If he saw you were a little shook up by your interaction in the hall, then he’d know he had something on you. “Alright, let’s get back to class. We need to tell Washington what’s going on.”

**********

Tag List: @snazzydoesthings, @bagpipes606, @a-hopeless-fan

Permanent Tag List: @treatallwithkindness

#lafayette imagine #lafayette x reader #hamilton imagine

[ohblackdiamond]

but there’s room for you and me (paul/ace) (unfinished) (pg-13)

While digging around on Ace’s birthday, I found an unfinished Stehley one-shot from probably over a year ago. I don’t think it’d take much clean up, but in case I don’t ever put it anywhere official, or finish it, I figured I’d post it here. Inevitable mentions of Ace/Peter and your general blanket list of rockstar warnings. Stehley always gets me feeling some kind of way.

“but there’s room for you and me”

by Ruriruri

“You got your ear fixed.”

“It’s just cosmetic. Still can’t hear out of it, but it looks better.”

“Could’ve told me.”

“We weren’t touring.”

“We weren’t touring? Fuck, Paul.”

“So fucking tense. You didn’t fix what’s wrong with you any better than I did.”

“Let’s eat.”

He realized, dimly, that Paul wasn’t even bothering with sunglasses or a scarf these days in public. He wondered when that had happened, when the mystique and interest had faded so much that even Paul, the vainest man he’d ever known in his life, realized there was no point in hiding a face no one cared about anymore.

No point.

Ace shoved a five at the girl at the counter and didn’t bother retrieving the change. Carried the red plastic tray stacked with the Styrofoam to-go box and the throwaway cup of Sprite to the dingy table Paul was already sitting at. God. As a kid he wouldn’t have ever imagined this. Would’ve thought they’d set up all sorts of colonies on the Moon first like Von Braun used to talk about on ABC. Instead everyone had just dug their heels all the deeper into Earth, filling it with more skyscrapers, more crap, inventing microwaves, cellular phones, malls. Making everything easier but the living.

Paul raised his head when Ace sat down, scooping up a crouton from his grilled chicken salad and pushing it over to one corner of the box. He was lining up the croutons like sunburned soldiers in formation. Hadn’t taken a bite yet. Ace wondered if he was still on that workout kick he’d started a few years ago. Wondered if that wasn’t so much an attempt to beat the clock as it was another effort at winning back a crowd that didn’t give a fuck. Look better, feel better, be better, as if KISS had ever sold a single album via the attractiveness of its members.

He could see it, and he guessed Paul could, too. The change in the air. It wasn’t just KISS hitting rock bottom now; it was everything their entire fucking generation ever said they wanted going south. The hippies with their free love bullshit and flowers in their hair, the hippies he’d fallen in with back in high school, they’d all run off in droves to Wall Street. They’d wanted to tear down the establishment and instead they’d built it up all the higher. A tower of babel hanging up high above their heads.

Ace waited for Paul to start in, say something, anything. Talk about the contract. Fifteen million on the line. You can buy a lot of therapy with fifteen million, Ace’s lawyer had said, and Ace had closed his eyes and asked if he could buy his life back, too.

His lawyer hadn’t answered. Ace didn’t figure he’d keep him much longer.

 “You’re real good at cutting people up, you know?” Conversational. “Always have been. Used to wonder where it came from.”

Paul reached over for his drink, fingers on the straw.

“Did you ever figure it out?”

“I figured it out the first time we fucked.” Ace opened up the container. The smell of teriyaki chicken and steamed vegetables and noodles was almost overpowering, but he grabbed a plastic fork anyway and started to eat, waiting to see if Paul would argue or change the subject again. But he didn’t do either. Maybe he was so self-absorbed he wanted to hear it. Wanted to hear anything about himself, no matter how unflattering. “You’re scared, Paulie. You’ve always been scared as hell.”

Ace closed his eyes. The pressure was right there, directly between them. He’d blame a hangover, but he’d been clean for three days now.

“You any better, Ace?”

“At least I’m not shoving everyone away with both hands and crying about it afterwards.”

Paul didn’t say anything, just scraped at the salad. He hadn’t bothered with dressing.

“You shouldn’t have done Peter like that. You and Gene.”

“You voted him out, too. Don’t make out like you didn’t.” Paul’s voice was deceptively even and public-ready. Ace could feel the claws just beneath.

“It’s the way you did it.” The oily noodles were already a little cold by the time they reached his tongue. Ace forced them down anyway. “Just put on goddamn suits and took him into the office like he was a fucking—a fucking employee, like he wasn’t your friend—”

“He—”

“You cut him out, Paul. You had to. But not ugly like that.”

“You didn’t even show. You were too busy getting fucked-up—”

“You’re damn right I was.” Ace swallowed. “I wasn’t gonna face him like that.”

“Didn’t have the guts to watch a guy you used to fuck get fired?”

“Would you?”

Paul didn’t answer.

***

“Paul, we’re losing it. We’re losing it.”

“You’re right. We’re losing it and you’re jumping ship. Find the nearest lifeboat and just paddle out, huh?”

“Is that what you think this is?”

“You’re gonna tell me it isn’t? Fuck, Ace. Fuck. Don’t you dare call me scared when you can’t handle one bad album.”

“It isn’t the album.” Ace lifted his head. “You don’t get it. You can’t—we can’t keep it up. We can’t even tour in our own country. They don’t want us anymore, you know?”

“Then we’ll tour Europe again. We’ll go back to Australia. Whatever. I didn’t know the audience was so damn important to you.”

“You’re a hell of a guy to tell me that, Paulie.”

“And you’re a hell of a guy to lie to me, Ace.”

He didn’t answer. Couldn’t answer. Paul reached out, hand resting on top of his. No rings or anything. Not even the customary Rolex on his wrist. Ace wondered, dully, if Paul’d still have it in another three years.

“Why do you want out? Why do you really want out? Just tell me. Just tell me, all right?”

“Paul, please, Jesus—”

Paul hadn’t moved his hand yet. Ace could feel the calluses on it, the sweat on it. A case of nerves that fifteen fucking years of spilling his guts to a shrink hadn’t gotten rid of. Paul couldn’t ever calm down. Couldn’t ever calm down because he didn’t want to. That anxiety hung all over him like an old lover. Ace’s fingers curled up beneath Paul’s hand, but that was all.

“Ace.”

“I’m gonna die if I stay in this band. I’m gonna kill myself.”

“You what?” And now Paul was clutching his fingers, clamping onto them. Actually trying to lace their fingers together, Christ, he was, he was and Ace was letting him do it. “What do you mean? You can’t—you have a daughter, Ace, you can’t—”

“Not like that. I don’t—I don’t wanna die—”

“What do you need? Do you need a doctor? I can get you somebody, I can get you anybody, anybody you want, name it, I’ll—”

“I said I don’t wanna die, Paul.” An exhale. “I wouldn’t do it on purpose.”

“You’d overdose?” Paul was staring at him. Big brown eyes locked on his face. Ace wanted to see some coldness there, some indifference, some—some calculation, just to make this easier, but there wasn’t any. Paul’s nails dug into his knuckles. “You think we couldn’t keep the coke away from you?”

“No. I know you couldn’t.” A smirk, false and hollow, was trying to pull at his face. He didn’t let it. “Christ, Paulie, everyone’s on it. Everyone’s done it. Everyone I know but you and Gene and poor little Eric.”

Paul went silent.

 “And don’t you get all high and mighty on me when you used to keep a fucking drawer of speed on hand—when you still got prescriptions for shit you don’t even have—”

“I didn’t say anything! Ace, listen, you think it’ll get better if you’re out of the band? You think the band’s what’s keeping you coked up? The hell it is. You—you wouldn’t have anything to distract you from them without KISS. No tours you gotta get ready for. No concerts. Nothing. Y-you’d just be an even bigger fucking mess.”

Two guys messing around in the backseat of a Cadillac. It could’ve been ’68, Paul melting and smoothing out into Jeanette in his mind, pale, pretty Jeanette who’d been his girl, stayed his girl long enough to add one more ring to his finger. Was still his girl, somehow. It could’ve been ’73, Paul himself in all his painful shyness, too nerved-out to initiate much more than a kiss even in Ace’s bedroom; it could’ve been ’78, Paul a little less fragile and a little less frayed. There’d still been a softness to his face then, a sort of gentility that five years of touring hadn’t yet obliterated. That was gone now. That was all gone now.

He could wish it back. He could try. God knew Paul was trying, his mouth on Ace’s, tongue desperate for an entrance, his hands roaming down Ace’s chest like he was feeling for bitemarks he hadn’t left there in years.

“Say it, Ace. Say it.”

“No—”

“You’ll get clean, you’ll do it, whatever it takes, just please—”

“I can’t, Paul.”

The silhouette of Ace’s house looked like a sailor’s leviathan, all mass and tyranny, before the winds broke it down into drunken dreams.

#kiss the band #kiss fanfiction #paul stanley #ace frehley #stehley #ace frehleyxpaulstanley

[rather-impertinent]

To Build A Home

A/N: This is a little something I wrote based on the promo for this week’s episode. This is my first Grey’s fic so I hope it isn’t too terrible! If anyone has any requests please let me know 🥰

“Jo, stop pacing,” Alex said gently.

Jo continued to pace on the wooden floor, seemingly having not heard him, anxiously chewing on the sleeve of her thick cardigan.

“Jo...”

“I can’t stop pacing!” she hissed. Jo quickly regretted her tone and sighed, coming over to sit beside Alex on their couch. She leaned her head on his shoulder. “What if she doesn’t remember us, Alex?” she asked in a small, quiet voice after a few moments had gone by.

“Well, she’s not gonna remember us,” Alex pointed out matter-of-factly. When Jo looked at him with a round mouth and sad eyes, Alex chuckled and wrapped his arm around her, rubbing it in comfort. “Jo, you’re a surgeon, you know babies don’t usually recognise faces until they’re about 2 months old. Last time we saw Evelyn she was 3 days old and some really bad people left her at a fire station. In a couple weeks she’ll be a year old, and we get to celebrate that with her. We’re actually pretty lucky, you know, adoption can take years, so 11 months is not too bad.”

“‘Not too bad’?!” Jo repeated incredulously, looking at her husband. “Waiting has been hell!”

“Yeah, but in the grand scheme of things we’re pretty lucky.” Jo was right, though: the waiting had been hell. Their cell phones were on loud speaker at night not in case of having to respond to any incoming traumas, but in case they received a phone call from the adoption agency. It was hard to believe the waiting would be over by the end of the day. “So, did we decide if we’re gonna go with Eve, Evie, Eva, Ellie or Ella?” Alex asked, trying to lighten the mood. He fidgeted impatiently with the soft ears of the rabbit plushie he’d bought for Evelyn seven months ago, during the first of two false-starts.

Alex’s jest elicited a laugh from Jo, though they were indeed still undecided as to what shorthand they’d use for Evelyn. “No, we didn’t,” she said, still chuckling, “we’ll get a better feel of that when we hold her.” Jo glanced around the fully baby-proofed living room and noted the unopened toy box with a sense of trepidation. How the hell was she going to be a good mom? She’d never even had a decent version of one in her entire life. Maybe that was a start: knowing how not to treat a child.

“You’re gonna be such a good mom,” Alex told Jo, as though reading her mind. He gently nuzzled his nose against her cheek in hopes of easing the anxiety that was radiating off her.

Just then, the doorbell rang and echoed loudly throughout their new home. Both Jo and Alex felt as though they’d had a bucket of ice water thrown over them as they involuntarily leapt to their feet.

They turned to each other and Jo’s let out a shaky, nervous breath. “How’s my hair?” she fretted, combing her fingers through her loose curls. She wanted to look friendly and motherly but calm and professional at the same time.

“You look perfect,” Alex assured her. “How’s my shirt?” He fidgeted with the already closed buttons.

Jo ran her hand over the pale blue button-up and gently straightened the collar. “Looks great; wrinkle-free.”

“Okay,” Alex said, exhaling in relief. “Let’s do this.” He held out his hand to Jo, who accepted it gladly. He’d always be her anchor in a storm.

On the surface, Alex looked the definition of cool, calm and collected, but Jo could tell by the damp warmth of his palm and the way he gripped her hand that he was just as apprehensive as she was.

“Hey,” Jo said gently as they came face-to-face with the front door - with their future. Alex’s brows knitted together as he looked at her. “I love you.”

A small smile tugged on the corners of Alex’s lips. “Love you,” he murmured back before leaning in to kiss her gently, already feeling more relaxed. He reached for the doorknob. “You ready?”

Jo inhaled and exhaled. “Ready,” she affirmed as Alex peeled open the front door.

“I come bearing gifts,” Allison McLean, the social worker responsible for Evelyn’s welfare, greeted excitedly in a sing-song as she bounced the baby in her arms.

Over the last few months, Jo and Alex had gotten to know Allison really well, and it was nice that she had always rooted for them.

Despite the vote of confidence, the process of adoption had been a long and stressful one, mainly because of stupid mistakes in their pasts and Jo’s name change complicating matters slightly, but all their worry melted away as soon as their baby smiled at them.

She leaned forward and away from Allison towards Jo - as though she recognised her.

Stretching out her arms and taking her gently, Jo felt a strange but powerful wave of love wash over her as Evelyn’s eyes stared straight into her own. “Hi Evie,” Jo whispered as she bounced the infant before taking her chubby little hand and kissing it. “I’m your mom.” Jo found herself grinning as she announced it out loud for the first time. “You’re safe with us now, sweetie. I promise, I - we - will never let anyone hurt you, okay?” A single tear trickled down Jo’s cheek: she would have given anything to hear those words from a parent figure. But it heartened her to be in the position where she could speak those words to someone else; it had come full circle, and the pain could stop here.

Alex drew swirling circles on Jo’s back to comfort her, knowing exactly what she was thinking. He kissed her temple for reassurance. “Mm okay, my turn,” he announced after a moment, holding out his hands in eager anticipation.

Jo shot him a doe-eyed, Bambi pout. “But I’m not done yet,” she clucked, smooshing Evie’s smooth cheek against her own.

The sight before him took Alex’s breath away and he lost his train of thought. “Shut up,” he eventually said, significantly gentler than he’d intended. “Don’t hog her, she likely won’t even talk to me from the age of eleven through to twenty, so it’s only fair I get some time in now before she hates me,” Alex argued logically, not knowing that the child looking at him with big, round blue eyes would never hate him even when she tried.

With a small sigh, Jo conceded his point and carefully handed off Evie, warmth pooling in her stomach as she watched how natural Alex was with babies. “Hey princess,” he greeted softly, gently waving her hand so she could get used to . “I’m your dad,” Alex informed her, narrowly avoiding bursting with the pride of it. Evie babbled something nonsensical in response. “Yeah, I know, it sucks but I promise we’re better than a cardboard box at a fire station,” he joked, to which even the adoption agent had to smother a smile.

“Much better,” Jo emphasised, kissing her rosy cheek. She then began to stroke it as Alex continued to hold their baby. “I promise I’ll learn how to cook just so that we can all eat at the table like a proper family, like the ones you see in lifetime movies.” Jo’s tone was almost dream-like.

Alex chuckled. “Lifetime movies suck, Evie, but not as much as your mom’s cooking.” Jo lightly nudged him in protest. “On thanksgiving and Christmas, we’ll go to your aunt Meredith’s and she’ll have someone there who’ll know how to cook a turkey. Or we’ll go visit my mom, your grandma, or she can come here, we haven’t really figured it all out yet. But anyway, get excited, because we eat a lot of pizza here. With vegetables, of course,” Alex added as an afterthought for Allison’s sake.

Jo chuckled and fondly rolled her eyes at her husband.

All of the adults were relieved and pleased to see how placated Evie was in her new surroundings, which would be her forever home.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Jo’s eyebrow raised competitively as she thought of an idea. She grabbed Evie’s free hand to gain her attention and wagered to her husband, “Hey, I bet you ten bucks I can make her smile more than you can.”

Alex scoffed, “Pfft, are you kidding? I’m a peds surgeon, I make kids smile for a living. Mom’s pay me ten grand to make their kids smile.”

“Great, then you’ll definitely be able to hand over that ten dollar bill when you lose,” Jo gloated, already making faces at Evie, who looked between her new parents questioningly, as if unsure whether they were really fighting or not.

“Oh, it’s on, Karev. Better fluff up the sofa cushions for when I kick your ass at this,” Alex bragged, his self-assurance at an all-time high. This was his game, and the touchdown was in sight.

Simultaneously, they launched into the Olympics of pulling stupid faces, each unwilling to be outdone by the other, the aching facial muscles were no deterrent.

Unfortunately for them, Evie seemed much more interested in the stuffed bunny that was waiting patiently for her on the couch than her crazy parents’ attempts to make her laugh and smile.

“Oh, you wanna meet bunny?” Jo cooed at her, having followed her curious gaze to the couch. “Your dad picked her out just for you.”

