#Co-parenting with Gale probably

[samsalami66]

Never done this before, but have some rambles about a recent Sandman/Baldur's Gate 3 crossover idea of mine!

Naturally, there are some minor bg3 spoilers following, proceed with caution!

Currently my idea is that as the nautiloid crashes through realms, it also crashes through Earth and snatches up a few people . It's not many, they're gone almost as soon as they appear, and Hob is between one of those very few, probably on his way back from a medieval re-enactment. He gets tadpoled and crashes with the rest of the group in Faerûn. Decides to tag along, not necessarily because he's worried, his husband is an Endless after all, and even if their connection seems to have been temporarily cut off by the tadpole, Dream will find him sooner or later and fix this, somehow. He has a lot of faith in his husband.

Anyway, having a fighter in the group who can't die and has been on the battlefield more times than he could count might be helpful to these people.... and they all seem to need an open ear, someone with a bit more experience to talk to. It's also nice to talk to some Immortal and near Immortal people for once!

Anyway, when the dream guardian comes, Hob can't help but snort. Trying to disguise himself as a dream? In front of the King Consort of the Dreaming? Hob was a Good Consort, he prided himself with knowing all currently active Dreams.

This was not one of them.

A real dream would also recognise him as their ruler. So, who is this person who looks just a bit too much like his husband....? (What a terrible disguise anyway, no dream would dare to take on their creators form, not in front of HIM)

He's mighty distrustful of the Dream Guardian and his intentions, tries to find out just what sort of war is being fought in this other plane.

And when he finds Orpheus (and he's just a bit taken aback by the name, by the fact that he could save someone with this name, even if it isn't the Orpheus he wants to save) he swears to free him, fuck the Dream Guardian and his talk about doom and gloom.

In the end, Hob takes care of his new friends, be it in fights or whenever they need someone to listen.

He bumps shoulders with Mizora and Elminster, later Mystra, holds up Cazador so Astarion has a better angle with his dagger, points out Vlaakith's and Shar's bullshit and pisses off the Dead three (hopefully Death won't be too cross with him for that, but he can't imagine his sister in law is particularly fond of these guys.)

Aware of his connection to the Endless Gods cower before him, much to the surprise of his companions. Even their relentless friend and resident undead Withers seems to take a step back whenever Hob approaches.

And when Hob and the others finally slay their final foe and are freed of the tadpole, it only takes moment for Dream to follow their bond and start fussing over Hob, who he had believed to have been captured.

And as I am a weird person in general and my first thought at 3am was to start a new Baldur's Gate run with Hob as my Tav and Dream as my Dream Guardian...

Hob is a Fighter and due to his extensive knowledge with the blade I have decided to make him a Battlemaster Fighter. His background is quite obviously that of a soldier, his skills as a mercenary being what he uses in battle here. Some details are the moon-earrings, which were a gift from Dream, and a fading neck tattoo of a rose that he got shortly after the flopped 1989 meeting.

Dream on the other hand is just your resident edgy twink, earrings also a gift from Hob!

[bhaalbaaby]

random headcanons because im bored working and been thinking about parenting since im now indoctrinated

listing in best to worst parent lol

karlach - im probably biased but i think if she could have a child to take care of, she would be the best mom. she's would want the best for them and protect them from any dangers. she's also like childish enough that she could relate to them in a more human way than like some parents iykyk lol most of her stories start with a "do not attempt this." if her kid is into sports, she's at all the games, practices, scrimmages. the coaches call her their co-coach.

gale - i feel like he'd be that dad that like has great snacks but if you talk to him for a little bit, he starts telling you about random facts he knows. he has beekeeper vibes. i also think he would be in the PTA and at every meeting, field trips, especially to the museum. he can be overbearing but he means well

wyll - i feel like i should have put wyll higher. i think he would be a great dad and is very caring and understanding, but i think he would need to work on his demons (ha ha) first before he can be committed to that. if he is free from it, he would be the best dad. he would want to be the dad he wished he had tbh. always there and present and full of love ;-;

halsin - i think he'd be pretty good. he cares a lot. but i also feel like he'd be distant if he's on a project so to speak. he would make sure his kid is taken care of and loved on for sure. i think he would also have the best stories and go on nature walks all the time. he'd make sure his kid is always staying green and recites their 3 r's lol

shadowheart - i think she'd be a waspy mom tbh. controversial ikik, but i really think she would be a waspy crunchy mom lol i do think she would be chill as her kid got older and not so protective considering her past, but just like in the game, you're gonna have to work on that. she's like the mom you found out dated a rockstar when she was younger and she's like oh yeah w/e and never talks about it again lol

lae'zel - lol she would not want to be a mom tbh. maybe a cool aunt, but i think as a mom if she's not softened, she would be a hard one ;-; rigor and perfection at all times. i think if she is softened, she'd be more understanding, but still would require the best. she is lower because she would not even think to put herself in a position to be a caretaker of a child which ya know what good for her lol

astarion - two minds of this. evil astarion would love it for the wrong reasons. he would be setting his child to be his next in line and would require perfection like lae'zel but to the extreme. good astarion would not want the responsibility because it is a lot. he'd be worried that he's gonna mess up the kid somehow and wouldn't believe he could do it. but i think as long as he has a good village he could be an okay dad lol best dressed dad. he's not going on field trips, he's not participating in PTA lol but he will go to performances and recitals.

[mosses-gate-3]

How does Andis, Salix and Ren feel about kids? Do they like them, or just find them annoying? Are they any good with kids? Would they ever want kids of their own?

Bonus question: Tell us about their kids if they ever have any!

okokok I did do a similar ask a bit ago with Salix & Andy BUT! I have been thinking a ridiculous amount about regale children

Ren I think is surprisingly good with kids. One of their biggest strengths is keeping a calm, neutral outward appearance in stressful situations, and I think that translates over really well to childcare. They enjoy spending time with the kids at the Grove. As for whether they'd actually want kids of their own:

I don't think they and Gale can physically have bio kids together, nor do they want to. But I was thinking about them and children and a thing came to me.

“So you remember the egg from the creche, yes?” “…The one we put in a bag of holding six years ago and forgot about?” “…Well, I'd say it was less a random choice and more a calculated decision made for the good of the egg and our group, but yes - I've been researching and it’s fascinating, really, Githyanki eggs can incubate for extended amounts of time in the Astral plane due to a number of unique conditions and, theoretically, this property extends to pocket dimensions such as those created by a bag of holding. It’s been a dream of mine to study the precise conditions that make this possible for years–" "Gale, love, didn't you say this was urgent?" "Right! Yes. It’s hatching.” “It’s WHAT.”

...And then they go around frantically calling up Lae'zel and the others, and there's an impromptu six-year-anniversary reunion while they try to figure out how the fuck to take care of an egg baby. Featuring Dadstarion... NOT.

After he's safely born they all have a very long conversation about who should keep it. Wyll and Karlach are the obvious first choice but they're dealing with a lot of change at the moment (Wyll's training to become Grand Duke and they're moving back in to Baldur's Gate and aren't in a place for a baby yet.) Lae'zel is still fighting a civil war, Shadowheart has a lot on her plate already, and I wouldn't trust Astarion anywhere near a baby let alone with CUSTODY of one (see previous). So Ren and Gale keep the child and name him Xan. Look into his dead, soulless eyes.

They all try to stay in his life in some way. Lae'zel visits when she can. Shadowheart is like a cool wine aunt who's always around. Astarion is like a cool wine aunt who's never around. Karlach and Wyll, Wyll especially, are practically co-parenting the kid. He's not in the right situation for kids right now but he will be the best damn babysitter this side of Avernus.

But fear not, because in a couple years the two of them will have kids of their own! DAD WYLL LIVES IN MY BRAIN RENT FREE OKAY. I think their names are Talia and Jayden and they're raised very close with Xan, he sees them as his younger siblings and is very protective of them.

Here's Xan and Jayden! Talia is probably behind them. At this point Xan's about 10, Talia is 7 or so, and Jayden is around 4 or 5.

Xan inherited Gale's expressiveness and tendency to gesticulate, and Ren's logical mind and speech mannerisms. I think he's generally very responsible. Other than that he's hardly similar to his parents at all, he doesn't care for academics much and most likely becomes a melee class later. They're very proud of him anyway; it's probably for the better he didn't turn out Mystra's next Chosen or something.

When he gets older he and his siblings set out to become adventurers! Talia is a cleric of no deity in particular (that is a thing you can do I looked it up apparently the power can just come from something you really believe in) and Jayden's a sorcerer (I have Karlach classed as a wild magic barbarian in my playthrough which is where he gets it from.) Xan is a paladin, I don't know which oath, probably Ancients or Devotion. I'm currently working on aged up designs for them, I'll reblog this with them when I'm done.

