#actually wizard and mage are NEVER separate classes

[upsideoutinsidedown]

Season one he’s referred to as a wizard, season two he’s referred to as a cleric. Wizards existed but they weren’t called wizards but rather “magic users” in the first edition, which is what they would’ve been playing in 1983, and it’s entirely possible “wizard” was just used for the audiences sake. Magic users and clerics were two different classes though, so it doesn’t solve the different class issue.

There’s a couple of options. Will the Wise is the one referred to as a wizard whereas Will himself is referred to as a cleric, so it could be a “Will himself plays one role while his character plays a different role”. Another possibility is that in the first season, Will the Wise died—I don’t think his character is ever referred to as “Will the Wise” again? It could be symbolic—Will’s character died to the demogorgon because he failed his role, just like he was taken by the creature that night. I don’t think if that was the case that Mike would’ve made him retire the character, but it could’ve also been Will choosing to retire the character as a show of him evolving?

Lastly, multiclassing is a thing. He could very well be both. Maybe he started as a wizard and as the game went on decided to level as a cleric instead of increase his wizard level? That would be an interesting take—whereas Dustin and Lucas and Mike may have continued as “pure” character classes, Will may have mixed and likely eventually overcame his wizard level with his cleric level. For example, if the characters were say level 12 for Dustin, Mike and Lucas, Will’s character might have been a level 5 wizard/level 7 cleric. Mike may also focus more on the cleric side of things because Magic Users were mages, so, mage and wizard would’ve been the same thing, and El has that role, so, Will gets the cleric.

Don’t know if any of this helps, but feel free to ask any DND questions, I love the game :D

ok can someone pls answer this properly for me . in the show they refer to will as cleric alll the time but ive also seen so much info pointing to will classifying his character as a wizard ? so um . which one is it

[crystalelemental]

The unfortunate thing is that, in spite of Bravely Second being as poor story as its predecessor, I am...kind of enjoying this gameplay quite a bit.

Bravely Default's class system I remember being more annoying to me, and couldn't fully articulate why. I think this game handed me the answer. Apparently your damage scales DOWN if you aren't proficient in the class, making experimentation a nightmare. Go figure.

This game does not do that, resulting in a more streamlined experience, I suppose. Moreover though, I'll have a difficult time continuing to talk about Bravely Default 1 because I legitimately do not remember it. So I'll only talk on this game's merits.

Your introductory set of classes defy convention. It's not the expected Black Mage, White Mage, Knight, whatever fourth. Instead, you get...well, options kinda similar but different a bit.

First up is Wizard. This takes inspiration from Black Mage, but notably integrates the Brave/Default system in a way I like. See, Wizard spells are AoE by default, hitting everything for fairly low damage. However, this is combined with Spellcraft, which lets you customize how the spell operates. Initially, you get Needle and some other type. By using these, you take up a second action, but deal concentrated damage that's...actually pretty huge. At later spellcraft levels, you get access to my personal favorites, Hammer and Mist. Mist applies a persistent spell effect for three turns, while Hammer is just tremendous damage dealt as blunt damage. Hammer dealt 3600 on a crit once. For comparison, a special move from Edea dealt around 1200. It's great damage. The Mist is even more nutty. See, you can combine these effects with general spells as well. So I got the Red Mage class, and can combine Fira with Mist to apply an AoE fire burst every turn. But the real money is in supportive effects. See, I can also use Mist with Cura, to provide a mist that will restore a solid amount of HP every round. I have not tried with Raise, but I assume it works comparably. So this is a great effect, I adore Wizard skills. Admittedly, I currently took their Spellcraft skill and applied it to my Red Mage, in order to build up the BP accumulating skills. I think Wizard is the better base class; two skill slots for Spellcraft is a lot. Worth it, but a lot.

Next up is Charioteer. This is a sort-of offensive class, in that its function is to build weapon proficiency every action in battle, and has early access to a great +20% Phys Atk buff as a skill. In truth, I don't care for it. Charioteer isn't doing anything too interesting. There's a toss weapon skill I haven't used. That might do it. There's also the ability to equip three weapons, taking one on the head part, which is fine but never my style. I value defensive ability too much. So this one's shifted off.

Then you get Fencer, which is a bit more rounded. Fencer works with stances, having Wolf Stance to boost offenses 25%, and aurochs stance for defensive boosting of the same value. There's also Falcon Stance but that's later. By rank 4, Fencer gets the ability to use skills in either stance that shift them to the other. Which should be cool! Unfortunately, when you use Brave, all actions are counted under the current stance, so as far as I can tell you cannot just use both interchangeably to keep pressure going. Sad. Moreover the later phases will give options like immediately starting in Wolf Stance, or letting buffs persist as you stance change. Their big final skill is 4x0.8 damage to random targets, which...look. I just got Swordmaster. Our skills can swing for 3x damage without separating hits. I am not particularly worried. Fencer is interesting, but I feel like the most interesting aspect of it fell short of expectations so it will not be staying.

Lastly there's Bishop, the spin on White Mage. Bishop seems to just...do exactly what White Mage does. I literally cannot tell the difference. The spells are the same, down to the time you get them. I have no strong feelings about them.

The first distinction decision is Thief or Red Mage. I went Red Mage because come on. Thief does stealing stuff, but Red Mage does magic, so obvious decision even outside of the ethical conundrum. Red Mage has a few skills that can restore BP, and my main focus is on "Restore 1BP when you evade." I have a feeling there will be a combo with this.

Like Astrologian! Who I hate. I'm sorry, it's a single-target impermanent buff of like 30%, it's not that good. It can boost evasion by its second tier of spells, which can combo with Red Mage a bit, but there's going to be better I'm sure.

Then there's the decision between Summoner and Swordmaster. I got Swordmaster because come on, I'm not gonna side against Mephilia. This gives skills for follow-up attacks and counters at full damage, which is delightful. I needed a new physical class too, since I didn't care for the first two.

Right now the party is Bishop (Yew), Swordmaster (Edea), Red Mage (Magnolia), and Fencer (Tiz). I haven't encountered anything too difficult, and no game overs yet. We'll see. Chapter 2 is usually a serious increase in challenge with these games. Our next skill should be dealing with this Catmancer assassin, and let me tell you, Catmancer will definitely be on the team.

[goffilolo]

who are your favorite top ten black clover characters and relationships (romantic, platonic)?? talk about them!

Oof, I’m always bad with anything ‘top 10’ related cause I never really categorise characters or ships like that in my head, it’s just whatever strikes my fancy at any given time, based on how funny I find it personally, but let’s give it a go.

10 fave characters and why I like them (in no particular order):

Asta - Not an ounce of book smarts, but he maxed out his people smarts and muscle stats, which is honestly the best possible combo and makes him the ultimate himbo

Liebe - the fact that he presumably developed anti-magic entirely out of spite against lucifero is the single funniest thing in the series. like this bitch had nothing and its precisely because he had fuck all that he could even go into the human world and disrespect lucifero by doing so

Nacht - This bitch went grave robbing and he not only stole his twin brother’s looks, but also morals and I can respect the hustle

Zora - This peasant bitch really went ‘i will teach myself a doctorate in runes and mana theory’ and then did it with sass, love that for him

Noelle - Great character development, my girl went through so much and deserves the world

Finral - Sometimes you just need a pacifist malewife in your life. Also the fuckin Queen of Heart Kingdom aint got a single attack spell and nobody’s saying shit to her

Vanessa - Nothing more cathartic then seeing a character on screen declare to their abusive parent ‘bitch you aint my family’ absolutely iconic, legends only

Nero - My girl really got swindled out of her forbidden romance with a prince by a devil and then fucked him over. nothing but respect for my insomniac queen

Zenon - this guy really went and became a war criminal because he got sad that his crush died at his hands, textbook homo behaviour

Yuno - bit conflicted on that one, cause i dont like what tabata ended up doing with his character, but i do like him at the beginning, and genuinely believe he should’ve been on the same squad as asta

10 ships (in no particular order and based entirely on my preferred dynamic):

Asta x Yuno - just two idiots. yuno’s pining is very obvious to anyone except asta. He probably decided on the whole rivalry thing because he was convinced that asta would never actually be in love with him and needed some way to keep them tied together.