“Why don’t I give you a moment to show Evie around the house and then we’ll have one last look over the papers?” Allison offered as she examined that Evelyn was more than safe in the arms of the two strangers who were already smitten by her very existence. “I think I’ll grab myself a coffee from that place round the corner. Can I get you two anything?”

Jo and Alex continued battling to see who would get offered a wider smile from baby Evelyn and almost didn’t hear Allison’s question. “Oh, no, thank you,” Alex said warmly as he was yanked out of what felt like a daydream. Jo continued to pull silly faces at Evie, who gurgled in contentment at all the loving attention she was receiving. A look passed between Jo and Alex. “We have everything we need right here.”

#jolex #jolex fanfiction #alex karev #jo karev #grey’s anatomy

[maxthommusic]

The Rest of Us

The Last of Us 2 has been spoiled. The leaks are out and the ending has been revealed. At least that's my understanding. That's what my Twitter feed has led me to believe. I haven't looked into them, and for the record, it's been pretty easy to avoid. But the one type of comment I haven't been able to avoid is the person claiming to cancel their pre-order since they now know what the ending is. This type of reaction is absolutely bonkers to me and I wonder if I'm alone in this?

While the ending to a game is undoubtedly an egregious spoiler, I don't think it means you have just cause for canceling a pre order and skipping the experience entirely. Some comments I've seen are, "Thanks for saving me $60, I don't need to play this now." This has been exclaimed in relation to not only knowing the ending, but simply not liking the ending. To explain slightly further, some people are upset they know the ending and think, "What's the point?" while others find the conclusion lacking and have decided to skip the experience altogether then.

For starters, games are the sum of their parts. Rarely does a video game succeed on one facet alone. And especially in the case of "The Last of Us 2 v the World," TLOU will 100% be about the total package. Just look at Uncharted. This lauded series is often mocked for how unpolished its gunplay is. Yet it's still considered to be legendary and has sold millions and millions of copies worldwide. It's because the story being told is an exciting, rip-roaring adventure. And lemme tell ya: if I judged Uncharted based on any of its beginnings and endings, I'd have missed out on something truly wondrous. Which seems completely obvious. But is it?

The "vocal minority" is so loud these days it's really hard to know who to trust. While you may criticize capitalism for being evil, money certainly does talk. Numbers don't often lie and when Naughty Dog first decided to be open about Ellie's sexuality, they took a major PR hit. People were pissed. Right...?

Critics loved the additional TLOU DLC and if you search TLOU fan art, a significant amount of fans have chosen to remember those additional scenes as some of the fondest. But that's the interesting part: you have to dig for that. You have to go looking for it. People's chagrin at making Ellie gay is what's served right on the table, unfortunately. But the amount of copies TLOU has sold since its launch and the amount of pre-orders Sony saw coming piling in proves that for the number of people who seem upset, the money is still pouring in to tell the story they want to tell.

Just look at micro transactions. Everyone hates them right? Then how come they generate millions, in some cases billions, of dollars in revenue?

It's time now, more than ever, to vote with your wallet. Games are only becoming harder and more expensive to create. What succeeds is determined by your spending. If you choose not to spend your hard earned cash on TLOU2, that's completely your prerogative. But damn, I hope it's for the right reason. There are stories to be told here and how TLOU2 ends is not how we're gonna remember it. The journey of how we got there is what's gonna replay in your mind's eye. Which, I understand: knowing the ending means you already comprehend all the foreshadowing and where's the surprise in that? But think of all the gorgeous graphics, textures, and details you'll miss. Think of all the side dialog and environmental storytelling that will go completely missed. There will be no triumph over adversity, no deep breath when the dust has settled. All these things cannot be spoiled by knowing the ending. To cancel your preorder because on these grounds is just childish. Worse because we all know you had to go looking for that leak. Or, at least, you didn't try very hard to get outta the way.

Quick tips for avoiding spoilers: 

#1: Skip past all articles including the subject matter's title

#2: Do not read the comments on ANYthing related to the subject matter

Honestly, that's it. One-two punch. I live by these guidelines and it works hella good for me. Ain't nothing ever been spoiled for me. 

TLOU2 is gonna break sound ground. I practically guarantee it. I'm not even excited for the game because I find the universe simply too bleak for my tastes... but as an intellectual, I'm telling ya: this shit is gonna rock. If you've found some reason to skip it, that's all you. But for the rest of us, get your negativity outta here. As a whole the gaming industry is just way too toxic and anyone involved with the TLOU2 leaks needs a spanking. I'm of the firm belief that anyone willing to even click the link and read the spoilers is a stain on our community. Who does that? Who has the desire to see the ending to one of the most hyped games of this generation?

Obviously a scumbag. Or someone not even remotely interested in TLOU2. Which begs the same response to both situations: we don't want your opinion. Leave the fun, intrigue and wonder to those that have an actual love and passion for this industry. Stop the toxic dialogue and let us enjoy our games in peace. Devs will rest easier, dialogue between gamers could stabilize and the Internet might be a bit of a nicer place...

But that's all wishful thinking. 

Here's to Naughty Dog and The Last of Us 2. I hope it captivates us like we've all been expecting. Send the devs some nice notes. I bet they'd love to hear it.

#the last of us 2 #spoilers #gaming

[poisonepel]

Halloween at Night Raven! ♡ Savanaclaw

【Halloween at Night Raven! Special ☆ Savanaclaw Booth】

[Prologue] [Heartslabyul] [Octavinelle] [Scarabia] [Pomefiore] [Ignihyde] [Diasomnia]

You decide to carve pumpkins.

As you made your way towards Savanaclaw’s Pumpkin Carving booth, you were very amused to see how cheesy and basic it all looked.

The booth consisted of three wooden tables, each set with some pumpkins and carving tools. Taped to the side of the middle table was a white banner with “Fun Pumpkin Carve with Savana!” written in messy black paint. Squished beneath Savana, the second half claw was scribbled in blue marker. One poorly drawn jack o’ lantern sat at the corner of the banner.

Your mind went back to Headmaster Crowley’s speech at the assembly, when he had said he was very impressed with each dorm’s contribution to the party, and you wondered whether or not Savanaclaw was included in that. This certainly didn’t look up to par with anything.

Also, you were the only visitor here. Three members of the dorm’s members were in charge of this booth—the dorm leader Leona, Ruggie, and Jack—and they were the only other people here, idly chatting at one of the tables together while cheesy Halloween songs played from a radio laying next to them. But the second they noticed you, they immediately leapt to attention.

“Oh, (Y/n)! Are you here to carve pumpkins?” Ruggie called.

“Why else would I be here?” you called back. “...Has no one else come by yet?”

“Nope!”

Now you were really starting to reconsider. Maybe you would’ve had much more fun at Diasomnia’s haunted house booth instead... They always had the most popular booth.

But, you knew these three very well, and you didn’t mind spending some time with them. Plus, if not for you, they would’ve been here alone the whole night. So you took a seat at the table next to Leona, deciding you wouldn’t mind spending your Halloween very casually with three of your favorite people.

“Well, I doubt anyone else is gonna show up, so... I guess we can start,” Leona said, placing a fat pumpkin in front of you. “Have fun carving or whatever.”

“‘Or whatever,’” Ruggie echoed, his voice tinged with annoyance. “Why’d you even pick this dumb kids activity anyway? Nobody wants to do it. I bet (Y/n)’s only here ‘cause they felt bad for us. Huh, (Y/n)?”

“...I-I was actually looking forward to this,” you admitted.

“Uh, Howl’s the one who thought of this, not me,” Leona clarified, brushing over you. “So if you’ve got any complaints, direct them all to him.”

Jack scowled. “We only went with this ‘cause your lame ass couldn’t think of anything better.”

“Well neither could Ruggie’s.”

You let out a small smile at the trio’s bickering, knowing that this was a very common occurrence between them. “Carving pumpkins isn’t so bad,” you insisted. “It’s a Halloween staple!”

“Well, you do you..” Jack shoved a few carving tools in front of you, as well as some paper templates in case you wanted to use those. Ruggie, for some reason, also began sawing the top off his own pumpkin, despite the blatant distaste for this activity he’d expressed just a second ago.

“Originally we were gonna have a contest,” Ruggie informed you as he worked. “Whoever carved the best pumpkin would get to take a picture with that scarecrow over there holding their pumpkin.” He pointed over to a corner, where there was a scarecrow dressed in a ragged Savanaclaw uniform, sitting atop a pile of hay. You didn’t say it out loud, but the set-up looked hideous. “And there’s also some candy in that cauldron next to it for the winner to take, too. I picked that out. It’s the good candy.”

“...”

It really looked like these three had run to the party store last-minute and just bought all the generic Halloween decorations they could find. They even had those plastic skeletal goblets set on the table, filled with some kind of fruit drink, which they would periodically drink out of. There was no theme - just, cheap plastic Halloween decor.

“Anyway, I guess to make the night interesting, we’ll just have a contest between the four of us,” Ruggie went on. “But really it’s just between me and (Y/n) ‘cause I doubt the other two will even try.”

Jack immediately got offended. “Lay off, Bucchi. You’re just mad ‘cause I’m better than you at everything else.” Then, feeling spitefully motivated, he grabbed a paper template and began tacking it to his own pumpkin, one that he was certain would look better than Ruggie’s no matter how hard Ruggie tried.

But Ruggie only stuck his nose up. “See, Howl, you’re not even doing it right—you’re supposed to scoop out all the seeds before you tack—”

“Can you mind your damn business?”

Ruggie ignored him. “And Leona—”

Leona had been busying himself drawing on another pumpkin, a messy lion monster face in Sharpie, and was just finishing coloring in a ragged scar going through its eye. “Done.”

“You didn’t even carve it! That was the whole point of this!”

“Shut up, my pumpkin is a masterpiece.” Leona hissed, before stretching back, feeling very exhausted with all the work he had put into that 2-minute drawing.

Jack’s grin reappeared on his face. “What were you expecting from the dorm leader, Bucchi? You should be surprised he even bothered to try.”

“He can’t participate in the contest if he didn’t even carve it,” Ruggie insisted, crossing his arms. “Drawing talent isn’t the same as carving talent.”

“You call that drawing talent?!”

“...Rude,” Leona huffed. “You know I’d be more motivated if there was a better incentive. Like...” His eyes trailed around the area, before they landed on (Y/n). Then he smirked. “Hey, let’s change the rules a bit. Instead of candy, the winner gets... a kiss from (Y/n).”

“...What.” You froze. Your brows creased. Then you hesitated. “...What if I win?”

“Then you can make all of us do whatever you want.”

You took a longer pause. “...For how long?”

“Uhhh,” Leona looked up, thinking for a second. “A day?”

“Deal.”

“Wait, I didn’t agree to that—” Ruggie cut in. “I don’t like that look in (Y/n)’s eyes. Also, I don’t even want some stupid kiss anyway.”

“Yeah, what the hell?” Jack agreed. “I wanted the candy.”

“Fine, you guys can have whatever you want if you win. But I’ll get a kiss.”

“If you want a kiss from me, you’ll have to get a kiss from everyone,” you clarified. “The winner gets to pick the punishment, but it has to be the same for everybody.”

“...I don’t want a kiss from Howl.”

“Really? Howl’s been wanting one from you, though,” Ruggie grinned.

The tips of Jack’s ears immediately went red. But he didn’t spare a moment in dipping his hand inside the center bowl, which was filled with pumpkin guts, and flung a handful directly at Ruggie’s face.

“...! Howl!” Ruggie cried, alarmed, as if Jack had come onto him unprompted. He retaliated by snatching up Jack’s pumpkin and chucking it at the ground—which was not something you were expecting at all. Your mouth was agape when gourd bits splattered everywhere, staining the area with stringy, gooey, orange slime.

Jack, however, couldn’t have cared less about the pumpkin.

“Pretty sure you just got disqualified for that,” he said, knowing Ruggie was literally the only one passionate about this contest.

“...!”

Leona simpered. Now neither of them were able to participate; with Jack’s pumpkin destroyed and Ruggie disqualified, Leona had less competition, which meant a better chance to win. He didn’t even have to do any work to get them out. So he was very pleased.

“Between you and me now, babe,” he winked at you, still with that lazy smirk on his face. “And I’m changing my reward. If I win, all three of you have to be my slaves for a day.”

“...‘Cause that’s nothing new,” Ruggie muttered, rolling his eyes.

“I’ll win for you, Ruggie,” you assured him.

“Please,” Ruggie replied. “I don’t care what you do to me; I just want Leona to suffer.”

So, determined, you shot Leona a glance, who looked equally as motivated to win this contest. And then you began.

It took about an hour and a half for you to complete your pumpkin monster. By the time you were done, you were smiling very triumphantly—until something dawned on you.

“...Wait, who’s even judging the contest?”

“........”

“...Well, when we thought of this...” Ruggie started, “we thought more people would show up, so us three weren’t supposed to participate... but I guess we can do a vote? Me and Howl.”

“...!” Leona let out a low hiss, knowing fully well neither of them would ever vote for him.

And so, the winner was you.

You smiled gleefully when you got to pose with that hideous DIY scarecrow the three of them had built, holding your pumpkin monster proudly at the camera. Your photo printed on a Halloween-framed film that read, “Have a SPOOK-tacular Halloween!” with cartoon bats and ghosts on it.

According to Ruggie, Leona was the one who picked the film out when they’d gone to the party store last week. Knowing that, you cherished the photo; you thought it was cute how hard they all worked to put this together—even though it wasn’t phenomenal.

But, the Savanaclaw boys didn’t care much for the photo with the scarecrow—those three were much more eager to hear your terms for your “reward.” 

“Oh, the three of you will just have to accompany me on one of my busy errand days,” you told them, “and help me with anything I need help with.”

That didn’t seem so bad.

Key word: seem.

                  ・━━━━✥◈✥━━━━・ 

[Halloween at Night Raven! Masterlist]

#twisted wonderland #twst fics #savanaclaw #leona #jack #ruggie #leona x gn reader #jack x gn reader #ruggie x gn reader

[livesincerely]

im not feeling the best right now emotionally so i am here presenting you with a free space to ramble about whatever you want because your writing genuinely cheers me up so much

Hello darling!! I’m sorry you’re in a rough mindset, sending all the good feelings and well wishes your way 😘💕✨💗⭐️💕😊✨💗

So, I’ve been thinking a lot about that most recent, how would a proposal/wedding happen in the domestic au? prompt.

It’s so funny, I’d never really thought about a domestic au wedding until I got the ask, but now that the question was put forward, I’m finding that I have a lot of thoughts about it (because of course I do lol.)

I’m not sure yet if this will end up being a whole thing like the holiday fic did, but I definitely have a solid idea for a single moment/one shot that I’m excited about—hoping to get that finished in the next few days!

Here’s a sneak peek at what I have so far! Most of it is stuff you’ve seen before in that original ask but more polished, but there’s some new stuff in there too.... ☺️😉

00000

“So, when are you gonna get married?” Tony asks apropos of nothing, looking between him and Davey with keen interest.

Jack barely manages to keep from choking on his cereal. Davey, who’d been in the middle of spreading a bit of lox on a bagel, slowly sets down his knife.

Charlie aims a kick at Tony under the table.

“You’re asking them now?” he hisses. “I thought we were gonna ease them into the idea!”

“There is no easing them into the idea when it comes to Jack and Davey,” Tony says, his expression tight with the exasperation of the long suffering. “You gotta give it to ‘em straight, right from the get go, ‘cause they’ll never figure it out on their own.”

“Hey,” Jack says weakly, but he doesn’t have a leg to stand on and they all know it.

“So, I’m asking,” Tony determinedly continues as if Jack hadn’t said anything. “When are you gettin’ married?”

There’s a long pause where he and Davey just stare at each other, neither of them quite sure how to respond.

He gets this from you, Davey’s expression says, clear as day.

I know he does, Jack says with a commiserating look, holding back a sigh.

“Well?” Tony demands when the silence stretches on for too long.

“It’s probably a little soon to be thinking about marriage,” Davey eventually says, far more delicately than Jack would’ve managed. “We haven’t talked about it at all yet⁠—”

“Because we only just got together yesterday, Tony,” Jack dryly interjects. “In case you forgot about that little detail.”

“—And we should probably start with the question of if we want to get married before we jump to the when,” Davey concludes.

Tony’s nose scrunches up, obviously dissatisfied with this answer.

“Of course you’re gonna get married,” he says, as if this is plainly obvious. “You’re basically married already, I just wanna know when the wedding’s gonna be.”

“Um.” Davey’s gone faintly pink. “Well, like I said, Jack and I haven’t talked about anything like that yet. We’re comfortable the way we are now, no need to rush into anything⁠—”

“And since we literally only just got together yesterday,” Jack says again, a little more emphatically, just to make sure the point lands, “getting married right off the bat would be all kinds of crazy.”

Tony levels him with the flattest look in all of existence. “You’re crazy if you think you haven’t already been married to Davey for years.”

