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mulders-too-large-shirt · 4 months ago

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s3 episode 16 thoughts

(giggling and kicking my feet) it’s mulder and scully time <3

and it was a GOOD episode!!! i was sad, but damn was i compelled! back to the very beginning of the episode to begin the note-taking journey, with a tiny recap of where we left off beneath the “keep reading” bar…

hehehehe i am excited!! i love to spend the evening with the ultimate duo. and we have so much to cover!

so many twists and turns to walk down! krycek is back! skinner is hurt! scully is sleuthing! mulder is in hong kong! we had best begin!

YAAAS we got another “previously on the x files” <- i loathed these at first for throwing me off my typical groove, but now that i know we only bust them out on special occasions (multiple part episodes) i look forward to them

ugh scully is so pretty. “you say that every time” and it’s true every time???

we get a recap: flash bang alien, inky eyes, skinner on a hunt for answers before being interrupted, scully’s dad’s friend johansen, the rat bastard

timeskip to 1953. a man from johansen’s squad who is covered in burns is telling his story, and it is being recorded. he is being visited by those who claim to want to bring him to justice, but he says he won’t tell.

so after johansen started a mutiny and locked the rest of the sailors in the sub, those trapped on the lower levels knocked the dude with the inky eyes on the head with a wrench. so he is knocked tf out. and liquid started pouring from his eyes (BLEAUGH) and into a drain. the survivor who has all the burns and who is recounting this calls the liquid “the enemy”

a guy that looks a lot like matty healy (but much cleaner) is asking him what he means by calling liquid “the enemy”. so the interviewee says that the thing went back to where it came from.

GASP!!!!!! HE ADDRESSES THE MATTY HEALY LOOKING FELLOW AS “MR. MULDER”!!!!!! oh this is JUICY!!! and the camera pans over to another man putting in a cigarette!! GASP!!! WE KNOW WHO THAT IS!!!!

baby cig man says “you can trust all of us” (<- LIES, LYING, SAID BY A GUY WHO IS LYING)

(you can tell the actor playing baby cig man had just one line but he worked SO hard to get cig man's voice right... it made me giggle)

why does young mr mulder look kinda cute. aww. so little. almost wanna squish his cheeks.

they changed the intro again. smh! messing with my rhythm.

anyway, back to main plot. scully’s rolling up to the hospital to find skinner, where she is met by agent fuller and agent caleca, two names i do not think i have heard before. scully asks for hair and fiber from the crime scene and these two are like “we don’t have that yet” so she says “um get it?” (not really but basically) (and they claim it was some random guy that shot him… not buying it)

oh! skinner is being wheeled out! she’s off to go investigate. now if it were ME being rolled about with my shirt off after a gunshot wound and emergency surgery, i would not want people seeing that. but hey, she’s a doctor so maybe she’s chill like that. still! i’d be soooo embarrassed omg

SHE GRABS HIS HAND OMG!!!!! he opens his eyes a tiny tiny bit and tells her that he has seen the man who shot him before!!!

man, i thought just the hand grabbing was gonna be all tender, and it was! but getting a clue at who did it was a bonus too

back to the rat bastard and mulder. at least krycek seems aware that mulder can and will kick his ass and is deferential to him.

scully is looking over skinner’s chart. OH! she asked for guards. and she wants them NOW. she does not CARE about your excuses. WOO!!! she says idgaf if you two agents stand out there YOURSELVES, get GUARDS ON him!!! YAAAAS!

back to krycek and mulder cam. mulder notices that they are being followed and tells him to speed up. at gunpoint! and this mystery vehicle runs them off the road!!!!!!

noooo, their faces are all smushed in. someone pulls rat bastard out and asks where the tape is, but the fellow who attacked him gets flash banged, because again, krycek has alien flash banging powers.

but poor mulder still has his bloody heady on the dash :( he sees some odd flashing

scully gets called into the lab and this guy has some info on the dude that shot skinner. she says it will take too much time to run the hair sequence, but to do it anyway.

(also, i can’t tell if this is the same guy from the lab as before that clearly had a crush on her or if this is a different one but idk i guess it doesn’t really matter... he doesn’t seem like her type)

so the two men that krycek flash banged last night are now in treatment for radiation, and who is visiting them but cancer man!!! he is once again lighting up as they are dying. he bends down and moves a bandage, and sees the eyes of a patient meet his. but he says to HAVE THE BODIES DESTROYED OMFG HE DOES NOT GIVE A FUUUUCK THIS GUY IS EVIL!!!!

mulder at da hospital. bandage on his head. awwwwww :( it’s so sad and pathetic... he’s baby.

AND SCULLY IS THERE!!!! WITH A SMILE!!!!!! WOOHOO I WISH I COULD LIVE IN THIS MOMENT FOREVER!!! YES YES THOSE ARE MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS!!

the police found him and he mentioned “we” so she says “who’s we” and he has to say KRYCEK… she is (very gently) confused

an excellent person to have by your bedside whilst recovering.

she tells him that she is sorry for the bad news, but skinner has been shot as well. but the doctors seem to think he’ll be okay. and she has an idea on who it is that pulled the trigger!

GASP!!! she pulls out the scans on the hair. two of them, in fact. the first being from the man who shot skinner, and the second being from the man who shot melissa. and they’re a PERFECT MATCH!!!! CONSPIRACY!!! CONSPIRACY, I CRY!!!

(shrill violins, fade to black)

oh! it’s the united nations alien council. um i realize now i don’t know their actual name. but you know who i’m referring to, right? the guys. the gang. the squad. just a couple of dudes.

they’re discussing the site “WHERE THEY RECOVERED THE UFO” well! there you have it! word of god confirmation! it’s indeed a ufo that the french sailors came across in the last episode!

“it seems we have an information leak, gentlemen”, one of them announces, which makes me say, okaaaay ominous <3

and they say cig man has responded in a way no one could have predicted… omg was he behind the skinner thing…?

scully visiting skinner <3 asking how he is feeling <3 he doesn’t seem surprised about the news his shooter was the same as melissa’s, especially because those three men had warned him before about pursuing her case. he says she should be careful about saying that the case was shut down because people don’t want it to be caught but. it’s looking them right in the face.

OH! the man that shot him was one of the ones who attacked him a few months back on the stairwell! well i didn’t even catch this. some detail noticer i am. AND KRYCEK was the other one!!!! yes, and they stole the tape yes yes i’m recalling!

ohhh it’s serious. he tells her that she cannot afford anger, that if she’s angry she’ll make a mistake. “i’ll be okay”, she says (voice breaking) (<- said by a woman who is lying)

he says that if she can’t keep her head, it’s okay to step away… this feels very chekov’s gun… but she says that’s exactly what they want. OH! i love that she knows she can get to the bottom of this. i love that she believes in herself.

scully is furiously typing on her laptop. asking to devote full bureau resources to finding krycek. got her glasses on n everything. terribly beautiful whilst angry. she is saying he can explain everything that is going on, but i don’t think anyone is gonna listen to herrrr because the fbi does not give a fuck!!!

scully is now entering their office to see the giant yellow scuba suit. “it looked great on me in the store” says mulder, who needs to make a joke or people will die. perhaps he needs to make a joke even more when people really ARE dying.

so, why is it here? great question. it was covered in oil, the french guy was covered in oil, his wife was covered in oil, and it’s all diesel oil from world war two submarines. a new meaning to the term “oiled up”.

theory time with mulder: it’s a medium for an alien creature for body-jumping. he laughs when she laughs, aware of how ridiculous it sounds, but also aware of her thinly veiled fury; what else could he do? he does know how it sounds, he does know what she needs, but the truth. the truth.

so what does this thing living in the oil want with krycek? a great question.

omg guy from the lone gunmen is ice skating! and so is another one. wow a team bonding mission <3 AND THE OTHER ONE!!! FROHIKE!!!

is this something they do often... no, this must be a sleuthing mission.

frohike goes in a locker and opens something. GIVES IT TO MULDER!!! YAAAS THE TAPE!!! they say he should “call upon their services more often” YAAAS they want that sweet sweet agent time <3

but noooo! the tape is gone!!!! mulder gets mad and throws the empty case. still, a reunion with his pals <3

cig man is watching tv. sipping some sort of liquor.

(whenever i see someone drinking a beverage with ice in it on a tv show, i think of that one tiktok of a prop master explaining how they make prop ice and the many different kinds they can do. i think this looks like glass ice to me. shoutout to people who make videos about props; you make my heart very happy)

BRO... THE TAPE JUST APPEARS. KRYCEK HAS ENTERED????? but the guy who shot skinner is there too!!! and is holding krycek at gunpoint!!!!

cig man watches krycek's eyes go all inky (correction: OILY) and black. omg……

cancer man is rolling up 15 minutes late for the UN alien meeting. lmao it's funny in a way. he moved the ufo to a new location! he promises it will be absolutely inaccessible.

someone asks why he won’t bring it to nevada like the others. probs because even the normies know about nevada as the alien place. dweeb.

GASP! they want answers for what happened to skinner. cig man says for all he knows, it's just random. even though they have a drawing of the guy who did it, who is “one of his”, he’s denying it. AND THEY’RE ALL GROANING BECAUSE NO ONE BELIEVES HIM FOR A SECOND LMAOOOOOOO

(so funny to me that despite being on the super secret alien council, cig man still manages to be unprofessional and lie through his teeth to people who seem far more competent, even when secrecy effects the entire planet. something very funny about him lowkey sucking at his job)

so he needs to get the shooter out of the country NOW or else skinner can make an ID and no one can stop the arrest!

back to the agents trying to piece things together. the lone gunmen are babbling on about how to best find what was written on the case but mulder has the secret: rubbing a lil pencil over top LMAOOO. he finds a phone number!!

and who picks it up when he calls but… the un alien club!!!

it’s the well groomed man!!! mulder says krycek gave him the number. and he asks to meet with mulder. allegedly in central park? is this a trap...

so, the dude who did the shooting is named luis. the other agents are saying to scully they can’t look any further than they already have, but she says keep looking, she’s seen stranger. and the lab guy says “i believe she has” when she leaves lmaoooo GET UP. he's down bad fr. pathetic. get up.

i mean i am too but i'd like to think i'd have more dignity about it

mulder in da park. is he alone… are they gonna get him??? the well-groomed man meets him. they’re playing some mental chess with who can ask each other what. so he tells mulder there WAS a ufo at the bottom of the ocean that was shot down during ww2, and a salvage attempt had been made, but there were complications.

so it looks like they’re both looking for krycek. but the well groomed man leaves by saying “anyone can be gotten to”. very very ominous. and mulder calls scully and says check on skinner RIGHT NOW.

she gets down there and he’s NOT THERE??? apparently he was moved to a different hospital. WHO TOOK HIM?????

scully slaps her badge on the door of a ambulance on the side of the road and asks if he’s got a skinner in there. this dude says yeah and he must be freaked tf out, but she’s coming along for the ride now.

skinner wants to know what she’s doing here, and she says she just wanted him to be safe. she pulls her gun out and opens the door and WHO IS IT BUT LUIS!!! WHO FIRES AT SKINNER!

TRAFFIC GUNFIGHT CHASE!!! luis just got hit by a CAR!!! she got him!!!

and she’s SCREAMING at him. screaming like we have never heard before, are you the man that killed my sister??? he’s begging for his life. he says he can tell her where krycek is…

the police roll up, telling her to put the gun down. and she sadly holds up her badge and explains that she’s basically the police but actually better so y’all are kinda late to the situation. they take him into custody. and she’s tearing up. i do not trust that he doesn’t have a poison tooth in there.

she calls mulder, who is rummaging through his car, and tells him that he was right, someone was going to kill skinner. and it IS the man who shot her sister. and allegedly krycek is going to north dakota. mulder says please meet me in new york with two tickets to north dakota asap.

what’s in north dakota, she asks? the salvaged ufo!!!

cut to north dakota cam. agents are rolling up, and how terribly i wish i could see what happened on the flight and ride up to there. how tense the silence was, how valiant the attempts at breaking it were. UGH. someone pls write the fic someday i’m already emotional.

she’s got a vest thing on and it’s cute. i get that we have bigger things at hand but i can still appreciate a vest moment!!

they go into a silo... but the door locks behind them!!! they go 8 stories down!! that is a lot!!!!

now they’re opening a door to what looks like a nuclear waste thing. idk i don't know much about nukes. but it’s just a big empty silo. so they have to check 199 more.

except they hear a thunk in the tunnels!!!

scully finds one of the (barely alive?) burn victims that had been flash banged by krycek just as mulder announces “he’s here”, and a large group of soldiers runs in

OH! they go to start running from the soldiers and he grabs her. it was so subtle but so sweet. i’m gonna gnaw at something.