Yami x Nacht - my personal interpretation is that yami was got hitched to morgen when they were like 16 and dumb as all fuck, then morgen died and yami and nacht got married to each other as like an emotional rebound and then nacht fucked off to do his silly little spying in spade. married, but in separation and they got so many issues to work out between them. their current fight against lucifero counts as marriage counseling.

Finral x Vanessa - nothing makes your heart sing like two support mages who have no faith in themselves until some himbo from the countryside comes over and gives them faith in themselves and each other. Finral needs to get over the bullshit with his family and become Vanessa’s malewife and i am willing to fight tabata on it.

Asta x Liebe - as much as the default assumption about them is sibling dynamic due to licita, there is something almost poetic about asta’s entire character being like “if i'm not loved by mana then i can be loved by a devil”, not to mention the ultimate coming together of the two ‘weakest’ individuals from their respective worlds which results in them being the strongest together. also as per silv we count the devil binding bracelets as marriage

Magna x Luck - sometimes you just need two homos fighting it out in the background for the plot to be complete

Julius x Zara - I can’t believe Zora was this close to having the wizard king as his step dad, he was robbed i'm telling you, ROBBED. Purple orcas are not only classist, but also homophobic, more at 6.

Zora x Kirsch - sometimes you just wanna see an upper class bitch be utterly humiliated by some working class fucker and then get a crush about it. What more do you want?

Gauche x Grey - these 2 have great chemistry together, not to mention maybe if Guache learns to develop strong bonds with other people then his parentification induced trauma from living on the streets and looking after his sister will become more manageable. also good opportunity for grey’s development in confidence and acceptance of self

Lucifero x Liebe - an absolute crackship that exists entirely in mine and silv’s DMs, born out of a very specific ‘what if’ crackhead of an AU that I may or may not post on tumblr one day. overall extreme case of enemies to lovers if even that.

Zenon x Allen - sometimes you just gotta pick up a pair of tragic homos that are a direct narrative parallel to our protag and his rival and be like “you know what? they’re pretty neat”

Lol I think that’s everything for now. Again, most of it are crackships and as i'm sure those who follow me for a while are aware i am physically allergic to serious fandom content. My preferred fandom experience is ‘crack’ with occasional ‘crack treated seriously’ to mix things up.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #158

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re making the best blue dog in Chaldea since Cu Chulainn (And also the guy riding him) Avenger of Shinjuku! (If we really want to avoid spoilers, should we be calling them the Rider of Shinjuku?) As always with these servants, it’s hard to go into detail about who they are without spoiling stuff, so keep that in mind before going further.

Check out their build breakdown below the cut, or their character sheet over here!

Next up: Funny amogus reference!

Hessian Lobo are mostly a Shadow Sorcerer to summon a big scary dog and other magical nonsense we need stuffed into this spirit origin, but they also get a couple levels of Fighter, because the endgame levels of Sorcerer are bad, and you do hit things with a sharp stick from time to time.

Race and Background: You’re a Human, but you’re also a ghost that haunts a stretch of road, killing all you come across, so that makes you a Revenant as well. (I will tell you now, a lot of headaches would be solved if you just went with Halfling Revenant instead, but human’s still the most in-character.) This gives you +1 Strength, +1 Charisma, and +1 Constitution, as well as a Relentless Nature. This means you gain 1 HP each round if you’re bloodied, you can’t die permanently, and you always know the direction of your DM assigned goal. Once that goal is complete, you die instantly. Bit of a downside, but tbh D&D games take forever, you’ll barely notice.

In life you were a Soldier, and while that doesn’t fit the background of both members of your party, the Athletics and Intimidation training will come in handy.

Ability Scores: Make sure your Charisma is as high as possible, you are terrifying, and you know it. Strength is a close second, because heads are notoriously difficult to separate. After that is Constitution, not only are ghosts hard to kill, but you’re also invisible half the time, which makes things even harder Your Wisdom isn’t bad- you can tell where people are when it’s time to take heads, but you still don’t really have eyes. You don’t really get off your horse that much, so your Dexterity is pretty low, but we’re dumping Intelligence. One of you is literally brainless, and the other is an animal. You won’t be solving Sudokus any time soon.

Class Levels:

1. Fighter 1: Starting as a fighter nets you plenty of goodies, including extra HP and weapon proficiencies so you can use a real scythe. You also get proficiency with Strength and Constitution saves, as well as Animal Handling to keep the king of Currumpaw under control and Perception. You can see without eyes, that’s pretty skillful.

You also get a Fighting Style, and if you really want to play D&D without a head the Blind Fighting style is a must, giving you blindsense in a 10′ radius around you.

You also get a Second Wind once per short rest as a bonus action which’ll heal you a bit. I guess that’s your oblivion correction.

2. Fighter 2: Second level fighters get an Action Surge, letting you take an extra action in a turn once per short rest. I hope you like it, because this is the only way you’ll be able to attack twice per turn for ages.

3. Sorcerer 1: While I wouldn’t call you a wizard, you do some wacky tricks that you can only really do in D&D with magic. Since these come from your being dead/unethical spirit origin mad science, I’d say a Shadow sorcerer is the closest thing in the rules books.

First level shadow sorcerers get Eyes of the Dark, giving you 120 feet of darkvision, which is really impressive for someone without eyes. You also get the Strength of the Grave, letting you make a Charisma save when you drop to 0 HP once per long rest. If you succeed, you drop to 1 HP instead. This doesn’t work on radiant damage or critical hits, but all that makes you more ghostly, so that’s probably fine.

You also get Spells that you can cast using your Charisma. Friends will help you work with your slobbery partner more easily, while True Strike and Sword Burst add a bit of flair to your weapon attacks. You also get the cantrip Mind Sliver to track down your prey.

For first level spells, Mage Armor will help out with riding around in a suit, and Expeditious Retreat makes you a bit harder to escape from. Both these spells can also be pretty useful for Lobo once he shows up.

4. Sorcerer 2: Second level sorcerers are a Font of Magic, which lets you turn spell slots into Sorcery Points and vice versa. You can only have a number of sorcery points equal to your sorcerer level at most, and they refill on long rests.

You also learn the Jump spell to help the King of Currumpaw get around the crowded streets of Shinjuku.

5. Sorcerer 3: At third level you get two Metamagic options to alter your spells. Subtle Spell lets you cast magic without somatic or verbal components- very useful when you don’t have a mouth. Twinned Spell will let you cast spells on two targets instead of one, which is great for making both you and your ride invisible.

Enlarge/Reduce might not seem that useful, but trust me you’ll love it in a bit.

6. Sorcerer 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump your Strength up a bit for stronger melee attacks.

The cantrip Message will help you get around that whole “no mouth” thing to talk to your party members, and your first bit of Invisibility will make sneaking up on your target a breeze.

