lena-in-a-red-dress

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Just got back from seeing Moana 2, and what did I learn from the credits??

The songs are from Barlow and Bear.

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Do you like when people leave comments on your writing?

Um, yes?!? Enthusiastically yes.

I dunno if you guys understand-- I'm checking tumblr on mobile multiple times a day, hoping for new notes. And comments/tags are the cream of the crop over likes. As a person in general I absolutely thrive on praise, and I am no different as a writer.

So long as it's nice tho. I don't post here for criticism, I go to other sources for that. But ideas, feelings, support, love, and all the rest? GIMME ALL OF IT.

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I just realized I typed Red Kara instead of Red Daughter. Wish I could blame a fatfinger or autocorrect but no. I'm just an idiot.

what if your doppelgänger wasn’t evil it was just a person. what if your doppelgänger wasn’t trying to replace you it was just trying to learn to be a person and you were the best model it had. what if your doppelgänger looked at you with your eyes and said with your voice that it just wanted to be loved. what then.

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This is what Red Kara should have been. This is how she should have stayed.

what if your doppelgänger wasn’t evil it was just a person. what if your doppelgänger wasn’t trying to replace you it was just trying to learn to be a person and you were the best model it had. what if your doppelgänger looked at you with your eyes and said with your voice that it just wanted to be loved. what then.

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Born to Die (Supercorp half bake)

Lena's family must offer a maiden to sacrfice to protect the realm. Lena is raised for the slaughter, but the community and religion indoctrinates her to believe death is a friend, that it is a privilege for her to serve her community in such a way. She lives her life in service to others-- helping the ill and wounded, feeding the homeless, toys to schools, etc. The realm loves and reveres her.

The first time she doubts her life's purpose is three weeks before her 18th birthday, and the date of her welcome death. She and her brother are arguing, and he says something along the lines of "we won't have to worry about what you think for much longer".

It's the first time her role has been cast in such a light-- so dismissive and cruel. A punishment, rather than a purpose. In the days that follow, she sees her world and her life in a new light. She is honored, yes, but as little more than an ornament with a limited shelf life. She has no real impact, no power-- not even within her own family.

When the time comes, she is taken up to the crest of the sacred hill. She knows she is to be burned-- not a peaceful way to go, but part of the ritual is for her to sip from the chalice, willingly drinking the elixir that will spare her the pain.

Only one person is permitted to accompany her up the hill and light the pyre, long ago decided to be her brother Lex. But when Lena sips from the chalice, she only mimes the act of doing so-- her first act of rebellion, of doubt, to keep her mind sharp.

Lex leads her to the hill. From the crest her pyre would be seen for leagues... a concept that now strikes apprehension into her soul. Is this what fear feels like?

When the pyre comes into view, already prepared with fresh bushels of hay and reads and sticks, Lena stops short. She turns to her brother.

"I can't do this, Lex."

Lex turns to her. "Yes you can. You've got to."

Lena swallows thickly. "I don't want to." She takes a thick breath.

"You don't want to?" Lex's features turn cold, full of icy rage. He leans in close to her fact. "Your whole rotten life you've been treated like a saint, and this is how you repay us?"

"Let go of me," Lena says as his hand tightens painfully around hers. "Lex, let me go--!"

She barely registers the rush of displaced air before her brother's fist slams into the side of her head, knocking senseless.

Minutes later, when she blinks back into awareness, Lena is on the pyre, hands bound around the post pressing against her back. Panic grips her when she sees the lit torch in Lex's hand.

"Brother, please! Please don't do this! I don't want to die!!"

"All your exalted life, you've only ever been good for one thing," Lex says stonily. "And now you won't even do that much."

"Lex!" Lena shrieks, yanking sharply against her bonds. "Don't, please!"

"Time to die, sister."

With a casual toss he lobs the torch onto the pyre. He doesn't even stop to look back when Lena screeches as the first of the flames lick at her bare feet.

---

Unknown to either of the royal siblings, the hill isn't as empty as they believe it to be. A forager keen on scavenging uncommon herbs and plants overhears Lena's shrieks and immediately sprints towards them. She arrives just as the flames catch and climb Lena's shift, reaching almost to her hip as Lena's screams hit a ragged pitch.