NOOO! they’re surrounded!!! and cancer man is coming up. she yells that they saw bodies in there and he says “you saw nothing” <- wow absolutely garbage fellow has sunken further than even before by adding gaslighting to his resume

so they’re getting taken into custody but cancer man is going deeper, and he tells the soldiers to take the bodies away. he goes down to the nuclear thingy, and lights up, which i feel would be a bad choice in a circumstance where things were actually nuclear, but okay.

we see something very dark and oily? and hear people throwing up. OH! it’s krycek, with the black stuff pouring from his eyes and mouth. on top of a triangular looking ufo. the oil is pouring into a spiral thingy? and it gets sucked up.

MULDER AT HIS DESK WITH HIS GLASSES ON!!!! AND A HEALING CUT ON HIS FOREHEAD!!! could a man be any more attractive? it’s debatable.

knock knock. who is it? it’s skinner!!!! limping, and not supposed to be back in the office for a few more weeks!

mulder gets up to shake his hand and help him across the room. a right gentleman, he can be. OHHH so this is why i have seen those bloopers of skinner with a cane LMAOOOO

he’s looking for scully though lmao. yeah not interested in YOU, mulder.

mulder thanks him for getting shot because he stood up to the evil. he’s saying no, no, i wasn’t doing that, at all. i don’t know what you’re talking about. but not in a humble brag way, in a denying allegations sort of way. it's interesting. my brain is still stuck on this moment.

he says that he “mistakenly” believed he could bring melissa’s murder to justice. mulder says hey, what do you mean by that? so that is why skinner needs to go see her.

she's out and about, though. she’s bringing flowers to melissa’s grave NOOOOO :((((((( she doesn’t even say anything, she just sits there.

UNTIL MULDER COMES AND BRINGS FLOWERS TOO??? and she has to brace herself to see him.

he touches her shoulder gently before he sets them down. oh my GOSH

she tells him about how someone told her the dead speak to you from beyond the grave, and that is what a conscience is. he says that’s interesting, that he’s never thought of it that way. a man who sees her suffering and doesn't know what to say to make it better.

and she thought that finding the man who killed her would bring closure but it didn’t.

he grabs her by the arm at this point, and says he needs to talk to her. tells her that they found luis dead. whoever was behind it all tried to cover it up.

“i think the dead are speaking to us, mulder. demanding justice” <-stop. stop i’ll cry. you think i won’t cry? you think, for some reason, i won’t sob? i won’t collapse into a heap? you’d be incorrect. you’d be naive and mistaken. you’d be an utter fool, even in a world of fools.

(muffled screaming of me trying to keep it together)

but funny i should type that, because we also hear some muffled screaming on camera, that of krycek trapped in the ufo?? or in the room with it, deep in the nuclear silo?

episode ends with his screams.

WHAT!!!

so much has happened. and really one thing is on my mind: who is gonna hug scully? who is gonna tell her that the anger is okay, even if it’s futile? who is gonna hold the baddest woman alive close and listen? even if all she has to say is silence?

RAAAAAAAAH i’m gonna CRY.

i feel like i could write another thinkpiece here but i also feel like i need to let this one sit for a bit.

scully holding skinner’s hand, scully waiting by mulder’s bedside, scully saving skinner’s life, scully screaming, so guttural, at the man that killed her sister. scully in glasses and scully in vests and scully in coats. furious and devastating and calculating and guilty.

i have some major questions re: krycek and cancer man and why don’t they just deal with him already??? like for real. i know the answer is gonna be that someone from higher up would just replace him, but i do think it is funny how he goes about blatantly committing all those crimes and then clocks into work the next day like nothing happened. and no one can act like anything happened because they’ll tear the fbi down if they do. we all have a coworker like that, don’t we? that sucks terribly but you can’t do anything about it because the inside supports how terrible they suck? sigh. many such cases.

krycek, if i’m supposed to feel bad for you, i don’t. starve in that ufo and see if i give a damn.

skinner denying any concept of heroism… i think he’s doing it to keep himself safe. like he said to scully, any sort of accusations are risky. i don’t think he wants anyone to get the idea that he is a hero, even if he is in reality. i also think he has a complex and a great fear of being PERCEIVED as a hero after the things he did during war, and who knows what else he did but hasn't spoken about. but interesting still that he would deny a gesture as simple as being thanked.

there are many dots in my head. i would like to think they are connecting, but honestly i’ve got matty healy dupe mr. mulder on my mind still just because it was so funny. and then also scully angst. and a deep deep desire to get into that car on the drive from the airport to north dakota, to just listen in on whatever went down. maybe i’ll have to write it if no one else does! isn’t that terrible? when no one else will write the exact thing you want to read, so you have to do it?

(i’ve actually never written fic before so that would be a major commitment. but a one shot here or there sounds interesting)

anyway. lots on my mind. it was a good episode, but kept a lot of things unsolved. which is the point, i know, but they dangle the answers in front of you!! then snatch them away!! i wanted a tiny bit more of the tea.

but i guess, on the other hand, we know what the tea is, don’t we? we know cancer man and the UN alien squad are hiding this, they’re aware that this alien creature can cause radiation, they’re aware of ufos and they’re covering them up. they might not be aware of the exact nature of the creature, but they ARE aware of it, and that it’s a weapon of mass destruction. what isn’t clear is how tf krycek got roped into this. but again i really dgaf about his loser ass.

i’m plotting. i’m pinning things on boards and tying them together with string. and then making predictions from there.

(actually, think it’s cool we see a bunch of different kinds of aliens on this show. there were the poison blood clones, standard alien 👽 fellow, and now the oil creature. fun that we get multiple perspectives and takes on what could be. perhaps scarier than just plain old little 👽, but!!! interesting for worldbuilding purposes)

back to plotting….

#it's interesting reading back (since i wrote these notes yesterday) but what stuck out to me the most were the quiet moments #the silence of their drive to the missile silo. mulder saying nothing as he dropped the flowers on the grave.#scully grasping skinner's hand and listening to his whispers. scully gently asking mulder what happened when he awoke in the hospital #there were lots of huge emotional moments like her screaming at luis and krycek dealing with the monsters he brought upon himself #but sometimes tragedy and profound themes are best told in the silence #how quiet her voice was when she said she though the dead were listening.#and the steely understated rage of telling the others that skinner needed to be guarded and begging the fbi for help #hmm. my brain is still turning these moments around in circles in my head #it was a really good episode! and i have a lot of thoughts! so many they get a bit ramble-y!#which usually means i was very invested!#let me know what you thought off each twist and turn and which moments made you the most emo! i want to know!#juni's x files liveblog #the x files #txf

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eighthdoctor · 1 year ago

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Maximianus Philophonos Bard 11/Rogue 1

Because we're at the end of the campaign, I wanted to write up a little bit about Max.

Max started as a combo of two A+ tier ideas:

A charisma caster but the charisma is "the most pathetic little man you've ever seen, you can't possibly say no"

A bard who thought being a bard was like being a professional musician and is shocked to find out that it is not, in fact, at all like being a professional musician.

The other thing going into Max is (before naming him, the name is only accidentally a pun) I wanted to abuse the shit out of the bard class. Minmax that fucker. Dating the DM is an excellent method for getting away with this. Turns out a single level in rogue gets you some expertise (2x proficiency bonus to some skills) which you then get MORE of with bard levels, and eventually bard gets you jack of all trades (1/2 proficiency to anything you're not proficient in) meaning that most of his skill checks are something like +5.

So out of universe I needed a guy whose first level was in rogue, remainder in bard, a classic pathetic little wet rat of a man, who is both wildly talented and also just. Completely incapable of using that for malicious OOC purposes otherwise my wife would kill me.

What I wound up with is someone who has crippling anxiety. Max is very nearly too anxious to function in society, gets outsize sympathy for it, and really can only do social interactions in the framework of performances.

See, at about 18 Max went to magical Juilliard to become first violin in the Requiem City Orchestra. After the first semester he realized two things:

Magical Juliliard is not really Juilliard at all, but more like the CIA academy if they also taught music.

He's trans. (Sidebar: He does not actually have a deadname. Maximianus is his stage performance name that he just sort of. Went with. After coming out.)

This is all hideously awkward and embarrassing and he has multiple fullblown panic attacks about the first thing.

Max's family is huge and overbearing and supportive and he doesn't really want to come out to them because it will be a Whole Thing TM and he is so, so, so bad about receiving affection, and he really doesn't want to tell them about the school mixup because then he's wasted their money and they'll never ever ever say anything about it but he's just a drain on their resources and also everyone will be so caring, so sympathetic, poor kid, homecooked meals for months, mom knocking on the door every day to see if he's still crying--

So he goes no-contact. To avoid explaining why he's dropping out of school.

He did accomplish one thing in that semester though, and that was making friends with a tabaxi student named Ihava (Ihava Nayme, because Jo mistakenly didn't give her a name and we promptly engaged her in conversation and also a subplot). Ihava is a budding revolutionary and realized that (a) Max totally has subversive tendencies and (b) the ability to baldfaced lie to cops and make the cops feel bad for you is priceless.

That's how Max got involved in a budding insurgency, and over the following year or so took his first class in rogue. Some theft, but mostly just skulking around, standing watch for others, passing info, etc.

Then he got itchy feet--Requiem isn't tiny but a year trying to avoid contact with any relatives, your luck will run out eventually, and Max is also just. He's not flighty but he does like novelty, and at some point the Violet Guard were gonna figure out that this kid was turning up at a lot of crime scenes. So he dropped a letter to the family (identity crisis etc graduated early etc going off to join the circus don't worry about me), and really just started moving across the country, working as a travelling minstrel.

He very rarely pays full room & board, instead playing for his dinner. He eventually washed up in Suncrest, and met the rest of the party when the tavern down the street [checks notes] exploded.

And this is where he really started taking off, because Max is two very cool things in one package:

He is just a good kid. When asked by a NPC why we were putting so much effort into helping her, his immediate, honest answer was "how could we not?" and he stands by that 11 levels later. He's somehow remained mostly Lawful Good despite some VERY sketchy actions, because at his core he wants to help people, and he wants to do so within a strict code of morals. They're just...sometimes unusual.

He's also got a VERY nasty imagination and will put his spell list to work in deeply creative (and fucked up) ways.

As an example. At level 4, Max got the second level spell Phantasmal Force, which lets you convince one being that Something Exists. This is obviously a spell mostly constrained by the player's creativity.

Also at level 4 Jo dropped us in a dungeon at the bottom of which was a Young Blue Dragon. This was moderately outleveled for the party and we should have fucked off.

Instead Max went "hey is that a male dragon" and the DM said yes, and Max mindfucked the dragon into thinking there was a Young Red (male) Dragon coming into HIS LAIR, and then the dragon spent multiple rounds trying to fight the illusion and we completely killed a dragon without major injury at level 4.

This became Max's Thing: Using his spell slots to wildly outsize effect, through monopolizing a major enemy, convincing NPCs to let us go where we really should not go, utilizing cold iron + animate objects to do serious damage to the Wild Hunt...

He didn't usually do the most damage and he didn't often get the kill shot, but he was doing battlefield control. A lot.

And so then we come to the final arc. Jo wrote up the bit about the Wish spell here. (I need to add that once again we fucked up her plans, because of COURSE the WIZARD would attune to the STAFF OF THREE WISHES, and no. Consensus was to let Max do it because Max is the words person. This worked out very well, see here.)

But just. You have the world's most anxious bard. He didn't even want to be A Bard, he wanted to be a musician. He also has a mindblowingly powerful artifact.