That's pretty much all I have so far but this is pretty much what I consider canon after the game, at least in Ren's playthrough! I'm sure they'll be excellent parents. Even if they did forget a literal living baby in their bag of holding for SIX YEARS... But it's fine there was a lot going on. Thank god for the weird githyanki physics I made up.

[zahra-hydris]

CATCH UP ｡*･♡;

tagged by @waterdeep and @galedekarios - ty 💕

LAST SONG: map of the problematique, muse

CURRENTLY WATCHING: nothing, really. though, as I've been sick/stressed, I've been throwing on a comfort show: bob's burgers.

THREE SHIPS: just three? let's go with current ships: gale x violet, heinrix x ammabel, and shadowheart x mirielle.

FAVORITE COLOR: probably pink and red :3

CURRENTLY READING: in between reading for work and reading to bub (and parenting in general, lmao), I rarely get the time, but i'm slowly making my way through moon witch, spider king by marlon james.

CURRENTLY CONSUMING: morning coffee, my beloved.

FIRST SHIP: let's go with balthier x me after I played ffxii as a kid lmao

PLACE OF BIRTH: australia

CURRENT LOCATION: still here (australia)

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: partnered for over a decade now

LAST MOVIE: ready or not, which i'd been meaning to watch forever.

CURRENTLY WORKING ON: a million work things lmao - revisions for an article to be resubmitted, coding transcripts for a research project, writing a new article, drafting my section for a co-authored article (for a special issue i'm co-editing), research assistant work, writing a job application for a lecturer position, and planning my lectures/classes for a class i'm co-teaching. while also looking after a sick baby :):):)

tagging @gautiersylvain, @goodsprings, @irenabean, @ayrennaranaaldmeri, @rosenfey, @avallachs, @cryptcombat, @camelliagwerm, @terendelev, @faerune, @dorianpavus, and @sunites :3

[trashbag-baby666]

Home is Where the Heart is-Curt/Ken

Chapter One

What’s Waited Till Tomorrow Starts Tonight au

dedicated to my pooki and co creator @mangokittokatsu

Summary: It’s been over a year and a half since Curt and Ken last spoke. It’s been nearly one and a half months since Gales last heard from Ken.

WC: 4,851

C/W: heavy themes of domestic violence, bruising, cuts, sexual trauma, and arguing.

mota masterlist!

series masterlist! | ao3 link

A mid July night with a warm sunset and even clearer sky is something Ken Lemmons wouldn’t ever forget. The night he left. He didn’t know where he was going when he left Denver on his motorcycle. Well, where in Cheyenne he would be going. It was stated clearly by his parents he wasn’t welcome back at their home. Maybe he could go to Gale’s? He’d seen their new home in late April right before they adopted Cordelia. Would he be allowed there? Would Gale be mad at him for not leaving Dominic sooner once he saw his face? He’s the only one Ken could keep contact with, without his now-ex beating him. But he kept it brief, always. 

He stood in the Cleven driveway next to his bike debating if he really had made the right choice. It was midnight on a Wednesday, they probably had things to do the next day. Maybe he should just get a hotel room and call Gale tomorrow?

The creaking of the screen door interrupted his thoughts as he whipped his head around to see John with furrowed eyebrows peeking his head out. 

“Kenny?” He called out.

“Oh yeah, hey.” Ken flipped his visor up, happy the night sky surely made the black eye and bruises non-visible visible from where John stood on the deck. Gale came up behind John and saw the boy in the driveway. Gale went practically flying down the steps and threw his arms around Ken. He flinches against the grip, the bruises on his ribs wallowing in agony. What was he going to even tell him? 

“How have you been? Are you alright?” Gale asked Ken while he took off his helmet. He couldn’t take the compression of it against the bruises and cuts on his face. Gale's face fell harder upon seeing his bruised face, “Kenny…”

His lip began to quiver, the forced smile fading out fast, the tears brimming his eyes. He couldn’t hold it in any longer falling forward back into Gale, “I’m so sorry.”

Gale eyed John on the deck then directing his focus back to the curly haired boy. He began rubbing his back gently just the way he remembered doing in school. “We don’t gotta talk about anything you don’t want to but I think we should go inside and get you cleaned up? Yeah?” He just nodded, holding tight onto Gale's shoulder. He begins to panic just a bit when they get inside and he notices Curts got at least three shoes by the door. 

“Why don’t we go get cleaned up in our room?” Gale began leading him towards the steps. He could feel through the leather jacket– that once belonged to Curt –that Ken's body now felt more bony.

“Yeah we finally got time to tile it so you can finally see it!” John tried to lighten the mood a bit, earning a stifle of a laugh from Ken.

“Yep, we finally found a pocket of time last month to do it.” Gale hated lying but the alternative was “Yep, your high school sweetheart is back from overseas but he lost his leg and has been living with us since. So he watched our kid for us so we could finally get it done.”

He could also read the glances John kept shooting him after they would pass something in the house that belonged to Curt. Well, are we going to tell him? Are we going to tell Curt?

“Do you wanna change? I can get you some clothes and put yours in the wash.” He needed a reason to pull John away for a moment. 

Ken nodded, taking another try at wiping the dam of flooding tears away, grimacing every time he’d rub too hard at his black eye. He stood silently keeping his gaze averted on the floor while Gale rummaged through their closet. 

His spirits got a moment of a fighting chance as Meatball's nails came clicking down the hall and into the bedroom. You could see the age on him, his caramel brown eyes sunken in and a little foggy, the way his hips seemed to stick out, nonetheless he was still Gale's baby. 

“Oh look who finally decided to come say hi,” John scruffed the dog behind his ear. 

“Hey Meatball,” Ken squatted down, “Yeah, you remember me, old friend?”

Meatball licked Ken's cheek a few times nuzzling his head into him, “Yeah he still gets excited when–”

“Here, I set some clothes in the bathroom for you, a couple different options. Just take some time and let us know when you’re done.” Gale cut John off knowing exactly where his comment was going.  “Yeah, he still gets excited whenever Curt comes home expecting you to be with him.”

“Thank you.”

After Ken went into the bathroom and set his clothes outside the door for him he dragged John back downstairs. 

“We can’t just not tell him, Buck. Curt is going to be home tomorrow and you know he’s been searching for him.” and yeah John was right, it was pure fucking chance and luck that the VA decided to keep Curt overnight after his appointments today. He didn’t even want to begin to think about the mess that it would’ve been if Curt had been here. 

“You’re right, but look at him, John. We haven’t even seen if there's more than just his face. Something obviously has been going on that he didn’t want us to know about.” Gale chucked the small load into the washer, “Curt on the other hand just lost his leg two months ago, we can’t have him going to pick a fight we both know he can’t win.”

“So, we’re not going to tell them? Tomorrow when Curt comes through the door? Then what? We keep them apart from each other in our own goddamn house?”

“Lower your voice, Delia is sleeping.” Gale hissed through gritted teeth.

“Buck, all I'm saying is–”

“No, John, you need to just listen to me.” Gale cut him off, turning on the washer and storming back upstairs.

Ken stared down at his now exposed arms, covered in bruises, noting not all were fresh. 

He's used to looking at them and wearing long sleeves all the time. 

What's Gale gonna think?

He wrapped his arms around hugging himself. He looked around for a moment, the dual sink vanity with the giant mirror stared back at him. He didn’t even recognize himself when he looked in the mirror. Why did he let it get this bad? 

“Kenny?” 

“Come in.” his voice pushed out of him with a scrape to his raw throat. 

Gale entered the bathroom, his eyebrows growing into a pushed together furrow. 

He just wrapped his arms tighter around himself. Maybe he could just disappear into thin air if he concentrated hard enough?

“How was your drive up here?” Gale began bridging the silence between them. Ken watched him move swiftly through the spacey bathroom gathering out the first aid kit and peroxide. 

“Not too bad. How’re you and Bucky doing?” He wanted the focus of at least the verbal conversation off of him. 

“We’re doing just fine, I graduate in December. I’ve been working at my parents' firm for now, but I want out. I feel like some nepo baby.”

“You’ve been working so hard at this now, you owe all your success to yourself.” 

Gale smiled and rubbed his shoulder and let his arm drop back to his side, turning to find the medical supplies. 

He should turn around and say that to himself in the mirror. 

If he could give Gale an uplifting talk why couldn’t he ever just give one to himself and leave. You’re a coward. It rang through his head over and over again. 

The overwhelming dread washed over him again. Why are you running to others for your issues? You really couldn’t handle yourself?

