#((with specific places you can make dice rolls in or something idk-))

[nyalternatehellkitten]

((Sometimes, Nyalter might be like Star Baker or Sky Baker from 100% Orange Juice's Bounty Hunt mode. Quest? Sure, she'll give you a quest. A quest to go to some godforsaken hole for rare baking materials-))

[zhimaqiu]

A little Good Omens fic because I was bored

*I did not firmly choose the angel's name. Idk if I'll continue this or no, but if I do then I'll take something more biblically accurate

~ ~ ~

There are days when you just don't feel right. Your thoughts wander, tasks seem impossible to be done. The most recognizable feature of such days is a strange flow of time that seems to slow you down, but speed up everything else. It was such day for Aziraphale. He had invited Crowley to spend a relaxing evening together over a board of Ur, a game from ancient times, but it wasn't really going anywhere.

To play the game, they brought a small stool and put it between the sofa and the chair in front of Aziraphale's desk. The angel suggested sitting somewhere else, but Crowley argued that technically that sofa already belonged to him, considering how many times he sat, slept, drank and listened to Aziraphale's stories on it. If he was to die of embarrassment losing a board game with his angel, he wanted to do it on that specific furniture. The other place he accepted as his place of death was his Bentley of course, but after it burnt down, he wasn't entirely sure if the car he received after the end of the world could still be called that Bentley. And so they decided to make it look less elegant than Aziraphale would want it to look.

The board was cramped with four blue pieces. None waited to be put on the board, but three were already set aside. However, there wasn't even one white piece in the game nor aside. Aziraphale was turning one in his fingers and let Crowley throw the dice. A three which granted fourth blue piece to leave the board. Then Aziraphale's turn came. He rolled a zero again.

"This isn't very fun." Crowley leaned back on the sofa and crossed his arms. "You don't seem to be even slightly annoyed by this catastrophic luck. Almost seem like you do it on purpose."

"Ah, sorry. I didn't mean this evening to look like this. I'll make up for it. My mind is just somewhere else."

"That I can see," Crowley leaned over to him. "You don't have to force yourself, you know. A word and I will give you some space. For a time being."

Aziraphale smiled a little and offered Crowley a drink. Despite refusal he got up to make himself a calming cup of cocoa. This attempt of escape didn't went as well as he'd like. Crowley followed him and looked around the place. He never visited this room before, but it looked just like he imagined. Kitchen matched the rest of the bookstore: dusty, dark, cozy and small. Maybe a bit too small for two, but Crowley didn't seem to mind that Aziraphale kept brushing against him with his hips and belly as he moved around looking for ingredients. He opened a cabinet just above Crowley's head. Thanks to his flexible, sneak-like neck, the demon noticed there was a pinkish mug in a shape of a heart that stood out in the collection.

"Really?" He reached out for it and tossed it between his hands a few times. "Why would you get something as kitschy as this?"

"It's a gift." Aziraphale grabbed his hand and made him put it down on the crammed countertop. "From a girl who often visits my store and reads in a corner behind the sofa. Please be careful with it."

"Err okay." Crowley let go of the mug, but his hand stayed in Aziraphale's for a moment. It was warm. He wondered if it was natural, a neffect of stress or warmth of the other cup, now filled with water, cocoa powder and unhealthy, at least for a human, amount of sugar. "Why a heart though?"

The angel's smile was so wide that Crowley could see it even standing almost behind the angel as he stirred the cocoa.

"One time, she said I was like a second big brother to her. It's just a child's way of showing affection I think. It was the "second" that made me perturbed." He hid his lips, troubled. "Um... May I tell you something?"

"As long as it will help you get rid of this stern look of your face, yes." That's what Crowley almost said, but definitely thought. So let's rewind.

What actually came out of his mouth was more like a distorted, high-pitched "mhm."

"It's about her other big brother, you see," Aziraphale said siting back on the chair where they previously talked. "I found out she's got a guardian angel assigned. She's a golden child, really, but gets lost sometimes. Heavens thought someone could keep an eye on her. They believe she may be the next Marie Skłodowska-Curie." He laughed a little. "My concern is that they chose this... Daniel or someone."

"Daniel?" Crowley squinted. "That's a familiar name. I thought he's fallen."

Crowley stretched, taking space of the entire sofa. If a new customer walked in, he'd surely assume he must the host. If he ignored that Crowley, wearing all black, a leather jacket and tight trousers, within the visuals of the bookshop, looked absolutely out of place that is. But the demon always looked like he was the owner of every place he found himself at. Aziraphale on the other hand tried to take as little space as possible. Although lately he started to feel more relaxed around the demon. Earlier he wouldn't even imagine standing so close to him.

"Yahyahyah, I'm pretty sure he was floating a couple of feet away from me. Wings spread like two pieces of beacon on a pan. Kind of looked like enjoying himself."

Aziraphale took a loud sip of cocoa and put it down, next to the Ur board.

"I can't get it out of my head. Someone suggested he could redeem himself and they went with it."

"Suggested he could whot?"

"Redeem himself. Only because We are... They?? are short staffed at the moment. Honestly, I don't know what to think of my affiliation."

"Euh," Crowley waved his hand. "Pay no attention to that. But what's up the idea anyway? Heaven is quite unforgiving nowadays, so why? Demons are described as unforgivable. How is that guy any better?"

"Well, I do not know him yet so I don't want to judge. The Almighty must have reasons for allowing it... But I think you're the one more suitable for redemption. "

"Shut up," Crowley waved his hand and crossed arms again. Maybe if Aziraphale looked at him more carefully he'd be able to see a hint of red on the demon's face.

"In any case, it's probably an experiment. Tell me, have you ever seen that Daniel in Hell? Do you know something?"

"Not that I spend my free time in that stink-pit, but as far as I know the shit going on in there: no," he stood up and looked over the bookshelf to the entrance. He thought he heard the ring, but there was no one. Must have been the wind. Crowley continued as he turned back to Aziraphale. "What? Are you worried that he'll do something to that girl? She has her parents to look after her. There's no need for a guardian angel. Wasn't the idea abandoned 1900s? If this is a rebuild plan then it's a terrible start to chose a fallen angel as the first one if you ask me."

Aziraphale gave Crowley a worried smile.

"Oh. And what? He just took her in?"

"Yes. I can't help but feel responsible for her. In a way. She has spent so many days here. Probably more than in the orphanage. You know, when you told me that the bookshop burnt down, I thought of her. God bless everything is back to normal now and that she wasn't here when it happened."

Crowley looked at his friend carefully. He played with his hands and looked genuinely concerned, but Crowley couldn't grasp the idea of an attachment to a human. It was something he lost after the fall. The only person he became loyal to was Aziraphale, as strange as it sounds.

"What do you want to do about it?" he asked.

"It crossed my mind that maybe we could... oversee the case," Aziraphale replied glancing at him.

"We? " Crowley's eyebrows rose in surprise. "When did I sign a pact to be by your side in all of your shenanigans?"

Regardless of whether Crowley wanted it or not, his words stung the angel in the chest. He looked down again.

"Will you not help me then?"

"Of course I will!" Crowley mumbled the rest of the sentence: "Justsurprisedyoureallychose... ourside."

"Oh! That's wonderful." Aziraphale smiled brightly. "It eases my mind a bit. Thank you."

"Mm... Whatever, angel." Crowley look away for a moment then took off his sunglasses and moved the mug closer to Aziraphale. "Don't let your cocoa get cold." He knew the angel wouldn't drink it without a little stream of steam tickling his nose.

[xcziel]

Tagged by @aurawolfgirl2000 ! 💗💖💗 Thanks for giving me an excuse to take a break from tearing my hair out over the search for a place to live!😓

Rules: List 10 songs you really like, each by a different artist, and then 10 tag people to do the same.

I'm basing this off very specific criteria: if this song comes up, i will stop whatever i'm doing and turn it up to sing along and/or start dancing

Genius of Love ▪︎ Tom Tom Club - white british take on a reggae beat. the nostalgia is strong with this one, but i *always* end up bopping along

Love Removal Machine ▪︎ The Cult - new wave band goes hard rock but in the rolling stones way where you can shake your ass to the songs. note: i have very nearly dislocated a hip on several separate occasions dancing to this song

High Landrons ▪︎ Eric Johnson - texas guitar god who loves ireland? i had a huge thing for texas artists (mostly him and Ian Moore) back in college

Subculture ▪︎ New Order - this song can make me dissociate i feel it so hard. Must Move. best song for walking fast or working out (i rarely do either these days) but ONLY the 1987 Pure cut with the backing vocals - idk why but i DO NOT like variations in songs, i always want to hear the version i'm used to, whichever that may be. if it's a live or a remix or acoustic etc i need to know ahead of time, i might choose to listen to something else (looking at you spotify)

Say It Right ▪︎ Nelly Furtado - hypnotic, hugely danceable, just pulls me up out of my seat

Return of the Mack - Mark Morrison - new jack swing but british, i don't know why this isn't an even bigger hit, it's a "you MUST dance" type situation

I Take the Dice ▪︎ Duran Duran - one of the only bands where i've ever been able to listen through entire albums, so i have my b-side favorites and this is one (yes i was a Duranie in junior high)

Let the Music Play ▪︎ Shannon - absolute 80s r&b dancefloor smash i generally listen to the extended edition

Come To Me ▪︎ France Joli - disco is under represented on this list but this song just has a way of sticking in my mind

Rigor Mortis ▪︎ A Split Second - do not listen to these songs in order you will get whiplash. huge EBM club smash made for a cavernous dance floor

What A Fool Believes ▪︎ The Doobie Brothers - Michael McDonald's voice, plus the clever lyrics and bouncy groove

oops that's 11 ... oh well, i've already done the linking! clearly, i like songs i can dance to - i do like all kinds of genres but not much new stuff? it seems like i'll only find one or two new songs a year that i really enjoy and they usually don't make it to my favorites. but then i don't listen to music all that often - and a lot of times i only want to hear a certain song i already know 🙃

i'll tag @heymeowmao @thecutestdinosaur @vex-verlain @downwarddnaspiral @hedvig-ulrika @athousanderrors @undyingsunshine @thesporkidentity @lojovski and @lockedinabookstore

and anyone else who wants to give it a go because there's folks tumblr won't let me tag!

[i-am-the-ass-admiral]

For A Laugh (Benny Miller x gn!reader)

Summary: It’s Benny’s first time at a gay bar and you ask him out the worst way possible; ~1.4k

Tags: humor, colloquial writing style, lust, teasing, flirting, implied bi!benny and reader, bad jokes (like terrible impeccable taste), alcohol consumption, excessive use of the word ‘baby’, soft benny, first date (sort of), au, meet-cute

Rating: Teen

Note: look i’ve never done this before, i just really really got stuck on this idea and i really liked benny. might not be your idea of him but god i think he’s a huge dork and a giant softie so here we are. wanted to throw a queer reader out there since you just don’t see them all that much and do something maybe a little off the wall? idk have fun, i think i’m hilarious XD

--

By some stroke of fate, you pick Benny up at a bar the first time you meet. 

He’s not hard to spot in a crowd as tall as he is and you’re just buzzed enough that your eye keeps coming back to him as the night goes on. He slides from corner to corner with his shoulders slightly hunched and the proverbial tail between his legs, following two shorter men who obviously know what kind of bar they’ve walked in to. Benny though—you didn’t know his name at the time so you called him Baby in your head—darts around with a kind of deer-in-headlights expression. It’s cute.

And annoying.

At first, you roll your eyes at him. Great, another straight dude to hit on your friends and get mad when they say no. 

Then you watch him a little longer.

You can’t help it, he’s pretty and looks more than a little lost and even from the end of the bar you can see how wide his tentative smile gets as he looks around. He likes what he sees; you’re just trying to figure out exactly what it is he’s liking. For a while Baby sits at a table with his friends. Holds a fruity cocktail between his knees almost as if he’s scared to be seen with it. Then after a couple drinks his smile gets wider and his voice gets loud. Boy’s boisterous—you can tell by the way he talks with his hands and throws his head back to laugh. He’s actually really fun to watch and it makes you smile. His buddies look almost out of place too until they get up to dance and—wow, talk about snake hips and floor sex, you haven’t seen anyone dance that good off the drag stage in ages. Baby stares at his empty drink for a bit, lost again, then heads to the bar. Not far from where you are, actually. Watching him walk with a couple drinks in him is a world of difference to how he first came in. There’s a swing in his broad shoulders, a confident cocky tilt to his head and you’re not sure if you want to punch him or if it’s the sexiest thing you’ve ever seen.

Despite your better judgment, you’re leaning to the latter. 

You make a bet with yourself as he pulls up at the bar—he got the fun drink to please his friends, he’ll order something boring now—and you’re pleasantly surprised to lose your own bet. Baby orders a whole-ass mai tai and looks overjoyed at the gigantic slice of pineapple and cherries garnishing the top. He turns to the stage. Avidly watches a few performers and even starts cheering. That’s when others folks start to take notice. A couple men make a pass and, wouldn’t you know it, Baby plays nice. Smiles and nods politely even though you can tell he’s not really into it. Not totally but it makes you think…

Maybe Baby’s a little bendy and not as straight as you thought.

At that point in the night, your friends are on their fifth dance, you’re on your third drink, and it’s getting way too loud in here for you. You were going to step out for a bit anyway—or so you tell yourself—so why not have some company? Who knows, you might get lucky. And if not, you’ll have an even better excuse to get some air and at least you can say you did it for laughs. Not that this is a casino but you’re feeling feisty. Might as well roll the dice. Baby looks like the kinda Midwest-flavored bite of beefcake that will either have great taste and love your stupid pickups or get scared and leave. Hopefully he’s not the kind to throw a punch.

You sidle up to the bar next to him. No doubt your outfit gets his attention first. It’s not risqué exactly but it’s got flavor, specifically your queer kind of flavor, and it draws the eye the way you wear it. You smile as you look him up and down, enjoying the red flush on his cheeks that trickles down under the collar of his fitted shirt. Wow, Baby is built. You ask the bartender for a couple drinks while part of your buzzing brain throws up red flags. Maybe you should try to land your mouth before it totally takes off but unfortunately for ground control your tongue is flying solo tonight. You get your drink. Pluck off the fruit, take a bite and shout over the music, 

“Can I get your name or should I just get you a drink?”

As expected, Baby looks confused as hell but he pastes on a polite, if guarded, smile. “I wouldn’t mind a drink.”

Without missing a beat, you give him the second glass in your hand. There’s something about the way that guarded smile doesn’t quite meet his eyes that makes you want to do something stupid. You want to see him smile and laugh and even though you don’t have the slightest inkling about him, you want to know why such a handsome face would ever look so afraid.

So of course you ask, “How ‘bout a bet then? I make you laugh, you tell me your name?”

He makes a considering face and takes a long sip. “Bet.”

“What do you call the sexuality where you’re attracted to people by no one is attracted to you?”

“What?”

Very off key and with all the drama you can muster, you sing, “Allll Biiiii Myseeeelf.”