For over a minute, Max had to maintain perfect concentration to save the world. A friend died in that minute. Multiple friends fell unconscious and had to be revived (mostly by Max). Almost everyone in the party temporarily incapacitated themself (see here) to ensure that he passed Concentration saves he should have failed.

There's a massive battle going on entirely around Max. He is the focal point of everything. Everyone he loves is risking literally everything to keep him focused, and he spends most of it in a pocket dimension trying to keep breathing. He's channelling impossible power to try and fix the converging planes and defeat the Summer Queen, and he can only do this by not fighting, by hiding away and curling up tight and thinking very, very hard.

And he does it. He succeeds. We find out tomorrow what that looks like but god damn I am proud of my boy.

#HE'S SUCH A GOOD #i'm not sorry for putting this massive thing on everyone's dashes y'all deserve it #julis runs d&d

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sl-walker · 7 months ago

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Preview...

...from the next chapter of Stardust, which will go out at some point after I finish it. Until then, please enjoy this opener to an already wildly self-indulgent chapter.

“I maintain that this would be easier in a pool,” Ted said, though given his tone, he was kvetching to kvetch -- his term -- and was perfectly content with where they were.

Booster had never been in any body of water larger than a hot tub or a cold water post-game bath before, so obviously he’d wanted to jump into Lake Michigan. It was upwards of 90 out and it wasn’t the dry heat of El Paso; this heat clung to the body, making clothes stick in wildly uncomfortable ways and in insanely uncomfortable places, and so naturally he wanted to wear as little as possible and the best place to get away with wearing very little was the beach. The incredible amount of blue and water was just a bonus.

And that wasn’t even taking into account a Ted wearing nothing but swim goggles and trunks. Which meant this could well be either Booster’s very personal heaven or his very personal hell. Unless there was a weird personal purgatory where you were being tortured with the appealing sight of the unaware object of your affections?

Hell if he knew. There was a reason he body-swerved religion like it was a wharf rat hissing from the storm drain.

He'd thought about going out to some of the Long Island beaches before, maybe as an afternoon trip, but the ocean intimidated him every bit as much as he was fascinated by it. By his time, the oceans were very barren; mostly, they existed as giant vats to grow specialized algae, which in turn became the building blocks of most food sources. Storms could rage, but the vast bumpers and floats and dividers kept the surface anywhere near shore fairly smooth; to let it get wild would be to risk starving some large portion of the roughly two billion people inhabiting Earth at any given time.

In this time, waves roared ashore and smashed against rocks and the first time he’d stood on an unsheltered walk next to an unfettered ocean had left him so awed that he didn’t even remember the walk back to the motel. His face was windburned and he was cold enough that he took the warmest shower he could coax out of the motel’s hot-water heaters, and then sat shivering wrapped in the cheap blankets after.

But even as he did, he was still reliving the reverberation of water pounding the shore, a low and bone-shaking boom that felt like it changed the very rhythm of his heart right through the soles of his shoes. He was still tasting salt, flecks of seawater spray flung by the wind, long after it had to have been impossible to.

Lake Michigan was cheerful by comparison to that; the waves were nonexistent today, and given the rental Ted had chosen, the largely private beach was likewise quiet. Down the way, one of the various public beaches that lined the North Shore was busier -- Jaime, Brenda and Paco had abandoned them to go investigate the more social scene, in fact -- but there had been no talk of Booster and Ted going with.

If one was going to half-ass some swimming lessons, then it couldn’t be a better day for it, or a better location. And, ulterior motives about getting to see the man in trunks aside, Booster wouldn’t have wanted them from anyone but Ted anyway.

Booster shrugged, drawing his hands through the water in a wide arc around himself, feeling the resistance against his palms. “Easier, sure, but way less pretty,” he said, as he pretended with award-winning composure that he was referring to the lake and not his oblivious instructor. Though the lake was also pretty.

“Yeah, but with a pool you can practice kicking by holding onto the side. For an example.” Ted looked around; he had so much sunscreen on his face and shoulders that there was a glaze of it left on his skin. Not enough to hide the birthmark on the back of one shoulder. He smelled like artificial coconut, which was definitely not Booster’s favorite scent, and Booster still would have happily buried his face in Ted’s neck for a snootful. “I mean, out here all you have to hold onto is me,” Ted added.

Booster stared at him for a second or two, then swallowed down a groan and just let himself slide below the surface because it was that or die right there.

He was laying sort-of on the floor of Lake Michigan in a speedo and goggles and the guy he was absolutely head over heels for was mostly naked and this was the single worst idea he’d ever had in his life.

But, he had to allow as he stared up through the water at the distorted image of his best friend looking down at him in what was undoubtedly a bemused fashion, there were definitely worse ways to go.

#ted kord #michael carter #blue beetle #booster gold #stardust

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its-ya-girl-phoeni · 9 months ago

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Just A Regular PT Mod episode list

SEASON 1

S1E1 "In The Gutter": When Bonnie is thrown into a game ruled by Downbeat's new friend PX, she must work with Nico, one of PX's victims, in order to get out alive.

S1E2 "Hot 'N Cold": Bonnie and Nico explore the medieval world of Pizzascape on a quest to slay the fearsome Cheese Dragon. Whilst messing around along the way, of course.

S1E3 "Ancient Runes And Cool Tunes": Searching for answers to the Tower's origins, Bonnie travels to the long-forgotten ruins of Ancient Cheese.

S1E4 "Dungeon Duos": Nico and Bonnie go down into the bowels of hell to retrieve a special sauce for... some odd purpose.

S1E5: "Pepperman Strikes!": The duo face off against the guardian of the first floor, an artist with a larger-than-life opinion of himself.

SEASON 2

S2E1 "Mirages And Mysteries": The waterless trek through Oregano Desert's sunbaked dunes leads Bonnie to begin hallucinating. Meanwhile, Nico discovers a UFO and the aliens that inhabit it.

S2E2 "Your Tombstone Lies Here": An accident in the Wasteyard turns Bonnie into a ghost, and she tries to find a way to change back without freaking anyone out.

S2E3 "Honest Work": The duo attempt to help out around The Vigilante's farm, but things get difficult when Mort the Chicken arrives and causes unintentional mischief.

S2E4 "Fastest Legs In The West": Whilst in a bar, Nico drunkenly bets all of his and Bonnie's money on a rocking-horse race, leading to Bonnie having to enter in order to get their money back.

S2E5 "The Gouda, The Bad And The Ugly": Upon hearing the recent criminal streak throughout the Western District, The Vigilante takes it upon himself to bring down these evildoers for good.

SEASON 3

S3E1 "Beach Boys": Now at the supposed "Vacation Resort", Bonnie becomes entranced by the idea of a relaxing beach day.

S3E2 "Gnomed": Giles goes on his own adventure delivering pizzas with Brick, while Bonnie takes a well-deserved nap in the forest.

S3E3 "The Not-So-Final Frontier": A trip to space goes wrong when Bonnie finds herself stranded on a distant, alien planet.

S3E4 "Fore!": Bonnie plays golf and nothing bad happens. That's it.

S3E5 "Avoise The Noise": Tensions between Nico and Bonnie finally boil over, and they get into a heated brawl.

SEASON 4

S4E1 "A City For Pigs": When Bonnie and Nico get in trouble with the local police, it's up to Giles and Brick to bust them out of prison.

S4E2 "Robot Rumble": Bonnie and Nico infiltrate a factory that's mass-producing robotic copies of Peppino, and defend the good name of authentic pizzas everywhere.

S4E3 "Down The Drain": When the Slums' plumbing goes haywire, Bonnie and Giles go down to investigate, and find more than a simple clog to blame for it.

S4E4 "Fresh, Not Frozen": The dynamic duo venture into the depth's of the Tower's freezer to find a powerful artifact to help them on their journey.

S4E5 "Confronting Myself": Bonnie goes toe-to-toe against herself, in a more literal way than she expected.

SEASON 5

S5E1 "Sweet Scares": The two deal with their own seperate challenges whilst in Pizzascare. For Bonnie, it's not getting scared of the giant rats lurking around every corner. For Nico, it's not devouring every piece of candy he sees.

S5E2 "One Night At Pizzaboy's": When Bonnie is captured and transformed into an animatronic, Nico is forced to fend for himself against the murderous robots.

S5E3 "What Is It Good For?": In their most intense mission yet, Bonnie and Nico face off against the Tower's army in a grisly, harrowing battle.

S5E4 "An Expected Finale": Having reached the Tower's top, Bonnie faces off against PX and Downbeat in a climactic battle.

BONUS/SCRAPPED EPISODES

"Mozzarella Mansion" (Scrapped Season 5 Episode): Bonnie discovers an old mansion on the outskirts of the Tower, and enters out of curiosity.

"Pizzaland" (Scrapped Season 3 Episode): Bonnie and Nico are roped into performing as clowns in the Vacation Resort's newest attraction.

"And I'm Free, Freefallin'" (Season Unknown): This episode never made it to scripting, storyboarding or animation, but the general idea involved Bonnie falling through the air, catching items along the way.

#pizza tower #creepypasta #exe oc #bonnie freeman #nico pizza tower demo 0.99 #px pizza tower demo 0.99 #peppino spaghetti #theodore noise #gustavo pizza tower #giles fisher #pepperman #the vigilante #fake peppino #pizzaface #pizzahead

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thenightling · 6 months ago

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The clues about Abigail's father (Abigail movie)

I watched Abigail for a second time. Originally I thought there were only twp hints that she's Dracula's daughter. Now I realize there were more. The Invitation (2022) was much more obvious with its many blatant clues that DeVille was Dracula. (Note: Deville happens to be an alias Dracula used in the original Dracula novel.) Here are the Abigail clues that her father is not merely a vampire but Count Dracula himself. 1. Abigail's father is a crime lord. If you read the novel Dracula you will notice that Dracula speaks a LOT like the leader of an organized crime syndicate with careful wording and phrases. 2. It's implied (you don't see it happen but it's heavily suggested) that Abigail is the rat running around the house fairly early on in the movie. Dracula is probably the most famous vampire with animal shape-shifting powers. 3. Though Abigail does burn in the sun (in the novel Dracula was able to walk around by day, he was just weaker by day) she regenerates lost limbs like a fast version of Deadpool. This is a pretty advanced power and suggests she is of some high status in most vampire lore.

4. Abigail is far stronger than most fictional vampires. Also suggesting at some high status in the vampire world. 5. The mural in the house resembles Poenari castle, AKA The real Castle Dracula. Bran Castle is used for tourism since it's pretty and easy to access but Poenari Castle is the actual castle that Vlad the Impaler is supposed to have resided in. 6. The mural of what looks like Poenari castle has bat winged creatures flying around it. 7. Abigail implies that her mind control / ghoul creating powers (Sammy) come from years of practice and obviously a newbie vampire can't do that.

8. Early on in the film before the kidnapping, Abigail's bedroom mirror is covered. This suggests that like the traditional depiction of Dracula she does NOT cast a reflection. In The Invitation the bedroom mirror is completely missing and "out for repairs." The Invitation goes more out of its way to point out the missing mirror while the covered mirror in Abigail is more subtle. 9. The gate in the foyer has a family crest that resembles the sigil of The Order of the Dragon. It depictions a dragon. The family of the dragon = Dracul. 10. When Abigail's father shows up at the end he says he has had many names over the centuries. A similar line is said by DeVille in The Invitation but he's more blunt about it in saying that his favorite alias was one that means "Son of the Dragon." (Dracula). 11. Abigail's father looks and dresses like a classic depiction of Count Dracula. 12. The opening song (and apparently Abigail's favorite song) is Swan Lake. On the Phillip Glass soundtrack inserted version of the 1931 Dracula movie, the opening song is also Swan Lake. 13. All of Abigail's father's teeth are pointed, much like Nicolas Cage's depiction of Dracula for the movie Renfield that came out just last year. 14. Abigail can fly, another power Dracula usually has, along with the agility she needs for her ballerina moves. 15. Much like with the novel Dracula, to become a full vampire, you have to be drained, and then fed a vampire's blood. 16. Abigail's father kisses the back of Joey's hand, much like cliche depictions of Count Dracula, and is imitated by Jerry Dandridge in the original 1985 Fright Night. 17. Abigail's father is referred to as the anti-Christ. Dracula translates to Son of the Dragon in the original fifteenth century language but in modern Romanian it has a secondary translation. "Son of The Devil." (Note: Dracula is not literally the son of any devil. His surname come from his father's membership to The Order of The Dragon.) Bonus: Abby / Abigail is the name of the child vampire in the Hammer film "Let me In" which is a very loose (and kind of dumbed down) remake of the Swiss vampire film, Let the Right One In where the child vampire (actually a eunuch boy passing as a girl) is named Eli.