Jack’s voice catches in his throat, a little blindsided by the truth of that statement. Davey’s mouth opens and closes, the rosy flush of his cheeks shading a touch deeper.

“We’re not thinking about gettin’ married just yet,” Jack says once he’s steadied himself, in a tone that brooks no further arguments. “Dave and I will talk about it when the time comes, if⁠,” he stresses clearly, “we decide that’s what we want.”

“But what, exactly, is holding you back?” Tony asks, stubbornly brooking further arguments anyway. “Like, do you have any actual reasons?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s none of your business,” Jack snipes back. “Given that that’ll be a conversation between me and Davey.”

“I just don’t understand what the big deal is,” Tony says, crossing his arms across his chest. “Pretty much nothing would change, except that the next time someone assumes that you two are married, they’d actually be right instead of simply noticing what was so obvious that even complete strangers clue in to it⁠—”

“Tony,” Jack groans.

“—coming to the perfectly understandable conclusion that you’re together⁠—”

“Tony, that’s enough, we get it,” Jack says.

“—instead of the inexplicable reality of the situation which was that you were, in fact, not together, despite being in love with each other for eight entire years because you’re idiots⁠—”

Jack covers his face with his hands.

“—and given that, like, every aspect of your lives are already tangled together, it’s not really that big of a step for you to just go ahead and make it official.”

Jack sighs so hard he feels it in his bones. “If we promise to talk about this, will you please stop talking about it?”

“Eight years, Jack!” Tony cries, impassioned. “That’s half of my life! That’s more than half of Charlie’s life!”

“Do not bring me into this,” Charlie quickly interjects, “I am a passive witness and nothing more.”

“You’re such a fucking turncoat, Choo-choo,” Tony mutters with no real heat. “You’re supposed to have my back on this.”

“Maybe if you could ever actually stick to a plan,” Charlie grumbles back.

“We’ll talk about it,” Jack says loudly, interrupting their bickering before it can gain any ground. “Okay?”

There’s a moment of blessed silence.

Then Tony says, “So, like, right now? Or…?”

“Sure!” Jack says, throwing his hands up in defeat. “Why not? Clearly, I’m not gonna get any fucking peace until this is sorted—

“Finally!” Tony exclaims. “God, was that so hard?”

“—so go away,” Jack finishes.

Tony’s mouth falls open.

“What do you mean, go away?” he protests, looking genuinely shocked. “Why?”

“What do you mean, why? I’m not gonna let you sit here and fucking… moderate our conversation, dumbass,” Jack sputters. “Get out!”

“But I really feel like this is the kinda conversation that needs moderating,” Tony disagrees. “It’s not like either of you have a great track record for effective communication⁠—”

“Anthony Ethan Higgins,” Jack warns, nearly at the end of his rope.

Tony rolls his eyes so hard his whole body moves with the motion. “I am literally just trying to help, you don’t gotta get all defensive about it⁠—”

“Jesus Christ, Tony,” Jack says, completely and utterly done. “Will you please just⁠— Just go somewhere that isn’t here.”

“But are you gonna talk about it?” Tony insists, really digging in his heels. “Because if you’re just gonna not talk about it the second I leave then I think I should⁠—”

“Tonio, juro por Dios—”

“Tony, honey,” Davey finally steps back into the fray, far calmer than he has any right to be, and somehow, miraculously, Tony’s mullish expression softens into something a little chagrined. Jack gapes, wrong-footed by the sudden change. “I think you’ve made your point and given Jack more than enough heart attacks for one morning, yeah? So why don’t you go ahead and give us a few minutes, and I promise we’ll talk about it.”

Tony deflates. “Yeah, okay.”

“Thank you, baby.”

Tony shuffles away, mollified for now. Davey pauses, then says, “Charlie, that means you too.”

“But I didn’t do anything!” Charlie protests. “I’m just sittin’ here, tryin’ to eat.”

He takes an exaggerated bite of his bagel as if to prove his point, eyes extra wide and innocent.

“Charlie.”

“But my food!”

“Take it with you,” Davey suggests, very patiently.

Charlie looks as though that thought hadn’t occurred to him.

“Okay,” he says, scooping up his plate and scurrying after his brother. He hesitates in the doorway, then adds, “My vote is for an autumn wedding, if that counts for anything.”

“Charlie.”

“Going!”

Once he’s sure they’re both gone, Jack heaves another massive sigh.

“They’re such a pair of little shits,” he says, to Davey and the world at large. “Fucking hell.”

Davey takes a drink of his coffee, holding out his other hand to Jack in offering. Jack reaches over and laces their fingers together, most of his irritation slipping away in an instant at the simple contact.

“But he is right, you know,” Davey comments lightly.

“I know he’s right,” Jack grumbles, rubbing his thumb over Davey’s knuckles. “Don’t mean he ain’t a little shit.”

“Well, naturally,” Davey agrees. “He’s related to you.”

“Oh, please,” Jack says with a snort. “That little spiel of his was all you. ‘The inexplicable reality of the situation’,” he mimics, his voice landing in some strange imitation of Tony mixed with Davey, which ends up not really sounding like either of them. “It was like hearin’ your voice comin’ outta Tony’s mouth.”

“And it was a well thought-out argument,” Davey says pertly, the corner of his mouth quirking up into a wry grin. “His timing could use some work, though.”

“Ain’t that the fucking truth,” Jack says, taking a bite of his cereal⁠ and immediately making a face—it’s gone all gross and soggy during the craziness, because of course it has. He pushes the bowl away with a mournful look. “Didn’t even let us finish breakfast before pouncing.”

“Well, it has been eight years,” Davey says, and he’s definitely laughing a little now. “Guess he’s afraid of a repeat performance.”

“Sure,” Jack says with a shrug, because that part had been hard to argue with. More than half of Charlie’s life, Jesus. “But he was talkin’ like he expected us to walk down the aisle this afternoon. I mean, we can’t just get married. You don’t just get married.”

“Most people don’t,” Davey says, tilting his head. “But then, we aren’t really most people, are we, darling?”

It takes a moment for this statement to fully land for Jack⁠, and when it finally does, it lands with a boom.

“Are you sayin’ you’d marry me?” Jack asks, utterly floored, his heart pounding an unsteady rhythm in his chest.

“Are you asking me?” Davey asks, calmly sipping his coffee like he isn’t rocking Jack’s world, right here over breakfast, for the second time in not even two days.

#newsies #javid #*ask #*editor's note #bits & bobs #*the writing desk #the domestic au #i hope this helps a little! #😊✨💕⭐️💗✨💕

[dgcatanisiri]

I said I’d hoped to get this out by the end of the month. FINALLY, the next installment of my series of Hypothetical DLCs. 

Welcome to DG’s Listing of Wish These DLC Existed, where I theorize, speculate, and just kinda generally throw ideas at the wall about DLCs for games I love that never happened and never will happen, but damn, I’d like to see them anyway. 

Because I have ideas, I can’t get them made as mods, I don’t have time to make them into fic, and they’re never going to happen anyway, so why not put them up in a public place? After all, they’re tie ins to games I have no control over anyway, so it’s not like I’ll ever make money off of them anyway. And, as I’m not bound by any hardware limitations in terms of crafting ideas, or production cycles dictating when the game’s endpoint is, these can and do go on a great deal longer than the standard lifespan of a game.

A review of the format: There will be a name for the DLC, a brief synopsis, a reference to when this hypothetical DLC would become available/if and when it becomes unavailable, and then an expansion/write up of the ideas going in to them. Some ideas will have more expansion than others, because I’ve just plainly put more thought into them - in a lot of cases, I wrote them down just on the basis of ‘this idea seems pretty cool,’ and then gave them more context later on.

Feedback is welcome! Like an idea? Don’t like an idea? I welcome conversation and interaction on these ideas. Keep it civil, remember that these are just one person’s ideas, we can discuss them. Perhaps you’ll even help inspire a part two for these write ups! Because I do reserve the right to come up with more ideas in the future - these are the ideas that I’ve had to this point, but the whole reason this series exists is because I come up with new ideas for old stories.

With the KOTOR games both dealt with, we move on to the next category of the BioWare franchises, Mass Effect. This one took a while, considering the much more open-ended aspect of choices within the Mass Effect universe. And ME2′s edition is going to take a good long while as well, considering... Well, I’ll explain that when I get there. 

Anyway. Given the way that Mass Effect carries decisions forward, there is an additional category for the ideas within these editions, where there’s a brief summary of the way they will impact future games - granted, most of these are ME2 letters and ME3 war assets, but it’s still worth making a note of.

Also, given the context of ME1′s rather open-ended structure, where there aren’t really any serious plot breaks or boundaries that prevent advancement too soon, aside from Virmire and Ilos not being unlocked until events in the plot, assume that, unless otherwise noted, these DLCs are all available at any point after Shepard is made a Spectre and given command of the Normandy, and, obviously, must be played before Ilos. 

To business!

First Contact

As a Spectre and Alliance officer, Commander Shepard is called in when an Alliance team goes missing after reporting they had made contact with a new alien species. The Normandy is assigned to recover the team and establish peaceful relations if at all possible – yet there is a mystery here, one that the natives are not happy to welcome meddling in...

So, yeah, the basic idea here is simply that, with the whole Reaper thing, we don’t really get to see much of the more basic ideas of space exploration – big plot trounces little ideas. And first contact is as basic a concept for a scifi series as you can get. In my book, that’s the advantage of DLC in this series, to go for the smaller scale stories.

So let’s go into detail. We’re going to need a character to act as the exposition fairy – I vote that, at least in the briefing, this is coming from Pressley, so we can offer him a little more characterization and involvement (let’s honestly consider “Pressley gives a briefing that offers him more characterization, involvement, and general utilization” a thing for all of these, since he really doesn’t get a lot of usage in ME1, which is probably why he’s not really replaced on the Normandy after this game, and take this opportunity to give his character some expansion so that his death can mean a little more when ME2’s prologue goes down). He’s giving the baseline facts about why the Normandy is going in and handling this situation.

Obviously, the First Contact team has gone out of contact, and the Normandy is tasked to discover what has happened to them and make the best of the situation they end up in. I’m not locking this to after recruiting Liara, but I do picture her, Kaidan, and Ashley getting some fair use in any and all of these (a few in particular – we’ll get there when we get there), both because of their role as love interests and because of their general attitudes and thematic roles – Liara’s the wide-eyed idealist (considering her romanticizing of the protheans – any culture that refers to themselves as an “empire” is not going to be a peaceful collection of philosophers and scientists), Ashley’s the reasoned cynic, and Kaidan is something of the balance between them – cautious optimism and ready for if/when things go to shit.

The arrival finds Shepard and company on our new world (location to be decided – given Citadel rules on activating dormant Relays, it’s probably best that this is a planet within an already existing cluster, and we probably ought to put it somewhere within the boundaries of Alliance space, what with them taking lead on this first contact). The locals seem welcoming and friendly, but there’s a clear air of uncertainty – are they a threat, where’s the Alliance contact team, why are they acting like they know something that Shepard and crew don’t?

I know, we’re running the risk of retreading the ground of Feros and the thorian here, but, one, honestly, I like Feros, so I’m okay with revisiting it as a concept at least, two, it’s not like BioWare doesn’t recycle their own plots all the time anyway, even granting that they usually don’t do it within the same game, and three, I see it ending in a different place, so we’re going with this.

Anyway, investigation, suspicion, blah, blah, blah... I swear, the fun would be in the investigation, the building mystery, so I’m skipping over the work for the sake of a summary. The end result is that of course the natives killed the team, but the reason is because this is a group of descendants of a prothean subject race. They’d engaged in a revolt, adapted/stolen a colony ship, and flew off into the black, and done this right around the time of the initial stages of the Reaper invasion of the prothean empire – the protheans had bigger fish to fry (or be fried by, depending on how you use the metaphor), and given how proud the protheans are, I can see them covering this up in the name of saving face, both of which allowed these people to escape the notice of the Reapers – systematic destruction or not, finding one lone ship in the depths of space isn’t “needle in a haystack,” it’s “needle in the midwest.” It’d have been one thing if they’d found a planet to establish themselves on right away, but they dove into the black without a clear destination – also use this to emphasize WHY most Council explorations tend to stick to familiar clusters with an established Mass Relay nearby, that space is vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big.

As a detail for this race, I’m gonna include one of my headcanons for the protheans, since, hey, my DLC idea – while the protheans developed their technology around the Mass Relays and such, as the Reapers intended, the tech of their own design, without the influence of external powers, would have more of an organic bent to it, that they were more inclined to “grow” their tech than build it. Like they accepted the Mass Effect as a foundation for their tech, the Citadel as a base, but they weren’t all that happy about it, just never quite getting their own designs really match the designs of “inusannon” technology in effectiveness. So in response, this species turned towards cybernetics (maybe they’re members of the zha’til, to connect them having this knowledge with the tidbits Javik offers in ME3? *shrug* I’ll use them as the name for this species for simplicity’s sake, because that’s less awkward than no name at all, but I’m not married to it being them), to not just give them an edge against the protheans when they came after them, but also to serve as a taunt towards them, a statement of “you fear technology, so we’re going to become the personification of your boogeymen.”

So the survival of these zha’til has been their hidden nature, and they have developed into a pure xenophobic society – no aliens are accepted among them, and, with the appearance of Shepard’s team, they are fully of the belief that there will be those who come after. They can recognize that the appearance of outsiders once means it will happen again. And they will be ready – Shepard’s crew is a boon for them, allowing them access to biologies of not just humans, but asari, turian, krogan, and quarian. They’d prepared for the damage the protheans could do upon finding their retreat, spent fifty thousand years becoming something the protheans would have to fear. Of course, Shepard’s gonna have to ruin it. I can see them trying the ‘we’ll erase the coordinates, put up a warning buoy, ensure no one comes here’ argument, but that’s not flying with these guys, since organic nature tends towards curiosity, and just blanking the system would leave a mystery, one that organics would want to solve, and a warning buoy can malfunction or be ignored – they want total isolation, and, even if the odds are like one in trillions, that’s too high for them, so they’d sooner be the only life in the galaxy.

I’m thinking the solution is in their reliance on their tech, having attained this symbiosis with it that they all are implanted – tech can be hacked, it can malfunction, it can be a vulnerability as much as an asset. Going way back to the start of the involvement of Kaidan, Liara, and Ashley, here’s them all getting to voice their solution, with Ashley going the straightforward route of “they’re a threat, they’ll keep being a threat, they don’t want to change and stop being a threat, I don’t want to commit genocide, but I also want to defend the Alliance, and those options look mutually exclusive right now,” Liara is all “think of what they could offer us, their history is invaluable, they were contemporaries of the protheans, what might they know, and even if we have the ability to wipe out an entire species, that’s an action that can never be undone,” and Kaidan is the middle ground of “the leaders and people we’ve spoken to made a threat, but we can’t call the entire population of this planet genocidal maniacs, surely there must be something we can do to find a reasonable solution.”

It basically comes down to Shepard getting to hack the tech, and then faced with the decision – a) wiping them out by way of effectively setting all their implants to electrify themselves – they’ve shown themselves to be a threat, they have violent intentions towards other life in the galaxy, and nothing indicates that there is any dissent among their population, especially if their implants can allow for like planetary consensus or something, b) shutting down the tech, their greatest threat, as a way to keep most of them alive, but reducing their civilization to like Bronze Age – the Citadel races would certainly be willing to help the zha’til recover, but it’s not like they’d be happy to accept it, or c) use this as the way to force them to come to the table and negotiate in good faith, under the threat of destruction as a result of them using this weapon, give them a chance, with the downside being that they have done nothing to indicate that they deserve this chance, or that the second they develop a workaround, they’ll be back to threatening all alien life.

Post Game Followups:

ME2: Letter from the head of a Council-approved research team, investigating the planet, with or without inhabitants.

ME3: Assuming the zha’til survive, a representative is on the Citadel, offering their aid. If they were reduced, they are a significantly smaller War Asset.

Investigations

The Citadel’s Wards house people from across the galaxy, and murder is a common occurrence. When the murder victim is a prominent Alliance politician, however, one whose controversial opinions made him a target for non-humans, the Alliance can only trust one person to investigate on the Citadel – the first human Spectre, Commander Shepard. 

Honestly, the Citadel could absolutely support its own game. Just the pieces we get of it from the trilogy and the Citadel DLC tease a massive station that probably has a population higher than some planets. So there’s A LOT to do here (indeed, looking over my notes for this, I have at least one DLC focused entirely on events on the Citadel in each game, and all of them can utilize entirely new areas, so...). And, really, who doesn’t enjoy an old-fashioned ‘whodunnit’ murder mystery?