“Can I ask what you’ve been doing for work?” Gale spoke softly, emptying some rubbing alcohol onto a cotton ball.

“Well, I’ve been actually working at a salon since I graduated.” Ken took a deep breath, closing his eyes, trying to ground himself.

“Are you doing nails?”

“Mhm, some, mostly reception work though.” 

“This might sting a bit,” Gale forewarned, bringing the cotton ball to his temple. Ken couldn’t describe the overwhelming fear circulating through him like a cornered animal. He flinched away from Gale bringing his hand up in defense. 

What're you doing? 

“S…sorry.” Ken tripped over his words intertwining his hands in his lap. His heartbeat in his ears as they began to ring. 

“No, no, don't be. Is it okay if I?” Ken looked down watching Gale take his hand gently in his. 

Ken swallowed hard around the lump beginning to form in his chest all over again. 

“Okay,” Gale offered a pitiful smile, his eyes widening a bit almost to show him he wasn’t a threat.

Well, you should know that already. 

Ken watched Gale bring their hands up to his cheek, resting his palm against his face. It had been so long but yet it felt familiar, it wasn’t followed by a harsh sting but a soft gentle caress with his thumb. “Is this alright?”

“Yeah.” Ken squeezed his eyes shut feeling the burn of the rubbing alcohol on  the small cuts. 

You deserve it anyways.

Gale wished he knew what Ken was thinking. He could tell from his upturned furrowed brows and the locked gaze on the floor, it wasn’t just nothing. He wished these weren’t the circumstances of his surprise visit either. 

He didn’t know what they were going to do or what the next 24 hours were going to look like. His main concern being to not scare Ken off in fear of him running back to Denver. 

He isn’t an idiot, he could tell from the sheer tone of Ken’s voice, during the few calls they’ve had over the past four years,he was under close surveillance. 

“Can we open the door?” 

“Oh! Yeah, yeah. For sure. Is there anything else I can do to make you more comfortable? Do you want me to get you a chair?”

“No, no. I’m alright. Thank you.”

“Okay, let me know if you want or need anything, okay?” Ken just nodded, Gale knew instantly if he needed anything he wasn’t going to ask for it. He could feel his stomach pitting and aching for him. What had happened to their poor, sweet boy?

Gale wiped the last of the dried blood off of Ken’s brow, finishing cleaning off his face. “Is there, uhm.” He didn’t know how to ask him this, “Is there anywhere else?”

The curly haired boy looked away from him, his Adam's Apple bobbing as he swallowed. He nodded, slowly lifting up his shirt. 

Gale closed his eyes for just a moment sucking in a quiet breath seeing the bruises littering Ken’s torso. Ken pulled his shirt all the way off and he couldn’t believe what he was staring at. There were dark red and bruised handprints on his collarbones. Obviously, it wasn’t in an attempt to choke him. But just enough to scare the shit out of the poor boy. Now it was scaring Gale. The way his ribs and each vertebrae were both visible through his skin scared him even more. What the hell happened to him?  

“I got the bed all made up in the guest room.” John came into the bathroom, subsequently startling Ken. The boy gripped his shirt to his chest to cover himself. 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” John backed out of the bathroom quickly. Ken looked like a deer in headlights, his eyes wide and his nostrils flared. His breathing unsteady and his chest heaving. 

“Do you wanna get dressed again?” Gale kept his tone soft and gentle, barely above a whisper. Whatever Ken was feeling it wasn’t natural and it most certainly wasn’t a feeling Ken deserved to feel.

He nodded again but as Gale reached the door speaking up a bit, “There’s, uh, uh, more on my legs.” 

“Do you wanna show me?” It then clicked in his head, maybe he should be taking pictures of the bruising and cuts. It was evidence after all, and if Ken ever wanted to press charges…

John pulled Gale out like he could see the cogs in his head turning. “Don’t push it.”

“John, I think we should ask him.” Gale stood by their dresser running his finger over the silver frame. Smiling faces of him and John at their wedding staring back at him like some taunting joke. Curt and Ken next to them with big smiles. The matching maroon tux jackets on everyone. 

Was Ken hiding it then too? 

After the wedding is when he really started to get flakey. Everyone lost contact with him except him and John. He left without saying goodbye the following day, just leaving them a note in his hotel room. 

“We can’t ask him to do that.” 

“I see this all the time, some asshole abuses a person for years and gets off Scott free. Just because they don’t have ‘likely evidence.’” Gale air quoted, but he was right. He was coming up on his last year in law school and had seen all the dirty tricks the system pulled on victims. 

“Gale,” John's tone had a warning edge to it that almost startled him, he rarely called him that.

“You don’t get it, do you?” 

“What do I not get?” John cocked his eyebrows tilting his head, “Hm? Just because I didn’t go to school you think I can’t see how bad this really is?”

“I’m not fighting with you about this, but I expect you to be there for him.” Gale nodded towards the bathroom, his arms crossed his body filling up with anger. His body was already full of mixed emotions, shaking him around and begging him to release it all out. But tonight wouldn’t be about him, neither would tomorrow, or the next day, it’s about Ken until Gale can try and fix this. 

He stared at the tiles again wondering what Gale was going to say to him when he came back in. Maybe he finally would just kick him out? Maybe Dominic was right?

“Look at me!” He snapped, grabbing ahold of Ken’s jaw. He could feel his own lip quivering at the tight grab he had him at. He tried blinking away the tears but it just made it worse. 

“You don’t get to cry, stop it!” He let go of his jaw then landed a harsh slap to his cheek, “You know why everyone leaves you?”

He held his cheek feeling the small sob escape his throat while he tried wiping away the tears again. 

“Answer me when I speak to you!” 

Ken cowered back, flinching expecting another hit from him. 

“Because you’re the only one who loves me?” He croaked out, bringing his hand away from his cheek. Scared to look at him but too scared to look away from him. 

“No. Because I’m the only one who can stand you.”

The words were ringing in his head all over again, maybe he was right? 

“Kenny?” The soft voice of Gale brought him back. He looked up seeing Gale standing by the door, his arm stretched out with a hoodie in his hand. “Thought you maybe would want to put this on?”

“Thank you,” he swallowed, taking it from him. Sliding it over his head, there came back the familiar scent of John and Gale. They used to have their own scent but now it just combined into one over the years. The smell of the laundry detergent and Gales' expensive cologne, tinges of the barn and coffee beans. 

He felt Gales hands in his as the other got on his knees in front of him. 

“Look, you can say no, but if you want or ever want to press charges. I think it would be good to take some photos of your injuries.” 

Ken felt his heart begin to pound again, he should, right? 

“If you want to wait we can, I just think we would have a better case if we did…”

“Yeah, I’ll do it.” Ken cut him off squeezing Gales hands again. His chest tightening slightly…he didn’t want to have to be all the way naked in front of him looking the way he does. 

“Are you sure?” 

“I’m sure,” he locked eyes with him for just a moment to confirm that he was serious, “Just uh, tell me what to do.” He felt a growing lump in his throat again. He didn’t want to cry again. “Can uh, Bucky come in?”

“Yeah, do you wanna undress and we can come back in?” 

He bobbed his head again letting Gale leave the bathroom. He felt so stupid and pathetic like some little kid in trouble. 

Silently, John held his hand as Gale began taking the photos. The flash on and he checks every photo for a glare. But Ken could feel his heartbeat returning to his ears whilst the hot tears came back around for another time. 

“You’re doing so good, Kenny.” John brought his hand up to his lips placing a warm kiss to his knuckles. One that was delicate and he knew didn’t intend to cause any harm. 

His gaze had been locked away from both of the men to the shag pink rug in front of the tub he’s sure John picked out. 

He could feel the words Gale wanted to say hanging above all of them like some grim chandelier. He had taken the last picture of the red hand prints on his collarbones.

The rest?

Gale silently handed him back the hoodie he pulled back on and took John’s hand again standing up slowly. He hoped when he woke up later he wouldn’t remember any of this. He untied the drawstring on the sweatpants, hooking his fingers into the waistband of them and the boxers pulling them down. 

He felt a rush of cold air wash over him as he couldn’t even think to look at himself. He just squeezed John’s hand and stepped out of them. 

The routine began again, John held his hand whilst he now stared at the ceiling with a few cracks in it. Gale spoke softly asking him if it’s okay if he touches him. He knew what his thighs looked like and the embarrassment continued. He probably looked so pathetic right now.

You deserved it anyways. Why do you think your parents never loved you?

He could feel himself shaking, his knees threatening to knock together. He felt John squeeze his hand tighter, he wanted to look to him for reassurance but he couldn’t look. What if they were disgusted with him? What if they also think this is his fault? 

“Kenny.” John’s voice rang back into his head as he clicked back into where he was. 