#Abigail #Dracula

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mojaves · 9 months ago

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HEHEHE hewwo red. 🐷🎶🍎 for alex & 💚😊🤒 for dev <3

🐷 PIG FACE — what is your oc's favorite animal?

anything that can be classified as a "little freak" in one way or another. rats. worms. moths. flies. something you would generally Not want in your home [pet rats are the One Exception] they bring him a sense of comfort that he could never find in like, a dog or a person. they make him feel at home.

🎶 MUSICAL NOTES — what type of music does your oc like? do they listen to music very often?

he does Not listen to it very often he spends most of his time existing in some sort of eternal void. when he DOES get the chance though, and also gets to choose what it is. everyone around him is on 24/7 limp biz/kit lockdown

🍎 RED APPLE — where was your oc born? do they still live in/around their place of birth or do they live somewhere else? how do they feel about their birthplace?

PERFECT question bc i just got all this figured out yesterday hehegehehe. ok so he was born in a small town in georgia in the us, and he and his family moved to louisiana when he was around 5 years old. so he doesnt have many memories of his birthplace, just that they lived pretty close to a river that he and his brother were never allowed to play in. basically, no strong feelings one way or another. he would like to go back one day though,,, see if it's any more insane than the town he lives in now. [it is not it is in fact just a regular town. your family should have stayed there boy im so sorry]

💚 GREEN HEART — does your oc prefer being inside or outside?

dev LOVES being outside any chance she gets. sun, rain, snow, whatever she does Not care. she needs the fresh air or she'll go insane. despite the town being very busy, it's a lot quieter for her out there - lets her clear her mind and focus. she can see and communicate with ghosts, which usually isn't a problem because the ones she encounters are generally very polite, but sometimes it just gets a little Too Much and she needs to go somewhere with Life and Noise to drown it all out a bit.

😊 SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES — what are your oc's career/general life desires? what do they want to get the most out of life?

honestly. more than anything else she just wants to hang out. have fun, take life one step at a time. there's no rush to get anywhere, she's taking every day as it comes. which i guess is very VERY easy for her bc the communicating with ghosts thing has a fun additional bonus of kind of sort of letting her see into the future. so. why rush to do anything. it'll happen when it happens [and 9 times out of 10 she knows exactly when that is] all that being said the 'predicting the future' thing is like, more of a side gig for her. brings in good money, she thinks it's fun. a little tiring at times, but fun. luckily she Does have an actual day job [that i have yet to decide on] so she doesnt have to drain herself 24/7

🤒 FACE WITH THERMOMETER — does your oc get sick easily?

one fun thing about seeing the future means you can avoid places where you're at high risk of catching a cold or something. but even without that added insight, she's just very lucky at not getting sick WHFDHGDGHDS worlds most robust immune system.

#oc alex #oc dev #they are squeaky toys. to me #i have sooooo much more to say about them. im chewing on wires rn #im holding back so much i cant just yell about everything yet but ouuuUGHRHHRBGBGBG

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softladyhours · 2 years ago

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I posted 2,174 times in 2022

97 posts created (4%)

2,077 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@rat-that-writes

@maxthelocalemeraldmayor

@the-moon-pal

@lady-of-the-spirit

@skeletalheartattack

I tagged 550 of my posts in 2022

#rat<3 - 156 posts

#softie speaks - 77 posts

#markiplier - 42 posts

#unreality - 26 posts

#matt murdock - 25 posts

#thanks for the ask! - 24 posts

#goncharov - 24 posts

#fic rec - 23 posts

#not mine!!! - 21 posts

#markiplier egos x reader - 21 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#also this is making me realize that i think i would be a werewolf if it came down to vamps or werewolves and i…. idk how i feel about that

My Top Posts in 2022:

how babey are the egos on a scale of 1-10

dark: 1/10. most of the time he is smooth sexy bastard man but sometimes he is just in need of cuddles. but even when he wants cuddles hes just like in denial about it

damien: 10/10 the most babey ever . constantly 🥺 at you in search of cuddles and kisses the boy is so touch starved when u kiss him he melts every time

actor: 4/10 usually just whiny little dog of a man not really babey material but when hes sleepy he is just 🥺🥺🥺💕💕💕💕

illinois: 5/10 too suave and cool and sexy to be babey usually but sometimes he just cant stop himself from uwu-ing

yancy: 10/10 OHH BABEYYY !!! <3333 the snuggliest man ever. constant heart eyes constant need to be held constant hand holding just sksdfhjfgdd!!!! owo

engineer mark: 7/10 when around the crew he is Not Babey (well… 99% of the time he isnt…) but get him alone and the boy is just 😄💞🥺☺️💘💗🥰😍 he is so touchy he just gotta grab u and just need to look at ur pretty face

Omg these boys make me so softyttttt

- Dark is ofc a big house cat and so he’d VEHEMENTLY DENY any desire for affection or whatever but then he’s practically laying across u ANY chance he gets jshdjsjskskdj I just want him to rest his head in my lap while I give him head pats😭

- DAMIEN WOULD BE ALL NUZZLY N SHIT HES ALSO A HOUSECAT BUT ONE OF THE SUBER CUDDLY AFFECTIONATE ONES (dark has to get it from somewhere right? Lmao) I feel if ur touching damien, the moment your hand leaves his body he unconsciously shifts closer chasing ur touch. Same w kisses I lub he

- Actor is, in fact, a pathetic wet puppy dog of a man and now I’m imagining him coming home from a day of filming and maybe he had to do a really emotionally draining/intense scene and just had a rough day in general so the second he sees you when he gets home he just kind of does sad puppy dog eyes and grabby hands at u and then u both take a bath and have some wine just tryna get him out of that headspace rUAHH I WANT TO TAKE CARR OF HIM!!!!🥺🥺🥺🥺

-illi 67% of the time is just,,,, the hORNiEsT MAN A L I VE and just always trying to fluster u or act super suave and hawt and shit but then you do something super endearing he just internally screams and can feel his soul leave his body for a sec🙃🫠🫡 (bonus points if he’s silently pining and just miserable bc ur just sO PRECIOUS HE PHYSICALLY CANNOT STAND IT!!!!!

- YANCY WOULD HAVE HIS HAND IN UR BACK POCKET EVERY CHANCE HE GOT!!!!!!!!!!! He’d just be so casually affectionate and touchy bless him you’d be just hangin out at lunch and y’all are listening to the conversation at the table and he just kinda wraps an arm around ur waist with a little kiss to ur jaw and it’s just !!!!!!!!! SO NICE!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel like despite his anxious/insecure tendencies whenever he’s in a comfortable atmosphere he’s just casually very confident and self assured and I just😩😩😩😩

- DONT! GET! ME! STARTED! ON! ENGINEER! MARK! HES SO NEEDY AND BABY AND I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!! Like yes he is a very capable hard worker who’s very passionate about his work but also he sees you doing your work as captain sometimes and his heart just kinda palpitates a bit sugrisudjdj no matter how much he’d deny it he PREENS under ur praise and will do almost anything just to make i smile and I just AAAAAAAAAAAAA the second u get him alone he’s putty in ur hands and just wants love and affection. Give it to him. Now. Do it.

248 notes - Posted May 16, 2022

Drew a little something based off a pic from bestie @rat-that-writes 🥰🥰

@markiplier

251 notes - Posted August 14, 2022

Freckles

Darkiplier x GN!Reader

Warnings: None that I can think of, just domestic fluff with a sprinkling of angst :)

Summary: Dark is feelin sappy and sentimental (with a sprinkling of heartache, for taste)

AN: I’m obsessed with the concept of freckles and moles being the places where past soulmates loved to kiss you the most, so I took that and ran with it -- I hope you enjoy!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It is a quiet Saturday evening. You have been able to keep Dark away from any extra work successfully, using your sweet kisses and loving promises. After spending the day in each other’s quiet company, away from the chaos of the other egos, you’ve found yourself laying across the couch with your legs across Dark’s lap. His gentle caresses along your calf and knee never fail to spark a few butterflies in your stomach. He had set up the record player to play a variety of moony love songs—as much as he tries to conceal his inner romantic, it makes you so giddy.

You have a book in hand, one that you’ve been trying to make time to read for ages, and Dark simply sits with closed eyes in quiet contemplation. You can’t recall the last time you had seen him quite this relaxed. His features are soft, angelic even, and occasionally he quietly hums along to whatever song is playing, his deep bass rattling your bones ever so slightly. It is in this meditative study of your lover that you notice a single freckle, right to the side of his chin. You can’t help but recall a video you had seen in passing on the internet.

“Hey, Dark?” you ask, careful to keep your volume low. There is honestly a good chance he has fallen asleep—he could be such an old man sometimes.

You hear a gentle Hm? His eyes open slightly to look at you, bleary but full of affection.

“Did you know that, apparently, some people think that prominent moles and freckles are the spots where your soulmate in a past life kissed you the most?”

He smiles gently, “That’s fascinating, darling. May I ask what prompted such an observation?”

You set your book to the side, readjusting so that you’re sitting next to Dark, halfway in his lap.

“I can see that your soulmate in a past life loved to kiss you right—” you place a gentle kiss, “—here.”

It takes everything in Dark to maintain his composure as he is overcome with visions of the past. He remembers the way that you would kiss him—no, not him but Damien—in that exact spot every time he passed an exam with flying colors. He remembers noticing the handful of freckles across his chest or the mole on his shoulder, but now realizes that those were never there on Damien’s body. They were, however, placed in almost the same exact spot you would litter kisses whenever Damien would let you be in control for the night. An almost foreign heat rises to his cheeks, but then he sees you. He notices the small spot under your jaw where he—Damien—would kiss you to tease and fluster you. He sees the place on your forehead where Damien would always place a gentle kiss to calm and comfort you. But Dark can see you now, your brow furrowed in concern. He forces himself back to the present, placing a kiss on your forehead and pulling you into his arms.

You’re caught a little off-guard, but you reciprocate immediately. You’ve seen that look in his eyes before, mostly here and there when you first met. It was a sort of deep sadness, as if he knew something you didn’t. You’d always wanted to voice your concerns, console him if needed, but you had been so shy then.

“Is everything okay, Dark?” you ask, timidly, not wanting to upset him further.

He squeezes you tighter, taking a shaky breath. “Everything’s fine, my heart.”

The pet name makes you blush.

“I suppose I’m just feeling sentimental tonight,” he continues, pulling away from you, but not too far. He still holds you close but can’t seem to look you quite in the eyes. “I am simply so grateful to have you in my life.”

You smile at him, gently turning his face to yours and kissing him tenderly. “I love you,” you murmur, pulling away to look at him. He looks back, his dark eyes soft and adoring.

“I love you too, my sweet.”

You both settle back into each other’s arms, appreciating the music and each other’s presence. Resting your head on his shoulder, you close your eyes, allowing yourself to doze. Dark breaks the silence one last time.

“Also, just for your information,” he whispers, “I’m sure that you are the reason I have that freckle on my chin.”

You smile and let out a small huff of amusement before replying, “Yeah, sounds about right.”

As Dark hears your breathing even out, it takes everything within him to not let his glassy eyes shed a tear. His brain is swarmed with painful nostalgia and the misery of having to keep your entire past from you. The secret bears heavily on what little soul he has left. He won’t succumb to the misery, though. You wouldn’t want that. He instead chooses to focus on the fact that you are here now and that, in and of itself, is more than he could ever deserve or ask for.