Without thinking the forager leaps onto the last patch of uncaught pyre and uses her knife to slice away Lena's bonds. She grabs Lena and pitches them both backwards off the edge of the pyre. She moves quickly to smother the fire that comes with them, clinging to Lena's cloak, but it doesn't take long to know that it may yet be too little, too late.

Lena no longer screams, but her breath comes in short sharp rasps, her body wracking with tremors against the pain of the burns that have blistered her bare feet and legs.

"It's going to be okay," the forager stutters, panic making her own hands shake as violently as Lena's, which curl tightly into the woman's blouse. "I'll take you to someone who can help. Just stay with me."

---

True to her word, the woman manages to carry Lena down the far side of the hill to a small village in the valley beyond. Lena isn't aware of much of the journey nor their arrival. Just the shout of her savior's voice as she calls for another, and the disorientation of being deposited on a small cot.

The pain is all she knows, and the world around her fades in and out, but always a hand grasps hers in a solid, gentle grip. When she has the werewithal to wonder, she thinks this might be what death was supposed to be like: a stranger's hand extended in comfort.

One morning, Lena wakes fully. The pain is still there, low and throbbing and agonizing-- but she can think past it, and experience a world the world that still exists beyond it. She sees a woman next to her cot, slumped dozing in a chair with her ankles crossed and bandages on her hands.

Beyond her, a simple cabin takes shape, slowing coming into focus. Another woman with dark hair busies herself with setting dishes upon a wooden table, and a third, older woman stirs a pot hung above a hearthed fire.

The older woman turns to say something to the dark haired woman-- her daughter, perhaps?-- but stops short when she spots Lena watching.

"Oh! You're awake! Praise the gods..."

The bandaged woman at her bedside, presumably her savior, jolts awake at the exclamation. Clear blue eyes flash towards the older woman, then across to Lena.

"Wh--" Lena's questions dies in her parched throat, consumed by a deep, hacking cough that leaves her winded and gasping.

In an instant, her savior is at her side, lifting a wooden cup to Lena's lips. Cool, clear water coats her tongue and throat, making her sputter briefly before she begins to gulp.

Even that much saps most of Lena's strength. Her eyelids begin to droop even as clothbound palms cover Lena's hand.

"I'm Kara," her savior says, before motioning to her companions, "and this is Alex and Eliza."

Lena's brain struggles to make sense of the names, of her surroundings, of the events that have led her to this cot in a strange hut. Her eyes grow ever heavier, and struggles to remain awake.

"It's all right," Kara murmurs, stroking hair from Lena's sweat slicked forehead. "You're safe here."

Thus comforted, Lena slips back into the embrace of unconsciousness.

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I've been toying with an idea using the "born to die" trope. Where Lena is born and raised with the understanding that she was born to be sacrificed to a god/superstition/whatever. And then Kara factors in somehow. Idk. Its extremely half baked. But my brain feels like the crumbs have potential....

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The good news is that I found the portion of the next Heartbound chapter that I wrote two years ago. One year ago?

Bad news is that the portion I found starts mid-chapter, and I don't know if there's an earlier part floating around somewhere that I've forgotten I've written.

One of my goals for next year is to be more deliberate in nurturing and developing my crativity, which means one of my action items is to continue/finish one of the many ongoing stories I've kind of left on the back burner.

I *really* want to finish Heartbound.

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

One of my goals for next year is to be more deliberate in nurturing and developing my crativity, which means one of my action items is to continue/finish one of the many ongoing stories I've kind of left on the back burner.

I *really* want to finish Heartbound.

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

It's a Wonderful Knife AU (Supercorp)

It's a Wonderful Knife is about a girl who, one christmas eve, witnesses and ultimately kills a spree killer (aka The Angel), who kills her best friend and a couple other kids. Once dead, the killer is revealed to be none other than Morgan Edge, the local sleaze who'd been trying to commercialize the small town of Angel Falls.

A year later, the following Christmas sees her clinically (yet untreated) depressed, unaccepted to her dream college, and overlooked by her family in favor of her cousin (who she saved the night of the killings). When she discovers her boyfriend has been cheating on her for the entire year, it's the final straw.

