#GIVES VOLO MY ISSUES YES

[epicspheal]

Alright so I've been seeing a lot of discussion surrounding Volo and his Togepi on Twitter and I wanted to put my thoughts on the situation. In the latest Pokemas event we see a part of the story where Volo's Togepi greets N and N hears her voice. N clearly tells us that Togepi states that Volo takes care of her. And it's mentioned earlier that it's clear Volo does love his Pokemon. Yet people have noted that in the lodge the subject of "Love for Pokemon" is in his "interesting" topic category (as compared to say, "Excitement Building" or "Super Exciting"). Therefore it's led people to believe he actually hates his Pokemon and that he's actively manipulating them. I don't think that's the case. See one thing Pokemon has done well since Gen 1 is environmental storytelling, often done through the teams. You can learn a lot about a character's personality through the Pokemon they choose and the move-sets. Volo is no different. Him having a Togepi (and later in PLA a Togekiss). This is important because Togepi as we know evolves via high friendship and GameFreak often gives Pokemon who evolve via Friendship to antagonistic characters when they want to show they're misguided over just flat out cruel. And it's not just Togepi/Togekiss...by the boss fight with Volo we see him have a Lucario and Roserade...both Pokemon who have stages that require a friendship evolution. Togekiss and Lucario are also notable for being Pokemon that can sense feelings and they stick by Volo even when he's ready to remake the entire world.

This is GameFreak's signaling that Volo, despite him being a major backstabber, isn't 100% full of malice. That there's part of him that have good traits. But then why, you may ask, is "Love For Pokemon" so low for him on the lodge topics? Well it's likely because it's not a topic he's super passionate about. The lowest tier is "interesting"...and not "dislike/boring". Sure IRL, depending on tone "interesting" can be a polite way to say "I don't really care" but for Pokemas "interesting" topics just seem to be topics the character may either know only a little about or is intriguing but not something that would make them start talking a mile a minute. Volo having "Love for Pokemon" as an interesting topic likely points to the idea that he doesn't make that a huge part of his daily thought process as say Leaf who has it as her "Super Exciting Topic" (and indeed a lot of her Pokemas characterizations surrounds this as she is super passionate about it). Is it a noteworthy topic enough that's he's willing to talk about? Yes, but it's not something he's super passionate about compared to say myths and legendary Pokemon. It doesn't mean he's secretly manipulating his Pokemon and hates them. He has Pokemon that would be able to sense his true intentions if that was really the case. He has trust issues for sure (his lines about using others before they use you sound like he's been betrayed)...but that seems to be aimed moreso at humans (and Arceus) than his own team.

[forjustice]

[Johto Moon Festival '24] BEWARE THE CONTEST SNOB

"Well, well, well..." Wallace puts a hand to his chin as he watches the Moon Maiden performances with a critical eye. His most toxic trait: he holds every Coordinator to the highest possible professional standard, like he's never heard of people just doing it for fun. "This Moon Maiden competition has many more contestants than last year, but more isn't always merrier~"

And there he goes, spouting off his opinions on the shows to literally anyone who'll listen.

@dandieliongirl

"First up, we have Anzu. Not a Coordinator by profession, and I can certainly tell. It was lovely enough to look at, I suppose, and she does have a good singing voice. But are twirling and throwing flowers everywhere really her only two skills? She says she wants to spread her wings and fly...She should stay on the ground first and add some more complexity to her technique. Perhaps there's a glimmer of potential in that Cubone of hers, but that performance was too much of a novice one to really tell."

@vixletserenity

"I've met Celeste before. I helped her get a Cosmog. She may prove a Trainer worthy of the Solgaleo or Lunala it evolves into...but she certainly won't get there with her Coordinating work. She makes the same mistake as Anzu does, thinking her voice can carry the performance--and the sparse move use certainly isn't enough to make up for the fact there isn't much else to comment on. I will say this, though. Her grasp on the use of Water- and Fairy-types is quite decent, all things considered. If she wanted a Coordinating career I wouldn't say she's doomed, but she certainly has a long way to go."

@oathofmoonlight

"Kaguya's? Oh, please, girl! Everyone else at least tried to have a moon theme! Unlike some others she seemed to actually be an expert in the skill she was performing, which I definitely do appreciate. But I take exceptional issue with the fact she's vying to be a Moon Maiden and yet the only phase of moon she seems to perform with is the new one. Besides, after a while of watching it, all her moves started to blur together to the point I can't even remember them--and it wasn't even long enough that most people would think details blurred together to begin with. Let this be a lesson to everyone: It's one thing to be an expert in something. It's another to do it expertly on stage."

@gruusha

"So, the thing about Grusha is, I owe them a big, big favor. I owe them a trip to the biggest, best Pride celebration in town--and with the end of Pride Month coming up, I need to do it fast. Maybe I was too late, though, because if they'd been to even one--one--drag show they'd come away with insights into the art of performing that they oh so desperately needed. It is admirable of them to do such a graceful dance in spite of previous injuries--I say that without reservation. But my one big question is: Where's the Pokémon? I suppose the main focus of a Moon Maiden Appeal should be the actual maiden, but to me, keeping the Pokémon completely hidden just screams a lack of imagination on how to use it.

"....Don't tell them I said this, by the way. How can I drag them to Pride if they know I've been gossiping about them?"

@forjustice [yes I'm tearing apart mine as well it's only fair heh]

"Look. I normally don't like questioning performances with deep personal significance. But we're talking about Volo of all people--are we sure she isn't just guilt-tripping us into giving her the prize? You'd hardly believe that she's one of the few Coordinators who's ever gotten a perfect score across the board when you see her make such a hugely glaring rookie mistake: She barely even does anything up until the middle part, and after the dance there most of the rest is just singing--which doesn't help my feeling that she was riding on the audience's sentiments to win. On top of that, I know these performances have to be short, but can we talk about the pacing--they go from strangers to honored guests to friends to family in the span of, like, what, three minutes? Maybe this wasn't the place for expressing such a story. Or the place to try and win the popular vote just by making everyone feel sorry for you outside the context of your performance--not that there even is a place for that, really. But you don't have to take my word for it. I'm just one person who as a religious figure is intimately familiar with the mythology and scripture surrounding this particular individual, and this is just my personal opinion."

[legacyshenanigans]

During his Hogwarts years was Volo a menace from the beginning? Or did it like develop/become more prominent over time?

Once he'd made his little friend group in his first year, they were pretty much menaces from the beginning. Though they seemed quiet and to themselves to everyone else, him and pals would play pranks, go into places they shouldn't be, etc. He did get a little worse as he the older he got in hogwarts..

During Ominis first year, Marvolo terrified a boy SO much, who had bullied Ominis, that the boy ended up leaving school and wouldn't go back. Until the following year, when he knew Marvolo had left, but he never said why.

They kept their shenanigans very low key, and the profs often suspected they were the source of certain issues. But rarely catch them in the act whenever they did do things they weren't supposed to.

A couple of little examples:

Prof Weasley: *knocks on the door and wanders into a female students dorm room* Good evening *smiles*

Student: *slightly blushed* Evening, Professor Weasley.

