12/1/25 - Username on AO3 changed from Serstolas to NecromanticSoul
Tracking current WIP on this Google doc
My Tag List -if you want to be added or removed just comment/like or DM me.
My "canon" DA characters
Melinoe Tabris
Marian Hawke
Zubin Adaar
Athos Ingellvar
Crossroads Island AU Rooks (Crossroads Island Master post from hedwigoprah)
Athos (Bio, Aesthetic, Inspiration)
Tempest (Bio, Aesthetic)
Other Dragon Age OCs Doc
SWTOR
Dash'iell, Cipher 9 - Imp agent
Mieczyslawa - Smuggler
Darth Jasnak x Theron Shan - Sith Inquisitor
Kandakke x Torian Cadera - Bounty Hunterl
The Astor Legacy
Ina’mel’astor (Amelas) - Knight Ina’gintar’astor (Agintaras) - Smuggler
Ina’spiro’astor (Aspiroas) - Counsular
Ina’zill’astor (Azillas) - Imp agent
comission of the 4 Chiss siblings together by @kogarashi-art
Other SWTOR OCs Doc
World Of Warcraft Mains
Astaryal Embersoul - BE Warlock
Aldora - Haranir Druid
Gizella Veilsong - VE Demon Hunter
Thank you for the tags @jenn2d2 @sorcerousadventurer @kogarashi-art @woundedsoul12 and @sandcastlekings
A little ImpAgent/Theron Shan soulmate au
Theron lay with his head on Cipher's chest, absently tracing some of the imperial former spy's many scars. He lingered over the perfectly circular scar in the middle of the nautolan's abdomen.
"It's alright, Theron, I'm here," Cipher told him, his fingers curling in Theron's hair.
"There's so many times you might now have though, over the past several months," Theron replied, looking up at his lover. "The thought of losing you..:
"Shhh," Cipher tugged the former Republic spy up to kiss him. "You didn't, though. I didn't survive carbonite freezing and poisoning, getting stabbed with a lightsaber, and dethroning Arcann just to die now. He didn't kill me, and Vaylin won't either."
Theron sighed and let himself sink into the kiss. As he did, his hands moved, falling onto the narrow burn scar on Cipher's hip. "I...care for you, Cipher. Even if I found my soulmate now, I'd choose you."
Cipher stilled. His hand stilled on the name written in Aurebesh on Theron's hip. "Theron, there's something I need to tell you."
Tagging for fun if you want to play
@rinskiroo @mushrooms-x-moss @juniper-and-dragonthorn @viagosbrother @vorchagirl @blackwall-my-tiny-husband @davrinsleftpectoral @jukkaricity and @weaveandwood
Share your favorite romance scenes that you have written. Kisses, dramatic confessions, tragic partings, tearful reunions - whatever you like.
I often sneak in some degree of schmoopy stuff, but I will say that this scene from the 9th chapter of Crow Parties are Murder is one of my favorites.
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━━━━━⊱ | ⊰━━━━━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
Neve stood facing [Illario] across the icy graveyard, shaky and unsteady, but triumphant with a smear of blood across her cheek. She gave him a crooked smile as their eyes met and Illario could feel his heart skip a beat. She looked like a goddess of retribution itself had taken form to grace him with her favor. As he stared, a sharp whistle went up around the roof, echoing out down to the streets and courtyard below. Cheers went up from the crowd gathered to celebrate, heralding the sight of dozens of Crows descending on the Chantry from all sides.
Illario paid it no mind. All he could do was smile at Neve in return.
Feet moving before thought, he stepped through the ice without hesitation, keeping his eyes on her. A stray Venatori stumbled into view, fleeing a thrown blade, and he cut them down without breaking his stride. Throat cut, body twisted, pushed out and away from his path as he accelerated. Another cultist pitched backwards off of the roof behind Neve as one of Illario's throwing knives embedded in their throat as he reached where she stood.
"You put the stars themselves to shame, Detective," Illario circled his arm around her waist and pressed her close. He could feel her lean on him for support as he reached up to hold her face with his other hand. Neve gave the slightest shake as she wound her arms up over his shoulders and around his neck, but she steadied in his embrace as they pressed closer.
"Oh? Cold and distant?" Neve chuckled, but there was something around the edges of that laugh that felt like it was sharp enough to cut.
"Imposible," Illario brushed his thumb along her cheek, warm even through the leather of his glove. He gave her a gentle smile as he tilted his face to look down into her eyes. "You burn far too brightly for them to compete, even if I could pluck them from the sky to compare."
Neve gave him a curious look, and then suddenly rose up and pulled Illario down into a kiss with a rush of heat. He pulled her into a closer embrace as the kiss deepened, threading his hand up into her hair gently and pressing her as closely as he could. Around them, the noise of the city rose in a crescendo as the clock tower, long silent, began to toll midnight out over a free Treviso.
Share your favorite romance scenes that you have written. Kisses, dramatic confessions, tragic partings, tearful reunions - whatever you like.
I often sneak in some degree of schmoopy stuff, but I will say that this scene from the 9th chapter of Crow Parties are Murder is one of my favorites.
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━━━━━⊱ | ⊰━━━━━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
Neve stood facing [Illario] across the icy graveyard, shaky and unsteady, but triumphant with a smear of blood across her cheek. She gave him a crooked smile as their eyes met and Illario could feel his heart skip a beat. She looked like a goddess of retribution itself had taken form to grace him with her favor. As he stared, a sharp whistle went up around the roof, echoing out down to the streets and courtyard below. Cheers went up from the crowd gathered to celebrate, heralding the sight of dozens of Crows descending on the Chantry from all sides.
Illario paid it no mind. All he could do was smile at Neve in return.
Feet moving before thought, he stepped through the ice without hesitation, keeping his eyes on her. A stray Venatori stumbled into view, fleeing a thrown blade, and he cut them down without breaking his stride. Throat cut, body twisted, pushed out and away from his path as he accelerated. Another cultist pitched backwards off of the roof behind Neve as one of Illario's throwing knives embedded in their throat as he reached where she stood.
"You put the stars themselves to shame, Detective," Illario circled his arm around her waist and pressed her close. He could feel her lean on him for support as he reached up to hold her face with his other hand. Neve gave the slightest shake as she wound her arms up over his shoulders and around his neck, but she steadied in his embrace as they pressed closer.