On her way home, she looks up to see the Northern Lights. As if they were a wishing star, she gives voice to the heaviness that has been growing in her since that fateful night.

"I wish I never existed."

She blinks, and suddenly the lights around her are dark, the previously festive boulevard now shadowed and eerie. Immediately on edge, she approaches a man to ask if the power went out-- only for him to collapse as he turns towards her, a knife in his gullet.

The Angel then appears like a ghost. Kara screams, running for help. She eventually runs into the local sheriff-- one of Edge's right hand men. Who definitely wasn't sheriff, last she checked. The oddities keep adding up, as she learns that not only is The Angel alive, he's been active for a full year. Her family home is dark and grieving for a lost scion-- her cousin who died the christmas before, because Kara hadn't been there to save him.

Kara isn't in any of the family portraits, her family doesn't recognize her, nor do her former friends when she tracks them down at the annual get-wrecked holiday party. In the absence of all that's familiar, she turns to the relatively unknown-- the local weirdo.

"Weirdo" is the slender goth girl who hangs around the periphery of their age group, appearing at large events without anyone seeming to invite her. This year she has her hair in space buns and though she says nothing as Kara frantically pleads for anyone to recognize her, her sharp green eyes take everything in. So when Kara finally turns to her, and their gazes meet, Kara feels a tinge of relief.

"You know who I am?"

The weirdo gives a nervous little smile, but doesn't balk. "Hi. I mean, no. I mean. I'm Lena?"

Lena's mere act of not ignoring her almost brings Kara to tears. She unloads everything onto the poor girl, who listens with wide eyes and a slightly bewildered look. But when Kara mentions The Angel, Lena perks up.

"You want to stop The Angel?"

"What?" Kara asks. Out of everything she's said, that's what the weirdo locks onto? "Yeah, but--"

"Come with me," Lena says quickly. She grabs Kara's hand and pulls her away from the party, out the door and across town. They don't stop until Lena tugs her up the front walk of a house with darkened windows. Unlocking the front door, Lena leads Kara inside the empty house.

Kara frowns. "Are you always alone on christmas?"

Lena's cheeks flush, but instead of answering she makes her way deeper in the house. "I want to show you something."

When Kara steps into Lena's bedroom, she's shocked to see one whole wall serving as a murder board-- literally. Thumbtacks mark the location of known murders on a large map of the city, with notecards detailing facts of each victim.

"Most of them are teenagers related to business owners in the town," Lena tells her. "Well, mostly former owners, now."

"It's Edge," Kara states bluntly. "He's The Angel. He's the one doing the killings."

Instead of dismissing her outright, or asking how Kara knows, Lena's brow furrows. She studies her board thoughtfully.

"Most of the families who've lost children to the attacks have closed up and left town... Edge, he--" Lena's eyes widen. "He's acquired every single one of them!" She mutters a curse to herself. "I can't believe I didn't see it!"

Before long, Lena is also hypothesizing on the how of Kara's circumstances. Kara relates the glowing aurora that still lingers above the town, and Lena gives a thoughtful hum.

"It's unusual to see it this far south," she observes. "It could be related, or it could be complete meteorological happenstance. But... the aurora does generate via a confluence of fluctuating solar energy. What if-- and I can't believe I'm about to say this, but-- what if, when Edge died in your reality, his spirit... lingered? And if it did, perhaps his ill intent, combined with the energy of the aurora, facilitated the change?"

Kara goggles at her. Lena blushes again, and scrambles to fill the stunned silence. "Of course, that's assuming this is a matter of different realities, which are purely hypothetical and I am *not* saying are real, let alone suggesting travel between them is even a feasible concept--"

"I had no idea you were so smart," Kara says bluntly.

Lena freezes, eyes flashing up to meeting Kara's. Her blush deepens as she reaches up to tuck the flyaway hairs at her temples behind her ears.

"There's a lot people don't know about me," Lena says softly.

Guilt forms solid and heavy in Kara's belly. "I'm sorry," she says. "For how people have-- how I've treated you."

Lena shrugs. "It's--"

"Please don't say it's okay," Kara urges, leaning forward intently. "You've just... existed, and we've acted like..."