He was somewhere safe. 

“Hm?”

“We’re done.” Gale's voice was barely above a whisper, he immediately grabbed the boxers and too big sweatpants pulling them back onto himself. He wrapped his arms around himself once more, the three standing in the bathroom with this awkward tension pulling through them.

“Can I sleep on the couch?” His voice was small and he surprised himself just a bit by asking for something. Something he hadn’t been able to do in years. 

“Yeah, of course. Why don’t we get you laid down? Bet you’re tired from your ride.” He could tell Gale was bluffing around his words, frankly he was too tired to care. Too tired, too sore, too scared, too paranoid. He left his phone at the apartment, he knew his way home and he didn’t want Dominic finding him. 

————————

Gale waited till Ken had fallen asleep before standing up out of the chair in the living room. John glanced at him but just directed his eyes back down to Ken’s curls. 

“Come on Meatball.” Gale whispered, holding open the back door. The husky jumped up and ran out the door,  Gale following after him. He sat on a deck chair and looked at his phone. 

2 am

It’d be three in Chicago. Maybe it was too early to call Rosie and he should wait till the morning? But this was Ken’s best friend, Rosie had been friends with him longer than anyone else. 

He hovered over the keyboard thinking maybe he should just text him. But then he remembered the look in Ken’s eyes. Like a deer caught in headlights of an oncoming truck, the tear stains on his bruised cheeks, and the way he flinched at damn near everything.

He pressed the call button pressing his phone to his ear. 

It didn’t take a lot to pull Rosie out of bed, the sound of his phone vibrating against the book on the nightstand brought him awake. He blindly reached for it not even waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.

In his half awake delirium he knew it must not be good that his phone rang at this hour of the morning.

“‘Ello?” He answered without checking the contact.

“Hey sorry for waking you.” 

“Everything alright, Buck?” The redhead sat himself up in bed so he wasn’t talking directly into Bennys ear. He glanced over at Bennys alarm clock, seeing the digital numbers of 3:03. 

“Kenny’s back.” His heart dropped, skipped, and flipped all at once before banging right back into his chest, nearly pushing him back against the wood headboard.

“And how’s he doing?” He ran his hand over his mustache praying and begging with the universe for it to not be as bad as he thinks it is. He blindly reached over for Benny feeling his breath hitch in his throat.

“It’s uh…it’s bad, Rosie.” 

“How’s Curt?” 

“He doesn’t know yet,the VA wanted to keep him overnight. God Rosie, I don’t know what I would’ve done if he would’ve been here. Ken, he uh…he’s got bruises all over, cuts on his eyebrows from that prick's rings.”

“Hm?” Benny murmured quietly feeling Rosie’s nudges.

“He’s gonna be back tomorrow, we don’t know what to do…John’s not talking to me.”

“Hey, Buck everything alright?” Benny sat up next to him resting a hand on his shoulder seeing his chest beating. Slowly, Benny moved his hand down to the middle of Rosie’s back and rubbed some circles into him.

“Kenny’s back.” His voice came out shaky and he pressed himself further into Bennys warm touch. 

“Oh. Is he alright..?” 

Rosie felt Benny sling his arm around him pulling him closer. The two men’s body heat pressing together, he let Benny take the phone from him.

“Frankly, no. But I’m gonna figure it out.” 

Rosie sniffled, turning his head into Bennys neck, this is what he had been worried about all this time.

It started with miniscule little changes, they would talk on the phone for hours everyday. Ken had been so excited telling him about this new guy he had been seeing. Then he stopped calling him as frequently but he understood that. Both of them were full time college students and now he had a new boyfriend. He knew exactly what that was like. Then Gale texted him saying Ken had these weird bruises on his arms and wrists. Asked him if he knew anything about it, but he didn’t. 

Then the contact just fizzled and fizzled and this once bubbly, artsy Kenny they all once knew and loved was just different. Last time Rosie heard from him was about six months ago. Ken called and asked him about his new teaching job and they talked for a little bit. But Ken just seemed so…off? His voice sounded like it was hiding behind some kind of fear and he would barely give Rosie any details about his life. 

Now he hated that he and Gale were right that one night a month ago when they were talking about him. He felt his stomach ache thinking about the sweetest human he knows being beaten into a pulp of himself. He let out a quiet sob into Benny, balling his hand in the other man’s shirt.

“Shh, hey he’s gonna be okay.” Benny wrapped his free hand around him, pressing a kiss to the top of his head, “Buck, when do you think we should catch a flight out there?” 

He needed to see Ken but he knew this might be a very slow process for him and now might not be the best time for visitors.

“I gotta see how things go with Curt tomorrow, do you guys have any ideas on how and if I should tell him? I’m just nervous if we do he’s gonna immediately insist on leaving and missing his appointments.”

Rosie flicked his teary, blue eyes at Bennys for a moment but nothing came to him. They all knew Curt very well and that most definitely would be the case.

“I don’t know, Buck, I think you’re pretty dead on. I’ll text you if we think of anything.” Benny spoke for him just letting him sulk into his T-shirt. He began to weigh the pro’s and con’s of taking a personal day tomorrow. 

“Okay, I just wanted to give you guys a call to let you know, I’m sorry for waking you guys up.”

“We appreciate it, Buck.” Rosie spoke through his tears, wiping them away, “Love you.”

“Keep us posted.”

“Love you guys too.” 

Benny hung up the phone and handed it back to him. “You gonna be okay, Ro? Do you wanna talk about it?”

“I don’t know, right now, babe.” He wiped his eyes of the tears, “I’m just really shaken up I think. Because no one deserves that, especially Kenny.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

He laid his head back onto Bennys chest putting his hand over his heart. 

“I’m worried about Curt too. He's had a rough couple months with his leg and the VA.”

“I know I’d hate to see this make him completely spiral, either of them really. You should go back to sleep or else you’re gonna drive yourself crazy.” Benny pressed a kiss to his cheek. 

“I know, I love you, B.”

“Love you too.” 

The anxiety swarmed his brain though, he wanted to speak to him but he knew that he was probably scared himself right now too. Obviously whatever happened tonight had been a big step for him to take. 

———————

“I talked to Sawyer,” Gale knew John didn’t really want to talk to him but they couldn’t just let this go. He leaned against the gate of the stall John was cleaning out, his head bowed down as he raked out the  old straw. 

“And what did he say?”

“Agreed that we should just let him come home and figure it out from there.” He knew that's not what John wanted to hear, “Look, John I don’t want to be fighting about this.”

“I didn’t know we were fighting?” 

“Well you weren’t talkin’ to me, how was I supposed to know what you’re feeling?” 

John let out a scoffed laugh, “Bold of you for that one, Gale.”

And yeah, he was right, “I’m sorry.”

“What if this doesn’t go the way we want it to? The past week I’ve been sleeping in Curt's bed because he keeps having episodes.”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

“You don’t think I don’t know how bad it is for him right now too?” Gale now stood in the entrance of the stall staring down John, something didn't change. Like the way John drops his head everytime Gale does this. 

He felt his hands getting clammy in the early morning brisk before the sun fully came up from behind the trees. 

“I don’t know if you do? They haven’t seen each other in a year and a half, Kens fragile and Curts fragile. If we put them in a room together without telling either we might as well let two bulls loose in a china shop.”

“You said it yourself there's no easy way to do this so I think it’s reasonable we just do it this way.” Gale crosses his arms, his stance firm.

“Well, you’re gonna do it anyway.”

“John,” Gale didn’t know what he was trying to achieve; he knew arguing with him was like arguing with a brick wall. He just held up his hand for him to stop as he silently scooped out the old straw into the wheelbarrow.

“I’m gonna finish cleaning out the stall and turn out the horses, okay?” John shouldered past him and grabbed the handles of the wheelbarrow.

“Okay, are you gonna come in for breakfast?”

“I’ll eat when I’m done.”

Gale just turned on his heels walking out of the barn, he didn’t like leaving fights unfinished like this. But he knew that's what John was used to and this time they both needed time to cool down some more. He just hoped he could reason with John before Curt got home. -

-

taglist: @austeenbootler @coastiewife465 @executethyself35 @slowsweetlove

[zorkaya-moved]

Some thoughts for Zarina's BG3 verse:

Zarina's original name was not 'Zarina' but she no longer remembers her 'child name' nor her 'adult name' that she used with her family. She doesn't want to remember and she doesn't want to be called anything but 'Zarina.' It's a personal choice, a person decision, and a personal approach to life. Her surname changes based on what she likes better with decades. As of meeting Tav, her surname is 'Moonseeker.'