"Oh? Cold and distant?" Neve chuckled, but there was something around the edges of that laugh that felt like it was sharp enough to cut.
"Imposible," Illario brushed his thumb along her cheek, warm even through the leather of his glove. He gave her a gentle smile as he tilted his face to look down into her eyes. "You burn far too brightly for them to compete, even if I could pluck them from the sky to compare."
Neve gave him a curious look, and then suddenly rose up and pulled Illario down into a kiss with a rush of heat. He pulled her into a closer embrace as the kiss deepened, threading his hand up into her hair gently and pressing her as closely as he could. Around them, the noise of the city rose in a crescendo as the clock tower, long silent, began to toll midnight out over a free Treviso.
Thank you so much to @sorcerousadventurer, @woundedsoul12, @sandcastlekings, and @chaosherald for the tags!
Above is Teia/Queen of Crows, in progress to complement the one I did for Viago/King of Crows earlier. This one is mid-process, so there are still a lot of things that will change for decorations, and I def. need to improve her ear and nose, as well as expand her hair, because it should be glorious.
I'm partway through work for a scene from Crow Parties are Murder - this was going to be the kiss while getting redressed, but with that background, I may need to do the rooftop one instead which means they both need far fancier dress.
And finally, a very early stages Mafia AU Gladius (the real, and sadly deceased version.)
Thanks for the tags, @woundedsoul12, @necromanticsoul, and @chaosherald! I loved both of your explanations.
Well, inspired by ChaosHerald's breakdown of last year's Rook Week, I thought it would be fun to do similar for one of my fandom-weeks-turned-cohesive-story. And while The Neromenian Job is right there, I actually want to go to last year's Sonally Week offering (hopefully last August is recent enough).
So apologies to my Dragon Age mutuals, but I'm going to ramble a bit about Sonic stuff.
Let's start with last year's prompt list for the week. The overarching theme was "Endless Possibility," and the prompt list was intended to evoke different alternate universes. The prompts themselves were:
Classic
Fantasy
Noir
Horror
Superheroes
Pirates
Sci-Fi
Coffee Shop
I could have just written a short piece for different AU ideas. Easily. But, as I was looking at these, I started thinking it would be fun to make a connective story, one that starts basically in media res, a mishap already happened.
And I've always been a fan of world-hopping stories. Sliders. Magic: the Gathering. The parts of Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madnes that don't mishandle Wanda or hand the idiot ball off to the smartest man in the world. Heck, Fluppy Dogs probably started it. Give me a situation where people end up in a world other than their own, and in the process of trying to get back home end up in other worlds too. Or just have the means to traverse through several. Not just an isekai (though those are good too), but honest-to-goodness multi-world travel.
So that's what I did.
Presenting:
A Hop, Skip, and a Portal
(More below the cut, because the story is 14k and I'm yapping about all eight parts but I'm also going to try not to be TOO wordy.)
1: Classic
"Bad news."
Sonic looked up from rubbing at his aching calves as Sally pushed back through the underbrush, her eyes fixated on Nicole. The soft glow of the small screen outlined her fur in the dark, the unhappy twist of her lips and the furrow in her brow.
“Like, out-of-chili-dogs bad or stuck-in-the-roboticizer bad?”
Sally glanced up at him, but the furrow only deepened. “Like we-aren’t-even-on-the-same-continent-anymore bad.”
Rotor’s prototype device spat and fizzled on the grass beside Sonic as if to punctuate the statement.
Starting right off with the inciting incident having already happened. We know there's a problem, there's some sort of prototype, and they "aren't even on the same continent anymore." We also learn a few other things:
for those not in the know already, Sonic can run across water (he says he doesn't fancy running across an ocean today)
the prototype overheated and singed Sonic's leg, where it was strapped for use
related to the previous, like a certain time-traveling DeLorean, the device requires Sonic-level speeds to activate
This section also introduces a delaying tactic in that the prototype needs to recharge before it can be used again. This is, as expected, simply an authorial excuse to have them explore a bit before they can leave, because what's the fun in world-hopping stories if they don't check out the new places a little bit, and maybe run into some trouble they have to survive and/or deal with before they can go?
Because of course it would be a factory. Sonic couldn’t get away from factories even when testing out travel prototypes for Rotor. And not just any factory either, but a hostile one filled with traps and twisted architecture and random spikes and hostile robots, because of course robots, and the grinning face logo—complete with absurd mustache—plastered everywhere left no room for doubt who could be behind it.
Though, Sonic had to admit, the bug-and-seafood theme was new.
And for some reason, small animals popped out of them when he cracked them open.
So, default setting for the Sonic/Sally pairing is the Saturday morning cartoon ("SatAM" in the fandom), and by extension the Archie Sonic comics that spawned from the same source as the show. This is the first inkling that it isn't that setting. Sonic's and Sally's Robotnik turns people into robots, rather than putting small animals inside themed robots.
But Robotnik/Eggman in the classic games? Puts animals inside his badniks (which are often bug- or sea-creature-themed).
The smoke and sparks cleared and the little birds and rabbits all hopped away, leaving Sonic standing amid the metal and plastic debris, rubbing a finger under his nose and smirking. “Wasted.” He turned to face the Mobians he’d rescued, a grin on his face. “Happy to help, guys. Just tell ‘em Son—”
“You again?”
Sonic blinked at the Mobian squirrel who’d shouted. “What d’you mean ‘again’?”
Sonic busts up some badniks to save a few Mobians (animal-people like him and Sally, a term from the aforementioned comics), only for one squirrel to recognize him.
And this is where I got a bit self-indulgent on the story, because I wrote a novelization of the first Sonic game, and this is a direct reference to that. This squirrel is that story's Sally's older brother, and has already had an encounter with that story's Sonic.
“Bad news” was the understatement of the century.
The last section reflects the first by calling back to the "bad news" that the story starts with. Sonic and Sally realize—after seeing a Robotnik that is decidedly not the one they know, as well as seeing this world's version of Sonic and Sally—that the prototype device took them to a new dimension, rather than a new continent. It sets up that they have to blindly use the device again, and hope that it can get them home.
2: Fantasy
“Well.” Sally stared out at the verdant, rolling hills that surrounded her and Sonic, at the copses of trees that broke up the horizon line and crowded around massive outcroppings of monolithic stone, at the rustic cottages interspersed among neatly-tended fields.
At, briefly, the deep furrow Sonic had plowed into the soil with his face as they’d crashed through the portal, thanks to twisting to keep Sally from taking the brunt of the fall.