273 notes - Posted September 7, 2022

how egos respond to u going “pspspspsps” at them

dark: i mean it gets his attention but he will be grumpy about it afterwards

damien: the boy is so clueless as soon as he hears it he is looking around all concerned then he sees u and just “darling!!🥰💕”

actor: is GREATLY offended that u would do this to him. absolutely heartbroken. he still responds to it tho

yancy: he does it BACK AT YOU like a CHALLENGE

illinois: IMMEDIATELY responds and walks over to u, what a good boy

wilford: will put out his gun, probably

I’m LOSING my MIND over this oml

Dark would give you a death glare but I think if you pet him affectionately he would begrudgingly accept his new role of house cat

DAMIEN!!!! Y/N and Celine would have a running bet to see how many times Y/N can get his attention that way without him noticing anything wrong. Let’s just say Celine owes Y/N a LOT of money

Actor would be such a pissy bitch baby about it but I think as long as you gave him some good love and affection he’d forget about it quickly lol

YANCY???????? The mental image of Yancy and Y/N aggressively spspspspss ing at each other has me ROLLINGGG

I think illi would lowkey like it just bc he’d feel special being the only one you pspspspsp at sjhfjejsj

yea Wilford’s a simple man. You spspspsp and he pulls out his gun idek skdjjdjs

660 notes - Posted May 8, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Inspired by @your-local-eddie-munson-slut ‘s Matt Murdock version—I couldn’t resist lmao

2,044 notes - Posted August 3, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #im so happy my fic got up there:)#also still losing my mind at how well the slutty markiplier meme aged lmao

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ritens · 2 years ago

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Leandrs BG

GW2!Leander is a rather old character and bits and pieces of his story are gone from my memory simply because over the past 9 years the most writing I’ve done for him are a few vague comic thumbnails. He feels like dry sand falling between my fingers, yet I like him like that. I think it’s finally time to go over what’s left of him in my head. And maybe add some new stuff in the future?

Fragments of Home

Leander Coeth. Krytan. Born in 1308 AE to a couple of nobles in Divinity’s Reach. He was a well educated child, mainly because he spent more time with tutors than he did with his parents.

At the age of eleven (1319 AE) he was kidnapped by bandits while on his way to visit friends in Beetletun for a game of tag. Bandits demanded bribe money from the kid’s parents. The parents didn’t have the necessary amount as one of them had a gambling addiction. Bonus - they were also in the middle of a divorce. Putting their differences aside for their child’s sake was out of the question, and their decision making skills were pure garbage.

So their son ended up living with bandits in Brisban Wildlands for three years. He learned how to work with firearms, picked up lockpicking, trapping, tracking and other skills during his time with criminals and schemers. Despite their moral alignment they weren’t entirely horrible to Leander, which led the kid to feel like he fit in the group.

If his noble parents were to finally come around and find their son, the bandits wouldn’t let him go anymore. Leander, now nicknamed Lane, had become one of them.

Inquest of Sinister Triad

When Lane was fourteen (1322 AE), his group of bandits made the decision to become a part of the Sinister Triad in hopes of a better life. He got handed over to the Inquest side of the Sinister Triad like some sacrificial lamb.

An asura Chronomancer, Kwinden, (character belongs to @alteredsilicone) gingerly received the new subject. He had joined the Inquest to have more freedom in how he approached his research about stretching the limits of chronomancy. But his krewe fell apart over severe disagreements. This led the scientist to look past asura-only teammates and join the Sinister Triad to conduct his research among humans and nightmare courtiers who were more than eager to get their hands dirty and provide him with whatever he required.

Kwin erased Lane’s sense of self, the memories of people he had any kind of connection to. The teen may or may not have run off a few times before the scientist decided to take this approach.

Now all Lane has from before this point in time are vague images of people he believes he’s never met. They’re just fictitious fragments that his unconscious mind had cooked up in a dream.

Together they made steady progress in Kwinden’s chosen field of research, and though Lane was just a human lab rat, Kwin made sure the kid felt alright and gave him some level of freedom, so he could spend time with himself and his own interests which was a blessing after the more draining tests (especially the ones that involved time warps). Less fussy subjects are better subjects.

As years went by Leander himself became invested in Kwinden’s work. And even though he didn’t yet have the intellectual capacity to fully understand what was what, Kwin could still meet Lane on a similar brainwave and help him learn. Leander was on his way to become an engineer with a strong affinity for elixirs and burning things. He could finally take care of himself at a reliable level and at this point the asura trusted his personal human assistant enough to let him run errands instead of calling upon the thugs of the triad and watching them struggle to comprehend what’s being asked of them.

Less Than Friends

The Commander began their journey in 1325 AE. Leander was seventeen at this time. And Kwinden had a major breakthrough in his research. Though physically de-aging himself was an accident, he took it as a victory worth celebrating. After all, he was an old man and standard mesmer magic only let him alter his appearance. It did nothing for his pained back and brittle bones.

Originally it was another time-warp test that was run on Lane, but oddly enough yielded no results aside from increased blood pressure. It frustrated the asura as it made no sense. He firmly believed his calculations were correct and thus confidently ran the test on himself. In reality the experiment had an invisible effect - Kwin almost entirely stopped Lane’s biological clock by leaving his body in something of a time loop, but figured out this mishap several years later when the human’s unchanging youth started becoming suspicious. So the same test yielded two different results on two different subjects. Unfortunately the asura couldn’t go back to the notes related to this experiment to undo it. The lab had been ransacked and burnt down just a month after his own age-reversing success.

The duo left the Sinister Triad to build their own private lab elsewhere. Lane finally had the opportunity to travel where his eyes led him, and made friendly connections with various peculiar characters along the way. In 1327 AE they formed a guild which did its part by lending strength to The Pact in the fight against the Elder dragon Mordremoth. The events leading up to the battle with the jungle dragon caused significant losses, squabbles and trust issues among the members and the guild fell apart shortly after The Pact claimed victory over Mordremoth in 1328 AE.

One of the two ex-guildmates that Lane is still in touch with is Zachren, a sylvari guardian whose life the engineer saved by pure chance while gathering kindling for a night under the stars of Blazeridge Steppes. Zachren then stuck with him through thick and thin on the branded battlefield while the human gathered research material for his mentor.

The sylvari willingly joined The Nightmare Court after Mordremoth fell and the guild disbanded. They don’t talk much since then but Zachren always makes time for when Lane visits to have a meal together now and then.

The other one is Caserin Kyn, a necromesmer who resides in some deep end of nowhere in the middle of Shiverpeaks and knows more than he lets on. Though Lane says nothing about it, he suspects Kyn has treaded paths similar to Kwinden’s and remains in hiding for safety.

They originally met at a norn alemoot. Kyn was drunk as a skunk and asked a stranger to help him get home. The stranger turned out to be Leander who was there to briefly warm up by the fire before setting out to gather a specific kind of lichen. He gathered the material while trying to make sense of the instructions the drunk man was giving him. Although strange and entirely random, them running into one another turned out to be mutually beneficial.

The necromesmer tends to provide valuable tools and artifacts under ridiculous conditions, and for this reason alone is intensely detested by everyone in the Priory. He is a collector with a twisted sense of humor, along with a visible bloodstone addiction, and is difficult to negotiate with.

Lane tends to stay over at his place to test elixirs together. They’ve made an agreement that Leander can take whatever materials he needs from Kyn’s collection as long as he helps the necromesmer break an invisible bond with someone who’s out to kill the man.

Holosmith

The engineer dealt with the loss of his guild by wandering and doing odd jobs in various places for a while. He visited the major cities of each allied race to learn more about their culture and pick up on some technical knowledge, especially from the charr.

In 1330 AE when the Commander made way to Elona to pursue the rogue god, Leander caught wind of the concept of holosmithing and decided to pursue it.

I shifted my character focus from Leander to Caserin in 2017 and then took a significant break from gw2 during 2018-2022 so this is where his story stops for now. Will update this post (much) later when I go through the entire story of the game again. I'm so.. so out of the loop with the lore.

#gw2 oc #sometimes a boy's story is just him running errands and gathering mats and that's his entire life #guild wars 2 #ritens-writing #gw2-lane

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redvelvetnat · 3 years ago

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sweet peach of mine

dragon slayer!natasha x princess!reader x witch!wanda

summary ➞ balancing an upcoming arranged marriage, inheriting your mother’s throne, and two secret girlfriends is a full time job. word count: 1.5k

disclaimer ➞ strong language, smut, jealousy, threesome, a dash of bondage, dirty talk (degradation + praise + pet names), knife play (sword play??), use of magic during sex, mistress kink, crying kink

a/n ➞ this is too short to be a full fic but i haven’t written anything this long in a while. i do want to write something longer about this dynamic if you all like it but this is all my little rat brain can do for now. this piece of work is not to be copied or translated anywhere. thank you for reading!!! comments and reblogs appreciated <3

Somewhere under all the chiseled muscle and thickened silver armor, Natasha Romanoff was an incredibly smart woman whose brawn had only ever been a bonus to her quick instincts and sharp tongue.

So, naturally, it failed to surprise her when town gossip informed her that the Queen’s only daughter had been arranged to marry a nearby prince; she knew it would have happened sooner or later. But she also knew better than to believe you’d ever let anyone, other than her and her witch of a girlfriend, between your legs - married or not.

As if she needed anymore convincing, her theory had only been confirmed when she had seen your so-called ‘suitor’ at The King’s Ball the following week. At best, he was a boyish mess of scrawny limbs and flashy clothing, stumbling haphazardly across the ballroom floor.

The longer she watched, the more she found that he was nothing like herself or Wanda. So, needless to say, there wasn’t much competition there in regards to sex appeal.

Her girlfriend, however, was not as easily convinced as the dragon slayer; jealousy had always coursed through her icy veins and this marriage arrangement had proven to be no exception.

Much to the older woman’s annoyance, Wanda spent most of the night muttering foreign curses under her breath and wailing about all the things she would do if she managed to get her hands on him - drain his body of blood, transform him into a street rat, you name it.

Eventually, she had gotten her fill of fussing and decided to let the feeling pass (“I’m going on a walk, don’t wait up!”). Natasha had only been relieved to finally find a bit of peace, freedom to unwind from the day and take off the opulent clothing she had purchased specifically for the ball.

By the time midnight swung around, seeing as Wanda had still been AWOL, Natasha figured it best to make a trip to the castle and warn you of the brewing hurricane that was your furiously jealous girlfriend.

As per usual, it didn’t take much for her to get inside the walls; a few quiet guard assassinations that she tidied with ease and an invisibility potion that Wanda had taught her how to make. She was lucky in being able to slip into the castle, unscathed and without much of a fight just as it began to wear off.

Which brought her here, bounding down the hall on heavy feet as the stone steps wound into the castle’s west wing. Her sword, still dirtied with a bit of blood from the guards she had taken out, made a sharp metal-on-metal hiss when she slid it into the holster at the side of her armor.

She reached your living quarters and pressed her ear to the large wooden door to listen for any sounds she could make out on the other side. She expected she might hear chatter from the servants - if they hadn’t already, they would be making their final rounds for the night.

She was met, instead, with the sound of muffled moans from somewhere within the bedroom. She didn’t make any effort to move, pressing her ear harder into the door and giving it a moment.

She wondered what she would find if she pushed open the door. Would you be splayed across the bed, your silk nightgown left open for the night air to caress your skin and one of your hands dipped between your legs as a fresh stream of frustration tears rolled down your face? It wouldn’t be the first time she had stumbled upon you like so.

Or maybe, she thought for a brief second, she would find your soon-to-be husband trying his hand at getting into your pants. But that thought didn’t last very long before she was pushing it away and muttering to herself ‘get a grip, you sound like Wanda.’

She took only one short moment to continue listening to your sounds of ecstasy before she swung the door open. The sight she was greeted with surprised her more than anything she could have conjured up in her head.

Wanda, whose ‘walk’ was very clearly a code Natasha hadn’t been privy to, had you pinned to the headboard of your bed. What she assumed to be a tight rope of red magic held your hands clasped behind your back. Your legs twitched and trembled as an invisible force held open your thighs.

