#(because really there’s like five armors per class

[ishouldgay]

All the people I see that say ‘oh DAO is the best game ever and each game after has been worst’ is such a loser. The combat is horrible and boring. It’s just ten different ways to knock people down unless you’re playing a mage in which case you are radically overpowered. About 99% of the armor looks ugly and most of the cool stuff is only heavy armor. ALL the mage hats are hideous and the cc isn’t much better (though that is an over all dragon age problem) there are two large sections of the game that are known to be absolute slogs to get through.

I love Dragon Age Origins. It’s the game that got me into video games and RPGs but you can acknowledge that there is plenty in the game that hasn’t aged super well.

‘Oh DAO is way better than DA2 and DAI’ go replay the Fade and Darkroads sections again and lower your expectations.

[grailfinders]

Grailfinders #337: Hai Bà Trưng

happy easter y’all, I hope you’re all enjoying your chocolate, eggs, chocolate eggs, and eggs in the shape of chocolate. we’re back at it again with a crisis, both a water monster crisis, and the fact that I can’t really spell the Trưng Sisters’ names right on this keyboard, so from this point on expect me to use the wrong kind of u.

spelling aside, the Trung sisters are a combo of Glory Paladin for their winning attitude and glowy weaponry, as well as an Echo Knight Fighter because… duh. there’s two of ‘em.

check out their build breakdown below the cut, or their characters sheet over here!

next up: “so what’s it like being split into a thousand consciousnesses?” “eh, it has its pros and Cons”

Ancestry & Background

the Trung sisters are probably human, unless you believe in that ascending to the heavens bit, but either way they’re close enough for it to work here. that means they get +1 Strength and +1 Charisma, as well as proficiency with Animal Handling for their elephants and the Ritual Caster feat to actually get those things. with this feat you get two first level wizard spells like Find Familiar and Comprehend Languages that you can ritual cast as many times as you like- the former one of your lil elephant friends, and the latter is the grail translating for you. you can even add new spells to your ritual book if you find them lying around in scrolls or other spell books, so keep an eye out!

also the Trung sisters are Nobles, so they get proficiency in History and Persuasion. if you took a shot every time we released one of these builds with a noble background the only thing that would save your liver is our update schedule. and again, we know noble is a big step down from king, but we do what we can.

Ability Scores

going off the standard array, Charisma should be your highest stat to start out with. it’s literally one of your abilities, and it makes all your paladin stuff extra juicy. second highest is your Strength, since you kill things with spears and swords. R.I.P., Infinitiger. your third highest stat has to be Intelligence since that’s how we qualify for ritual caster, and you definitely know your way around a battlefield. this means our Constitution is lower than I’d like again, but it’s okay for now. the real problem is your low Dexterity making your outfit choices a little difficult to work with, but at least that’s better than your Wisdom. half of you is too busy being a siscon to pay attention when they’re on watch, and you died because your underlings betrayed you. rough.

Class Levels

1. Paladin 1: starting as a paladin gives you proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saves, as well as Athletics and Insight. despite dumping their wisdom, the Trungs are good leaders and judges of character. paladins also start out with a Divine Sense, letting you pick out extraplanar creatures nearby. you learn their location and what they are, but not who they are. I don’t think the kons are extraplanar, but if they were that would make them so much easier to round up. also if they get chomped on by a fishman you can patch them up with Lay on Hands- you get five HP per day per paladin level, and you can touch someone as an action to either heal them or use five HP to cure a disease of theirs. real useful when you live on a deserted island with no casters.

2. Paladin 2: second level paladins get a Fighting Style, and while Defense would be the smarter choice for +1 AC your spear and sword are both one-handed weapons, so I’m getting the Dueling fighting style instead. that gives you +2 to the damage done with a one-handed weapon every time you hit with it! extra armor might protect you from some damage, but killing will protect you from all future damage!

you also learn Spells which you cast and prepare using your Charisma, but the only spell I really want at this point you’ll get permanently next level so I’ll cover it then. for now, you can also use your spell slots for some Divine Smites- burn a spell slot, deal extra radiant damage when you hit something, deal extra extra damage when you hit a demon or zombie.

3. Paladin 3: third level paladins have Divine Health, so now you can never get sick. anime characters don’t get sick unless they do, and if they do it’s plot related anyway so your DM probably won’t let you off the hook even if you have this.

more importantly, you are now fighting for the Glory of your people, so you get some oath spells! they’re always prepared and they don’t count against your prep limits- Guiding Bolt hits a guy and gives the next person to attack them advantage, and Heroism is the spell I was talking about in level two. with this spell, you can give a creature immunity to being frightened plus some bonus temporary HP every turn for up to a minute!

you also get two Channel Divinity options, and you can use one of those each short rest. you can either become a Peerless Athlete for ten minutes to make up for how spread out your stats are, or you can use an Inspiring Smite to give temporary HP to nearby creatures after you make a divine smite. both of these options use your bonus action, so you can squeeze them into your turns pretty easily right now.

4. Paladin 4: now that you can cast spells you can become an Eldritch Adept using your very first Ability Score Improvement- technically I should save you getting your Armor of Shadows for later to coincide with your third ascension but I’m not going to leave you at 10 AC for the whole dang build. now you can cast Mage Armor on yourself for free, adding 3 to your AC total while unarmored.

5. Paladin 5: fifth level paladins get an Extra Attack each action, so now you can hit twice a turn! I mean. there’s two of you, that tracks. you also get 2nd level spells, including your freebies Enhance Ability, again to overcome stat spread, and Magic Weapon, to make your weapons all glowy for your NP.  they also get +1 all attack rolls and damage rolls.

you can also Find Steed now to give your elephant the boost it needs to be ridable! sure it’s still not elephant sized yet, but you can get it up to a warhorse, that’s pretty neat! also you can use Gentle Repose to keep those water monsters from doing their con-eating trick. they might not be undead, but it keeps them from getting up again so it’s close enough.

6. Fighter 1: we’ve got plenty of Trung now, so let’s work on the sister part. bouncing over to fightergives you a Fighting Style, which means we can take Defense after all! or Dueling if you were smart and took the AC first. speaking of AC, you also get a Second Wind once a short rest, letting you heal up as a bonus action!

7. Fighter 2: second level fighters get an Action Surge, so now you can make a second action with a second attack for a total of four in a single turn!

8. Fighter 3: third level fighters can become Echo Knights, letting them Manifest Echo as a bonus action. this creates a copy of you with better AC and 1 HP that you can move around the battlefield as you wish, as long as it stays within 30’ of you. you can attack from its position as well as your own, and you can even swap places with your sister as a bonus action too!

you can also Unleash Incarnation up to Constitution Modifier times a day, adding an extra echo attack to your attack action! right now that’s only once, but it’ll get better as we go.

thanks to the echo knight’s funky splitting, we can use buffing spells like Magic Weapon and it will improve both sisters’ weapons at the same time!

9. Fighter 4: fourth level fighters get another ASI, so grab the Slasher feat to round up your Strength score as well as protect the precious cons! once a turn you can slow down a creature you hit with slashing damage, and your critical hits force disadvantage on the attack rolls of whatever you sliced through! if you’re going to bring marshmallows to the front lines, it’s best to make sure they don’t die.

10. Fighter 5: fifth level fighters get… nothing! extra attacks don’t stack like that.

11. Fighter 6: as a consolation prize, sixth level fighters get a bonus ASI, so bump up that constitution for 11 points of health (remember that +1 each level is retroactive) and for more unleashed incarnations! now you can attack up to six times in a single turn! that would use up literally every spell slot you have right now, but you can!

12. Paladin 6: sixth level paladins have an Aura of Protection, so everyone around you gets a +3 bonus to all their saves! now your cons won’t get blown up by a fireball… as much. I’m sure a successful save would still get the cons knocked out though.

13. Paladin 7: seventh level glory paladins get an Aura of Alacrity, so everyone around you gets a movement speed boost. again, it’s keeping the cons out of harm’s way!

14. Paladin 8: at eighth level you get another ASI, so bump up your Strength for stronger attacks!

15. Paladin 9: ninth level paladins get third level spells, and you get Haste and Protection from Energy for free! I’m sure you could argue a D&D build would have to be perma-hasted to even stand a chance at keeping up with a servant, but really the only third level spell I want here is Elemental Weapon. in contrast to magical weapon, you still get a +1 bonus to attacking, but the bonus damage is a little stronger, and you can make that damage an elemental type like acid or fire. I’d use cold damage here for their demon slayer-esque water sword attacks. or you could use something like Crusader’s Mantle to give everyone around you mini-smites for up to a minute.

16. Paladin 10: at tenth level your natural leadership abilities give you an Aura of Courage, so nearby creatures can’t be frightened while you’re around. it’s a shame it only has a range of ten feet, that would’ve really come in handy while you were alive.

17. Paladin 11: I hope you like radiant damage, because an eleventh level paladin has an Improved Divine Smite, adding a d8 of the stuff to every melee attack you make. that basically doubles your damage output most of the time- there’s a lot of doubling going on in this build, almost like you’re two people or something.

18. Paladin 12: twelfth level paladins get one last ASI, so bump up that Constitution again to not die! not dying’s my favorite hobby, and I bet its yours too, we have so much in common.

19. Paladin 13: our last level of paladin gets you Compulsion and Freedom of Movement and a bunch of other spells but who cares because it also gets you Find Greater Steed, letting us finally have an elephant-sized elephant. well, actually a rhino-sized elephant but it’s waaay closer than a horse.

20. Fighter 7: our true final level is going back to fighter to become an Echo Avatar. now you can transfer your mind to your sister and basically play as her, with the max range of the echo increasing to 1,000 feet while you do so. this also doesn’t prevent you from switching places with her, so you can trivialize a lot of traps by just sending the more expendable sister ahead of you.

obviously I don’t think this level’s in character, but it’s at least slightly moreso than the next paladin level where you can break curses by touching people, so here it is.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

while I didn’t go over it much in the build itself, Paladin has some nice spells, and unless you’re super dedicated to playing in-character I highly recommend you look at the full spell list before committing to just using spell slots for smiting and elephants. also, ritual caster doesn’t look like much on the surface but if you play your cards right it gives you access to a ridiculous amount of Utility, giving you plenty to do outside of combat. with ritual caster you have access to spells no paladin would ever be able to cast like drawmij’s instant summons, and you can become the party’s communication hub with spells like Contact Other Plane or Skywrite.

you can attack way more in a single turn than a paladin really should be able to, which means you take the paladin’s burst damage potential and crank it all the way up to eleven! with action surge and unleash incarnation, you triple the number of attacks a paladin should ever be able to get, making you a burst damage machine. assuming a regular longsword with elemental weapon on it, you deal 6d8+36 slashing + 25d8 radiant + 6d4 cold, for an average of just under 200 damage in a single round.

 I know this last one isn’t much, but. riding an elephant is so cool y’all, it gets its own section.

Cons:

pretty much all the damage you do is either radiant or physical, so the second you come across something that can handle those two your damage output is completely neutered. I really hope there aren’t any celestial monsters on the islands…

I know paladin spell slots are really, really good for smiting, but as written we aren’t using them for anything else. okay yeah there’s summoning elephants, but that’s still a very small part of what paladins can do- they’ve got plenty of healing spells and defensive buffs they can offer, and while that might not be in-character, it’s a smart tactical decision.

your AC is bad. but you can just wear heavy armor if you feel like it. yeah two of these are just “if you deliberately kneecap yourself, you play worse,” and I’m sorry, but paladin’s a good class, fighter’s a good class, they’re just two great tastes that taste great together. their biggest real weakness is a lack of area of effect spells, but that’s not super punchy, and even then you can slice through six guys like it’s nothing with the only area you’re really affecting being your sword!

[cursedalthoughts]

Priority Research 7 Predictions - Sakura Empire

It is time for one of the biggest factions in AL to get their PR prediction post. Last year, the Sakura Empire got Shimanto, a choice I was honestly disappointed with - not because of her design or gameplay in Azur Lane, but because Shimanto is an utterly unremarkable ship in World of Warships.

So, as usual, I will mention some of their most likely choices. None of these selected ships are guaranteed to make it into PR7 - we may not get a Sakura girl this time, but all of them are ships I would be interested in seeing. Hell, some of them I've turned into OCs of mine lol ALSO, I mentioned some of these candidates last year. Because I just really want them in AL damnit.

Bungo

Bungo is funny.

She's an upscaled Amagi hull with 457mm guns (no clue why they aren't 460mm). Her gimmick is accuracy. Yamato is already well known as a very accurate battleship, but Bungo takes it to a whole another level. She's so accurate that, assuming you aim perfectly; you will most likely encounter aiming bugs that no other ship really experiences (because WoWs is built on a mountain of spaghetti code)

As a special consumable, Bungo gets access to a 'High-Precision Spotter Plane' that further reduces her dispersion by -20% for a minute and five seconds. You can get two whole salvos out very comfortably, due to her 26.4s reload.

Honestly, if you miss with Bungo, it is your fault. Easy DR material.

Adatara

Adatara is the predecessor of Bungo in the tech tree. She's Tier 9, her spotter plane reduces her dispersion by -10% instead of -20%, and has one less turret. Her reload is longer, too, at 30s.

If Bungo is DR material, Adatara is PR material.

Tsurugi

As much as I love Tsurugi, I see a lot of people compare her to Georgia, which is just innacurate.

Both ships enjoy 3 double 457mm gun turrets with short reloads and remarkable accuracy, but Georgia has American Super-Heavy AP that does devastating damage, and Tsurugi's AP shells do a pitiful 13.5k damage - Georgia's AP shells do almost 18k damage each.

Also, Georgia has very fun secondary guns. And can tank damage, since she's an Iowa hull variation. And is superbly fast. Tsurugi has none of those things.

Tsurugi has 15km-range deep water torpedoes (that can only hit battleships and aircraft carriers), as well as a 'Torpedo Reload Booster' consumable that reduces the 150s reload down to just 10s. Also, while not enjoying Georgia's 46+ knots speed, Tsurugi can easily do almost 37 knots, which is faster than a lot of cruiser.

Sadly, Tsurugi also suffers from pathetically weak armor.

Tsurugi could be a very fun PR battlecruiser in AL, however.

Iwami

Iwami is a variation of the Izumo design. Much like Izumo, she has fairly accurate 410mm main guns. Much unlike Izumo, her overall gun layout makes sense, with 2 frontal dual turrets and two back dual turrets, much like a Nagato.

Iwami has two gimmicks of particular interest: Two sets of torpedoes, one per side, which are taken straight out of Shimakaze (4 20km torpedos per launcher) that also deal devastating damage, but can be seen from orbit (relatively speaking - their detectability range is 2.5km. Normal hydroacoustic search detects torpedoes at 3.5km)

The second gimmick of Iwami is access to a surprisingly strong secondary gun array.

Iwami could be a PR battleship with a support role.

Shikishima

As I said last year, Shikishima is "The USS Georgia of the Yamato-class."

Her main armament consists of 3 dual 510mm turrets boasting of improved accuracy compared to the Yamato-class, as well as a 27s reload. She shares all the flaws of Yamato and Musashi, mainly having incredibly weak armor and a glacial turret traverse of a whole entire minute to turn 180º, but she's a fun ship that can do insane damage. She relies a lot on sheer overmatch, being the second ship to have 510mm guns - Satsuma is basically an upscaled Shikishima, and HMS Incomparable "only" has 508mm guns.

Also, for some reason, Shikishima also has a very nice secondary gun layout, guns that also have improved accuracy and reload times; meaning you can run a full secondary gun Shikishima build without losing much main gun accuracy.

Due to being a Yamato hull, she'd be DR.

Yoshino

Hey, wouldn't it be funny if Azuma had even more torpedoes than Shimakaze?

Yoshino is just that, a bigger Azuma with a total of 16 torpedoes. She gets a choice between the 'suicide' 12km torpedoes of Shimakaze, which deal almost 27k damage each; or the same torpedoes that Iwami has, 20km range.

She's different enough from Azuma to be somewhat likely, but she's also not really that much different than Azuma. She'd be DR, for sure.

Hayate

A unique (for Japan's standards) destroyer that has both good guns and good torpedoes. They normally excell only at guns (Kitakaze) or only at torpedoes (Shimakaze) - Hayate is good with both.

Past me summarized her pretty well. She's a decent mix between Shimakaze and Harugumo - Harugumo being Kitakaze's bigger sister.

PR rarity for sure.

Yamagiri

Ok, but what if you wanted a pretty good mix of Shimakaze and Harugumo, instead of a decent mix?

Yamagiri is an upscaled Hayate that mixes the two lines of destroyers. She gets access to the same amount of torpedoes Shimakaze has, while having access to some formidable main gun armament as well.

While Hayate is a PR, Yamagiri would be a DR. However, there's one main issue with Yamagiri as a PR7 choice:

She's a Superdestroyer. A Tier 11. We have never gotten a Tier 11 PR ship, and there are much more fun and bombastic options for the first Tier 11 in Azur Lane's Priority Research.

[comicaurora]

As a fan of D&D and animated shows, have you been keeping up with the legend of vox machina?

Yea! I haven't seen the very latest episode yet but I've watched the first five.