And, most importantly, at the tall, imposing castle that crowned one particularly high hill in the far distance. Old architecture. Very old. The kind of old Mobotropolis hadn’t seen in at least a century.
“Unless the device can also travel in time,” she said with a sigh, “it’s not just one door.”
Sonic grumbled something from where he still lay face-planted in the dirt, raising one hand in a weak but honest thumbs-up.
I still like this opening section for the image of how Sonic landed.
This also introduces the fact that each chapter of the fic switches POV character. The first prompt was from Sonic's POV. This is Sally's, and the third prompt will switch back to Sonic, and so on to the end of the week.
Another thing this section presents is the complication that, while Nicole (Sally's pocket computer) can collect data on their jumps and calculate a target, she needs a wired connection to input the coordinates.
And they've landed in a world with no tech.
“This doesn’t look ‘all quiet-like’!” Sally shouted over the rush of wind in her ears and Sonic’s loud, whooping laughter, as they bolted through the shady paths and gullies of a lush forest. Sparkles of light from bioluminescent plant-life streaked past them, flowers bending and branches rattling in the wake of Sonic’s headlong sprint.
“Well I wasn’t exactly expecting Sir Glowy back there to start chasing us, y’know!” he shouted back, turning to run backward long enough to blow a raspberry at the knight pursuing them.
The knight—a white hedgehog in archaic-looking armor who could apparently fly via some kind of magic—flung a hand in their direction. A glowing bolt of cyan light burst against a nearby tree trunk, leaving an arrowhead-shaped blade buried halfway into the wood. “Release the Lady Guinevere at once, foul knave, and return to answer for thy trespass!” the knight shouted, and gestured again.
(This section is slightly edited.)
Three things here. First, for context, they went looking for food, and Sonic promised he "can do all quiet-like" and not draw attention to himself.
Second, the character here should be recognizable to most Sonic fans as Silver the Hedgehog, who has psychokinetic powers.
But third, the setting would hopefully be recognizable as that of Sonic and the Black Knight, one of the storybook games, which is based off of Arthurian legend. (Which makes Silver actually Sir Galahad, but that's beside the point.)
Because yes, if a setting already exists for something like it in the Sonic franchise, I'm probably going to lean that way first.
Galahad here mistakes Sally for Guinevere (not actually in the games, but I'd have her played by Sally if she was), and later in the section accuses Sonic of "impersonating His Majesty the king" (because in the game Sonic is identified as their "King Arthur").
Also, thank you for various sources that have gotten me pretty used to Early Modern English (because if there's one thing that really bugs me in fiction, it's getting that grammar wrong).
3: Noir
“It’s just a shirt, Sonic.”
“With a noose at the top!”
Sonic does not wear clothes, canonically (beyond gloves and shoes). I can't imagine he'd particularly enjoy being made to wear a shirt.
“Now now, doll, I thought we told ya to lay low for a while,” the figure growled, voice gravelly.
Sally shrank into the seat cushions. “Sorry, do I—”
“Not so loud now. Don’t want to be heard, ya know.” The figure slid onto the seat beside Sally. “Never know who’s watching.” He tipped his hat up, and the light fell across a long, scaly snout and a sly, toothy grin. An alligator. Or maybe a crocodile. Sonic could never tell. “And maybe tell yer muscle to cool it with the prickles.”
Sonic could feel his quills poke through his borrowed clothing. They probably left holes behind. Served the shirt right for being so confining.
The crocodile (alligator?) winked. “Unless yer looking for a dustup or something, bub.”
So, full disclosure: I've never really read or watched noir stuff before, let alone tried to write it. I had a vague idea of vibes, and found a couple slang dictionaries online for noir stories, and winged it.
Also, our character cameos for this prompt were the Chaotix Detective Agency, because they totally fit a noir setting (this crocodile is Vector, the head of the agency), and later, the games' Modern Eggman with his robot lackeys Orbot and Cubot and his AI "daughter" Sage.
The crocodile just stared at her for a long moment, one eye squinted as he really examined her features. Finally, he huffed. “Yer not Miss Acorn, are ya? She didn’t tell me she was twins.”
I'm inclined to believe, based on a few things in the games, that Vector is actually at least halfway decent at being a detective. So he gets to realize that our Sally is not the Sally that hired him. And then (because he doesn't know about world-hopping), he assumes she's her sister instead.
4: Horror
Okay, I may not be that familiar with noir, but horror? Now we're talking. Especially when my husband (who also loves certain kinds of horror) helps me brainstorm.
Sally cut off the hapless hedgehog before he could give away their hiding place, hand clapped over his mouth, and ignored her double giving her the stink-eye from his other side. The creatures that hunted them were still out there, and she didn’t know how good their senses were. Could they see them through walls? Hear their heartbeats? Smell the tang of fear on their fur?
Nothing like starting off another prompt in media res, only now we're smack dab in the middle of a dangerous situation, and Sally is stuck without Sonic, but with her and Sonic's doubles, revealed a couple paragraphs later as the "Harkers." Which should give an idea of what kind of horror (and what kind of "creatures") this story is.
The noise had drawn the attention of things that had looked Mobian at first, until the claws and wings and teeth came out, and in their mad run through the mansion to try to find safe harbor, Sonic and Sally had been separated.
And then a shadow dropped down from above, and crashed through the glass with an ear-splitting shriek. Sally caught a glimpse of white fangs and the monstrous flash of fire in its glassy eyes, moonlight on clawed fists and wild red quills. Echidna. She didn’t wait for it to pounce.
She’d found Sonic.
Well, actually, the creatures that lived in the chateau had found him first.
The fireplace had been lit, and the deceptively warm glow outlined Sonic where he lay on the dining table. He struggled against the grip of one of the creatures, a black hedgehog with red stripes and a large pair of bony, ragged wings, who pinned him down by his wrists, face frozen in a blank, uncaring expression. It didn’t even look up at Sally and the Harkers, fixated on keeping Sonic in place for....
Well, for the one Sally assumed was the ringleader. A white bat, fur neatly curled and pressed into shape, blood red gown hugging her curves. She smiled at Sally, fangs glinting in the firelight.
A few samples. I managed to go this whole section without ever once using the word "vampire."
Also, our guest characters for this section: Knuckles the Echidna, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Rouge the Bat.