Obviously, we have more than just the basic mystery happening here, or else we’d just have a standard sidequest, not a full DLC length story. I feel like this needs to go in depth on corruption within Citadel politics – poke around my blog, you’ll find I’m HIGHLY critical of the Council’s handling of the Saren matter, where they appoint a C-Sec officer with a reputation for not playing by the rules as the only investigator of the Eden Prime incident, give him roughly a day to look in to things, (Shepard’s out about sixteen hours, according to Doctor Chakwas, they arrive at the Citadel, get summoned to the Council, and encounter Garrus, at which point the trial is about to start, with no indication that more than hours at most have passed) and then TELL him that his investigation is over, Saren is allowed access to the files of the man he is accused of killing, an eye witness report of Saren’s murder of Nihlus is completely dismissed, while the data file Tali extracts from a geth, which Anderson says upon hearing that he’s never heard of this happening (to say nothing of the quarians’ status among the Citadel races) is deemed “irrefutable evidence”... There’s A LOT that is at best questionable about how the Council handles things. And that’s just sticking with the first game.

So I’d like to pull back some of the veil on Citadel politics, and use that to explore the human-alien friction. Due to Shepard’s rising profile throughout the series, we kinda lose a lot of the big level details of this, and it’s one of those things I like about the Mass Effect universe circa the first game – humanity ISN’T the big kahuna, they’re the latest arrivals, and the rest of the galaxy thinks they’re a bunch of jerks trying to take what they haven’t earned.

Hence where we start – our victim is an Alliance politician, someone who’s got one of those jobs that makes them friends and enemies of the same people. Obviously, this means that there are a lot of people on the Citadel (and outside the Citadel) who would easily be picked up as suspects – again, we’re going an investigative route, to help show off Shepard as a tactician, to show off their brains as well as their brawn.

This is going to lead us first to explore more of the Citadel Tower, the place where the Council and other assorted political figures meet. Udina probably plays a part in things, considering he IS the ambassador at this point, so he’ll probably be talking to Shepard about matters along the way, something of our regular check-in point (plus good to offer him some more characterization and expand him somewhat).

Obviously, with a murder mystery, we investigate through the location, taking us through the Tower and into its deeper structure, to the point that Shepard ends up in the Tower’s basement (or whatever we call the lowest level). Down here, the discovery is that there’s (what else) a conspiracy. Humanity is moving too fast – they’ve only been here for about thirty years and they already have an embassy, are angling for a spot on the Council, how long until they replace all the races who were here first on the Council, make the Citadel humans only?

I feel like we could also get some retroactive elements of Cerberus’s human supremacy in play here, suggest that our victim was being manipulated by them and used to advance their agenda – not just to foreshadow how Cerberus gains prominence in the next game, but also to show that even well-intentioned people are preyed upon by Cerberus’s actions (hello Paragon Shepard). Cerberus didn’t mind using him for their objectives, even if he’s not some pro-human bigot.

Speaking of, let’s tie in Terra Firma a little more into this – they seemed to have some influence in the first game, then drop off the face of the earth, so yeah, let’s throw them in somehow. Like I see that as part of our concluding decision, where the replacement political figure is one of their people, so they seem like the “obvious suspect” red herring – I think by this point we’ve established with these that one of my priorities is worldbuilding, and, again, Terra Firma dropped off the face of the series when it seemed to have developing prominence in the first game.

Anyway, back to the plot. Obviously, Shepard has to do something about this conspiracy. The problem is, of course, while extreme, they represent a dominant view among the Citadel races. And it’s one that has validity to it, humans are demanding more power than any other race in the Citadel’s history (this cycle, anyway, who knows about the previous ones?), and to these races, they are seen as aggressive in that pursuit.

Here’s the thing, and I’ve gone over this in my critiques of the Council before – humans are aggressive about getting more representation because of a handful of things. Number one, humans are out to advance, we recognize that we learn best from making mistakes, while the Citadel races seem to abide by a code of “none shall advance faster than the slowest.” That no advancement is made until all are “capable” of benefiting from it in certain ways, despite how we have the example of multiple species not even being able to compete on a level playing field with races like the asari, the salarians, or the turians – the volus are a client race of the turians, despite having been a part of the galactic community longer. It’s why we see the relative stagnation – the asari discovered the Citadel two thousand years ago, and yet so much of it is still a mystery.

Number two, humans are aggressive because the Citadel races were aggressive to them first. The First Contact War started because Citadel law is that no one shall activate dormant Mass Relays. Thing is, humanity opened Relay-314 at a time that they’d never even heard of the Citadel and its government. So the turians who opened fire first? They were holding humanity to the standards and rules and laws of a governmental body that they didn’t even know existed until the shooting started.

That the turians enforce this law so rigidly, and that the asari and salarians don’t seem to understand how much the asshole it makes them, is the honest source of a lot of the tension between the races in the game.

Like, I vehemently disagree with the racist attitudes of the Terra Firma asshole we meet, but he’s not wrong in pointing out that if you see a kid playing with a matchbook, you take the matches away, but you don’t shoot them for good measure. The turians started the conflict, and you can tell that the Citadel races never acknowledge their responsibility in this – it’s all “humans are so aggressive” without any understanding of why a species whose introduction to the greater galaxy came at a cost of life and involved acts of violence inflicted on them, literally on the basis of information that by definition, they could not have, just MIGHT hold a grudge.

...So, uh, bringing this back around to the topic at hand... This is where we get to the central conflict. Our Terra Firma assholes who are all “Earth first!” have a valid point that the Council and the Citadel races mistreat humanity, and wrap it up in condescending bullshit, so the fact that they’re looking to take some kind of action to do something about this is understandable, even if they’re doing it wrong. The opposition is the conspiracy folks, the ones who murdered the outspoken human, all in the name of protecting their people from perceived human aggression.

And yes, it really does all come down to something that simple, as both sides are right and both sides are wrong, and now someone has to clean up the mess their hostilities have created. I do want this to really come down to something so simple and, on paper, easy to resolve, because when this kind of thing happens in our world, it’s frequently just as on paper simple, but, because of the emotions involved and the personal grudges accumulated, no one is able to take that step back and try to make amends (not saying that as a value judgement, just a fact – sometimes it is appropriate to address the personal grudges, sometimes you need let them go for the greater good).

There’s an interconnectedness to the Citadel races in the course of the series, and this is one of the ways to showcase that, by displaying that both of these peoples need each other in the course of the continuation of this cycle’s civilizations. So Shepard’s ultimate decision is about making a decision, and the hard work is in making them both recognize and acknowledge that they are both wrong – pulling this off right, meaning Shepard found all the ways to make good in-roads with both factions so they’ll listen when they make a big persuasive speech, we have the legitimate grievances acknowledged and at least on course to be redressed (one of the galactic news reports can, if the Alliance fleet is sacrificed to save the Destiny Ascension, say that the turians are considering reparations – maybe with this option, this happens regardless). Pulling it off wrong, Shepard has to side with one faction or the other, leaving tension and hostility remaining unresolved, impacting future relations.

Post Game Followups: 

ME2: Emails from the sided faction, talking about their political advancement.

ME3: Impact on Citadel politics, affecting the attitude of the populace in the Citadel Defense Force

Old Wounds

Shanxi was the site of the First Contact War. Since then, the human colonists have resisted alien interference and involvement on their world. But things become complicated when a turian effort at reparations ends up as a hostage situation. Naturally, the Alliance has one person they want to send in to help smooth things over – Commander Shepard.

An Ashley focus mission, we’re giving her the spotlight here – consider this something of a proto-loyalty mission, since the game itself didn’t have these. Because Shanxi is a place that means a lot to her and her family, so we’re going to say that she is on this mission. That obviously also limits this to a pre-Virmire position in the plot, because she may not make it off of that planet.

Shanxi is talked about, but it’s never even given a flyby in the games proper, and so we head there. And, especially with the context of the last entry in this list, I feel like there should be some effort to acknowledge that there should be reparations to humanity – like I said there, the turians discovered humans on Shanxi and decided to openly attack them, hold them to laws and rules that they had no way of knowing existed, and then decide that humans are the aggressive ones because of how they respond? Yeah, that’s bullshit.

So we have a situation where a group of turians have this realization and are trying to convince the people of Shanxi of their good intentions. Shanxi is, understandably, reluctant to believe it. Shepard is going in to smooth things over, try and ease the tensions that are inevitably flaring up, and Ashley is, ultimately, conflicted about how to feel about this whole matter – this is Shanxi, Williams are not exactly welcome here. But there is still a feeling of responsibility here all the same, because her family impacted this world and now she’s here to help try to build a bridge. The “hostage situation” of the synopsis will actually take place during the course of events – before that happens, we get a chance to explore Shanxi, learn about the history there.

This seems like a point to bring it up: Ashley’s grandfather surrendering Shanxi, in the name of preventing a massacre, and being branded a traitor for it makes little sense to me. Of course, I get that surrendering looks bad, if you’re only looking at the act, and not the motivation. People were losing their lives, he acted to protect them. The Alliance military being unforgiving assholes is not unbelievable, but the general public going along with it, refusing to have his name cleared, even decades later, is.

So we’re going to have to dig into the reasons for this. People on Shanxi will resent the Williams for the surrender – they wanted to fight to the bitter end, and they passed this along to their kids. The “death before dishonor” crowd think it would have been better to have fought to the last – sent a stronger message to the Citadel about the wrongness of that whole “shoot first, ask questions later, blame the victim for everything” approach. They’re the ones who lead the charge against Williams’ actions, saying he was weak for surrendering to the turians. Meanwhile others are aware that he saved lives.

If anything, this makes things difficult for Ashley. As much as she lives under the specter of her family, she is not quite sure about what life would be like if he’s cleared – even knowing that things would be better, her family not getting shit details and crap assignments, it means getting a new perspective on the future that she never expected and needs to process that.

Core plot is still the hostage situation, one that Shepard ends up being involved in. The hostage takers are a group demanding more for the turians in terms of reparations – they can’t bring back the dead, of course, but the turians aren’t giving enough in their eyes. I don’t know, let’s say that it’s coming across as a perfunctory kind of apology, the “We’re sorry you feel we disrespected you” kind of reaction, which... Yeah, I totally see the turians doing that and the humans calling bullshit.

I mean, yeah, you want more to it than just “we’re angry” and such, because that’s a pretty straightforward mission, but the idea here is as much for exploring Ashley’s character and development over just an outright mission story. This is about her, and we’re going to explore her through this as much as the plot, so the plot can get away with being fairly limited in scope or scale, because this is about the character.

And this means that Ashley needs to have the big moment of resolving the crisis, rather than Shepard. Like, RPG, we’ll say Shepard gets the option to decide who gets that moment, but let’s be real, to culminate her arc in this DLC, it should be her. Bookend the portrayal of her grandfather with her – depending on how Shepard’s interacted with her, with how much digging they did into the history of the place, how they’ve interacted with the people, and it leads to Ashley (or Shepard) being able to talk down the hostage takers, defuse the situation, resolve things peacefully. If they can’t, violence ensues.

Resolution-wise, we’d be looking at the turians being upset and nearly starting conflict all over again because “you humans are too damn aggressive,” “the turians aren’t negotiating in good faith and wish they’d blasted humanity back to the stone age,” blah blah blah. Variation is in how the situation was resolved – peaceful resolution leads to the agreement to try this again later, let hostilities die down a little before trying to fix these long-standing grudges, violent is that the turians walk away, the human diplomats basically going “well, we’ll try this again at some point, hopefully.” And, for Ashley, she’s resolved some of her family’s old ghosts – best case scenario, she’s given Shanxi a different memory of the Williams clan, and can walk away with a tangible note on her record that, regardless of how anyone else might try to creatively reinterpret her record, says that her contribution saved lives.

Post Game Followups:

ME2: Email from diplomatic representative about the advancement of the talks over the previous two years.

ME3: If peacefully resolved, a joint human-turian task force is a war asset.

Ascension

The Ascension Project is a home for human biotics. Rumors reach Captain Anderson that there is a biotic extremist group attempting to subvert the teaching and draw them towards pro-human interests, and he asks Commander Shepard to investigate what could be a threat to the human-Citadel alliance.

We had Ashley’s loyalty mission, here’s Kaidan’s. The advancement of human biotics was a running thread through the background of ME1, but sort of fell by the wayside as the series expanded its scope in successive games, so this is a chance to explore that further. And we’re going to do so in part by building on the mission in game that involves Chairman Burns, the Alliance Parliament member who is taken captive by L2 biotics seeking reparations.

Obviously, we see Grissom Academy, the site of the Ascension Project, in ME3, but hey, for one, I like the idea that (retroactively, anyway) this means that Shepard is returning there in the course of the third game, and for two, it’s entirely reasonable to make the Academy large enough to house areas that we just didn’t see in the course of the mission there. Plus we’re seeing it (at least to start) in less of a state of chaos as exists in ME3.

Again, we’re starting lowkey. The idea here is more infiltration first – if extremists are trying to coopt kids’ education, odds are sending in soldiers is gonna tip them off quick and easy. So instead this is going to be framed as an “Alliance biotic recruitment” kind of thing – “The Alliance wants you!” and all that sort. That’s the cover as Shepard’s team heads in. The name of the game here is stealth, that we’re not here to set off alarms, just to ensure that there’s no attempt at subversion of the Alliance’s goals of peaceful coexistence with the Citadel races.

As a sidenote, both this and the Ashley DLC are basically me engaging in retroactively applied stories to further justify why it is that Kaidan and Ashley get the Spectre wings come ME3 – as it is, that kinda feels more like a bone being thrown to humanity in the name of appeasing them with Earth captured by the Reapers, as well as Udina wanting a loyal bodyguard, as opposed to something that their skill and ability has earned them the position. I want some exploration of the skill that justifies them getting that position.

So, yeah, we see the Ascension Project in its glory, causing a bit of a stir of memories for Kaidan, aware that this is more like what he should have experienced at BAaT. He’s glad that there are biotics who are getting to learn about their abilities in a safe environment that isn’t going to treat them like trash – whether or not that’s the military boot camp way, these are kids who have been, by a quirk of fate and chance, given these incredible powers without their consent, they deserve sympathy and understanding regarding their lives abruptly turned upside down, not demands that they show the same level of skill as people who train through their lives to be weapons.

Another investigation story, as we look in on the various teachers, learning more about what the state of affairs with regards to biotics are – if Mass Effect Andromeda is going to say that Cora felt outcasted and isolated because of her biotics, lets at least make this have a tangible feeling of what the actual culture and society she left behind is dealing with, considering that this is something that I’ve seen EVERYONE side-eying at best with her. At least offer it some grounding in the universe so it’s not just her, in effect, whining that she felt alone when we have characters like Kaidan, who killed someone with his biotics as a teenager, and Jack, who was tortured from infancy in an attempt to build a better biotic.

Anyway. The idea is to see more about what the biotics go through, and to better explain what biotics even are to the uninitiated (re: the audience). Biotics are just an accepted part of the universe in the games as is, but these are still a relatively recent thing for humanity, and we don’t really know how people are handling it.

Honestly, I’m kinda inclined to fully lean into a “biotics = homosexuality” metaphor. Like, personal stuff here, that’s one of the things that really... bothers me about the way Cora is handled in Andromeda, that she has this very queercoded story in terms of her self-acceptance, to the point of at one point, in reference to her biotics, saying “what if someone had told me ‘that’s okay’?” about herself. And that’s a line that defines queer narratives, but it is coming out of this cis-straight person’s mouth. So yeah, I’m gonna fix that how I can, since canonically, Kaidan is a bisexual man, and he gets the focus here, and we’re gonna take advantage of this. I may have issues with how BioWare handles their not-straight characters, but since they’re not actually making this, I’m gonna take full advantage.

Oh, right. Plot. Something, something... We get to the overall plot. Of course, we can sway a few people over – these biotic extremists are looking for belonging and acceptance above all. We see things like Major Kyle’s biotic cult, biotics are looking for something that gives them a place, beyond just the military stuff – what happens to the biotic who is a pacifist, where do they fit in when the only place that really seems to accept biotics is the Alliance military? Yeah, sure, these extremists would be testing the idea of “pacifism,” but it’s still the general concept we’re going with.

Like with the above Ashley story, it comes down to Kaidan getting the option to take the lead on this. You know how in the situation in the base game with Chairman Burns, Kaidan will interject about being an L2, like those extremists? Last time I played through, I kinda felt like he should have been more in the lead on that mission, that it should have been his answer to Garrus and Doctor Saleon, or Wrex and the family armor, something like that. So we’re going to have a similar situation here. Like with Ashley above, his ability to talk down the leader of this group depends on how well the player investigated – find the details, talk to the right people, that sort of detective stuff (because I like there being more to gaining experience in games that just combat).

That’s especially meaningful because this particular pro-human person, the one leading these biotic extremists? He worked at BAaT, was one of the people supposedly tasked with watching the situations with the turian biotics who had been brought on. He knew Kaidan. Kaidan knew him. In some ways, because of what happened with Kaidan, that’s why he was inspired to this – letting aliens teach biotics to these children, dictate those terms, WAS abuse, and, in his mind, humans can’t let their children be so violently abused by aliens again.