Prof Weasley: (?) Are you alone in here? I could have sworn I heard you talking as I approached the room?

Student: Y-Yes, I'm alone, heh, I was just..Talking to myself, my studies are making me crazy *chuckles*

Prof Weasley: Bless you dear. Well, I just wanted to drop off your notebook that you left in my classroom *smiles*

Student: Thank you. *smiles*

Prof Weasley: *smiles and leaves*

Student: *sighs in relief looking to the corner of the room*

Marvolo: *coming out from the disillusionment charm, chuckling and giving her a cheeky grin as he walks back over to her*

Prof Sharp: Gaunt!

Marvolo: *turns and puts on a fake smile* Yes?

Prof Sharp: Some things in my classroom seem to have been, used, last night, after hours...And Peeves told me he saw you and your friends wandering the halls at 2am..*raises a brow*

Marvolo: Peeves is a liar, Sir. I assure you I was asleep in my bed at 2am. I had a charms final today, needed my rest.

Prof Sharp: *narrows his eyes* ...I'll believe you this time.

Marvolo: As you should, Sir. Is it the truth..

Prof Shar: Go on *shoos him* Carry on about your business..

Marvolo: *turns around and walks away, smirking to one of his friends*

[whitegoldtower]

If I were in the BG3 universe:

🕸️ Obviously I’d be a drow, myself. As an FTM and the eldest child in my family, I’d at least survive long enough to get nabbed by the nautiloid.

🕸️ act 1 Astarion would have to actively work to earn my trust because he and I would NOT see eye to eye and his behaviour would make me feel deeply unsafe. Again, as I said in my last post, his reaction to being told “you’re too close” would absolutely make me retaliate aggressively, and I wouldn’t just let him walk away from me after speaking to me like that.

🕸️ I would probably spend entire nights just talking to Gale and Wyll. I’d also be competing with Gale for the title of Camp Cook

🕸️ Lae’zel bossing me around on the nautiloid would rub me up the wrong way and I’d be very likely to react the same way as Shadowheart “who put you in charge?”

🕸️ I would get Scratch for Karlach but I wouldn’t be particularly pleased with having a dog in the camp.

🕸️ I’ll indulge Volo because it’s funny, but I am not letting him lobotomise me.

🕸️ If all went smoothly, I’d have some pretty deep conversations with Astarion.

🕸️ “I hate wolves” - me too, girl. Your fear is justified, and not just because of your trauma. I, too, would shit myself if Silver walked past me.

🕸️ I’d spare Minthara and then save her from Moonrise. Even though I would have some heavy disagreements with her, she would be my best friend. She would be the one person I’d seek out if I needed a second pair of eyes and/or a reality check.

🕸️ I would trust Shadowheart to do the right thing.

🕸️ Honestly, I don’t think I would even free Lae’zel from the tieflings. She would not be at my camp. I would see her in the wooden cage, see the tieflings guarding it, and keep walking. I would remember her giving me orders on the nautiloid and that would instantly dissuade me from even debating whether or not trying to persuade those tieflings to let her go was worth it.

🕸️ I would punch Aradin (and hurt my fist in the process but it’s worth it)

🕸️ I would free the spiders in the goblin camp and let them eat the goblins.

🕸️ Wyll would find me questionable at times. Karlach would get annoyed because I prefer to act subtly and strategise instead of running in guns blazing.

🕸️ I wouldn’t probe at Shadowheart. She and I would see eye to eye on a lot of things.

🕸️ I’ll let Abdirak have a go out of pure curiosity.

🕸️ I would technically save the grove but not on purpose. Yes I would take out the goblin leaders, and yes I would free Halsin. Yes, I would also help the tieflings with the druid situation. But it wasn’t my first priority. Not that I would say that out loud.

🕸️ I would rather either wait for Halsin to get to the grove to yell at Kagha and resolve the issue with the tieflings himself, or expose Kagha to the other druids. Minimal bloodshed in the grove.

🕸️ I would let True Soul Nere do his thing (I’m not getting involved in that) and then talk to the dumbass about the Absolute situation. Ideally, I wouldn’t give him the chance to run off. He’s coming back to camp with me. Better to have another ally than to let Balthazar have him. Also I’m romancing the pants off him.

🕸️ Church bells would ring when I saw Kar’niss for the first time. I would not be able to take the moonlantern from him, and as a reluctant consequence, I would turn on the harpers. I would aim to just knock him out at Moonrise because his sobs would make me feel too bad.

🕸️ Araj Oblodra would catch my hands so fast. At that point, I might not particularly be besties with Astarion, but I would defend him. Nobody should be speaking to anybody like that. One of the rare instances in the game thus far that would absolutely make my blood boil.

🕸️ Mayrina made her bed and now she can lie in it. Auntie Ethel can do as she likes.

🕸️ Raphael’s voice could convince me, but his words could not. I’m not falling for it.

🕸️ I would let Astarion bite me but by the gods I had better see him fighting tooth and nail afterwards. I am not a blood bank and I would get pissy if he wasn’t pulling his weight. A second feeding would 80% ride on whether or not I thought it would be efficient to let him do so again and 20% on the soft little part of me that wants to see him happy. But any of that “my little treat with his cheeks all flushed” nonsense and he’s not getting anything. Not unless I’d clocked that it was a bit, but I’m autistic so it would probably take a while.

🕸️ I would eventually trust each of the companions to make the big decisions - it’s not my place to tell them how to resolve their personal problems. The most I can do is support them and offer rational advice if they ask for it.

🕸️ Karlach can have Scratch, I don’t care. I’m adopting all the cats and spiders (leggy cats). Although, that one woman with the cages? I’ll let her have it with both barrels.

🕸️ When Orin decides to mess with my party, I decide to scalp her when I next see her.

🕸️ The tadpole would make me have panic attacks every night because of my medical anxiety, and I would be trying everything to get rid of it (as long as I don’t lose an eye, but if I was desperate enough I might try it. Raphael might even start to tempt me). Eventually, I think I’d become apathetic to it and force myself to stop acknowledging it.

🕸️ if the companions cared enough about me, it would probably be a nightly occurrence for them to have to stop me from downing the Wyvern Poison Nettie gave me in the grove, because even the slightest ache in my body would set off alarms. “You’re not turning into a mindflayer, you just ate some dodgy meat”

🕸️ On the nights I’m not cooking, I’m requesting that Gale cooks something with mushrooms in it. Comfort food. Routine good.

🕸️ I’ll take Minthara calling me a jaluk as a compliment, because at least she’s gendered me correctly.

🕸️ I absolutely cannot sleep alone. If I had to pick a companion to keep me safe when I’m sleeping, it’s either going to be Shadowheart, Wyll or Minthara. Shadowheart and Wyll would be comforting and reassuring, and Minthara would be vigilant and stern enough to both make me feel safe and convince me to go the fuck to sleep.

🕸️ however if I woke up in the middle of the night and freaked out, I’d be most likely to wake up Wyll. The whole time this and the above is happening, I would have Nere in a vice grip and would not be letting go.