Once I'd settled on "vampire horror," I couldn't not use Rouge, and go for "let's gender-flip all the roles." So Rouge is our Dracula, Shadow and Knuckles are two of her "vampire husbands," and while the Harkers are still sporting the names Jonathan for Sonic and Mina for Sally, she gets to be Jonathan and Van Helsing rolled into one while Jonathan/Sonic gets to be the one our Dracula is seeking to claim.
“I don’t think you get a say in this,” the bat said, gently tilted Sonic’s face up to expose his neck, and sank her fangs in deep.
Sonic’s yelp of pain died quickly, sinking into something softer, weaker, more vulnerable. A soft moan that clutched at Sally’s heart. His legs kicked feebly against the table, sneakered heels thumping on the wood, but it was like the creature’s bite drew more than just blood from him. It sapped his will to fight.
Okay, let's hurt the characters I love, just a little bit. As a treat.
Don't worry, they escape, but Sonic's been weakened.
5: Superheroes
But no, his first outing after two and a half days of enforced bed rest by Sally, and he already had people once again trying to punch his face in or trap him and do Chaos-knew-what-but-it-probably-wasn’t-good to him. Oh, probably not bite his neck and drain his blood this time, but still. The pink one could hit like a truck—he’d been hit by enough trucks in his life to know the feeling—and the green one had all sorts of gadgets on him that looked just as nasty as half the things Robotnik had thrown at him, and probably stung twice as much.
And for some reason they thought he was their brother.
Sonic's had some time to rest, but isn't fully recovered from a vampire bite yet.
Also, our guest characters this time around are a pair of hedgehogs I love in concept, even though I've never watched their show: Sonia and Manic, from Sonic Underground, Sonic's triplet siblings (but only in that universe; he's an only child in most other settings).
And I decided to make them villains.
He slid down a slanted glass roof on another building and zipped around a giant bronze planet labeled “The Globe” before skidding between a pair of light-up billboards advertising some kind of shaving product and a movie starring little pudding things with eyes.
The mention of "The Globe" here might give a hint as to what I'm drawing on for this story.
Meanwhile, the "movie starring little pudding things with eyes" is a reference to the Chao in Space series of in-universe movies that get movie posters in some of the games.
A red-headed squirrel ran up, and it said something about how much he’d been adjusting to this world-hopping that he didn’t even do a double-take at the sight of this world’s Sally Acorn, even if her tail was a lot longer and she was wearing more clothing—again with the clothing!—than usual. He did do a double-take at her camera-toting companion, though, but managed not to sputter out a surprised “Tails!” at the sight of the two-tailed fox.
Not my Tails, not my Tails.
And if the "Globe" wasn't a hint enough, this section and the following paragraphs should be clue enough: this is a Superman reference. Tails gets to be Jimmy Olsen, while Sally is Lois Lane, though sporting her own name (and a longer tail) because in the Fleetway comics, Sally Acorn was a news reporter (and a squirrel rather than a chipmunk).
And yes, the alternate Sonic is Clark Kent:
“That was pretty cool,” a new voice said beside him, and Sonic nearly jumped out of his quills. He turned to see who had managed to sneak up on him and—
Oh. His double. But...brown?
And fidgeting with some kind of techy wrist cuff. Sonic eyed it, then glanced back up into his double’s boring black eyes. “Neat trick.”
“Not like there are a lot of blue hedgehogs in this city.” His double also wore a white button shirt and slacks, and glasses, even though Sonic had gathered that the dress code in this dimension was clothing-optional, at least for Mobians.
Going by the name "Nick" as a reference to the manga, where Sonic is the superpowered alter-ego of a brown hedgehog kid named "Nicky," and brown because of the versions of Sonic's origin story that have him brown before an accident turns him blue and gives him superspeed. I'm just full of references in this section.
6: Pirates
“My apologies, Sally. My cal-cal-calculations were off.”
Sally sighed and shielded her eyes from the sun, and stared out at the crisp, sparkling horizon line that surrounded them.
Literally surrounded them.
“It’s fine,” she reassured Nicole. “We’ll figure this out. Just...take it easy for a bit.”
Nicole beeped in response, and Sally clipped the computer back to her boot and stared out again at the emptiness as though a solution would materialize.
The ocean just stared back.
Sonic groaned from behind her, leaning against the lone palm tree on the small jut of land that one might charitably call an “island,” if they could ignore that it was barely ten paces across. And sported another of Sonic’s impact craters in the side of the very short cliff, where Sonic had crashed after the portal had opened up and spat them out onto open ocean. He’d been lucky enough to be running fast enough to maintain purchase against the water’s surface tension, but that hadn’t helped Sally when Sonic had needed to make a choice between crashing with her in his arms or tossing her into the water to spare her potential contusions and broken bones.
Her fur and vest would dry out. Nicole, on the other hand, while mostly shielded against water damage, had been dunked longer than ideal, and her sputtering audio had Sally worried that saltwater had gotten in somewhere it shouldn’t. And if there was an electronics shop in all this endless blue, Sally would eat her boots. Which meant no opportunity for repairs in this dimension.
Nicole had coordinates by the end of prompt five, but there are eight prompts to the week. So. Miscalculated a jump, that ended up with them on a tiny island in the middle of an ocean.
I couldn't not have Sonic crash-land again. It's too fun having him faceplant his landings (which is also fairly canon).
And then the small craft pulled up alongside the ship again, and Sally caught sight of the rest of the crew. A large purple cat. A pink hedgehog. A duplicate of Tails who looked a little older than the one she knew.
A white bat and a red echidna.
And her without wooden stakes.
“Well, well, well,” the echidna drawled, showing off a hint of gold fang—normal animal fangs, thankfully, not monster fangs—tilting his black captain’s hat down over one eye so that his leer became more menacing. “If it don’t be our wayward crewman and his lady siren. With legs now!”
They're rescued by pirates, and here's where I get to make it clear just what setting we're using for "Pirates," because the Sonic Prime show had a pirate setting. And, because I'd already used Knuckles and Rouge in the horror section, I got to call back to that by having Sally recognize the pirate captain and one of his crew.
I also got to have Knuckles the Dread hint at what this world's version of Sonic and Sally are, because they don't make an appearance in this story.
“Fine. Maybe a stint in the drink will loosen yer tongue.” Dread gestured impatiently, and the purple cat pushed Sonic off of the plank. Sally flinched when Sonic’s surprised yelp was cut off by a loud splash.