I continue to enjoy how it's treating the original game as a first draft and doing some rearrangements in the adaptation to improve pacing, flow, and general sense-making - like how Vax's extremely busted Boots of Speed have been integrated into the functionality of his god-champion-artifact armor, and why they changed Vex's near-death experience last season to Keyleth taking the bullet for her because Vex's actual-death experience this season was going to be very important story-wise but mechanically played out very similarly to the first one (one-shotted by dark magic in an area that suppresses magical healing) and having it happen twice would've weakened the impact. Personally I think in an ideal world we'd be getting a lot more time per season to let the characters breathe - the pacing of the original series is frankly very slow, bordering on unwatchable for certain attention spans, but the pacing of this season is kinda breakneck in comparison and characters are getting big upgrades and moments of revelation quite often, which isn't bad but feels like it could have a little more punch if they had a longer windup. Still, that's the nature of the level-based beast and it's not a complaint, just a little tickle in the back of my head.

The animation continues to be gorgeous, and while the 2D-3D blending of the visuals feels a little weird sometimes, I think it works in-story that the 3D-rendered dragons look very different to everyone around them, since it makes them feel more otherworldly and terrifying. I also like that they don't really look like their Official D&D Counterparts, and the way they've respec'd their breath weapons into things like "wings constantly leaking acid" is really neat.

I also think the way they've shifted the magic system is very interesting. D&D has extremely hard-magic rules on who can cast what spells at what time based on what they know or have prepared. The show dials that way back and treats it a little more hand-wavey, though they'll still hint at the spell slot system with casters being like "sorry I'm out of juice" or "I think I can only do it once a day" which is cute. But this shift to a softer magic system does mean the more versatile casters, mostly Keyleth, seem like they can kind of just do anything depending on the needs of the scene - which is obviously not what is mechanically happening, but because we can't see her spell list or class features it's kind of what it feels like. She has all the standard element-manipulation and druid shapeshifting/treehugging stuff, but we also see her bust out the power of the sun and turn into a giant fire monster, which doesn't feel quite as connected to the rest of her powerset - it makes sense if you squint, but in the moment there's a little lurch of "where did THAT come from?" Now that's not bad writing on the show's part, it's a holdover from the inconsistency of D&D's spell lists. It DOES feel weird that a wind magic specialist could cast Sunbeam just because they hit level 11. Narratively what this indicates is that Keyleth is frankly ridiculously reality-warpingly powerful and doesn't really know her own strength yet, which is top-notch characterization and very consistently demonstrated in-show, but it does invite that one storytelling bugaboo of "how are the heroes gonna solve this one? …………magic." It's subletting a townhouse in the suburbs of The Power Was Within You All Along.

Overall really liking it so far!

[all-pacas]

I’m intrigued by multiclassing my guys in bg3 but I don’t really know where to start :V how/why did you pick the second classes you did? Do you rec it at 5th, or should I do it now at 4th?

CRACKS KNUCKLES

The short answer: synergy! There are some classes that just go really well together for various reasons. Some classes also have front loaded powers and abilities and not as great high level ones, making it tempting to “double dip.”

Same with levels. Level five is actually a HUGE power spike: it’s when most melee classes get their second attack, and when casters get 3rd level spells (Fireball! Spirit Guardians!). Personally, I never multiclass any melee before level five for that reason. Magic classes are case by case: I’m playing my particular druid as a melee fighter with magic, so I don’t care as much about stronger spells.

As for synergies — each class has a primary stat, right? So for example, let’s take Astarion. He’s gonna want high DEX. He’s a rogue, so his whole thing is hitting very hard in a burst. So, what can compliment that? Gloomstalker Assassin, that’s what!

Rogues don’t get multi attack. What they do instead is hit super hard once. At level 3, Astarion can become an Assassin, which gives him extra initiative and damage to anyone behind him in turn order.

Gloomstalker Ranger, meanwhile, ALSO gives extra initiative, AND a free attack first round of combat. Pair those up, and you get Astarion at level 6 with HUGE damage on the first turn, always acting first, free first round sneak attack and a free first round extra attack. Assassins also have pretty lame high level bonuses. I mean, rogues are always fantastic, but assassins just get free disguise self. Rangers, though, get extra attack at level 5…

So, Astarion as a Ranger 5/Rogue 7 will get two attacks per turn (one sneak attack), cunning action, extra initiative, evasion, uncanny dodge, two free resistances, and on his first turn gets to go first and attack three times. Oh, and he can use ensnaring strike and Hunter’s Mark to be extra rude. Rogues and Rangers both love DEX; it’s pretty easy to bump up his Wis a bit to use ranger spells.

That’s basically multiclassing 101! Find classes that like the same stats (Warlock/Bard), or have overlap (Fighter/Paladin — Fighters don’t use CHA, but Paladins only use it for spells, so you can sacrifice it a bit). Look for fun synergies: 2 levels in Cleric gives you 1 channel divinity, Tempest Cleric gets free “maximize damage on a lightning spell,” Storm Sorcerers Exist…

But it also doesn’t have to be MinMax!! My Druid/Monk probably isn’t optimized, but I just like getting little numbers when I hit: free necrotic damage! Free fire damage from my staff! As long as any two classes share a main or secondary stat, the sky is the limit! Have fun with it!

ETA: Some combos I personally enjoy!

Gloomstalker Assassin for Astarion. LOVE this one. Level 5 Ranger to get two attacks; level 7 rogue because more Sneak Attack is always good, and so is Evasion.

Bardlock! I've done a magic build version, Bard 10/Warlock 2. Warlock 2 is fun because that's the level you get Eldritch Invocations, ie, beef up Eldritch Blast. Since it's a cantrip, it'll keep leveling up on its own. Bards don't have great cantrip damage options, so this allows them to do their thing/concentrate on a buff or debuff while still doing stupid damage. You could go higher on Warlock, but with magic classes after a while you start losing higher level spells, so it's a trade.

Melee Bardlock? I'm going to try this out in my Honor Run. Wyll really wants to be pact of the blade, but it's honestly kind of mediocre. But College of Swords Bard gets some fun buffs to their attacks, and Valor gives Wyll some better armor options. Swords/Valor get multi attack at level 6, and Blade Warlocks get one at 5; I don't think they'll stack, sadly. I'm thinking Warlock 5/Bard 7 will make him a really great debuffer.

Sorc/Cleric: I did this in my last run! Tempest Clerics get heavy armor, which does so much to keep a Sorcerer from being super squishy. And their channel divinity at level 2 means you can, once a short rest, do max damage on a spell. Tempest Clerics get lots of lightning spells and buffs to those spells. I went Sorc 10/Cleric 2, and barely buffed my WIS at all; I wasn't planning on using cleric spells, just that Channel Divinity.

Paladin/Warlock: a classic for a reason! Fun hack: Pact of Blade warlocks can attune to a weapon, meaning they use charisma as their attack stat, meaning you can ignore STR entirely and just make them tanky as hell.

[twixtandshout]

@sparkingoverload So! Wild’s DnD sheet. :3c

I’ve statted him as a modified half-elf variant. I went with Eladrin first, because seasonal Even More Fey elf felt right – I love the idea of him having leafy ear-tips and other planty offshoots that change with the seasons, but being stuck in the castle and Zelda’s royal retinue and court year-round, maybe trimming those bits so as to fit in uniform or else just quietly wilting/molding because the environment really isn’t hospitable for his wildness – but he really didn’t need to be able to teleport in a rush of flame whenever he feels like it when I’m already lining things up to give him a more reasonable teleportation option. I gave him the basic Eladrin suite besides that, Aquan language proficiency thanks to growing up in Zora’s Domain, and then stole the half-elf’s extra skill proficiencies instead of teleportation. (He also knows Goblin and Celestial.)

Choosing backgrounds was a little fun because of the whole amnesia thing. Assuming this was post-Shrine, I went with the folk hero background, which gives him animal handling and survival proficiencies, land vehicle proficiencies, and a tool. I chose chef’s tools, which went well with the iron pot the background starts you off with! Also the various cooking-related feats I gave him, which I’ll get to later. The main trait the background gives him is rustic hospitality, meaning he blends in easily with common people and is generally well-liked, enough for them to do things for him if it won’t put them in harm’s way. (That’s a trait he shares with Twilight!) I didn’t make a tenth sheet for pre-Calamity Wild, but if I were gonna I’d probably go with some unholy amalgamation of the soldier and knight backgrounds.

Equipment-wise, I’ve given him twice-enhanced leather armor (thanks Great Fairies), manymany weapons, and a very kludged Slate, complete with runes. It’s very OP, but then again, he is level 20, and it’s a one-of-a-kind item that serves as system ID. It would be fairly easy for a concerned GM to have a Yiga or whatever steal it and let there be Consequences tm.

Despite the amnesia, I’ve decided that he retained a couple levels in the fighter class. Haven’t made any decisions about which levels came before and which came after, but either way, he’s got five levels as a Champion-class fighter, which is just enough to give him an improved crit threshold, an extra attack per turn, one-time HP regen, and bonuses for fighting with archery. The rest of his levels are, as mentioned, in fey wanderer ranger. He can deal extra damage to an enemy he marks in a fight, sense the location(s) of magical creatures within a mile, travel easily even through difficult terrain, melt into nature to become magically invisible for a turn, and reroll low damage rolls when he attacks with two-handed weapons. Thanks to his fey associations, he not only has advantage on charm/fear saves (and a bonus to any charisma check!) but can reflect the triggering charm/fear effect back on the caster. He can also deal extra psychic damage on practically every attack, and can’t be tracked except through magic unless he wants to be.

Cool spells:

On/Off (cantrip): Turns electronic devices on or off at a range of 60′.

Sudden Awakening: I love giving this to him, Legend, and Time, lol. None of them are gonna get caught in comas again if they can help it!!

Goodberry: Create a handful of magic berries. Goes well in cooking – well, presumably; I’m not sure there are any rules for how adding magic hp+ berries to hp+ cooking works, but it’s nice thematically at least.

Alarm: Good for setting up perimeters around camp! And for avoiding getting a Yiga surprise.

Summon Vehicle: Master Cycle, go! Plays very nicely with that land vehicle proficiency from his background.

Conjure Barrage: Technically you’re supposed to throw(??) a piece of ammunition to create a barrage of it that rains down on your target, but I think it’s way cooler to draw back one arrow and fire a whole 60′ cone. Being sick as hell is really the only reason I need for this one, but it also kinda maps to his whole air-archery thing.

Freedom of Movement: The toad cannot be contained. This would let him basically clip out of any restraint, including shackles. I can totally see the Yiga taking him and some of the others hostage and locking them up in a dungeon somewhere except. oops.

Summon Beast: Technically he shouldn’t get this one but I say it’s okay because it only summons Twilight.

Misty Step: Comes from the fey wanderer subclass. Twice per day, he can teleport <30′ for free, and as a bonus he can bring one other willing person with him! Tell me you can’t see him and Hyrule sneaking off like this.

The Observant feat gives him lipreading proficiency and bonuses to passive investigation/perception, and the Stealthy feat not only gives him stealth expertise but also the ability to openly move up to 10′ without being spotted so long as he ends the turn under cover. Excepting an ability score increase to Wisdom, his last two feats concern food and health recovery! The Chef feat lets him cook for the party during short rests to give everyone HP-replenishing food, and the Remarkable Recovery feat means he gets extra HP any time he regains any and bounces back easily from the brink of death.

I’ve given him the Boon of Peerless Aim, which lets him basically auto-hit one shot per short rest, and gave him the Champions’ gifts as spells (one cast per day free) instead of a blessing. He’s also got homebrew mechanics for ADHD, autism, scarring, chronic pain, and PTSD.

[loversandantiheroes]

Pedro Pascal Characters Ranked by Cuddle Rating

A less-than-comprehensive guide by me, a Touch-Starved Bitch (TM).

1. Frankie Morales.  Hands down, #1 olympic gold medal full-contact cuddler.  I mean look at the man. You know his hugs are world-class.  Equal-opportunity spooner.  Might expire from sheer bliss if you let him snuggle into your cleavage while you play with his hair.  Occasionally he might get a little too excited about it, but he’s more than willing to ignore that not so little problem.  Honestly, Frankie is the god-tier rank of cuddling.  He’s warm, he’s solid, he’s sweet, and he makes you feel just as safe as you make him feel.  Man’s got a hug like home and you will never want to leave.

2. Ezra.  Ok ok hear me out.  I know, I know.  But trust me this man is like a fussy stray cat.  You’re gonna be kept at a distance until he knows he’s not gonna wake up with a plug dagger or a laser scalpel at his throat, but after that, god help you, he is pushing himself into your hands every chance he gets - wrapping himself around you, nuzzling against your neck (the nose drag up your pulse point is a trademark Ezra move and you cannot change my mind), draping over your lap, the whole works.  Honestly, give the man head scratches and he will never stop purring.

3. Whiskey.  Is my bias showing?  Yes.  Now hush, this is my list, I make the calls.  Whiskey would be higher up the list if he wasn’t such a fucking menace.  Not even accounting for the amount of time it takes him to actually express some goddamn non-sexual physical intimacy, you just gotta take into account the fact that this man enjoys being a little bit of an ass.  Cuddling Whiskey frequently turns into a wrestling match, which in turn frequently turns into other things.  But the times when he’s sweet are worth the gamble, because there is nothing in the world that’ll make you feel more loved than when all that man wants to do is be still and hold you.

4. Marcus Pike.  Look I know nothing about this man except that he moves fast and he digs pancakes, so I’m betting he’s either a little desperate or just a guy that is intensely sure of himself and his feelings.  I’m banking honestly on some combination of the two, but I’m also willing to put money on high cuddle quality bc fuckin’ look at him.  Points deducted because as per that one gif I can’t find there’s a lot of hand fidgeting, which can be a little distracting.

5. Maxwell Lord.  Surprise contender!  Loses points only for the absolute tenacity of his koala-clinging technique.  Maxwell is not a man for whom affection or stability was ever in abundance, and he craves it like air.  Can be a bit overwhelming.  Just remind him you’re not going anywhere and he’ll relax a bit.  Wins some points back for just being soft as all hell.  Seriously, this man is immensely cuddly under all those terrible power suits.  He hates it, doesn’t fit the image he feels he should be striving for, but he’ll start to feel a bit better about it if he knows you actually like that about him.

6. Marcus Moreno.  Would be at #2 if it wasn’t for the fact that you are always getting interrupted.  By Missy, by his mother calling, by Miracle Guy texting to be a pest because it’s funny, or by the next damn crisis.  You’ll only get to cuddle this man properly in five minute increments and it’s a goddamn crime because Marcus Moreno is the epitome of the “I’m gonna be so good at huggin’“ meme.  You will absolutely have to drag this man to a b&b and hide his phone if you want to get any decent snuggle time.  Seriously though, Marcus is soft and those are prime huggin’ arms, man.

7. Pero Tovar.  Don’t let the grump fool you.  Pero is not a man who gets much softness in his life, but he’s a glutton for it when it comes along.  Not very good at asking for it, though.  Tends to just yank you flush to his chest with a growl and grumble about how you need to stay here.  The griping is worth putting up with, honestly.  He’s the restless sort, though, so it never lasts quite as long as you’d like.

8. Javier Peña.  Yeah.  Javi’s not really a cuddler.  Which is a goddamn shame because if ever there was a man that makes you want to just velcro-stick yourself to him, it’s Javi.  Oh he can be sweet.  He can be tender.  But straight up cuddling?  That’s a level of domestic intimacy that is a little too much for him.  And more’s the pity because my god the man fucking needs it.  If you happen to bust down enough walls to actually get there, though, you can pretty much high five God for the blessing.

9. Din Djarin.  Oh bless his heart.  The cards are really stacked against him here.  You are in for the slowest possible burn if you’re after a cuddle from this man.  He’s touch-starved as all hell, sure, but it is going to take a very very very long time to get him comfortable enough to let you move past the armor (and god knows beskar does not have a high cozy rating).  And even then it’s going to be incredibly overwhelming for him after so long without it (the man flinched at the tiniest touch from his tiny green son, a wholeass hug will bluescreen him for a week).  It’s absolutely worth it to persist, but you better be the patient type.

[ererokii]

Line without a Hook || E. Jaeger & J. Kirstein

➳ Jean Kirsten x Fem Reader x Eren Jaeger

Word count: 4,517 Warnings: angst, fluff, unrequited love, cursing ➳ note: this is based off the song Line Without a Hook by Ricky Montgomery! I’ve been thinking this for a long time and I’m super excited by how it came out! Also big thanks to @reddriot​ for betaing!

➳ Synopsis: is love really worth it? Let me say, it’s not always worth it.

You can hold my hand if no one’s home.

Do you like it when I’m away?

☽✧ ✦ ✧☾

It starts out simple really. A boy and a girl. Childhood friends, to be precise. Those two are inseparable. Nothing can tear the friends apart, besides their parents, of course. Like two peas in a pod. 

Jean says he knows you like the back of his hand. He truly means that. He knows your favorite boy bands from when you were younger, how many terrible phases you’ve gone through, favorite foods, and places. If he wrote a novel about the things you told him, he would be a renowned author. 

Since kindergarten to now, in the middle of your junior year, you and Jean have been side by side. You told him everything. From random vents and gossiping about the rude girls in your class to how horrible your period cramps were— even though Jean hated hearing about the last, he stuck through it for you.

Only you. 