🕸️ I would be some sort of magic user. But if push came to shove in battle, I’d take a leaf out of Astarion’s book and start biting people. There’s a time and a place for dignity, and whilst I consider myself an otherwise very dignified person, I’m not opposed to fighting dirty if it’s necessary.

🕸️ based on all this, I think I’d be some sort of neutral alignment. Probably true neutral.

[itsclydebitches]

My dear the community needs you too!

https://www.tumblr.com/arctophyllax/735707485263085568/actually-theres-a-way-to-ask-larian-to-give-us

I followed the steps it is done!!~~~ omg omg

Yooo! Thanks for the info, anon!!!

The latest patch just made my heart so, so happy. I feel like the last couple of years have been dominated by horrifying reports coming out of gaming companies and the games themselves releasing long before they were complete, so to get BG3 that has so much passion poured into it (yes, even with the Act 3 hiccups) AND a company that's listening to the playerbase?

I've been around the fandom block and am no stranger to the "Is there actually a chance of this happening or are we just happily delusional about it?" game. Even if Larian hadn't already given us Minthara though (demonstrating that such changes are totally on the table) I think Zevlor has a good shot because it would be so easy to include him. Not necessarily from a coding perspective (idk anything about the actual construction of games), but rather from a narrative perspective. He essentially disappears from the story between rescuing him in Act 2 and reappearing in the final battle, meaning there's nothing on his end that needs reworking if we were to stick him in camp instead. Plus, we already have so many characters who act as temporary, non-combat members: Barcus, Volo, Halsin prior to lifting the curse, etc. I mean, it would be amazing to have Zevlor as a combat companion and/or romance-able, but even if we don't get that I'd LOVE to have him bopping around with some extra dialogue.

God, think of the possibilities though. A new questline where you can help Zevlor regain his oath, or maybe help him prove himself to the tieflings again. A late game romance option for players who didn't get one ironed out by the end of Act 1. Unique interactions depending on if you've saved certain objects (you can give him back his sword like you give Shadowheart the flower/idol). Similar to Nere being trapped, a semi-timed chance to rescue him from Orin before he shows up dead in your camp, complete with threatening letters about the "pet" she's having so much fun with. Obviously some options are taller orders than others, but if Larian is willing to adapt the game's story rather than just fixing performance issues - which it very much seems they are with Minthara and that epilogue - this is a PERFECT opportunity.

[blackjackkent]

@dinolil1 and @clockworkcuttlefish reminded me that waypoint teleporting is a thing! And so, after (presumably) stealthing their way out of that terrible place, Hector and company are finally, finally back at camp and able to rest and catch up.

Time to check in with everyone, starting with....Volo, who is nearest the entrance and has an exclamation mark over his head.

"Ah, my good fellow! Quite the cozy setup you have here. I'll just make myself comfortable - thank you so much. I was just settling in and reviewing my latest findings. Mind flayers, cultists, and of course, your esteemed company."

"What do you know about mind flayers?"

"Why, I'm practically an expert. They've *tentacles*, you know. Quite shocking. The druid Halsin had some kind of mind flayer specimen in a jar in his quarters. A replica, no doubt, but truly fascinating to see up close."

"I fought one of them."

"Here?! On the Sword Coast? Impossible."

"A mind flayer planted one of their larvae in my brain."

"That's quite impossible. You'd have undergone ceremorphosis by now."

"If only your disbelief could alter facts."

"If what you say were true, you'd *be* a mind flayer by now. You, infected by a mind flayer - it's ridiculous."

"...isn't it?"

"Examine me. Find out for yourself."

"Perhaps that's for the best. I'd be irresponsible not to debunk such a strange claim. If I could just peer in your eye, I could quickly..."

"Oh, my dear sweet GODS."

"Quit the shouting. Can you help?"

"I...I mean...I mean, yes, I suppose I can. I'll need to research the particulars. Give me a bit of time, and I'll have this little issue sorted."

Hector will believe it when he sees it. :P

[thessalian]

Faerun!Alisaie vs The Trouble With Companions, Redux

Team Dangeroud Company has visitors...

Gale: Elminster?!? What were you doing in the middle of an old ... whatever this building is?!?

Alisaie: First Volo, now Elminster?!? Okay, if Mordenkainen - or worse, fucking Xanathar shows up, I'm done.

Elminster: Mystra sent me. Gave me the means to stabilise your orb of nasty shit so you can trigger it to blow up the source of the Absolute's power.

Alisaie: Excuse you?!?

Gale: Ah. Well, I knew she was annoyed, but...

Alisaie: Annoyed and desperate. What is it with god-beings putting us through this shit? Look, do what Mystra wants for now, Elminster, but we're going to find another way.

Elminster: Mystra doesn't seem to think--

Alisaie: Mystra's a bitter ex who, yes, got her personal boundaries violated, and that sucks, but it's not punishable by death! We. Will find. Another. WAY. I do not believe you made us give you some of our better supplies - looted at some expense of time and effort, just by the way - so you could turn my friend into a suicide bomb! Now get out!

Gale: You're yelling at one of the most powerful wizards in--

Alisaie: Yeah, well, if Mystra shows her face around here, I'll yell at her too!

Wyll: ...Um ... how about you yell at her? *points*

Mizora: *has appeared again* Wyll! Precious pup! New job! We need you to free a devil stuck in that tower you're all going to raid.

Alisaie: ...Oh. Ooooooooooh... Okay, fine; but he does that, and he's done - out of the contract for good.

Mizora: And how exactly do you figure that?

Alisaie: Simple. It's bad enough that powerful mortals and the like are thralls to this Absolute; your reputation is shot if one of your devils ends up a thrall. Zariel'd be really pissed ... probably at you, since clearly this devil's under your jurisdiction. Or at least Zariel made it your job to get them back. You outsourcing to us means you don't want to take the risk yourself ... but you're screwed if we fail.

Mizora: I ... I will turn Wyll into a lemure if you all fail!

Alisaie: If you have the time to do that before Zariel does something worse to you, good luck.

Mizora: .........He gets this done, and then we discuss this. *exits, stage Pissed Right The Hell Off*

Wyll: ...How much of that was bluffing?

Alisaie: I'm pretty damn good at insight, Wyll. I was bluffing about exactly none of that. It was written all over her demonic little face. I mean, she's probably going to try figuring out some way to keep you in the contract while we're getting this done, but there's still a lot of wiggle room here. Anything that leaves options, is all I'm saying.

Wyll: ...iloveyou...

Alisaie: Should've made your move before I got hooked up with the Sharran hottie, hon. We can dance, but not ... dance. I'm a one-person person, y'know?

Wyll: I know. But it's not as though friendship is a lesser prize.

Alisaie: *grin* Glad to hear.

And, after a lot of tromping around the shadows and meeting some allies...

Raphael: Oh, look; you people again.

Astarion: Tell me what ... what's scarred all on my back!

Raphael: Hmm. I'm motivated to help you but I'll have to think about what you can do for me in return. Toodles. *poof*

Alisaie: Look, I know you've got issues with mirrors, so when we're back at camp, I'll draw what's on there and see if we can figure it out before you have to deal with a cambion's bullshit.