Dread turned toward the rest of the crew. “Sails, give that lubber time enough to rethink his choices, then drag him out afore he drowns.”
The Tails duplicate saluted, and flew over to the railing to keep an eye out...then looked uncertainly back at Dread. “Uh, Cap’n?”
“...Aye?”
“You want me to keep him from drowning, aye?”
“Aye.”
A sassy voice Sally knew all too well floated up from below the plank. “Then maybe you should make sure your prisoners can’t swim!”
Fun fact: there are, I believe, exactly two Sonic media where Sonic can swim. SatAM is one of them. Sonic Prime is not. I do enjoy playing with that when I can.
7: Sci-Fi
Sonic shrugged. “Too clean to be one of Buttnik’s factories. And there’s”—he tapped his toe against the floor for emphasis—“a hum under the floor. Engine?”
“Some kind of ship then.”
As one of my commenters asked, "How do you do 'sci-fi' in a setting that's already sci-fi?" You take an episode from Sonic X, that's how. This is from the third season, which got a bit more sci-fi than the first two seasons. Specifically episode 3x21, when Shadow raids Team Sonic's spaceship to take out one of their teammates because of plot reasons.
But it was Tails, or whatever this dimension’s Tails called himself, shielding a small green girl with flower buds in her hair in the doorway of one of the rooms. Sure, maybe a little taller, a little older-looking and -sounding, but the two tails were still there.
This Tails is actually two years younger than the SatAM Tails, but he's portrayed as a lot smarter, an inventor (he built the spaceship they're on) and kid genius, while SatAM Tails didn't get to be that because that characterization hadn't been added to the games when SatAM was made.
“Shadow’s trying to hurt Cosmo.” Tails started pulling them along again. “We need to get her somewhere safe, and figure out how to get him back off of the Blue Typhoon.”
“The Blue—”
“My ship? You remember, right?” Tails lurched to an abrupt stop and squinted at both of them. “Wait, you’re not—huh. Dimensional travel?”
“Er, yes.” Sally sounded just as off-kilter.
“Well. I won’t say no to another Sonic’s help.” Tails started forward again.
“Just like that, huh?”
“Eh, wouldn’t be the first time we had a dimensional mishap.”
(slightly edited)
Like I said, Shadow attacking one of Team Sonic's teammates.
Also, I decided that this Tails would roll with the idea of dimensional travel (Nick from "Superheroes" probably would too, actually) because he's smart, and also because the first two seasons of the show hinged around all of Team Sonic, Eggman, and a few other people ending up in a dimensional accident that transported them to Earth from their world. So it's, like, Tuesday for them.
The black-and-red hedgehog glared at him. “Out of my way, Sonic.”
“Well, at least you know my name this time.” He waggled a finger at the hedgehog—Tails had called the guy “Shadow,” right?—and tutted. “No biting, okay?”
Something—or someone—else had slowed Shadow down, and it didn’t take long to find out who as he came to another junction in the corridors and found Shadow dodging rapid-fire blows from a red Mobian that also had Sonic briefly flinching and biting down a yelp at the memory of being hunted. An echidna. Though this time he seemed to be on their side instead of a monster, so Sonic could allow himself a little bit of relief. Maybe. Once he convinced his overactive panic drive to stop firing.
And then a white bat dropped down from a vent in the ceiling between them, and Sonic did yelp and stumble and just barely twist in a dodge around her without touching her at all. She looked startled at his reaction as he speed-hopped on one foot to keep from falling over, held up both hands in a warding gesture, and yelled, “No! Bad! Definitely no biting!” before sprinting after Shadow again.
Fun with callbacks, because Shadow, Knuckles, and Rouge are all in this setting (and this episode) too, and this time, we're in Sonic's POV.
He thumbed at the communicator as he struggled back to his feet. “Sal, we got a problem.”
“How much of a problem are we talking?” She sounded like she was talking around something held between her teeth.
“Shadow has Rotor’s device.” He took off through the exit Shadow had taken.
“You need to get the device back,” Sally said, urgent and not a little scared-sounding. “Because if it finishes recharging while he still has it....”
“You’ve only got minutes by Nicole’s calculation,” Sally’s voice crackled over the comms. “Something Shadow’s doing is charging it faster.”
Extra drama for this chapter: unlike most people who might steal the device, Shadow is actually fast enough to activate it if it recharges, and because he gives off Chaos Energy naturally (or so I headcanon, when he's using his various abilities), it's actually charging the device up faster than normal. So if Sonic doesn't get the device away in time, Shadow will end up dimension-hopping and Sonic and Sally will be stranded.
Because who doesn't love a good "stranded" element in a dimension-hopping story?
8: Coffee Shop
“I should probably let Tails do more.”
Sonic looked up from where he sprawled across the surprisingly comfortable upholstered bench. “Mm-hmm?”
Sally poked at the components she had scattered across the table in front of her, carefully selecting wires and chips to clip together and occasionally pausing to take sips from the paper cup beside her. Fine, loopy script read “Sally” in black marker on the side. The drink was bitter but not entirely unpleasant, especially with the cream and sugar the barista had suggested, and she found it soothing in a way she couldn’t really describe.
I love a prompt list that just hands me a good wind-down at the end. Here, we have Sally musing about letting their Tails do more (because Game Tails got to do more as time went on, and presumably SatAM Tails has that potential). Also describing coffee for a character who comes from a world that may or may not have it, but she's never drunk it (because they've spent ten-plus years fighting a worldwide takeover by Robotnik).
The bell over the door chimed. Sally glanced up to see a blue hedgehog trot into the café, and couldn’t hide her smile. Because of course it wouldn’t take long for this world’s Sonic to show up. This one seemed younger. Had blue arms, which was a little strange, and his eyes were set a bit differently in his face, but the cheerful attitude was unmistakable as he waved at the barista and hopped up onto a stool at the counter.
“Yo, Stone!”
The barista sighed. “Sonic.”
“Sonic, your order,” the barista called.
“Right! See you around!” Sonic dashed up to the counter to grab his food, and then back out the door, leaving a trail of blue light and a hollered, “Bye Stone! Bye Robotnik!” in his wake.
“Yeah,” Sonic grumbled, “Not getting used to that one.”
Okay, but what if I decided that the coffee shop setting was the Mean Bean Coffee Café from the Sonic movies, but in an alternate universe where Stone and Robotnik just...run the coffee shop instead of megalomaniacal villain schemes?