Baby snorts a laugh in his drink, which you didn’t expect, and a little warmth grows in your stomach. His faux smile is turning to a real grin. Albeit still a confused one but delighted all the same and he shoots back, “So that’s you, huh? By yourself?”

You wince theatrically and shake your head. 

“Ouch, Baby’s got teeth! You got me.” 

“Nah, what you get’s a name.” He holds out his hand and you groan internally at the length and breadth of it as you shake. “Benny.”

Just like that Baby becomes Benny and you’re absolutely smitten. You give him your name. Maybe your fingers linger. You want to get him another drink. You want to tell him another joke. Hell, you want to take him home and stuff him full of food in the morning. He giggles a bit and it’s endearing enough you decide to press your luck. 

“How ‘bout this one? What’s the best N’Sync song?”

It’s not a fair question, dude might not have ever even heard a boy band in his life, so it takes you by surprise when he immediately pops back with a drawling version of, “It’s tearin’ up my heart when I’m with you?”

“Ooo, a little romantic! I see you!” you tease, pinching his thick bicep for just an instant. Because really, any longer than that and you’d melt. 

Benny doesn’t pull away like you were waiting for him to do. Instead he ducks his head, more than booze burning his cheeks, and—ah, hell. 

“That one is killer,” you admit, “but I was thinking of the one where they sing ‘Bye Bye Bye’ while we blow outta here for dinner?”

It’s a stupid line—one of the worst you’ve ever come up with—and it comes out more like a question than a joke. You throw back the rest of your drink to hide the look on Benny’s face but to your delight, he says,

“Wait, really?”

“Well yeah.” You lean against the bar next to him, trying and failing to be nonchalant and you shrug. “I’m hungry and even though you’re a Grade A snack I don’t think you’d appreciate me taking a bite. So how ‘bout dinner?”

Benny finishes his drink all at once. Wipes his mouth with the back of his hand as he stands. You sigh to yourself—this is the part where he walks off and you go get dinner alone, you suppose. But then he grins, like really grins, and offers you his arm to hold and suddenly your knees are jello shots. 

“I could go for a bite.” 

So you go for dinner. Text your friends, of course. But mosey down the street for 12AM tacos and end up laughing with Benny, shoulder to shoulder on the curb until your friends call for a ride.

And even though you didn’t get to take him home and feed him in the morning, your phone still dings through your snooze with a message under Benny’s name that reads: 

What did the barista say to his crush?

I like you a latte. :) 

Coffee later?

The warmth in your stomach from the night before blooms again and you laugh into your pillow before you text back:

Love to!

[stickandthorn]

Ooooohkay so I’ve been thinking for a long time about why CR has so much god damn discourse, more than almost any other fandom I’ve been in. And I think I’ve boiled down my conclusion to a few main points.

1) Some of this is stuff I heard talked about in a YouTube video forever ago, might’ve been a Sarah Z video but i can’t quite remember, but I digress. It’s that indie creators/smaller creators get held to a higher standard because they feel more reachable by the audience, less like a brand. It feels more like talking to a friend than talking to a company. Also, indie creators are expected to do better. They try hard to do good about certain things big companies don’t, and so they’re expected to be perfect, since finding a place that cares at all about certain issues is really special. So you want that place to be really good, to do everything you want from a piece of media. Does that mean they’re above critique? No, but it means they’re critiqued far more than necessary.

2) Critical role breeds huge amounts of emotional investment. It has hours upon hours of extremely well acted content, you truly feel like you get to know the characters so you get more invested, you’ve put so much time in so why wouldn’t you be? Besides, critical role has a very home game brand, one that feels warm and welcoming. Of course you’d be invested in that, it feels like friends. And that tends to breed discourse, because you’re, well, invested. This especially manifests in things like ships imo, but that’s a whole other fucking discussion.

3) It happens real time, or roughly real time as of pandemic. What I mean is, while something like a book or a show comes out in chunks or once a week for a few weeks, already pre planned, this doesn’t. This comes out real time, once a week, not planned, and besides the pandemic break it doesn’t really take breaks. This means that a) I think there’s a feeling you can change what’s going to happen, subconsciously, and b) you don’t know how or if this cliffhanger is going to resolve, and you’re super invested, so you create a lot more content and discourse around it while waiting.

4) Out of all the other popular dnd podcasts and media in general, this is run in the most “true homegame” way. There isn’t specific seasons beyond the two separate campaigns, and the players choices never really get railroaded. This freeformness makes room for shocking or surprising things to happen, or things you thought were going to happen don’t happen, etc. And we’re used to media where you know what’s going to happen at the end, or there’s at least some solid guidelines. So when something happens you don’t like, it doesn’t feel like the way the dice rolled or the way the characters developed, it feels like something that was planned that got retconned or something, idk, because that’s what we’re used to.

Idk, it’s three fucking am and I’m tired and didn’t reread this, I’m probably way off the mark and need to stop psychoanalyzing and go the fuck to sleep so I don’t slam the rotohammer through my finger tomorrow. 

[jq37]

The Case File – Mice and Murder Ep 3

The Case of the Curious Clues

Before we start, a quick plea to Grant O’Brien: Please stop finding clues. I can only take notes so fast. You’re killing me Grant. Moving on...

We start off this episode with yet another flashback, this time to the final confrontation of Sly and his supposedly dead arch nemesis Fletcher Cottonbottom at Reichenbunny Falls (...Brennan please). Fletcher was using a local castle as a storage center for munitions but Sly tipped off the cops before they could be moved. They do some repartee back and forth before Fletcher, the madman, handcuffs them together and jumps off the edge. They hit the water but Sly is able to lockpick himself out and escape while Fletcher disappears beneath the waves. 

You know what I got from that story? No body.

Anyway, we jump back to the present where there *is* a body, Squire Badger’s specifically. Everyone in the room who isn’t a PC thinks that this must either be the work of ghosts or Mrs. M who was the only person in the room when it happened (allegedly). 

This is a crucial time for clue gathering and Brennan keeps everyone in initiative for investigative purposes. Now, *so much* stuff happens here that I’m not going to recap every single detail--just the major clues and the things that seem relevant. I’m serious, this is like the volume of info we usually get in the once per season later game lore dump ep but it’s episode THREE.

Daisy tries to find a secret door but critically fails. She clocks Gangie, a fellow criminal, and in the moment Rekha and Katie decide that they prob have worked together in the past even though they are very different kinds of criminals. 

Buck, who is outside listening to what’s going on in the room notices that his ankle knife is missing which is Concerning considering a man was just knifed to death. 

Sly has Lars guard the door (he opens it and Buck is discovered, whoops) and then rolls a NATURAL 20 plus NINE to investigate so Brennan just has to tell him literally everything. RIP to him and me. Anyway, here’s the rundown (along with some of the stuff other ppl got):

Mrs. M’s hands are covered in blood but she couldn’t have done it. Based on her personality for one and for other reasons we’ll get to.

The wound is much messier than it would be if a person stabbed themselves typically.

There is a note in Squire Badger’s handwriting that says “Sylvester Cross I am afraid” No indication of if that was the whole message or if he got interrupted (maybe Buck could figure it out with his handwriting checking skills). Daisy from across the room clocks that Sly’s name is written on the paper but can’t read the rest.

The knife is a hunting knife with a pronghorn handle--an animal not common in England but very common in Texas (and Buck is sweating obv).

There is a slight layer of charcoal type dust on everything on the big resolute desk in the room (which makes sense, ash from the fireplace) but there is parchment type dust on the bust of Barkus Aurelius (OK, that one’s good) on the table and that’s the only place that dust is. Ian later notices that the date on the bust is wrong. 

Speaking of, the desk (which we learn later was put in and taken out of storage once Loan Hall was modernized) is bolted to the ground and a lot of stuff has been thrown off it as if by a powerful force but Sly notices that it’s just the metal stuff like things made of silver or with screws. Stone things like the bust and other non-metal things have stayed put. Plus he smells ozone. This was the work of magnets, not ghosts, he concludes. And, for the record, Grant figured this out himself!

Mrs. M’s eyes are rapidly dilating. She is questioned about what happened and she says that she was told she was fired and would receive a small pension. 

(Not a part of Sly’s clue dump but Buck rolls a 24 with disadvantage to persuade everyone he didn’t do it but then 2 nat 1s in a row to see if Harding--who said he was standing outside the door--is suspect. Buck thinks he’s at most a stooge but he did roll a nat 1 so who knows?)

Anyway, back to Mrs. M. Gangie fully believes Mrs. M is innocent and scared. She doesn’t quite remember what happened for a couple of seconds in there and it’s clear this is not the first time she’s had missing time. Sly calls Longfoot (the bunny photographer) over to take a picture of Mrs. M which everyone is a little appalled at until they realize he’s making a point. When the flash goes off, she bugs out like she did in episode 1 and forgets that the picture was ever taken. Sly then has Dr. Magpie list the symptoms of epilepsy. It seems that Mrs. M had an episode triggered by the flash she mentioned seeing and then lost time. It’s possible that what she thought she saw after that she didn’t actually see.

[While Sly is monologuing this Rekha texts Brennan and gets a 17 to swipe the “I am afraid” note. Sly doesn’t notice.]

So if it wasn’t her, then who was it? There’s only one door into the study and anyone who walked in would have to have walked past Mr. Harding, Shellcrest, Calliope, and Tabitha (who is having a marvelous time being in the midst of so much drama). Ah, but who said there was only one door? Sly has Harding pull a sconce and a SECRET DOOR OPENS! Woo! Finally! It’s a classic bookshelf one that opens into the hallway and there is some extremely fine crushed glass under the door. Hmm.

Sly clocks that there is something under the desk but we don’t know what it is because Brennan texts it to him and it’s redacted. There are actually a couple of redacted texts that go around this ep so we are def missing information. 

OK, that’s more or less everything. 

Sly notices that the page is missing and Grant gasps while Rekha does an excellent job of pretending like she doesn’t even remember what paper is being talked about. Constance asks if it’s possible that Mrs. M totally made up the memory because of her epilepsy and between Dr. Magpie and Sly they determine that that’s uncommon but possible. Dr. Magpie says that everyone should leave so he and Sly can examine the body and Sly says that someone should watch Gangie at all times. 

At this point, Harding and Gilfoyle (the butler) say they should establish where everyone was at the time of the murder. A lot of the staff and guests have solid alibis cause they were in big groups/cleaning up together. But the PCs were off alone (or with each other) and had reasons to want to guy dead so they’re prime suspects. Sly even admits that he’s one too. Also everyone dogpiles Ian because Raph makes it so fun. 

Harding mentions the letter that was given to Buck (the one selling his shares in BB and giving voting writes to his rival Josiah) and asks him to read it. Buck reads it and gives a streamlined version of the truth, saying everything except for the part with the proxy vote. With a 26 he is able to allay everyone’s suspicions for now, but now he’s purposefully hidden the truth in a way that can be readily called out if anyone sees the letter or the contract which he resolves to find. 

Buster distracts the group so Daisy can “check the body for a pulse” aka: check the body for the contract. She doesn’t find a it but does find a key attached to a piece of red silk--something that would be weird for him to be carrying around instead of his valet. She figures this must open whatever locked drawer the contract is in and swipes it but Sly clocks her stealing it (his perception ties her sleathiness but an earlier Bless from Ian tips him over the edge--poetic).  

Calliope says that everyone is kinds suspect, including Sly, but *someone* has to solve this and Sly’s their best bet so everyone should just stay put and they can guard the exits. The butler says that, besides the front door, there are some towers that poke up above ground and a servant's exit/entrance by the elevator in the kitchen wing but they can lock down both and have someone guard the front doors. 

The butler is like, lmao yeah Sly I know you didn’t do it and I’m not gonna stand guard here but you know, everyone is keeping an eye on y’all. And then he leaves the PCs, Mrs. M, Constance, and Dr. Magpie in the room with the body. 

Lars is about to go watch the kitchen staff but, before he goes, Sly says to him that he saw Cottonbottom and is obviously quite scared. Gangie, who used to work for the guy, overhears and asks what’s going on. Sly assumes Gangie is playing coy but rolls high enough to know that he isn’t. He saw a starkly white Cottonbottom and one of his known conspirators doesn’t know he’s back? Perhaps it was a ghost after all. 

Case Notes

My 2 fave bits of this episode were “bad to bad bad bad” (and the further riffing) and Daisy throwing increasingly bigger books at Sly.

Even with a Nat 1, Sly gets a 16 on Investigation. Wild. 

I don’t think Rekha got enough props for her “Cross examination” line so I’m mentioning it here.

Brennan said the ozone question was still open--but I assumed it was like the electricity smell from an electromagnet. That would make sense, right? Maybe he meant they hadn’t found the source of it specifically yet?

Brennan says Buck’s knife is a pronghorn knife. I assume they’re made from the animal’s horns? Even if they’re the kind that fall off every season, is that weird? Or is it just like human hair wigs? Also, does this world have leather?

I love that the dice keep supporting the narrative that Daisy simply cannot get her shit together when she’s with Sly because he distracts her too much. Delicious. Their whole relationship is delicious. 

OK, I am a tiny bit suspicious of Calliope. It’s partially the way she took control of the situation near the end and partially the fact that she doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would be involved in this which would make her heel turn delicious. No hard evidence and obv she couldn’t be the person who actually stabbed a guy but idk. Just spitballing. I’m very curious about whether we’ve met everyone we’re going to meet more or less or if there are still outside people/hidden inside people. Because, in real life, a murderer could be literally anyone but in a story, you can’t just introduce a new villain all of a sudden at the end. Bad storytelling. Weak payoff. We’ll see how things start to pan out. 

[pixelatedrose]

read this and respond (if you’d like) when you aren’t in the car anymore, i don’t want you to get sick :0 !

you don’t apologize for not be able to write a lot! you didn’t have to answer my ask in the first place but it means a lot to me that you did :) also! i wanna say two things! one, i think i’ve said this before but i really like how you explain things. i’ve tried to learn how to play d&d and i think i’ve got a solid understanding of it, but it’s still hard when people say things like “10 AC”. but i don’t have to worry about that when you explain things cause you sorta dumb it down in a way that doesn’t make me feel dumb.. if that makes sense. two, i love how you showed callahan being healed in your drawing cause it just adds so much more weight to the picture. and i can’t even imagine how that fight was, dancing with death the whole time, that must’ve been so stressful. anyway! that’s about all, but you still have a lot of explaining to do (if you want and when you’re ready) mister >:0 i hope you had a lovely day and you enjoy the rest of your night, love you ro :)) !

1st: dw bout me answerin asks in the car lol I have no fuckin self control sksjshs

2nd: thank you sm m8!!! I know you've mentioned in the past that you don't play d&d or know a ton about it so I try and give little explanations where I can and it's great to hear that I do it in a non-patronizing way

3rd: heheheee okay so imma go into some more detail on the Callahan & Shade training session-

Okay, so.