Karlach: Hey! Dammon's here! You've got that infernal alloy, right? I reckon he can fix me up!

Dammon: I can, but ... it's not a permanent fix. You have to go back to Avernus or that thing'll kill you.

Karlach: Eh, everybody dies and I'll get to do it free and holding someone's hand--

Dammon: Um ... when I say 'it'll kill you' ... I mean it'll blow up in your chest and probably spray the surrounding area with shrapnel.

Karlach: ...Well ... shit. Anyway... *installs engine upgrade*

Alisaie: *hugs*

Karlach: ...*squeak*

Alisaie: You needed the hug. And we're going to figure this out too. No offense to Dammon, but this might take a bigger expert.

Dammon: None taken. Kind of hard to do work like this on a regular forge when the damn thing was forged in the literal fires of Hell.

Alisaie: Right. Okay. Let's go see what they can do to keep us safe from the shadows so we can do all the shit they want us to do.

Shadowheart: Selune-magic. Ugh.

Alisaie: Will it cheer you up some to know that I finally found you some night orchid?

Shadowheart: .........*squeak*

Wyll: Shadowheart ... she has broken into an ancient tomb to get you the best weapon possible. She delved into the Underdark to find you Dark Justiciars - it is not her fault she didn't find any living ones. She has waded through murderous shadows to bring you flowers. She is romancing you on levels of epic I never thought possible, and I am a noble by birth and a literal living folk hero. To sum up: if you don't seal this deal soon, I swear by your god and my good eye that I will.

And, not too long after that...

Flaming Fist Marcus: *attmepts abduction and gets eviscerated*

Devil Spawn Things: *mostly die but also steal a few remaining refugees*

Isobel: ...You're ... still good for infiltrating Moonrise Towers, right?

Alisaie: I mean, yeah, obviously; too many tieflings in there to not, but... Wait, why are the Flaming Fist here?

Various Flaming Fist: We hear Grand Duke Ravengard might be locked up in Moonrise Towers and--

Alisaie: Fuck's sake, they really haven't heard the one about eggs and baskets, have they? But apparently we're going to need better protection if we want to get anywhere near there.

Jaheira: My men will help you ambush a patrol; their people are entirely safe from the shadows and we're not sure why.

Alisaie: Maybe they have a working one of these. *shakes broken Moon Lantern* Then again, there's pixie dust at the bottom of this thing and if that's the case, we might be able to get that protection without torturing a sapient being.

Jaheira: ...Enlighten me. Just ... how much of the hero does she play?

Wyll: Play, nothing; she just is one. ...And we're all hoping she's enough of one to save us all.

Jaheira: That's a lot to put on her shoulders.

Wyll: You're trying to get her to infiltrate the Absolute cult.

Jaheira: We're letting her warm up by killing a patrol first...

Wyll: We need Lae'zel for this. She hasn't had a decent scrap since the creche.

[murmursdraconic]

gio moment tell me about one of your favorite threads! it can be something you played with this muse or any other, follow your ♥

Haha thank god you said any blog cuz i have never had a proper thread here yet anyway i am bad at interacting with people help

I have a few and I am gonna try to do them justice while typing on me phone. I am gonna put em under read more so I dun clutter up the dash.

I run @abyssonance and my goodness just anything where Gira is like "the hell is this" and anyone tries to explain it to them. One was abojut a nap and baby Litwick explains it. Someone then made an audio post of that simple interaction and it lives rent free in my head all the time.

There was also a thread where Gira and Volo talked about what the fuck happened with them at the end of PLA. UHG it was so good where they both talled about how in short, they were both kinda fucked up and manipulating each other and agreed to be better for it. They sre both still kinda messed up but they can be messed up together.

Ages ago, when I was much more active on my Ruby blog (of RWBY yes) there was one thread where her and Qrow talked about her expectations as a team leader versus his personal issues. This was well before V7 so I basically called some things in later volumes. It was not a happy thread. It was bitter, angry, depressing, but I got to explore so much that I ended up being right about canon speaking. It had a good ending to it. Not necessarily a full happy one but, it was good for the content material.

Then to speak directly to you, Gio -ratgrab- whenever a phobia boi and reaper enbi got to explore those dark and terrifying themes of theirs, I went feral because that was some sjuicy stuff right there. Give me the dark spice gimme that good shit.

Then there were some threads that I have had where nothing particularly special happened, but the first threads I did with people who ended up becoming some of my closest friends that I will always be grateful for happening. Outside of some shitposts of them I could not recall details, but I have made forever friends because of it.

[archersgaymerblog]

“Hey volo I don’t mean to be rude but your left foot is doin some WEIRD ass clipping at the moment” “… all apart of Arceus’ divine powers!” “what-” (also fascinated that despite supposedly not having the plates at any point… Volo knows what’s written on them… wonder if it’s implied to be written down in the ruins somewhere? Altho even Cogita mentions that Celestica legends were usually passed down orally so I’m unsure.)

Hold on I have MORE VIDS so im gonna reblog this post with more EDIT: NOOOO I CANT… we’ll just gonna add some more photos here then!

Some of these screenshots I take bcus I think OO I WANNA REDRAW THAT… this is one of those… I like the composition of this wjdbdjdb

Tfw Motherfucker Unlimited Spotted NSBDJSB

IMMEDIATELY uses Val’s cred to get more info from Cogita BDBSN also my hc is that Cogita & Volo are mother-son and so many of these convos are just. Yea Cogita is the EXASPERATED mother of Volo BEHDBDB

“Well, I know where we can get more wood ;)” “Trees. Everyone knows this Val.” “… ;)” “… t. Trees right. WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT-” BDBNDBDN also love Volo’s one track ass mind. “AHA so Cogita has brought up WOOD so therefore WOOD is CONNECTED to the PLATES! I am so smart :)” HDVDHD you sure are bud 10/10 work.

AH HOW QUICKLY THE ILLUSION BREAKS

Also again with my own personal interpretation… I think Cogita says this and Volo’s heart just lowkey shatters. The last thing he’d ever want is to be burdensome to Ginter, and if he ever thought he was, well… RSD says it’s time to go into the woods and fuck off forever!! HHH

[crissygecko]

Alrighty, I'd like to introduce my Legends player character to you guys!! Prepare for an inconsistent doodle dump, lol.

Meet Paloma! 💚💕

Paloma's a sweet, compassionate, and meek girl who wears her heart on her sleeve and treats everyone around her with kindness. Her ace Pokémon is a Hisuian Goodra, and she loves him very much!

The main thing about Paloma, though: she's scared of her own shadow. Her upbringing has caused her to fear pretty much everything- including Pokémon themselves. Because of this, she prefers to live in a shell, shielded from harm and threatening situations. But she learns to deal with this deep-seated issue during her journey through Hisui.

Here's a few more doodles I've done of her so far!