7. Sorcerer 5: Fifth level sorcerers get Magical Guidance, using your sorcery points to re-roll failed ability checks. I’m not saying the Hessian is magically glued to his saddle or anything, but you never see him fall off, do you?

You also get third level spells, like Hold Person, which makes taking peoples’ heads off so much easier.

8. Sorcerer 6: As a sixth level sorcerer, you finally get your Hound of Ill Omen. Using three sorcery points, you can summon a hound as a bonus action, targeting a creature within 120 feet of you. It’s mostly a Dire Wolf, with a few changes:

It’s medium, not large, and a monstrosity, not a beast.

It gets temporary HP equal to half your sorcerer level.

It can move through solid objects as if it was difficult terrain, taking 5 force damage if it ends a turn in something.

The hound automatically knows the location of the target at the start of each turn.

On top of all that, it can only move towards the target, and can only use its action to attack the target. Also, the target gets disadvantage on saves against your spell while within melee range of the hound. The hound disappears after it or the target hits 0 HP, or after 5 minutes.

The big problem here is the size; you’ll either have to use Enlarge/Reduce to ride it, or just Be a Halfling.

Either way, you can also use Haste to double a creature’s movement speed, give them an extra action each turn, and boost their AC and dexterity saves. The creature also has to take a turn to rest after the spell ends, but that’s probably fine.

9. Sorcerer 7: Seventh level sorcerers get fourth level spells, like Dominate Beast. I know I just said Lobo technically isn’t a beast, but it’s the thought that counts.

10. Sorcerer 8: Now that you have a mount, we can get Mounted Combatant, giving you advantage on attacks against creatures smaller than your mount, and they get evasion. You can also force attacks that hit them to you instead. Don’t do that though, you’re a sorcerer, and Lobo can be rebuilt on a bonus action.

You can also Charm Monster this level, which comes with the added benefit of actually working on your wolf.

11. Sorcerer 9: Ninth level sorcerers get fourth level spells, like Greater Invisibility, which lets one target become invisible for the duration regardless of how many heads they take off.

12. Sorcerer 10: Tenth level sorcerers get another Metamagic option, like Extended Spell. A lot of your spells are buffs, and it would be awkward for that invisibility to drop when you’re halfway through a hunt.

You also learn Minor Illusion, because I couldn’t really come up with a sixth cantrip to give you but now you can make your cape look cooler, and Hold Monster. Just ask Sanson, a disappointingly small number of the things you fight are actually human.

13. Sorcerer 11: For your fifth level spell, Tasha’s Otherworldly Guise both makes you scarier and makes you a stronger fighter, making you immune to Fire and Poison damage as well as the poisoned condition. You also get +2 to your AC, gain a flying speed, and you can attack with your weapon twice per action, using your charisma instead of strength, and it counts as magical damage.

14. Sorcerer 12: Speaking of, let’s bump your Charisma up a bit for stronger Strength of the Grave saves and better magic.

15. Sorcerer 13: Lobo is now so fast you can Teleport as an action, moving you and up to eight willing creatures to a destination on your plane of existence. There’s a slight chance for failure that goes up the less familiar you are with the destination, but that’s probably fine.

16. Sorcerer 14: At fourteenth level, shadow sorcerers can Shadow Walk, letting you teleport between areas of dim light or darkness within 120 feet of each other as a bonus action.

17. Sorcerer 15: Your seventh level spell, Dominate Monster, finally lets you put Lobo fully under your control. He might not like it, but he’s only alive for five minutes at a time anyway.

18. Sorcerer 16: Use your last ASI to max out your Charisma for the toughest saves, strongest spells, and strongest attacks while using your Otherworldly Guise.

19. Sorcerer 17: Speaking of strong spells, you can now use your Blade of Disaster to cause disaster for anyone banking on an intact neck. You can create a magical blade that deals two attacks per bonus action, dealing 4d12 force damage on an attack. On a critical hit, the damage is tripled instead of doubled, and it crits on 18s or higher. Also, it can pass through anything, including a Wall of Force.

To make that even scarier, you can cast it as an Empowered Spell, letting you reroll up to five damage dice each attack.

20. Sorcerer 18: Your capstone level gives you an Umbral Form, letting you use a bonus action to become a shadow that can move through physical objects and has resistance on all damage besides force and radiant for a minute. You take 5 force damage if you end a turn inside an object.

This is especially useful given the fact that you have a ride that can only go forward, and already moves through objects itself.

Pros:

Once you lock onto a target, it’s really hard to shake you. With a hasted dire wolf, you can go 100 feet per round, you’ll always take the shortest route possible, and they literally can’t hide from you.

Two levels of fighter on any sort of caster is very useful, thanks to your action surge giving you an even better version of Quickened Casting.

Mounted Combatant is a nice enough feat, but it doesn’t do too much to help out here since a lot of your spells aren’t really attacks. That is until you realize Blade of Disaster makes melee attacks, and Mounted Combatant doesn’t specify it only works on weapon attacks. This means you can make all those attacks with advantage, further increasing your odds of getting enormous crits with each swing.

Cons:

The reason that great combo above doesn’t quite work is simple, though: You need your concentration focused on keeping your mount around at all, since without Enlarge/Reduce you’re stuck with a medium sized wolf. That also means you can’t haste the wolf and ride it. Or turn it invisible. Or even charm it.

The biggest problem here is Flavor. You can either do all the cool things Hessian Lobo does, or you can ride the wolf. These are mutually exclusive, unless you A) are a halfling, B) have a cool DM, or C) just invest in a horse.

Despite being a frontline fighter, all those levels of sorcerer make you incredibly Squishy. With a low AC and low HP, you’ll have a hard time sticking around without your invisibility. Normally this would be made up for thanks to your mount keeping you out of trouble, but your wolf only knows how to run even further into danger.

[raeynbowboi]

How to Play as Princess Zelda in DnD 5e (Version 2.0)

I’ve made a build of Princess Zelda before, but I’ve improved as a player and DM since last, and I’m eager to give this a second chance. I’ve also decided that since Zelda and Shiek are separate characters in Smash, this rebuild of Zelda is omitting Shiek from her build. Frankly, Shiek should have been omitted last time too, which is why I’m retooling Zelda’s build. So, let’s delve back into the powers and abilities of Princess Zelda and see if we can’t build her better than before.

For Race, Zelda is a Hylian, which seem perfect as High Elves. You get +2 Dex and +1 INT. However, the Eladrin Elf gets something very useful. The automatic ability to Fey Step. Considering you only get 1 teleportation spell until you unlock 5th level spells, this is a very useful racial feature for increasing your teleportation ability. So, you can choose either the Eladrin Elf for the built in Fey Step, or you can choose High Elf for more useful stats.

For alignment, Zelda is the embodiment of lawfulness in Hyrule, and the Triforce of Wisdom gives her the decision-making knowledge to rule wisely and justly. So, she’ll work nicely as Lawful Good.

For a Background, the top contenders are either Noble if you want proficiency in History and Persuasion, or an Acolyte for proficiency in Insight and Religion. 

Gifts of the Goddesses

In Super Smash Bros., Zelda’s moveset is comprised of gifts from the three goddesses of Hyrule: Din, Nayru, and Farore. Din’s Fire creates a small sphere of fire that builds up and deals damage on a hit. Nayru’s Love creates a jewel-shaped shield around Zelda that not only protects her from harm, but can also reflect projectile attacks back, and harms opponents that get too close. Finally, Farore’s Wind lets her teleport. If an opponent is standing where she lands, she deals damage to that opponent. 