The pavement that followed the street your house was on is memorable. Jean can recall the amount of times you’ve had races, chalk scribbles covering the grey that would be washed away by the angry neighbors. 

He listens to you as you talk about a kid getting in trouble in your Calculus class, watches how lively your motions are as you speak. Jean can’t help but smile when a laugh slips past your lips and you glance at him. There’s an unknown sparkle in his eyes, one filled with love. 

You haven’t changed one bit, he thinks as he faces back forward, shoving his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. His mind begins to wander as you both continue down the pavement, part of your routine when school ends. 

Your houses are right next to each other. You’ve been with him since you were in diapers. He was there when your first tooth came out, congratulating you, and you were there for him when he finally learned to ride his bike with two wheels instead of three. 

The bubbly lovable five-year-old back then is the same as you are now. 

☽✧ ✦ ✧☾

Oh all my emotions

Feel like explosions when you are around

A sigh of disappointment leaves Jean’s lips when he listens to Connie talk about something he has learned over the weekend (something completely stupid— he just doesn’t care). Currently, the students are at lunch, the cafeteria full with loud shouts and random noises. 

“Connie, shut up,” Sasha groans, placing her water bottle on the table, wiping her crumbs off. “No one cares that you finally figured out how to stick a spoon to your nose.”

“What do you mean?! You were the one who showed me!”

The brunette gasps and looks over his way, cream cheeks tinted with an adorable shade of pink, pointing a finger at him. The bickering between the two commence as Jean listens, slightly amused. 

As much as he indulges in their argument, he can't help but wonder where you are. 

It’s not like you to skip lunch, especially without at least letting him know. Did you stay behind to talk to a friend? A teacher? Maybe you went to the bathroom.

But it’s at least 15 minutes in. 

“Sasha,” he speaks up, slicking back his hair. The sound of her name catches her attention, making her look at him. “Have you seen Y/N?”

“Y/N?” she asks in a whisper before her lips curl in a grin, already knowing why he asked. “Do you miss her?”

“Just answer my goddamn question!”

“Wait, what’s going on?” Connie asks, looking between his friends before stopping his gaze on Jean. “Why do you need Y/N?”

“Oh, you know! He lik-”

“Shut up!” Jean shouts, catching the attention of nearby students, his face heating up as his cheeks turn a darker pigment. “Just answer me!”

“If you must know,” she taunts him, twirling a strand of hair from her loose ponytail. “I saw her talking to someone in the hallway. Must be important, she’s been there for quite some time. Might want to be her knight in shining armor and saving her, huh?” she cocks her head to the side, staring at one of the windows in the room, watching as the branches of trees sway from the harsh winds. 

The atmosphere outside was cold, breezes rushing down on anyone who was not inside. The sun was hidden by the thick grey blankets filled with rainwater, waiting to shower the world. The temperature recently has been dropping, mid 50’s at least. The weather was a shock, to say the least. 

“I didn’t know Jean likes her!”

“What do you mean?!” Sasha gasps, turning her body to face her small-minded friend. “It’s only obvious! You must be really stupid then!”

“Well, how could you tell?!”

Before Jean has a chance to interrupt Sasha, she begins to rant. He prefers to stay silent, clasping his hands together in his lap as he lowers his head, finding interest in the marbled tiles of the floor his feet rest on. 

The words that slip past Sasha’s lips reach his ear and out the other. 

It’s easy to tell, Connie. Have you noticed the way he looks at her? Can’t you see the love in his eyes? The way he will actually go out of his way to help her with anything? Here you guys are, two close friends, I thought you would have known about his crush. I’m surprised you didn’t catch on every time he ditched plans with us to go hang out with her. He’s whipped, and you’re too stupid to know it. 

His cheeks turn a shade of pink as his eyes squeeze shut, her words replaying in his head like a broken record player. Each sentence is like a knife stabbing away at his brain, causing the slightest ache to form in his frontal region. 

She’s right. Anything she just said five minutes ago, is completely and utterly correct. 

He can still hear her talking about it to Connie, but he can only focus on three sentences that stick to him like glue. 

Have you noticed the way he looks at her? Can’t you see the love in his eyes? The way he will actually go out of his way to help her with anything?

Memories of him helping you in any possible way come to mind. He can’t recall how many times he has entered class two minutes late because you had so much to carry. 

He stares at you like you’re the only thing worth looking at. It reminds him of those cliche animated movies with hearts in the character's eyes. He’s blinded by his love for you, that he never noticed any signs that you don’t feel the same way about him. His heart races miles per hour when you’re around. Sometimes he worries for himself that maybe, his heart might explode within him. 

“Anyway, lunch has about 20 minutes left...where is she?” Connie mutters, scratching the top of his head.

“I don’t know, but,” Sasha grows quiet, listening to the ongoing thunder from the outside. The lights flicker for a second, a couple of yelps emitting from other students, slightly afraid that the power might go off while school is in session. “The storm is almost here.”

“Y/N!” Connie suddenly yells, pointing in the direction of the door, your body jogging closer to the table. “Where have you been?!”

“Sorry!” you laugh, out of breath as you drop your things on the bench, taking a seat beside Jean. “I got caught up in a conversation with someone! I guess I lost track of time for a bit.”

“I messaged you like four times,” Jean mutters, glancing over at you before looking at the table, playing with the plastic straw that he used to drink out of.

“You did?” you ask, pulling your phone out from your pocket, lips puckering when indeed he did so. “I’m sorry, Jean. I didn’t even feel my phone vibrate.”

“Oh, whatever, who cares! Eat! Or I’ll eat your food!” Sasha yells, pointing a finger at you, a smile gracing her features. 

You laugh along with her as you converse with your peers, the conversation you had replaying in the back of your mind. Jean chooses not to intervene, instead would rather listen. 

The roaring thunder plays in the background, everyone paying no mind to it. What he doesn’t know is that the storm is much closer than Jean could have thought. 

☽✧ ✦ ✧☾

Listen close, it’s a no

The wind is a pounding on my back

And I found hope in a heart attack

Oh at last, it is past

Now I’ve got it, and you can’t have it

Another evening, another study session, another day of bottling up his feelings until he can no longer hold them inside.

The storm made its way to shore, raining pouring down and even some hail; not what anyone was expecting. 

Jean mindlessly flips through the pages of his English book, not even paying attention to the words as he checks how many pages are in chapter five. 

“This seems pointless,” he adds with a sigh, tossing the book on your bed along with his highlighter he uses to annotate with. “I should just find a summary online or something, I don’t want to read this.”

“And why is that?” you ask, looking up from your book, placing the hardcover against your thighs. “Is it boring to you?”

“No,” he mutters, rolling onto his back. “It’s stupid. This love crap.”

“Well...it is a romance story, the teacher told us when we got the book. But why do you think it’s dumb?”

“He writes letters for her, and in the end, she ends up rejecting him. I don’t think that’s romantic.”

“And? It’s beautiful on his part,” you close your eyes as you stretch your arms over your head, letting out a grunt. “It’s the fact that he wrote to her every day. It’s like he poured his soul into every word. The words he uses are..literally everything. It makes me swoon over him, and he’s not real. Makes me wonder if someone would do that for me.”

Jean’s head perks up at your words, one of his eyebrows raised in curiosity when he notices the bashful look on your face, eyes averted to the comforter on your bed. “Why do you have that dopey look on your face?”

“Huh?!” your eyes are blown open as you look over at him. “What are you talking about?!”

“I’m talking about that, idiot,” he points at your face, watching your eyes cross faintly to stare at his finger. “You’re acting about that guy in the book.”

The patter of the rain is the only noise that fills the void called silence in your room. His warm eyes don’t leave your face at all, waiting for your answer. You’ve been acting weird ever since you were late to lunch this past week. 

He watches your mouth open as if you’ll say something but close it right away, like you were concealing anything you had to hide.

“...well? Y/N? Are you there?”

“Yeah!” you cough into your elbow, running a hand down your face. “I-- you can’t tell anyone.”

“You know I never tell anyone what we talk about.”

You’re silent, a bit too quiet than usual. You fiddle with your fingers before blurting the words that have been eating away at you. 

Jean’s heart stops for a moment, eyes wide in shock when he processes it. His blood runs cold as he’s unable to move, frozen like a statue. The signals in his brain begged him to respond, but he couldn’t. He could hear the faintest sound of bells ringing in his ears; all noise surrounding him was now drowned out by his thoughts. 

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds. 

“You like someone?” he asks in a whisper, barely audible to your ears, but you heard as you nod shyly, biting down on your lip. “Well... who is it?”

“That’s...I can’t say it.”

“Why can’t you?”

“I’m afraid to say it out loud because I don’t want to ruin my friendship with him.”

Friendship? That could be anyone at this point.

I have to figure out who, he thinks as he draws random patterns into the sheets. “Well, tell me about him then. Is he in our grade?” he asks.

“Yeah, he is. He’s in four of my classes.”

Jean was in four of your classes. Math, English, Foreign Language, and Science. 

“That’s it?”

You huff, rolling your eyes. “Can I finish before you interrupt? Thank you.”

You pause momentarily before speaking again.

“He’s stubborn. I’ve noticed that his demeanor changes when it depends on who he is with. He seems like a hardass and looks like he doesn’t want to be bothered, but he seems like a total softie when he’s with people he loves. Not to mention he’s hot...and tall. He’s blunt and straight to the point. He doesn’t bullshit at all. He’s really sweet as well, to me. He always goes out of his way to make sure I’m okay and how my day was. He just..he seems to care for me, and I feel the same way about him.”

Jean takes every word you say into consideration. He’s stubborn, it seems that he doesn’t like to be around people he doesn’t know but loves those he does know. He knows he’s hot. Practically every day he looks at himself in the mirror and thinks about how good he looks.

He’s blunt and straight to the point. He doesn’t bullshit at all. He’s really sweet as well, to me. He always goes out of his way to make sure I’m okay and how my day was. He just..he really seems to care for me, and I feel the same way about him.

Jean can feel his doubt and worry turn into happiness and confidence as you keep on ranting, to which he’s not fully paying attention anymore. He knows it's him. It has always been him.

No one else.

Jean likes you.

And you like Jean, that’s all there is to it. 

“Do you want to tell him?”

“Yeah...” you trail off, scratching the nape of your neck. “I want to tell him on Friday after school. Do you think he’ll like me back?”

“I think he would. How could he not? He would be a total idiot to reject you.”

You hum at his reassurance, placing your hand on his, squeezing gently.

“Thanks, Jean.”

☽✧ ✦ ✧☾

Darling when I’m fast asleep

I've seen this person watching me

Saying, “Is it worth it? Is it worth it?”

Tell me, is it worth it?

Friday comes, and Jean can hardly wait for school to end. He’s not paying attention, his eyes constantly staring from the whiteboard in the front to the clock that tauntingly ticks slower than usual. 

He bites down on the pink end of his pencil in anticipation, tapping his foot repeatedly on the floor, the noise resonating through the classroom. 

Maybe I should just keep my eyes off the clock, he thinks, lowering his head back to the worksheet their teacher gave the class.

Econ class was a drag. He could care less about the differences in macro and microeconomics, the same with Communism and Capitalism. It’s just a bunch of words that don’t make sense to his brain. 

This was one of the classes he didn’t have with you, the last class. 

Instead of doing his worksheet (luckily, the teacher said it would be for homework if it wasn’t finished), Jean proceeded to think about ways he could tell you his feelings.

He could be old fashioned, tell you how much he adores you and how happy you make him feel when you’re around. How his heart can be heard from the outside of his body, how his hands got warm and clammy, maybe sweaty when he became too nervous.

Or

He could ask you out on a date. Take you somewhere, one of the places you’ve told him in the past that would make a great date for you. He smiles when he thinks about taking you downtown at night, looking at the soft lights that would brighten the streets; loving the sparkle in your orbs as you look around in awe. 

He hums, pleased with himself when he figures out what he’ll do, scratching the back of his ear. 

He wonders if you’re thinking the same thing.

-

You glance at your table partner, looking at his piece of paper before looking down at yours, displeased how his is able to look better than yours. You pick up your eraser, gently wiping the shadings away from your drawing, careful not to crease your paper.

“It’s not that hard you know, you just don’t know how to shade.”

“I know how to shade, Eren,” you reply with a huff, placing your eraser back down. “It’s just...this is a bit harder than usual.”

“All you have to do is follow the markings,” he presses the edge of his drawing pencil against the reference photo both of you are using, tracing the shape of it. “You could honestly just copy the photo, I doubt this woman would even notice.”

You chuckle at his choice of words, shifting in your seat to get comfortable. “I don’t think she would anyway. She just stares at it and calls it an A. I bet for our expressive project, she wouldn’t notice if we copied each other.”

He shakes his head with a smile, the loose strands of his hair swaying with his head movement. “No, she wouldn’t,” he rolls the sleeves of his hoodie to his elbows, grabbing his pencil again. “Then again, we are working on it with each other.”

“Speaking of that, what should we do?”

“Up to you, Y/N. I don’t mind. I’m just trying to pass this stupid class anyway.”

You relish in the silence between you as you gaze at him from your peripheral. You take notice how his hair frames his face effortlessly to the dip in his nose. It’s perfect how it forms to his cupid’s bow to his lips; not too big nor too small either. Just right. 

You clear your throat, scratching at the nape of your neck. “Why not do...stages of love?”

That catches his interest.

“Stages of love?” he asks, moving in his chair to face you, a hand propping his head up. “Elaborate?”

“Like you know...how we gain a crush on someone. We like how they make us feel, and soon we think about them some more. Maybe make little scenarios in our head. Then we gain the crush and want to be around them. You know what I mean, right?”

He’s silent, hues that represent the blue of rivers, boring into your own. At first, you think he hates your idea, but then the corner of his lips curls into his infamous grin. “Yeah, I like that. Did you have anything else in mind?”

“Maybe...rejection?”

“Rejection?” he repeats, a bit shocked at how romantic your words were, to something filled with sadness. “And why would you want to do rejection?”

“W-Well,” you stutter, unsure how you should put it. “Everyone always talks about the good in love but never the bad. And I think it could be done good, you know?”

He hums, scratching away at his chin before nodding. “Yeah, alright. That sounds oddly specific, but I like it. We can honestly get started soon, that way, we can finish faster and not worry about it.”

His smile throws you for a loop, your face heating up as you pick up your pencil, trying to distract yourself. 

“Say, Y/N?”

“Yes, Eren?” you reply a bit too quickly, cursing yourself out internally for sounding too desperate. 

“Can we talk?” his cheeks are a shade of pink, his eyes averted as he plays with one of the strings of his hood, reminding you how a child would distract themselves. The tips of his shoe nudge against yours, barely kicking gently.

“Aren’t we talking right now?”

“No, I mean after school.”

☽✧ ✦ ✧☾

And in my eyes, there is a tiny dancer

Watching over me, he’s singing, 

Jean storms out of his Econ class with a grin, hands gripping onto the straps of his backpack as he looks down one end of the hallway before going down the other direction. The art room was three classes down his. Usually, Jean will wait right there by the door for you since you take ages to finally leave the classroom. 

When Jean finally reaches the room, he sees that the doors are locked, and the lights inside are off.

Huh, that’s weird, you’re always one of the last to leave, nor are you ever this early. 

He stands there for a few more seconds, peering in through the small glass, and sees nothing before taking a step back and quickly continues to walk down the hall. His legs are quicker, going down the two flights of stairs. 

His eyes frantically search for the yellow shirt you wore, unable to find you anywhere. 

“Sasha!” he calls out once he reaches the end of the stairs, running towards the girl and their friend, who was at the lockers, pulling things she needed to take home for the weekend. 

The brunette looks over her shoulder, stopping her conversation with Connie as she shuts her locker. “Yeah, Jean?”

He pants, leaning on his knees before letting out a deep breath and standing straight up. “Have you seen Y/N?”

She ponders for a while before shaking her head, looking over at Connie, who shakes his head, shrugging. “We haven’t seen her since Art class.”

“You didn’t see where she went at all?”

The events before class ending play in her mind before she gasps, snapping her fingers, pointing up at Jean. “Yeah, I know where she went!”

“...are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to guess?!”

She mocks him for a second before pulling her phone out. “I could have seen her leave with Eren. I think they went to the bench in the back. You know the one I’m talking about?”

He’s taken aback for a moment before shaking his head, retaining the information. “Alright, thanks.”

Why would you even be with Eren right now? You never meet with him after-

“Are we still on for this weekend?!” Connie yells when Jean is making his way down the corridor.

“Yeah, we are!” Jean's voice travels through the air, reaching both of his friends, hands clammy as they’re shoved in the front pocket of his pants. 

The walk to the back courtyard was tiresome. His feet seemed to drag behind him, an aching feeling forming in his gut. Thoughts pounded against his skull repeatedly, trying to force him to stop. He wants to stop, but he has to go.

He has to tell you he loves you. 

He can’t help but smile when you describe the boy you like this week. In his mind and most certainly his heart, he was the king of the world sitting on his high horse as he screamed in victory, letting the whole world know that the person he likes, feels the same way about him. 

The fresh air from the outside meets his nostrils as he deeply inhales, allowing it to enter his body before exiting. The sun is the first thing he meets with as he exits the building, bringing a hand up to shield his eyes away from the harsh light. He mutters something under his breath as he looks around for a second. 