(fun fact, I actually did almost get murdered by a flock of Beautifly in Legends one time-)

Also, one thing I should mention about Paloma: she's very terrified of Volo. Even though he hasn't shown his true side to her yet, something about him just... rubs her the wrong way. She gets really bad vibes from the guy, and so she gets startled and nervous whenever he shows up.

Yes, even cute little Togepi gives her PTSD now. 🥲

But as cowardly as Paloma is, she can certainly be brave when it counts! I like to imagine that when she's confronting Volo at the Temple of Sinnoh, she actually goes up to him and tries to give him a strict talking-to. Granted, she'd be stammering and crying and shaking like a leaf, but at least she wouldn't back down!

"Y... y-you're nothing but a m-monster... a monster and a t-traitor!!"

That's all the drawings and sketches I'm going to share for now. But in case you guys are curious, here's what Paloma looks like in-game!

She's a happy girl. 🥹💚💕

Lol, hope you guys enjoyed my doodle dump of my cringy character! That's all for now, okie byeeee-

[darkmatter-nebula]

Good morning, my dearest fellas. 👋😘 Get ready for the promised chapter of my "Ghostboy in Hisui" AU! Here I go again!

Chapter 9: The Great Calamity

The night was very quickly over for Allister and Akari, as Rei was standing at their door. He had bad news! The rift over Hisui got much bigger and the sky was painted in a strange color! Commander Kamado wanted to see both of them. Unfortunately, in Kamado's opinion, it was the fault of Akari and Allister! The man thought that both of them were sent to destroy Hisui! He turned to Allister. "I should've never trusted you! Your ghost type Pokemon have cursed us all!" He said harshly. Akari spoke up. "We didn't do anything, Commander! Especially not Allister, he is an innocent child! And his Pokemon are all very sweet!" She said.

"It pains me to say this, but you and Allister will be exiled from Jubilife Village from now on!" Kamado said. Cyllene overheard everything. She wanted to protect the kids, but unfortunately she couldn't do anything. Suddenly, she got an idea! She needed Abra's help for her plan!

Professor Laventon and Rei couldn't believe what Kamado just said! Zisu didn't want to let Allister, the boy who was like a son to her, to be banished. She didn't believe that Allister brought a curse upon Hisui. To her dismay, she was the one who had to escort Allister and Akari out of the Village. "I'm so sorry, Allister!" She whispered into the ghostboy's ear. But Allister understood that Zisu was just following orders. "I-it's ok, Zisu. It's not your fault." He whispered back. Sadness was in his voice. Zisu noticed it and it broke her heart!

Adaman and Irida were determined to help Akari and Allister to prove their innocence! Unfortunately, they could not bring them to their Clans. Melli had convinced the whole Diamond Clan that Allister was an evil and cursed child! Not to mention what he said about Allister's Pokemon... The Pearl Clan was just as scared as the Diamond Clan. The only one who wasn't afraid of Allister and his ghost type Pokemon was Ingo. And, of course, Irida.

Adaman and Irida had informed Allister and Akari about this issue. Both had to choose one of them. "I c-choose Adaman." Allister said. The blue haired man was the first person he met in Hisui and he trusted Adaman. Adaman smiled at the small ghostboy. "Thank you for your trust!" He said softly. Akari and Irida smiled at each other. Both girls were good friends. "I think I can help you!" Someone suddenly said. He wanted to bring them to someone he knew.

Not long after Volo's appearance, everyone was standing in front of the home of the person who could help. It was a woman. She had white hair and grey eyes. She was wearing a long black dress and a black hat. She was very beautiful. "I want to introduce you to Cogita! She can probably help you with your problem." Volo said. The woman, Cogita, spoke up now. "You need to seek out the three Legendary Pokemon of the three lakes. Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf. Then, the materials they'll give you can be used to craft the Red Chain." "R-red Chain?" Allister asked timidly. "Yes. The Red Chain can stop this" Cogita paused for a moment, "calamity." She continued.

Allister then spotted a familiar Pokemon. Cyllene's Abra! Apparently Cyllene wanted to help them secretly. Allister gave Abra a note. "Can you give this note to Cyllene, please?" He asked the Pokemon kindly. Abra took the note and teleported away.

Back in Jubilife Village, Cyllene got the note. It read 'Thank you', it had Allister's handwriting. She smiled a bit. She was glad that the kids were fine!

To be continued

This chapter is done.

Sorry that it's a bit short, friends.

[lostonehero]

Already back to Sinnoh we've got submas agnst

Time to cry

     The international police headquarters was booming with one voice that echoed through the halls. "EMMET YOU HAVE DERAILED TOO FAR." Ingo's voice was louder than a train and was directed towards Emmet who didn't flinch once. "Emmet, they had to put 12 pins in each wrist, you have to control yourself." Ingo was furious at his brother's nonchalant behavior about this.

    ��Emmet keeps the same smile on his face. "I told you he was an annoyance Ingo, you are lucky I didn't break more." His voice is as quiet as a pin drop compared to Ingo.

    Ingo scowls. "Emmet, this isn't you. You like trains, and battling. Not harming others. I apologize for my long absence, but I shall make up for it." He grabs his brother's hand. "I shall help you reconnect to the right track."

     Emmet almost frowns, he doesn't want to be on the right track. He already accepted his own brother's death, and he enjoyed his camp, sure it wasn't an issue he could move it to Unova, but he didn't want to go back to how things were before. He was finally feeling independent, he no longer constantly needed his brother beside him. He did miss Ingo though, so he just nodded. 

       Ingo nods back. "Very well I shall get you back on track. We should be running spick and span by the time we are through." He smiles and drags Emmet to a bathroom to cut that ridiculously long braid to start, and then shave his own face, a start to matching again. They were identical twins after all.

     Volo watched the two go looking over at Cyrus and his younger self, he was envious of his younger self. Those casts, the ability to be hurt, and it not instantly vanish. He truly did miss that. He looked down at his hands wanting to punch something out of this obnoxious envious state he was in. He sighs looking back up not realizing Cyrus was talking to him.

     "Are you even listening? Fine I'll repeat myself, since your younger version is out of commission I have a request for your time." Cyrus is scowling, but it didn't reach his eyes.

      Volo looked back at Cyrus boredom filling his eyes. "A request of my time?"

     Cyrus nods, and Volo can see how quickly his horns regrow. "Yes I require help with certain myths your younger self refuses to answer for me. Not that it is surprising I hate him more than I hate you."

     The boredom fled from his eyes as he tilted his head. "You want to talk about myths and legends? I can do that, Lord Emmet told me never to interrupt his time with his brother, unless it was an emergency, so I would happily talk about that with you. What region do you wish to discuss? I know I haven't traveled out of Sinnoh, but I, the great Volo, can teach you about them."

     Cyrus frowns, he didn't want to have something in common with Volo, but since he was offering to teach him. "Why all the regions Volo, or Is your memory so bad that you need me to pick one." He gives an annoyed smirk.

     Volo scoffs. "How dare you Cyrus I can list them off in chronological order if you so desire, come I'll use a blackboard so you could understand." He quips back, putting his hat back on. 