Din’s Fire (Fire Damage)

   Create Bonfire (Artificer, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard)    Firebolt (Artificer, Sorcerer, Wizard)    Sacred Flame (Cleric, Paladin)    Burning Hands (Sorcerer, Wizard, Light Cleric, Fiend Warlock)    Aganazzar’s Scorcher (Sorcerer, Wizard)    Flaming Sphere (Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard, Alchemist Artificer, Light Cleric, Clestial Warlock)    Scorching Ray (Sorcerer, Wizard, Light Cleric, Wildfire Druid, Fiend Warlock, Artillerist Artificer)    Fireball (Sorcerer, Wizard, Light Cleric, Wildfire Druid, Fiend Warlock, Artillerist Artificer)    Flame Strike (Cleric, Wildfire Druid, Paladin, Celestial Warlock, Fiend Warlock)    Immolation (Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard)    Investiture of Flame (Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard)    Delayed Blast Fireball (Sorcerer, Wizard)    Firestorm (Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer)    Incendiary Cloud (Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard)

Nayru’s Love (Warding)

  Mage Armor (Sorcerer, Wizard, Warlock: Armor of Shadows)   Shield (Sorcerer, Wizard, Artillerist Artificer, Battle Smith Artificer, Hexblade Warlock)   Shield of Faith (Cleric, Paladin)   Warding Bond (Cleric, Paladin, Ranger, Battle Smith Artificer)   Protection from Energy (Artificer, Cleric, Druid, Ranger, Sorcerer, Wizard, Ancients Paladin,  Heroism Paladin, Vengeance Paladin, Noble Genie Warlock)   Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere (Wizard)   Wall of Force (Wizard, Artillerist Artificer, Redemption Paladin)   Globe of Invulnerability (Sorcerer, Wizard)   Investiture of Wind (Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard)   Invulnerability (Wizard)

Farore’s Wind (Teleportation)

  Fey Step (Elf Racial Feat, Eladrin Elf Feature)   Misty Step (Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard, Coast Land Druid, Ancients Paladin, Vengeance Paladin)   Far Step (Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard)   Teleportation Circle (Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard, Arcana Cleric)   Arcane Gate (Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard)   Word of Recall (Cleric)   Teleport (Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard)   Gate (Cleric, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard)

Phantom Knight (Summoning)

   Guardian of Faith (Cleric, Crown Paladin, Devotion Paladin, Celestial Warlock)

Smash Ultimate (Banishment)

  Banishment (Cleric, Paladin, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard)

Triforce of Wisdom

The Triforce imparted by the goddess Nayru carries with it unique abilities including the power to heal, telepathic communication, magical disguises, and protects the bearer from certain conditions. The Triforce also makes whoever holds it wise, better at making decisions, and possibly gives them the divine right to rule Hyrule.

The Right to Rule (Control)

   Command (Bard, Cleric, Paladin, Fiend Warlock)    Hold Person (Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard, Conquest Paladin, Redemption Paladin, Vengeance Paladin)    Zone of Truth (Bard, Cleric, Paladin)    Hold Monster (Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard, War Cleric, Redemption Paladin, Watchers Paladin)    Forbiddance (Cleric)

Wit Beyond Measure (Foreknowledge)

   Detect Evil and Good (Cleric, Paladin)    Detect Magic (Artificer, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Sorcerer, Wizard, Warlock: Eldritch Sight)    Identify (Artificer, Bard, Wizard, Knowledge Cleric, Forge Cleric)    Detect Thoughts (Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard, Great Old One Warlock)    Locate Animals and Plants (Bard, Druid, Ranger)    Locate Object (Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Wizard)    See Invisible (Artificer, Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard)    Locate Creature (Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Wizard)    Commune (Cleric, Devotion Paladin, Heroism Paladin)    Legend Lore (Bard, Cleric, Wizard, Undying Warlock)    Contingency (Wizard)    True Seeing (Bard, Cleric, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard)    Foresight (Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard)

Sheik and Tetra (Deception)

   Disguise Self (Artificer, Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard, Trickery Cleric, Warlock: Mask of Many Faces)

Mercy of the Gods (Healing)

   Spare the Dying (Artificer, Cleric)    Cure Wounds (Artificer, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Celestial Warlock)    Healing Word (Bard, Cleric, Druid, Alchemist Artificer)    Prayer of Healing (Cleric)    Aura of Vitality (Cleric, Druid, Paladin)    Life Transference (Cleric, Warlock, Wizard)    Mass Healing Word (Bard, Cleric, Alchemist Artificer)    Revivify (Artificer, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Celestial Warlock)    Aura of Life (Cleric, Paladin)    Greater Restoration (Artificer, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Ranger, Celestial Warlock)    Mass Cure Wounds (Bard, Cleric, Druid, Battle Smith Artificer)    Reincarnate (Druid)    Heal (Cleric, Druid)    Resurrection (Bard, Cleric)    Mass Heal (Cleric)    Power Word Heal (Bard, Cleric, Druid)    True Resurrection (Cleric, Druid)

Mind over Matter (Communication)

   Telepathic (feat)    Message (Artificer, Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard)    Sending (Bard, Cleric, Wizard, Great Old One Warlock)    Rary’s Telepathic Bond (Bard, Wizard)    Telepathy (Wizard)

Class

Theurgy Wizard

After evaluating the spell list, with only the Druid exclusive outlier of Reincarnation, every other spell easily falls into either the Cleric or Wizard spell list, meaning that the best option for Zelda’s class is actually a Theurgy Wizard. Last time, I chose the Divine Soul Sorcerer because the Theurgy Wizard never got past the UA stage and isn’t official. However, upon reexamination, I’ve decided that I don’t care. Theurgy Wizard is the best subclass you can choose for Princess Zelda. Sure, you’re still not casting with Wisdom, but now you’re casting with Intelligence, which is much closer than Charisma, and is still a mental stat.

Stats and Proficiencies

In order to be a powerful castor, we’ll want a maxed out Intelligence stat. As a squishy Wizard, our Theurgy will save us somewhat by giving us healing spells, but we still want a maxed out Constitution because dying isn’t very fun. While it might not be maxed out because we don’t need it for casting, we can still put some points into Wisdom for character authenticity, since Zelda is the Wise Queen archetype. Dexterity is helpful in improving our AC, but Shiek is more flexible than Zelda, and Zelda is only that flexible in Ocarina of Time. No other version of her is that trained in ninja tricks. Charisma will make us better at appealing to people, but doesn’t need to be that high, while Strength is utterly unnecessary and can be dumped.