“She’s a,

She’s a lady and I’m just a boy”

His honey orbs finally stop on a bench where you and Eren are seated, that’s not too far away, but his body is hidden from your view. He lets out a sigh of relief, leaves crunching underneath his feet as he walks, not taking long strides, rather walking slow to rethink what he’ll say.

“Y/N, I’ve liked you for a long...no,” he mutters, stopping in his tracks as he looks down at the green grass and leaves, kicking away at them. “I’ve loved- no, that sounds a bit aggressive, goddammit,” he groans, tugging at the roots of his hairs. “Why is this so fucking hard?!” he growls underneath his breath, leaning against the brick wall. 

He never was anything else but honest with you. How could he say it?

What if this ruins your relationship?

...what if you liked Eren?

His breath hitches in his throat when realization dawns on him. His lips part, a soft exhale releasing from within him. His fingers curl around nothing, as if he was holding the air’s hand. The tips of his fingers shake, his whole body stiffening as he stares hard at nothing. 

How could he be so stupid?

It all made sense now. How you stayed behind during lunch that one time without saying anything; in the back of his mind that day, he knew that someone had to be a boy, maybe a girl. Even then, you would always let him know. 

Jean should have known from the beginning that you only saw him as a brother. 

His chest aches as his vision goes blurry, biting down on the inside of his lip to the point where he can taste the bitter metallic on his tongue. He squeezes his eyes shut before opening, wishing he hadn’t at that moment. 

He’s singing

“She’s a, she’s a lady and I am just a line without a hook.”

His heart breaks, stomach-dropping when he sees Eren’s hand brings you closer to his body, lips pressed up against yours; your hand placed on his cheek, cradling his face. Even from where he stands, he can sense the urgency in the kiss, how your bodies move together as one, how your fingers grip onto him like he’ll leave any moment. 

His lower lip quivers for a second, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, clearing his throat. Jean cranes his neck upward, looking at the sky, muttering the words, “Why him?” over and over like a mantra, no other words coming to mind. 

When he closes his eyes, all he can see is you. Not Eren, just you. Those moments where you laugh, cry, or stay silent, those are the moments that flash in his head.

Did he do something to you? Was it something he said?

Did you ever like him at all?

“It’s pointless,” he whispers, pushing himself off the brick wall, immediately making a beeline for the doors. He swallows harshly, legs moving faster than ever, wanting to get out of this hell hole called reality. 

Like every day, you’ll walk down the same pavement you’ve been walking on for years.

Only this time, he’s walking alone. 

Oh, and if I could take it all back

I swear that I would pull you from the tide. 

☽✧ ✦ ✧☾

taglist: @sleepysnk @jaegerbomb20​ @reddriot​ @kkiimmberly​ @kingtamakimurder​ @tamasoft​ @byougen​ @spike-this-ass​ @crimsonbows-and-arrows​ @squidonmywall​ @thicmitten​ (message me to be apart of it!)

[plokoonsdisapprovingeyebrows]

Frame type headcanon ramble because I’ve had it sitting around for ages and I wanna share it lol. There’ll be a part 2 at some point so I can talk more about the individual frame types cause there’s lots of them.

PART 2 HERE

Notes on Frame Type:

↠   Frametype refers to physical (non-electrical) schematics like skeletal structure, engine type/grade, and armor pattern. Also comes with some base coding, some inherited memory data, and some other weird shit that no-one really knows a whole lot about (because the Primacy only grants study proposals once in a blue moon). Because it's the most visible level of differentiation between Cybertronians, it tends to be the first... sorting system that they categorize themselves by, resulting in stuff like Functionism.

↠   Divided into three 'ancestral types' based on mythological divisions of the Thirteen: 

Warframes claim descent from Prima the Sword, Megatronus the Shield, Liege Maximo the Burning Torch, and the Wanderer. They are distinguished by their thicker armor, more struts and shock absorbers in their skeletal system, more flex joints practically everywhere, and some more fun stuff I'm not sure how to describe as yet. 

Groundframes claim descent from the Record-Keeper, the Muse, Alchemist the Philosopher, and Solus the Smith. They are distinguished by not having most of the stuff listed above. 

Flightframes claim descent from Vector the Timekeeper, Nexus the Sundered, the Guiding Hand, and the Guardian Wall, and are distinguished by being flight-capable (without deliberate modding). 

Over time, these three ancestral types split into several quite different phenotypes — unintentionally due to environmental pressures, such as the case of the minibots during the Cataclysm, or through deliberate engineering, such as the Second Generation military projects that led to the creation of dexters, rotaries, and flighted warbuilds ('Seekers').

↠   Most Cybertronian languages have a pronoun system that is either based around or can be extended into frame types. I’ve been using letter-number codes to describe them — please imagine that they're standing in for sounds I can't possibly transcribe in human orthography lmao.

Coda to the above point — I really fuckin hate the Aligned canon of 'there are 13 different frametypes based on the Thirteen Primes and one of them is Girl', so mech vs. femme is 100% not a thing here. There are no 'girl' frametypes and 'boy' frametypes, there are no girl robots and no boy robots at all, I'm just using she/he/they/etc. pronouns for English-language convenience. 

↠   Shifters have their own system configurations and technically their own frametype, but they have a 'root form' that usually conforms outwardly to one of the standard frametypes. Shifters tend to be smaller (and they're an absolute nightmare for medics, Shifter medical care is its own specialty) and are commonly classed with various minibot subtypes. Jazz, for example, is usually an articulate, but he can make himself as big as a light standard or as small as a sylph.

↠   Triplechangers also have their own system configuration and frametype, but unless they have visibly incongruent kibble (or they're using their pronoun i guess) it's common to mistake them for heavy warbuilds. One way to tell them apart? The warbuilds tend to have narrower waists. It's not foolproof, but triplechangers are generally packing more stuff in their innards. With heavy warbuilds the frametype ideal is to stuff as many important components as possible into their heavily-armored chests. Which is just not possible with the triplechangers.

Notes on System Configuration:

↠   System Configuration refers to processor schematics, (most) computer hardware, (most) software, and electrical system components/layout. It's a lot more important and relevant to your average Cybertronian than frame type is in most cases, but also largely invisible from the outside. Some system configurations are more common in certain frametypes; for example the ferus and efficiens systems are particularly widespread among flightframes as compared to groundframes, but in general any frametype could have any of the five standard configurations.

↠   Shifter configuration is the only one of the special configurations that is 'natural' — it goes back to Amalgamous the Star of Chaos, one of the Thirteen. The others were all the product of deliberate engineering. Although the fracture and gestalt configurations were inspired by the mythical depiction of Nexus Prime as having five component bodies, Nexus did not pass down this trait, and it was left up to daring scientists to recreate.

↠   Literally any transformation-capable frametype can be reformatted into a gestalt configuration, allowing that mech to combine with up to five other mecha. (My combiners tend to look something more like Bayverse Devastator sans wrecking balls, incidentally. Love that alien look.) Theoretically you could even do it with someone like Omega Supreme but nobody has yet because the size difference is Awkward.

↠   Fracture configuration likewise is something someone of any frametype can be reformatted into — it's basically just a matter of getting an extra body or two that matches your existing frametype and creating a spark-deep network. It can be a steep learning curve to pay attention to more than one body at once, though, and that's where the special system configuration comes in. A fracturemech's frametype is whatever frametype their component bodies are — unlike gestalts, a fracturemech's components all match. They do have a combined form, but the form that counts for frametype purposes is the one that can transform — and combined mecha can't transform.

↠   the Sparked Ship Special and Sparked City Special configurations are notable for having more individual variation than any other system configuration — they are tailor-made for the individual ship or city according to their projected needs and environments. 

They are classed as a group rather than as 'Unclassified Configurations' because they do share some basic architecture and also are uniformly ridiculously complex. Most are paired with semi-independent AIs in a permanent network, and they all deliberately add lots of new stuff to their system over the course of their long long lives, in response to external pressures or even just plain curiosity or boredom. (Much like regular Cybertronians, in fact; these guys — sparked cities in particular — just aren't limited to whatever they can stuff into a frame that needs to transform on the regular.)

Notes on Size Class:

↠  the main concern of size class is weight and mass rather than height per se; height classes cross over with each other and the weight classes don't. You get classed to match the weight; so even if you're, say, only 12' tall and massing to match Class 3, if you weigh over 500kg you get classed in Class 4. 

Height does matter in that manufacturers and builders tend to assume that if you weigh and mass a certain amount then you're going to be within a certain height range as well, for ease of standardization. And once you get much beyond Class 12, very few manufacturers and whatnot account for you anyway, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

[fantasyinvader]

Beat Binding Blade tonight

So, right off the bat I'm going to admit. I abused the arena and save states. This is a really, really hard game. And while I enjoyed it, I'm going to give three things I didn't like about it.

1)Enemy reinforcements arrive at the end of the player phase, and can attack during the enemy phase. That is unfair, especially when I assume that parking a unit on the spawn point will prevent them (It doesn't) or my healer just happens to be in the area. I like difficult games, but when I fail at something in those I want to feel like it's my fault for doing so. When I die in Bloodborne or lose a unit in Fates Conquest, I'm willing to accept it because I felt it was fair (plus I'll just restart the chapter in Conquest anyway). I could have not died if I had played a little better. This game was not fair when it did that.

2)The supports. A lot of the stuff about the characters is locked away in their supports, since this is one of the old Fire Emblems where it throws units your way because it's assuming you didn't reset the game when one died. They don't get cutscenes to be important, and with only five supports per character (barring if one dies, then any unit that had supports with gets those supports back). And even then, getting an A rank doesn't pair up any units except for Roy. So you don't get to play love doctor here, it's only really there for the stat boosts. But in the case of my boy, he needs those supports in order for his character to fully come through.

3)I can take 8 units into the final battle, and they're the only ones who get full ending cards. Everyone else just gets a single line. Kinda weak if I use someone like Fir for most of the game, but bench her at the end to give Rutget Durandal.

Even with my cheating, I still enjoyed this game. Mostly for the story. When Fire Emblem first appeared in Smash Brothers Melee, as a kid it instantly caught my attention. Roy and Marth just looked so cool with their swords and armor (true fact: My favorite design for Link is the Skyward Sword design, simply because it has chainmail under the tunic. I get it, the tunic is iconic but SS's Link just looks practical), and I preferred Roy because I though his fully-charged shield breaker hurting him was cool. I even keep a Cipher card of his in my wallet for good luck. I wanted to know what Fire Emblem was, what kind of game it was. My friend showed me a screenshot of the upcoming GBA game in Nintendo power, which I got for the following Christmas (sadly, I didn't get Sacred Stones as I got a PS2 the following year). I loved that game, but the idea that I was playing as Roy's father always was a bit of a sour point for me. It's because of that game when I got a 2DS a decade later, because I wanted to game but kept getting pulled away from my console, I eventually went back to Fire Emblem.

And, I'm going to admit, Binding Blade hurt me because I played Blazing Blade first. It really did. I mean, Hector dies early on, Lyn is presumably dead hell a lot of my old comrades probably died in this war, Eliwood's wife dies shortly after they are married while Eliwood is more useless than ever, the kid I saved in Bern becomes a genocidal maniac, and the fact that the characters of Blazing Blade kinda caused this to happen by releasing the seals on the Legendary Weapons in their own quest... It kinda bugs me that the Legendary Weapons I used in Blazing Blade are in their trap filled storage places. Like, who returned them there? And if I have characters from that game returning in Binding, I find it strange they don't comment on needing them again. But this is a case of the game trying to be a prequel to a story that wasn't written with it in mind.

But at the end of the day, one thing just kept popping up in my mind. Binding Blade is the antithesis of the Crimson Flower route from Three Houses. I know they said Genealogy of the Holy War was an inspiration, but I can't help it. I've seen so many people try to praise that said route as some sort of denouncement of the rest of the franchise. That it's about putting power in the hands of the people (it's not) instead of having some Lord be the good king. Granted, the Mandate of Heaven seems like it's a running theme of the series, so without understanding what that is I can understand why people don't grasp what that part of the message. But Binding Blade, it just hit so many things on the nose that I needed to say something.

So without further adieu, I'm just going to bring up a few points.

With Regards to Humanity

It's interesting how both Zephiel and Edelgard come at this from different angles. Sure, they both lead wars of conquest across the entire continent, and I'm guessing Zeph didn't tell his troops what he was planning on doing once he won so there's likely a level of deception going on there as well. He really doesn't care for his fellow man, and the game goes out of it's way to show us why. Hatred, greed, or even selling out your people in the name of self-preservation. The game doesn't shy away from showing us any of this, saying that it's wrong and thus why Roy has to kick some guy's arse. Zephiel knows this, but in Edelgard's case? She's out there fighting for absolute power, destroying anyone who won't bend the knee to her while those who do out of self-preservation like House Gloucester are rewarded for it.

In essence, Edelgard is everything Zephiel saw wrong with the human race, she is why he felt we needed to go extinct. The very things he condemns humanity for are the things she reward. Zephiel would have actually handed over power to those he felt deserved it if he had won, whereas Edelgard is demonstrably shown to hold onto power until near the end of her life. One wants humanity dead, the other wants all the dragons. They even oppose each other in their classes. Edelgard is based on the red emperor archetype, she wears red, her class is the heavily-armored Emperor and her weapon of choice is an axe. Zephiel is a king, armoed but wearing purple and he uses a sword in battle.

Even if they both have screwed up history with their family's due to their father's inability to keep it in his pants, they're both presented as villains despite being ideologically opposed which goes to show with Fire Emblem the method IS the message.

Ancient Wars, Super Powered Weapons and Lies.

War of Heroes vs. The Scouring. The former is an event where the full details are shrouded in mystery, up to the player to piece together the clues and figure out the truth for themselves...or in Crimson Flower's case, ignore the truth and act out in your ignorance.With Binding Blade though, when the truth starts coming out, it hits hard. I mean, right from the beginning of the game we're told man was the one who broke the peace by attacking the dragons, but then we learn that those legendary weapons messed up the environment, resulting in dragons needing to use human forms only to be slaughtered by man. Dragons were blamed for the environment, the people who used those weapons were revered as heroes. We don't know why mankind launched their attack, but we do know that they weren't able to slay the Demon Dragon, one who had her soul destroyed in order to control her, because the Heroes felt sorry for her. It's making dragons out to be the victims here, much like the dragons in Three Houses. But Crimson Flower only serves to demonize them, acting like they can't understand humanity when the dragons in that game are a lot closer to humans emotionally than the ancient dragons in Elibe.

The Elites in comparison weren't heroes, and that lie has been confirmed as Rhea trying to make peace.

The good ending for Binding Blade is being able to save the dragon whose soul was destroyed, whereas Crimson Flower ends with slaying a dragon after you've spent the entire game triggering her (and is the ending that leads to oppressive rule under Edelgard, in addition to the only ending without sunlight. What? You thought you'd get the good ending when her final boss theme was playing on the last stage?). Also, you need all the Legendary weapons in order to unlock the final stages, which all play into the big mystery. Crimson Flower requires the player to not understand that the world-building was done to support fighting against Edelgard instead.

Merits of a leader

Let's not beat around the bush here, Roy will not carry you through Binding Blade. His bases are low, and while he has good growths he is unable to promote until the very end of the game. Even then, you need to save the Binding Blade's usage to ensure you get the good ending. Roy is also very unsure of himself, thrust into a position of leadership despite his young age. But look at what happens when he succeeds, he manages to overcome the odds and take down the mightiest army on the continent. At the end of the game, he's shown himself as more than capable of leading. Not to mention, he also believes that humans and dragons can live together, even seeing this in Acadia (and if Ninian was his mother, he's unknowingly proof of this as he is 1/4 dragon himself. May explain his poor bases). If he marries Liliana, he even becomes a King for likely much of the same reason Byleth does in SS/VW (most leaders are dead following the war, plus combining his territory with Ostia which had already taken over Lyn's land after she abdicated/married Hector). Roy learns the truth as already established.

Compare this to Crimson Flower Byleth. Byleth leads the Black Eagle Strike Force, but credit for it goes to Edelgard. Byleth never gets any recognition for this, no position of authority despite proving themselves, instead that goes to Caspar Jenkins of all people, and ends the war continuing to fight TWSITD from the shadows to support Edelgard's regime. And if you read between the lines, Edelgard is NOT a good leader, resorting to bribes, threats, cronyism, secret police, propaganda, and even TWSITD's support and later stolen tech in order to maintain her rule. Byleth lost whatever emotional development they got from White Clouds during this route, once again becoming the Ashen Demon, and is even willing to let themselves die if they can't keep their “humanity” in check showing a distaste for their own draconic heritage (showing humans and dragons can't live together in this timeline). They didn't grow into being a leader, they devolved into being Edelgard's unthinking muscle. Byleth never learns the truth in this route, falling for Edelgard's manipulations resulting in them losing Enlightened One/Nirvana status.

Not to mention, Heroes Relics have really low weapon levels. In theory, they can be used by anyone but only safely by those with Crests and most fully with a matching Crest. Legendary Weapons, on the other hand, can be used by anyone with an S rank in their type. Your characters have to EARN the right to use those things and you'll need them to deal with all the Manaketes during the final level, whereas Relics aren't exactly that level of broken.