And oof, that's everything. Whole lotta words, in a fandom most of my mutuals don't follow, so I fully understand if no one wants to scroll through this (but I still had fun talking about some of the inspirations).
Tag list, though it's not Tuesday anymore, but you can still Tell Me if you want (or wait until next Tuesday):
A clothing item they would wear: Tricorn hat with feathers. Mestra learned her love of big fancy hats from Isabela
A texture in their signature color: turquoise feathers (Mestra wears a version of the Invitation armor in LoF colors)
An animal that suits their personality: panther. Make no mistake, she will hunt, patiently, and track her prey for days if need be. She's not just a run of the mill treasure hunter. She's also a shapeshifter and a panther is her favorite form.
An environment that captures their story: The coast of Rivain. This is where she found freedom and adventure. From exploring ruins and seaside caves to hunting on the beach, it suits her perfectly.
An object in their bag: a flask bearing the image of a snake she stole from the Tevinter ship Isabela rescued her from
An interest of theirs: puppet shows. Some of her few good childhood memories are of puppet shows that were put on for children on holidays
An abstraction that captures their vibe: bright colors, shiny bits, texture of embroidery. Mestra is anything but shy and quiet
A food or beverage they enjoy: blood oranges. If she was lucky as a child she might be able to steal one from the kitchen of the estate she worked, or if the one of the kitchen staff snuck part of a fruit to her
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thank you @woundedsoul12 and @chaosherald for the tags!
Take a recently published work and break it down for me scene by scene
So technically this fic is from March but its suits my mood right now. Is It Really Victory If... is a Blighted Ashur/Grey Warden Rook soulmate au fic that takes place after Fire and Ice.
Right after they get back to the Lighthouse after killing the dragons, Neve mentions they should let the remaining Shadows know.
When they reached the Lighthouse isle, Rook stopped short of going through the Eluvian, staring at it for a long minute. When Neve realized Rook hadn’t followed her through, she stepped back out, frowning slightly at the Warden. “What is it?”
“Someone should tell the Shadows about the dragons,” Rook murmured softly. “Wasn’t sure if it was something you’d want to tell them in person or send a missive. “It’s probably better coming from you since..” She gestured in the general direction of the island containing the Minrathous and Treviso Eluvians.
Neve frowned, then said slowly, “I’d have to leave a message at a dead drop, but you can track Ashur. It may be better if you go.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Rook admitted wearily. She reached out to grip Neve’s shoulder. “Do me a favor and try and get some actual sleep after you’ve gotten all the blight and mud off. You can’t help us or the Shadows if you collapse from exhaustion.”
This scene represents the difficulties Rook may face when dealing with the surviving Shadows after saving Treviso. She thinks any news may come better from Neve than her, but on the other hand, Rook and Ashur are soulmates and Rook can use the bond to track him down in Minrathous, which may be faster. It's a sense of "which will get the task done the fastest" so while Rook might not want to go to Minrathous right after killing the dragons, she will because it needs to be done.
“You stay up at all hours because you drink too much coffee, and Emmrich could probably make you something to help you sleep,” Rook pointed out. “I can’t sleep because all I see are darkspawn and archdemons when I try.”
“Emmrich could help you as well as he could help me,” Neve argued half heartedly.
Rook winced, “Not really. His potions haven’t been helping lately. It got worse after Weisshaupt.”
“Shit.” Neve stared at her. “Is Davrin having the same issues?”
Rook smiled crookedly, “ So eloquent.”
Rook gave a slight shake of her head, “He’s having trouble sleeping, yes, but Emmrich’s potions are still helping him.” She paused then said in a very low tone, “Davrin’s likely years from his Calling still. I am not.”
Neve winced this time. “I didn’t know.”
2. This part goes into the difficulties I think an older Warden Rook or a Rook whose been a Warden for a long time might face. In this case, Rook's been a Warden for well over a decade, and while without a Blight she'd have another decade or to, a Blight involving two Archdemons and the elven gods is a lot worse than an ordinary blight. The sound of the blight song is very loud in Rook's head. Neve and Rook are friends, so Neve is upset at hearing this news.
He opened his red rimmed eyes beneath his hat when he heard the sound of someone landing beside him. He didn't need to look at her to know who it was.
"The dragon's dead," she reported in a weary tone. It was something she should be celebrating, something that she knew had brought a renewed hope to the Wardens and some of their allies. Her own thoughts aligned with Neve, though, that the dragons had been pawns, and Minrathous's vengeance wouldn't be had until the gods were dead.
She only prayed to the Maker that Ashur would still be alive then.
"One less threat to the city then," he murmured.
"But not enough," she replied. Selene reached out with one hand to take his own. "You don't have to hide it from me, Ashur, I'd feel it through the bond anyway."
He felt her fingers touch his and started to yank his hand away, but she her grip held fast.
"You can't Blight me, Ashur. Once you've been Blighted, you can't be Blighted again," she told him.
3. They're in Minrathous and Rook's tracked a Blighted Ashur down. Ashur's using magic to hold off the Blight as much as he can, but there's only so much he can do, and he's in a lot of pain as a result. He's afraid of possibly infecting his friends so he's avoided direct contact with anyone since he was blighted. But Rook can not only feel his pain, but she's one of the few people who can touch him because she's already a Warden. It's a tiny bit of comfort in an otherwise bad situation.
He gave a shaky breath. "If I were a sane man, I'd tell you no, but I missed you too much, love you too much, to push you away, even if I am dying."
She shifted so that she was facing him, fingers pushing his chin up so she could see his red rimmed eyes. "I'm sorry, Ashur."
"I know, Amata, I know," he replied.
She gave a wet laugh as she carefully pulled down one side of his mask. She took in his gaunt appearance and blacked veins for just a moment before she leaned in and kissed him.
"Just promise you'll remember me, when I'm gone," he whispered softly against her lips. "Remember me. Not the Viper, not the Divine. Just me."
"Oh darling," her smile was bittersweet, "We both know there's no way that I'm going to come out of all of this alive."
He sighed and pressed his forehead against her own, resignation heavy in the air around them, and then Ashur kissed his soulmate again.
4. Ashur is dying slowly from the Blight, and while Rook can and will kiss him despite the effects of the Blight, they both know he's on borrowed time. Ashur knows he's going to die, but he wants Rook to survive. But with the song of the Blight ringing so loudly in her head and the danger she faces in the hunt for the gods, Rook honestly doesn't believe she's going to survive. So they comfort each other, but they both know its bittersweet. They don't expect a happy ending.