Kaidan says he dealt with his past in the game proper. But this is still an echo of it, someone who he once knew, worse, someone who cites what happened to him as reason for what he’s doing. Which is why it’s important for Kaidan that he be the one to resolve this. As ever, it can be resolved with words or violence, yay Paragon/Renegade system. For Kaidan, though, it’s just important to see this through and make sure that he has this dealt with.

Post Game Followups:

ME2: Email from a class of biotics saved.

ME3: Student saved during the Grissom Academy mission is among the students encountered here, their presence gives a boost to the biotic students war asset

Ruins of Preita

An asari colony world has discovered a prothean archive that could rival those on Mars. Due to the concerns of the Reapers, Commander Shepard and crew go to investigate – and find an empty world, the archaeology team missing. Finding the missing team leads into a world lost to the galaxy for over fifty thousand years – and a threat even the protheans locked away!

So, now we have a Liara loyalty mission story. If you’ve paid any serious attention to my blog over the years, you’re probably having a laugh at my expense here – I’m always complaining about an overfocus on Liara, and yet here I am, adding to her content specifically. Hey, I’m at least playing fair and giving her time alongside Ashley and Kaidan. Hell, that’s why I’m doing this. I gave them time in the sun, and it’s fair that I give her the same.

But yes, I want to explore Liara’s character through the lens of her as an archaeologist, which basically gets a little lip service in the games proper, but ultimately means nothing. She is supposed to be an expert on the protheans and an archaeologist of renown, and yet that gets dumped as her actual profession in ME2, so that she can “be a very good information broker,” which... Not to dismiss her in what is meant to be a focus mission for her, but that ends up being told, rather than shown. Let’s let her play to her strengths.

This is a mission about her getting to flex that muscle. She learns about this archive – actually, thinking about it, let’s say that this was a dig that she had the chance to go on instead of the Therum dig, and chose it instead in the name of it being more isolated (more on that later). With the latest report she’s read about it, she thinks it’ll be an assist to Commander Shepard – if nothing else, the fact that Saren was interested in Eden Prime’s prothean beacon means that a new prothean archive might well be a lure for him, and he might well show up, or have Benezia or one of her agents go there in his stead. It could lead them to Saren, is what she’s using as her justification for telling Shepard to go and check this out.

Obviously it won’t, because game mechanics, but it’s a solid enough reason to get us where we’re going, which is an asari planet. Here’s where we get a chance to see Liara in her element AND see this pushback against her theories. It bugs the hell out of me that Liara says that her theory of the cycle of extinction is dismissed by other asari because of her youth – by framing that dismissal of her peers with having to do purely with her age, it says that in the two thousand years since the asari discovered the Citadel, to say nothing of anything that might have been included in the prothean archive in the Temple of Athame, NO ONE ELSE has put forward the idea of the cycles. That Liara is the first to put those pieces together. In more than two thousand years. And, as things turn out, she is 100% correct about there being a constant cycle of civilization and extinction.

My suspension of disbelief breaks at that. That she and she alone has developed this theory – this theory that is absolutely fact – in two thousand years. Bare minimum, I would have said that she was part of a fringe collection of scientists who just don’t have the evidential support to justify this being the mainstream view. But it’s the canon we have to work with, so, fine. But this disagreement when it comes to theories on the extinction of the protheans would be another point of why Liara didn’t go on this excursion, that these other researchers are those who do not share her beliefs, and, as she believes, that would mean they would shun her.

But it’s important that these researchers not just be strawmen – they may have held opposing views to Liara, that doesn’t mean they would dislike her. In point of fact, one of them has to have considered herself a friend to Liara, for reasons I’ll get in to in a bit. But these are going to be people who are all for the most part entirely likeable and reasonable. They just don’t agree with Liara’s stance.

Or at least, the records and logs they’ve left behind make them entirely likable and appear reasonable. Because, of course the research team is missing when Shepard and team arrive – like research teams in these scenarios are ever able to avoid going missing and being presumed dead.

This sparks a conflict with Liara – she’s glad that they’re able to try and find them, maybe even rescue them, but she’s also guilty because she should have been on this expedition, should have been with them. Liara’s got a tendency to put things on her own shoulders (see her reaction after Thessia, assuming you don’t have Javik/don’t take the interrupt to get them to an accord). Hell, ideally, this would be something done after Noveria and her mother’s death to explore that some – I hate how by the time you try to speak with her about it, she’s already pulling that “I choose to remember Benezia as she was” thing, seeming to either be accepting or repressing what happened, when what happened is that, regardless of the why, her mother is dead, and Shepard pulled the trigger.

So yeah, while this is a mission available at any point after doing Therum, in my mind, it’s best to take this after Noveria for the ability for Liara to lash out at Shepard for not being able to rescue her mother, how do they think that they can save these people, one among them a friend of hers, look at that, it’s another situation where Shepard is going to fail to rescue someone who mattered to her!

That is her breaking point, where she can’t bottle this all up anymore. That, for the sake of the mission, for “the greater good,” she’s bottled up her feelings and anger and resentment and fear, and yet, here and now, she can’t help it, she has to address it. She knows it’s unfair to Shepard – she heard about indoctrination, understands that it was something horrible for Benezia, that Benezia accepted no alternative to death, but people she cares about keep getting caught in the line of fire, all in the name of what, exactly? “The greater good”? “The ends justifying the means”? Chance and circumstance?

Hell, include some elements tying her closer to Ashley and Kaidan at this point – it connects the crew together more for when the Virmire decision hits, considering that this game only has banter in the Citadel elevators, which, given fast travel, is heavily skippable, and competes with news reports. There needs to be more development of the character interactions, so let’s do some character interaction here, if nothing else. (And maybe also include a post-Virmire conversation with her about how SHE feels about the loss of Ashley/Kaidan, yes I’m moving out of the scope of this DLC idea, but it’s good for characterization, dammit!)

Investigation happens, records and logs do the ‘ominous mood building’ thing... The end result is that what happened was that this planet once housed a prothean lab. A bio-engineering lab. They were creating something that (stated ambiguously, since Shepard won’t know about the Reapers properly yet at this point in the timeline) was meant to fight the Reapers, be something that could stand against them and protect the protheans. But by the time that it was done, the war was all but over, the protheans having lost. The protheans never got the chance to let it loose, pulling up stakes from the facility before the Reapers hit it. But as time wore away the tech, this thing they created has gotten loose on its own after a few thousand years. This thing is like the rachni on Noveria, having been grown in isolation – there was nothing else on this planet, it was literally the only kind of life around, even before getting to it being engineered as a weapon above all else. It’s too mad to save, must be put down.

Easier said than done, of course. The archaeological team are contained inside of it (I’m thinking held in some kind of crystal-like stasis pods on its back), and is drawing on them for life, sort of in the same way that Malak used the Jedi captives on the Star Forge in KOTOR, where it taps into them and heals itself based on their life force. So the Paragon/Renegade choice in here revolves around how much effort Shepard’s going to put in to saving the captives. Freeing them before they get used as batteries, probably with Liara using her biotics to rescue those who they manage to get loose (meaning she’s unable to act as support in combat because she’s busy focusing her biotics), or just killing them first – with Liara distracted and unable to provide support, that justifies the Renegade stance, because it’s one less source of firepower against the thing as it tries to either kill them or add them to its collection.

That’s important because that aforementioned friend of hers is going to be rescued either way the player chooses – Liara will insist on getting her out alive, even if Shepard foregoes saving the others. Regardless of the player choice, Liara’s friend survives, and, once the creature is dead, she’ll respond to how Shepard chose to resolve the situation, if she’s the sole survivor or if Shepard made an effort to rescue everyone. She’s grateful for her survival either way, but she’s angry about the failure to save the others if they were abandoned.

For Liara, though, the ultimate result is seeing something of the protheans being knocked off their pedestal – regardless of the reason (which, yes, we know to be extinction by Reapers), they abandoned this creature, left it to be consumed by madness. The point here is seeing Liara have a moment where she grows up – she has to acknowledge the protheans she pictured for the last century were flawed (Partially because it bothers me the way she speaks of the protheans with such rose-colored glasses even by ME3, when she says “it’s clear they prized knowledge, growth, and cooperation with the rest of the galaxy,” even before Javik sends that image crashing – a species who form an empire, whose legacy is memorialized as an empire, is not going to be first and foremost wise scholars). She’s realizing that whatever the reasons were for creating this, whatever caused them to leave it behind, they still did this to an innocent being that they were responsible for. It’s something of her “loss of innocence” moment, considering that Benezia’s death currently doesn’t really provide that (though, again, we ARE also addressing that... Details.)

Her friend is also going to get a few moments with Liara, talking about the archaeology team, and commenting about how Liara’s development has gone. This is a moment for Liara, to really help give her a character arc in the game proper – considering that she can be left on Therum until right before Ilos, she kinda doesn’t have much of one as it is. Also, this gives a chance for Liara to exist outside of Shepard’s world, considering how she bubbles herself into it as the trilogy progresses. This is someone who’s only really in Liara’s orbit, not Shepard’s, and it gives her a little more grounding and existence outside of Shepard.

Post Game Followups:

ME2: Letter from Liara’s friend, commenting about how she handled Shepard’s death, expressing concern for her losing direction

ME3: The creature’s remains have been examined, providing a War Asset, if the archaeologists were saved, they provide an additional boost, Liara’s friend has a cameo on the Citadel after Thessia

Incursion

An Alliance space station on the fringe of the Terminus system abruptly goes silent. As the Normandy’s stealth systems can get there without letting any invaders know, as well as Commander Shepard’s skill, Captain Anderson sends them to check on the station. The batarians specifically have been known to be in the area, but there remains the possibility that this is something worse...

Okay, out of the loyalty mission structure and direct character work, back to isolated stories in the setting. So, the frontier of space? I say this as a lover of scifi from a young age: It is TERRIFYING. You are on the edge of all that’s known, and any number of things, things you could never conceive of because they are so outside of your frame of reference, could show up and kill you. A flimsy barrier of glass (or transparent aluminum or whatever material they make those big honking windows out of) is all that separates you from a suffocating death.

Yeah, we’re doing a psychological horror story here. I suppose technically AGAIN, considering the stuff around the disappeared archaeologists in the above DLC idea, but that was as much about Liara as the atmosphere. This is pure paranoia and suspicion.

The inspiration I’m going with here is KOTOR 2’s opening on the Peragus mine. Something happened here, and the people are all dead or missing – a handful of corpses, but, yet again, we’ve got logs to find, and they’ll include people who we can’t identify among the dead. Because that gives motivation to stick around and solve things, rather than just blow the place to hell.

The first guess is that there’s a batarian slave raid happening here. There are indications that the Alliance officers here were thinking this at first, that this was some raid in progress – sure, it wasn’t open violence, but maybe they were softening things up, trying to get on board, lower defenses, and then let the slave ships show up and take everyone left. That’s what their last attempt at an outgoing message suggested, it’s what Shepard and company show up expecting.

But that wasn’t the case. The investigation continues through the station, with Shepard searching for signs of anyone still alive. And as they proceed through the station, there’s something that seems to keep just passing out of view. Something else is here with them.

Again, I’m skimping on the exposition here, just because the investigation is the important part, and that’s hard to develop without a layout of the station itself in front of me, and what and how the narrative has to adapt to the environment, but also because this is a very atmospheric style story, where the focus is in the build up, the mystery, the way to get to the big reveal of just what it is that happened here. In a story like this, the tension in this is built with how many times you think you’re going to have an encounter with “the monster” before you actually do.

This particular “monster,” as it turns out, is some kind of energy creature, something that came to the station from the unknown depths of space, drawn by the station’s power core emissions. All indications are that this is simply some space-born lifeform that evolved naturally, and isn’t like some Reaper weapon or anti-Reaper weapon. Just some non-sapient lifeform, drawn in by the power core (maybe it had been specially modified, to further explain why this station and why now), and ending up killing the inhabitants of it.

The thing about this is that I’m going to emphasize here is that I DON’T want this as some kind of creation of the Reapers or their servants OR something that was cooked up to combat them. This thing is entirely independent of anything to do with Reapers. One of the things that I appreciated with ME1 over the later games was the “lived in” nature of the galaxy, where there were a handful of things shown and revealed in the course of the story that just spoke to there being life and civilization wandering through the galaxy for countless millennia. Life is pretty persistent when given the chance, and there’s surely life that exists in the depths of space that is so completely alien to our understanding that we might not even recognize it as such. This creature is one such example of life but not as we know it.

Obviously, there’s a straight up Paragon/Renegade choice of killing or sparing the creature, finding some way to lure it off and away from the station. I’m also inclined for a neutral option of trying to humanely capture it – it’s a creature unlike anything they know, it could show them so many things about the greater universe in the examination – but I’m not sure I feel like there’s enough room in the series for that kind of variation, given the limitations – this IS meant to be DLC, you know? Or at least, hypothetical DLC. Either way, though, the end result is that there is a boss battle, Shepard having to either kill it or weaken it, the station is cleared of the threat and the Alliance gets to have the station back, with talk of it being repurposed into some kind of early warning system regarding threats from outside Alliance/Citadel space (hint hint, nudge nudge).

Post Game Followups:

ME2: Emails from the new station commander, referring to the reopening of the station and the fate of the creature

ME3: Station as a war asset, exo-biologists as a war asset, how they examine space-faring life in the galaxy and if they can be adapted in some way to resist the Reapers

Evolution

A mercenary contacts the Normandy, claiming to have information regarding Saren. Following this lead, however, proves to open a separate can of worms, as the mercenary reveals their connections to a cult of people who view synthetics as the next step in organic evolution, and, knowing of Saren’s ties to the geth, seek to stop Shepard – or convert them.

So the idea here is to give more attention to something that seemed to be a running plot thread during ME1 and ME2 – machine cultists. The ExoGeni survey team on Trebin got huskified by an unknown artifact, and in ME2, there’s the mine on Aequitas. Yes, technically that hasn’t happened yet, shush. But we observe this in action in the games proper, and no one ever actually acknowledges it beyond the simple immediate reaction.

So what we have here is a merc, trying to contact Shepard, claiming they have info on Saren. No one really believes it – if Saren’s working with geth, he would have no need for the liability of organic agents. Yet they also can’t really ignore the idea either because Saren is why they’re out here (I really intend to take advantage of the idea that the whole party cast comes back for these with a full on mission briefing/discussion to kick this off – sounds like some fun opportunities for character dynamics with them debating the validity of this claim).

The result of going in takes Shepard and team to a planet where, initial impression, something is OFF about this place. It’s a prefab colony in early colonization, and something about how the people act just doesn’t seem right. They seem to be in an almost trance-like state that no one can snap them out of, a fact that immediately puts everyone on edge.

The merc is here (let’s say he’s a turian), and keeps things frustratingly vague until the arrival of a leader of the colony. The kicker with him being that he appears partially huskified (sorta like the Cerberus goon on Mars that Ashley/Kaidan find). Yet he still seems to be able to act seemingly independently. Of course, someone this obviously not-right has made himself a target, but all the people in the colony, including the merc, are all on his side.

Shepard can try to fight out of this, but they’re overwhelmed – there IS an entire colony of people, and there’s still the possibility of getting them free, Shepard has a responsibility to not shoot civilians (no matter what trigger-happy Renegades might think), and the team at least is willing to take that stand.

The explanation is that this is a group of wanna-call-themselves “next phase of organic evolution,” people who believe that they are the future. That’s what got their attention about Saren and Shepard, knowing about how he is working with the geth (it was an open session of the Council when they got made Spectre, after all). They look to Shepard as a potential threat.

When we encounter Machine Cultists in the game proper, they’re too far gone to really give any explanation. The comics seemed to draw on this – in Mass Effect Evolution, Saren’s brother uncovered one on Palaven, the Illusive Man was involved, Saren had to nuke from orbit the location of this device and his brother with it. We’re kinda going into the same territory with this, but, you know, Shepard gets to save the day.

So the merc shows up, trying to explain, offer the sales pitch (i.e.: the carrot), try to convince Shepard that their leader has the right idea, that this is a true joining of organic and synthetic, and that it will avert the “coming apocalypse” (just in case the whole ‘Reaper artifact’ element wasn’t certain for anyone playing). Then the cult leader shows up to offer the threat (i.e.: the stick), the warning that whatever Shepard expects to do, they will not be able to succeed.

For pacing reasons, I think of this as a pre-Virmire thing, so there’s not a direct awareness on Shepard’s part that just being around a Reaper artifact is a cause for Indoctrination, leading to a period of wondering how this happened and assuming it comes from direct interface – this is as much an explanation for why, if the implication is that the cult leader got to interface with a prothean beacon of some kind (actually Reaper, in the same manner as the vision that Object Rho offers in Arrival), they don’t have Shepard try to interact with this one, that they’re afraid of Shepard becoming like these people.