    The younger Volo glares at the two, he was furious at the situation he was in. His hands were useless like this. He was told it was going to take months to heal. Sure he was amused that Emmet got reprimanded by his brother, but that didn't magically heal his hands, well wrists. He skulked along following the two. He could still observe however, and he will do that to bide his time till he is healed.

…….

    Emmet forgot what it's like to wear his uniform, his ears were under his hat and it felt wrong. He was wearing shoes again which felt weird, and not to mention the fact that he is clean shaven all around from his feet to his body to his hair. Nothing was out of place and he felt bad, like he went back to his own camp and everything was shifted to the left. Is this how he used to feel in his uniform? He didn't think so but now it just felt wrong. "You got Elesa to send you a new coat."

    "I did, my coat from years in Histui was in tatters, so it was time for a system repair." Ingo frowns but his eyes scream he is happy. "Now doesn't it feel better to be back in uniform."

     Emmet just smiles and ignores the question knowing himself to be unable to lie. "It's a lovely day out, we should visit Irida, and the others it's been four months since you guys have returned."

     "BRAVO excellent idea Emmet, let's move our tracks to find them." Ingo yells, not controlling his volume in the slightest. "I would love to see them again before we depart back to Unova together."

     Emmet nearly flinched, the forests of Unova were like the ones in Sinnoh, and Ingo probably expected for them to live in a shared apartment again. Emmet really didn't want to, and Ingo also probably expected both Volos to stay in Sinnoh. Emmet couldn't have that, he loved Volo, and they now shared the same curse. Speaking of curses, how could he tell Ingo about that, he doesn't understand why Volo, his Volo is ok with pain, and Emmet can't just explain away why he doesn't bruise anymore. 

    "Emmet we have reached our destination." Ingo pats Emmet's shoulder. "Come on, we have no time to delay."

      Emmet hums and snaps back to reality. "Oh of course Ingo, I'm here." He looks over and sees Irida helping lady Sneasler pick berries together.

    "Ah warden Ingo, oops sorry no more wardens. Still trying to get used to that. What brings you here Ingo, are you heading out already we will miss you." She smiles. "And you shaved too. I liked the beard."

    Ingo nods and adjusts his tie. "We will be departing for Unova in a week, I just wanted to inform everyone of the departure date Lady Irida."

     "Ah a week I see, well thank you for informing us. Isn't that right lady Sneasler?" Irida smiles looking over to the large pokemon.

     "Your shiny seems unhappy warden." The Sneasler looked over to Emmet who was radiating anger and sadness.

    "Ah don't worry we are adjusting our tracks to be in sync once more. Emmet just needs to accept the change and return to our normal station." Ingo bows. "I will surely see you both before we depart. I just wanted to tell you beforehand."

     Emmet pulled his hand away from Ingo who tried to resume holding it. "I can't do that Ingo." He was shaking. "I can't just go back to how it was, it's been six years since you vanished, and only four months since you popped back here." He pushes Ingo away who only tried to get closer. "I'm tired of playing pretend, I'm not the same brother you left, stop trying to make me go back to that. I'm finally happy here." He moves back as Ingo steps forward.

    "Emmet please, you're my brother." Ingo pleads trying to move closer to Emmet. "Is this because I forgot about you?"

    Emmet frowns; it's the first time Ingo has seen his brother frown. "Ingo, we buried an empty coffin, I am feared by everyone, and I deserve it. I've embraced my pokemon half, I've embraced it. I love my Volo alright I fucking said it. I'm in love with him." He is breathing heavily. "I can't keep pretending that I'm fine. Ingo I love you, you're my brother but I just can't do this anymore."

     Ingo tries to get closer to grab his brother, he can feel him slipping away from him. "Emmet, please we can fix this. I can help you, you're just hurt but I'm back now everything is fine." He blocks as Emmet uses shadow claws on him, ripping his new coat. 

     "Just leave me alone Ingo, I've already mourned you. Just let me live my own life the way I chose." He looks away, running away from his own brother.

     Ingo falls to his knees. "Emmet, you promised not to leave me." In a voice too quiet to be his own he starts to cry.

[mrslittletall]

Pokemon recently took over my life again-obsessing over Legends Arceus and even finally completing the Galar Pokedex in Sword :,) Opinions on Pokemon Sword or the Recent Legends game?

Yes, I noticed that you reblogged a lot of Submas on your blog ^^ By the way, I still don't know why tumblr is so obsessed with the Submas twins?! What did I miss? Was that already like this back in 2011? Okay, so opinions! I am long time Pokémon fan and I can find the good in every main line game, but Sword and Shield were the most disappointing to me so far. I have a HUGE post somewhere on my blog that I made after I played through them and put my issues down. It is mostly that the world felt very boring and the wild zone wasn't thought through to the end. However, the DLC absolved some of my critiques, especially the Crown Tundra. I love legendary hunting and Crown Tundra is ALL about legendary hunting and god, did I love the story about Calyrex or what is its English name. While I am not too fond of the shared EXP share, while playing Shining Pearl I noticed that you can just raise... more than six Pokémon thanks to the readily available box whereever you are, so I tried a second run in Shield (bug only) where I do this as well and see if I don't overlevel. I still think that SwSh was a bit too on the easy side, especially after the absolute nightmare that was Ultra Moon/Ultra Sun. I just hope that Scarlet and Violet will get a bit back to what I think made Pokémon great and that was clever world design mostly in my book. They go Open World though, so let's see what they do with it... Now to Pokémon Legends Arceus. I don't like the story of it too much (the Isekai plot is dumb imo), but I love the game itself. I loved the focus of doing something different and that different was catching and observing Pokémon. I love that you have to throw the ball yourself and I got really good at it. Also the Hisuian forms look so good! I love that we got so many love for Pokémon that aren't Kanto, but it hurts me to think that the hisuian forms died out... like hisuian sneasler had to evolve into a dark/ice type, probably because of Braviary. And the Hisuianz Zorua isn't even around anymore, so even becoming a ghost didn't save the poor thing. I think the battles are a bit of a let down in this game. It is clear that they weren'T the focus of the game. No abilities, no held items and you use EVs simply by giving them rocks. Complexity is missing and the wild Pokémon are so insanely strong that they even let a Pokémon faint that is 20 levels higher. Now, what I liked about PLA are the characters! The wardens are adorable, I love Adaman and Irida, I love Professor Laventon and I loved to see everyone's ancestors! Just one look at Volo and I was like "Cynthiaaaaa!" and I just love that Volo is the bad guy here and Cylenne is the good guy despite being Cyrus' ancestors, whoops, spoilers I guess. Anyway, I hope that Legends Arceus isn't the last one of these games they make. Seeing how a region got to where it is now and how it looked so long ago was amazing and I want to see more of that. Give me that with Hoenn or Unova or Kalos please!

[dragon-heisters]

Session 5 May 07 2022

Notes minimal this week due to audio issues, but we soldier on. Pfenig has recovered from his hangover, but Giles still absent.

We are all now level 2, woohoo! We catch Pfenig up on what he missed. Joe gives us our trigger warning - the next part touches on homophobia, and themes of loss and grief. Are we all okay? Yes, we’re all okay.