To understand how we got to this point in time, we have to understand where he was

The party entered the Shadowfell- a mirror plane of existence where everything is contorted and dark and just about everything wants to kill you. This is where we were trying to get to when Callahan first joined the party.

Now Callahan didn't have a full grasp on what the Shadowfell was, really, when he went through the portal. The only one who did was Sylas, and by all the gods did he try to warn us.

Callahan was still so very very unprepared...

The very first fight in the Fell- one of the first battles Callahan has EVER been in in his life- he gets one-shotted by this monster and drops below zero hp.

When you drop below zero hp in d&d, you're Ina state of in between life and death, right on the cusp of either one and a breath's wrong move could send you toppling over the edge. You stay in this state of dying until one of three things happen. 1) you get healed. 2) you succeed three death saves and you stabilize. Or 3) you fail three death saves and you die.

Callahan had succeeded two saves, but he had also failed two. One last roll would have determined his entire fate, and I'm not known for having the best of luck when it comes to dice.

Sylas, our lovely amazing wonderful cleric boy, barely made it in time and slapped Callahan with a healing spell right after the monster died and he regained consciousness.

This...messed him up.

Callahan was absolutely shaken to his core at this very close encounter with death and he did not handle it well.

He got furiously angry, ignoring the fact that it was him that brought him to the Fell, and instead shifting the rage to the rest of the party and blaming them for his being there and, by proxy, his almost dying.

He...said some things...that shouldn't have been said. At least not like that...

And the worst part? It didn't get better. He was fitful and angry and upset at everyone for weeks.

Finally, Haru was done with Callahan's baby-bitchfit and when Callahan snapped at Monty (again), Haru got up and dragged Callahan out into the forest a little ways away from the rest of the party.

And what did he do?

Well he punched him.

Well, more than that. He told Callahan to fight back too. Soon fist-fighting turned into hitting each other with sticks, which turned into Haru having to tackle Callahan to the ground, leaving Cal the perfect opportunity to steal the dagger off his belt and ramming the pommel into his ribs.

Cal would like to say he won that fight. Haru would have something else to say.

After laying there on the ground for a moment, Callahan started to laugh. A sound that Haru had not heard in weeks, and one he didn't know he missed.

Haru explained that he wanted to teach Cal to fight so that what happened with that first monster? Where Cal nearly died?? So that that would never have to happen again.

Something about it- maybe it was something about Haru- calmed Callahan down.

And then it really hit him.

Oh fuck.

I've been a jackass for weeks to literally everyone.

It also started to hit him just how weak he really was in a fight if it ever came down to melee.

So they came back to the party together, Callahan happier than ever with little scrapes and lookin very roughed up (I won't say but the rest of the party did not in fact think they were sparring-)

Callahan apologized to Monty the next morning. The things he said specifically to him were...well...let's just say it hit harder for Monty than the others.

Monty wasn't as quick to forgive and forget. Callahan doesn't blame him.

However, that night Callahan and this new party member- Shade- were on a watch together. Now Shade is a much higher level than everyone else in the party, and is far far more powerful. He's a Hexblade Warlock, but he's also a fallen paladin (or cleric I can't remember) as WELL as a fallen Aasimar (kinda like a fallen angel but watered down). But...also probably a Shadow sorcerer?? Listen Shade is an amalgam of magic and power and idk where all of it comes from-

In any case, Shade is big powerful lad.

Now Cal and Shade are on a watch together, and Shade begins talking about Callahan's magic. He picks up a small opal stone from gauntlets he wears and focuses his magic into it. The opal glows with a black light and swirls with shadows of purple and black. He then hands the opal to Callahan and instructs him to focus his magic like he did.

When he does, the opal changes again, but this time, it swirls with bright, ever-changing array of fantastical colors. A rainbow of things that have never quite been seen before. It's extraordinary.

Shade explains that his own magic is that of the Shadowfell, it's dark and thus his magic is sewn from the shade. And then he explains that he's met other mages- ones with powers of the storm, magic of dragons- but he has never seen someone with magic like Callahan's.

Why?

Well, cause Callahan has pure, unfettered, untained, raw magic inside him.

It's an inferno of unbridled magic and it is completely and utterly entirely untamed. It cannot be controlled and it is as wild as the wind and earth itself. And sometimes, that uncontrollablity lashes out and surges forth, and sometimes things that Callahan doesn't exactly want to happen, happen.

And Callahan listens. And his heart sinks. Uncontrollable? Pure?? Absolute chaotic force of magic??? He can't stand the thought of not having a handle on his magic, because if he can't control it, how the hell is he supposed to use it to protect people??

He expresses this to Shade and the "older" man tells him that he can and should use this to his advantage.

At that moment, Callahan's magic goes wild and he surges. The wooden log they are sitting on, under Callahan's hand it starts to faintly smoke. Callahan doesn't notice, but Shade does. He cuts a small piece of rope and asks Cal to hold it for him. The rope errupts into flames and Callahan drops it in vibrant shock and distress.

Shade calms him down and explains that he can use that. He gets Callahan thinking. Asks how he can use this to help in in battle- he can set things aflame with a touch, for God's sake, what can he do to use that?

And Shade looks at Callahan's small scratches and bruises and scuffs on his clothes and turns and says "I know that look...you've been sparring, haven't you?"

Callahan nods his head. He says that Haru said he'd teach him how to fight, that he wants to- needs to- be stronger.

Shade asks if Callahan would like Shade to help him as well, help him learn how to use his magic to fight.

Callahan says yes.

They start small, Shade borrows Haru's sword in his sleep and gives it to Cal to use. Shade goes through the motions of explaining how he uses his magic to help him wear armor and wield weapons- how he manipulates the pull of power inside him into his blade, into his armor, how he makes them seem lighter and easier to use and wear.

And Callahan follows suit. He goes through the motions of swordplay, focusing and directing his magic into it. And slowly, it seems the blade gets lighter and light in his palm.

After a little while of this, Shade says that he would like to try something to really help Cal in the middle of a real battle. And he summons a demon.

Now, as Shade summons this demon, he explains that he has control over it. That the demon cannot do anything that Shade does not want it to do. The demon is not pleased with this.

In fact, with shadowy chains around its neck and wrists and ankles, it seethes and hisses and spits that it will tear and murder and shred Callahan and Shade to scraps. Shade reassures Callahan that he won't let it kill him. But he asks one last time if Callahan wants to do this.

And with a glance at this horrible creature with blood and murder in its eyes, Callahan's grasp tightens around his borrowed blade and he nods yes.

And so the fight begins.

Callahan uses his magic and filters it into the blade in his hands and tries to strike the beast. He hits it a few times, but the monster keeps hitting Callahan back, and he drops down to 1 hp.

As the demon cackles and pulls back for one final attack, Shade pulls down on the shadowy chains and restrains it. It howls in fury at this.

Shade asks Callahan if he wants to stop, that if he really wants, Shade knows a way to help Callahan keep going.

Callahan, bloody, sliced up, fighting for consciousness and blinking red drops from his eyes, hands on his sword in a white-knuckled grip, the blade digging into the ground as the only thing keeping him upright, looks Shade deep and deadly in the eyes, his goggles hung slightly cracked around his neck. His eyes have a burning flicker to them and with no hesitation to his words, he speaks. "I need to be better."

Shade takes a moment and the faintest ghost of a smile flitters onto his face and he says "That was the right answer." And he begins to heal Callahan with Greater Restoration.

Now, I could be wrong either with what the spell does or what spell he actually cast, but what happened with this spell was this: he could restore an incredible amount of hp to Callahan, but he would TAKE half the hp he restored as damage to himself. So if he healed Cal for 10 points, Shade would take 5.

This first time he ended up healing Callahan all the way back up to full.

And back to the fight they went.

This happened four more times, where Cal dropped below 10 hp and Shade had to stop to heal him for a moment.

Finally, Shade asked Callahan one last thing.

"I can do one more thing to help you learn the movement of battle, but it would mean releasing him. You don't have to do it, but-"

"You're wrong. I do have to- what would that make me if I backed down at the first sight of risk?"

"...you've made a good choice."

With that, Shade released the Demon, who was battered and torn and nearly as destroyed as Callahan himself, if not far far more. And he let out a ravenous cackle, full of craze and bloodlust and victory. And he looked Callahan directly in the eyes and told him "This is where you die!!!"

Four more rounds.

Callahan had messed up his magic once before in the fight and his magic had surged, giving him the ability to teleport short distances for the next minute.

And his magic messed up once again, poisoning a random creature near him. Luckily, it wasn't Shade, but the Demon was immune to poison anyway.

But as Callahan took hits, he dropped below 10 hp again, but there was no more looking to Shade for help anymore.

He took one last swing, a move of the blade that felt more dance-like than any sort of movement to kill, and he cut the demon clean a sunder- a trail of the blade that ran from one shoulder across to the bottom of its boney hip- and the demon let out a croaking, creaking, collapsing gasp of air that could have been mistaken for a strangled last cackle of defiance.

And then it fell over, a position of defeat that Callahan may have been had he not made the surer move.

And Callahan stood above it all.

Alive.

Alive and by his hands alone was his enemy gone.

Alive and by a blade he used with magic in his veins was he that way.

Alive and the victor over a demon.

Shade healed Callahan one last time, nearly collapsing himself from the loss of life energy. He managed to gain some of it back by summoning small imps that he then proceeded to suck the life out of, but it still took a bit of a toll on both of them.

They went back to the party where everyone lay sleeping, none knowing the exchange that had happened that night.

The spoke for a while longer, Shade telling Callahan of his past while casting the mending spell on his destroyed and torn clothes.

Their shift ended and they woke up the next pair for watch and went to bed.

And now did Callahan forget to tell anyone else about what had happened?

Yes absolutely.

Did Haru end up finding out because 1) Callahan had a fresh magical scar on his cheek and 2) Callahan forgot to give Haru back his sword?

Yes absolutely.

Was Haru pissed off that Callahan basically almost died multiple times and go into full protective boyfriend mode after he found out?

Yes absolutely.

Anyway long story time but I hope you liked it ;D

[finchwingart]

where would you say is the best place to go to uni like country wise? i know LA is like a whole animation ecosystem but that’s very far away from me and also expensive. I’m fairly sure you’ve mentioned going to uni in the uk and i wanted to ask specifically what university did you attend? and maybe other uk based ones that you know of? is the uk a good place to continue working either in the animation industry or as a freelancer? sorry, currently having a HUGE existential crisis over my future

these are not easy questions for me to answer bc I’ve only been to one uni in England and have never lived outside of England so I can’t compare gshnfs generally the US will always be more expensive, and there are options for student help from the government here/some countries here have free university but idk how your citizenship affects it. That’s gonna have to be something you research.

I went to AUB, as far as I know Falmouth uni and DJCAD in Dundee Scotland are also good for animation. As for working in the industry, that’s really a roll of the dice and depends where the work is. There is some animation work here but the majority will be 2D puppets, same with somewhere like Canada, as animation work is outsourced to us. 2D animation in the US will be scarce bc it’s more expensive to make there (they can just pay lower wage workers in Canada for eg instead). However stuff like brexit here in the UK is affecting how much animation work is here, money will always affect where studios will outsource their animation to. 

ofc I’m just talking about 2D animation though with my limited knowledge, this really isn’t something I can give a firm answer to

[jungnoir]

are you accepting requests? if you are, please write fluff for jaemin or jisung from nct!! idc what but i noticed they don’t have anything and i love them uwu thanks

friends to lovers!jaemin and jisung

a/n: I’m not accepting requests but… I’m also bored and stuck on everything else so here’s this tiny thing

⎡JAEMIN⎦

the annoying spicy best friend and boy next door until senior year

you guys lived right next to each other so of course you always hung out!! despite going to the same school and spending the whole day together already, you spend even more time with each other when you get home

you’d beg your parents to allow you both to play in the front yard and kick balls around or play hide and seek in jaemin’s huge backyard until dinner time and even sometimes past that

as you both got older, you’d get to hang out later, so you’d both chill in jaemin’s hammock in the late evening because you both were small enough to fit and tell each other funny or scary stories while the bugs left bites littered over your arms and legs (not that you really cared until you went home and couldn’t stop scratching)

you never thought of jaemin in a different way, though everyone else thought you did

play fights were commonplace between you two so whenever you’d get particularly rough with each other ur friends would be like “lol there go the lovebirds

and it was gross

it was…

gross

?

it was gross up until high school when your hormones kicked in and hey. jaemin is kinda gross. you still remember when he used to plant boogers on your locker handle or tackle you in sweaty arms if he lost to you in a game of kiddy basketball

but now jaemin doesn’t look like scrawny, stinky little jaemin anymore

no, now he can pick you up off the ground with two arms around your waist and laugh in your ear about how you should be more aware of your surroundings

now when he ruffles your hair he follows up with gently patting down the stray hairs, both hands smoothing down from the crown of your hair to the tops of your ears to the curve of your neck

now when he gives you those dark, mischievous eyes and asks “can I stay over tonight?” you can’t say you don’t shiver

you remember a time when you both were so young and so close that your parents would give you baths together for pete’s sake

and now you can’t even stand in your bedroom, ten feet away from each other, and look each other in the eye

he sits on your bed, slouched and flipping through channels on your tv

but when he sees you enter in just a pair of shorts and a giant shirt (his, though it’s been years since he’d last seen it)… he doesn’t quite remember what he was so focused on doing a few seconds ago

“…did you find a movie?” you ask softly, padding over to the other side of your bed as he immediately sits up and draws his long limbs to his sides

“oh! uh… no dice. maybe we should just rewatch something you have here?”

you shrug, point to the popcorn he’s got on your nightstand, and allow yourself a silent heave of air when he’s not looking your way anymore

he retrieves a movie you two have watched so many times before that you can recite the words together and not miss a beat

so it. it feels different tonight. somehow

there’s just a bowl of popcorn separating your hands from finding the other’s and this odd tension in the air that was birthed the minute you walked into your room after telling jaemin you were just gonna “change into something movie night-worthy”

you two don’t end up throwing yourselves over each other like usual, being deliberately annoying and clingy just to make the other person laugh

the movie is about halfway through when jaemin suddenly moves the popcorn to the floor and rolls onto his side, resting his head on his fist as he stares at you

“what?” you ask, v aware of the warmth he’s giving off now that there’s no barrier between you

“nothing”

“it’s gotta be something if you’re just staring at me for no reason” you drag your knees up to your chest to somehow make yourself smaller under his gaze, even to bury your cheeks between your knees so that you could make sure he didn’t see the little twitch in your lip, the want to laugh nervously or spout out some ridiculousness to get him to stop looking at you building up in your tummy

“can’t I just look at you for no reason?” he scoots a little closer, maybe attempting to look funny to you as he says this but,,, he’s doing a really bad job of it

because he doesn’t look funny. if anything, he looks kind of… what is the word?

you bite your lip, “sorry, gotta pay to look”

“what’s your preferred currency, honey?”

oh my GOD shut up jaemin

you push at his chest, trying to ignore how your hand annoyingly remembers the mold of it even after you’d touched him