Anyway, jailbreak sequence! Because we can do better than just running a game of Simon in order to get Shepard out of their cell. Shepard finagles a way out of the cell block and to the colony’s science lab (it’s a frontier world, they need a science lab just to stay aware of all the new things they discover here). Among the things there is the record of what happened here, and specifically the existence of the artifact. Leads to a simple solution – blow up the artifact, and see what that does.

Of course, the artifact is guarded in the heart of the colony’s main site. We meet up with the merc again, who’s seeming a little uncomfortable – the indoctrination hasn’t completely taken root in him, and so there’s some question of maybe he can be reached. Paragon/Renegade here about dealing with him – kill him or spare him. That sparing will come back in a short while

Because now there’s the colony leader – the cult leader, effectively, at this point – to deal with. He’s angry about the damage Shepard has done to everything, ranting about plans to bring the glory of evolution to the galaxy. Yeah, he’s round the bend, the device effectively having melted his mind (okay, yeah, I’m getting flashes of Kenson here, but hey, same tech, so it’s not ripping off, it’s continuity!)

After dealing with him, the plan is to blow the artifact sky high. Here’s where the merc comes back into play – he says he’s too far gone, and wants to be the one to push the button on this thing, die with it. It’s his way of having a good death after this. Another Paragon/Renegade choice about his fate before blowing the thing sky high – the colony, unfortunately can’t be saved, anyone not killed getting there dies when the device is blown.

There’s an after action briefing, too, where, because, again, the idea here is that this is pre-Virmire, the crew really discuss the horrors of what “these Reaper machines” can do, and what if they’re not some geth red herring or something.

Basically, my idea here is that this is adding to the atmosphere and mystique of the Reapers, in a way that, with the game proper focused on the concept of advancing the plot, doesn’t get a chance. This is a more traditional feature of building up the menace, by showing the insidious nature of things, having the Reapers’ subtle side at play – we see references of Indoctrination, but we don’t really get the horrors outside of some talk – sure, there are the salarians who are in the Virmire facility, and Benezia’s talk, but it’s all second hand. This is a case where we see the effects spread across the entire colony, which, given resources in the game, is all of a planet we get to encounter, and Shepard and company are the only ones who aren’t, and that can go to the paranoia, where the people surrounding them all are giving off the vibes of being a threat, but they’re not doing anything. What can I say, I am a sucker for a good atmospheric story.

Post Game Followups:

ME2: Email about the aftermath of the colony’s destruction, and the research done on the corpses on the effects of Indoctrination

ME3: War asset surrounding Indoctrination research, preliminary anti-Indoctrination tech being introduced around the Catalyst facility, if the merc sacrificed himself, his family offers a boost to turian military morale on the basis of how one of their own resisted (pointedly ignoring Saren)

Relativity

The Mass Relays are the ancient devices that allow faster than light travel throughout the galaxy. The Charon Relay specifically was one that opened the way for humanity to join the races of the Citadel. This only makes a sudden distress call from the Relay all the more urgent, and Admiral Hackett believe that of everyone in the Alliance, Commander Shepard is right for the job.

So the Mass Relays are these massive facilities that are a key point throughout the entire trilogy. Why, exactly, do we never see one up close aside from transition screens? We should totally get to explore one! Like, I realize that it’s never explicitly said if there’s any kind of command station, or if “guarding a Mass Relay” was a ship-based action or if there was actual, physical contact with one, but I’m saying that something of the size of the Relays, even if much of it is a solid object, you maintain SOME sort of command structure within it in order to monitor and examine things. Even if the Reapers have some kind of robotic drones or Keeper analogues running around, doing standard maintenance, I cannot be convinced that there is not SOME areas of the actual Mass Relay that house facilities for organic life to work in. Especially considering the design having the light sources along the hull that we traditionally associate with acting as windows on starships and space stations.

So yeah, this is an adventure taking us into the workings of a Mass Relay proper. The general idea is that there’s a distress call from the Charon Relay, which is something that really worries the Alliance – lose the Charon Relay, humanity loses their connection to the galaxy at large. And the Alliance doesn’t want the Citadel to know about this, at least not right away – if something is impacting how the Relays function, the Council is going to demand getting involved, and the Alliance DEFINITELY doesn’t want to give the non-human races a free pass into humanity’s home system, so they’re calling on Shepard.

Also part of the novelty of this is that I kinda want to have the chance to explore what it’s like for those who are not exploring the stars in this setting – the Mass Relay’s crew is alive and intact and interactable. This isn’t one of the many cases of showing up too late to be able to properly save people (I’m looking mostly at ME2 on this count, even before we add in the above and below of my own creation).

Head of the team on the Relay is an engineer, not a soldier (pulling a name out of hat for them in the name of simplicity in this write up... Let’s go with Sarah Manning, just because my Orphan Black DVDs happen to be right next to me as I’m writing this and it offers as good as a placeholder as any – feel free to picture Tatiana Maslany as this character if you so choose, though, by the rules of this series, in an ideal world, this would have been DLC produced for ME1 in 2007, so this character would probably be at least a decade, probably more, older than she would have been at the time, oh no, I’ve gone cross-eyed...). She’s not just concerned about the Council finding out – not that she’s a Terra Firma type, just that she has Earth related pride and considers the Charon Relay humanity’s, and, on a personal level, HERS, given her responsibility for it – but also the lives on board. She wants to protect and preserve as many lives as she can.

The interior of the facility is a mix of reasonably sensical designs, in the areas meant for humanoid habitation, and something far more Eldritch abomination-y when we start moving out of those areas. And, you know, we pretty much HAVE to move out of them as time goes on, since that’s like half of the fun of this concept.

But we start in the more familiar areas, where everything seems normal. Except the people are missing (yes, I know I’m relying on this concept a lot, but it’s good as an in universe mystery and out of universe programming so that the game doesn’t have to account for like a dozen NPCs to fill space). In this instance, the distress signal itself indicates that the Relay’s station commander had ordered their people to a designated safe zone within the Relay’s structure, which is where Shepard will need to head to uncover things. Sarah’s staying in the control area, trying to ensure that nothing else goes wrong.

At some point in the midst of this, I do want the question of if the Relay will be/has to be destroyed to come up, better establish the idea that will come up in Arrival of the destruction of Relay in the game proper.

The exploration takes Shepard into the Eldritch-y areas, which, sadly, because I am a wordsmith and not a picture kind of person, I can really only describe as messing with perception and going all Escher in the design. Basically, the idea is to present the interior and heart of the Relays as being these massively complex and complicated machines that function on a level not really human (or, in the case of the non-human races in the game besides the Reapers, human adjacent). Because, first of all, this is faster than light travel, which means this is this is this franchise’s handwave for how anything happens on multiple planets and is dealt with in (in-universe) real time, and second, Sovereign talked about a level of existence beyond our own and such. This leans into that kind of concept – yeah, sure, we may have the Reapers be shown as effectively fundamentally understandable, but let’s at least justify the hype a little, huh?

The big idea here is that we’re kinda throwing back to the puzzle style of play that you used to see in computer games in like the nineties. That’s why perspective is going to be a part of this. Basically, the engineers on the Relay found something that tripped the security systems, sort of “unhinging” standard reality around them, getting them lost in the various extra layers (dimensions?) that the Relay works in.

I don’t really know if I see any kind of real boss or major decision here, because this is basically about the gimmick over anything else – Mass Effect isn’t a bad place for a gimmicky throwback, right? Maybe... Ah, something’s clicking here for me – the guy responsible for all of this happening in the first place. He was trying to access an archive – he initially thought it was prothean, but he’s been able to realize that this is much older. He wants to get this information, and is the last one we rescue. The issue is that it’s going to be a choice – rescue this guy and lose the archive, or save the archive and he dies. Like, I’m thinking that there’s some kind of rip or maybe a miniature black hole that’s sucking in the both of them and Shepard can only save one. That’s a solid Paragon/Renegade choice, especially since I could see arguments for both.

Anyway, once the crew’s all rescued and the choice made, Manning gets back to Shepard and says that this is about to get slapped with a security clearance so high she’d “probably have to kill [herself] just for remembering [she has] it” (because yes, I want that as an actual quote), and recommends that they get off the Relay before any superior officers show up to rake them over the coals for their involvement – Shepard’s a busy person, doesn’t need to get bogged down in the red tape that’s sure to come.

Post Game Followups:

ME2: Email from Manning regarding the Relay’s subsequent stability

ME3: Manning’s team as a war asset/the archive being tapped for Crucible data and information on the Reapers (mutually exclusive – the team will have disbanded after the loss of the one member if the archive was recovered)

Planet of Peace

An attempt at colonizing a planet, with the aid of all Council races, in an effort at fostering galactic peace, sounded great on paper. The diplomats jumped on the opportunity. The reality has been... less than stellar. Considering the first human Spectre a bridge between races, the Council asks Commander Shepard to try and help smooth over relations.

Frankly, while I understand the focus on the threat of the Reapers, honestly, this seems like a legitimate issue that would be an instant demand for the first human Spectre. And, given the tension and hostility between the races (even beyond humanity against everyone else), it seems like a natural fit, in all honesty. Because it does seem like all the canonical colony worlds always start as one species attempting to tame a single world, rather than taking advantage of the unifying effort of the galactic community.

At the forefront of this colony is the retired human ambassador to the Council, Ambassador Goyle (Anderson mentions her when talking about his candidacy for the Spectres and we see her in the first of Alec Ryder’s memories, now we get to make her a character we get to interact with). This was her passion project specifically, thinking that all races had something that they could offer one another and need to come together.

Basically, she’s underscoring what I like to think of as a core concept of the series, being stronger together than separately.

But, of course, there are tensions. I mean, not even just because we wouldn’t have a plot without it. She is concerned that there might be some extremists getting involved – aren’t there always? When things are tense, some idiot’s always going to come along, see the stacks of dynamite, and decide to light a match. She is specifically asking that Shepard come to help resolve some issues, using their symbolism. Her request is fully aware of this being an exercise in flag waving, but it’s an important bit of flag waving – doing this here can make the galactic community a more stable place.

Bringing back in the element of having the cast back for these, I want to include quite a bit of companion content in this one, including something like how Dragon Age 2’s Mark of the Assassin DLC had a short companion quest for everyone. On a planet that’s a melting pot of the various races that make up the Citadel species, there’s going to be something for everyone here somehow. I don’t know what specifically right now – these write ups focus on the main plot, not the sidequests. But these are things that are there.

As for what is happening on the planet, on the small scale, there’s your standard culture clash brushfires, things that seem small and petty, but have accumulated for the people involved because they’re in such close proximity. But there is a strong Terra Firma presence as well, the “Earth for humans!” type, in addition to similar groups among the traditional Citadel races – this is still only a handful of decades past humanity’s entry, and as we’ve discussed before, the arrival of humanity has made things much more chaotic than they were before, and there’s more than a little resentment among the non-human races for humanity’s attitude and approach to things coming across almost as if they’re demanding more, without anyone Citadel side acknowledging that First Contact was a shit show of THEIR making (scroll back up and see Investigations for more on that...)

But the larger scale conflict is a group out to make sure that this planet fails in its mission and goal, drive a wedge between factions. I’m thinking of going the Star Trek VI route on this, that this group is an ironic banding of humans and non-humans, determined to see peace fall apart at the cost of allying with their supposed enemies, and using “look at how easily they turned on their own to stop this!” as a justification for their own hypocrisy.

Going with the Star Trek VI reference, this group is gearing up for an assassination attempt on Ambassador Goyle herself, believing that stopping her will stop the advancement of this idea. Now, Commander Shepard HAS to save her, we’re not doing the question of “can they stop it in time?” but, for all those pro-humanity xenophobic “Cerberus was right all along!” types, the response of Shepard will be to either name the conspirators and why or utilize their designated fall guy.

BUT WAIT! That’s not the end of this one. See, we’re also going to get an aftermath – the results of this will impact how the population react, and there’s a second story mission that requires a plot progression to access.

Returning to this planet (I feel like it would get some ambitious name like “Hope” or something, but I think it’s kinda provincial for the planet to carry a human name, so...), things are even tenser than before. We get to actively see how the fallout is impacting things, with people drawing lines based on the earlier assassination attempt. This is a lot like how the turian weapons merchant on the Citadel in ME2 will respond differently based on how Shepard resolved ME1 – side with one faction in the first part, their supporters approve of you and their opposites are angry with you, and vice versa.

Goyle appreciates Shepard’s return, because she’s seeing the place beginning to collapse. She’s feeling ready to throw in the towel because of how poorly things are going. Still, until the place closes its doors, she’s going to stand up and act like the leader she’s here to be. Shepard saved her life, she’s going to commit it to preserving this colony. But she wants Shepard’s help all the same, because they can leverage that heroism to helping put things here right.

Of course, here’s where we get to the big finale choice – are you going to strengthen this colony or break it? And sure, it seems straightforward on the idea of what’s good and what’s bad, but here’s the thing that the overall narrative develops through investigation – the Alliance and the Citadel need to allocate their resources. Part of the reason that the sanctioned colonies tend to be dominated by one species or another is a matter of need – when you have a primarily human/asari population, you’ll have to import in resources for turians, things like that – even if they’re trying to grow them on their own, they probably need to import like soil for nutrients and such.

And that not only gets costly, that can divert resources that are more greatly in need. In the long term, this could tie up resources that are needed elsewhere. In the short term, if trying to make these disparate races and cultures work together and play nice is taking up this much time and effort, isn’t it possible, isn’t it plausible, that there are better things to be doing with those resources?

So, do we try and heal the divide and potentially tie up resources in what has been an uphill climb from the start, and right before the Reaper War begins (for all you forward thinkers reading this), or do we cut our losses and focus on making these types of cross-species initiatives at a later point in time? That’s the Paragon/Renegade choice here.

The resolution comes and Ambassador Goyle will be either thankful for the effort or resigned that her great initiative isn’t going forward. Regardless of Shepard’s actions, she’s thankful that they at least made an attempt – she isn’t going to see them as failing if they opted to cut the losses, but herself.

Post Game Followups:

ME2: Letter either from Ambassador Goyle, reporting on the colony, or a news service announcement of her having further withdrawn from the public eye after the colony’s failure.

ME3: For Paragon choice, there’s a decrease in dextro-food reserves, given the colony’s need, but an increase in interspecies morale, with efforts to incorporate multi-species crews underway, and vice versa for the Renegade

Daedalus Station

A space station on the fringe of Citadel space sends out a distress call. When the Normandy arrives, however, no one there claims responsibility for it. Yet the station is in a spiral, a path that will, slowly but steadily, lead the station directly into a sun. Commander Shepard attempts to save everyone aboard from the inevitable death, and discover why they seem unfazed at the idea.

Okay, let’s just acknowledge first, yes, I’m aware that the synopsis sounds not just like a rip off of the first mission of Leviathan but also “Incursion” above. I’m aware. Look, the synopsis is a short brief, not the full details, okay? Strictly speaking, it’s more in line with the events of Leviathan, certainly, but I want to at least acknowledge that I’m aware that there are similarities. Okay, they’re there, LET’S MOVE ON.

Anyway. Distress call, brings in the Normandy. Station is obviously in a death spiral. The moment that Shepard and company board the station, everyone is going about their routine. Obviously, something’s a touch screwy about this set up. Another investigation must ensue.

Of course, as we’ve established, details of the investigations are not where my expansions really shine – it’s easy to stretch out a discovery of this sort, with development A leading to clue B and making revelation C... Yadda, yadda. I’m about the what of these things, not the how.

The ultimate thing about this is twofold. Part one is that this is basically going to be an introduction to the concept of Indoctrination – someone discovered a Reaper artifact, and is trying to adapt it to their benefit. Because frankly, the idea that someone wouldn’t try and take Indoctrination for themselves... Yeah, let’s be real here. Someone WOULD.

Obviously, since we’re still in game one and the Reapers are still mostly a mystery at this point in time, there’s the question of what this is. But, hey, it’s still something that should have happened, and this is the time when there’s the most mystery and least immediate “oh shit, this will horribly backfire if we don’t just straight up blow this up now” reactions.

So, our villain. They’re gonna spiral into insanity (thematic mirroring – as the station enters the death spiral, they spiral into madness), so we’re not going to push too much on making them seem sympathetic, in the traditional sense. Honestly, in writing this, I’m kinda getting parallels to your average dangerous incel aspiring mass shooter, so we’re gonna go with that, someone who perceived themselves as more isolated and alone than they were – the investigation will have us find private journals from other crew pre-artifact that mention him, usually in the fashion of ‘he doesn’t talk much, but doesn’t seem that bad’ kind of messages. Meanwhile, his own talk about the others has a more downcast approach, that he knows they’re not interested in hearing about him, etc. etc.

You know, this is the kind of person who, upon getting the ability to manipulate minds is basically doing it in an effort to bolster his own self-esteem, turning people who were once a little sharp with him one time into his whipping boys, and making himself the king of this little hill.