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Yes people it's back. If you have never played before, take a recently published work and break it down for me scene by scene
My offering this week is Another Day, Another Dollar which I wrote in honor of Nurse/Hospital/EMS week and features Lenaquin and my medical AU
"How can I help you?" She put on her best customer service voice when she answered, forcing a smile as Mr. Hill in bed 8 ranted on about when he would be discharged.
Look we start out with Lena being the charge nurse in a very busy ER. And if you have ever worked Healthcare you know you are part lifesaver, part IT, part customer service rep, part problem solver, part everything. I definitely am a completely different person when I answer that call light
With every passing day she found herself more and more done with this shit. Short staffing, no raises, and a hospital that was rationing supplies like the apocalypse was coming. Budgeting they called it. Bullshit she said.
This was not what she got into nursing for, but sadly this was reality in the post Covid world.
And yet Tarquin got mad when she joked about quitting nursing for stripping.
1. This year they literally made it a NATIONAL safety goal to address staffing issues. I left the hospital because post covid hospitals continue to push nurses to unsafe ratios. All for profit, they claim. But only worrying about profit kills people.
Also I have never known a nurse who didn't joking about quitting nursing for stripping
"Mae. Quin. Lorelei. I need you to wrap whatever you are doing up and get to the nurses station. Now. I need bed 8 out of here and cleaned. Possible STEMI coming in. And if anyone sees Dr. Pavus, grab him."
She swore she was going to attach a damn bell to the man, though he would probably like that too much and make it a fashion statement.
I remember the days of hurriedly cleaning a room to throw a new patient in. And trying to find the damn doc who NEVER carries a walkie
Lena was in the hall when the middle aged male rolled through the doors on the cot looking way too grey, and she knew already it was a real one as she half listened to the report. 41 year old male, smoker, overweight- the usual suspects though she swore they kept getting younger and younger.
She removed ems stickers from the man's chest and slapped new ones on as Quin did the same from the other side. Working in tandem together was too easy, something learned from years side by side as they threaded EKG wires she knew by color alone. She wasn't the kind of charge nurse to sit idle and not get her hands dirty, especially when the nursey feeling in her gut was getting louder by the second.
"Mae, what's the ETA on Dr. de Fer?" she asked over walkie between clipping leads on. If they didn't move soon, they were going to be calling Code Blue instead of Code STEMI overhead
My gut may hang over my pants but it woke. Sometimes the nursey gut tells you 'oh this is bad' before the diagnostics confirm. And yes I feel like the population of ill people is getting younger and younger. And yes I can thread EKG wires through color alone. I don't need to look at times, I can almost do a 12 lead by feel. Especially when time is critical
21 minutes, door to balloon time 21 minutes. The hospital would rave about that she was sure, take all their credit as they posted it to the Minrathous General Facebook page. They would interview Dr. de Fer, the patient, hell maybe even the EMS crew. Not that anyone would remember the ER, they never did.
Another day, another dollar, another life saved. Or something like that.
That's a hell of a balloon time. And yes everyone always forgets the ER. I especially love the book end style ending. We come full back to the beginning 'Another day, another dollar, another life saved'
My brain is back on a Warden Hawke siblings as Rooks kick...Garrett and Bethany who are far from being inexperienced Wardens and the reason the First Warden hates them so much is they're far more effective as Wardens than he is.
Bethany doesn't dislike being a Warden so much when she's got her brother at her back, and Garrett's mellowed a little being around his sister all the time. They flat out refuse to take separate assignments.
They started using new aliases sometime after the Inquisition disabanded since the name Hawke was so infamous and they got sick of the questions and stares. They just want to do their jobs and help people and kill darkspawn.
The dwarven scout that Neve had introduced to him as Lace Harding was watching Lucanis like she was ready to shoot him if he twitched the wrong way. Bellara and Neve were discussing the dangerous of demon possession and what danger he might pose to the team. The three women were behaving exactly like Lucanis had expected: wary and on edge.
He had absolutely no idea what to make of the Thorne siblings, however.
The Warden siblings sat at one end of the table, both of them looking completely calm and almost nonchalant about the fact that there was a possessed man in their midst. The younger of the two, Sunshine Thorne, had her head buried in some book she said she'd pulled out of the library, while the older, Rook Thorne, was casually stitching up a tear in one of his shirts.
Bellara glanced over at the brother and sister, her brow furrowed as she realized they hadn't contributed anything to the conversation about Lucanis's possession. "Rook, Sunshine, what do you think?" the Dalish elf asked.
"Hmm?" Rook glanced up from his mending and shrugged. "It's not like we can separate the two of them, not without killing Lucanis, which really rather not do after we went to all the trouble of rescuing him."
I like him! Spite declared as the demon manifested beside the Warden. He's fun!
"Yes, but shouldn't we take precautions?" Lace asked seriously. "Sunshine?"
Sunshine gave an annoyed sniff and closed her book. "Lace, the best that we can do is keep an eye on him. Lucanis isn't the first possessed person that Rook and I have worked with." Her expression turned thoughtful. "Though he is the first possessed person we've worked with who isn't a mage."
"At least in your case, Lucanis, it isn't by choice," Rook snorted.
I want to talk to Rook! Spite demanded of Lucanis.
No, Lucanis replied silently to the demon. You need to leave him alone.
I WANT TO TALK TO ROOK! Spite snarled, jerking Lucanis's head and causing his nose to start to bleed.
Lace, Bellara, and Neve all looked alarmed, half getting up out of their seats.
Rook and Sunshine exchanged a look and Rook sighed, pulling a handkerchief out of a pocket and carrying it over to Lucanis. "Here. I assume Spite is acting up because he isn't getting his way?"
Lucanis looked at Rook in mild astonishment. "Yes. How did you know?"
The Warden smiled crookedly. "Like Sunshine say, you aren't the first possessed person we've worked with before."
These challenges are available to complete at any time.
They can be as long or as short as you see fit.
the word for 6/1
Agelast [ˈædʒəˌlæst] — noun. Meaning: a person who never laughs or finds it difficult to laugh; a humorless individual, someone seemingly immune to joy or amusement.
Rook never smiled. Rook as an agelast, Neve told him.