“silence” you joke, watching as he licks his lips and sits up so that he’s level with you

he reaches forward and cups your chin, glancing between your eyes and your lips

he isn’t even subtle about it

your mouth parts unconsciously, a sudden understanding to this tension you’ve both been feeling hitting you hard

jaemin resists the urge to run his thumb over your bottom lip when it gets released from you teeth, if only to spend this next moment looking at your face

and he’s not even surprised that you can feel it too

“you’ll have to be specific, there’s all kinds of silence”

you don’t know what this is

no, scratch that, you know exactly what it is, but you don’t know if you want to admit it to yourself yet

maybe you could get away with that for now

neither of you would hold it against the other if you just. tried it out once, right?

and so you lean in that much closer, breaths mingling unavoidably now

“getting specific enough for you?”

of course not

⎡JISUNG⎦

idk why i’m so obsessed with this visual of gamer!jisung but hear me out

gamer!jisung, best friends with your best friends aka the other dreamies, but probably the only one you can never get close to

besides the fact he’s a certified bully to the boys, you’re the only one that he isn’t… silly with

like he’ll have renjun in a headlock and then make eye contact with you and the mood immediately dies

you’ve asked each of the boys what the problem might be

are u scary? are u not his type of person to hang around? was he still put off by that time you body slammed mark into a wall?

ok you didn’t actually body slam him but he swears he felt his feet leave the ground for a moment

not your fault he has the weight of a singular macaroni noodle

jisung always talks to you respectfully and if he can, talks to you through the others

it wasn’t… fun… having jisung treat you this way

he was always your favorite not that you have favorites *ahem* forgive me, donghyuck *ahem* so it was v :///// u know

you really wanted him to be able to treat you like he treated the other boys!! because you’d gladly treat him the way you treat the others if only you had the CHANCE

or at least you’d like to know why he didn’t so you could have some kind of closure

jisung happens to run a gaming club at school, and with permission, the “club” (which mainly consisted of all of you) would stay behind after classes and play together in one of the abandoned classrooms

you always had to play against the others bc jisung never wanted to give anyone (you) the floor to challenge him

so one day, you just decide that you’ll sit in and observe jisung play against donghyuck in overwatch

and donghyuck is obliterating jisung

you’ve never seen donghyuck this good, getting excited enough to run over to donghyuck’s side and cheer him on

you place your hand on donghyuck’s shoulder

and jisung looks away from the screen for just one second to see it

right then, donghyuck destroys jisung with a victorious yell

of course, you’re both caught up in the excitement of the moment so the first person he hugs is you

and this is pretty normal for you guys; between wrestling around and being affectionate, it was never weird to receive a hug from anyone except jisung

then you hear a controller clatter to the floor and by the time you’ve peeled away from donghyuck at the loud sound, you see jisung storming out of the classroom

the other boys looked shocked, some even looking between each other, unsure what to do

you notice chenle about to offer to go after him when you stop him, “i’ll go calm him down… he’s probably just upset about the match, you know how he gets”

chenle nods for you to go, gnawing lightly on his bottom lip

you find jisung sitting on the stairs outside the school exit, his head resting in his hands as the evening grows later

the sun nearly blinds you as you move to sit next to him, mulling over what to say

after all, you two weren’t that close in the first place. surely you were the last person he wanted to see right now

without looking up, jisung begins grumbling, “I know, okay? you don’t have to lecture me about it”

you blink

you weren’t planning to lecture him at all!

“I know that it’s stupid to get upset but the game was getting to me and-”

you’re about to cut him off, tell him it’s okay, that it’s just a game and some people get upset about those things but that you all knew it wasn’t that deep

“-you know how much I’m crushing on (y/n)… when I saw them cheering for hyuck, I just lost all focus. it’s pathetic. I wish I could just man up and tell them instead of avoiding them all the time”

oh

jisung… didn’t know it was you

he sounds so distraught too, like he was upset he let himself get angry, upset he let you see him show emotion

you place a hand on jisung’s shoulder and instantly he tenses. you think it’s because he wasn’t expecting a touch but it’s because he knows this hand doesn’t belong to the others

so it had to be…

“it’s not pathetic. if anything is pathetic, it’s that it’s taken donghyuck this long to finally win against you in a game, and even then, you were distracted so it technically doesn’t count”

jisung raises his head and his eyes look rimmed red, frustrated

but his expression is gentle when he sees the caring look on your face

“…hyuck would kill you if he heard that” he mumbles, looking down at his hands

you just giggle and bump his shoulder with yours, “ah, I know. but he also knows you’re my favorite so…”

jisung looks back up at you in shock. “f-favorite?”

you hum, moving your hand from his shoulder to the one furthest from you, wrapping an arm around him so that he has to lean into you. he’s never been so close but it’s. nice. your shampoo smells. nice 

“you don’t think it’s weird? what I said?” jisung looks a little mortified when he remembers that he’d just confessed to you, albeit unknowingly, and you were acting like everything was ok

you look back over to him and shake your head, “not at all… I hope this means you’ll stop avoiding me, though”

jisung doesn’t know how to feel at first; he had always assumed that telling you about his crush would either result in you returning his feelings or cutting off all contact with him

but instead, you don’t do either. you just watch the sunset with him, holding onto him

he also sees that you’re just as wonderful as he thought you’d be. you haven’t told him that you return his feelings but he doesn’t feel terrible at all. if anything, he feels ten times lighter after realizing he never had to hide from you in the first place

he checks to see that you’ll let him before wrapping his arm around your waist and offering you a sheepish smile, “sounds good to me”

besides, he may think you don’t return his feelings, but it’s just a matter of time until he realizes the truth about that too

[astriiformes]

The current strong focus tabletop players are placing on narrative play is very good because it’s both something I personally love and think is pretty important as far as providing a place for people to explore personal concepts and tell stories about characters they need to see in fiction themselves, but I don’t like the dichotomy that has emerged (and has always existed, I think, but seems particularly strong now) between a story (or system!) being super narrative vs super mechanical. 

It’s not really a dichotomy of one versus the other? They’re entirely different spectrums. Sometimes they go hand in hand, but you can also have a narrative game with a ton of mechanics or one without a weighty plot or developed characters but where you don’t roll many dice either! It really depends on how much of each is preferred by your group and tailoring the system you pick and the game you play to that specifically, not what system you’re playing or how much combat you have vs how many social encounters you do.

Idk, I am pretty firmly a rules goblin (I like...... structure........) so that may be part of it, but I do also adore strong narratives, and play in a D&D group currently that has intense character storylines and high-stakes, complex plots alongside complicated homebrew mechanics and a fairly strict adherence to the rules of the game -- we like both, so we find ways to marry them to each other. Some of our characters have physical and/or mental disabilities that we give mechanics to better represent their struggles in game. Sticking close to rules means we have a solid understanding of what will and won’t happen when we fail or succeed at something -- and that something as simple as poking our noses into somewhere we shouldn’t have can result in a long, unplanned subplot involving the resurrection of a character who died in the process, because that’s just how the dice fell. You can have both. Or, if you want, you can find a system that relies less on either.

That’s not to say that people who hate mechanics should be forced to use them because every game should cater to the people playing it, but I see a lot of people who seem apprehensive about putting strong mechanics in their games if they also want to tell a story and you just don’t have to be. I’ve gotten questions from folks who are looking at trying tabletop games (generally D&D) out for the first time who seem to think that “combat” = “removed from telling the story” or that making something depend on dice rolls instantly makes it become something other than “roleplaying” and that’s just not true! Sure, there might be a bit more of a learning curve in games where you do a little more arithmetic or have to remember more things, but the level of mechanical involvement should solely depend on what’s actually fun for you, not a dichotomy that places “mechanics” opposite “narrative” and expects you to pick one! You can use a lot of dice and numbers if you want to! Sometimes they might even make your experience better! I promise!

[hamilton-one-shots]

Hamilton High School AU 36

When he woke up hours later, Alexander groaned and sat up, feeling bloated from the pizza and overall, just gross. "John?.." He tried shaking him away. "John?.." He looked over and saw that he was shaking a pillow. He frowned and looked around, finding a note on the nightstand in John's handwriting.

[Hey, Alex. If you're reading this, I'm not at the apartment. I left to make sure my siblings were back home and okay and I'm going to make them some dinner. I left at 5 and I should be back no later than 6. If you want something specific for dinner, please text me to tell me. Otherwise, please text me anyways when you're awake and let me know how you're feeling. I'll explain everything that I know when I get back. I love you <3]

Alexander tutted and looked at the time. 5:48. At least he'd be back soon. He grabbed his phone and texted him. [hey] [im awaek] [awake*] [miss u] Then he figured that he at least owed Aaron a thanks. [hey] [im ok] [thnx 4 2day] [rly] [oew u big time] He sighed and put his phone in his pocket, then quickly took it back out. "What?.." He threw back the covers and gasped in horror at the warm, wet patch spread across the mattress. It couldn't exactly be helped with the drugs in his system, but still.. Did it have to be in John's bed?.. He got up and stripped the sheets off of the bed before stripping off his wet clothes and heading to the bathroom, taking a quick shower. He put on some of John's clothes and put a new set of bed sheets on the bed before taking the rest downstairs to the building's shared washing machines.

Aaron was the first to respond to the text messages. [I'm glad to hear that.] [Thomas didn't have anything to do with it, by the way. It was Jay.] [He got the drugs from Thomas, but he only gave them to him to get rid of. He said he never was going to use them on you.] [But I don't blame you if you don't believe me.]

John responded soon after. [I miss you too. I'll be home soon, I promise <3] [Do you want anything in particular to eat? I'll make you whatever you want whenever I get home.]

Alexander smiled and went to the group chat, figuring the rest of his friends would want to know he was okay.

[John's Bitch: hey] [John's Bitch: i lived] [John's Bitch: kinda] [John's Bitch: evrythin is sore] [John's Bitch: but im ok]

[Kitty Mom 🐱: Thank goodness! I was so worried about you! 😫]

[MamasBoi: thank fuck] [MamasBoi: what happened?? Jefferson?]

[John's Bitch: idk] [John's Bitch: i dnt thnk so] [John's Bitch: i dnt trst jay]

[Kitty Mom 🐱: I hope you feel better soon. Are you guys still up for the party tonight?]

[OhMyGod:*: Not sure.]

[Kitty Mom 🐱: Maybe we should reschedule?]

[OhMyGod:*: Not if it'd be too much trouble. Its more Alexander's choice.]

[John's Bitch: no its cwl] [John's Bitch: ur mom jst caem home] [John's Bitch: we shoud selebr8]

[MamasBoi: you sure?] [MamasBoi: At least take it easy with drinks 😜]

[John's Bitch: wil do] [John's Bitch: no intenshons of goin loopy] [John's Bitch: ..agen]

[Kitty Mom 🐱: Its fine <3 I'm just glad that you're okay.] [Kitty Mom 🐱: I'll snag that vodka bottle from your room.] [Kitty Mom 🐱: Hey, with that and all of the other alcohol around, there's no doubt that John will get wasted! : D]

[OhMyGod:*: Why are you so happy for that?]

[Kitty Mom 🐱: Maybe seeing you act like an idiot will help him feel better! : D]

[OhMyGod:*: Wow...] [OhMyGod:*: Glad I can help.]

[Kitty Mom 🐱: <3 <3 <3]

John finally showed up as Alexander sat by the dryer and wrapped his arms around him, kissing his cheek. "Hey, I was so worried about you..."

"I'm okay.. Just a bit off.."

"Okay.. What are you doing down here?"

Alexander hesitated to respond. "I... I wet the bed.. I just woke up and.. Yeah... But I changed the sheets and everything.. I'm sorry.."

"I'm not upset or anything. I know you couldn't help it."

Alexander nodded, though he was still embarrassed by the fact.

John held him close. "I'm going to kill Jay on Monday.. I don't know what he was planning on doing, but he used the date-rape drug on you.."

"He was acting funny since I got in the car.. Something about being my resident John and getting Jefferson there and buying my drinks.. I should've seen it.."

"You couldn't have known. Those things are meant to be undetectable.. You're okay now and that's what matters..."

Alexander looked up at him. "Everything was blurry and bright and scary.. But you came and I knew everything was going to be okay.." He smiled.

John kissed his cheek and smiled. "Of course. You know there's nothing I wouldn't do for you. I love you so much.."

Alexander couldn't help but blush. "I'm so lucky to have you.. Even when you make me eat my body's weight in pizza," he chuckled. He remembered pretty much everything from the past few hours.

John rolled his eyes playfully. "Yeah, yeah. Why don't we take the sheets and your clothes upstairs, then get ready for the party?"

"Sounds like a plan."

John grabbed everything from the dryer once it went off, then took it upstairs. He gave Alexander his clothes and folded his sheets, then left with him and walked to Herc's place.

When they got there, Sarah greeted them with a wide smile. "Ally! It has been too long!" She pulled him into a tight hug before taking a second to look at him. "You've gained some weight, I see! That's great!"

Maybe the others may not have noticed it as much, but it was definitely true. Compared to just a week ago, Alexander didn't look nearly as frail, though he did feel like his eyes would pop out of his skull if Sarah hugged him like that again.

"Are you calling me fat?" he teased, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Oh, hush." She smiled and turned to John. "Martha was such a little lady earlier, John. She insisted on helping clean before leaving. She's so mature."

John nodded. "That's Martha for you."

Sarah smiled and led them to the living room where Lafayette and Hercules were sitting on the sofa, already with drinks in their hand and shot glasses on the table.

"Hey, guys," Hercules greeted. "Come join us." The game in front of them was a Snakes and Ladders board modified for other purposes. Most spaces without a snake or ladder occupying it had an instruction written in instead.

John sat down with them and took the dice as Lafayette handed them to him. He chose a game piece and rolled the dice, moving as the dice instructed. He landed on a blank piece and tutted, giving the dice to Alexander. "Want to play?"

"Yeah, sure." He rolled the dice and on 'Down your drink'. "Ha! Stupid game, I don't have a drink ye-" He cut himself off as Hercules pushed his glass of Guinness in his direction. "Gee, thanks. Herc-germs." He picked up the glass and downed it's contents. The glass had only been half full and the drink wasn't particularly strong, so it was no mystery as to why he gave him that one.

Lafayette took his turn next, rolling the dice and landing on 'Everyone Takes a Shot'. He grinned and poured some of the vodka that he'd snagged from Alexander's room into the shot glasses that surrounded the table.

Alexander almost wanted to protest, but he did practically drink all of Laf's wine last time they'd gotten drunk. It was only fair. He took his shot and watched as Hercules took his turn, landing on a blank spot before handing John the dice.

John rolled the dice and moved his piece, also landing on 'Down Your Drink'. Before he could make the same joke as Alexander, Lafayette poured a glass of wine for him. "Thanks for the girly drink," he joked, knowing how strong the drink really was as it scorched his throat. "Christ, Laf."