History and she herself says that she's a daughter of an Astral Elf and a High Elf. However, her original eye color was green but it changed to golden after her research into dead gods and after unlocking her potential as a Lunar Sorcerer by studying her lineage that is connected to one of the Moon goddesses - cue her being a Lunar Sorcerer. When she uses her spells, her eyes change to be those of Astral Elves (fully white in her case with a shine to them). There were rumors that she might be the offspring of Sehanine Moonbow. Her true ancestry will be found out to be questionable because Zarina herself doesn't want to know if her mother and father were her true parents or if her twin-brother and her youngest brother were her true blood-related siblings at all. She never learned and never wishes to learn. It remains an unknown mystery until much, much later.

She wears a personally crafted artefact from Astral Plane that keeps her powers and her potential in check - it's a choker with a crescent moon. It's not done because her powers will hurt others (like Gale's condition), but to keep her 'humble' in terms of her potential. She admits that upon understanding her potential in the Astral Plane, she found it hard to accept. In Act 3, Tav and Co. will learn that it's due to her potential and her prophecy of possibly becoming a deity herself. Basically, she is concerned about becoming a deity if she continues to expand her magical potential; thus, she keeps relying on charisma/persuasion/deception during their travels.

It can be known that before her losses and before her arrival to Faerun, Zarina was a more... tolerable and a bit 'kinder' person. At least, being more on the neutral positive side (she was far more of a true neutral person). Her family kept her ambition in check and kept her far more present as a better spirited person. After losing them and losing everything, Zarina changed drastically compared to her Astral Plane days and has never looked back. Currently, she aches power and aches for resilience and challenge.

Tav may connect with Zarina's memories via tadpole in Act 2, but she will react very, very violently because those memories will touch on her brothers she lost and the moment she lost everything. Because of that, Tav will be basically tossed across the camp in front of everyone and Zarina will not be present in the camp during that night. After the long rest ends, she returns and the camp companions (specifically, those in your team minus Zarina) will be commenting on what the hell happened and Zarina will reluctantly apologize for her outburst but refuse to speak of those memories until she feels comfortable.

(UP TO DEBATE UNTIL MORE KNOWLEDGE IS ESTABLISHED VIA GAMING) I'm thinking about how Zarina was probably fighting against Cazador in ownership over Baldur's Gate in terms of criminal activity for a couple of decades. Astarion might've been sent out to get one of nobles who was closely associated with Zarina and who could lead Cazador's minions to her but instead Cazador found another way to hunt her down, but due to mind flayers' abduction, Zarina is now believed to be dead at the hands of Cazador's minions. Her quest will be connected to her returning and getting her 'rightful' place back. It may also be connected to Lord Gortash, but this part will be dependent on how I play the game and learn everything.

[dwarfsized]

9 people I'd like to know better!

tagged by @aevallare my love my light my everything

Last song: I Guess That Was Goodbye -- Lyn Lapid

Favourite colour: Teal!

Currently watching: Co-Parenting with the Evil Queen (Once Upon A Time: Season Two Recap) by Haley Whipjack on Youtube. GUESS who i was into when i watched that show. guess. I'll wait. you probably dont need time. guess.

Last movie/tv show: Saltburn.

Spicy/savoury/sweet: [my standard joke that being a poly nonbinary bisexual means i dont have to chose between things] im only willing to eliminate savory from the running, i refuse to choose between spicy and sweet.

Relationship status: single

Current obsession: that damn vampire. you've seen my blog. the obsession simmering BELOW that one is the locked tomb which i am also not normal about but until alecto the ninth comes out i can pretend. tamsyn muir when will my wife (gideon nav) come back from the war

Last thing you googled: "wizard spells missing in bg3" which. god. is actually a little misleading i was trying to figure out why my friend's gale wasnt landing any hits with his spells.

I talk to so few people but! i will tag @emilyvstheuniverse and @septemberskye if anyone else wants to do this have at it and tag me so i can see it!

[bloodiedrogue]

*checking in my crew* WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE EPISODE DIDN'T AIR YESTERDAY??? *quickly put on the suit and grabs the microphone*

HELLO EVERYONE AND WELCOME BACK TO TUESDAY INTERVIEW

I'm your host Annie and today I'm once again here with the spectacular, the stunning, the sublime Summer!!!! Let me hear your appreciation, everyone!!!!

*standing ovation from the everywhere*

First and foremost, I must apologise for the late release of this Tuesday Interview, but we had some technical issues (aka Tumblr eat the ask like Gale eats his artifacts)

Anyway, Summer! I've heard that you've not only opened your commissions but some people have already commissioned you some delicious fics! How do you feel about this? Is writing commissions as you expected?

Onto another topic, I would like to remind everyone that in 4 DAYS the first part of "Curse You" will see the light of day, so you better stay tuned for some good old fashioned enemies to lovers with our lovely vampire Astarion and Summer's amazing OC, Zayis!! Anything you want to add on this Summer? A warning for the public, perhaps?

And before we go, Summer, what were you thoughts on the BG3 DnD one shot that recently aired? What were your favourite moments?

rip the og ask :') classic tumblr never working the way it should!!

glad we figured that out sooner rather than later. would hate to deprive the people of tuesday interview with bard annie. (it's me, i'm people, i love tuesday interview with bard annie.)

to answer your questions though, in regards to commissions i am very excited! i was a bit hesitant at first because i already write a lot for free. for a while i kind of felt like a jerk asking for money but then i realized that i work really hard and if someone just so happens to want to pay me for something cool who am i to say no???

that being said, everyone's been really nice and supportive and i hope people continue to commission me because i think it'll inevitably help with my writing skills in the long run?

moving onto curse you though i literally!! i'm very very very nervous to release her out into the wild. it's been a while since i've posted oc fics because i'm pretty critical of my own character building sometimes but i'm trying to get better! because i know it'll be fine and everyone will be nice and just... it's gonna be fine, right?

anyway, yeah i'm just excited. i don't really know what else to add other than i hope people enjoy zayis because she's my baby.

and also yes, sort of. i've caught the main highlights of both episodes and am currently fully half way through the first (i'm so bad at watching long form videos sometimes) and loving it. in terms of my favourite part i'd probably say all the clips i've seen of bing bong have been hilarious. i just love the idea of shadowheart and lae'zel failing to co-parent this poor little creature. also, gale's spa day obviously!!!

[lordofthestrix]

Tristora in a dead poets society verse

First of all I'm going to follow in your footsteps with TSH and say that they are twins in this verse. Additionally, I'm going to take another executive decision and change Welton Academy into a co-ed boarding school. Perhaps theirs is the first year that admits girls in the institution? I could play with the local public school like the movie did but that would mean Aurora and Tristan only get to see each other a couple of times per week at maximum and no one should have to deal with either of them under those conditions. Who asks the other on dates: It is one of the unanswered mysteries of the universe the other students sometimes ponder. No one has ever heard them making plans or talking about schedules and yet they never fail to be in the right spot to wait for the other when they don't share a class. They are unusual in that they arrive at the meetings in the cave together and they leave together. Their time alone and what exactly they do is a bit of an inscrutable mystery for the rest of the student body. Who is the bigger cuddler: Aurora. An attentive witness would have realized that Tristan has never once in his life complained. Who initiates holding hands more often: Aurora. And they are preternaturally good at sneaking off the school buildings and into the woods at night for the meetings of the club while holding hands. Who remembers anniversaries: Tristan could probably tell you all the dates when Aurora read a poem she wrote herself. Who is more possessive: Tristan. Although they are both champions of the craft. Who gets more jealous: Aurora. Although they are both champions of the craft. Who is more protective: Read the next point. Who is more likely to cheat: I imagine Aurora is more likely to cheat on an exam. Tristan is more likely to turn ferociously protective of her if she gets caught and invite himself into Gale Nolan's office to passionately play her lawyer (with the prototype version of "the look" included) even when they don't have a leg to stand on. Who initiates sexy times the most: I sincerely can't decide. I suspect it is probably a tie. Who dislikes PDA the most: Various Welton authorities. Who kills the spider: Not a fair question for Aurora. This time the spider was an imposing tarantula of uncertain danger that seemed to specifically target her in the middle of the night. The whole double incident of sneaking in the boys' dorms for Tristan and then sneaking him back into hers was pretty justified. Aurora is the owner of an impressive arachnid-conqueror record in this meme but in this instance she doesn't kill the spider. Tristan takes it out of the dorm without killing it. Who asks the the other to marry them: That wasn't what happened. It is true that there was one evening when Tristan invited her into their own private meeting of the club, if you wish to call it that. And it is equally true that they both seem to have some kind of locket since that night. But the rest are just rumors. Who buys the other flowers or gifts: Remember how Tristan keeps the dates of Aurora's poems? He buys her trinkets and various gifts that reference each work one week after she shared them. Aurora probably has a collection of small and not so small treasures alluding to her writings. Who would bring up possibly having kids: I will concede it to this meme: It is admirably stubborn. Who is more nervous to meet the parents: Aurora on a regular basis. Tristan when it is time to confront his obligatory character arc. Who sleeps on the couch when the other is angry: Different buildings. Who tries to make up first after arguments: They are still figuring it out at this point. Who tells the other they love them more often: I would say they both know that with firm certainty. It arrives to crown special occasions. And there is a myriad of small ways in which the sentiment is expressed every day.