Lace had confirmed this statement. She'd known Rook the longest, longer, Lucanis suspected, than the year and a half ago when Varric Tethras recruited Rook to aid him on his hunt for the Dread Wolf.
Rook was tight lipped on her past, speaking only occasionally of past assignments she'd had as a Warden and never of anything prior to her becoming a Warden. She was a grim faced giant of a woman, taller by some inches than Emmrich, broad shouldered with a build that spoke of stamina and strength. She could loom when she wanted to, and most people would back down immediately.
More than once Lucanis had seen people underestimate her, assume she was just brainless muscle because of her size, only for her to show them how dearly that assumption cost them.
She was a good friend, always checking in with their allies and asking her friends if they needed anything. He'd seen Rook physically bodycheck a Venatori into the bay that had ambushed two of the few surviving Shadows that she, Neve, and Lucanis had been assisting in Minrathous.
He'd seen a slight frown on her lips in the aftermath as she checked the Shadows over for injuries. He'd seen the steadying hand Rook put on Neve's shoulder after the first confrontation with Aelia.
He'd also seen, before that, Rook's eyes darken like a stormy sea at the frustration Neve had thrown at Rook when the detective had first returned from Minrathous after the blighted dragon attacks. But Rook hadn't snapped back, not then, and not later when Neve had snapped at her when Rook asked how things were. Rook had met Rook's icy demeanor with that calm half frown and simply let Neve vent her frusrations.
She'd done the same for all of them when they'd hit a wall in their personal business. A steady hand and a quiet ear, and occasionally a comforting word when warrented.
Lucanis had also seen her furious, at the Aelia, at Zara, at others they'd faced. Rook could be absolutely terrifying when she was angry, the kind of force that anyone with good sense would step back from.
Neve took Rook's nature in stride, befriending, and if Lucanis wasn't mistaken, slowly falling in love with the grim woman, as much as he was himself. She was just there, a force of nature that they both knew they could rely on no matter what they faced.
But she never smiled. In all the months he'd fought with her, watched her, she'd never once smiled or laughed.
Which was why, on the night they confronted Illario when Lucanis's cousin attempted to declare himself First Talon, the sound of Rook's mocking laughter at Illario's declaration took not just Lucanis and Neve, but everyone in the room, by surprise.
"For me, it is a deep, personal loss… and so, I take the mantle of First Talon with a heavy heart. But the Crows can rise from the ashes. With our new allies, the Venatori, we can reclaim Antiva!" Illario projected his smooth voice throughout the opera house.
Rook laughed. The sound was edged and mocking. That laugh reverberated off the ceiling and walls of the opera house, catching everyone off guard.
The smile Rook wore now could only be described as vindictive.
"You really think the Venatori will serve you, Illario Dellamorte? You are a bigger fool than I thought." She smiled wider, expression vicious. "The Venatori will draw you in with promises of power, promises of glory, and then they will take you and rip you apart while you beg for mercy."
Even as Illario snapped, declaring that he was First Talon now, and Lucanis snapped back, "Over my dead body," and he and Spite resisted Illario's pathetic attempt as blood magic, Rook's mocking laughter continued.
When Lucanis pinned his cousin to the ground with a blade, Rook stepped up behind Illario's head, grinning contemptuously down at him. Her expression only turned more contemplative when Lucanis looked up at her and asked what he was supposed to do with his idiot cousin.
"Make him earn his redemption," Rook told him. "He would have seen Treviso covered in Blight under the Venatori, even if he did not realize it. Give him to the Wardens."
Lucanis watched some of the Crows move with a wariness that had not been there before after her laughter. She took personal charge in seeing Illario to the Warden, one clasped around the mans upper arm like a band of iron. Lucanis saw not just wariness, but something that looked a little too close to fear in Illario's eyes when Rook escorted him from the opera house.
When Rook returned to the Lighthouse hours later to report that Illario had survived the joining and would be reporting to Evka and Antoine now, her expression was back to the normal half frown they'd all become accustom to.
As Rook flipped a seat backwards and sat on it, legs straddling the back, and watched Lucanis and Neve drink coffee, Neve asked, "Rook, what in void was that?"
The Warden cocked a brow at the frost mage. "What was what, beloved?"
The endearment, one she'd used often for Neve recently, fell easily from her lips, tone calm, affectionate as she said it.
"What was that...laughter?" Lucanis put in, giving her a perplexed look. "We have never seen you smile or laugh, but tonight..."
"We don't know what to make of it," Neve finished.
"Darling," Rook's chosen term of endearment for Lucanis came just as easily as her one for Neve, "are you actually worried about me?" Rook looked surprised.
"Worried, Rook, we have never seen you act like that, of course we are worried!" Lucanis told her, Spite flashing in his eyes a moment.
"I am amused at what a complete and utter idiot your cousin is," Rook informed him. She glanced back and forth between the two of them. Her expression shifted then, an uncertain but affectionate smile for them, and only them. "I don't think I've ever had anyone care this much about me, you know?" She shook her head lightly, "But, to explain, you both know I have vendetta against the Venatori, though I do not know if the two of you realize just how personal that vendetta is."
She sighed, expression haunted, "I was at Adamant Fortress. Eleven years ago, when Warden Commander Clairel listened to the whispers of the Venatori and led the Wardens in the south to absolute disaster. I'd have died that day had it not been for the mercy of the Inquisitor. I'd only just joined the Wardens a few months before, and we were all hearing what we thought was the Calling. I followed Clairel down a doomed path, and I and my fellow Wardens paid dearly for it."
Neve winced briefly and glanced at Lucanis as the two of them realized how much Rook had been hiding under her grim exterior.
"So you felt contempt, and not pity, for Illario?" Lucanis asked carefully.
"After what he did to you that night Zara died? After knowing he willingly slept with that filth and that he pursued an alliance with teh Venatori even after he found out they broke their word and tortured you instead? Contempt is not a strong enough word for what I felt, Lucanis. He had a lesson to learn, the same lesson I will gladly teach anyone who sees what the Venatori, anyone who sees their lies, and still decides to play fool with them."
She turned her head to Neve, "And I'll do the same to anyone who thinks to betray you against Aelia. That is a promise, Neve."
She stood then, tilting her head, "That's enough heart to heart for tonight, I think. My dearests, please do not stay up too late. We've much to do tomorrow."
Then the giant of a Warden left the dining hall, leaving Neve and Lucanis staring after her.
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