We head to Steam and Steel, a forge owned by two male genasi - a fire genasi called Embric, and a water genasi called Avi. They ask if we’ve met Tally, the owner of the Bent Nail? They start to argue; this is a contentious subject apparently. Avi explains that they invited Tally over for dinner to discuss a business proposition; it seemed to be going well until Tally seemed to realise that the two were a couple. He became uncomfortable and standoffish, and left soon after. Avi wants to see if we can smooth things over with Tally? He is prepared to offer us a discount if we can help out...

We head over to the Bent Nail and meet Tally Fellbranch, a male half-elf. He smiles and greets us, welcomes us to the neighbourhood. He explains his trade - some weapons, but mostly furniture. Any smithing? No, but we can check out Steam and Steel. Nuri asks wouldn’t it be a good idea to go into partnership with them? He rolls a nat 20 persuasion.

He knows we’ve spoken to the genasi, then. He says it’s not because they’re gay; it was because he was married once but his wife died a few years back. He’s just jealous of their happiness, and he couldn’t bear to see that every day. He didn’t mean to offend them; it’s a him problem. Nuri offers to take him out with us, get out and see a bit of the city.

He agrees. The local temple of Sune is something Vervain noticed on Volo’s tour of the city. The temple is known as a place of comfort for the grieving, and for those who have lost loved ones to meet and find comfort in each other. Vervain suggests a visit, and Tally agrees. He seems to be cheering up a bit.

We go back to Steam and Steel and Pfenig explains the misunderstanding, as well as about Tally’s wife. Nuri wants to ask them to come out to the pub with us and Tally as well. They seem keen to come. We all go out on the lash!

We find a place called Corellon’s Crown - it’s a three storey town house on Trollskull Alley. We can get alchemical supplies and herbal remedies here. There is an androgynous-looking wood-elf, who introduces themself as Fala. They have flowers in their hair. They ask Pfenig if he’s a fellow student of the arts; he is enamoured with the whole place. Fala offers him a discount, as a fellow herbalist.

Nuri hears a voice in his head - he is told to come to the Castle Ward to see Vajra Safahr, Blackstaff (The High Wizard of Waterdeep), immediately. She is one of the most powerful mages in Waterdeep, and runs a prestigious magical academy.

The apprentices show us up when we arrive; Nuri bows. “You invaded my mind?”

Apparently, Renaer has been speaking very highly of us. She has work for us, if we’re interested? Well, we did have a night out planned… We are assured that it won’t take long. Pfenig says she can come out with us if she wants. She laughs; she doubts we could keep up with her.

She says Nuri is doing well in the Watchful Order, but he could branch out if he wanted. They take apprentices from all backgrounds. Sometimes though, they get a bad apple; this is where we come in. They have an apprentice gone rogue. Do we think we could track them down and either eliminate or capture and return…? He’s probably in the sewers.

Does she have a description? A woodcut, or a rubbing perhaps? Light skinned, bald, tattooed. Male, human. Edius. Vajra gives us a map. Anyone gifted in the arcane (she looks at Nuri) should be able to track him fairly easily.

Apparently he was stealing scrolls, and she has it on good authority that he’s been in the City of the Dead, which is forbidden? I think? (Sketchy audio.)

We get to the sewers; there is a smell of sulphur, and decomposition. Vervain casts Detect Magic, and we follow the trail further into the sewer. We round a corner, and Vervain and Pfenig spot an imp.

Actually there are two; one is flying about, the other is frolicking in some sort of ‘water’. Imps can be familiars, but most mages usually only have one at a time. Pfenig casts Ice Knife at one of them.

We kill them and move on, and find a pile of skeletons that rises up and starts to fight us. Cleric’s time to shine! Vervain uses Turn Undead, and gets two of the four. Woohoo!

Some pseudopods arrive, just as we start to think we’ve won. Uh oh… Nuri goes down, Vervain brings him back. They also cast Shield of Faith on Pfenig. Hazel kills one of the pods, and we call it there because it’s late.

[thessalian]

Thess vs Patches

As I sit and finish some character sheets I’ve been meaning to put together for Shenanigans (I’m hoping to have enough spoons to do Shenanigans so I’d like to at least be ready; this week has been just hell on wheels and I haven’t managed to finish the last one I need), there’s a thing I’ve noticed about D&D in terms of sourcebooks: In terms of character and class balance, it feels an awful lot like playing Overwatch.

Just, like ... you’ve got your classic races and classes, and those were balanced to work with each other. But then you have your races in Volo’s, and your classes in Xanathar’s, and whole other races and classes in other books, and none of them were necessarily balanced with the PHB stuff in mind. So they put out variants for the classic races and classes (hello, Tasha’s) to try to balance them out. Except Tasha’s gives new classes too so the tweaks to the classic races and classes are more balanced for those than they are for some of the other ones in different books and you end up with a situation where depending on what you’re going for, playing ... say, human, or even half-elf or something ... just stops being worth it.

Plus these tweaks and even attempts at rebalance cost an awful lot of money, whereas at least Overwatch just patches the damn things into the game. Yes, someone is incredibly grumpy about Tasha’s and Monsters of the Multiverse. Particularly that last, because I already have Mordenkainen’s and Xanathar’s and Volo’s but MotM gives us tweaks and changes and I’m going to have to decide whether I use that one next campaign or whether I stick with my three.

I swear before all the gods, this is my impetus to actually write Torinn’s Guide to Elossa. If I want one fucking sourcebook that’s going to cover everything I need it to cover without any arguments about which sourcebooks we can and cannot use, I’m just going to have to write it myself. That’s honestly what the Saturday Shenanigans are for - not only does it help me flesh out the game world (this next batch of Shenanigans are going to be based on the sea-based settlements of the Moskoy people), but it lets me know what races I should include, which ones I need to tweak and how, and what I can just fucking leave out. Also saves the whole “You can have some of the races from X book but not that one“ issue.

(No Changelings. That is the rule. Shit’s complicated enough as it is, especially with an eight-person party in the main campaign. I wasn’t going to include minotaurs either but Brian had such a good idea and I made it work on an accidental dimension-hop technicality and tweaked a few bits and pieces to balance his beefy ass a little better with the rest of the party and so these things are flexible, sometimes. Just not with Changelings.)

And yeah, I could get the online versions of all of these where the tweaks are probably built in, but fuck that; I don’t really like reading sourcebooks on the computer. It’s great if I need to look up a very specific thing, but I need to be able to flip through the actual dead tree book if I’m going to use it for inspirational purposes. And honestly, beyond the base rules, that’s all I use the books for anyway. I use them the way Dr Frankenstein used morgues and the like - pick the best bits for what I want to create and put them together. Which reminds me of a comment a friend of mine made when I was explaining one of my players’ characters and the choice of god made him go “Pfft; go Realms or go home”. My response was as the above: “Pfft right back at you; I’m doing homebrew - picking the best of everything and stitching it all together into something glorious. Like Dr Frankenstein!”

He said: “...Created a monster that ended up killing him?”