Natasha could faintly hear the witch muttering spells under her breath which did not falter when her girlfriend entered the room - she figured the woman had either expected her arrival or sensed her coming.

Wanda drew your attention back to her with a soft whisper against your dampened temple, “That’s three.” The comment was an obvious narration on the growing number of orgasms the young witch had racked through your body and Natasha almost felt bad at the drive Wanda could muster up when she was angry.

“Let’s try for four, shall we?” Your body jolted at the ooze of confidence in her tone and desperate whimpers shattered through your chest. She was about as upset as Natasha figured she would be; eyes darkened and throat empty of the praises and reassurances that usually fell from them.

You looked to the armored woman for aid as Wanda’s fingers probed at your entrance yet again. “Please, I’ll be good. I’ll be so good.” The words fell from your lips in a whine, wrists twisting and turning against their magical binds.

“I have to say, peach,” Natasha’s lips curled into a sort of smirk, “I was coming to warn you. But, seeing as I’m too late and witchy, here, has been dying to get her hands on you for a number of hours; I doubt your melodic little whines will be enough to deter her greedy hands.”

She accentuated her statement by extracting her sword from its holster and caressing the blade carefully between the naked valley of your breasts. You gasped at its coolness against your warm skin and the muscles in your thighs clenched as they desperately tried to close.

“Mistress.” You gasped loudly and with great surprise as Wanda finally sunk her fingers into you, her breath hit your face in a short burst as she exhaled and reveled in the feeling of being inside you. “So perfect, sweet dove.” She whispered against your cheek before her head fell to your throat to leave a litany of love bites along the skin.

“Aren’t you just the prettiest?” Natasha cooed, kneeling onto the bed, the action followed by a soft clank of her armor. Her fingers found your cheek, brushing away the tear that cascaded down the skin. “So pretty when you cry, lovey.”

Wanda’s fingers pushed farther inside you, forcing a series of broken howls from your aching throat but that only seemed to spur her on and her thumb found its place against your swollen clit. “That’s it, let it all out.” The brunette encouraged, teeth sinking into your collarbone.

“Such a pretty pussy that I get to play with.” She purred, lips wet and tongue hot against your skin, “All mine.”

“Ours.”

She didn’t seem much interested in Natasha’s correction, waving the burly woman off with a huff of breath. “Our pussy to play with. Isn’t that right, your majesty?” Her voice dripped with malice.

You choked over a few bouts of nonsense, lips falling open in hopes that the words would find their own way out of your throat. Nothing escaped but moans and whimpers, your walls clenching desperately around Wanda’s nimble fingers as she curled them in quick motions.

“I believe Wanda asked you a question, peach.” Natasha hissed, trailing her blade down the sweating path of your abdomen. You yelped at the traveling sting, throwing your head against the headboard in frustration over the loss of coherence.

The tips of Wanda’s fingers grazed at that spongey spot inside of you, “You can do it, my queen, just tell me who this beautiful pussy belongs to and I’ll end all this painful torture.” She was hissing now, like a snake with a vengeance.

“Yours! Yours!” You squeaked, tears welling in your eyes and falling down your cheeks. “Yours! And Natasha’s! Only for you!” The words were slurred, full of hope that they’d be enough to end the suffering that bubbled in the pit of your stomach.

Wanda let out a pleased giggle, free hand stroking calculated circles around your clit. “Why don’t you come for her, baby? Don’t you see how bad she wants it?” Nearly forgetting the older woman had been there, her voice ripped your eyes open as they shot to meet hers.

“Going to… I’m - oh.” The orgasm ripped through you before you had a chance to say much else. Every muscle in your body seemed to tighten and release at once as you fought for breath. Wanda, laughing maliciously, was pleased with your obedience and gently stroked at your walls until you melted into nothing more than a lump of shuddering bones.

“Sweet, sweet peach.” She mused, soothing over your skin with gentle lips as Natasha retracted her blade and watched your ribs shake with each bid to gain your breath back. “So perfect.”

#rvn : sydwrites #rvn : sydsblurbs #natasha romanoff x reader #wanda maximoff x reader #natasha romanoff smut #wanda maximoff smut #natasha romanoff imagine #wanda maximoff imagine #natasha romanoff #wanda maximoff #wandanat x reader #wandanat smut

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monstersdownthepath · 2 years ago

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Lord of the Ninth: Asmodeus, the King of Hell

Lawful Evil God of Contracts, Pride, and Tyranny

Domains: Evil, Fire, Law, Magic, Trickery Subdomains: Arcane, Ash, Deception, Devil, Divine, Smoke

The Complete Book of the Damned, pg. 26~27 (but also Inner Sea Gods, pg. 20~27)

Obedience: Using a ruby-bladed knife, inscribe symmetrical cuts into the flesh of another creature—preferably an unwilling sentient being you own or hold dominion over. The blade may be solid ruby or forged of metal and edged with serrated ruby fragments. Devout priests of Asmodeus take pride in crafting elaborate daggers made entirely of ruby. Drain the victim’s blood into a bowl of bone made from the skull of a sentient humanoid. The amount of blood drained is up to you; you don’t have to drain so much that you make the creature weak or too useless to serve you. Use the bowl of blood to draw a large pentagram on the ground. Kneel within the pentagram and concentrate on the glory you will bring to the Prince of Darkness’s name. Benefit: Gain a +4 profane bonus on saving throws against Fire effects.

... okay!

Well. There’s... well, there’s no two ways around this is there? Serving the Prince of Darkness is a lot of work, requires a lot of materials, and boy howdy does it allow absolutely 0 subtlety. You need not one, not two, but THREE separate items for this Obedience, one of which is probably way too expensive for a level 3 character to get ahold of, one of which is worrying and/or illegal to gain and maintain, and one of which--thankfully--can be easily substituted by a Sack Of Rats. Fittingly for the King of Hell, he requires his subjects to be driven to not only serve him, but do it in a way straight out of Hollywood Satanic ritual, complete with blood pentagram!

God, you are one robbery or backpack mishap away from having to go through an entire sidequest to get back not only your fancy-schmancy ruby dagger (poorer Asmodeans can ~just~ use a regular dagger with ruby shards along the edge), but saw apart someone’s skull to use as your gruesome blood goblet. I like how the ritual states you don’t need to drain enough blood to make a creature useless to you, but it takes a lot of blood to draw a “large” pentagram on the ground, Asmo! That’s not exactly a teaspoon we’re pulling out! That’s like, five rats, minimum! 1d3 Con damage to our poor lackey! ... though, the way it’s worded, I suppose you may actually be able to get away with bleeding a creature you’ve summoned, though it’s up to the DM if materials removed from a summoned entity disappears when it does. The good news is that if you’re a Diabolist or another class with a Familiar, you tend to have ready access to the blood of a creature you hold power over.

Casters also have Dominate and Charm and all that, if you really want to be a skeez about it, but if you’re already going to be leaving bloody pentagrams all over the place, you may as well go all out. It goes without saying that if you’re doing this literally anywhere except Cheliax, you can expect to be thrown into prison, especially if you’ve been draining blood from innocents for your grisly rituals. The reward you get for doing so doesn’t help you weasel your way out of trouble, either, but a +4 bonus to saves against the most common magical damage type in the game is welcomed, I suppose. It also states Fire effects, not just Fire spells, so it works on traps, blazing monster auras, and certain attacks like a dragon’s breath!

Boons are acquired slowly: the first once you reach 12 hit dice, the second at 16, and the third at 20. However, the Evangelist, Exalted, and Sentinel Prestige Classes can be entered as early as level 5 if you have the Deific Obedience feat; doing so grants you the Boons at levels 8, 11, and 14 instead. Uniquely, as Asmodeus is both an archfiend and a proper god, you can take Fiendish Obedience and enter the Diablost Prestige Class, though doing only allows you to enter at level 7, and the further Boons are gained at levels 10, 13, and 16. Fiendish Obedience lets you enter Evangelist, Exalted, and Sentinel at that later date, too, but I don’t see the point of doing so! Especially since his Boons are the same whether you take Deific Obedience or Fiendish Obedience.

——– EVANGELIST ——–

Boon 1: Pitiless Judgment: Gain Wrath 3/day, Flames of the Faithful 2/day, or Bestow Curse 1/day

Off to a good start! Three strong spells, though Bestow Curse as a Save-Or-Suck is usually less reliable than just queueing up three castings of Wrath and letting it loose on whatever tough encounters you have that day. Since we’ve never seen Wrath or Flames of the Faithful on one of these lists before: For a standard action, you can invoke your Wrath against a specific target you can see for 1 minute, gaining a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls and to caster level checks versus that creature’s Spell Resistance for that time. These bonuses raise by 1 for every 3 levels you have, to a max of +3, and if you have 12 or more Hit Dice, you also gain Improved Critical against that creature. Decent! Boring, but decent.

Meanwhile, Flames of the Faithful adds the Flaming special ability to any one weapon you’re holding, adding 1d6 Fire damage to it, and it lasts 1 round/level. If you’re an Inquisitor and you’ve activated your Judgement already, it instead becomes Flaming Burst, dealing even more Fire damage if the attack is a confirmed critical hit. Again, boring, but effective... though it’s roughly equivalent to just using Wrath, since 1d6 averages to 3, and Wrath is a morale bonus to damage instead of the easily-resisted Fire. Useful if you’re facing something that’s not resistant to Fire, or even vulnerable to it, but Wrath in general allows you to fire and forget against the most threatening target in a battle.

Boon 2: Tireless Judgment: You gain Favored Judgment as a bonus feat, choosing Chaotic Outsider, Good Outsider, or a subtype of Humanoid. If you don’t have the Judgment class feature, you instead gain a +4 profane bonus on Survival checks to track a creature or individual of this type. This Boon doesn’t grant you any ranks in the Survival skill; therefore, if you have no ranks, you still can follow tracks only if the DC of the task is 10 or lower.

And the ball is fumbled immediately. I mean... In an Evil vs Good campaign, this could be alright, essentially giving you anywhere between 3 to 5 extra Inquisitor levels out of nowhere against specific subtypes of foes you can regularly expect to run into (not as impressive as it sounds), but it’s worthless against everything else, the bonus isn’t even spectacular to begin with, and most importantly: if you’re not an Inquisitor (like 40 of the 41 available classes aren’t), then you basically just get a blank Boon. A +4 in Survival checks to track creatures of a specific subtype is worthless in basically any conceivable scenario, because unless you’re building specifically to do this, someone else in your party can probably do it way, way better.

The way this Boon is worded also makes it seem like you just permanently gain Favored Judgment even if you don’t do your Obedience. I think it’d be perfectly in-character to scam Asmodeus out of a free feat and then switch to another god, because...

Boon 3: Resounding Judgment: 1/day, you can channel the effects of Resounding Blow through your weapon. You must declare your use of this ability before you make the attack roll. On a hit, the target is affected as if you had cast Resounding Blow before your attack, and the surrounding area rings with the sound of vicious, booming laughter. You don’t gain the stunning effect of the spell unless you have access to the judgment or smite ability. If your attack misses, the Resounding Blow effect is wasted.

... for all the hard work you put in, all the creatures you bleed, all the bloody pentagrams you draw, and all the levels you grind in service the King of Hell, the Master of Devils, the Prince of Darkness, his ultimate reward to his Evangelists is... the power to, 1/day, add 1d6 Sonic damage to one attack they make.

Oh, but if you’ve got Judgment or Smite active, the enemy has to make a Fortitude save (DC 15 + Cha mod) or... they become staggered for 1 round. BUT! But, if the attack is a successful critical hit, they have to make another save or become stunned for 1 round and deafened for 1d6! That’s good, right?

It could be! If this ability were just you being able to cast Resounding Blow 1/day, and thus having the chance on all of your attacks for 14+ rounds to stagger, stun, and deafen your foes. But it’s not. It’s not you casting Resounding Blow, it’s you obtaining the EFFECTS of Resounding Blow for precisely 1 attack each day, an attack you cannot even assure will critically hit, or even connect, before you choose to use this power. So, more often than not, this ability, the capstone power of being an Evangelist of the self-proclaimed ~greatest god~, is the power to add 1d6 Sonic damage to 1 melee weapon attack each day.