Holding Kara's gaze, Lena's arrest softens. "Maybe things would be different, if you'd been here."

Shame courses through Kara's body, but she refuses to voice the knowledge that even in her reality, while never cruel to the weird girl in the corner, she'd never been kind.

"It will be," she says instead, firmly. She offers a crooked grin. "After all, who's George Bailey without her Clarence?"

Lena beams, a bright laugh bubbling out of her. Kara's smile grows, and for a moment, the world doesn't seem so grim.

---

The solution in returning the world to its rightful place is clear. They kill The Angel, Kara goes home. But before they can decide just how to execute their plan, Kara gives in to her desire to see her family. For help, maybe, to help them in their grief for Clark, she isnt quite sure.

When they get there, they find Kara's uncle in his office. Seeing his despondency, Kara can't help but reach out to him. She tells him she's a friend of Clark's and they spend the next few minutes reminiscing about some of Clark's most memorable moments-- his football career, the time he saved an elderly neighbor's life, etc.

But when Kara tells her uncle that she knows who killed Clark, their reverie snaps back to reality. Her uncle grows cold, and when Kara tells him it was Morgan Edge, she learns that this version of her uncle not only works for Edge, but considers Edge to be a close friend-- one who paid for Clark's funeral.

He shouts at her to get out of his house, and Kara bolts, with Lena following on her heels. Once outside, Kara bursts into tears. Lena envelops her in a fierce embrace, holding her until her sobs subside.

"We'll fix this, I promise," Lena says. "We'll fix-- augh!"

Lena's cry of pain jolts Kara into a state of panic, when the source of the long slice in Lena's arm proves to be The Angel. They bolt for safety, and in the ensuing chase Lena devises a plan that has them splitting up. The Angel chases Kara, leaving Lena to loop back around behind him and shove him sprawling into the snow. Kara grapples him for the knife, and as soon as it's in her hands she plunges it deep into Edge's throat.

Except it's not Edge.

When they remove their would-be killer's mask, it exposes instead the face of Kara's uncle. Kara vomits, then wraps her arms around herself as the sobs return.

"I don't understand," she wretches. "It-- it was supposed to be Edge."

"I don't know," Lena murmurs, rubbing her hand against Kara's back. "But it doesn't matter. That isn't your uncle. This isn't real, not for you. And you did it. You got the killer. Now we can get you back to your real family."

Lena supports Kara to the boulevard where the shift first manifested. Once there, Kara offers a watery smile. "Thank you," she whispers. "I don't know-- I don't think I could have done this without you."

Green eyes gaze at her, warm and sparkling in the light if the aurora overhead. "I should be the one thanking you," comes the hoarse reply. "To be honest, I--"

When sudden emotion chokes Lena's voice, Kara reaches out in concern. Lena swipes at the tears gathering in her eyes.

"I'm okay. I just-- this was going to be my last christmas, Kara."

Kara blinks. It takes a long moment for her to connect the words to their meaning, and when she does, her heart lurches.

"Lena, no--"

"It wouldn't have mattered," Lena whispers. "Not to my family, or the kids at school. Not to anybody."

"Yes, it would, Lena. *You* matter."

Lena nods, tears falling free from her eyelashes. "I think maybe we got it all backwards," she says, huffing a soft laugh. "I wasn't your Clarence after all. You were mine all along."

They hug, and then it's time. Kara looks up at the aurora and wishes with all her might that she lived, that she existed. She wishes for her life back. Not just to have her family back, to have Clark and her uncle, but to have Lena too.

Nothing happens.

It doesn't matter how much she wishes, then pleads, then curses at the universe-- the world stays exactly as it is.

Kara stares helplessly at Lena, who can only shake her head. "I don't know," she says. "I don't know--"

She's interrupted by the squawk of a microphone coming to life in the nearby square. The voice of Morgan Edge soon follows, drawing them both to the periphery of the crowd gathered around the stage where Edge stands before the town's christmas tree.

Rage overcomes Kara at the sight of him. She pushes through the crowd towards the stage, only vaguely aware of Lena following close behind lest the crowd separate them. Before she knows what she's doing Kara vaults onto the stage and slugs Edge right in the face.