The problem of his plan? The mental degradation. The last of those to fall under his sway sent out the automated distress beacon, and knew that there was a danger in this guy leaving – but they also couldn’t be sure that their efforts would be successful. It’s a case of the distress beacon being a double-edged sword – can their rescuers save them, stop this guy, or will they fall under his sway as well? But there’s no other solution. They set the collision course (and yes, I’m aware that this is happening on a space station, hey, the pilot episode of DS9 showed that the station could travel through maneuvering thrusters and such – the idea is that they wanted to find a way to destroy the station), and then destroyed the controls so it couldn’t be undone, and disabled the alerts so that the station wouldn’t alert anyone, setting it up to make it that the station’s sensors all seem to send the green light to the rest of the station – the false data would hopefully prevent the station crew from noticing.

Yes, of course I want there to be an apocalyptic log, why would I deny that BioWare staple?

Another thing that I want to do here is kinda retroactively at least make it a part of the universe that Shepard is resistant to the efforts of Reaper Indoctrination. The idea I’m going with is that some of the scrambling of Shepard’s brain (which, sidenote, I also want to take some time in this and call out the fact that it’s a PLOT POINT that Shepard’s brain gets messed with repeatedly throughout this game and no one thinks that might actually be a questionable matter – if a key point of this DLC is “dude, you’re messing with people’s minds, that’s rather unambiguously Not A Good Thing To Do,” then it’s an elephant in the room to not bring up that this is what’s happening with Shepard) has made them more resistant to these effects, though that probably means justifying this as having a watered down effect so that the companions are feeling the tug to fall under our villain’s thrall.

That’s basically where I picture the boss battle going, that Shepard has to fight against one of their companions, who has been compelled to be this guy’s defender against them. I’d say both companions, but that might be a little much, in particular on lower difficulties. So I’m going to say that Shepard can knock out one of their companions before they fall under the sway of the big bad’s influence, but the other escapes. I feel like there could be ways to offset the difficulties of this by way of like finding objects that counteract the signal or whatever, but the idea is Shepard versus companion. While it obviously has to end non-lethally, I feel like this is the kind of thing that is morbidly fascinating to see in just about everyone’s book. I’d also figure that it would depend on a handful of variables that make them resist more or less (because the game should reward investigation, right?)

When that’s completed (I figure it ends with Shepard destroying the controller artifact), it’s time to deal with the station about to be caught in the sun – the station’s going to be locked in a death spiral, but the people of the station can now evacuate. Which leaves the person responsible. On the Paragon side, Shepard is not judge, jury, and executioner, this guy should be given a fair trial. On the Renegade side, he’s a dick who took over people’s minds with no remorse on the matter. Whatever decision Shepard goes with, the station’s population will abide by – they probably want him dead anyway, right?

Aftermath does come into play, with a conversation with the companion Shepard fought against, because, especially if they’re a romance, that’s gotta mess with their heads. Also some general discussion of the artifact itself – obviously, while I expect a variation in the event this is played after Virmire, my idea of this is that it happens some time before it, so things like Wrex and Ashley/Kaidan’s deaths (or possible death) are variation options, this is basically something that I feel can influence matters – if Shepard and Wrex have already fought, for example, I feel like that would earn them enough influence come Virmire for Wrex to stand down there, it’s got parallels/foreshadowing... That kind of emotional work.

Also there’s some consideration about that artifact – once a technology exists, putting that genie back in the bottle is nigh impossible, so now it’s known that you can use this tech to control minds, someone’s sure to try and take advantage of this tech somewhere down the line – Shepard and company will discuss what kind of precautions can and should be taken about these kinds of developments in the future (hint hint, Cerberus/Illusive Man, hint hint).

Post Game Followups:

ME2: Letter from a station survivor, variation on the matter of how the responsible party was dealt with.

ME3: Efforts have been undertaken to block Indoctrination tech, based on the information that Shepard gathered on the station.

Fleet Crisis

With the concerns of Saren and the geth rising, Admirals Hackett and Anderson want to get a chance to upgrade the defenses at the heart of the Alliance. Arcturus Station, home to the Alliance government, is housing a defense meeting, and Commander Shepard is being recalled to speak at it. The Alliance may be facing another crisis, however...

(Two plot planets completed)

We have very little actual Alliance elements involved in the game, did you ever notice that? Like, there’s Admiral Anderson and Admiral Hackett, and we get the inspection tour thing from Admiral Mikhailovich, but other than that, we really are not given much about the Alliance proper. So the idea here for us to go to Arcturus Station and actually encounter the Alliance government proper. We only ever properly encounter the Citadel Council, not the government that technically, Shepard is under the authority of. The closest we ever come is the (rather useless) Defense Committee at the start of ME3.

So yeah, we’re going to the home of the Alliance proper, and seeing the Fifth Fleet – like my first time playing the game, I had no real concept of the Fifth Fleet until it shows up at the endgame. I kinda would like more foreshadowing, more textual acknowledgement of the fleet that is the reason why we end the game as we do. Like, we get to do a fleet flyby in the process, allowing us to see the size of the fleet and talk about what makes the human fleets different from those of the other races. Although the Citadel races do have their bullshit reasons for distrusting humanity, the fact that humanity has this massive force is a reasonable excuse for the behavior.

I also see this as a very different style DLC. As it is, we got one DLC that was basically a shooting gallery, so here, we’re in the opposite direction, where combat is taking almost a total backseat to dialogue – I mean you have a dialogue system like Mass Effect, where every line gets voiced, you would think that would imply that there’s a lot of faith in the writing, wouldn’t you think? And, the whole beauty of DLC in general usually is the fact that everything’s option – if you’re really all shooty-shooty bang-bang, you don’t HAVE to do this. But the whole series paints Shepard as this inspirational figure, and their oratory skills should be on full display as much as their ability to fire a gun.

I’m also kinda anti-“going to Alliance vessels and the in universe equivalent of the House/Senate halls/White House combined and freely shoot up the place,” just on principle.

Anyway, here we are, visiting the heart of Alliance space. We honestly really should have more of an idea of what humanity has accomplished in the universe. Arcturus Station, the home of Alliance government. This is a big deal for the crew, of course – it’s getting invited to speak at the Senate in Washington DC. For the various non-humans, it’s a big deal as well.

Now, of course, in the heart of Alliance government, the involvement of a bunch of non-humans is going to be considered questionable at best. I won’t go straight to “you can’t use any companions other that Ashley and Kaidan,” but there is going to be more of a sense of observation from the other Alliance officers and officials when the non-humans are in the party.

The first thing to note about this is that Shepard’s position as Spectre has made them a combination of being a political tool for humanity’s better advancement, but (as evidenced by Mikhailovich’s ranting) some are concerned that Shepard may be – intentionally or not – turned into a pure Council flunky and only doing the work that they approve, regardless of acting in humanity’s benefit.

That’s part of the reason Shepard’s even here – their position is getting humanity’s foot in the door with the Spectres, but this is creating a conflict in various corners, wondering about where their allegiance will be if pressed. Admiral Hackett is, of course, speaking in Shepard’s favor, but just because they have the approval of Hackett and Anderson, there’s still concern among the brass.

This is going to start out seeming very low-key – we’re in the heart of Alliance territory, who would be foolish enough to come along and mess with anyone or anything here, right? So a lot of initial tone-setting, discussion and debate – the first half is a debate sequence, with Paragon/Renegade points abound as Shepard discusses with the various Alliance officials what they’re doing as a Spectre. That culminates in Shepard’s oratory really getting to stretch as they approach the seat of governing for the Alliance, and all those earlier discussions start to add up to how their performance is among the bigwigs – if you talked up human dominance in the one-on-ones, then talk peaceful coexistence, for example, you get called on it.

After Shepard’s speech is over, that’s where we start to see the real fractures starting to take place. We’re not quite at ‘military coup’ levels (let’s leave SOME plot elements for the later games, huh?), but there’s clear dissatisfaction, that Shepard’s words have only fanned flames for – regardless of the way their speech went down, there are some among the fleet, admirals and other high ranking officers who were involved in the First Contact War and just don’t like how the Alliance is handling things.

It’s not a coup, but it is, in effect, breaking away from the Alliance to set up an independent nation, separate from both the Alliance and the Citadel. It’s still in its earliest stages, of course, but it’s easy to see how it might well turn hostile to both – it’s got several military figures from the Alliance leaving, meaning a vulnerable gap for the Alliance military, and it’s got lingering hostility for the Citadel races (turians in particular, but let’s also not forget that the asari, the famed diplomats of the Citadel, seem to have never picked up on the fact that the human resentment towards aliens comes from the fact that an alien government came along and tried to impose their rules on an unaligned species as humanity’s introduction to the greater galaxy – they are complicit here).

Shepard’s task becomes trying to prevent this offshoot from happening. These are orders being cut by President Shastri himself (let’s make this major Alliance figure a presence we actually feel in the series, huh?), with Hackett’s blessing – meaning if things devolve into a shoot out (which will be possible), Shepard will not be held liable for the deaths of several Alliance military figures, that the record will show that they were acting in the interests of the Alliance in response to an imminent threat of potential armed conflict, even a human civil war. No one wants it to come to that, but it’s also going to be one of the most likely outcomes in the minds of those involved – even if Shepard weren’t a Spectre, if someone of their rank and stature on the galactic stage gets involved, it’s because diplomacy isn’t working.

So there’s another segment of trying to sway the people involved. Shepard will have the choice of approached armed or unarmed (like I said, I dislike the idea of a shootout, but I feel like Shepard’s in a position both to be legally entitled to wear weapons in this situation AND uncomfortable going in without any weaponry), which will feed into the metric of how well their argument is received. Because it’s a mechanic so good, we’re using it twice! (Okay, really, it’s because “dialogue” is the gimmick of this idea, but shush.)

Anyway, the various ‘points’ accumulate to the ultimate confrontation with the heads of this group planning this splintering. Shepard’s arguments are going to be along the line of (to summarize) “you’ll only weaken the Alliance, that can’t be your goal,” “if you have problems, work within in the systems and listen to both sides of things,” “put this aside or else,” or “I support your efforts, but this isn’t the time.” Yes, I’m going with four paths for this, the dialogue wheel does offer that, and I want Paragon/Renegade options for each of these. Like you basically pick a path at the start and argue from that position. Depending on the “points” accumulated through dialogue (and probably a handful of sidequests) in the lead to this debate), it will come to either a peaceful resolution or Shepard pulling out their gun on a handful of high-ranking Alliance officers, ready and able to pull the trigger.

While shooting them isn’t an ideal solution, it can bring the others back into line. It’s just going to cause resentment within the Alliance itself – threat or no, these were respected figures among the Alliance. Meanwhile, folding them back in is an ideal solution, but it still means the resentment lingers, because Shepard’s only delayed the boiling over, not prevented it. There’s still tension in the Alliance because this was about issues that can’t be solved with a few words, especially when this was about the involvement and actions of the Citadel. Shepard might be a Spectre, but whether or not they’ve affirmed themselves as giving the Alliance its due, they’re now wrapped up in those politics.

The curveball in things is that last one, Shepard suggesting that they should wait on this issue. I think it’s a valid possibility among the various permutations of the decision point, to have Shepard support them, especially given that ME1’s Renegade Shepard could be a pro-human asshole, but, considering that this is DLC, and particularly DLC that, by my self-imposed rule, cannot change the base game’s story (because if I could do that, I might as well be rewriting all the games in this instead of just created additional content, and this is all hypothetical to begin with), we can’t introduce some new faction into the galaxy, especially an optional one. So the idea here is that Shepard is supporting it, but saying that they can’t make this A Thing right now.

There is an aftermath discussion with President Shastri as well, discussing implications for the future. I also figure that the companions should have a lot to offer in both the aftermath and the core interactions – again, I see Ashley and Kaidan as greatly recommended for this story, and the Alliance officers should have a lot to add, including conversations in the midst of the crisis.

Post Game Followups:

ME2: Email from Shastri as an update of the tension in the Alliance – it’s also something that should be impacted by the decision of the Council at the end of ME1

ME3: Tensions between Alliance and Council forces are impacted by the outcome – if they were swayed by persuasion to rejoin the Alliance, there’s actually a bump in assets, as well as the Alliance bigwigs being a tactical resource, while there’s a decrease in cooperation if the bad blood was fostered.

The Clean Up

The Battle of the Citadel is over, but even if the geth and Sovereign have been defeated, there is a lot left for Commander Shepard and the crew of the Normandy to do. Investigating the damage done to the Citadel leads to a possible lead on the Reapers. In the wake of the battle, Commander Shepard and company set out to chase it down...

(Post-Game)

So, as I said in the KOTOR editions, we’re adding a Post-Game to ME1 (since this is all hypothetical to begin with, so we’re going to make that alteration to the mechanics), pretty much solely because I want to do some development of the aftermath of the game, as well as do some retroactive set up for Mass Effect 2. Because I don’t think there was a lot of emotional wrap up to the characters at the time. I will grant that we’ve got an awkward period of time between the games here, but, hey, we’ve got enough wiggle room I think to lead in to the opening of ME2

Basically, we can start in what’s basically the immediate aftermath – Shepard’s now out of their recovery, is looking to get back in the game. But, with the Council either still reacting to the events of the Battle of the Citadel or still needing to be reassembled, there’s really not any particular indication of what to be doing. This is some mood setting, looking at the rebuilding effort, how the Citadel was impacted and seeing the response of people to the attack – some are still shaken, mourning their loved ones lost in the attack, hoping for the lost to be found safe, and all that sort. Others are angry about the attack, and the ultimate approach to it seems to basically be blaming everyone, and Shepard in particular since they’re there, for the failure to protect those on the Citadel – and yes, we absolutely get to call out this bullshit for what it is, because Shepard tried, but the Citadel itself is something of a complacency trap, and even if the politics weren’t a distraction, the fact that the Citadel itself remains aloof is an actual problem

Anderson speaks with Shepard, regarding the geth that are still out there in the Traverse, and the need to deal with them before they put more human colonies in danger. The bigwigs are already trying to downplay the Reapers – Anderson basically tells Shepard that they need to go out, find proof of something that ties back to the Reapers or the Council will likely turn around and make this all about the geth and call it over (uh, yeah, Shepard, about that...).

The lead involved is going to be heading out to the border of geth space, which is also the line of what used to be quarian territory. This is convenient for Tali, who wants to return to the flotilla now that Saren has been dealt with. There’s a trading outpost that will be out there that will give her the opportunity to get a ride back to the Migrant Fleet (because, despite a couple of references, I have never believed that Tali lingered too long on the Normandy – either she has to get her data on the geth back to them, or she has to discover an alternative). Because part of this is also going to be the “characters splitting apart” stuff as set up for ME2. Tali’s going to assist through this branch of the mission, but she will want to come back here before the Normandy returns to Citadel space proper.

The trading outpost is Omega-esque, something of “the poor man’s Omega,” again, setting that up for ME2 (we’re doing a lot of world-building patches here, okay?) The citizens here don’t care about the Alliance and they’re not all that concerned about Spectres, either. This is not a friendly place and will not just accept the appearance of anyone with the supposed authority that Shepard is representing.

This is kind of an introduction to ME2’s merc gangs – ME1 seems to play the systems of the Terminus to have their own government, species not represented among the Citadel races, and just this general atmosphere of the Terminus being more developed than it ends up being when we actually go there (which, yeah, that’s how writing and developing and world-building goes, but we’re here to smooth things over). I’m leaning towards not having the big three on Omega be all that represented here, considering that, lawless border or not, this is not really a place where they care enough to expand their influence. But they should at least be mentioned and referenced as the big dogs of the pack, that the gangs that jockey for power here want to take them on. Probably some poaching of members (through recruitment or snipers) from those gangs that make their numbers never get to where they might pose a threat.

Anyway. What needs to be done here is find out where Saren discovered Sovereign – that’s the idea we’re going with in trying to track down evidence of the Reapers. Sovereign had to be hiding out somewhere, you don’t just stumble across something like that. Considering this is one of the last places you’d expect to be able to find a Spectre, especially a Spectre who is one of the Council’s top operatives, it’s a decent enough starting point for us as the audience – we’ll say that there are records that Saren was out here shortly before the Eden Prime mission and such, explaining why we’re starting here.

Garrus is also going to have a realization about the merc gangs, about the horrible things they’re inflicting on the people who are living here, and being infuriated at the injustice allowed to happen – the effective attitude of the officials here are basically ‘look, unless the merc gangs come after us, we don’t care.’ This is going to dig under his skin (plates... you know what I mean), lead him to why he ultimately breaks with C-Sec, despite Shepard being able to lead him to a better understanding of the rules and regs – he understands the need for them, but sees them being used and abused to allows these injustices to continue, that it becomes a personal mission to see ‘justice’ and ‘law’ be synonymous.