Honestly, seeing the ending of Binding Blade and Idunn recovering put at least one tear in my eye. Crimson Flower's just made me feel like the game was calling me an idiot (which considering the Nirvana/Enlightenment thing, it kinda was). I would love if Binding Blade got the Echoes treatment, or even if they just did a GBA collection for the Switch. But after all these years, one thing is as certain now as it was when I was a kid.

In this house, ROY'S OUR BOY!

[masterweaverx]

Part of the fun of these character builds is taking absolutely ridiculous characters and making them work in the context of D&D. So today I’ll be looking at Makuta Teridax, from Bionicle. That’s right, I’m expanding my palette a bit!

So Makuta Teridax is a Makuta. Which means he’s a shape-shifting robot with the elemental power of shadow, a unique shadow hand, a bit of telepathy, the ability to make Kraata and Rhakshi from himself... and, oh, fourty-two seperate Kraata Powers. Which he, himself, can also use. Also he has the mask of Shadows. Yeah, Bionicle was a wacky setting, all things told. Basically, we’re going to have to go Full Caster, with some unusual considerations.

Since we’re going Full Caster, that means we’ll be using the point buy system--all six stats start at 8, and you have 27 points to spend to up them, at a rate of 1 point for one improvement up to 13 and then 2 points per improvement after. That means upping a stat to 15 costs nine points total--and we’re going to be upping Intelligence and Wisdom to 15 to maximize our spell power. That leaves us nine points to split between Constitution and Charisma--five to Constitution, upping it to 13, because Constitution is both the ‘health’ and the ‘concentration’ stat, and 4 to Charisma, upping it to 12, because when a Makuta speaks, you listen. And Teridax is the leader of the Makuta...

Bionicle characters are biomechanical and you know what, so are Warforged! Yes I know the Makuta are actually living gas clouds in airtight armor but (1) they weren’t always that and (2) this is Flavor/Mechanics oriented, not accuracy oriented. Anyway, as an Envoy Warforged specifically, Teridax gets +1 to Constitution and +1 to two other stats--which are of course going to be Intelligence and Wisdom, since those are going to be our casting abilities.

All Warforged have Integrated Protection--instead of wearing armor, they can switch between ‘modes’ they’re proficient in every long rest, great for a shapeshifter. There’s also Warforged Resilience, which makes him immune to disease, resistant to poison, renders eating and drinking and even breathing unnecessary, and makes him impossible to put to sleep magically. Speaking of which he also has Sentry’s rest, which means on a long rest he just goes inert for six hours without going unconscious.

Envoy Warforged in particular have a few other advantages. Their Specialized Design gives them a Skill Proficiency and a Tool Proficiency, and since we’re not going to get it anywhere else Teridax is going to pick Intimidation and Thieves’ tools. And they have an Integrated Tool--they can select one tool they’re proficient with, and not only is it part of their body but they have expertise with it. I don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler to say that the tool, in this case, is a Disguise Kit--because Teridax is going to get proficiency in disguise kits from his background.

And what background is that? Why, Charlatan, of course! Free with proficiencies in Deception, Sleight of Hand, Disguise Kits, and Forgery Kits. It also has the False Identity feature, allowing Makuta Teridax to take on another persona (like say, Turaga Dume), and have all the paperwork on hand to prove that, no really, he’s Turaga Dume! Pay no attention to that sphere in the corner. He’s also really great at forgery of documents.

And now comes the tricky bit: getting 42 Kraata powers, plus all the other abilities Teridax has, onto a spell list. Doing that meant I had to multiclass, pick specific subclasses for each class, allow each class to meet a minimum level, and amp two different stats to their max. It was incredibly tricky, but through some very, VERY careful selection, I pulled it off. Mostly. The Elasticity Kraata Power just couldn’t fit, sorry about that. But everything else, I packed in! Are you ready for this?

Three levels in Tempest Domain Cleric...

...then seventeen levels in Nature Theurgy Wizard.

Okay, so before I explain the subclasses, I’m going to go over the standard class abilities. Clerics have proficiency in light and medium armor, shields and simple weapons, and Wisdom and Charisma saving throws. They get two skill proficiencies--I chose History and persuasion--and at three levels their big thing is just... Channel Divinity. Which I’ll get to in a moment.

Wizards, on the other hand, get Arcane Recovery, which lets them regain spell slots on a short rest once per day up to a total of half their wizard level rounded up. That’s 9 points here, so you can get three third level spell slots, or a fourth and a fifth, or five first and two second... but you can’t get seventh, eighth, or ninth spell slots back, presumably for balance reasons. The Wizard class is also where we’ll get our four Ability Score Increases, for a total of eight points to spread among ability scores--and putting four each in Wisdom and Intelligence lets us have the MAXIMUM SPELL POWER for this combination. Trust me, preparing Spells is important for clerics, and for wizards.

So now let’s talk about the Tempest Domain. Teridax gets proficiency in Heavy Armor and Martial Weapons from it, as well as Wrath Of The Storm--which means if somebody rushes in and hits him, he can use a reaction to force the creature to make a dexterity saving throw or suffer 2d8 Lightning/Thunder damage. And he can do this five times per long rest. Of course, it also gives him a Channel Divinity option; once per rest, Teridax can either Turn Undead (making them run away from him in fear), Harness Divine Power (regaining a spell slot of first, second, or third level), or unleash the power of a Destructive Wave (automatically rolling maximum for Lightning or Thunder damage).

And now... Theurgy Wizard. What does it do, you might ask? Well, it basically hybridizes Cleric and Wizard classes. A Theurgy Wizard takes a Cleric Domain--in this case, Nature--and those spells are considered Wizard spells for purposes of what they can learn. They also get some of the Domain’s cleric benefits--not the eighth level one, or any weapon or armor proficiencies from the first level, but at level seventeen, they have everything else.

Including Channel Arcana, which is slightly different from Channel Divinity. For one thing, Teridax can do it twice per rest, instead of just once. For another, the options are either Divine Arcana, giving +2 to his next spell’s attack roll or save DC, or Charm Animals and Plants, which... charms animals and plants within 30 feet for up to a minute.

Acolyte of Nature means that Teridax has proficiency in Animal Handling and a single druid Cantrip, which we’ll get back to in a moment. Dampen Elements means that, as a reaction, he can give himself or anybody in 30 feet resistance to an attack that hit them if that attack did acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage--very useful in a world where a good portion of the population has elemental powers. And Master of Nature means that he can take a bonus action to tell critters that are charmed by his Channeled Arcana what to do on their next turn.

And now, at last, we get to the spells. BUT FIRST! Let’s calculate this all out. Since Clerics and Wizards are both full casters, Teridax has all the spell slots--4 first level slots, 3 second-through-fifth level slots each, 2 sixth and seventh level slots, and one slot for eighth and ninth levels.

Clerics can prepare a number of spells equal to their level plus their Wisdom modifer--so 3+5--up to a level determined by their cleric level--in this case, up to second level. They also automatically have spells prepared from their domain, which don’t count toward the previous limit; while it’s only up to the level they can learn, it’s still an extra four spells.

Wizards, on the other hand, learn six spells at first level and two spells every level thereafter, so at level 17 that’s 38 spells. Granted, they only prepare their level plus their intelligence bonus a day, which is 22 spells from that 38 spell list, but hey! That’s on top of the 12 prepared spells of a cleric

And Teridax also has five Wizard Cantrips, 3 Cleric Cantrips, and 1 Druid Cantrip from Nature Theurgy. Which segues well into why I picked Nature Theurgy--I needed a LOT of wizard levels for most of these spells, but I also needed some Cleric levels for some spells wizards couldn’t get, and some Druid spells that neither class could get on their own. And most of the low-level spells I needed that come in a cleric domain actually are from the tempest domain, but the Nature domain has high-level spells from the druid list... hence, Nature Theurge.

So with all that said: The list below covers the spells Makuta Teridax has, and what abilities they correspond to. Spells from Cleric, Cleric Domain, or Druid List use Wisdom; Spells from Wizard or Wizard Theurgy list use Intelligence. The listed Cleric spells are considered always prepared; Teridax selects 22 of the listed Wizard and Theurgy spells every long rest.

The Makuta Power Shadow Hand has 2 component spells: Lightning Lure and Soul Cage. The Makuta Powers Project Voice Through Shadows and Telepathy have the same spell: Telepathy.

The Kraata Power Density Control has 2 component spells: Gaseous Form and Investiture of Stone. The Kraata Power Insect Control has 2 component spells: Infestation and Insect Plague. The Kraata Power Plant Control has 2 component spells: Plant Growth and Grasping Vine. The Kraata Power Rahi Control has 2 component spells: Animal Friendship and Dominate Beast. The Kraata Power Weather Control has 2 component spells: Control Weather and Fog Cloud.

The Kraata Power Stasis Field has 2 component spells: Hold Person and Hold Monster. The Kraata Power Teleportation has 2 component Spells: Misty Step and Teleportation.

The Kraata Powers Fire Resistence and Ice Resistance have the same spell: Protection from Energy. The Kraata Power Elasticity has no component spells, due to not really having a good match and most of its benefits being covered in other spells.

Cantrips: 5 from Wizard, 3 from Cleric, 1 from Druid for Nature Theurgy -Chill Touch [Wizard] --Shadow Blasts (MAKUTA) -Fire Bolt [Wizard] --Heat Vision (Kraata Power) -Infestation [Druid] --Insect Control (Kraata Power) -Lightning Lure [Wizard] --Shadow Hand (MAKUTA) -Mending [Cleric] --Forge Tools (MAKUTA) -Sacred Flame [Cleric] --Laser Vision (Kraata Power) -Thunderclap [Wizard] --Sonics (Kraata Power) -Thaumaturgy [Cleric] --Control world mechanics (MAKUTA) -True Strike [Wizard] [Concentration] --Accuracy (Kraata Power)

1st-4 Slots -Animal Friendship [Wizard Theurgy] --Rahi Control (Kraata Power) -Cause Fear [Wizard] [Concentration] --Fear (Kraata Power) -Command [Cleric] --Terrorize (MASK OF SHADOWS) -Cure Wounds [Cleric] --Quick Healing (Kraata Power) -Fog Cloud [Cleric Domain] [Concentration] --Weather Control (Kraata Power) -Inflict Wounds [Cleric] --Protosteel Armor (MAKUTA) -Ray of Sickness [Wizard] --Poison (Kraata Power) -Sense Emotion [Wizard] [Concentration] --Sense Moral Darkness (MASK OF SHADOWS) -Sleep [Wizard] --Sleep (Kraata Power) -Thunderwave [Cleric Domain] --Power Scream (Kraata Power) -Witch Bolt [Wizard] [Concentration] --Electricity (Kraata Power

2nd-3 Slots -Blindness/Deafness [Cleric] --Enshadow (MASK OF SHADOWS) -Crown of Madness [Wizard] [Concentration] --Anger (Kraata Power) -Darkness [Wizard] [Concentration] --Darkness (Kraata Power) -Detect Thoughts [Wizard] [Concentration] --Mind Reading (Kraata Power) -Enhance Ability [Cleric] [Concentration] --Adaptation (Kraata Power) -Gust of Wind [Cleric Domain] [Concentration] --Vacuum (Kraata Power) -Hold Person [Cleric] [Concentration] --Stasis Field (Kraata Power) -Immovable Object [Wizard] --Gravity (Kraata Power) -Invisibility [Wizard] [Concentration] --Chameleon (Kraata Power) -Locate Object [Cleric] [Concentration] --Sense through Shadows (MASK OF SHADOWS) -Misty Step [Wizard] --Teleportation (Kraata Power) -Shatter [Cleric Domain] --Fragmentation (Kraata Power) -Silence [Cleric] [Concentration] --Silence (Kraata Power) -Spider Climb [Wizard] [Concentration] --Magnetism (Kraata Power)

3rd-3 Slots -Gaseous Form [Wizard] [Concentration] --Density Control (Kraata Power) -Haste [Wizard] [Concentration] --Dodge (Kraata Power) -Major Image [Wizard] [Concentration] --Illusion (Kraata Power) -Melf's Minute Meteors [Wizard] [Concentration] --Plasma (Kraata Power) -Plant Growth [Wizard Theurgy] --Plant Control (Kraata Power) -Protection from Energy [Wizard] [Concentration] --Fire Resistance (Kraata Power) --Ice Resistance (Kraata Power) -Slow [Wizard] [Concentration] --Slow (Kraata Power) -Vampiric Touch [Wizard] [Concentration] --Hunger (Kraata Power)

4th-3 Slots -Confusion [Wizard] [Concentration] --Confusion (Kraata Power) -Dominate Beast [Wizard Theurgy] [Concentration] --Rahi Control (Kraata Power) -Grasping Vine [Wizard Theurgy] [Concentration] --Plant Control (Kraata Power) -Summon Greater Demon [Wizard] [Concentration] --Create Kraata/Rhakshi

5th-3 Slots -Hold Monster [Wizard] [Concentration] --Stasis Field (Kraata Power) -Insect Plague [Wizard Theurgy] [Concentration] --Insect Control (Kraata Power) -Passwall [Wizard] --Molecular Disruption (Kraata Power)

6th-2 Slots -Chain Lightning [Wizard] --Chain Lightning (Kraata Power) -Disintegrate [Wizard] --Disintegration (Kraata Power) -Investiture of Stone [Wizard] [Concentration] --Density Control (Kraata Power) -Soul Cage [Wizard] --Shadow Hand (MAKUTA)

7th-2 Slots -Teleportation [Wizard] --Teleportation (Kraata Power) -Whirlwind [Wizard] [Concentration] --Cyclone (Kraata Power)

8th-1 Slots -Control Weather [Wizard] [Concentration] --Weather Control (Kraata Power) -Telepathy [Wizard] --Project Voice Through Shadow (MAKUTA) --Telepathy (MAKUTA)

9th-1 Slots -Invulnerability [Wizard] [Concentration] --Limited Invulnerability (Kraata Power) -Shapechange [Wizard] [Concentration] --Shapeshifting (Kraata Power)

And I mean... LOOK AT THAT LIST OF SPELLS. It’s ridiculous. Bionicle is an amazing setting, sure, but this is insane! Even if Teridax burns through all his spells, he’s still got nine cantrips--NINE! With a lot of effects! That he can use to attack the petty heroes coming after him.

So yeah, that’s Makuta Teridax.

[tigerkirby215]

5e Ahri, the Nine-Tailed Fox build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Katie “TeaTime” De Sousa and Pan Chengwei. Made for Riot Games.)

Happy new year! For the start of 2021 we’ll be making a build that I spent all of the later half of 2020 thinking up. Yeah of all the characters I couldn’t figure out Ahri was the one who truly stumped me. Regardless we’re finally going to be rounding out the K/DA crew with yet another character that pushes that T for Teen rating.

GOALS

Find me; find yourself - Along with traditional damaging abilities we need to be able to put on a pretty face and lead out prey in. And Evelynn calls you a skank?

They've exhausted their use - Ahri’s lore has changed like 16 times but her abilities have remained constant: drain the life from your foes for some lane sustain.

Spirits follow wherever I go - Of course the most important part of playing Ahri is her Spirit Rush. Three dashes to use in a teamfight... or are they blinks? Gah translating LoL abilities to D&D is hard; can you believe there was a point that I was originally going to make this a Rogue build?

RACE

This is the part where I call a Vastayan a furry! You’re a Shifter because that’s the “half beast” race in 5e. All Shifters get Darkvision and their Shifting ability that lasts a minute and grants some Temporary Hitpoints along with an additional feature based on their subrace. Speaking of subrace we’ll be going for Swiftstride for some foxy agility!

NOTE: Wildhunt works too if you want more utility, and are willing to swap starting ASIs around with Tasha’s rules.

You get a +2 to Dexterity and a +1 to Charisma, and are Graceful to get proficiency in the Acrobatics skill. Finally your Shifting Feature gives you an additional 10 feet of movement when you activate it and the ability to move 10 feet away from an enemy that ends their turn near you as a reaction, just to make sure you don’t get caught by any melee-range stuns.

ABILITY SCORES

15; CHARISMA - Ahri’s main ability is to charm people so much that they fall right into her murderous arms. She was essentially the founder of K/DA as well.

14; DEXTERITY - Ahri’s other main trait is her swiftness which means I can properly justify some DEX for her, especially with the +2 from our race.

13; CONSTITUTION - Sapping the life out of people means that you are pretty sturdy yourself.

12; WISDOM - Call it Vastayan magic or common sense but you need to know your way around both animals and people.

10; INTELLIGENCE - Riot finally decided to just give you amnesia, meaning that you don’t remember your math class.

8; STRENGTH - It’s on your bodyguard to do the heavy lifting, as well as any other buff allies you may meet.

BACKGROUND

Ahri’s lore has been through the wringer so many times I don’t even know what it is anymore, especially since they copped out and wrote “amnesia lol” as her lore. But she’s certainly the odd one out so Far Traveler works well enough. You get proficiency in Insight and Perception along with a Musical Instrument or Gaming Set (Music Instrument makes more sense but you can pick whatever you like.) You also get proficiency in a language of your choice: Sylvan seems natural for a lost girl on the Ionian countryside.