Name: Princess Zelda Race: High Elf Background: Noble Alignment: Lawful Good Class: Light Domain Theurgy Wizard (20) Base Stats: Strength: 8 (-1) Dexterity: 14 (+2) Constitution: 20 (+5) Intelligence: 20 (+5) Wisdom: 14 (+2) Charisma: 10 (0) Saving Throws: Strength: -1 Dexterity: +2 Constitution: +5 Intelligence: +11 Wisdom: +8 Charisma: 0 Combat Stats: HP: 180 AC: 12 Speed: 30 Initiative: +2 Proficiency Bonus: +6 Passive Perception: 18 Dark Vision: 0 feet Proficiencies and Expertise:   Insight   History   Perception   Persuasion   Religion Skills: Acrobatics: +2                Medicine: +2 Animal Handling: +2       Nature: +5 Arcana: +5                      Perception: +8 Athletics: -1                     Performance: 0 Deception: 0                   Persuasion: +6 History: +11                    Religion: +11 Insight: +8                      Sleight of Hand: +2 Intimidation: 0                Stealth: +2 Investigation: +5            Survival: +2

Spell Slots

1st (4) 2nd (3) 3rd (3) 4th (3) 5th (3) 6th (2) 7th (2) 8th (1) 9th (1)

Zelda’s Spellbook

C Fire Bolt, Light, Message, Sacred Flame, Spare the Dying, Word of Radiance 1 Burning Hands, Command, Cure Wounds, Detect Magic, Disguise Self, Faerie Fire, Guiding Bolt, Identify, Shield 2 Aganazzar’s Scorcher, Flaming Sphere, Hold Person, Misty Step, Scorching Ray 3 Aura of Vitality, Beacon of Hope, Daylight, Fireball, Protection from Energy, Revivify, Spirit Shroud 4 Aura of Life, Banishment, Divination, Guardian of Faith, Resilient Sphere, Wall of Fire 5 Commune, Dawn, Far Step, Flame Strike, Legend Lore, Mass Cure Wounds, Wall of Light 6 Contingency, Globe of Invulnerability, Heal, Sunbeam, True Seeing 7 Resurrection, Teleport 8 Holy Aura, Sunburst 9 Invulnerability

Actions:

Arcane Recovery. Recover up to 10 level 5 or lower spell slots on a short rest.

Features:

Arcane Acolyte. Gain access to 1st level domain features.    Warding Flare. Impose disadvantage on attacking creatures by WIS mod. Arcane Initiate. You can replace Wizard spells with Cleric spells. Arcane High Priest. Gain access to 17th level domain features.    Corona of Light. When you emit a bright light, enemies roll throws at disadvantage against Fire and Radiant spells. Arcane Priest. Gain access to 6th level domain features.    Improved Flare. Use Warding Flare for another creature within 30 feet of you. Channel Arcana. Select one of the following to envoke    Divine Arcana. Your next spell gets +2 on any attack roll or DC.    Radiance of the Dawn. Dispel magical darkness and deal radiant damage. Divine Inspiration. Choose a Cleric Domain to study   Light Domain Fey Ancestry. Resist charms and immune to magical sleep. Position of Privilege. You are welcome in high society, commoners go out of their way to make your comfortable, and you can get an audience with nobles. Signature Spells. Cast Fireball and Aura of Vitality once per rest without slots. Spell Mastery. Cast Cure Wounds and Misty Step without using spell slots.

Since this is my second time building Zelda, I hope it’s an improvement over the original. It’s still disappointing that she can’t cast with Wisdom, but it simply decimates her spell list to deny Zelda the ability to cast Wizard spells. Hopefully, the ability to cast with Intelligence is at least closer to her Triforce of Wisdom than the original build, which had her casting with Charisma.

[blackcloverdatabase]

English Translation of Novel 1: Chapter 3 – Your Dream Will Come True (Part 1 of 2)

With novels 2 and 3 finished, I can finally move on to translating the two chapters from novel 1 that were never animated. This one features Yami and Magna teaching at a magic academy at the border of the Common Realm. Fuegoleon also makes an appearance in this chapter (finally!).

Also, I’m saying this in advance so that you all aren’t as confused as I was when I was reading this, but, in this chapter, Magna is purposefully talking differently than how he usually talks. In the Japanese version, he’s slurring virtually every syllable, like a parody of antiquated delinquent speak. I wasn’t really sure how to convey that in English since there’s only so much slurring you can do, so please make do with the occasional slurred words and tepidly gangsta phrases I had him say in an attempt to mimic that.

--- Your Dream Will Come True (Part 1) ---

The Noble and Common Realms are dotted with educational institutions known as magic academies. They are primarily targeted toward young boys and girls who haven’t yet received their grimoires, offering a variety of information related to magic and the chance to hone one’s skills.

However, not all schools are created equal. Schools situated in the Noble Realm have all the equipment and staff they could want, but the further a school is from the Noble Realm, the more likely that it does not have the resources it needs. This may sound ruthless, but in this world where magic rules all, this was simply a fact of life. Schools near the Noble Realm got what they needed, and schools that were not had to improvise. That was the rationale used to maintain this nation’s schools.  

“Uhh, b-before class starts today, there is something I must tell you all.”

This particular school was situated in the town of Ryakke, a town at the northernmost tip of the Common Realm. If one moved just one more degree north, they would find themselves in the Forsaken Realm. The town could almost be considered the boundary between the Common and Forbidden Realms, but, even so, it had a magic academy. Based on the rationale described earlier, this school would be the last to get what it needs, however……

“…….That is, a Magic Knight will be coming today as a guest lecturer.”

“!!”

Currently, the students were in homeroom for the morning. Their homeroom teacher was a young man named Harris. Hearing such great news so suddenly, the classroom erupted with chatter. It was quite rare that anyone would bother to come lecture at a magic academy as far away as this. The fact that this guest lecturer was a Magic Knight, a member of such a heroic troop, was icing on the cake.

The Magic Knights are an army of mages under the direct control of the Wizard King. They are an autonomous organization within Clover Kingdom, the kingdom’s cornerstone of defense, and the heroes whom the nation’s citizens both honor and envy. They were an elevated existence that the students could never hope to reach.

“Wow! Do you think it’s the leader of the Golden Dawn, Captain William Vangeance!?”

“No way! There’s no way somebody as awesome as him would come to a place like this!”

“But if Elude says it, then maybe it’s true!”

One child who could be considered the leader of the class, Elude, and two of his followers spoke up. This caused the others in the classroom to follow suit.

“What’ll I do if it’s the Captain of the Silver Eagles, Nozel-sama!”

“I know, right!? I’ve heard that he’s super hot!”

“If we’re gonna have a captain come teach us, then I want it to be the Captain of the Blue Roses - Captain Charlotte!”

“No way! Captain Fuegoleon of the Crimson Lions would be the best!”

Even though they lived in a remote area, they heard plenty of rumors about the more famous Magic Knights. Students at the tender ages of twelve and thirteen shared the names of the knights they admired, making the classroom quite boisterous.

“……Now then, please come in.”

In all that commotion, Harris slightly raised his voice and called out to someone outside the classroom. Why was he avoiding their questions? For the moment, the students ignored such doubts and focused their eyes and hopes towards the classroom entrance.

BAM!!

The wooden door to the classroom was kicked open as a young man with slicked back silver and black hair waltzed in.

“Yo!”

The man walked with an exaggerated swagger as he headed toward the front of the blackboard. His fierce-looking sunglasses glinted with a spark before,

SLAM!!

he slammed his hand against the podium.

“I’m your guest lecturer, Magna Swing! I’ll be working ya punks to the bone today, so pleased to meet ya!!”

“………..”

��…….This dude’s crazy!’ The whole class was petrified by him for a few moments, but once they came to, this is what they all thought. Harris told them that a Magic Knight would be coming, but the person before them was…….

“Hey!! Ya punks have some nerve ignoring me!!”

…….A delinquent. Moreover, he was a delinquent of the antiquated variety.

‘What the heck is going on here…….?’

“Magna. Don’t go yellin’ at them so suddenly. You’re always overdoin’ everything.”

As the class became more and more confused, they heard another voice come from the entrance to the classroom.

“Plus, when you act like that, that makes me look nuts, too.”

“Yessir! Gotchu, boss!!”