Alexander watched and felt memories flood back of last time. He grabbed the sharpie from the table and scribbled untidily on a few of the blank tiles 'Kiss BF'.

Hercules chuckled. "Someone's trying to say something."

"Shut up." He rolled the dice and moved his piece, landing on 'Next player takes a shot'. "There you go, Laf."

He shrugged and downed the shot like it was nothing, taking his turn and landing on a blank space.

While Hercules took his turn, John turned to face Alexander with a cheeky grin. "If you wanted a kiss, all you had to do was ask." He cupped Alexander's face in his hands and pressed his lips to his in a loving kiss.

Alexander let his eyes fall shut as he kissed back, intoxicated by the taste of the wine on John's tongue. He only pulled away when Hercules cleared his throat to get their attention. "What? Is it my turn?"

"No, Casanova, it's where I landed." He pointed at the 'Choose a player to take a shot' written on the tile.

Alexander tutted and poured himself a shot, then downed it. He was certainly starting to feel a light buzz, though he could've sworn that it was more from the taste of John's lips than of any alcohol he drank.

John watched him, in a love struck daze until Lafayette got his attention.

"Your turn, John."

"Yeah, yeah." He took the dice and moved, grinning as he landed on 'Kiss BF'. Perfect. He turned to Alexander and pulled him into a passionate kiss, not pulling away until he was out of breath. "How was that for a kiss?" he asked with a cheeky grin as he dropped the dice into Alexander's palm.

All that escaped Alexander was a strained squeak. He blushed and rolled the dice, lazily rolling them across the board and landing on another 'Down Your Drink' tile. He tutted and downed a glass of wine, though he thought it was too good to waste like that.

"Maybe you should skip a few turns.." Hercules suggested. After all, it wasn't like Alexander hadn't just gotten date raped. Still, Alexander made them promise not to bring it up, so he threw in a joke for good measure. "Otherwise, you'll be borrowing condoms before you get up the stairs."

Alexander shot him a playful glare, but it worked.

It worked for John, too. He went quiet for a second. "Maybe I should skip a few turns, too.."

Hercules cursed himself for that comment and cursed the alcohol for making him lose his ability to censor his thoughts.

Lafayette shifted everyone's focus back to the game, taking his turn and landing on a blank space.

Hercules went next. Another blank space. They went back and forth like that for a minute until Alexander piped up.

"Don't you have anything else to fill the spaces with?"

"Do you have anything in mind?" Hercules asked, offering the sharpie.

"Maybe.." He wrote on a few more blank spaces 'text'.

"Text?" Lafayette asked.

"Yeah. You choose someone and give them your phone and they choose anyone to text."

"Very evil. I like it." Hercules nodded in approval before offering John the dice.

"Sure." He smiled a bit and took the dice, rolling them. Of course, he landed on 'text'. He pulled out his phone and pondered his choices. "Let's see... Lafayette is embarrassing just being Lafayette, Hercules has no filter when drunk, and Alexander is Alexander.." He gave Alexander his phone.

Alexander rolled his eyes and went through his phone, already knowing exactly who to text. [madison, if u had a kid nd maed them angery, wud they be ur mad son? pls respond. v importnt.] Alexander handed back John's phone, like he hadn't just text James the most god awful pun. It wasn't long before he got a reply.

[...I came out of a movie with Dolley to answer this.] [Damn it, man.]

John chuckled and responded. [Lol, so sorry dude] [We're playing a game and I had to let Alexander text anyone he chose] [And he chose you] [So sorry :' )] "Where would I be without my jealous boyfriend tormenting my business partner?"

"I don't know what you mean."

Lafayette took the dice and took his turn, landing on another 'Take a shot' tile. He downed the shot with ease and passed the dice to Hercules, who took his turn and landed on 'Everyone takes a shot'. Everyone downed their shot, then John took his turn.

He landed on another 'Take a shot' tile and did just that, feeling the alcohol mess with his system. He sighed contently and leaned into Alexander.

Lafayette smiled at the dorky drunk and took his turn, landing on 'Person on your right takes a shot'. he poured a shot and passed it to Hercules along with a kiss on the cheek.

Hercules smiled and downed the shot, feeling the same buzz that John was. "Dia, tá tú chomh álainn, leanbh..." ("God, you are so beautiful, baby ...") he muttered in Irish.

"Slow those flirty tones, son," Hugh chuckled from the kitchen.

John snorted with laughter and took his turn, landing on a blank space.

Alexander, despite Herc's warning, took a turn and landed right on a 'text' tile. Like John, he ruled out Hercules immediately and ended up giving his phone to John, figuring it was only fair. "Go easy on me, won't you?"

"Maybe." He giggled and went through his phone. [Hey, Aaron. Thanks for helping me with club stuff, but don't get too friendly. I have an amazing boyfriend, after all 💗]

It didn't take long for him to respond. [Hmm... Judging by the mainly correct grammar, I'm assuming this is that amazing boyfriend.]

John giggled. [You caught me : P]

Aaron responded. [Okay. No need to get jealous.]

[Just a warning : )]

"And I'm the jealous boyfriend?" Alexander asked with a chuckle.

John ignored him and cuddled into Alexander's stomach. "My baby.." he hummed.  

[jons v. drunk] [lmao] [dw: ur not my tipe anywai ;)]

[Now it makes sense. John's a very sensible person when sober.] [And you'll be glad to know that you're not my type in the slightest.]

[rude]

John whined and grabbed Alex's wrist, taking his hand and putting it against his cheek. "I'm amazing, too.."

Alexander felt a pang of guilt. Ironically, he'd only been hanging out with Aaron so much because he wanted to make the art department as a surprise for John, but he couldn't very well tell him that. "I'm sorry.." He kissed his hand. "I love you so much, more than anyone."

John smiled and sat up a bit. "I love you too. I'm sorry for being stupid and jealous. Don't feel guilty."

"You're not an idi-" He was cut off by John squishing his cheeks together and giggling sweetly. He was always just melting his heart. When he let go of his face, Alexander smiled and put a hand behind John's head, pulling him down into a hug and holding him close. Nobody was going to hurt him anymore. "You know, I really prefer my guys with curly hair and freckles, anyways."

John smiled and looked up at him, his chin resting on his chest. "I have curly hair and freckles!"

"You do!" Alexander smiled, as if it was some sort of epiphany.

Hercules tutted and leaned against Lafayette. "I'm glad we're not soppy like that. We don't have to be for you to know I love you."

"Of course we don't," Lafayette claimed, though Hercules was just as soppy and silly.

Sarah giggled, looking over at them. They were all so sweet together, so in love, just like herself and Hugh.

Hercules looked over at her and her orange juice. "You're not drinking?" Sarah wasn't a heavy drinker by any means, but she hardly ever passed up a chance to drink with her family.

"No, not tonight."

"Why not? Everything okay?"

"Well, we were going to wait a while longer to tell you, but you're going to be an older brother."

[xmhs]

How was the KARD concert!?!?!

IT WAS SO SO GOOD!! JSEPH WAS SO ADORABLE AND BM AND THE MC WERE SO FUNNY AND IT WAS JUST REALLY AMAZING AHHH

I wasn’t gonna make a post on it or anything since all I did was go to the concert and not the hi-touch afterwards, but since u asked I’ll do like a mini fan account under the cut ^^

they opened the concert with the english version of don’t recall followed by oh nana and jseph and jiwoo could not stop smiling during both of the songs it was so adorable!! after the songs they went off stage and the mc came out to introduce himself and honestly.. this mc really made the concert so much better, he was really funny and comfortable with the members, he didn’t ever seem like he was trying too much, I kept jokingly telling my friend throughout the concert that the mc was gonna be my new bias lmao

so after his introduction, all the members came out and they did introductions, the mc asked them all if it was their first time in minnesota and bm said something like, “yeah, it’s my first time in the east coast” and the whole venue cheered for some reason but like??? minnesota is nowhere near the east coast lmao ok bm….. then they did a q&a with questions that fans had sent in to the company running the concert before hand.  they had each member pick a piece of paper with a question on it from a box and I think they were all written in only english since they all read them in english rather than korean (they all spoke really well!).  jseph had a pretty long question and I can’t really remember what it was, but his pronunciation was really good and people started cheering afterwards for him and he kinda bowed his head and smiled into his lap iT WAS SO CUTE. one of the questions was for jseph specifically asking about his ideal date, he said he didn’t know about what kind of date he wanted but he ended up telling how he wanted to propose to his future wife and honestly……. he’s really the cutest person ever… he said he’s been planning this since he was in high school to bring her to a park and pull a pre-placed rose out from under a bench like “oh what’s this doing here?” and after he proposes he says he’s gonna tell her that if she wants to say yes then she should keep holding his hand, but if she wants to say no then she should let go of his hand, except that jseph said he doesn’t plan to let go of her hand either way and just ajksfjklasljf so cute

after the q&a they did some more songs, all covers.  I was a little nervous about this because I knew they had to do a lot of covers throughout the concert since they only have 6 songs (7 if you count the english version of don’t recall), but they did the covers really, really, well!! the ones I remember are versace on the floor by bruno mars, the monster by eminem/rihanna, side to side by ariana grande/nicki minaj, and empire state of mind by alicia keys/jayz.  they sometimes had two members come on stage in between some songs to give the other two members time to rest/prepare for the next song, so jseph and bm came out together once.  they were speaking in korean for a little bit and bm said something, paused, looked at jseph and said something again and they burst into laughter and then he said in english, “wait, why am I not speaking in english?” LMAO. they also had a vcr in the middle of their audition videos and the members talking about how much they struggled before debuting and how grateful they were that their debut went so well, it was really sweet how much they were thanking the fans during the vcr and also during all their talking parts throughout the show :’)

they did a little “game time” after some songs where the mc and the members came back on stage and four random, pre-selected fans got to come on stage and roll a dice to win a prize depending on the number they rolled.  there was a girl who rolled for a signed poster and a hug with all the members and while they were signing the posted she started crying because she was so excited and the mc was trying to comfort her :((( me and my friend both wanted to give her a hug so bad haha.  one of the fans that got to go up was this 30-40 year old dude and idk if he was a dad of some kid going or what but I was rooting for him to roll on the number to get a serenade from one of the members because like imagine bm serenading this six foot+ old bald dude, but he ended up getting a selfie with one of the members instead.  jseph serenaded one fan and he was adorably awkward about it, but the best part of the whole thing was the other member’s reactions.  somin kept hiding her laughter behind her hand and bm was just hyping him up so much lmao jiwoo was physically cringing and laughing so much I wish I had gotten videos of just their reactions they were golden

they did some more songs and then came back out with the mc to say their goodbyes, they performed two more songs then left the stage.  everyone knew there was gonna be an encore (it’s like the typical formula for a kpop concert lmao) but we started doing chants anyway.  we ended up doing three separate chants because sometime through the chant people would start randomly cheering for some reason so then we had to start over again LMAO but they eventually came back out to perform two more songs and when they were leaving the stage somin kept saying “thank you!” really cutely and sending hearts to the crowd

some other things I didn’t remember to fit elsewhere - bm was so extra the whole concert lmao he kept saying stuff like “minneapolis y’all are lit as shit” and stuff like that, during the photo with the crowd at the end of the concert he said, “on the count of three say ‘swag’” like bm…….. please……….. behind bm, jseph spoke the most english (which makes sense since he speaks more than jiwoo or somin I believe) but I was really impressed at how much he tried to speak and how good his pronunciation was! jseph, like I’ve said a million times already, was just really cute and excitable the whole time I couldn’t stop laughing at him skdjfhks the last thing I can think of right now is that near the end of the concert I really noticed jiwoo not dancing all that much, just going through the motions basically.. the members talked about during their opening introductions how they’re tired because of the tour but the fans’ energy helps energize them (jseph even said he fell asleep ten minutes before the concert but felt wide awake when the fans started chanting for them) so idk I just hope jiwoo and the others get a lot of rest today since they mentioned they aren’t leaving until tonight :(

[like-twilight]

a soft, stay at home ask game, stolen from here cause i just want to do it and im not going to wait for number cause i have eight followers, one of which is me i think so...

your favourite playlist (made by yourself or someone else)

I don’t really make thematic playlists so like... my Ateez one? x”)

how many houseplants in your room, and what kinds are they?

One. Dead x”) I got it for international women’s day and watered it exactly once.

your favourite “grounding” activity (anything that involves using the hands/doesn’t involve “spacing out” or escapism - something like gardening, knitting, dancing, cooking)

playing minecraft and crying x”)

an account on social media whose posts make you smile

this one!

5 tv shows that cheer you up

Im not really watching anything but b99 and community are funny \o/ the good place also! I should finish it hmm.

how you get relaxed when you’re struggling to sleep

I dont, i usually just scroll down twt, forget that about a billion things trigger me then at one point the sun comes up.

your favourite board game

I dont play any? It is strange to me that board games are a huge thing apparently, like we had like two like simple ones, roll the dice, go around the board with your figurine type deals but there are apparently so many, its crazy.

if you were going to write a non-fiction book on any topic, what would it be?

I wouldn’t cause I don’t like things I can be wrong about so I usually just make everything up.

a quote that you would consider getting tattooed or putting in a frame

''...so I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do.'' is my go-to favourite quote at the moment but i wouldnt get it tattooed or framed nor do i really believe it x”) but itd be nice.

something you’ve created in the last year that you’re proud of (a playlist, a piece of art, some writing, a craft hobby, a social media account, etc)

I really didnt.

a tip or hack you’ve learned that makes cleaning or tidying easier

listen. to music. i know, groundbreaking.

if you could make a candle that smelt like anything, what would you pick?

Oh i was like it “smelts” anything like, a candle so hot it SMELTS?!?!? Umm, idk, smells arent a big part of my life x”) something nice like... pine???? wood??? cones? i dont know? x”)

the last so-bad-it’s-good joke you heard

Specific Ocean, its not even bad or good its just funny.

an artist (of any kind) whose work you look forward to seeing

I was looking forward to seeing Ateez live but then the apocalypse happened.

the last tv episode that made you laugh out loud

The good place? I watched a few epis of that a few months ago.

how you wake your body up when it’s feeling tired, achy or needs a stretch

By the sheer force of being scared to get scolded at work if im too late.

a bath, shower, beauty or toiletry product that makes you feel revived, or that you always re-order when it’s running out

I don’t really use anything other than um. Shower... gel...? x”) I do always like getting bath bombs tho i bought some (well, my sister bought those too hm) last year and i got two again this year and i like those they make the water pretty colours :3

a book series you can always escape in

I don’t reaaaad

the sport or exercise you enjoy the most, and what’s helped you get better at it

I have a stationery bike that i should use way more often than i do.

a skill you’ve picked up in the past few years

I havent.

a youtube video you find useful, entertaining or relaxing

I watched a lot of Doctor Mike two weeks ago.

if you were going to dye your hair any colour of the rainbow, what would you choose?

Pink. I actually did dye it pink x”)

the book you just finished and what you thought (no spoilers!)