As his henchmen move to wrestle Kara away from her victim, Lena spies a familiar looking knife lying the podium-- The Angel's knife. Her gaze flicks to where Edge marches towards a restrained Kara with rage in his eyes. The decision she makes in that moment is hardly a decision at all.

She snatches the knife from the podium and slits Edge's throat from behind. Her only regret is that it showers a surprised Kara with arterial spray. For a moment they, the guards, and the gathered crowd all stare frozen at Edge's gurgling body, until it finally falls quiet.

Then, a clap issues from the crowd. A single person, clapping slow and deliberate until it grows into raucous applause. The guards reach for Lena, only for the townsfolk to intervene, giving Lena and Kara the opportunity to slip unseen from the mayhem.

They sprint to the boulevard, coming to a breathless stop under the rippling aurora that's slowly brightening.

"Go," Lena urges. "Now, before--"

Kara kisses her soundly. Her world becomes the feel of Lena's lips against hers, the scent of blood thick between them, and the pull of Lena's arms as they wrap around her neck--

She opens her eyes to the ceiling of her bedroom.

Morning light spills in through the windows, illuminating the world in warm relief. Kara bolts downstairs to find her family hale and whole, and nearly loses herself in the sweeping joy of her life returned-- until Lena's features flash across her mind. Lena's features, and the echo of Lena's murmured confession: "this was going to be my last christmas."

In a instant she's back on her feet and sprinting to Lena's house. She pounds on the door until it opens a crack for Lena to look warily out.

"What do you want?"

Kara's heart plummets, but she forges ahead without stopping. "Lena, this is going to sound crazy, but you have to believe me, because it was real, and you were there, and whatever you're planning *please* don't--"

The door opens further, revealing Lena in a cozy sweater with a puckish glint in her eye.

Kara stops short, hardly daring to believe. "You... you remember?"

Lena answering smile beams in affirmation, prompting Kara to sweep her up into a giant twirling hug. Lena squeals, but it ends with a delighted giggle.

"I love you," Kara says, kissing Lena. Their hands clutch together, holding tight as though the world might reset and tear them apart once more.

Lena smiles, sighing happily as she rests her forehead against Kara's.

"Merry Christmas, Kara."

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

I know, I know, but hear me out. If there is something specific to the film, such as, say, a cameo or two, that has not been widely advertised, or like, at all....

You can absolutely keep it to yourself for a few weeks.

And if you can't? Tag it.

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I'm watching It's a Wonderful Knife and the main girl reminds me of Melissa Benoist as Kara, with some of her mannerisms and deliveries. The movie is a horror/slasher take on It's a Wonderful Life, where the final girl wishes she was never born, and there's a "weird girl" who helps her (I think, still pending).

So now I'm thinking of a version where Kara is the final girl, and Lena is the "weird girl" helping her out.

Will report back with further details.

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Aaaand we just re-cleared the whole tier in one night. And my numbers were consistently over 22-23k rdps range. Which, for a summoner, feels pretty damn good.

Makes me wanna do the new ultimate.

My static cleared the first savage tier of Dawntrail!!! Super stoked! Cleared it on tier as well, before the second tier dropped. It's also my first savage tier ever!

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My static cleared the first savage tier of Dawntrail!!! Super stoked! Cleared it on tier as well, before the second tier dropped. It's also my first savage tier ever!

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"Oh, don't even," Lena drawls.

Kara smirks at her, broken handcuffs dangling from the chair's armrests. "What else should I assume? You abduct me, restrain me..."

"As if they could have done anything you didn't want them to do," Lena snaps back. She'd counted on that fact when she'd issued orders of non-lethal force, leveraging Kara's simpering desire to forgive and forget to get her in the same room.

"Exactly," Kara returns, just as smoothly. Her smirk deepens. "You have me right where I want me."

Ohhhhh, the twist in the cliche is nearly a purr, and Lena is *not* going to acknowledge the heat that flares low in her belly.

"You think all too highly of yourself if you think for one minute I'd be interested in--"

In a blink, Kara stands suddenly in front of her, Lena's wrist captured crossed in one firm grip. Her other hand is free to roam down Lena's arm, and it does, coming to a rest just above Lena's hip.