A man steeped down to enter through the classroom door as Magna greeted him with a deep bow. The expressions of every student in the classroom froze once more when they saw him. This man looked dangerous in all sorts of ways. He was at least 180 cm tall, his body was overflowing with muscles, and his neck was impossibly thick. Right above all that was the face of a killer. If the young man who walked in earlier was a delinquent, then this man was one of the dons of the underworld who leads young thugs like that. That was the kind of atmosphere this giant of a man had. Faced with such a man, all the students could only stare at their knees silently as a cold sweat dripped down their faces.

“Sheesh. Think about how you’re goin’ to trouble others before you act. I’m a Virgo*, you know?”

Without a care for how this will trouble the others in the room, Yami lit a cigarette and stood at the podium with such an intimidating air that it would make any young girl runaway in tears. Even though they lived in a remote area, they heard plenty of rumors about the more famous Magic Knights. They mostly heard about Magic Knights with a brilliant track record, such as the ones they mentioned earlier. However, naturally, they heard negative rumors, too. The majority of those negative rumors centered around one squad. The name of that squad was……

“Hey. I’m the Captain of the Black Bulls, Yami Sukehiro.”

Yes, that very squad. The image the students had of the Magic Knights was about to change completely.

Yami Sukehiro and Magna Swing. Amongst all the Magic Knights – no, even amongst the Black Bulls – those two were famous for having murderous-looking faces, so why were they here as guest lecturers? The reason can be gleaned by going back to a conversation that occurred just a few hours ago.

 “……You want us to teach at some magic academy in the Common Realm for a day?”

After Yami gave Asta, Noelle, and Luck their dungeon capturing mission, a certain visitor suddenly dropped by the hideout. Yami sat on a couch in the base’s common area as he dealt with that visitor.

“Yes. The Wizard King ordered Leo and I directly.”

That visitor was the Captain of the Crimson Lions, Fuegoleon Vermillion. Fuegoleon brought liquor and confectionaries as souvenirs and sat on a sofa across from Yami as they talked.

“Woah. That’s great. So you’re switchin’ jobs, huh? Switchin’ from bein’ a super zealous king of seriousness to a super zealous teacher of seriousness? Sounds good. Suits your character, too. It’s actually scary how well that suits you. You should get one of those jerseys P.E. teachers wear.”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say about me, but……. Anyway, it’s a great chance to interact with the innocent children of this country. I was looking forward to it, but……”

In contrast to Yami, who was in a great mood thanks to the liquor Fuegoleon brought, Fuegoleon himself looked sullen.

“Today, I was given a different, more urgent mission. Both Leo and I must go.”

Then, he began smiling triumphantly as he continued,

“So rejoice, Yami! The Wizard King has decided that you and one of your squad members will go in my and Leo’s place! Please go right now!”

In a move rather uncharacteristic of him, Yami spat out his drink.

“What are you sayin’!? That doesn’t make me happy at all!”

“Why not!? This is a valuable opportunity to set an example for the young three leaf clovers that will carry the future of this country! I would love to postpone today’s mission to go, but since I cannot, I decided to tearfully pass on that duty to you!”

“Thanks, but no thanks! I can’t believe you’d grant me such an unwelcome favor all smiley like that! That pisses me off!”  

The fact this super zealous king of seriousness can drop such a task on him in pure, heartfelt sincerity and not out of spite was one of the things Yami dreaded most about him.

“Actually, aren’t you pickin’ the wrong guy for this? These kids are gonna be taught by the worst squad in the Magic Knights, you know?”

“There are no other Captains who are free at the moment.”

“But this mission’s just to serve as a guest lecturer, so is it really necessary to send a Captain-class knight?”

“The higher one stands, the further one is separated from the point of view of the masses. I believe that it is our duty as Captains to throw ourselves into their daily lives and hear their voices.”

Yami thought that, if a guy like this was at the top of the Magic Knights, it would surely be really easy for him to motivate the other knights. However, he would rather be spared of this guy’s fiery spark spreading to other squads.

“……Truthfully, there is another reason why a Captain-class must do this.”

“…………?”

The details that followed certainly made it difficult for Yami to refuse.

“……Well, if that’s how it is, then I guess you would need a Captain-class to do this.”

“That’s right. So, are you interested in taking on this mission?”

“……Well, this was ordered by the Wizard King, so I can’t exactly refuse.”

‘Since it’s him we’re talking about, he probably ordered this while imagining how this conversation between me and Fuegoleon was gonna go with a huge grin on his face. That pisses me off.’

“Don’t look so malcontent! After all, even if all the other captains were available, I still would have recommended you for the job!”

“Hearing that just makes me even more unhappy.”

He snidely replied, but Fuegoleon was undaunted.

“I’ve always felt that you had a knack for teaching! Although you’re complaining right now, I sincerely believe that you will succeed!”

 And so, our story returns to the classroom.

“……U-um, Yami…….. sensei?”

In this classroom dominated by silence, Harris-sensei spoke up with fear in his voice.

“Hm?”

He spoke up because, after Yami introduced himself, he wrote “Study Hall” on the blackboard and then flumped onto the teacher’s chair. Magna stood beside him resting a bat of flames he pulled out of nowhere, his Grand Slam, against his shoulder. It was as if he was trying to assert his dominance over the rest of the class. They truly did look like a gangster boss and his young subordinate.

“Um…… will you be starting class soon?”

With that, Yami turned his head toward the blackboard before giving Harris a frightening look.

“…….Study hall is a valid class, isn’t it?”

“Well, yes, but……. Since we have a Magic Knight Captain here, that’s such a special occasion, so we were hoping to hear all sorts of interesting things from you……”

“Huuh!? You bastard! You sayin’ you have a problem with how Yami-san’s runnin’ this class!?”

“EEEK!?”

Magna struck the floor with his bat, causing Harris to reflexively raise his hands to protect his face.

“Listen up, punk! If Yami says it’s white, then it’s white, even if it’s black! If Yami tells ya to eat somethin’, ya eat it like it’s the best damn thing you’ve ever tasted, even if it’s an Amazonian Dung Beetle! Startin’ today, these are the rules of this classroom, capisce!?”

“Like I said, its because you yell so stupidly loud that you make me look scary, too. How do you plan on payin’ up for this, huh? And wait, you’ve eaten a dung beetle? Seriously?”

Yami grabbed Magna’s head and easily lifted him off the ground with one hand. There were many things that the students, particularly Elude, wanted to say, but, at the very least, they knew that normal people don’t threaten to extort money from others like that.  

“Your name was Harris-sensei, right?”

Yami threw Magna into a corner of the classroom and gave Harris a piercing, murderous glare.

“Huh!? Um, yes! I’m sorry! I’ll do anything, so please spare me……!”

‘Oh no, he’s going to break Harris-sensei’s head next!’ the students thought. Internally, they all prayed for his soul.

“I guess you’re right. My bad. This is the first time I’ve ever taught a classroom, so I don’t really get what I’m supposed to be doin’. I see. Let’s try this, then.”

Shockingly, Yami listened to Harris’s request without objection and made Magna erase the words “Study Hall” from the blackboard.

“So, anyone got any questions for me?”

He reclined against his chair once more, but, this time, he looked as if he was actually interested in teaching them, making the other students exchange glances with each other.

‘Well, just because he has a rough looking face, that doesn’t make him a bad person. He hasn’t threatened any of us. He has only been strict toward Magna, but maybe that was just to protect Harris-sensei. He’s definitely dangerous, but maybe he’s nice on the inside,’ Elude thought.

Everyone else thought so, too. As the leader of the class, Elude quietly raised his hand and asked,

“……U-umm, what do Magic Knights usually do?”