I didnt.

describe the most wacky, weird and wonderful at-home outfit you’ve put together

Bitch i own four shirts, i dont got the facilities for this.

a game you’re playing that takes your mind off things

Minecraft. Only Minecraft.

the film you watched most recently that you could watch again and again

I watched parasite a few times i think.

your favourite flavour and brand of tea

I dont really care for brands, i do love black currant tea the most, i dont really pay attention to what brand.

a good-will story you’ve heard on the news that’s made you feel hopeful

if that one i read on tumblr about that lady’s husband being the announcer on a subway line and then they changed the announcements and then she was sad cause her husband died and she could only hear his voice in the announcement and then they put the old announcement back for the lady, that shit was good.

a favourite easy recipe: 5 ingredients or less, or takes less than 30 min to make

The Dalgona coffee foam thingy, instant coffee, sugar, water, then stir your little heart out. 

a song that makes you want to have a boogie round your bedroom

dazzle dazzle by weki meki \o/

[jq37]

The Case File – Mice and Murder Ep 4

The Case of the Puzzling Painting 

Welcome back to Loam Hall where our Sylvan Sleuths are still hanging out in a room with a dead body. When we left off, Gangie had been snooping into Sly’s conversation about Fletcher Cottonbottom and now, he uses his Criminal Contacts feature to see what he knows, if anything, about a recent return. With a 26 he knows that his family used to be well respected but after the whole business with the insurance fraud and Sly busting it, the family kind of fell out of favor. So Fletcher was in a weird position where he was rich and a part of high society and had enough dirt on everyone to get them to do things for him but couldn’t actually show his face because he was disgraced. Gangie also knows that it’s rumored that Fletcher’s weapons running scheme was actually a front for moving art. 

With regard to more recent news about Fletcher, Gangie was never in direct contact with him but he knows that 3-4 years ago, his most trusted henchmen started going missing--people attributed it to some kind of “Cottonbottom Curse” and that rumor is part of why Gangie decided to get out of dodge in the first place.

Buck does an insight check on the rest of the PCs and, with an 18, doesn’t clock anyone there as especially suspicious (Lars isn’t there but like..it’s Lars). Ian tries to give Squire Badger his last rites but ends up pulling the knife out, putting it back in, flapping blood everywhere with his feathers, and sending Constance into a badger rage. Buck tries to help smooth over things, claiming his big screw up was a new style of avant garde church ritual (Ian appreciates the support--who ministers to the ministers, you know?) and in the process sees his knife for the first time. Which, you know. He obviously suspected before but never nice to see.

While this is going on, Daisy sneaks off to try and check on the secret door and everyone sees her do it/eventually follows her but we’ll get back to her once we check in with Lars who is en route to the kitchen. Once in the hallway, they do a perception check and, on a 15, there are 3 doors and Ally gets to pick one. There’s a kitchen where Gilfoyle is talking to a group, a door where someone is crying behind it, and a door where they can hear nothing. Ally, the galaxy brained genius, goes for the quiet door. That’s the money door and with their ears pressed against the door, they can hear Edwina and Carolyn--the two mice maids that overheard Buck’s conversation with the Badger--whispering about what happened there and wondering if they should pay back the money they were paid to by Buck.

Gilfoyle walks out and sees Lars snooping but on a Nat 20 deception check, Lars is able to play dumb and skate by suspiciousness. Also, with a dirty 20 perception check, when the mice maids leave, Lars sees that they’ve been stealing silverware. 

OK, back to Daisy who is getting to the séance room as quickly as possible. She has two rounds before people catch up to her so she’s trying to make the most of it by Investigating the painting she noticed was bolted to the wall earlier. She first rolls an 11, getting no new information. This is so frustrating to her. She’s good at this dammit! But being around Sly is rattling her terribly. She has feelings for him--strong ones. But she isn’t herself around him. How can she be with him if he makes her so unlike herself? Her introspection is enough to earn her advantage from Brennan on her second roll and boom! 25! Daisy is back. 

With that roll, she notices that the eyes in the painting actually move and can be used as a spying post on the other side. Then Sly runs in and they start bickering immediately. Daisy throws a crystal ball at him and absolutely brains him on a nat 20--the first combat roll of this very RP oriented season. 

Buck and Ian are still in the room with the body for the moment and Buck asks Ian about the first few names on the list Gangie gave him. There were a bunch of members of the Burrows family--a working class family that all died of a consumptive illness. And then the Diggories who died in a carriage accident. The connecting thread? All badgers. Buck then zooms away to follow Daisy, Ian follows, and Lars, seeing them as they leave the kitchens, also follows. 

So all the PCs are in the séance room now and they kinda have the sense of, “OK y’all, we’re all screwed but we’re al screwed together so we better throw our lot in with each other and start working together so we don’t die because no one else here is on our side.” Buck proposes an alliance and they all agree to share info. Sly asks about Buck’s knife and Buck admits it’s his but says he didn’t do it. Sly believes him--not because he wouldn’t do it but because he has no motive (that he knows about anyway. Buck doesn’t spill about the contract). 

Gangie shares the list of names from before with the whole group.It’s like half badgers and then some other critters (full list here). Sly doesn’t share any of his secret info Grant got texted. Daisy and Buck don’t share about the key (though Sly you’ll remember sat her steal it). Buck does however mention his suspicion about the fact that Gilfoyle wasn’t around when Squire Badger gave his speech and Daisy does the same about the fact that he said he would call the cops but the cops haven’t arrived yet. Lar’s remembers that Jez’s husband is gunning for at seat in parliament and wonders if this is related somehow. Daisy mentions the eyes in the painting and everyone is like way to bury the lede dude! Especially when they’ve just all spilled their secrets. Everyone checks on the painting and with a 25 Gangie can intuit that this is probably used to spy on rich people when they’re mid-séance and vulnerable and spilling secrets (which he doesn’t share but Daisy comes to a similar conclusion on her own). Buck on a 23 can smell ledgers (idk how but the DM said so and I’m reporting it) and guesses that that’s where the Squire’s real office is which means that’s probably where the contract he needs to find and destroy is too. 

 The group makes a list of their loose ends which are what’s on the other side of the painting, what’s up with Fletcher, and the smell of ozone. Plus Ian remembers that the date on the bust in the study is wrong and shares with the class. 

Lars tries to get to the other side of the room by ripping the painting off the hinges with a very impressive 26 but there is fully a wall behind it and the noise brings Gilfoyle, Harding, and the Badger kids running. Lars notes that in the stone behind the painting it says “⅓”  and then hurriedly puts the painting back. Daisy thinks that might refer to a secret third floor or basement accessible by the elevator (but my first thought was that there were 2 other spying paintings in the house somewhere).

Everyone in the room hears the Gilfoyle and co. coming and try to act natural. There is a group stealth check that they all tank so heavily that all the suspicious staff and kids need to do to suss them out is roll above a 5.

AND THEY ROLL A TWO. 

With that, Lucretia appears, totally buys that they’re doing very important spiritual work in there, and in fact guards the door for them. They use the privacy bought by their very vigilant sentry to plan their next steps. Sly, Daisy, and Ian will check out the study while they rest of them check out the elevator. As they exit, Lucretia asks if they got the answers they needed out of the spirits.

Oh yes, says Daisy, echoing Lucretia’s nonsense prediction from last episode. Either something good or bad might happen. Either way, I’m excited! 

Case Notes

How baller of a player move is it to say a line so poignant that the DM is forced to let you roll with advantage? I have been on the other side of that as the DM and it’s so great. MAD respect to Rekha for that. AND THEN THE DICE COOPERATED. You simply love to see it. 

The other best Rekha line is Daisy to Sly upon being called out about stealing the key in his normal, coy, quippy way: You saw me bitch.

Shout out to Grant also for being constantly on as Sly. The guy is on point always. Impeccable.

I am SO SO SO happy Daisy and Sly are on the same mission team. If I was friends with either of them I’d be like, “This is a toxic relationship, they make you too crazy.” But as an outside viewer I want them to be within crystal ball throwing distance always.  

The question I’m sure we’re all asking: Is Brennan enough of a minx to invoke the butler did it trope? I know everyone at the table is thinking it even if none of them have said it outright. I figured the reason the cops haven’t showed up yet was the storm but who knows?

Two pieces of housekeeping, only Buck and Gangie know what the room behind the painting is with their high rolls and, after the bit of passing it back and forth with Buck, Daisy has the key. 

I really can’t do the bit about Gangie’s mom justice. I wish there was a comedy Emmy for actual play DnD shows so D20 could get the accolades it deserves just for that bit. 

Brennan indicated that the conversation between the mice maids was the most interesting info (Gilfoyle convo to staff was too public to be juicy/they could get the info from one of the many gathered staff people and crying is info on its own--though I am curious about who the crying person was) but I’m wondering what he meant by that. Because the fact that Buck paid them might be interesting if Buck did it. But we know he didn’t. Is it the fact that they were in the room at all? Again, info that the party knows if not Lars specifically.  The fact that they were stealing silverware? What’s Brennan’s game here?

[jq37]

[obligatory recap ask]

**spoilers for subway skirmish and borough of dreams**

@kickmuncher3 and @galfast: ty for your asks, I’ll use them for the next two recaps. this is probably the least efficient way for me to handle this but I want to keep all of these visually consistent dammit. 

One of the funniest things about this season of D20 is most if not all of the cast has lived in NYC which manifests as very specific references and in character complaints that you just know come from a place of truth and experience. Which is to say we got a lot of that in these episodes.  

Also, this has nothing to do with anything but living in NY update: On Sunday, I saw a man hanging upside-down from a tree--by his feet--and playing the flute. And barely anyone registered it at all. So I really cannot stress enough how much New York is Like That.

Pete opening the fight by blasting a fireball and then telepathically calling out Kingston is--como se dice--a Power Move.

Brennan *immediately* channels the opposite of whatever energy Emily's on and goes right for Ricky's dog to the horror of everyone at the table and his absolute delight. Like, it's a spectral dog but still. Bro. Dog. 

Kingston taking the heat metal damage to get Epona to drop him is so raw. But then, for the rest of the fight, he doesn't say a single thing except for his Command spells which is a very different kind of raw. 

Question: Is Riz's mom the only good cop that exists in D20?

I know this was an RP ep and I know they knew it was gonna be an RP ep but I wonder what would have happened if they had pretended to cooperate with Epona to get more info. Probably just an extended RP ep that would have segued into this same fight eventually. But I'm curious about what information they let get eaten by a swarm of rats.

Misty's Irresistible Dance spell is very clutch. 

The gators from the last fight are back in the form of Kug's summons and one of them still has a grudge against Misty. Misty is all, "send me your resume!" because she appreciates the spunk. I was starting a sentence about what the hell play this sentient gator is going to be in but as soon as I hypothetically asked it my brain was like, "Peter Pan. Next question."

Y'all, this really was Kug's fight. Between calling the roaches, crocs, and gators, channeling Moonshine to call lightning, and killing Epona within 40 mins of the ep, he truly was on fire. Good for him. He also turns into a bear but specifically a bear that would have escaped from the zoo. It's the little details that make this show great. 

Brennan putting his foot down on tying rats together not being acrobatics is the eternal DM mood. 

Back to Epona for a second, do we think she was working for Robert directly? Someone connected to him? Something else? When her shadow split after Ricky's attack was that meaningful or just flavor? Where did that badge come from? Has it always existed? What does destroying it mean? It didn't seem to help. The bad cop ghosts were still around, just no one could control them at that point. If they had yoinked that badge, could they have had a summoning item that hey could use? Or is it bad karma to use something like that? Is it still bad if you're forcing the bad cops to do good stuff? Did Brennan anticipate this or is the Coach Daybreak 2: Electric Boogaloo? Lots of questions.

Misty's cutting words to the cop (saving Ricky) making the Law and Order "DUN DUN" noise is great. 

Emily ends up not needing to roll to make rat nunchucks because her health goes low enough that her magic ring activates but I feel like she low key wanted rat nunchucks. 

Wild that Kingston went down for just long enough for it to be cinematic before being revived by Misty ("Get up, old man,")

Also wild that this whole fight only took about 45 seconds of in game time. It makes sense if you think about it the way you would a movie and that's how most D&D fights are but that's so much play time for so little game time and it hit me this ep because I was actually keeping track of rounds. 

Anyway, I have not mentioned up until this point that the whole crux of this fight is to last long enough for Alejandro to roll high enough to summon the train to Nod but, long story short, Pizza Rat shows up to save the day. Does that make more sense in context? Marginally. 

I like that the train to Nod shows up on the wrong side of the tracks. Like I said, man. Details. 

Oh and to my above point about the cast making comments about NY as people who have lived in NY, I loved Brennan looking directly at the camera when he was going off on people who just stand at the door like idiots while you're trying to get in and then Siobhan pokes like half her head into frame so she can also stare directly into the camera. Mood.

When Ally said Pete shoots Kingston I half believed it for a good couple of seconds. I was right there with Lou. 

OK, so I don't know how many of you have watched Sharkboy and Lavagirl (and, if you haven't feel free to skip this bullet) but no movie has brought me more enjoyment overall than SB&LG. Not because it's good because it's not. But it's so insane that it's amazing. It's right in the sweet spot. I always say, if it was any better, it would be Spy Kids 3 and, therefore, unwatchable (SK 1 + 2 are dope as hell though, for the record). I bring it up because the way Brennan describes Nod reminds me a lot of Drool in SB&LG. Like, the rollercoaster subway car def could be in the same universe as the Train of Thought. This is all to say that I think Brennan could have written a version of SB&LG that was better without being worse. Idk if that comes across as complimentary, but it is, and to both parties actually. 

From the way Nod (the kid) is being framed (in this ep and the next) I know we're not supposed to mistrust him but, put in that situation, there is no way I would trust the gray faced, black eyed, creepily gliding dream child. 

Post fight, Kingston wants to offer an apology for what he said about Pete and Nod wants to apologize for putting Pete in his current situation. Also, the group decides to be more open in general. Kug, as most of us guessed, got beauty and the beasted for white collar crime by his business partner (Gabby) who is Esther's mom and a witch (also, Ricky thinks his crush on Esther is a secret which is just adorable and completely incorrect).  

Brennan cuts sharing time off because this is the combat episode dammit! Save it for next session. But, because I'm behind, next session is now! Let's get into The Borough of Dreams.

Misty, as a faerie, is instinctively mistrustful of vising other magical worlds and eating the food or taking things at face value. I love that she's playing a character where she can ask these questions and not be meta-gaming because I had some of the same concerns. 

Wildly, WALLY walks out of the train as he just happened to be on it (as conductor) at the time. Kug bursts out with the fact that he's his dad and Wally takes this to mean that Rat Jesus is his bio dad but, even after being left alone for so many years, he claims Bruce as his real dad. He's wrong but he's sweet. 

"I thought you were mad at me." Brennan, you didn't have to do that.

Murph clearly trying to not accidentally call Wally a piece of shit because that's his go to Kug way to describe things is so funny.