As for the plot, yes, we’re getting there. This does, of course, lead to a shoot-out with a major gang force here, some people who are indoctrinated spies (because, hey, we’re looking for evidence of Reapers). They were left behind as part of Saren’s contingency plans, meant to stop anyone hunting for him – it’s just that the investigation that Shepard went on in the base game didn’t send them here. Even with Saren and Sovereign dead, they’re still here, still indoctrinated – a reminder that this is a permanent thing, a devastating thing, because there’s no way to take the Reaper compulsion away. But this leads to learning about a place that Saren ventured to from here, a place wracked with dangerous phenomenon. The only way to get there is with a crack pilot – which, fortunately, Normandy has.

There’s a brief pause from plot for some further expansion with the others – Wrex has been contemplating the krogan, given what went down on Virmire. His people are dying out, maybe not in the way we traditionally think of it, but still in practice. What is there for the krogan but to be used and abused by the Sarens of the universe, so long as all they care about is getting offworld and fighting and dying, usually being pit against one another as the proxies for stupid, pointless conflicts. It’s not right, and it’s beginning to eat at him.

And then there’s Ashley/Kaidan. Given the events of Virmire, both of them are thinking about the family that was left behind – Ashley’s sisters lost one of their central figures, Kaidan’s family lost their only son. They both are trying to write a letter of condolence to their counterpart’s loved ones (and specifically asking Shepard about the one they should be writing), trying to figure how they can make it better that they were saved at the other’s expense. It’s a complicated matter, and I want to just explore, even retroactively, how these two were friends, were close, potentially (if Shepard shuts down a romance with both of them) starting to come together. Just a bit that not only reestablishes the friendship and emphasizes that the fallen character is not forgotten, plus giving more context to how they’ll say that they and Shepard got through the other’s death together in ME3

This is a point for some romance content, which, I realize I have yet to bring up Liara’s character bit for this – don’t worry, it’s coming. But we do pause for some smoochies.

Anyway. The Normandy arrives in the hazardous area and we get a team meeting – remember how back in the first of these outlines, I brought up wanting to give more for Pressley? I haven’t directly mentioned him much since, but here’s a place to feature him, in the same way that the landing on Ilos does, showing him having a greater involvement in the strategy and such. Team Shepard needs to figure out if there even is a place to investigate within this area. There are sensor ghosts that might be something that they could land on and investigate, though it’s too small for a Mako mission (I may love that tank, but I feel like its final ride being the trip through the Ilos Relay is poetic and I’m not going to mess with that). Joker gets his moment of putting the Normandy through her paces (which is also going to add to the pain of her loss in ME2’s prologue, that she could pull this off, but couldn’t out-fly the Collector ship).

They detect something with a similar energy signature to the prothean beacons on an asteroid large enough to land on, which makes it reasonable for Liara to go with – take the prothean expert to a place that could hold more information on the protheans. She’s nervous because of the confirmation of the Reapers has just made things really real for her – this is facing the same thing that destroyed the protheans, and how can they stand against them, given the protheans’ advanced nature?

Let’s also take a moment and, given the indoctrinated nature of the mercs who attacked back on the outpost, to have some follow-up for Benezia’s death – I may only be speaking for myself, but it has NEVER sat right that Liara’s response to that is to simply go “I choose to remember Benezia as she was,” given that Shepard was, regardless of their reluctance, responsible for the actual bullet that ended her mother’s life. She’s struggling – could the mercs have been saved? Could her mother? Could what they find below offer a way to have saved them, and, if so, would Saren have had it, could he have freed her mother before her death? Did she have to die? Why did her mother have to die? Cue Shepard offering their support for her emotional struggle.

And yes, for Liaramancers, this is where they get their smoochies.

As for what they find... Geth. Plenty of (heretic – though Shepard doesn’t yet know this) geth. They are crawling all over the facility, it’s a firefight all the way to the central database, and, as our big final boss, we deal with a geth augmented with some of Sovereign’s tech, meant to be a Reaper upgrade for the geth. Obviously, this is not going to make it into the geth consensus (heretic or true), and this is effectively the only existing prototype.

The result of this is that they do find an archival interface, the same kind that allowed the communication with Sovereign on Virmire. Unfortunately, it can provide nothing – without Sovereign connected to it, it’s got minimal functionality – something might be recovered, with some time and effort. But the facility is about to move into the areas of this area of space that will fry any systems that get close to it – Sovereign probably had this place selected in the name of being a place where anyone who might stumble upon its hiding place would decide to move on because it’s suicide to remain in the area.

The only choice is to return to the Normandy, without any additional evidence. There are indications of geth vessels having moved out of the area and into other sectors, which could give them something to go on for further investigations. But, with this stage of the mission being a bust, Shepard is going to have the Normandy return to the earlier outpost in the name of allowing all ashore who are going ashore – Tali, Garrus, and Wrex, specifically, but also any other Normandy crew willing to stand down for the time being. Investigating this further is a strictly volunteer mission. This will, of course, lead us to ME2’s prologue...

Post Game Followups:

ME2: Mentions of Shepard’s activities on the outpost while on Omega, a letter from a scientist, passed on by Anderson, about further studies made on indoctrination being done on the sly, considering the lack of approval from the Council.

ME3: Further research has been done on indoctrination, now publicly, and makes for a scientific war asset, the remnants of the merc gang that were indoctrinated have reformed and reassembled as a roving band of resistance fighters against the Reapers.

Miscellaneous 

Bisexual Ashley, Bisexual Kaidan, proper close outs to other romances, romances require proper flirts to start, additional conversations for all characters

Look, no one in space is heterosexual, okay? I don’t make the rule, I just enforce it. Actually, considering the context of these, I DO make the rules, and “no one in space is heterosexual” is one of them, so deal with it. Kaidan is canonically bisexual as of ME3, so there’s no reason he shouldn’t be canonically bisexual in ME1. And we’ll throw Ashley in for good measure, because why not? And we definitely – DEFINITELY – need to do something about the romance mechanic that seems to assume “I would like to get to know you better” means “you, me, my cabin, the way to Ilos, yes/yes?” There needs to be explicit markers for closing out a romance WITHOUT locking you out of conversations with the character in question (particularly considering that now, all of this game’s romances can be options in a given playthrough). And yeah, I think there could stand to be a few extra conversations with the characters, that focus on the characters proper – for most of the crew, they basically end up acting as glorified Wikipedia entries on their species, or, in Kaidan’s case, the plight of human biotics. Let’s give them some more personalized material that lets them tell Shepard something about themselves (and offer Shepard something similar, as character development for the both of them).

#dg's hypothetical dlc #mass effect #mass effect meta

[sanderssidesfanfiction]

We’ll Carry On - Chapter Thirty One

We’ll Carry On Tag

General Content Warnings: Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Substance Abuse, Abandonment, Minor Character Death, Transphobia, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Dissociation, Bullying, Homophobia

February 1st, 2019

Patton wished, not for the first time, that he could just escape this house and never return. He loved his mom, honestly, he did. But Charles made loving her feel hard. Because she always sided with him and that meant he and Virgil were always the troublemakers, even when Charles provoked them.

Granny was calling their mom over and over, asking for help or something, and Mom didn’t want to help. Charles kept telling her to ignore Granny and she’d go away, but he knew Mom felt guilty about it. And as such, she was much quicker to get angry, to get upset, to point fingers.

Patton knew that Granny needed help, and he didn’t understand why Mom wouldn’t help her. After all, didn’t family help each other when they were in trouble?

July 14th, 2019

Patton was absolutely delighted that Dad’s parents, his grandma and granddad, were staying for the weekend. It had been ages since he had seen Granny, even though she wrote them when she could, it was hard with their mom pestering her for Patton and Virgil’s location. And to have two grandparents from one parent, well! That was really cool!

They talked a lot, mostly asking questions to him and his brothers to get to know them. But sometimes they’d talk beyond small stuff, and let Patton talk about Legos, or Virgil about the Goosebumps books that he loved. And when Logan talked about Jack and his other friends, he’d get this spark in his eye that made him look truly alive. Even Dee got to talk about snakes. The only one who didn’t speak much was Roman. He sat in a corner of the living room, looking like he would rather be anywhere else. “What about you, Roman?” Granddad asked. “Is there anything you really like?”

Roman ducked his head. “I like fairy tales, and theatre,” he muttered.

Logan’s head snapped up from his phone. “Wait, you’re going into eighth grade! You’re going to my high school after this school year!”

Roman looked confused. “Yes?” he said, phrasing it like a question.

“Our after-school drama club is unbelievable!” Logan said. “I’ve worked tech on stuff when the sound booth has issues, and watching those kids act? It’s amazing. You should try out for the fall play, you’d love it!”

Roman looked vaguely interested, but uncertain. “You sure? I probably wouldn’t get that good a part...even if I do well in the middle school play this year...”

“No, that’s the best part of this whole thing!” Logan exclaimed. “There’s two sets of actors! The actual people, and then their understudies. And if nothing happens to the main actors, the understudies still get to have a part, because the school rotates who plays what show on what days! So you might not get to do the Friday night show, but you could always do the Saturday matineé!”

Roman’s lips twitched into a smile. “That sounds nice,” he admitted.

“It’s super fun,” Logan said. “All my friends try to get me to perform, though I prefer helping the techs. Too much attention on me makes me stressed.”

“I can understand that,” Roman said.

“Most people don’t,” Logan replied, “So I thank you for trying to empathize.”

Patton shot his hand up and asked, “Do you know what play they’re doing?”

“Not yet,” Logan said. “Usually they don’t announce that until the beginning of the school year.”

“Oh,” Patton deflated a little. “I was hoping that I could figure out what the play was so I could help somehow.”

“Well, we could always make our own play,” Logan said with a shrug.

Patton blinked, trying to make sense of that sentence. “We can?”

Logan nodded. “I know how to write screenplays, it can be done.”

Patton grinned. That sounded amazing! “Can we do it today?”

“I don’t see why not, provided Grandma and Granddad are okay with it,” Logan said, looking to their grandparents.

“I have one condition for you five working on a play,” Grandma said with a smile. “I want you to work on it here, so your grandfather and I can see your creativity at work.”

“I have another condition,” Granddad said. “I want to see the play when it’s done, even if it’s just a silly videotape that your dad sends us.”

Patton jumped up and down and looked to Logan hopefully. “Can we work on it now?”

Logan looked a little exasperated but chuckled all the same. “Sure,” he said. “I’ll grab the laptop.”

The laptop was a recent gift from Dad and Ami to Roman and Logan, informing them that they could only afford one laptop at the moment, but if the boys shared well enough there could be a second one in the near future. If Patton was lucky, and Logan and Roman had finished whatever work they were doing, he’d sometimes get to play games with Virgil on it.

Logan left the room quickly and Patton bounced where he stood. Writing a play would be so cool! He couldn’t wait to see what happened!

When Logan returned everyone started talking. “We need a concept for the plot,” Logan said.

“We need to figure out who everyone will be in the characters!” Roman said.

“I think we should figure out a setting first,” Virgil volunteered.

Patton watched as the three of them talked over each other, until Dee jumped on the table and waved his hands like crazy. Everyone turned to look at him and he signed, “One thing at a time.”

“Dee’s right,” Patton said. “What should we start with?”

Logan, Roman, and Virgil each said what they were saying before, at the exact same time. Patton frowned and looked at Dee. He had no idea how to solve the problem of everyone wanting their way to be the right way. Suddenly, it struck him. “Why not figure out a theme?” Patton asked. “If we can figure out a theme, then we can figure out the other three things faster!”

The three stared at him, until Logan laughed and tweaked his glasses. “You’re pretty smart, Patton. Okay. What should our theme be?”

“I vote family!” Roman exclaimed. “We could make a play about our stories!”

“Or we could do something where a family fights dragons or aliens!” Virgil said.

“Why not both?” Patton asked. “Brothers who were separated because they’d be too powerful together, and they find out about each other and save the world!”

“That sounds so cool!” Virgil exclaimed.

Dee clapped his hands and grinned.

Roman clapped Patton’s back. “That’s not a half-bad idea, kid!”

Logan thought about it, and nodded. “Okay, I can work with that.”

They all sat down on the floor and suggested ideas, which Logan would dutifully write down on the computer. Patton noticed their grandparents whispering to each other, but they were smiling, so he didn’t think too much of it.

It had to have been hours that they worked, deciding to go with Patton’s idea and then starting to write a story. Roman came up with the biggest ideas, which Virgil would point out might be a bit too complex for them to pull off, and Logan would scale them down to manageable size. Dee would occasionally add his two cents to what they were doing, but was mostly happy if he could play an antihero, to use Logan’s words.

When they finally stopped, it was because Dad and Ami came into the room asking where everyone was, because they had called that dinner was ready and none of them had heard it. Roman promptly answered, “We were fighting aliens in the play we’re writing,” and left it at that, as if that explained everything.

“Right...” Dad said, glancing at Ami. “Regardless, dinner is ready. We should eat it before it gets cold.”

They all went into the dining room and slowly started eating. “So, can we get context for this play?” Dad asked.

“We were talking to our grandsons about what they liked to do, and Roman brought up the fact that he enjoyed theatre. Logan said that he liked the theatre group at their high school, and when Patton asked if he knew what the play would be this upcoming year, Logan said no, but they could make their own,” Grandma summarized. “And these boys are amazing, Emile! They were all so creative, figuring out what to write and how to scale it down to something they could do with five actors! You never told us that they were so smart!”

Patton blushed a little and all his brothers were also in varying stages of embarrassment. “It’s not such a big deal,” Roman protested weakly. “I create crazy stories all the time.”

“And I’m usually the one who drags him back down to Earth,” Logan said.

“I was just trying to be realistic with what we could do,” Virgil said.

Patton shrugged. “I think it’s kinda a big deal, if only because usually the five of us don’t all work together like that.”

“But the fact that you don’t see it as a big deal means that you are talented,” Granddad said. “I would go so far as to say extremely gifted.”

“No way,” Roman said, scratching the back of his neck, as Logan tried to not choke on the water he was drinking. Virgil looked like he had just swallowed a frog.

“The boys still aren’t used to high praise,” Ami said, looking extremely amused. “No matter how many times we compliment them, they try to play it off. I don’t think you’re gonna be successful in getting them to accept your words, Dad. Much as you try.”

“Think I’ll have better luck?” Grandma asked.

“No,” Patton said. “I don’t think the others will be convinced that what they’re doing is a big deal, at least not for a long time.”

“But you disagree?” Grandma asked.

Patton shrugged. “I don’t think it’s as big a deal as you’re making it, but it’s not nothing, either.”

Grandma grinned. “You’re the mediator of the group, aren’t you?”

“Sometimes,” Patton said. “Usually I just say something ridiculous enough to get Logan and Roman to stop arguing, but sometimes I actually add my opinions.”

Everyone continued to playfully argue about whether or not the play was a big deal, long after dinner. When Dee started yawning, Dad took him upstairs to get ready for bed. When he came back downstairs, Granddad haltingly signed, “Can I hug you?”

Dee looked surprised briefly before he nodded.

Granddad smiled and hugged Dee gently, and Grandma kissed his forehead when Granddad retreated to the couch. Dee walked up the stairs to his room, looking dazed and shell-shocked.

Patton glanced at Virgil, who was reading a Goosebumps book. “Do you think they’re gonna do that to everyone?” he asked.

“Everyone who accepts it,” Virgil said. “They’re leaving early tomorrow morning, so they’re saying goodbye now.”

“Oh,” Patton said. “You know, Granny would hug us goodnight, but Mom didn’t do that for a while before we ran away.”

“I know,” Virgil said. “I was there too. It’s nice to have people who care, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Patton said softly. “It’s weird, but it’s nice.”

Virgil looked over at Patton from his book, and Patton was surprised to see the amused smirk on Virgil’s face. Virgil almost never was this expressive with Mom, and it still shocked him to see Virgil come out of his shell. “You say that a lot. Things are always weird but nice to you.”

Patton shrugged. “Maybe one day it’ll stop feeling weird, but today’s not that day.”

Virgil shook his head and sighed. “Yeah, I get that feeling a lot, too.”

They shared a smile before Virgil went back to reading and Patton continued to listen to Dad and Ami talking to Grandma and Granddad about everything that had happened over the past few months.

Patton stretched and yawned, and hopped off the couch, gathering the attention of all the adults. “I’m gonna get ready for bed,” he announced. “I’m kinda tired.”

“Can I get a hug before you go upstairs?” Granddad asked.

Patton nodded and walked over, hugging Granddad tight. He smelled like wood shavings, and Patton wondered if he did any woodworking in his spare time.

When Granddad let him go, Grandma kissed him on the forehead too, and Patton giggled. “I like you both a lot,” he said.

“We’re honored to hear that, Patton,” Grandma said. “Go ahead and get ready for bed, we’ll see you soon.”

Patton smiled and nodded, and headed upstairs. He was grinning the second he was out of sight. Grandma and Granddad were super nice, and he hoped that he’d get to see them again soon. When he was around them, he felt truly loved, which meant he could add two more people to the list of people he had as good people in his head. He couldn’t wait until that list was too long to remember.

#we'll carry on #sanders sides fanfiction #patton sanders #logan sanders #roman sanders #our creations #danger gays