[baldursgait]

Couch co-op adventures!

ACT 3 SPOILERS FOR ASTARION AND SHADOWHEART:

Shadowheart had to say goodbye to her parents, and when I tell you I cried. Just. UGH.

I'm having some serious thoughts about the whole, "you were supposed to be one of Selûne's brightest," though. There was always someone wanting to recruit her for their cause, one way or another, or at least that's what it feels like.

Anyway. Can't wait to move to the countryside and start a farm with her. Very Harvest Moon.

Astarion, on the other hand...here's the thing. My husband is playing a tadpoled-to-the-gills necromancer wizard who will probably try to take the Crown of Karsus from Gale. My Tav is a lolth-sworn drow with enough lightning magic to level a city block. This is not a nice playthrough. I knew that going down there.

It did not make hearing Astarion croon about making his own army of vampire spawn any easier.

I feel...ill. I feel like I don't quite recognize him, now. Or rather, like I was seeing something of his heart come to light before we had to fight Cazador, and then it was burned completely out of him. Nothing changed, it just started over.

Of course, I knew that would happen, but it still isn't pleasant.

(On a much lighter note, as soon as we got back outside, my husband got the dialogue that kicks in if you agree to let Haarlep use your image, and suddenly he was really thankful for that constitution amulet he was wearing.)

[samsalami66]

Never done this before, but have some rambles about a recent Sandman/Baldur's Gate 3 crossover idea of mine!

Naturally, there are some minor bg3 spoilers following, proceed with caution!

Currently my idea is that as the nautiloid crashes through realms, it also crashes through Earth and snatches up a few people . It's not many, they're gone almost as soon as they appear, and Hob is between one of those very few, probably on his way back from a medieval re-enactment. He gets tadpoled and crashes with the rest of the group in Faerûn. Decides to tag along, not necessarily because he's worried, his husband is an Endless after all, and even if their connection seems to have been temporarily cut off by the tadpole, Dream will find him sooner or later and fix this, somehow. He has a lot of faith in his husband.

Anyway, having a fighter in the group who can't die and has been on the battlefield more times than he could count might be helpful to these people.... and they all seem to need an open ear, someone with a bit more experience to talk to. It's also nice to talk to some Immortal and near Immortal people for once!

Anyway, when the dream guardian comes, Hob can't help but snort. Trying to disguise himself as a dream? In front of the King Consort of the Dreaming? Hob was a Good Consort, he prided himself with knowing all currently active Dreams.

This was not one of them.

A real dream would also recognise him as their ruler. So, who is this person who looks just a bit too much like his husband....? (What a terrible disguise anyway, no dream would dare to take on their creators form, not in front of HIM)

He's mighty distrustful of the Dream Guardian and his intentions, tries to find out just what sort of war is being fought in this other plane.

And when he finds Orpheus (and he's just a bit taken aback by the name, by the fact that he could save someone with this name, even if it isn't the Orpheus he wants to save) he swears to free him, fuck the Dream Guardian and his talk about doom and gloom.

In the end, Hob takes care of his new friends, be it in fights or whenever they need someone to listen.

He bumps shoulders with Mizora and Elminster, later Mystra, holds up Cazador so Astarion has a better angle with his dagger, points out Vlaakith's and Shar's bullshit and pisses off the Dead three (hopefully Death won't be too cross with him for that, but he can't imagine his sister in law is particularly fond of these guys.)

Aware of his connection to the Endless Gods cower before him, much to the surprise of his companions. Even their relentless friend and resident undead Withers seems to take a step back whenever Hob approaches.

And when Hob and the others finally slay their final foe and are freed of the tadpole, it only takes moment for Dream to follow their bond and start fussing over Hob, who he had believed to have been captured.

And as I am a weird person in general and my first thought at 3am was to start a new Baldur's Gate run with Hob as my Tav and Dream as my Dream Guardian...

Hob is a Fighter and due to his extensive knowledge with the blade I have decided to make him a Battlemaster Fighter. His background is quite obviously that of a soldier, his skills as a mercenary being what he uses in battle here. Some details are the moon-earrings, which were a gift from Dream, and a fading neck tattoo of a rose that he got shortly after the flopped 1989 meeting.

Dream on the other hand is just your resident edgy twink, earrings also a gift from Hob!

[scaryghcsts]

(CHRISTINA  RICCI  +  CIS  WOMAN  +  SHE  /  HER  )     ⸻     meet   IVY  ABERNATHY.   the  crime  novelist  /  investigative  reporter  at  glen  ellen  news  station  is  glen  ellen's  very  own   BLABBER  MOUTH,   who  has  been  in  town  for  thirteen  years.  and  while  they  are  only  forty  two,    they  can  be  very   PRESUMPTUOUS  but  if  their  friends  mentioned  them,    you'd  think  they  were  more  SERIOUS.   in  a  town  where  everyone  knows  everyone,    it's  hard  to  keep  a  secret,     but  i  think  the  killer  knows  that  [ REDACTED ],     and  it's  bound  to  get  out  sometime  soon.

basics:

traits: aspiring, nosy, stubborn, motivated, organized, efficient, dramatic, fierce, healthy, logical, meddlesome, principled, paranoid, zealous, intense.

relationship status: divorced.

sexuality: heterosexual

religion: semi-practicing christian

date of birth:  april 10th

zodiac sign:  an aries

skills & hobbies: snooping, writing, crafting, christmas (all holidays, really), soccer, spending time with family && friends, being on camera, gossiping, fancy dinners out, sex on the beach martinis, dogs, community theater.

dislikes & fears: {redacted}... but include passive people, her children failing, her secrets being found out, and losing her job.

quirks: cannot (or won't) keep a secret, never apologies seriously, struggles to say ' i love you ', never slows down for even a second.

residence: four bedroom home in a pretty nice area of town, probably in a smaller housing complex of similiar, boring tan & white homes, fence in the backyard. the dogs have their own bedroom to themselves.

pets: two large dogs that she treats as kindly as she does her children.

family: sisters (2), children (2) - in their teens, parents deceased.

inspirations: gale weathers, rita skeeter, allison hendrix

backstory:

born & raised in small town wisconsin, total snooze fest, and she always struggled to make friends on the boring block in boring, usa. her words. she turned to books, both reading && writing, to pass the time, and found love in all things mystery.

she also craved attention, staring in every single production she could. as soon as she was able, she moved away to new york city, where she met the man who would later become her husband. among her many dreams in the city were to either become a model, an actress, get hired to a beauty company, or start her own production business. none of this worked out, and after struggling for two years in the city, she decided to accept her parents offer to attend college instead of barely making it. they paid her way through her journalism degree, but only if she minored in business.

college was a bore and it zapped a lot of her love for life, and she struggled with stress for the duration of it. as soon as she graduated, she was wed again, and whisked off along with her husband for his work until they established themselves, eventually, a couple of years later in glen ellen 13 years ago.

she has two teenage children, 14 and 17 respectively.

she divorced her husband only a couple of years into living in glen ellen - she caught him cheating, and she left, with little drama. they co-parent well. the marriage had died long before his infidelity, anyway, and honestly, ivy wasn't the most attentive wife...

somewhere in all of the hustle && bustle of life, ivy lost her enthusiasm, and struggles to relax, always so tense.

she has published three books in the last decade, the latter of them being in the last 5 years alone, and she is working currently on her 4th. all are original crime novels... so she claims...

wanted connections:

to be added too...

ex husband (44-49 years old)

fellow pta parents/neighborhood parents

co-workers at the news station

informants

gossipy, judgey gal pals that get brunch every sunday

a fan of her books

fellow community theater nerds

book club??

[prismbearer]

Wasn't sure how I'd feel about Jaheira tbh but I actually love how they carried her forward so far. Her quests I'm doing now feel like home, it's sweet. She still feels like a friend even to Tav and co. Still haven't seen Minsc but everyone is talking about him now, and I'm curious if we'll see anyone else. I knew Xan was a longshot, but I mean Viconia... would be around so... Lol. I did wish there was more to do at the guild, and maybe more traders, but I also feel that way kinda all over the lower city. Not enough traders or variety in items. I'm loving exploring though so we'll see.