"We could turn me into a rat." WALLY

Kingston and Misty looking at each other like, "These absolute children," while Pete and Soph are making Brittney Spears references. 

So we find out what all of the magic stuff they picked up does. Misty's mirror can see invisibility. Pete's grill helps with persuasion. The thousand hour energy makes you immune to sleep for 42 days(!) The bagel can be used for divination or to essentially kill a person but spread their essence throughout the universe  (which low key sounds like a sacrifice someone might make to help cancel the spread of say an undead presence or a money virus). 

I want Ricky and Wally to be friends forever. 

Kingston's lack of connection to the dream world is so sad. Like, he's no nonsense but he's like NO NONSENSE. Like no nonsense possible. So he's just walking around like Eddie Valiant in Toontown. 

And, at the same time, the rest of the party is doing the MOST nonsense. Mary Poppins-ing into the sky. Misty is making out with the moon. Wild. 

SOBER SALAD

Ally drops the ketamine on the tomatoes line and Brennan fully breaks

Very sweet for Pete to bring Kingston a salad, even though that's such a random food to just have in your pocket(???). Why does salad keep coming up on this show? One more time and it's officially a motif.

So the dream world basically works on Sharkboy and Lavagirl/Xanth/Phantom Tollbooth/Wonderland/Toontown logic. If you've seen/read any of those, you basically have it down. 

"Only people with Sprint have service."/"Oh, amazing!" Brennan threw that softball out for anyone who wanted it and Emily, as usual, hit it out of the park.

Brennan very clearly knows his NY history. The mob boss (lucky Luciano, no not that one) that he mentioned during the sleeping with the fishes bit is a real dude and basically the dude who brought organized crime to the US (in the form we know it now). 

Ricky and the mints. Lord.

Anyway, the one item I didn't mention earlier is the holy grail detergent which can literally clean souls. Which sounds mighty interesting considering some of the other stuff that's come up this campaign. 

(Also, I wonder if you could use the bagel as spell components since it contains everything in the universe in microcosm).

I can't believe Pete was the one saying, "At least eat before you shotgun that 1000 hour energy." By the by, the 42 hour span of the energy drink makes me suspicious. Is that just for humor (and accurate math) or it this a Chekov's Gun kind of an item indicating some kind of time jump at some point? Ricky drinks it later in this ep so, if there's a clock attached to that, it's ticking. I'm prob reading into this but I assume if you're still reading these, this is what you're here for. 

Ally making sawing motions before being told an egg creme has nothing to do with eggs and is in fact a drink.

Pete! OK, so Pete has made some good steps in this ep, starting with promising to start reining in the drug usage. Later he works on his magic and also gets over Priya. This is the most endeared I've been to him all season. Especially his, "I try to do a good job," line. I felt that. 

"It's still open to you." Aw.

Brennan clearly saw the chance for a lore drop this ep and boy did it drop. Let's run through the highlights.

Nod dumped all this on Pete the way they did because it's super super hard to contact a Vox Phantasmus beforehand due the the natural, waking world inclination to brush off dreams. You have to have the job before you can talk to the boss. Cruddy system but that's how it goes. 

When Sophie said the thing about Robert Moses creating spaces that can't be accessed she meant by magic but it's an interesting way to phrase it because the irl Robert Moses is known for (allegedly, but like, it tracks) trying to keep black people out of certain spaces. 

Robert Moses sold his soul to Hell and Faerie which is why he's still alive it seems. No one wants to collect on his soul and anger the other party.

Whoever predicted that the golden door for Emma Laz's poem was the rectangle from episode one, collect your prize because it's confirmed in this ep. 

We learn about the ephemeral axiom which basically says, a dream can be all things but once it manifests, it's a single thing. (you might even say, "it is what it is".)

So another big thing we learn is that if a dream gets so big that manifesting them in the real world would break the game, it's called a Paragon. There are four total: Heaven, Hell, Faerie, and The American Dream. (Wild that The American Dream is the only country specific one that exists. Like, I rep my home team of course but the U.S. is a pretty latecomer to the country party. You'd think someone else might have gotten Paragon status at some point.)

"Was one of them the Grand Canyon?"

Anyway, dragging the American Dream into the waking world would fix the American Dream to mean one thing--I assume making tons of money if Robert Moses has his way. I'll admit, I was a  little fuzzy on the mechanics of this on my first watch-through because pulling the American Dream into the real world sounds like it should be a good thing. But I think, at the most basic level, it's a matter of you shouldn't put magic that shouldn't be in a box in a box. I'm still wondering about the exact implications for the waking world if he succeeds though. Like, how would that manifest? Would everyone suddenly become money hungry (lol, how would you tell)? Would people still want what they want but the American Dream would just be understood to mean making stacks and none of the good Superman-y stuff?

"It's not Protestant work ethic is it?"

Robert Moses is undead and can't get into Nod, so those are good things to note. 

I was so ready for Wally is get dispelled and for him to be a figment of Kug’s imagination or a dream or something. I braced myself so much. I was ready to set up a firing squad for Brennan for doing that to Kug.  

Who tipped the bugsters off to where Pete was gonna be? As far as I can tell, the only people that knew were the gang plus Alejandro and Esther. Maybe someone was scrying on them and that’s what the roll Zac failed during the wedding ep was. 

As soon as Brennan mentions locking the door, Ally immediately makes the connection and goes, "Key to the city." Nod "locks" the American Dream and gets rid of the lock which seems to mean the American Dream is temporarily unavailable. Which seems not good and like it's gonna have collateral damage for sure but I guess you bad is a matter of degrees and Robert getting in would be worse. But still, imagine your immigration papers get declined because some random kid decided to close down the American Dream for a couple of days. 

So, we get some backstory of Misty. She apparently just was straight up not having a good time in Faerie so she stole Titania's shoes (allowing her to be in iron-filled NYC without triggering her fairy vulnerability) and peaced out. 

"She's gonna kill you."/"Only if she can get here and I have her Goddamn shoes." (**A million airhorns in the distance**)

I love that Emily is still on the souls thing. Emily doesn't believe in Occam's Razor. In fact, I'd like to propose a corollary called the Axford Axiom: The coolest path between two points probably isn't the correct one, but it should be! I want her to run a campaign so bad so I can see her be in a game where her crazy endgame is what's going on because she's the one who wrote it. 

Misty: Let's go to hell!

So much like a videogame, the map has opened up and we have three places to check out. The former locations in the dream world of Faerie (Carnagie Hall), Heaven (JFK airport), and Hell (where do you think? Hell's Kitchen). The gang splits up to look for clues (and drinks, in Misty's case). Actually, make that four places: Pete goes to the Met Museum of Memories to basically Avatar mind meld with the other Voxes and get a handle on his magic to a degree (thank God--Nod?). We'll take these in order of appearance, which means we're off to Hell with Kug and Ricky (plus Ox and Wally).

(Focus on the Pizza, baby!)

At first I wanted Ricky, the good boy, to go to Heaven, but the idea of a firefighter in Hell also has appeal. 

Re The rat holding his guts: Gross. 

Ricky holding his axe like a cell phone.

So we and Kug learn that the rat-spell that was cast on him wasn't actually a rat-spell. It was a spell that would make his outsides reflect his insides and his insides happened to suck. I'm wondering if that means that it's a static spell that reflects his outsides at the time it was cast and it would need to be recast to reflect any moral progress made or if it will just revert him once he's made enough progress. 

I'm also wondering (partially bc one of my players asked to do this last session) can a Druid wildshape into a person? I feel like no, but like, did any of you ever read Animorphs? You know how in book 1 Tobias gets stuck as a red-tailed-hawk but then later her gets his morphing ability back and then he can turn back into his human form for 2 hours at a time? What if Kug just started doing that? Just being a rat who is sometimes a dude. 

They also go to the statue of liberty (which has a French accent, natch) who shows them that there's, like, a money/greed virus infecting the Dreaming and the American Dream. Ricky smells undeath again. They think vampires. That's plausible but I'm not sure. 

OK, Heaven. 

WHOOOO, strap in y'all

(Sidenote: I wonder what would have happened if Soph hadn't chose to go to heaven. I feel like she could have easily run into you know who in hell had she chose to go there, but I'm getting ahead of myself).

Brennan actually tries to lead Emily into the thinking about Dale mindset but Emily, having reached a note of closure in Soph's character arc, pushes back on that.

honeyougotastormcoming.gif

Brennan,about to wreck her entire life: Cool.

I and the cast keep saying heaven a lot but it's like an all roads lead to Rome situation. It's heaven, Valhalla, Elysium, nirvana. Like, whatever Good Place you believe in. It's the Good Place. 

Sophie, upon being told that if she jumps into the fight at the Pearly Gates she knows nothing about, she might literally die: And what about it?

Emily's face when Brennan says, "And you see Dale," is so much. You can see the entire range of human emotion in her eyes in that moment.

Sidenote: I wonder how much of her backstory Emily planned and how much Brennan dropped on her. Like, she knew Isabella was part of her backstory obv. Did Brennan come up with all of this whole-cloth or did she say she wanted there to be something supernatural and and let him fill in the details. Very curious about the collaborative process.  

 When Dale's character art comes up, it says "Sophie's Angel" for Dale's descriptor so where I thought we were going was that Dale was Sophie's Guardian Angel who wasn't supposed to be romantically involved with her and the reason he was gone is that he was forcibly brought back to heaven. But that may be because I recently watched this.

Dale, is upsettingly sweet with Sophie, calls her "sweetie" the entire time they're together, fights a ton of angels to get to her, and says he got her text message. Emily is about to cry. *I'm* about to cry. I'm sure the only reason Brennan isn't fistpumping is because he needs to stay in character. 

Dale gives this cryptic piece of advice before he is dragged off by angel guards: When you get to the top, I know what it'll seem like, but there is someone there.

Emily, of course: I fight the angels.

The angels, hilariously, don't take it personally that she's fighting them--and very well, but not well enough to beat a nat 20. Sometimes the dice are spooky in tune with the story.

"He's got a job to do here. Who's gonna watch the deer?"

Dale also tells Soph to tell Jackson he said hi which is interesting to say the least. 

Emily gets two very dope lines in a row:

"Let me hold your hand through this Alejandro."

"I'm gonna kill her. And I don't think she's going to the great big airport in Brooklyn."

That's it for her for now, but let's put a pin in that for now and come back to it after we check in with the others. 

Siobhan and Kingston are at the former spot of Faerie, the Glamour Bar.

Zac jokingly (I think) guessing Dr. Doolittle as the thing Siobhan can't remember when she says Eliza Doolittle is so funny. 

Also, her terrible cockney British accent on top of her actual British accent is great.

I love that the two actual Real Adults are the ones who go and get wasted mid-mission. 

Brennan introduces "Bobby Goodfellow" and it takes Siobhan exactly four seconds after Brennan finishes the word "Goodfellow" to be like, "It's Puck." She knew and she knew her character would know it and she hardcore pounced.  

I meant to mention this before but it's super funny that Kingston has been around the magical block but there's still so much he doesn't know. He was surprised by a bunch of stuff in this ep that I'd think he would know about (like the Midsummer's faeries being real) but nah. He's like, "This is my specific brand of magic nonsense. That's what I know about. I don't mess around with any of *that* stuff. I stay in my lane. I stay in my city."

Ty Brennan for teaching me how to pronounce sláinte. This is the first time I'm hearing it out loud. 

I love his Puck voice. Like, the little British street urchin voice.  

No big surprise, Puck sent the mirror on the order of Oberon and Titania (who are not back together but are knocking boots according to him). 

Puck warns Misty, "The world of mortals is not long for this world," and follows it up with a seemingly sincere, "Come home. We miss you," which is an interesting thing to say after announcing that Titania is gunning for her. Who is this we, Puck? Your boss wants to bodyslam her!

Also, what do the faeries know that they're not saying? All of them in the bar seemed to know something was off but none of them said anything and Puck didn't elaborate. 

I've always liked the trope of the person from the otherworldly, magical or super advanced being like, "Idk what you're talking about. Humans are great!" because it's the opposite of the snooty elf/vulcan/whatever trope that I really can't stand. Misty showed shades of that in this conversation but I feel like there's still so much that we're missing in her backstory and I wanna know what it is.  

(Also, this is prob just me being a little pepe silvia but I would be very unsurprised if Misty got an opportunity to betray the party at some point. Don't @ me. It's just something I could see myself offering to a player for the drama of it all). 

Anyway, Kingston is extremely uncomfortable in the bar and makes a hasty exit so let's go to the museum with Pete and Nod.

Ally jumps onto the, "Suggested donations are for suckers" train w/ Siobhan. 

Turns out, Pete f'd up Robert up so much that he has kind of a brain link with him. I wonder how long that's gonna last. 

Pete gets proficiency in arcana and a choice between lesseing wild magic surges or gaining some control over them (2 wild magic rolls on a fail and ally gets to choose which effect takes place). Obv the second one is more fun rp-wise so that's what Ally picks.

It's a memory museum so OF COURSE he gets a chance to look at the memories of the rest of the party. But it's getting late so he only has a chance to check on one person's memories. He, naturally, picks Kingston. Makes perfect sense from an RP perspective but out of character I feel like Misty is the most closed book of the party. 

Pete sees Kingston's life from his childhood to the present (Brennan puts Lou on the spot to do some improv...I mean beyond the improv they're already doing) and it's about what you would expect based on what we know about Kingston but it's very beautifully described (sidenote: did any of y'all ever watch the life and times of juniper lee? where she can't leave the city bc she's like the buffy of that world? I really felt shades of that, except more self imposed).

During that montage, a character is like, "You could make hundreds of millions of dollars--I mean, I'm exaggerating," (s/t like that) and I'm not gonna go back and check but I feel like Brennan (or maybe Lou) made almost exactly the same comment in the first ep of this season in a very similar context.

Oh, also, Kingston gets dubbed Vox Populi by a dragon on Bleecker Street in case you were wondering about logistics. 

Again, Nod says that inviting Liz into his life was basically dooming Liz to be stuck dealing with the Unsleeping City but I feel like unless you have a Vox position or something similar you should be able to, like, opt out. So what you need to ignore some weird stuff day to day? May I direct you to my earlier anecdote about the flute dude in the tree. New Yorkers are good at that. And if she moved away, would it even be an issue?

Actually, that raises another question. Is NY the only place where magic is happening? It can't be because Santa is doing his thing at the North Pole. And NY has the Umbral Arcana which shields magic from muggles. Does that mean that elsewhere, magic just isn't hidden? I'm guessing that works because the bulk of magical happenings are happening in NY. Which, again, if so, couldn't Liz just move if she really wanted to? Or is she actually being *kept* there? 

Ahhhhh, that argument scene with Kingston and Liz. Ow. 

Robert's subconscious is heckling Kingston's memories the entire time. 

The party gets back together, Pete immediately lets Kingston know he was memory spying on him and hugs him (while Misty is drunk a singing over him). Their rift literally caused a kind of rift in NYC which is now healed (which causes Sophie to see the Unsleeping City/Dreaming Yin-Yang sign over their heads).