So I just said, “If there’s a better way of describing a campaign from a DM’s point of view, I haven’t heard it yet”.

On that note, back to water genasi kensei monk. And wondering whether I require more coffee for this. ...Probably. I always require more coffee. And then I need to do some gardening; it’s time to repot some mint and strawberries. And after that we’ll see if I have the spoons to actually run a thing after working on character sheet. Yeesh.

[josselinkohl]

Thank you so much everyone for your kind words about this AU! Knowing how much people like it is very encouraging to me to keep writing.

previously: one, two, three, four, five

Laurent spent the next week drilling the men at Nesson. Damen spent the first days of the drills reporting to Paschal, where he was inspected to ensure he did not have more bites, forced to eat extra rations, and only allowed light duties such as folding the clean white cloth to be used in bandages.

After three days, Damen had approval to participate in drills with the rest of the men, and even lacking the first three days of practice and with all of Paschal’s worries about blood loss, Damen had more stamina for the activity than Aimeric did.

Laurent had explained his reasons for not turning Aimeric away, and Jord watched Aimeric closely while he struggled.

Damen didn’t know if Paschal had been lecturing Laurent as well as Damen, or if their previous argument had had a more profound effect on Laurent than Damen realized, but Laurent didn’t drink from Damen in the rest of the fortnight while they were drilling near Nesson. He didn’t seem angry or upset with Damen, and listened to Damen’s opinions about the men’s skills at drills evenly, and assigned Damen menial tasks like undressing him or tending to his armor.

They still shared a tent. Laurent watched Damen in a sharp way that sometimes felt to Damen as though it might precede a command, but the command was not issued.

After two weeks, Laurent found his messenger’s horse, and prepared to go in to Nesson Eloy. He requested Damen’s presence in his tent before their departure, and Damen had thought -- perhaps now. Perhaps Laurent wanted the strength it gave him before whatever his mission was in the town. That would make a kind of sense, as a plan, though he should perhaps not drink from the same man he intended to take along as a ugard.

But that was not Laurent’s plan. Instead, Laurent had a set of Veretian riding clothes laying out in the tent, and he told Damen, “Change.”

They were followed, and Laurent led them inside a brothel to lose their pursuers.

The maitresse greeted them, and seemed to recognize Laurent, and what he was. She accepted his coin with lowered eyes, “Your highness. Are you hungry?”

“No,” said Laurent. Damen was engaged in retying the laces of his jacket after Laurent had directed one of the women working in the brothel to undo it.

“Entertainment, then?” said the maitresse. “My girls would--”

“Privacy,” said Laurent, and once the two of them were alone, they escaped through the window of one of the back rooms.

Later, at an inn, Laurent donned his earring disguise and played Volo at cards. When he had lost a great deal of coin, he returned to straddle the bench next to Damen. “What’s the food like?”

Damen held out a small piece of bread, offering it to Laurent. “Try it.” It was feeding some sort of dangerous predator.

Laurent leaned in. He was really going to do it. His breath was warm on Damen’s hand, and his lips closed around the piece of bread, taking it from Damen’s fingers.

Laurent chewed, swallowed. “Give me another,” he said. Damen felt suddenly conscious of how close Laurent was sitting on the bench. One of Laurent’s hands rested lightly on Damen’s thigh. “Control yourself,” Laurent said. Damen wondered if the other inn guests were watching them.

Damen tore off another piece of bread, and held it out again.

Laurent leaned in again. He ate the second piece of bread, and managed, while taking it from Damen’s fingers, to prick Damen’s thumb with one of his incisors, leaving behind a small cut.

Damen’s face tightened at the cut, but Laurent acted as though there were another crumb of bread still in Damen’s hand that he had missed, and took Damen’s thumb into his mouth.

Damen froze. He could hear himself breathing. Laurent’s mouth was warm on his thumb. Damen’s other fingers brushed against Laurent’s chin. Laurent tilted his head slightly to the side, coquettish, and the fall of his hair caught in Damen’s hand.

Laurent sucked on his thumb with a gentle pressure. The pad of Damen’s thumb pressed against his tongue. It was impossible not to think--

Laurent raised his eyes to meet Damen’s, brushed his tongue over the cut on Damen’s finger again, and released it. He leaned in a bit closer to Damen and said, “Don’t you think we’ve waited long enough?”

Damen wondered, if he agreed, if Laurent would bite him right there in the middle of the common room. Perhaps Laurent would do that even if Damen did not agree.

“Take me upstairs.”

Laurent led the way through the common room and up the stairs at the back. He glanced back at Damen once as he walked, arch and coy, a pet who had his master exactly where he wished and knew it.

It was the earring, Damen told himself. The earring was meant to be sensual. He had spent too long in Vere and its symbols were affecting him. And it was the game. That was the trouble with subterfuge. Play master and pet for an evening and it caused men to want things that they did not otherwise think of.

They reached the room, and there was an Akielon man inside it. Laurent talked with the man briefly, read his ciphered message and gave him a ring and sent him off with a reply. The man left, and then Laurent left to bathe, telling Damen that he did not require attendance.

Alone, Damen sighed.

He attended to things that require attending. He went outside to get some fresh air. It was a cloudless night and the moon was clear. As he returned inside, he fetched another plate of food from the kitchen, and brought it up the stairs with him. Laurent hadn’t eaten more than two pieces of bread all evening; he might be interested in food. Laurent hadn’t fed for two weeks; he might not be interested in food.

Damen bathed. He returned to their room. Laurent had turned the blankets Damen had claimed in front of the fire into a nest, and had eaten precisely half of the food on the plate Damen had brought. Damen sat down next to the fire.

The mood between them was easy. Laurent seemed relaxed. Damen watched Laurent eat a final bite of bread from the plate and lick his own fingers. Damen remembered the feel of Laurent’s mouth on his hand and shifted the way his legs were positioned for some discretion. Laurent eyed him, amused.

“What happens if you don’t eat?” said Damen.

Laurent raised an eyebrow. “Starvation.”

Damen huffed out a breath of air. “No, I mean--”

Laurent smiled slowly. “I know what you meant.”

Damen waited.

“If you want an answer,” said Laurent, “You have to ask a question.”

“How does it work?” said Damen. “You eat food, but you also drink--”

“Is that a question?” said Laurent, arch.

“Yes.”

Laurent looked at Damen consideringly. “Do you suppose it is wise, to share all of my secrets with my enemy, simply because he asks me?”

Damen thought back to all of the nights they had stayed up looking at maps of the border territory, when Laurent had asked him about Akielon defenses. “I know something of that feeling.”

“I suppose you do.” Laurent placed his hands behind him on the blanket and leaned back casually. “I have to eat food like anyone else,” he said. “I don’t have to drink, but it is--” he seemed to search for a word. “Better.”

Damen nodded. He waited to see if Laurent would say something more, but he seemed to be finished.

“Do you want to--now?” said Damen.

“Yes,” Laurent said, too fast, as though he couldn’t stop himself.

Damen sat up a bit straighter, waiting to be commanded.

“But I am not going to,” said Laurent, and he rose from his place near the fire to take the bed.

part 7