Gale's quests feel messy and bugged to me tbh? I have to do work arounds to trigger conversations etc, but ultimately my real issue is that it just feels kinda messy. "Oh Gale is voracious and power hungry, oh he's been infected essentially by a warped creation of Karsus that has devoured parts of himself he might get back if we play our cards right." And I feel like everything that is a Revelation is just too spelled out without enough build up or exposure. "Oh here's Mystra and she wants to vid call with Wyll..." She wants the crown which is far and above probably the best option I suppose but ultimately like,,, idk his quest-line feels like it's not in-line with the others. I told him to hear her out, go in and make his choices, and then do what he needed to do. I usually prefer to let them make the choices they'd like to if it feels that way. It's interesting to consider that Karsus' weave has replaced a part of him and now it is being allowed to chew on Mystra's weave a little to keep him alive..... if there was more build of that, maybe if they even made it feel more desperate or tragic for us to really pursue a resolution... But it's so messy, and tbh I kinda hate the whole "my omniscient ex" thing. I'm assuming part of his ending is whether he heals his connection to Mystra, but I just want better for him. I wish I loved it but idk maybe I just need to do it with the romance with another character to improve it with more scenes? And I get that Gale has similarities to the others as well, but it just feels like they didn't commit to those same themes. Idk maybe I should have told him to threaten Mystra but it just felt like the right thing to do was to help him get off the hungry power train. Every single companion was like, "Oh boo Mystra but it's better than giving it to Gale" like damn we can't destroy it and the orb somehow? Blah.

Meanwhile Karlach's stuff for me rn feels really weighted... Oh here's a friend ~foreboding~ maybe after we can go to dinner with her. Oh here's my parents graves... What happens to the soul when we die? 😭 I'm scared for her it feels like she's going to get agency through choosing her own death which is just terrible and tragic and I just want to drag her off to some other places full of fire... Maybe we could make some deals with genies in the elemental plane of fire? I have a bunch of other internal iron. Or you know what, I'd actually make the deal with Raphael 100% if it helped Karlach directly. :( I know there's other options and the like in DND so like. Come on even if it's some insane ridiculous secret quest-line where you have to halve your health let me do it omg. I'll take a perma debuff for the team pls Larian...

And then I also let Fe make bad decisions today and teach a child fey necromancy apparently... At least she'll probably never do it again.... I'm shocked I didn't get disapprovals??? Kinda a hard fight tho I was impressed.

[arachnethebard]

Ok I'm sorry I'm going to make this about My Beef With Some Reilgious Doctrine™️, but its a good lens to compare it to.

Basic Christianity Example: You are born Bad and you will be punished. Whether the spiritual crime you are guilty of is actual torture and murder, consensual sex outside of marriage, shoplifting essentials from Walmart, or your parents not raising you in the right religious mixtape. Why is there an infinite punishment for a finite "crime" ?

Even if you hate Gale--think hes annoying, addicted to magic, infodumps too long, whatever--even if thats the case, why do these finite "crimes" deserve an infinite punishment? You ate Komira's Locket of Dancing Lights and so now you must die. You enthused too hard about magic so now you die. You slept with your boss, the goddess of magic, and it went bad, and you tried to fix it and made it worse, and so now you must die.

It's not even narratively satisfying. If you hate Gale and want him to have the worst ending, pick the one where he goes Absolute and then have his former friends have to put him down. In that ending he has learned nothing and just Gets Worse ™️. That's at least some spiritual crime level shit. That's the sort of thing that you can't come back from.

And I'm trying really hard to empathize with Chrystal Ding and the rest here and see their perspective but all I can fathom is "who is the toxic ex you had that you see in Gale? Who hurt you and who are you still being hurt by?"

Idk who needs to hear this, other than Ding and co probably, but healing is what happens when you stop wanting a do over.

And idk who else needs to hear this, but you don't deserve an infinite punishment (suicide,Hell, Non-existence, whatever) for a finite "crime" (fucking up your marriage, annoying your friends, just being a fucking human being). You deserve to live.

ngl but describing the character who is just now coming out of depression & a self-imposed isolation because he was afraid to put people in danger and is now, despite the terrible circumstances, just happy to reconnect meaningfully with other people again and would quite literally die for them if it meant they got a chance to live their lives because he feels he made the worst mistake out of all them & thinks he's been careless in the past as the "guy who annoys everyone" and his death as the "right" ending, as "giving back" "to the world" for giving him a fucking amulet of dancing lights and having to make up for being perceived by you as "annoying" when he's autistic-coded for a lot of people, is... Disheartening to say the least.

[tcm]

The Golden Boy, John Garfield By Susan King

Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire was Marlon Brando’s signature role. It made the then 23-year-old Brando an overnight Broadway sensation in 1947, and he electrified movie audiences and earned his first Oscar nomination for the classic 1951 film version. But he wasn’t the first choice to play Blanche’s earthy brother-in-law. Producer Irene Selznick had her eyes on Hollywood star John Garfield, who frequently took time out from movies to return to the Great White Way for limited runs.

In fact, writer John Lahr reported in 2014 that on July 19, 1947, Selznick drew up a contract for the 34-year-old actor, “one of the few sexy Hollywood stars with a proletarian pedigree. The Selznick office leaked the big news to the press. The contract was never signed. On August 18 the deal with Garfield collapsed.”

One of the reasons bandied about was that Garfield turned down the role because the contract would have kept him away from Hollywood for too long. Though Brando is considered the performer who ushered in the more naturalistic style of acting (known as “the Method”) both on stage and in film, truth be told it was Garfield who was the catalyst for Brando, as well as Montgomery Clift, Paul Newman, James Dean and Steve McQueen.

Just look at Garfield’s first feature film, FOUR DAUGHTERS (’38). Directed by Michael Curtiz, the cast includes Lane sisters Lola, Rosemary and Priscilla, in addition to Gale Page as the four musically inclined daughters of a widower music professor (Claude Rains). Enter handsome boy-next-door Jeffrey Lynn as a budding composer named Felix who endears himself with all the daughters, especially peppy Ann (Priscilla Lane).

The household is put in an uproar with the arrival of Garfield’s Mickey Borden, the original rebel anti-hero. Unkempt, slovenly and possessing a massive chip on his shoulder, Mickey is an orchestrator who has arrived at the house to work with Felix. You can’t keep your eyes off him especially in this early monologue where he explains his anger to Ann:

“They’ve been at me now nearly a quarter of a century. No let-up. First, they said, ‘Let him do without parents. He’ll get along.’ Then they decided, ‘He doesn’t need education. That’s for sissies.’ Then right at the beginning, they tossed a coin, ‘Heads he’s poor, tail’s he’s rich.’ So, they tossed a coin…with two heads. Then for the finale, they got together on talent. ‘Sure, they said, let him have talent. Not enough to let him do anything on this own, anything good or great Just enough to let him help people. It’s all he deserves.’”

There was a sexuality and eroticism to Garfield’s performance that was 180 degrees different from Lynn’s durable and safe leading man. He was so natural; it was almost like someone found Garfield walking down the street in the Bronx and asked him to star in the movie. “He was the prototypical Depression rebellion youth,” actor Norman Lloyd told me about Garfield for the L.A. Times in 2003. They first met in 1937 and worked together on Garfield’s final film HE RAN ALL THE WAY (’51).

“He combined all of these elements of darkness and rebelliousness with the charm and the poignancy and he became the prototypical actor of that time. He never changed as a person. He remained just as a wonderful guy. He was a man of great charm, a good fellow, very likable.”

There was a lot of Mickey in Garfield, who was born Jacob Julius Garfinkle in 1913 on the Lower East Side of New York to poor Russian immigrants. Julie, as he was called, had a rough and tumble upbringing. His mother died when he was seven. “He hated his father,” his daughter Julie Garfield noted in 2003. “His father was awful to him. He was torn away from his brother.” In fact, Garfield once said that if he hadn’t become an actor, he would have been “Public Enemy No. 1.”

Unlike Mickey, the fates and destiny were looking after him. First, it was educator Angelo Patri, who became a surrogate dad to Julie at P.S. 45, a high school for troubled students. With Patri’s encouragement, he joined the debate team where he discovered he had a gift for acting. That was further nurtured when he received a scholarship to Maria Ouspenskaya’s acting school. He was all of 18 when he made his Broadway debut in 1932 in Lost Boy and became the youngest member of the progressive and influential Group Theatre, appearing in Clifford Odets’ early masterpieces Waiting for Lefty and Awake and Sing. 