Your background feature All Eyes on You will make sure that everyone watches the fox. Basically: people are interested in the Vastaya, and if you chat with them you might be able to get somewhere special, seeing how special you are~

(Artwork by Alvin Lee, Pan Chengwei, and Bo “chenbowow” Chen. Made for Riot Games.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - SORCERER 1

Starting off as a Sorcerer because your magic is innate, after all. Also because Constitution saving throws are nice! Regardless you get proficiency in two skills from the Sorcerer list: how about the Charisma classics? Persuasion and Deception to be a master of honied words.

Sorcerers get to choose their subclass at level 1 and hey: wouldn’t it be funny if they made a Sorcerer that’s heavily based on Enchantment magic? Well the Aberrant Mind is exactly that, having Psionic Spells that can be from the Divination or Enchantment schools. Spells like Mind Sliver to get around heavily armored foes, and Dissonant Whispers which is good to freak out your foes. But we’ll be replacing Arms of Hadar with Charm Person because... hey! It’s a Charm!

You’re also capable of Telepathic Speech to coordinate ganks in team chat, or to tell Seraphine that her dress zipper is undone. You can make a telepathic bond as a Bonus Action with a creature within 30 feet of you. You can speak telepathically with the creature up to a number of miles equal to your Charisma modifier, though you must both share a language for this to work. The telepathic connection lasts for a number of minutes equal to your sorcerer level but it ends early if you are incapacitated or die, or if you use this ability on a different creature.

Oh but of course if you’re a Sorcerer that means you have Spellcasting! You can learn 4 cantrips as a first level Sorcerer:

For some harmless Fox-Fire take Dancing Lights to light up the night. For some more potent Fox-Fire Control Flames will let you make the fire grow!

If you need a quick charm and don’t care about the aftermath Friends will get you what you need.

To keep both traveling clothes and dancing clothes looking prim and proper take Mending. Those outfits are expensive you know!

You can also learn two spells of first level: full disclosure pretty much 95% of the reason this build has Sorcerer levels is so we can take Magic Missile to recreate Fox-Fire and Chromatic Orb for Orb of Deception. That’s pretty much three out of four (*five if we include her passive) of Ahri’s abilities at level 1!

LEVEL 2 - SORCERER 2

Second level Sorcerers have a Font of Magic, giving them Sorcery Points that for now don’t serve much purpose other than being able to convert 2 of them into a 1st level spell slot. Basically you have an extra spell slot for now. But you can also convert spell slots into Sorcery points at a 1:1 ration (3rd level slot = 3 Sorcery points, as an example), which will be important later.

You do get another spell though: basically I just wanted Mage Armor because a +3 to AC would be nice.

LEVEL 3 - WARLOCK 1

Hey what if we multiclassed after 2 levels because we got 95% of what we wanted from those 2 levels? Hey guys it’s time for good ol’ Warlock! Warlocks get to choose their subclass at level 1 and Pact of the Fiend Warlocks get Dark One’s Blessing for Temporary Hitpoints equal to your Charisma plus your Warlock level when you knock an enemy to zero.

You also get Pact Magic which is like regular spellcasting except instead of actual spell slots you just get Pact Slots that come back on a Short Rest. You do get two cantrips though so I’m going to recommend Eldritch Blast because it’s Eldritch Blast as well as Prestidigitation for all the special effects you want and MORE.

You can also pick up some first level spells like Command from the Fiend list for some more enchantment, but there isn’t really much else I want from the first level of Warlock. I dunno grab Hex maybe? But we’re going to swap it out come level 3.

(Artwork by Kienan “Knockwurst” Lafferty. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 4 - WARLOCK 2

But firstly it’s time for Eldritch Invocations to keep 닿을 수 없는 level. Agonizing Blast lets you agonize your Eldritch Blast, and Eldritch Mind from good ol’ TCoE is great to keep the magic flowing thanks to advantage on Concentration checks.

Oh and something something can learn another spell but like I said I want to wait for MORE spells from second level.

LEVEL 5 - WARLOCK 3

Third level Warlocks get to choose their Pact Boon and you know: I don’t think we have enough cantrips! Pact of the Tome gives you three sparkly new cantrips to play with, and they can be from any class’ spell list! So you can take cantrips like Guidance for some help with your dances, Sacred Flame for some more Fox-Fire, and Thaumaturgy to be a spooky magic soul-sucking fox.

Honestly there isn’t much I want from Pact of the Tome but it’s the most in-flavor for Ahri. If you want to be a Star Guardian take Pact of the Chain and grab Keiko!

But you can also learn second level spells at this level like Enthrall and Suggestion for more charms, and Misty Step! For good ol’ Flash.

LEVEL 6 - WARLOCK 4

4th level Warlocks get another Ability Score Improvement and what if we got roleplay abilities before combat abilities? Well the Skilled Expert Feat will give you +1 to any stat (hey look at that our Constitution is uneven!), proficiency in a skill of your choice (which will obviously be Performance), and Expertise in a skill that you already have proficiency in. (Choose between Persuasion or Deception depending on if you want to be the good fox or the bad fox.)

You can also learn another spell along with another cantrip! For your cantrip Mage Hand will let you dash something small from the high shelf into your hand, and for your leveled spell Mirror Image will make it all the harder to hit you instead of missing a skill shot where you just were.

LEVEL 7 - WARLOCK 5

5th level means more Eldritch Invocations! In case of emergency be sure to bring Zhonya's, or rather Tomb of Levistus to negate burst.

And it’s third level spells time! You’re a Fiend Warlock so you know what that means? Cast Fireball and nothing but Fireball! Throw a Spirit Bomb like it’s Teamfight Tactics to level the playing field!

(Artwork by Kienan “Knockwurst” Lafferty. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 8 - WARLOCK 6

6th level Fiend Warlocks get 9 tails for 9 lives. Dark One’s Own Luck lets you add a d10 to an ability check or saving throw once per Short or Long Rest, so you can push your spirit for a bit more confidence in your plays.

You can also learn another spell but truthfully there isn’t much else I want from third level. There’s some that I like at second level but I’d recommend waiting for...

LEVEL 9 - WARLOCK 7

More Eldritch Invocations? Don’t mind if I do! Ahri has a lot of skins so Mask of Many Faces is great to play dress up. Are there better invocations? Yeah probably.

But you can also pick up 4th level spells like Charm Monster for a Charm+, or Dimension Door to pop your Teleport summoner spell.

LEVEL 10 - WARLOCK 8

Level 8 means more Ability Score Increases: we haven’t increased Charisma yet so we should probably do that.

You can also learn another spell, and while there are plenty of nice ones at this level if we wait just a little bit we can get...

LEVEL 11 - WARLOCK 9

9th level Warlocks get our last Eldritch Invocation: Ahri is shown floating in a lot of her promotional artwork and stuff so Ascendant Step is good to let you fly up with some fox magic! I mean, you could take Otherworldly Leap instead, I guess?

But you can finally learn 5th level spells, which means we can grab your ultimate! Far Step lets you teleport 60 feet, and spend your Bonus Action on subsequent turns to do it again! Definitely a step up from a regular old dash! But if you want a bit more damage along with some more essence theft then Enervation will let you do necrotic damage and also heal yourself by hurting others.

LEVEL 12 - WARLOCK 10

10th level Fiend Warlocks can get some Magic Resistance thanks to Fiendish Resilience. You can pick a damage type to resist, though this won’t work against magic or silvered weapons which most people probably have by level 12. So you won’t be able to resist swords and clubs but if a fire mage is trying to burn your tails just resist that! You can swap your resistance during a short (or long) rest if you need to deal with a different enemy.

Oh and did you expect to get another spell known? Nah screw you. You do get another cantrip though: I mean I dunno Toll the Dead can be good to kill secure?

(Artwork by Ryan Ribot. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 13 - SORCERER 3

Finally done with Warlock. That’s good: I could use some coffee. Third level Sorcerers get Metamagic to alter their spells with Sorcery points. Quickened Spell lets you turn a spell with an action casting time to a bonus action, so you can have a cup of coffee and still cast Eldritch Blast. Or, you know: cast two Eldritch Blasts in a turn? If you’re sick of enemies dodging your skill shots Heightened Spell will give them disadvantage on their first saving throw, which is good to combo with spells like Enervation.

Oh and speaking of spells you can learn second level Sorcerer spells! Psionic Spells gives you Detect Thoughts which is pretty good but I’d suggest taking Tasha’s Mind Whip as your other Psionic Spell for some Hextech in your step.

Additionally Flaming Sphere was added to the Sorcerer list thanks to Tasha, and it’s a good spell to take for a little more control over your Orb of Deception.

LEVEL 14 - SORCERER 4

Level 4 means another Ability Score! Time to finally cap off that Charisma for the best casting we can get.

You can also learn another spell along with another cantrip, because we definitely don’t have enough cantrips. Sword Burst will give you some much-needed melee defense to cut through minions if you’re surrounded. As for leveled spells there honestly isn’t much I want from second level. We got most of what we needed from Warlock.

LEVEL 15 - SORCERER 5

Tasha decided that Sorcerers were weak so she gave them a 5th level feature called Magical Guidance. If you fail a skill check you can spend a sorcery point to reroll the d20. You must use the new roll, but along with Dark One’s Own Luck this gives you quite a bit of reliability when it comes to ability checks.

You can also now learn third level spells. Psionic Spells grants you Sending which is nice to communicate in team chat, but I’d replace Hunger of Hadar with  Incite Greed from good ol’ Acquisitions Incorporated to charm a whole group and make them slowly approach you with lovey-eyes like they do in LoL.

You can also learn spells like Melf's Minute Meteors for some less accurate but more deadly Fox-Fire, and Haste for some nine-tailed agility.

LEVEL 16 - SORCERER 6

6th level Psionic Soul Sorcerers get Psychic Defenses for resistance to Psychic damage and advantage against being Charmed or Frightened. You’ve seen it all and they’re not going to stop us! (They’ll try but they won’t.) But more importantly you get Psionic Sorcery: when you cast a spell (that isn’t a cantrip) from your Psionic Spells list, you can cast it with a number of sorcery points equal to the spell’s level. If you cast the spell using sorcery points, it requires no verbal or somatic components, and it requires no material components unless they are consumed by the spell.

How does this interact with Incite Greed which requires a 50 gp gem? My bet is that they just focus on you instead. But yeah this is obviously incredibly useful as you can cast spells like Detect Thoughts, Tasha’s Mind Whip, Dissonant Whispers, and Charm Person without any signal that you’re doing it. And there’s only more to come! To top it off: RAW if you don’t show any signs of casting you can’t be counterspelled!

Speaking of more spells as well as Counterspell I took Counterspell as a Sorcerer spell, because Banshee’s Veil is never not useful.

(Artwork by Jeremy Anninos. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 17 - SORCERER 7

Eyyy 4th level spells! Both the spells you would’ve gotten from Psionic Spells kinda... don’t make sense? So grab Confusion to make a mess in a teamfight and I’m actually going to suggest Arcane Eye as your other Psionic Spell for some wards.

You can also learn 4th level spells like Polymorph to turn into a fox in the spirit realm. Just in time for the Spirit Blossom festival!

LEVEL 18 - SORCERER 8

8th level Sorcerers get another Ability Score Improvement and honestly there are a lot of options now that your Charisma is maxed out: plenty of good feats like Tough, Lucky, Inspiring Leader, Mobile, Metamagic Adept, Warcaster, Spell Sniper, Elemental Adept, or an increase to Dexterity. (Those were listed in no particular order.) Honestly if you’ve reached level 18 you should be more than capable of making your own choices by now. Make your own character and be your own person.

Though I suppose I can still recommend spells: for a more potent and deadly Orb of Deception Storm Sphere will hit your foes with harsh winds and lightning!

LEVEL 19 - SORCERER 9

9th level? That means you can get your 5th level Psionic Spells! Honestly there’s a lot I like from both the Enchantment and Divination schools but both  Rary’s Telepathic Bond and Telekinesis are great in their own right, and I’m fine with keeping them.

That doesn’t mean I’m not going to take Synaptic Static because... well it’s Synaptic Static! I love this spell and you can’t stop me from taking it. It’s got all the power of a Fireball along with a great negative effective that makes it harder for the enemy to kill you.

LEVEL 20 - SORCERER 10

At long last our capstone is... another metamagic option. By this point your spells pack plenty a punch so if you want to make sure not to hit your allies Careful Spell will disable friendly fire... Though alternatively if they’re keeping their distance Empowered Spell will let you make sure you get the maximum kick out of your spirit.

You can also learn one more spell, and one more cantrip to round out the absolute slew of cantrips you have. After a long match you can make a Teleportation Circle to go back to base, and for your cantrip? Wouldn’t it be funny if I suggested True Strike? Okay but memes aside take something else other than True Strike the world is your oyster and True Strike is bad just attack twice.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Indulge me - Ahri is arguably the most flexible caster I’ve made so far. A pure 50 / 50 split between Sorcerer and Warlock means that you’ve got a huge variety of spells, and two big spell slots that come back on a Short Rest which you can melt down into Sorcery points. Not to mention that Psionic Spells gives you an absolutely insane amount of spells known and the ability to cast several of them using Sorcery points instead of Spell Slots. And to top it off you have an absolutely ridiculous amount of cantrips, capping off at a whopping fourteen cantrips!

They're mine now - It also turns out that the coffeelock is really potent in its own right. Sorcery gives you a lot of options to make your spells even stronger, notably Quickened Spell letting you shoot out some Agonizing Eldritch Blasts after casting a regular spell.

Run faster! Ehehe! - You’re also no pushover for survival either. You have good health for a spellcaster, damn good mobility, and plenty of abilities to bolster yourself against danger... as long as you don’t mind a bit of Essence Theft.

CONS

Lingering spirits lose themselves - Even if your health is strong your defensive stats aren’t great. Poor saving throws (minus Charisma and Constitution) and bad AC (Shield is a good spell you should probably get it) means that while you can take a hit and lifesteal it back you’re still pretty easy to hit.

Don't you trust me? - You may be the queen of charms but you’re not that great outside of Charisma. Almost all your proficiencies are in Charisma skills which means you won’t be able to do anything like find hidden treasure or spot incoming danger.

Mortals have two choices; follow me, or don't - Ever heard of the concept of choice paralysis? Well with your absolutely bloated spell list it can be hard to choose what to do with your spell slots, and even harder to choose what spell to Concentrate on. Both your best moves and simplest tricks take your Concentration.

But with all your strengths what girl could want MORE? You’re a swift and dangerous mid lane mage with enough Vastayan magic to do whatever you desire. Dash in and show them what you’re made of! And be sure to be back at the studio in time to show the newbie the ropes. Don’t want that drum going dumb.

(Artwork by Horace Hsu and Esben Lash Rasmussen. Made for Riot Games.)

[grailfinders]

Grailfinders #26: Boudica

hey, remember that time we changed our username to pivot to pathfinder builds, completely breaking everyone’s saved links in the process and letting a spambot take our old name only to actually make like 2 dozen builds before stopping for almost a year?

yeah, good times.

anyways, we’re finally doing a pathfinder build again! we’re picking up right where we left off with Boudica, britain’s queen of victory! she’s a Ranger to ride well and hunt down romans even better, and we also dabble into Cavalier to grab the other horse for her chariot and Bastion to shield her allies from harm!

check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

next up: so no head?

Ancestry & Background

Boudica is a Versatile Human, giving her a boost in Constitution and Wisdom, as well as a free general feat to start off! with Ride, you don’t need to make animal handling checks to move your horse around while you ride on it. you’re a rider, you shouldn’t be falling off your mount. you’re also a Viking Shieldbearer, so you can Shield Block as a reaction to block incoming damage. it’s also more than a bit geographically inaccurate, but that’s never stopped us before.

you’re also a Noble, which is a step down from queen but we do what we can. this gives you free training in Society, as well as Genealogy Lore, because I don’t think heraldry was a thing when you were around. you also get a boost in Charisma and Strength, plus the Courtly Graces feat, so you can use society to make an impression on nobles instead of diplomacy. you’re not gonna be using that much, but maybe you’ll meet a non-roman noble on your travels.

at level five your Cooperative Nature boosts your Aid checks. at level nine you can give Group Aid, only spending a single action to help multiple people as long as it makes sense with what you’re actually doing to help. at level 13 you can Bounce Back once a day, preventing accumulation of wounded conditions from dropping to 0 HP. finally, at level 17 your Heroic Presence inspires Zealous Conviction, making it easier to command people as long as you don’t make them act completely out of character.

Class Levels

1. again, getting everything out of the way real quick- as a Ranger you are trained in Nature, Survival, Crafting, Diplomacy, Athletics, Plains Lore(or whatever type of land your character is supposed to hail from in-game, britain’s a big place it’s got range), all weapons, Unarmored, Light, and Medium Armor, your Class DC, Will Saves, and as you improve your intelligence Medicine and Religion. you’re also an expert in Perception, Fortitude, and Reflex.

your Key Ability is Strength, so that gives another boost and informs all save DCs you have as a ranger. you also get a level 1 Ability Boost to Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Wisdom. as a ranger, you can Hunt Prey as an action, targeting one poor sap in particular for a bonus to seek and track your prey. that alone isn’t special, but your Precision Hunter’s Edge adds an extra d8 of damage to your first hit on your prey each turn.

you also get an Animal Companion. hey, free horse! (the horse also hates romans, so it gets the benefits of your Hunter’s Prey and Hunter’s Edge too.)

technically you can use Warden Spells now, but this build doesn’t do that, so enjoy having less complications in your life.