 Ricky drinks the 1000 hr energy so start the clock I guess. 

Misty, upon hearing that Dale is dead basically does that John Mulaney bit: Hey, do you want me to kill that guy for you? Because it sounds like [s]he sucks and I will totally kill that guy for you. 

It's the day of Priya's art show which I totally forgot was happening. Before that, Sophie finally goes to see her brother and we can return back to that pin I mentioned earlier.

(Also, it’s the 20th which means we’re getting really close to Christmas)

He says that their family got mixed up with the Confettis and they've been helping to launder magical items that Confetti is paying some rep from Hell (an associate of Robert's).

And by, "Some rep from hell," I mean Isabella Infierno specifically.

Emily, hilariously riffs for a while about how small it was of her to call Isabella a succubus even though she clearly knows at this point that Isabella is some kind of demon. I mean...Infierno. Come on. 

Sidenote: Which demon actually trying to be subtle would pick the last name Infierno? You wanna blow your cover for the aesthetic that bad?

Emily goes, "Oh my (beat) Nod," which I think is the exact way she dropped the first, "Oh Melora," in one of the first eps of Naddpod. 

Anyway, it turns out that Soph's family knew that Isabella was gunning for Dale (he was getting close to realizing something shady was going on) and, while they didn't call the shot, they let it happen.

Oh! He also says Dale was a chosen one from "some monastery" which, of course, fits in with Dale's comment about saying hi to Jackson. Now I'm wondering if his other comment--about there seeming like there's nothing at the top--is about whatever chosen one test he had to take to get the position to begin with. And maybe he was giving a clue to Sophie so that when she takes it, she'll for sure pass and get whatever dope powers or weapons or privileges come with the position. 

"The only reason I'm not going to go after you right now is because I'm not organized enough to give you the fucking revenge you deserve." Soph is cold as ice after hearing about what her family did. 

"Maybe you should have said that to Isabella before she went after me." Another mic drop line from Emily. This really was her episode. You can really see Emily channeling hr genuine emotional reactions into her character.  

La Gran Gata shows up to let Soph know she has her back to hunt down Isabella. The only other warlocks really seen played are Fjord on CritRole and Leiland on Bloodkeep so it's wild to see a character with such a chill relationship with their patron.

So, Priya's art show. They show up (to a distressingly unsafe building from Ricky's perspective) and it turns out, not only is it performance art (the worst kind) Pete *is* the art.

"I present to all of you: cruelty, a exploration of a relationship. Peter, take my hand."

major barf.

Pete goes OFF

Kingston: Picasso is art, this is bullshit!

Siobhan: Her last name is Danger? I hate this bitch.

Pete gets over Priya instantly which totally tracks because, like I said, barf. 

Sophie stealing Ricky's thing and rooftop jumping. Zac narrows his eyes when she says that.

I love Isabella's title card. It says, "Literal Succubus". It reminds me of the funniest scene in Bedazzled when the Devil (Liz Hurley) gives Brendan Frasier her business card and it just says, "The Devil".

But she's here and she's here to fight! I'm so excited for this one y'all! Unsafe building. Lots of civilians. Sophie (and Emily) going totally feral. I haven’t looked forward to a fight this much since Adaine went for Aelwen. Let's gooooo!

[jq37]

May we have a recap, please? :)

**spoilers for panic at the art show and home for the holidays**

OK people. I actually don’t have a ton of commentary on these two so I’m gonna try and keep it (relatively) short and sweet [Edit from Future Me: Failed Step 1].

Also, iirc, this is the week Dropout starts streaming new Fantasy High eps on Wednesdays which is very dope and I am very excited for. I probably won’t do full on recaps like I do for normal eps because, lbr, I don’t strictly have the time to be recapping these eps at all and it’s pure stubbornness that keeps me from making wiser time management decisions. But, rest assured, if I have an Opinion, you will hear it whether you want to or not. 

Anyway, on with the show. 

Last recap, I mentioned that this ep was giving me Aelwen house party vibes and now it reminds me of that ep in another way: Everyone rolled like TRASH almost the entire ep. It was so frustrating! They barely got any hits in until like halfway through the ep.

(Aw man, I just realized I’m gonna have to remember which spelling of Aelwen is correct again now that FH is coming back.)

I love how Murph is immediately like, “I need to make sure my wife doesn’t die during this fight avenging her fictional husband.”

Isabella also has Aelwen’s trick of poofing around the battlefield which is annoying as hell (ha) for the group.

Siobhan hilariously casts fear on Priya just to be spiteful. I thought she was doing it to help the evac process but no. It was a purely spiteful action. Bless. 

When Kug turns into an ape he, of course, turns into *the* NY ape, King Kong. 

“I roll a nat 20 on an epic shit.”

When Brennan was describing Kingston’s spectral New Yorker Guardians I was already thinking about that one part of Spiderman 2 (the OG Toby Mac version) and then he straight up said, “You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us,” and I lost it.

“Deny the stairs the pleasure of my feet.” Emily is a poet.

I want to know what makes a pigeon spicy more than anything. 

The fact that Brennan killed Ox AGAIN and then immediately looked into the camera and let the audience know the dog was fine because he clearly Oracle stared into the future between eps and saw the entire internet sharpening their pitchforks  was so funny. 

About midway through the ep, Pete tries and fails to send Isabella back to hell and Isabella starts monologing about her plans and connection with Robert Moses (she stole the list from Santa and is/was gonna marry Moses apparently). I wonder if Brennan was like, “These players are for sure gonna murder her without getting any useful info out of her unless she goes full Bond Villain right now.”

And, proving my point, Emily immediately does 56 points of damage, royally f-ing Isabella up. 

This is a really civilian heavy fight which feels weird in a way the FH fights never did. Like, these aren’t even civilians who live in an adventuring town in a fantasy world. These are just normal ass civilians in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

Pete fails a wild magic roll after failing to teleport into the building and then gets a choice of getting really strong (which prob would have let him bust down the door) or to teleport in (which is what he does and exactly what he wanted). Very clutch when the dice rolls play into the story like that.

Kingston lightning bolts Isabella’s hair off which is just malicious but also totally called for.

On her next turn, Sophie gets hurt on purpose to get low enough to activate her ring, lets her hair burn for long enough to shorten it to a cute bob, insults Isabella, then knocks her tf out. 

I love that Emily took one of her teeth (a seemingly crazy move) and when called out by Lou was like, “It’s a link to Robert Moses” (a completely reasonable answer). That’s the Axford one-two punch.  

I didn’t mention it before but, Willie the golem is here, first immobile but then brought back by Misty. Post fight, he says he was somehow brought here by one of the evil factions of the city and says they’ll talk about it later. Also, Misty makes out with him (DON’T KINKSHAME HER).

With a high insight roll, Kingston is able to deduce that the group was ambushed (though not by Priya) and that their victory was a really important one for the fate of the city. 

(Sidenote: The amount that Pete is Over Priya in this ep is so funny.)

Back at Wally’s (which is where Kug is now staying) Wally has gotten Kug a dog bed to sleep in and fancy charcuterie cheese because he and Ricky are the only pure-hearted people in NYC. 

At the same time, Pete and Kingston have a very sweet heart to heart and then settle down at Kingston’s place to chill and listen to jazz. Idk how else we expected this to resolve, considering this is a Brennan Lee Mulligan DM’d show where the sacred pillars are Teamwork, Friendship, Communication, and Making up an NPC on the Fly Because One of Your PC’s Decided to do an Insane Thing. 

Next up is the Christmas ep and Brennan, Emily, and Zac are in sweaters for the occasion. 

Well,actually it’s the 21st and Emily immediately clocks that that’s the solstice. 

Are cookies the good carb?/Absolutely not. But have fun with your life. (I love Ricky’s soft jock energy.)

“I run deliveries,” Pete says to Kingston’s parents, not technically lying but also not being completely truthful. Misty would be proud. 

Going over to Misty, it seems pretty clear at this point (and it’s confirmed in the promo for next ep) that Misty’s fairy business is some kind of de-aging/reincarnation for herself. I wonder how many of these she’s done so far. She said she’s been around for, what? 200, 300 years? Assuming she’s been doing then reincarnations at about 65-70 years old and she reincarnates to around 25? Maybe 6 times? Idk. Just spitballing. 

Saucer of milk to keep the faeries from stealing her (non-existing) children. Faerie lore is wild y'all. 

Did you take another level of warlock?/Yeah bitch.

The fact that since Sophie has joined a monastery, she’s only taken Warlock levels and no Monk levels is very funny from a story perspective. It’s like, she finally comes to this sacred place to be trained to her full potential and she’s just spending what should be her sparring time playing with her cat in exchange for spells. Wild. 

Emily’s cat-like, self-satisfied grin when Brennan is like, “So you just jerry-rigged yourself clairvoyance powers, huh?” is so good. 

And she did it on the fly because Emily Axford is winning D&D. There are no points but she’s winning.

So, uh, Emily does, two things, very in character right after the other:

Thing number one: She send her unseen servant to spy on her family. Her dad seems hardline, “F, Dale. Whatever. Family first. She needs to get over it.” On the other side of the spectrum is her mom who is very upset about the whole affair with her siblings falling in the middle. 

The second thing she does, very casually I might add, is have her unseen servant BURN DOWN HER HOUSE SO SHE CAN COMMIT INSURANCE FRAUD.

EMILY

Everyone loses their minds and rightfully so. What a wild-ass swing that no one could have seen coming. I love it. 

“I look in my backpack which is now my home[…]" 

I almost forgot that Ricky was a fire fighter who would not abide that nonsense until Brennan decided to cut to him. 

Ricky just dolphin swims across the Hudson in 2.5 mins to go put out the fire that Sophie set. Amazing. 

Ally mocking Emily/Sophie: Truthfully, I don’t know what happened.

"I love John McClane, because he loves his wife.” WALLY

Wally: Oh we’re gonna tell a lie on Christmas.

“This is what winning looks like.”

I would really like to know what trace stuff what on the drugs Pete got from 7 but Ally rolled too low to figure it out.

“I disassociate fully." 

Well it took him a long ass time but glad to have Pete on the selling drugs to kids is bad train. Choo-choo, dude. 

7 saying you can hack in real life in reference to his AK-47 has the same energy as Hardison using the word hack in literally any semi-weird episode of Leverage. 

SOCIAL MEDIA IS VOLUNTARY PANOPTICON

So Kug goes with Wally to David’s house disguised as a dog and, despite that, blurts out that he’s his dad immediately. Well, he tries to. The Umbral Arcana stops him, unfortunately. 

"I lick my son’s face.” KUUUUG. 

Sophie showing up with a raw goose and hellish rebuking it is so metal and it’s a shame no one got to appreciate it. 

Me when Sophie’s Mom changes into black top in solidarity for Sophie’s mourning: F EVERY OTHER NON-SOPHIE BICICLETA. I RESPECT YOU. 

Kingston is hustling very hard to get his man Pete a job which is a very Kingston move. That’s how guys like that show affection. 

Didn’t mention it before but Kingston’s parents and Mom specifically adopting Pete is very cute. 

Sidenote: Idk what 7 was talking about Pete trying to stay low profile. He wears a cowboy hat (now a ZEBRA STRIPED one, courtesy of Kingston). I think the subtlety train has sailed my guy. 

Esther shows up at the firehouse, carrying presents for her mom and grandma and looking for Ricky. The says that she’s kinda dealing with something and it feels good to be around him (beat) magically speaking. Sure. I’m gonna keep my Hercules soundtrack on hand just in case anyway. 

I think Ricky is the only person who, with no pretense, could give his crush a sexy calendar featuring him.

Anyway, turns out Esther’s mom and grandma are the furies of Tompkins Square and she’s fated to join them or something. 

Esther causally: I defy you, I defy the prophecy.

The fury thing would explain why Esther’s mom would have cursed Kug. They are famously magical punishers.  

Ricky is a magically certified Good Boy but we been knew.

Zac’s restraint to respect Esther’s personal boundaries in lieu of getting a lore drop to stay true to Ricky’s character is amazing. Mad props.

So we slide over to Misty’s Christmas party which Stephen Sondhein is attending and him having a character card kinda killed me. 

There’s a post on tumblr somewhere about playing faerie  incapability for impoliteness against a vampires need to be invited in and that’s what I thought about when Moses and his vamp friends showed up at Misty’s house.

Robert tries to talk Misty into striking a deal with him for protection from Titania. She’s very much not having it.  

“You know Robert, I love a comedy and I love a farce. I’d like to remind you of who it is that started this and it’s not me and it’s not my friends but I can assure you Robert Moses that we will be the ones to end it if you do not. Do you understand me?” Damn. That’s a mic drop from Misty. 

[As I’m editing this, I’m realizing I somehow lost a BIG chunk of text. I’m not gonna write it all up again but the Cliffnotes are as follows:

Between the Solstice and Christmas, the gang goes Grand Central Station to see the clockwork gnomes that live there because trouble is apparently afoot. Some size changing nonsense happens and Pete shoots a dog (with mini bullets, the dog is fine). Lou is enchanted even though Kingston is not (a common theme with him). Ally and Emily are on the same nonsense wavelength (as usual). 

There are dope magical dragon trains under Grand Central Station that go to the shadow realm which is a place I’d like to know about. Kingston has never seen these trains before even though you’d really think he would have.  

Murph says Gnome Rights which is wild if you know what Naddpod is like. 

Anyway, the high priestess of the gnomes passed out the other day and they figure out it was due to pixie magic which is suspicious. They also know they pixies have access to a “time stone” which leads me to believe that it’s Brennan and not Aguefort who thinks that Chronomancy is the most powerful magic of all. 

Sophie and Jackson go to Dale’s grave on Christmas. Jackson explains that the Order of the Concrete Fist is basically a literal school of hard knocks. A counterbalance to all the reach for the stars dreaminess that comes with NYC.

Dale was their chosen one who was supposed to stop the monastery from falling when some unspecified badness crossed over to this side, but when he went to the place where he was supposed to get guidance, there was no one there (clearly tying in to what Dale said to Sophie last time they talked. I wonder what she needs to get to the top of? Empire State maybe?).

Watching Murph watching Emily, his real life spouse, play at grief for her fictional husband and do some truly insane things is so funny because you can clearly see him thinking, “I am married to this woman,” which, in fairness, is probably the main thing he’s thinking when he’s playing D&D with Emily.

I’m probably missing something but that’s all I remember. Back to post-Christmas!]

So it’s opening night at Misty’s show and, somehow, Ricky’s first show ever. 

I love that Don Confetti is there because of Siobhan’s offhanded comment for a handful of eps ago about him being a supporter of the arts.

Anyway, everything is going great until the second act when Titania busts in through the mirror which is *not* is storage as Misty requested but on stage. It’s a theater fight, y'all! And not the West Side Story kind although if that doesn’t come up I will be very surprised. 

“Let’s kill Titania!” –Misty in the promo

Just going straight to 11, huh Misty?

See y'all then!