Odets wrote the play Golden Boy for Garfield in 1937, but director Harold Clurman decided to give the lead role of boxer Joe Bonaparte to Luther Adler and cast Garfield in a minor role. His unhappiness with Clurman’s decision pushed Garfield into signing a contract with Warner Bros. And FOUR DAUGHTERS made him an overnight sensation. He earned a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, but lost to Walter Brennan who picked up his second Academy Award in that category for Kentucky (‘38).

The following year, Garfield, Rains, the Lane siblings, Page and Curtiz reunited for DAUGHTERS COURAGEOUS, in which the actors played different characters from the prior film. It was probably the best film Garfield made that year. But Warner Brothers put him in a lot of movies that were unworthy of his talent including BLACKWELL’S ISLAND (’39) where he was typecast as a gangster. He made some good movies in 1941, including THE SEA WOLF, which also starred Edward G. Robinson and Ida Lupino and reunited him with Curtiz, and also Anatole Litvak’s atmospheric noir OUT OF THE FOG also with Lupino.

Because he suffered heart damage from scarlet fever, Garfield couldn’t serve during World War II. But he entertained the troops on USO tours and opened the famous Hollywood Canteen with Bette Davis so the troops could be entertained and be served by some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Both Davis and Garfield appeared as themselves in the hit 1944 film HOLLYWOOD CANTEEN. Garfield also fought the global conflict on screen, giving one of his strongest and grittiest performances in PRIDE OF THE MARINES (’45), a poignant drama based on the life Al Schmid who was blinded by a grenade during the Battle of Guadalcanal. He returns home to his wife (Eleanor Powell) a bitter, doubting man who has a difficult time trying to deal with his new life.

The year 1946 saw the release of two of Garfield’s most enjoyable films HUMORESQUE and THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE. HUMORESQUE was his last film under his Warner Bros. contract. It’s a delicious melodramatic wallow with Garfield playing a poor New York kid who becomes a famous concert violinist. Joan Crawford, coming off her Oscar-winning triumph in Mildred Pierce (’45), plays a wealthy patroness who sets her sights on Garfield. Garfield went to MGM for POSTMAN, which was based on James M. Cain’s best-selling thriller. Garfield turns up the heat with Lana Turner as illicit lovers who brutally murder her husband only to turn on each other when they are caught.

The actor teamed up with Bob Roberts to form an independent production company, Enterprise Productions, and their first feature was the boxing classic BODY AND SOUL (’47), for which he earned his second Oscar nomination as Charley Davis, a boxer who loses his way when he gets involved with an unscrupulous promoter. Not only does he have a strong chemistry with leading lady Lilli Palmer, but also African American actor Canada Lee as Ben, a boxer with brain damage. And Garfield gets to utter one of his greatest lines in BODY AND SOUL: “What are you going to do? Kill me? Everybody dies.”

Though his next Enterprise production wasn’t a hit, FORCE OF EVIL (’48), co-written and directed by Abraham Polonsky, is a terrific film noir with a hard-hitting Garfield as a corrupt attorney trying to save his numbers-racket brother (Thomas Gomez) from his gangster boss. Garfield returned to Warner Bros. and Curtiz in 1950 for THE BREAKING POINT, which was based on Hemingway’s 1937 novel, To Have and Have Not. It’s an outstanding film noir with a superb performance from Garfield as well as from Black actor Juano Hernandez who plays his partner on the fishing boat.

THE BREAKING POINT was Garfield’s penultimate film and was not a hit because The Blacklist was engulfing Hollywood and the actor, despite the fact he wasn’t a Communist. His film career was over in 1951 when he refused to cooperate with HUAC at his hearing. Before his death of a heart attack in 1952 at the age of 39, Garfield did appear in a short-lived Broadway revival of Golden Boy, which also starred Lee J. Cobb, a young Jack Klugman and Joseph Wiseman.

Though she was only 6 ½ when he died, Julie Garfield recalls seeing her father on stage in Golden Boy where he introduced her during the curtain call. “When he smiled at you it was like being in the sun,” she noted. “He was funny and sometimes he would like to dance and kick up his legs. I remember him adoring me. He used to take me to the merry-go-round a lot in New York. He was so strong, so handsome and he loved to kid me. He would give me this mischievous smile. I wish I remembered more about him…”

[mam-te-moc]

What I learned from Dangerous Secrets

Warning: while I focus on franchise and not on plot, obviously there will be spoilers.

Northuldra

* Unfortunately there is very little info about Northuldra. The book confirms what we more or less know from the movie: Northuldra consist of many independent groups with similar way of living, egalitarian, with a council of elders as informal leaders, peaceful. They don't have magic, but use help of spirits in a daily life.

* Yelana (this is how her name is written in the book) is mentioned as a person who knows Iduna, but it's never said exactly what kind of relation is between these two. Most likely Yelana is kind of a mentor to young Iduna

*Iduna is not related to the tribe she lives with. When she was five years old her own group was annihilated by unspecified invaders, with her as only survivor, found and adopted by another Northuldra group she is with until the battle of the dam.

*Iduna's shawl was made for her by her mother when she was born and is the only thing she has to remember her parents.

*Ice Harvesters are specifically said to be not a part of Northuldra even if they have similar clothes and customs

Spirits

* all spirits: Gale, Bruni, Nokk and Earth Giants are mentioned by name, Iduna knows them well

* all spirits are locked inside the mist and can't get outside. When Iduna already living in Arendelle almost frezes to death she has a vision of Gale showing her a shelter and Bruni helping her to lit a fire, but it's unclear if it's real, or her mind is playing games or it's a vision sent by yet another force.

*Ahtohallan is called the mother of all spirits. Northuldra elders know her location, but such knowledge is not shared with everybody. It looks like unlike spirits, Ahtohallan location is probably outside of the mist

*It looks like Ahtohallan can not only see the future, but can give visions of it to those she chooses

*The Fifth Spirit is never mentioned

Trolls

*it looks like trolls are much more popular among people than we thought. Not only Ice Harvesters know about them and go to them to ask for aid, queen Rita, Agnarr's mother also knew where she can find them

*the book confirms that Pabbie can erase any chosen memories on demand

*Pabbie can also see a future in Northern Lights, he can look for any specific person or events. Unlike in the movies where what he shows looks like a suggestion of the future that can be changed, in the book a future he sees is not changeable.

*Bulda has an ultrasound in her hands ;)

Arendelle

* the book confirms that Arendelle is an absolute monarchy, but gives it a council and when Agnarr is underaged - a regent of a name Lord Peterssen (yes, the same Jen Lee mentioned back then)

* unfortunately the book isn't any more clear about how Arendelle old is. From such words of Lord Petersen “That is what your father did. And his father before him. That is what kings do to protect their people. And this is what you must do now.” it looks like Runeard was not a first king. A few paragraphs later it's confirmed by Agnarr showing Iduna painings of his ancetors (great-great-great-grandfather Eric and co.) - another hint of long history of Arendelle, but right after that he mentions that plans of the dam were drawn long before he was born, when his father and his people first arrived in Arendelle. After some moments we jump again to descriptions of the castle and things in it as old or even ancient and we learn that the Arendelle community have some customs that seem to have long tradition.

*all castle staff we know from movies and books (Kai, Gerda, Olina, Miss Larsen etc.) is already there when Agnarr is a kid, with the same duties we see them doing in Elsa and Anna's time. Gerda works long enough to know queen Rita, Agnarr's mother.

Trivia

*when book starts, with a battle of the dam, Iduna is 12 years old and Agnarr is 14 years old

*It takes one day trip from Arendelle to reach the wall of fog. Such trips are made every six months, first by Iduna and Agnarr then by scouts to check on the fog

*chocolate is already in bars when Iduna is a kid

*sir Jorgen Bjorgen was made by queen Rita for his son. Later Agnarr gave it to Elsa, after the accident

*Kjekk, Anna's horse belonged to Iduna. It was a gift from a farmer.

*carrots seem to be widely available, even Northuldra feed their reindeers with them

*The Little Mermaid - Agnarr reads this newly published book when he is 18

*a secret room exists. The entrance is in the castle's library, behind a bookcase and opens after moving a statue of Water Nokk. The description of the secret room suggests that it's very old, with books that "looked like they’d been in there, gathering dust, for a thousand years", ancient scrolls and maps. Runeard used it, later it was found accidentally by Iduna and Agnarr. They used it too.

*there are other secret passages in the castle

*Iduna was taught to read by her mother from one book she had. Arendellians that were building the dam brought books with them, often with tales about princesses.

*the book shows baby Elsa using ice powers very skilfully from the first moment she revealed that she has magic

*when young, Agnarr loves to sleep in

*Iduna tells Agnarr that she is Northuldra only a few weeks before their sea voyage.