In response, Yami smiled gently and said,

“…….Hm. Good question. Well, we beat up bad guys, beat up more bad guys, then beat up more bad guys………. Yeah. That’s pretty much what we do.”

……Even though he was motivated enough to start class, he wasn’t motivated enough to do much more than that.  

“Excuse me! What was the most difficult mission you’ve ever been on!?”

“…….Could you teach us magic?”

“You’ve met the Wizard King, right!? What kind of person is he!?”

He may not have been very motivated, but the fact he was willing to answer their questions was more than enough for them to all raise their hands and start asking. After all, it was rare for a Magic Knight to come all the way here. Even if it’s the Captain of the infamous Black Bulls and some young upstart, that wasn’t enough to damper the students’ curiosity.

Yami watched the whole spectacle with a smile. It wasn’t obvious when he was disciplining Magna earlier, but maybe he actually really likes kids…….

“Ha ha! This is more of a pain in the ass than I thought! Magna, switch places with me.”

……Or maybe he doesn’t.

“Yessir! I gotchu!”

‘I can hardly understand what this guy’s saying!?’ the students thought. For the second time that day, the atmosphere in the classroom froze over. Yami was dangerous, but he at least listened to them. Magna was a dangerous person who didn’t make a lick of sense when he talked. All the excitement the students felt just moments ago evaporated in an instant.

“……Also, you can talk normally now. I’ve more or less figured it out.”

“Huh, really?”

“Yeah, pretty sure, anyway.”

“…….Got it.”

After talking with Yami, Magna’s face relaxed, looking much less dangerous than before.

“Sorry about that everyone! The truth is that I just came back from a mission that made enemies and allies alike a bloody mess, so I was a bit on edge there!”

‘Hearing that doesn’t make us any less scared of you!’ Elude thought to himself. That said, Magna had an unexpectedly charming smile on his face as he stood at the podium.

“So, what was it that you wanted to know? Our most dangerous mission so far? Let me think. I don’t know if it was the most dangerous, but for that bloody mission I mentioned earlier, I brought two newbies with me to the village of Saussy!”

‘…….Huh?’

From that point onward, Magna forthrightly answered each and every question the students asked. Faced with such a sudden change, though the students were frightened of him at first, they slowly but surely began to smile. There were a few students who were creeped out by the sudden change, but….

“Wait, Magna. Your personality right now compared to how you were when you came here is way too different. It’s creepy. Talk about scary. Are you mentally unstable?”

“How mean! You’re the one who told me to do that!”

“Hm? Do you have a problem with me?”

“No, we cool! It was my bad! I goofed!”

“….Magna-sensei, what are you saying?”

“Isn’t that obvious!? ‘No problem at all! Thank you for the feedback’ – of course! ”

“A ha ha, he’s a stereotypical delinquent, alright!”

As he interacted with the kids, the tension that once filled the classroom gradually eased. The dangerous atmosphere that surrounded Yami and Magna also disappeared. The students couldn’t help but wonder why the two were giving off such “We’re gonna sell you on the black market” vibes earlier. Such questions were buried under the fun conversations they were having right now, and first period ended before anyone realized it.

……Well, except for one.

It was now time for second period.

“Huff……. Hah…… haah…… huff……”

After establishing a bond with the rest of the classroom, the class went out to the school grounds behind the school at Yami’s suggestion.  

“……Wait…… are you kidding me? ……..This is impossible!”

The students were all dressed in sportswear……

“Hey, kid who just said this was impossible. Five more laps for you.”

…..And they were all being forced to run.

“What’s with this? What are you trying to do with us!?”

“I’ve never heard of having to run a marathon for class at a magic academy!”

Once Elude and his entourage spoke up, complaints started flying from the rest of the class. However, it was too scary to stand before Yami and voice their complaints to his face, so they opted to complain as they ran. In response, Yami looked at the students with dead looking eyes, and said,

“Didn’t one of you ask me to teach you some magic?  If you do this long enough, you’ll sort of feel like you learned somethin’. Like you were training or somethin’.”

“No! Magic! We were talking about magic! We never said a word about physical training!”

“Shut up. Don’t you know that a healthy spirit resides in…… yeah….. it resides in a healthy body.”

“All this is doing is making me dizzy!”

“Yami-sensei, please stop this! At this rate, the students are going to collapse!”

Reaching the end of his patience, Harris clung to Yami with tears in his eyes.

“You were running such a fun class just moments ago, so why are you doing this all of a sudden!?”

“I had to get them all to trust me first before getting them to do what I wanted. You should take notes.”

“That’s not how you run a classroom! That’s how you convince somebody to commit a crime! Please don’t abuse my students like that!”

“But look, there are some kids who are totally into this. Take that blonde girl with the glasses, for example.”

With cigarette in hand, he pointed to a young girl who was running at a steady pace. If he remembered correctly, she was the one who asked him to teach them magic. He couldn’t really remember, but it was probably her.

“Ah, that’s Allison. She’s the top student in this class…… no, in this school.”

Harris also watched Allison, sounding a little proud as he spoke,

“She only just recently entered this academy, but she always earns the highest grades in the class, and she’s also very skilled at handling her magic. She’s a little uncooperative, which is a shame, but she’s an excellent student.”

“……Is that so?”

‘……If she’s such a great student, why did she enroll in a Magic Academy all the way out here in the sticks?’

“Anyway, please stop this! The students really will collapse if this goes on!”

“Huh!? Ya bastard! You really like questioning the way the boss does things, don’t ya!?”

“Eeek!!”

‘Harris-sensei is such a wimp,’ the students thought at they watched Harris squat down, shielding his head with his face between his knees in response to Magna’s threats. In the meantime, Yami looked like he was deep in thought.

“Well, you have a point. It would be troublesome if they collapsed……. After all, the fun part starts now.”

Yami said ominously before signaling the students to stop.

“Understood. Then, let’s start a little game. All of you go and form pairs with somebody you get along with.”

He said as he pointed at them. They all did as they were told and formed pairs while they caught their breaths. After confirming that they all formed pairs, Yami breathed a puff of smoke before telling them,

“Alright. Now, fight each other to the death.”

“HUUUH!?”

Elude and the other students exclaimed. They all knew something bad was coming, but they weren’t expecting a death game.

“……Don’t “Huh!?” me…….. What, you don’t want to have a death match?”  

“Of course we don’t! Why would you ever think we wanted to!?”

“Well, you were all saying you didn’t want to run anymore, so……”

“So you thought we’d rather kill each other!? How emotionally unstable are you!?”

“Huh!? Yami-san goes out of his way to heed your concerns and this is how you repay him, ya ungrateful brats!?”

‘That delinquent is so annoying!!’

The students were starting to get angry, but Yami said as if to calm them down,

“I mean, I said death match, but obviously I didn’t actually mean that you should kill each other. That would be bad.”

The students wanted to scream “Well obviously!”

“However, you should go at it seriously, as if it were a death match. It would be beneficial for everyone to have some serious, harder combat training.”

‘……..Well, he has a point there.’

These students were all aiming for jobs far away from the battlefield, but the school curriculum still included combat training. If enriching that aspect of their education is what he was aiming for, then they had no complaints……

Elude was just about to accept this lesson, but at that moment,

“Moreover, this combat training is going to be special.”

Once Yami exchanged looks with Magna, he created a large number of fireballs and did a few practice swings with the bat he was carrying on his shoulder.

“If anybody tries to skimp out on training, Magna here will enter the battle and educate you personally, so be grateful.”