"Maybe this is more your speed," Kara says calmly.

There's no stopping the warmth that drops from her belly to her panties, pooling in the fabric between her legs. Lena's jaw clenches in an effort to keep a blush from rising. Kara knows exactly how Lena's body is reacting-- knowing kryptonian biology, she can probably smell it.

"I don't--"

"I thought we were past lies between us."

Lena scowls, the reminder of Kara's betrayal sharply cutting through the frustrations of her own traitorous body.

"Easy for you to say, Supergirl," Lena growls. She tugs at her wrists, but Kara's grip holds firm. "Let me go--"

"Not until we talk."

"I'm not interested in talking."

"Oh? Then how about something different."

"Like what?" Lena all but spits.

Kara's warm hand leaves Lena's hip, her palm sliding softly across Lena's belly before lowering just enough to tuck just the tips of her fingers under Lena's waistband.

"An exercise in trust," Kara says. Her voice is even where her eyes are questioning, their perpetual glimmer of hope now simmering with a deeper want.

Fuck. Lena wants to scream, shout her anger to the heavens until every god in every pantheon knows her rage. Fuck Supergirl, Lena thinks bitterly. Fuck Kara and fuck her secrets. Fuck her persistence and fuck the invisible string keeping Lena from saying good riddance forever, anchored somewhere behind her sternum.

Fuck her, runs the mantra in Lena's mind. Fuck her fuck her fuck her fuck--

"Do your worst," Lena snarls. She glares up at the caped woman before her, letting her nose crinkle in a sneer. "Supergirl."

Kara's answering smile sparkles brilliantly, even as Lena spits her title like a curse. She leans forward, drawing her cheek close to Lena's to murmur in her ear.

"Oh, I plan to."

(in)correct supercorp (feat. handcuffs)

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

It comes more often now, the sound of Lena tapping. Unlike Kara's habit of knocking on available surfaces while biding her time, Lena's finger taps are as quiet as the rest of her, and arise from a sense of anxiety rather than boredom.

It doesn't happen during meetings. No, there Lena remains as poised and refined as ever, projecting confidence and surety in everything she did. But when she allowed her guards to recede, her fingers often found themselves moving in unconscious rhythm.

Kara never mentions it, but she hears it. From clear across the city, she senses the soft little dance of Lena's fingers, unnoticed by most anyone else, sometimes even Lena herself. Every time, Kara simply smiles to herself, and makes a note to ask Lena how her day went.

The only time she addresses it in the moment is on the day of their wedding, when she hears a tapping against Lena's boudoir in the next room over. Earth traditions be damned, Kara slips through the adjoining door and crosses to where Lena sits in her gown, staring at herself in the mirror.

"Hey," Kara says, settling her hands atop Lena's bare shoulders. "You okay?"

Lena takes a wavering breath, but nods. "Yeah."

"Talk to me," Kara prods gently. She looks at Lena in the mirror until green eyes lift to meet hers.

"I don't know," Lena says finally. "I don't know if I'm nervous, or..."

"Uncertain?"

Lena's fingers cease their tapping, as she lifts one hand to rest on Kara's where it sits on her shoulder.

"No," Lena breathes. "Not about this."

Kara smiles. Leaning down to press a careful kiss against Lena's elegantly pinned hair, she then lets her chin rest there, still holding Lena's gaze in the mirror.

"Then nerves or no, whatever you're feeling is okay. You're not in this alone."

Lena leans back into Kara's front, sighing to release the last of her tension. "I know."

Then, more quietly, in a low, honest voice. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Lena smiles.

"Let's do this."

#soulmatism

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

I thought this gifset was dedicated to me.

Katie McGrath | costume appreciation: 37/∞

costume design by Victoria J. Auth

DC  | costume appreciation: 17/∞

Lena Luthor - SUPERGIRL S4.E18 ∙ Crime and Punishment

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Baldur's Gate 3 is releasing new subclasses, one of which is Hexblade, which is what I play in my dnd campaign that I'm part of.

So clearly I need to restart with a new Tav, obviously.