I won’t hold back: this is probably THE worst Boon I’ve ever reviewed before. I’d say Asmodeus should be ashamed of himself, but he probably thinks this is funny.

——– EXALTED ——–

Boon 1: Darkfire. Burning Hands 3/day, Darkness 2/day, or Deeper Darkness 1/day.

Again, not that bad! Burning Hands has likely already fallen off by the time you’ve gotten it from this Boon, but it can still be useful for a tight group of clustered enemies, or just in case you need to set a bunch of stuff on fire in a hurry. Darkness and its bigger cousin are good area control spells, especially against foes with no way to see in the dark, and casting it on a coin or brick or somesuch before throwing it into a crowd of enemies can stir up just about as much confusion as the actual Confusion spell. Deeper Darkness, especially, cannot even be penetrated by Darkvision, letting you make getaways against just about anything... or give yourself a combat advantage few foes will have a defense against.

Boon 2: Embersight. Your eyes take on the appearance of red-hot, glowing embers, granting you the ability to see through darkness much like devils. You gain Darkvision to a range of 60 feet. If you chose either Darkness or Deeper Darkness as the spell-like ability granted by your first Boon, you can also see perfectly through both Darkness and Deeper Darkness. If you already have Darkvision to a range of 60 feet or more, instead increase the range of your Darkvision by 10 feet. Your eyes make you extremely distinctive, causing you to take a –4 penalty on Disguise checks.

See, that very last sentence really isn’t needed in my mind. Boons shouldn’t really have downsides, what with the daily rituals themselves being a price to pay. Aside from that, though, this benefit is boring but effective. Darkvision’s always nice if you don’t already have it, but basically half the races do, so... it just gives them more. However, there’s a second benefit there that’s far more important: If you’ve taken either Darkness spell as your spell-like for the day (and you should!), you can see perfectly through both of them... even if you’re not the one who created them! Embersight allows you to see through the darkness effects created or cast by anyone, so long as it’s one of those two spells specifically.

The combat applications are already spectacular, but Deeper Darkness creates a 120ft radius sphere of utter black that not even Darkvision can penetrate, moves with whatever item you cast it on, and lasts for almost two hours per cast when you first get it and only goes up from there. Carrying around an enormous area of dark only you can see through gives you not only an insurmountable combat advantage, but allows you to make a hell of an entrance with just a bit of teamwork: send someone out ahead to open a door for you, and then walk towards the door, giving the illusion that darkness is seeping into the room and snuffing out all lights. Announce your presence as ominously as possible, perhaps. Kill someone in the room while everyone is distracted. Cast a completely different, more dangerous spell.

There are a lot of shenanigans you can do, but just remember: Darkness is as debilitating for your allies as it is for your enemies! Make sure they have some way of telling who’s who and where! Or don’t. It’s funnier that way.

Boon 3: Hellfire Blast. You can use Delayed Blast Fireball 1/day as a spell-like ability, except it’s a sphere of soul-scouring Hellfire. The Hellfire is a distinctive mixture of black and crimson flames in which screaming devilish faces can be seen twisting and writhing. Half the damage from this spell is Fire, while the other half is unholy.

...

well.

i suppose a 1/day blast of nigh-irresistible damage isn’t... bad... but like... couldn’t spring for a 2/day? Add some metamagic sauce? Empower it, maybe? I guess the Long range and fuse delay make it alright for starting chaos from far away, but Delayed Blast Fireball is one of the more baffling spells to exist. It’s basically made to be used alongside Time Stop so you can actually set up some damage during the stop, but without Time Stop you’re forced to get creative... and while I don’t approve of giving it out as a capstone, I’ll admit that there’s hysterical uses for it, like picking up the bead and using Beguiling Gift or Suggestion to get someone else to eat it.

In an Evil vs Good campaign, this ability gets just a little bit juicier, as unholy damage deals half-again as much to any creature with the Good subtype, but... again, this is a letdown for a final Boon.

——– SENTINEL ——–

Boon 1: Unholy Warrior: Gain Protection From Good 3/day, Death Knell 2/day, or Defile Armor 1/day.

We’ve covered Death Knell what feels like a hundred times at this point, and my judgment of it never changes: Niche spell, useful versus Regeneration, not really good for much else. Protection From Good is a decent spell, but it’s ironically not as useful as it COULD be, because most creatures with the Good subtype rely on manufactured weapons, which ProFromGoo doesn’t really shield you from from. Still, in an Evil vs Good campaign, just having it on you 3/day without any resources given up is probably the best you can hope for, since its minutes-per-level duration means a single cast can last through multiple encounters. The meager +2 bonus will fall off over time, but deflection and resistance bonuses stack with just about everything (except Cloaks of Resistance, obviously), and any amount of extra protection against mental attacks is welcome.

Defile Armor isn’t one we’ve seen before, and for good reason: only Inquisitors and Antipaladins will draw any real benefit from it. It’s a blessing to your armor that grants it +1 AC per 4 levels you have, to a max of +5, BUT if you have Judgment or Smite activated, you also gain DR 5/Good. Losing out on the DR is painful and this selection forces you to play into Antipaladin or Inquisitor, like the Evangelist line does. It’s also an enhancement bonus, which means it doesn’t stack with any enhancements or enchantments the armor may already have, so it becomes less and less useful as your campaign goes on and you get more powerful magic armor on you. Amusingly, even in these scenarios it can have a benefit: Defile Armor works on normal clothing, turning even burlap rags into +2 or +3 burlap rags for a few minutes.

Still, ProFromGo is probably the way to... well, go.

Boon 2: Deceitful Duelist: 3/day, you can attempt a feint as a swift action. You gain a +4 profane bonus on your Bluff check when attempting to feint using this ability. If you successfully attack a creature that has lost its Dexterity bonus to AC as a result of your feint, you deal an additional 1d6 points of damage. This is in addition to any other precision-based damage you deal—such as from a Sneak Attack—and isn’t multiplied on a critical hit.

I really don’t like how the first Boon has some minor punishment for not going into two classes, while this one has punishment for not going into a different class. Well... not really a punishment, but this ability is perfect for Rogues! It’s perfect for every martial character, mind, but for any class who’s incentivized to put ranks into Bluff AND who have extra advantages against flat-footed opponents, this ability is honestly pretty top-tier. You need to turbocharge your Bluff to make it work against most enemies you’ll be fighting (the DC to feint scales with the target’s Base Attack Bonus), but the payoff is pretty substantial. For nothing more than your swift action, you can shave off a fourth or even half of a creature’s AC WHILE adding +1d6 precision damage to your attacks for the round.

If you really build into it, sinking feats into feinting, And, unlike every other fart cloud Asmodeus has wafted our way, this one is actually 3/day, propelling it from “good” to “great!” It’s an all-around useful ability that will likely always be useful for every martial character that takes it... provided they didn’t dump Charisma.

Boon 3: Diabolical Resistances: Your skin takes on a ruddy cast, and your teeth grow slightly sharper. You gain Fire Resistance 10 and a +4 profane bonus on saving throws against poison.

Whew, that was a close one, Asmo! You almost had two good Boons in a row! You almost rewarded your Sentinels! Thank god you pulled back at the last second to remind those filthy mortals they don’t deserve your blessing, though! Wouldn’t want them to worship you for the power you offer them or anything. Gotta weed out the ones who work for you for their own benefit to really focus on the ones who follow you just because you’re a tyrannical monster who wants to eradicate free thought from everyone but yourself.

Excellent work!

on a more serious note, I suppose this is... okay. Removing 10 damage at a time, again, from the most common magical damage type is fine, even moreso when combined with your +4 bonus to saves against it that are likely already helping you halve incoming Fire damage anyway. But really, it should have at least granted immunity to poison as well, or been Fire Resistance 20, or something. It’s almost darkly funny that the guy who views himself as the strongest god has weaker Boons than the laziest Demon Lord. Really, Asmo is setting himself up to be that ‘grandmother on her walker’ meme.

“I’m the strongest and smartest of the gods! No one is grander than I! No one but me deserves free will!”

Mephistopheles, very calmly and patiently: Yes my lord, of course my lord, let’s get you to bed my lord.

You can read more about him here.

#Spiritual Spotlight #Sinister Spotlight #Nine Tyrants Month #Pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons

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kiki-shortsnout · 2 years ago

Note

Prompt idea:

For some reason the Avengers ended up in Sanctum to hide. The Sanctum accidentally revealed that Stephen and Tony dating because its being affectionate with Tony and always assisting him while the Sanctum is always cold with other Avengers.

Bonus if the door of the guest room that Stephen gave to Tony "for show" always open up straight to Stephen's room 🤣

Rhodey was used to sleeping in some odd places. In a shack in Afghanistan while searching the desert for Tony, under his desk at work when he’d been swamped with paperwork, and that one time when he and Tony had gone to Vegas… he’d woken up on a pool inflatable in a drained pool.

This place trumped all of those. The walls creaked as though the house was breathing, the smoky incense, which he couldn’t find the source of, was heavy in the air, making him dizzy as he sat on the edge of his bed. The alien-looking creatures didn’t bother him, not much did after meeting Thor, although the scampering under the floorboards was making him jittery.

Giving up on sleep, he left the guest bedroom he’d been assigned, rubbing the back of his neck as he padded down to where he assumed the kitchen was. He wondered how Tony was getting on with fixing FRIDAY, if he was getting any sleep. Whatever criminal mastermind was behind the Avengers Compound security breach had to be the same genius level as Tony, and the thought of that scared him.

They’d been locked in the compound scratching their heads, powerless to prevent any attacks on civilians, trapped within their own walls. It was only when…well, Rhodey could only explain it as a ring of fire, opened in midair and a frantic voice told them to step through that they’d been rescued.

Tony had introduced them all to Doctor Stephen Strange, a Master of the Mystic Arts or something like that, Rhodey didn’t even know anymore. What interested him more was the way the man’s flying cape had reached out for the back of Tony’s leg, gripping it tightly for a moment before fluttering away.

‘Where’s the goddamn kitchen?’ he muttered under his breath as he walked down the corridors, leaping away as the wall shifted before his eyes, a door appearing before him. ‘That’s just freaky,’ he growled, glaring at it before he took a step in.

Nat and Thor were already at a rickety-looking table in the corner of the kitchen, both looking exhausted and angry.

‘What’s…Nat? What the hell happened?’ He rushed the last few steps to the table, placing a hand palm down on it as he tried to get a better look.

‘Some sort of interdimensional critters,’ Nat answered, lifting her legs onto her chair as a hideous naked mole-rat looking creature barreled into the room, sniffing the air before it disappeared into a cupboard. ‘They find human hair delicious,’ she continued, pinching one of the chewed tufts of her hair.

‘Where are the others?’ Rhodey asked, going to the kitchen counter and looking for something to drink.

‘Do not open that!’ Thor boomed as soon as his fingers touched the cupboard handle, his warning coming too late.

‘You alright there, Thor?’ Rhodey asked as he moved aside, revealing the scary contents of coffee packets and different types of tea.

‘How did you do that? When I opened it, I was tipped headfirst into a falling void. It took me hours to pull myself back out,’ Thor told him, getting to his feet to peer at the cupboard from behind the safety of Rhodey.

‘Wanda decided to go poke around the Rotunda of Gateways-’

‘Seriously? Didn’t you guys listen to Strange’s warning about that?’

‘We did. Which is why we aren’t wandering around in a jungle,’ Nat said, not looking perturbated by this.

‘Aren’t we going to rescue her?’

‘Steve was working on it. The door locked behind her, and it seems the sorcerer is nowhere to be found,’ Thor answered for them both.

‘Clint ends up in the basement dungeon whenever he tries to enter his bedroom,’ Nat continued with a sigh, cautiously placing her feet back on the floor.

Alright, that one made him laugh. He’d seen the peculiar holding cells Strange kept in the basement. Thor wasn’t as controlled with his amusement, but he managed to turn it into a cough.

‘Something you want to share with the class?’

‘No. I am reminded of my brother. Whenever he felt wronged by me, he would pull similar pranks to make his annoyance known.’

‘You’re saying the Sanctum is punishing us?’