2. you can now deliver a United Assault once per turn as an action, gaining extra damage on your attack depending on how many of your friends have ganged up on whatever you’re hitting. it’s like the whole party has bonus damage against romans now… and they’re just rolling really badly!

you’re also a Forager, because you can’t cook if you don’t have food. basically, you can always find food for yourself and up to four creatures. there’s more benefits at higher levels of survival, but FGO parties are three people at a time, so you’re fine.

finally, your Bastion Dedication sets you down the path of defense, giving you the Reactive Shield reaction. if you didn’t raise your shield before something tries to hit you, you can do so at the last second for a boost to AC.

3. you can now Pick up the Pace to hunt down the romans faster, increasing how much time your party can hustle while exploring.

your will saves and athletics checks also improve this level.

4. you can now Disrupt Prey as a reaction, so any romans trying to manipulate anything around you might get wacked on the hand and stop.

speaking of stopping, you don’t do that, because you’re an Express Rider! you can make a nature check to move 50% faster. no word on what percentage cooler this makes the horse, but I bet at least 20%.

you can also block and knock at the same time with Disarming Block! it’s exactly as the name implies- if you shield block someone, you can try to disarm them.

5. another Ability Boost, this one improving your Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma. your Ranger Weapon Expertise makes you an expert with ranger weapons, yes, but it also gives you the critical specialization of all those weapons if you’re attacking your chosen prey! your Trackless Step makes it harder for any of those romans to find you though, as you’re always covering your tracks without slowing down.

all that, plus it’s high time you got trained in Cooking Lore. for cooking.

6. your horse is all grown up- now it’s a Mature Animal Companion. this means that now your horse can chase and attack enemies without you needing to spend an action to command it! it only gets one action per turn this way, but hay. fuck romans, all my horsies hate romans.

speaking of, you can make romans Say That Again! as a reaction if they crit fail demoralizing you or lying to you. this shoves them back and lets you roll intimidation on your initiative check!

you also have a Nimble Shield Hand, so you can interact with things while wielding a shield in one hand and a sword in the other! I’m sure you cook that way due to sprite limitations, but it’s a thing you can do now.

7. seventh level rangers get Evasion, which isn’t quite as awesome as D&D’s but it’s nice. you’re a master at reflex saves now, and all your successes are critical.

you’re also an Experienced Professional (and an expert Cook Lorist), so you gain twice as much money from failing to earn income cooking, and you prevent critical failures. you’re no beni-enma, but you’re pretty damn good at what you do.

your Vigilant Senses make you a master of perception, and your Weapon Specialization deals bonus damage based on how much you’ve trained with whatever you’re wielding.

8. you can now give a Warden’s Boon as an action, giving your hunt prey and hunter’s edge bonuses to an ally you choose for a round. your anti-roman damage buff’s party wide, but we’re still getting there!

also your Unmistakable Lore means you’ll never get a critical failure while recalling cooking knowledge. I’d advise not to cook with mushrooms before this level.

your bastion feat Reflexive Shield now adds a raised shield’s AC bonus to your reflex saves as well, and you can even shield block whatever made that save happen to boot! rangers are already great with reflex saves so this is just icing on the cake.

9. your Nature’s Edge gives you an advantage on attacking people in difficult terrain. I’d argue all of britain is difficult terrain these days, but that’s due to england being anti-human life rather than because of anything slowing you down.

you’re also an expert in your Class DC, and trained in Intimidation.

10. your next Ability Boost improves your Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, and Wisdom. you’re also a Hazard Finder now, so you get a little boost to perceiving traps and hazards, as well as to save against them. rome put you through a lot, so you had to survive all that crap too.

on a lighter note, you’re now a Seasoned chef, so you get a +1 bonus to crafting all food and drinks.

finally, you can Quick Shield Block, gaining a second reaction that can only be used for blocking with your shield. given how much your shield can block now, that’s well-appreciated.

11. as a Caravan Leader,  you’re able to hustle your group for much longer than before. you’re also a Juggernaut, so all your improved fortitude saves are critical on a success, and you’re an expert with Unarmored, Light, and Medium armor.

your Wild Stride lets you move through natural difficult terrain without issue, and your Intimidation improves too. this is because the british are terrifying.

12. at level twelve you can target Double Prey- as it sounds, you can target two creatures in the same action. unfortunately, there’s more than one roman in the world. fortunately, you can do something about that. you can also Rapid Mantel, pulling yourself up a ledge as soon as you grab it.

you also get the Cavalier Dedication this level, so now you have a second horse! yeah that’s it.

13. your survival is better now, and so is your skill with all weapons. not every level’s gonna be a book report.

14. remember double prey? now instead of two prey, how about two hunters? with Shared Prey, you can pick a single target and give your hunt prey and hunter’s edge bonuses to an ally as well as yourself! with this and your ranger companion, you now have three people all dealing extra roman damage! not three separate servants, but I told you we were getting there!

you can also make a Powerful Leap for Standard Anime Jumps, jumping up five feet or across by an additional five feet.

you also have a Mounted Shield, so while on your horse your raised shield and shield blocks will protect you and your mount! horses tend to not have a ton of HP, so this helps a lot.

15. one more Ability Boost improves your Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, and Wisdom, and you gain an Intimidating Prowess that transcends language. servants are stupid strong, and if I saw a woman crush a car like a tin can it really wouldn’t matter if she spoke english or not.

you also get a bunch of small improvements- Greater Weapon Specialization adds more damage to every weapon attack, Improved Evasion makes you a reflex legend and you can’t critically fail, Incredible Senses gives you legendary perception, and you have mastered Cooking Lore!

16. your Incredible Companion now becomes nimble or savage! I don’t think there’s any romans that resist nonmagical bludgeoning damage, but it never hurts to prepare. either way, they can Gallop by using two actions, increasing their speed.

speaking of, you can now lead your horse on a Trampling Carge for three actions, moving through smaller enemies and dealing damage to each one.

again, servants are really strong, so you’re a Hefty Hauler, letting you carry more stuff before getting encumbered.

17. you’re now a Masterful Hunter, improving your class DC again and giving you a bonus with ranged weapons we don’t care about. on the plus side you get an even bigger bonus to seeking your prey, and your once-per-turn damage bonus now applies to multiple attacks!

also- better athletics. have fun.

18. with the Masterful Companion feat, your horse now gets the full multi-strike damage boost of your Masterful Hunter bonus

you can also Quick Climb, just because I thought it looked cool. we’re running out of general skills, you see.

but we still have plenty of cool archetype stuff! with Shield Salvation, you can prevent a shield from breaking when you block damage with it! this works once per day per shield, but that’s still going to save you a lot in the long run.

19. you’re an Ancestral Paragon, giving you some Haughty Obstinacy so the romans can’t push you around. you critically succeed on saves against mental effects, and if someone fails to coerce you they critically fail instead!

your armor has become a Second Skin to you, so you can rest in it. feels a bit weird to get that this late in the build, but we gave you a level 12 feat at level 18, so who are we to judge?

you also get better with Society, and you can size up Swift Prey in an instant- you get a free action each turn if hunting prey is the first thing you do.

20. last level, last Ability Boost. this last one improves you Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma. we can also finally buff the whole party properly with Triple Threat- you can mark three romans for yourself, two romans for yourself and an ally, or one roman for the whole party of three to beat up.

you get Wall Jump because again why not, and we finish the build with a Legendary Rider, giving you another free action each turn to command your horse.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

this build really maximizes the effectiveness of the ranger’s Hunt Prey ability, sneaking in as much bonus damage as we can by sharing our precision damage with just about everyone in the party. also, by sneaking shields into a class that usually doesn’t really use them, we improve the ranger’s defense by quite a bit, improving the longevity of Boudica and her horse.

Cons:

like a lot of build so far, playing to character completely removes any kind of ranged damage from the build, and in a game like pathfinder where positioning is important, not being able to attack at range can be a big issue. also, while you have plenty of defense, you have no way to repair your shields on your own, or regain HP in battle, so you’ll still lose that war of attrition.

[doorsclosingslowly]

tagged by the glorious @sl-walker

How many works do you have on AO3? 44

What’s your total AO3 word count? 265.827

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Star Wars, Shadow and Bone/Six of Crows, Supernatural. If we're counting stuff that never got polished enough to post, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Harry Potter, Cobra Kai, Lord of the Rings, Inu Yasha, .......

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The blue man (Star Wars TFA; Kudos: 547)

Armor (Star Wars TFA; Kudos: 417)

Coarse and irritating (Star Wars TFA; Kudos: 358)

Head shot (Star Wars TFA Kudos: 344)

Reveille (Star Wars TFA; Kudos: 344)

All the same series!

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I respond but sometimes I'm super slow. I do appreciate every single comment and some of them I've read so often I can almost recite them, but I'm not actually good at making the words go (yeah I know I write for fun but that's one of the reasons why I'm such a slow writer, and also I love suffering)

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

They're both about Maul after losing to Sidious, which is such a miserable point in this life already: the one in which I made it Worse aka the OG zombie Savage fic, Coming home early is always a mistake, and then there's Maul decades after, trapped with something that might just be his brother, Keep quite still and wait

Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I invent crossovers to torture my best friend. In the last one, Gilgamesh was made Hokage. Generally though, I sometimes enjoy the characters-in-world-from-different-story type but I haven't written anything of the sort. Except! My Supernatural/Mines of Falun crossover. And I'm currently writing a Shadow and Bones fic with a de Sade pastiche in it. Those are my kind of crossover

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I'm not remotely visible enough to get hate I think! Like, I generally get less than 500 hits, so why would anyone bother

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I do write sexually explicit fic when the characters vibe with it (like From Each According to Their Ability, To Each According to Their Need which is Jesper/Kaz/Inej) but I would describe it as... more interested in the tenderness you get from being utterly weird in the way that makes your partners feel understood than in sexiness, I guess.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know. As I've said, I am a minuscule slug in a massive ocean

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Someone asked about translating Your death is a number but I cannot count that high into German! They haven't finished and sent me the link though, and really, I don't envy them. Translation's fucking hard

What’s your all time favorite ship?

I've never had one single favourite for anything in my life! I like way too many things

Whats a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I genuinely plan to finish very single one of my million WIPs posted at some point. Yes, even Epicenter

What are your writing strengths?

Weird set-ups and texture through details maybe? Honestly being positive about myself is hard except in terms of: I do really like the ideas I come up with and how I'm spinning out the implications

What are your writing weaknesses?

Humour is super hard and not my strength, which means the fact I've decided that Jesper is the most interesting character in Shadow and Bone/Six of Crows should be classed as an act of self-harm. Honestly, why. Part of that struggle is that there's so many kinds of funny and in-between working out the character's sense of humour and trying really hard, I sometimes stop caring about what possible readers might find funny as long as I do.

Also, I'm slow. So slow. I plot several fics per week and take weeks to write a chapter

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I've written dialogue in other languages! Maul talking to Jagrub in Your death is a number but I cannot count that high, where Jagrub speaks way better Mando'a than basic and because Maul only half-understands some Mando'a words that's how I wrote it.

Death Watch must be getting impatient. As soon as Maul forces himself to raise his eyes—turning away from the coddling indifference of the holocam—Jagrub starts talking. “Mand’Alor? Vercop’ashnar verborir—” and then she lets out a jumble of other words, even more unfamiliar, before she cuts herself off.

She’s not one of those, usually, who address him directly. Maul understands Death Watch’s tendency to converse in Mando’a—if he is to avoid appearing an outsider and risking another schism, replying in kind is indispensable—but his early training held no space for anything that would not advance the revenge of the Sith, let alone the languages of minor regional hegemons, and neither Kast nor him prioritized resuming the lessons interrupted when Sidious attacked Sundari. Jagrub’s brow bunches up with the effort of simplifying her words to a level he can understand. “We should… Permission to send… scouts to find more of Rook’morut'yc?” A frustrated grunt. “No, what will he… Weapons? Goore.”

Kast glances at Jagrub, and then at Ventress. She must decide the suggestion is urgent, because she explains in Common, “Jagrub is talking of slugthrowers. Impossible to deflect with a lightsaber. Mandalore has not fought a war against the Jedi in centuries, but they were more effective than blasters then, and enough should remain as heirlooms or in museums to furnish our army. A delay of a few days to retrieve them, if you believe that Savage will survive that long. Else, we’ll make do with the five we currently have.”

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I've been spinning off stories from what I've read for as long as I can remember. The first thing I actually wrote and posted was an Inu Yasha fan comic about extremely minor characters the Shichinintai, because even as a thirteen-year-old I was niche

What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

I love most of them, but the ones that made me dive really into myself are probably my favourite. Your death is a number, Down in the Ground where the Dead Men Go, Riches and Wonders, To Each According to Their Ability

tagging @expatgirl @humanformdragon @submeowchinegun @skitter-kitteruwu @pomodoriyum @merfilly

[rons-hermiones]

Come Find Me

Come Find Me

by rons-hermiones

Summary: Unplanned, Hermione is forced to spend Christmas at the Burrow due to her grandmother falling very ill. After being ignored by Hermione for weeks, Ron is determined to show her how much she means to him. Just before he gets the chance to tell her, Bellatrix Lestrange shows up with other plans for Hermione. Can Ron get to her before it's too late? (Ron/Hermione Half-Blood Prince AU)

Rating: M for language & dark themes in later chapters.

Chapter Twenty Five

Draco had become sparse since returning to Hogwarts. Ron only saw him whenever he was in the Great Hall, or in potions. Both were too crowded to even corner the git. 

Of course, he could ask Harry for the map, but that would raise suspicions. Something he wasn’t willing to do yet. 

Other than that, the month since arriving back has been what Ron could only describe as routine. Wake up. Eat breakfast. Go to class. Eat lunch. Avoid Lavender. Maybe dinner. Quidditch. Do patrols. Terrible nightmares. Repeat. 

In all honesty, he was doing whatever he could to avoid anyone but Harry and Ginny. People so often offhandedly mentioned her, it made him tick. 

“Ah, Harry, do you know when Miss Granger will be back? I’ve missed her at dinners.” Slughorn would question every now and again. 

“Oi! Dreaming of Granger again?” Seamus would ask as Ron groaned her name in his sleep. 

“Did you send my last letter out to Hermione?” Neville would say every time he saw Hedwig. 

“Ron, if patrols are too much, we can always get an interim prefect until Hermione’s back.” Katie Bell would tell him. 

But what he thinks may be worse, is the pitiful stares of those who knew the truth McGonagall wouldn’t even berate him for late work. Dumbledore always gave him a sad smile. His family's letters were always full of concern for his state. Said letters had little update on the Order, souring his mood. 

His mother would ask him what he wanted for his birthday, which was only about a week away now. She couldn’t give him what he wanted though. 

His father would write and tell him they’ve placed wards at the Granger’s and currently have an Auror team dedicated to her case. But it didn’t feel like enough. Nothing was. 

Times like those, he had nearly shared his suspicions with his father on Draco Malfoy, but soon decided against it. 

All he had were silly dreams, a weird instance on the train, and the knowledge of the git spending all his time in the Room of Requirement. It wasn’t exactly concrete. It was nothing really. 

On the bright side, he supposes, he’s somehow avoided Lavender quiet well, but he still knows she’s talking of him. Telling people they’re together and whatnot. He just didn’t have the patience to deal with it right now. 

All these thoughts soon halted as a small Gryffindor first year came up to him, looking nervous. 

“You’re Ron Weasley?” The little boy asked. 

Ron nodded. He was after all on duty, so the kid could need help. 

“Someone in the common room gave me a knut to find you.” 

“Oh?” He questioned confused, “who?” 

The first year who he now recognized to be a little boy named Tommy who Hermione once helped him with his Potions work. 

The little boy flushed, “I’m not very good with names, but he said it was about, Hermi-“

“Hermione?” Ron cut off anxiously. 

He nodded, “Prefect Granger.” He settled for. 

“Okay, thanks so much Tommy!” He called, racing to the common room, somewhere he’s avoided for weeks. 

In the excitement that Harry knows something it didn’t even dawn on him that he’s the most famous wizard in Britain, so surely Tommy would know his name. No, he doesn’t have time to think about that. 

“Honeysuckle!” He called to the Fat Lady. 

“Oh! Been a while!” She said smiling to Ron. 

He groaned, “Honeysuckle!” 

“Calm down! And I try to be polite.” She huffed, swinging open. 

Quickly, he climbed through looking around for Harry. 

“Oh Weasley. There you are.” 

His face dropped. 

Harry wasn’t looking for him. Not at all. 

“I see you got my message from Tommy. I’ve been trying to talk to you for weeks, but you’re not an easy man to find.” 

Ron’s fists clench at his sides. 

“Or when Cormac McLaggan groped her after Slughorn’s this weekend! Tore her dress and all!” 

His eyebrow twitched at the memory. 

“No one around here will give me an answer you see. I’ve asked just about the entire tower when Granger will be back. Figured you’d give me a straight answer. You and I seem to have her in common.” McLaggen winked. 

And before he could help it, Ron’s fist connected with his nose, making him fall to the floor. 

Nearby, people gasped at the sight. Unbeknownst to Ron, Neville was there and soon scurried away to get Harry. 

From below, Cormac began laughing. “Touchy subject, eh?” He wiped his bloodied nose, “she talked about you, you know. At Slughorn’s. I, of course, was able to take her mind off you.” He propped up on his elbows, staring Ron right in the eyes. 

“Didn’t know she’d be such a good fu-“ 

Before the words left his mouth, Ron dove on the floor and punched his cheek. Next, he grasped at his collar. 

“I know what you did to her! You thought you could get away with something like that, huh?” He bit out in a dangerous whisper, laced with venom. 

Though scared, Cormac didn’t back down, “I just did what you never could.” With that, he threw Ron off and hit him squarely in the eye. 

“I would never, ever, treat anyone, especially her, that way.” He growled, trying to push the seventh year off, “you don’t touch her!” He bellowed.  

“Oh so watching you run around with Lavender Brown made Granger the happiest bird in Gryffindor. I don’t think so.” He commented. The whole tower knew about Ron and Hermione’s fall out. 

“That’s not the same and you know it!” He defended, kicking him in the groin. 

McLaggen cowered in pain for a moment before moving to punch Ron again. 

By now they’ve drawn a crowd. 

“Run her off, have you Weasley?” He said in between blows. 

“You fucker.” Ron grunted, landing one more blow. 

“Ron!” Harry had finally arrived, per Neville. 

They kept at it. Rolling around. 

“Ron!” He called again. 

Ron could vaguely hear Harry but ignored him. This felt good. Way too good. For the first time since Hermione disappeared he felt like he was doing something. 

“Ron!” A voice, not Harry’s, yelled, grabbing his attention. 

Looking up, he found Lavender standing there in shock. 

“Ronald Weasley, I cannot believe you!” She shrieked. 

Someone had dragged Cormac away, leaving Ron to stand and face her. 

“Come on mate.” Harry says, dragging him up. 

“Oh no, he’s not going anywhere.” Lavender claimed, crossing her arms and standing between them and the steps. 

“I don’t really see why this concerns you.” Ron grunted, wiping some blood with the back of his sleeve. 

“Concerns me? I think it does considering you're my boyfriend!” She yells. 

“Boyfriend?” He questions, “I made it perfectly clear to you what we were on the train!” 

“And I told you-“ she began to retort angrily. 

“What? You told me what? That I couldn’t break up with you. That even though I told you it was over, you just denied it! Didn’t you think there was a reason I avoided you for weeks?” 

The pair of them ignored the crowd forming. Anxiously, Harry continued tugging at Ron’s robes, but he just shrugged him off. 

“This is about her, isn’t it?” She said knowingly with slanted eyes. 

Harry knew the mentioning of Hermione did Ron no good. He continuously called out his name. 

“Don’t bring her into this. Don’t.” He warned, voice dangerously low. 

“So it is?” She fired back. 

“Look Lavender, I’m sorry, okay? I really am. I tried for weeks to break it off with you, and you know it!” Sure Lavender was a bit of a ditz, but she wasn’t by any means a moron, “and I should’ve done it sooner. After that night of the match, honestly, and for that I’m sorry. But when I finally bucked up the courage to end it, you said no, so you can’t blame this on Hermione. You put yourself here.” He told her honestly. 

“No,” she repeated, tone similar to the one she used on the train, “no because if you weren’t so hung up on that-that Mud-“

“Don’t finish that.” Ginny called from over Lavender’s shoulders. “Ron would never, but I will slap you silly.”  

“Great now you have your sister fighting your battles!” She snorted. 

“Well Ginny’s right, don’t ever say that word. Ever.” Ron told her fiercely. 

“Again, defending her! Tell me Ron, if you want to ruin everything we had for her, then where is she huh? Where is she?” 

He said nothing, mood suddenly shifting. 

“If you care so much and you’re so desperate to be her knight in shining armor, then where is she?” 

Again, he stood still. 

“Maybe McLaggen was right. You did run her off, didn’t you?” Lavender laughed menacingly. 

“No. No I didn’t.” He almost whimpered. 

“Whatever, if she were here I would tell her that she’s nothing but a no-good-boyfriend-stealing slag!” She exclaimed. 

“I said to stop it!” Ron yelled back. 

“What’d she do? Hex you? Confund you? Tell you she’d do all your homework?” She accused, “or maybe-“

“I love her!” He admitted. 

The whole room went silent. 

Harry’s hand slackened on his robes. Ginny’s mouth hung open. Gasps filled the air. 

“Alright, I’m sorry if that hurts you, but I can’t help that. I love her.” He takes a shaky breath and runs a hand through his hair, “I’ve been in love with her for years. It’s- I’ve tried not to, but I can’t. I just can’t stop.” Ron said, voice riddled with vulnerability. 

He’d never have the courage to do something like this knowing someone could run off and tell Hermione as much. But now, now, he didn’t have anything to lose, did he?  

It’s not like Bellatrix Lestrange would report the incident back to Hermione, wherever the hell she is. 

Suddenly a harsh sting bloomed over his cheek. 

Lavender pulled her hand away, shaking it slightly as it stung from slapping him so hard. 

“We’re done.” She claimed before stomping upstairs. 

It takes a few moments to register everything that just happened. 

Beating up McLaggen. Breaking it off with Lavender. Proclaiming his love to Hermione to over half of Gryffindor. Lavender finally accepting it’s done. 

“Bugger off or I’ll give the lot of you detention!” Ron yelled to the crowd as he rubbed his cheek thoughtfully. 

Scared, the students scampered back to their respective tasks. 

“That,” Ginny breathed to her brother, “that was epic.” She said a little dazed. 

“Yeah, cheers.” Ron grimaced as he began to throb all over. The initial adrenaline wearing off as both the slap from Lavender and punches from McLaggen began to throb. 

“Come on, we better get you cleaned up.” Harry said, pushing him to the steps, “later Gin.” He called. 

Wordlessly, Ron let Harry’s hand guide him up the steps. 

“Did that really just happen?” Harry whispered a little astonished. 

“Which part? The one where beat up McLaggen. Or maybe when I rowed with Lavender in front of everyone. Oh, how about when I admitted I loved Hermione to the whole buggering tower.” Ron grumbled. 

“All of it.” Harry said with a slight chuckle as he set Ron onto his bed and searched his trunk for a flannel. 

“I reckon McGonagall will be around soon, giving me detention or something.” The ginger groaned in realization. 

Harry shrugged and walked over, “You really think McLaggen would tell and fess up to what he did that night?” 

The cold cloth fell on his cheek, Ron winced. 

“It’s not like Hermione’s here to explain herself. Is she?” He pointed out. 

“McGonagall will believe you. She gets that Hermione can’t be here and that she doesn’t know if she’ll be back.” 

The word ‘if’ echoes in Ron’s head. When, Harry meant when. 

“If?” A voice questions. 

It’s not Ron or Harry’s 

Soon, they turn. 

Neville stands in the doorway. Concern written all over his face. Practically demanding answers with his eyes alone. 

“Hermione might not be back?” He questioned, walking further into the room, ignoring their stunned faces. 

They sat still again, not knowing what to say. Never have they seen such fire behind Neville’s eyes. 

Ron and Harry jumped when he slammed the door. 

“Oi listen up and listen good,” he demanded, voice never wavering, “Hermione may be your friend, but she’s mine too, alright! And I may be daft but I’m not stupid!” Neville cried out. 

“The lot of you have been acting weird since holiday ended. I know Hermione is quite a touchy subject for you Ron, but don’t think I noticed how angry you got on the train. Or you Harry! You’re a terrible liar.” He pointed out. 

“Neville-“ Harry interrupted. 

“No! Harry I’ve given you what, six letters since we’ve been here? Six! And not once reply. You don’t even send Hedwig out the window. My bed,” he points to it for good measure, “is right next to yours, I’m not dumb!” 

“Mate-“ Ron now interjects. 

“And you!” He points to the ginger, “We’ve shared the same room for six years. I've heard you moaning Hermione’s name in your sleep for over half of that! You think I can’t stop the difference?” At least he has the decency to flush, “now, now it’s different. You’re practically screaming for her. I see when Harry wakes you up, tears down your face. Hell, it pierces your silencing charms.” 

The pair exchange a look. They never figured Neville would be the one to figure it out, well that’s not entirely true. They just didn’t think he’d be bold enough to confront them. 

“So I’m asking you, not only as your friend, but Hermione’s too. Would someone please just tell me what the hell is going on!” Neville finishes with a huff. 

His eyes flick between Ron and Harry waiting for a response. Soon, Harry averts his gaze to Ron, who sits for a moment, before nodding slowly. 

“You’re right Neville, we haven’t been honest.”The chosen admits. 

The brunette huffs a gasp of air, “I knew it. This would’ve been a bit awkward if I was wrong.” He says like himself again. 

“Look mate, Dumbledore told us not to tell anyone, you have to swear you won’t say anything.” Ron says seriously. 

“I swe-“ 

“This is life or death, I mean it.” He added. 

“I swear.” Neville states, tone leaving no room for argument. 

Weasley then looks to Harry to explain, not having the heart to. 

“On Christmas Hermione was taken by,” he gulps, eyeing his friend thoughtfully, “by Bellatrix Lestrange.” 

A pained look comes across Neville’s face at the mention of her name. That woman’s caused enough hurt to last him a lifetime. To last anybody a lifetime. 

“No.” He breathed. 

Sadly, Harry nodded, “she came to the Burrow and-“ 

“H-h,”

He briefly eyed the room then shoved it away, thinking he was just hearing things. 

“Harry.”

No, it can’t be. He must be losing it. 

“Mate?” Ron asks worriedly. 

“Ha-Harry P-Potter.” 

This time it’s louder. It sounds so un-Hermione like, but deep down he knows it’s her. 

He stands from the bed shushing Ron with a wave of his arm. 

“Harry J-James Po-Potter.”

“Hermione.” Harry breathes before he can help himself, willing Ron to stand and give his friend his full attention. 

“T-the b-boy,”

“You’re so close.” He whispers through gritted teeth. 

It’s louder now, almost piercing his skull. The pain coming is familiar, but somehow welcome. He knows she needs him. 

“The boy who lived.” 

At this, the dark haired boy falls to a heap on the floor. Thrashing about as he clutches his temples. 

“A pillow Neville, now!” Ron shouts. 

Neville obeys and props one underneath their friends head. 

This time doesn’t last long. Only a few seconds. 

When Harry comes to, his eyes burst open as he gasps for air, sitting up. 

He soon meets Ron’s worried eyes and he can only say one word. The very same Hermione was crying out to him. 

“Malfoy.”

[raeynbowboi]

How to Play as Thomas Sanders in DnD 5e

Yes I know I posted my Star Butterfly post saying it was my last DnD build for a while so I could take a break, but guess I’m a liar because I had a slow work day so here we are. A while ago, someone asked me to make a build for Thomas Sanders, and at the time, I honestly dismissed it, telling them that I didn’t think it was possible. I thought trying to cram five characters into one PC wasn’t really doable, but I’m going to eat those words and tell you all how you can talk to yourself about your feelings. However, this one will be a little different, because each Side could also be its own build, so I’ll be discussing how to build Thomas, Logan, Patton, Roman, and Virgil.

Thomas Sanders

Race: Human Background: Entertainer Class     Glamour Bard: As an entertainer with a love for singing and acting, I thought it most appropriate to have the primary class for all five of them should be a Bard. While Roman could work as a Glamour Bard, as he’s flirty and romantic, I felt it fit Thomas the best. Thomas clearly likes the attention or he wouldn’t do his Sanders Sides videos, and the Glamour Bard does exactly that, making themselves the center of attention and messing with emotions, which seemed to fit with Thomas’ personality and the premise of the series.

For spells, as a level 20 Bard, Thomas has 26 spells. 4 Cantrips, 16 spells, and 6 Bard Magical Secrets, which gives room for 6 spells per Side. Logan’s spells would prioritize finding information or using one’s mind to attack with psychic powers, Patton’s spells would protect and heal his allies, Roman’s spells would focus on charms and buffing his allies, and Virgil’s spells would focus on causing fear, panic, or illusory pain to enemy creatures.

Logan: Mage Hand, Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic, Psionic Blast Legend Lore, Synaptic Static, Intellect Fortress

Patton: Friends, Healing Word, Calm Emotions, Zone of Truth, Otil’s Resilient Sphere, Regenerate, True Resurrection

Roman: Vicious Mockery, Charm Person, Heroism, Enthrall, Crusader’s Mantle, Compulsion

Virgil: Mind Sliver, Dissonant Whispers, Fear, Ego Whip, Psychic Crush, Feeblemind

Logan Sanders (Logic)

Race: Variant Human (+1 CHA, +1 INT) Bonus Feat: Telekinesis Background: Entertainer, Researcher Class     Lore Bard: Really, Lore or Eloquence Bard works great for Logan. Just in different ways. Lore Bards are more focused on knowledge and facts, while Eloquence Bards are good debaters who weaponize logic and reason. Whether factual or logical, any way you slice it, you’re still a nerd. Side Expertise: History, Investigation, Nature, Religion Spell List     Basic Arcana: Light, Mage Hand, Message, Prestidigitation, Mage Armor, Magic Missile, Magic Weapon, Magic Circle, Arcane Hand, Mord’s Sword     Knowledge: Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic, Identify, Detect Thoughts, Locate Object, Locate Creature, Legend Lore, True Seeing     Psionics: Id Insinuation, Mental Barrier, Mind Trust, Thought Shield, Psionic Blast, Ego Whip, Intellect Fortress, Synaptic Static, Telekinesis, Psychic Crush Variant Builds     Knowledge Cleric     Lore Mastery or Psionics Wizard

Patton Sanders (Morality)

Race: Variant Human (+1 CHA, +1 CON) Bonus Feat: Inspiring Leader Background: Entertainer, Courtier Class     Eloquence Bard: Originally, I had Patton as a Valor Bard, but then while looking at Eloquence I started to realize it’s really a good fit for Patton. Aside from the Undeniable Logic feature name, the rest of the build is far more focused on healing, supporting, and calming one’s allies. So, Logan might seem like a good fit based on debating and logic, but in terms of how the subclass actually plays, it’s far more at home with Patton. Side Expertise: Acrobatics, Insight, Medicine, Persuasion Spell List     Wards: Blade Ward, Shield, Warding Bond, Ostil’s Resilient Sphere, Globe of Invulnerability     Healing: Mending, Cure Wounds, Healing Word, Lesser Restoration, Mass Cure Wounds, Heal, Regenerate, Resurrection, True Resurrection, Power Word Heal     Feelings: Friends, Sense Emotion, T’s Hideous Laughter, Calm Emotions     Helpful: Light, Faerie Fire, Feather Fall, Aid, Zone of Truth,  Motivational Speech, Skill Empowerment Variant Builds     Protection Cleric     Banneret Fighter     Redemption Paladin     Abjuration Wizard

Roman Sanders (Creativity)

Race: Variant Human (+1 CHA, +1 STR) Bonus Feat: Actor Background: Entertainer, Noble Class     Swords Bard: He’s a gallant hero, a noble prince, and the strongest of the four sides. Also, he likes to sing and owns a sword, so he checks off all two of the boxes required for the subclass. Side Expertise: Animal Handling, Arcana, Athletics, Performance Spell List    Charms: Friends, Charm Person, Suggestion, Hypnotic Pattern, Geas    Knight: True Strike, Branding Smite, Enhance Ability, Crusader’s Mantle, Circle of Power, Heroe’s Feast, Holy Weapon    Dramatics: Unearthly Chorus, Vicious Mockery, Shatter, Enthrall, Irresistible Dance    Royalty: Command, Speak with Animals, Animal Messenger, Remove Curse, Compulsion, Dominate Person, Dominate Monster, Mord’s Magnificent Mansion, Glibness  Variant Builds     Glamour Bard     Champion, Cavalier, or Eldritch Knight Fighter     Crown, Devotion, or Heroism Paladin     Swashbuckler Rogue     Archfey or Hexblade Warlock     Bladesong Wizard

Virgil Sanders (Anxiety)

Race: Variant Human (+1 CHA, +1 WIS) Bonus Feat: Alert Background: Entertainer, Haunted One Class    Whispers Bard: The Whispers Bard is perfect for Virgil, as both are fixated on attacking the mind, dealing psychic damage, and instilling fear in enemies. Side Expertise: Deception, Intimidation, Perception, Stealth Spell List:     Fear: Vicious Mockery, Bane, Dissonant Whispers, Enemies Abound, Fear, Ego Whip, Eyebite     Darkness: Invisibility, Darkness, Shadow Blade, Maddening Darkness     Mental: Mind Sliver, Minor Illusion, Mage Hand, Id Insinuation, Sleep, Crown of Madness, Phantasmal Force, Ray of Enfeeblement, Catnap, Confusion, Phantasmal Killer, Contingency, Mislead, Feeblemind, Psychic Scream Variant Builds     Shadow Monk     Gloom Stalker Ranger     Assassin, Inquisitive, or Soul Knife Rogue     Aberrant Mind or Shadow Sorcerer     Great Old One Warlock

With the four sides, you could build Thomas in such a way that his spell list changes based on his mood, rolling a 1d4 after every long rest to determine how he feels that day. The sides could be their own characters, questing to save Thomas (or other people) by combating their emotional and psychological problems. Or it’s just a team of wacky bards who each have their own unique niche skills.