‘Well, not you,’ Nat whispered.

A hypothesis was already forming in Rhodey’s mind. The way Strange’s cape had touched Tony, the way Wanda was suffering a worse punishment than the others. Ironic, considering Tony’s reluctance to have her join the Avengers after the events of Ultron, and the betrayal he’d felt by the rest of the team.

‘I don’t blame Tony for keeping it a secret. He has reason to distrust us,’ Nat said softly.

‘Keeping what a sec-’

Rhodey trailed off as he felt his peculiar tingling sense of wrongness, a feeling he’d always identified as something being wrong with Tony.

‘I gotta go,’ he told them abruptly, pulling some tea and coffee out of the cupboard for them, ignoring it as it snapped at Thor’s fingers menacingly. Dumping the goods on the table, he shouldered his way out of the kitchen door, jogging down the hallways and up some stairs as he tried to remember where Tony’s room was.

Panting, he pushed open the door, stumbling into the room, looking around in bewilderment. This wasn’t the room Tony had shown him earlier, but that was Tony writhing around in the clutches of a nightmare. He leapt forward to attack the figure reaching over the bed, yelping as he was bundled in cloth.

‘It’s okay. Let him go.’

‘Strange?’

‘I know you’re worried about him, but I’ve got it,’ Strange reassured him as he was set free. The cape bristled as if offended by Rhodey’s very presence, drawing itself up and shielding the bed.

‘You? You and Tony?’ Rhodey asked numbly, watching as Strange got onto the bed beside Tony, drawing his hand over his head, the action achingly familiar. It was Rhodey who usually soothed Tony’s nightmares, Rhodey who acted as a barrier between Tony and the world, but it was Strange who Tony was now clinging to.

They’d done this before.

‘He’s…he’s really alright?’ Rhodey asked again.

‘Yup. Give him a few seconds…there we go,’ Strange cooed, hand still stroking over the crown of his head.

‘You’re not using magic?’ he asked, quiet fury making him take another step.

‘No. Just some old fashioned human contact. You’re welcome to stay, or, if it makes you more comfortable.’ Strange indicated the door now creaking open, Rhodey’s bedroom now on the other side.

‘We’re going to talk about this in the morning. I’ll be…over there if he needs me.’

‘Thank you, Rhodes, for looking after him.’

‘Just call me Rhodey, that’s what Tones does. Call me if he needs me.’ His words were intended for Strange, but he looked down at the floor as he spoke, waiting until it rippled in agreement.

#ironstrange #Thanks for the prompt!#Tony x Stephen #snippet saturday #thanks for the ask!#writing prompts #prompts welcome

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dccomicsimagines · 4 years ago

Text

What’s Lost is Found - Batfamily Imagine - Bonus Part Nine.Five

Warning - Depressive Thoughts, Angst Content

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Six.Five Part Seven Part Eight Part Nine Part Ten Part Eleven

Requested by Anon - Hey! Uh... Can i request a one-shot from dick's P.O.V. from what's lost is found when he realise (y/n) is not in the mansion/found (y/n)'s note about handing themself to the fake bane? I'd really love to see slight angst of panicked dick worrying about his kid.(sorry not sorry dick)🤣

Author’s Note - Sorry this took so long, but I was working on other things before diving back into the What’s Lost is Found universe. ;)

***

The warmth from the sunlamp soaked into Dick as he sat in the ICU area of the cave. Kori hadn’t woken up yet. She laid on the bed directly under the lamp, taking the full blast from it. Her baby bump clearly visible under the sheet. He stared at the heart monitors, both heartbeats were strong. Why wouldn’t she wake up?

Dick buried his face in his hands. His body ached. The pills Alfred slipped him must have wore off.

He frowned when he heard the arguments coming from the meeting room in the cave. They were planning their next move to deal with siege on Gotham. Dick knew he should be in there with them, but there wasn’t any point. He was going to take his family home where it was safe.

Dropping his hands, he looked back at Kori. His stomach twisted in knots.

He tensed at the sound of soft footsteps approaching. However, he relaxed when he felt your presence by his side. “Hey kiddo,” he whispered, wrapping an arm around you. You leaned into him. Dick’s heart glowed. At least you were safe. His hand rubbed your side gently.

“Is she okay?” You trembled in his grasp. Your words stabbed at Dick’s heart. Tears threatened to fall down his cheeks. You were so young. Too young for all of this.

“Her vitals and the baby’s are good, but she hasn’t woken up.” He ran a hand through his hair, wincing when his shoulder flared in pain. Damn, maybe he should have taken another dose of pain meds. You shifted in his grasp. He glanced up to see your lips pursed, eyes downcast. “This isn’t your fault, honey. I don’t want to hear that from you.” Your eyes watered. Dick kissed your cheek, the father instinct in him taking over. “I didn’t want you to be part of this.”

You tensed. Dick saw the anger flash in your eyes, but you didn’t snap at him. His arms ached to hold you, to comfort you and himself at the same time. He hesitated a moment before pulling you to sit in his lap. You relaxed into his hold much to his relief. “Shouldn’t you be with the others?” you asked.

“No.” Dick squeezed his arms around you. Gathering his courage, he spoke his next words carefully. “We’re not going to be here for much longer.”

“What?!” you gasped. Dick sighed. He knew you would react this way. Your jaw dropped, staring at him with those big eyes in disbelief. You looked so much like Bruce in that moment. Dick remembered getting a similar look from Bruce when he swung off the chandelier for the first time.

“We’re leaving, going home.” Dick frowned when you pulled away from him. His arms reached out to try to keep you close. “Don’t fight me on this, sweetheart.” Dick’s heart broke into a million pieces. He had to keep you, Kori, and the baby safe. Why couldn’t you just understand for once? Why did you always have to fight?

“We can’t leave.” Your voice cracked. Dick saw your hands trembling. He wanted to reach out to hold them still, but you would just run away from him. “I caused this. I can’t leave them to deal with this. Tim already hates me, Damian too. I can’t do this to them.”

Something inside Dick snapped. He felt a cold, raw anger build inside his chest. “I’m not arguing with you on this. We’re going home.” Your eyes widened in shock. Color drained out of your face. Dick caught himself. The anger evaporated. He softened his tone. “I have more to lose now.” Without a thought, he reached out to pat your arm. You flinched away from him. Dick jerked like you tore his heart out. “(Y/N).” You left the room so fast, you were gone in a blink of an eye.

A plug released from inside of him and Dick sobbed in a way he hadn’t since his parents died. Completely broken. Deep down, he knew he shouldn’t be selfish and whisk his family away when Gotham needed all hands on deck. The others were his family too. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to them.

Time passed and Dick slowly collected himself. Kori hadn’t stirred. He went over to kiss her forehead. “I’ll be back, sweetheart. I’m going to talk to (Y/N).” He waited a moment for any sign from Kori. However, she didn’t move. “Please wake up soon.” He kissed her again before pulling himself away.

The raised voices from the meeting room echoed through the cave. Lois was talking to Alfred in the corner as Alfred was setting up sandwiches and drinks for everyone. “Do you know where (Y/N) went?” Jon asked Dick shyly, appearing beside him. Dick frowned. His eyes narrowed. Jon flinched.

“No.” Dick crossed his arms. “What you did was so irresponsible. I trusted you to keep (Y/N) out of this and safe.”

“I know.” Jon bit his lip, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “I already got the full lecture from Mom, Dad, Alfred, Jason, and Damian.” He looked Dick in the eye rather bravely. Dick found himself respecting Jon just a little bit more. “I’m sorry.”

Dick cleared his throat. “I suppose I can overlook it. I’d imagine (Y/N) would have came anyway, no matter if you brought them or not.” He glanced around the cave. “You haven’t seen (Y/N)?”

“No, not since Alfred changed their bandages.” Jon tensed, following Dick’s gaze.

“I’ll check upstairs while you look around here.” Dick jogged to the steps and headed up. He heard Jon zooming off to search the lesser used areas of the cave. Dick’s heart was in his throat. Please don’t let anything happen to (Y/N). Please don’t let (Y/N) do something foolish and dangerous.

He couldn’t shake the sense of dread settling in the bottom of his stomach. Bursting through the clock entrance into Bruce’s study, his blood ran cold when he saw notes for everyone on the desk. They were all in your handwriting.

“No, no, no, no.” Dick grabbed the note with his name on it and opened his. His eyes came across ‘I’m sorry’ before he crumbled it in his hand. “Damn it, (Y/N).” He was about to rush back down to the cave when a terrible sound echoed from it. Dick paused. “Damian?” It couldn’t have been Damian. Damian never sounded like that before.

Dick rushed down the stairs, almost tripping to find Damian on his knees in front of the batcomputer. The others were gathered around, watching in horror. Footage from outside Wayne Tower was playing live. You were in the Bane lookalike’s arms, limp. Dick’s mouth went dry as he watched the Bane lookalike toss you into a waiting vehicle.

“We have to stop him.” Damian was on his feet, racing toward the batmobile like a dehydrated man seeing water for the first time.

“Stop. You won’t get there in time.” Tim grabbed at Damian’s arm to stop him. Damian snarled, slamming his fist into Tim’s jaw to knock him back.

“That’s my sibling.” Damian started toward the batmobile again. Jason tackled him to the ground. The terrible sound came from Damian again as he fought with Jason desperately to get to the batmobile. “We can’t let them die. We can’t leave them.”

Jason grunted as Damian’s elbow smashed into his stomach. “Stop it. You’re not thinking straight.”

Dick looked back at the screen. All the light in his life was sucked away in an instant. You were dead. There’s no way they would keep you alive. Dick closed his eyes, burying his face in his hands.

A hand rested on his shoulder. He looked up to meet Barbara’s eye. “We don’t know if they’re gone. Let’s not grieve until we do,” she whispered. Dick looked at the others. Jon Kent was hugging Lois tight, sobbing into her shoulder. Lois had tears in her eyes too. Jason and Damian were still wrestling on the ground with Damian slowly dragging them over to the batmobile. Alfred stared blankly at the screen in shock. Tim was on his knees, embracing Steph from where she collapsed. Cass and Duke appeared numb and held hands with each other. They slowly moved to Alfred’s side to comfort him.

“Right.” Dick swallowed his grief. He allowed himself to have that little spark of hope in his chest. You were strong and the fact they didn’t kill you outright meant that they maybe had other plans. Besides, he was the oldest. He had to be the example.

Barbara nodded over to Jason and Damian. “You better take care of that first. I’m going to try to track that vehicle.” Barbara went to the computer and started working.

Dick took a deep breath. “Cass, Duke, get ready to go out there as soon as Babs has information for you.” They nodded, running off to get dressed.

“Fuck! Get off me, you idiotic street rat.” Damian suddenly broke away from Jason and scrambled to his feet. “I will not be the last Wayne!” He panted, glancing at the computer before swiftly kicking Jason in the side. “You wasted my time! (Y/N) could be dead by now!”

“Damian!” Dick rushed over, stepping between Jason and Damian. Jason groaned, holding his side. “Calm down! This is not going to help (Y/N).” Damian’s glare darkened. Dick rested his hands on Damian’s shoulders, tensing in case Damian exploded again. His voice dropped to a whisper. “Dami, I know you’re scared for (Y/N). I’m terrified for them too, but lashing out isn’t going to help us get them back.”

Damian took a shaky breath. He closed his eyes. “I can’t be the last Wayne.” Dick’s stomach dropped to his feet. His fear threatened to take over, but he held it off. He had to be strong for Damian, for the others.

“You aren’t.” Dick pulled Damian into his arms. Damian went limp, his knees giving out. Dick fell with him, ignoring the wetness on his shirt as Damian hid his face into Dick’s shoulder. “(Y/N) is still alive. We know that. We’ll find them and bring them back home.” Dick rested his chin on Damian’s head. His own tears fell down his cheeks. “I swear we’ll find them.” He rocked Damian back and forth.

#dick grayson #dick grayson imagine #nightwing #nightwing imagine #batfamily #batfamily x reader #batfamily imagine #damian wayne #damian wayne imagine #dc comics imagines #dc reader insert #batman #batman imagine

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