“………”

As the students stood watching Magna with eyes full of terror, Magna grabbed one of his fireballs,

“C’mon and start already, brats!”

“U-uwaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

With that, their second period class began with the most rigid training session they ever had as fireballs flew through the sky. It was a training session where they absolutely were not allowed to cut corners.

 “So, with this, now you know that human beings are surprisingly tough. None of you will die that easily.”

The schoolgrounds was littered with burnt patches here and there. Some of them were still smoldering.

After being forced to do all-out combat training until the end of the class period, the students were all collapsed upon the smoldering ground, where they laid as they listened to Yami talk. Of course, even if they could hear him speak, their minds weren’t in a state where they could process what he was saying.

“And so, from now on, I guess…… you should try pursuing anything in life with the same kind of seriousness. I think. Let’s end the lesson on that kind of message.”

“That was perfect! I’d expect no less from ya, boss!”

As Yami and Magna talked, a single girl approached them – Allison. She had handled the combat training with ease, a calm expression on her face through the entire ordeal. However, right now, she was glaring at Yami.

“For days, I was looking forward to being visited by a Magic Knight, but I’m disappointed in you. Please give us a proper lesson that only a Magic Knight could offer us.”

“HEY! What are you so pissed about, little girl!?”

‘…….She’s gonna die…….’

‘……Allison’s totally gonna die……’

‘…….. I was such a big fan of her, too……’

The other students muttered. Just as they expected, Magna swung his bat against the ground.

“HUH!? Are you tryna say that we aren’t proper Magic Knights!!?”

But then Yami iron clawed Magna’s head and lifted him from the ground before turning toward Allison once more.

“Your name was Allison, right? Then, can you give me an example of what kind of lesson you’d want?”

“What you were doing before would be sufficient. There are all sorts of questions I would love to ask you, such as the internal affairs of the Magic Knights and the kinds of characteristics different knights have.”

“Hmm, your questions sound oddly specific. Why?”

“Well…… no particular reason. At the very least, I think that would benefit all of us more than these random activities you’re having us do.”

She averted her eyes from Yami for a bit before meeting his eyes once more.

“I see. Well, you have a point. The next lesson can be like that, but before that……”

He looked around at all the other students, who were all worn out from training.

“All of you, go wash your faces or somethin’. You’re all filthy. Ha ha, wonder why?”

‘I’m gonna kill him!’ Elude thought, though he was sure that he wasn’t the only one thinking about this. There was no mistake that everyone was starting to feel an emotion other than fear toward this tyrannical Magic Knight Captain.

“Take a short break. After that, gather around here and we’ll resume class.”

After receiving their instructions, they dragged themselves to the drinking fountain. As much as they wanted to kill him, their fear of him hasn’t diminished in the slightest, so no student dared to oppose him.

“……By the way, Allison.”

Yami called out to Allison to stop her.

“The fact that a Magic Knight was visiting this school was supposed to be kept secret until earlier today.”

“……!”

Her short figure froze at his words.

“How come you knew we were coming?”

“It doesn’t matter, does it?”

As if to escape from Yami, she joined the rest of the students.  

 A few hours ago, at the Black Bulls’ base.

“There’s a spy from the Diamond Kingdom!?”

Hearing such a thing so suddenly from Yami, Magna nearly dropped the high-grade pudding Yami had given him earlier, which Yami had received as a gift from Fuegoleon. Incidentally, Magna had agreed to go with Yami as thanks for the pudding.

“And this Diamond Kingdom spy is……. hiding in Ryakke village’s magic academy?”

“Yeah, that’s the tip-off we received. That super zealous king of seriousness was supposed to go investigate that while teaching there for the day, but, in the end, it was decided that we would go instead.”

He said as he flumped against the sofa.

“Well, the truth is that there’s a number of their spies scattered around in various towns in various regions of the kingdom.”

“Really!?”

“Yeah. After all, Clover Kingdom’s doin’ it, too. We and any country we’re on unfriendly terms with mutually monitor each other from both inside and outside the country. We talk about how much we hate each other, but we can’t help but keep our eyes on each other…… like a bunch of teenagers or somethin’.”

“My apologies, Yami-san! I don’t understand half of what you just said! Graaaah, this is all because I’m stupid!”

“Uh, sorry, don’t take everything I say so seriously. You’re makin’ me feel embarrassed.”

Leaving that conversation aside, information gathering through spies, or even the intentional dissemination of information to another country was tantamount to an act of war.  

“However, if we tried to go after each and every one of those spies, we wouldn’t have enough people protectin’ the Royal Capital. That’s why Captain-class Magic Knights aren’t usually deployed to missions like this.”

“So, why do you have to go this time?”

“Because of the place they’re hidin’ at. It would be a pain if they end up bein’ a bad influence on the kids. Y’know, those “ young three leaf clovers that will carry the future of this country.””

“Oh! I get it! Can I use that phrase, too!?”

“No. I came up with it, so it’s mine.”

Yami imagined Fuegoleon making a face of disappointment for stealing his words, but he didn’t mind that and continued his explanation.

“Moreover, the educational institutions established in the remote areas of this country are more useful than you’d expect to this country. If that school had to close down because of some nasty rumors, the kids who went there would have to go to some far away school instead.”

Of course, the people who live in the outskirts of the Common Realm wouldn’t have the mana nor the money to attend a school in the more urban areas. Otherwise, they wouldn’t bother attending the school in Ryakke. If that school wasn’t there, an entire region’s kids would fall into a situation where they wouldn’t be able to get an education, no matter how much they wanted one.

“Also…… we’re still shaky on the details, but the truth is that, lately, people from the Diamond Kingdom have been inciting violence in various parts of the kingdom.”  

“Those guys again…… they really like invading our turf!”

“No, well….. it seems that their motive this time isn’t to invade us.”

They haven’t been attacking the villages or towns, and they haven’t been damaging the farm fields, either. They’ve merely been popping up in various places, leaving traces of battle behind. It was truly ominous.

“Well, the point is that we don’t know why they’ve been moving the way they have, so just to be safe, we’re gonna go check it out.”

“…….So, what do you think we should do?”

Magna asked. He didn’t care about the details of the mission, just what he should do. Rather than try to get a firm grasp on the events leading up to this situation, he just needed the gist of the story, one that would make the problem he needs to solve simple.

“Let’s see…… Thanks to Fuegoleon investigating for us, we have some idea on how to find the spy, but there’s still about one more thing we need to do.”

“I see! Then, let’s find them and beat the crap outta them!”

“You’re simplifying things a little too much there.  Fuegoleon’s plan was to probe for the spy while going through with the lesson.”

“Understood! Then, we’ll beat up anybody who looks suspicious while we’re teaching!”

“You don’t understand shit……. Well, still, it would be good if you go to class with that attitude. If the spy reads too much into what you’re doing, they might panic and slip up.”

“Got’chu! Like this!?”

“Perfect. I can hardly understand what you’re sayin’, though.”

Yami left Magna as he practiced speaking gangsta, thinking to himself,

‘The spy will probably feel shaken up when they see two Magic Knights suddenly appear. If we spook them enough, then they should slip up. It’s possible that they may already know that we’re coming, but that in itself would help us narrow down who the culprit is. If somebody knows of our visit when it was supposed to be kept secret, then that would be very suspect.’

However,

‘……This doesn’t seem like enough.’

Even if they do shake the spy up, would that be enough to reach them? There was no guarantee that they would slip up. To begin with, he wasn’t a big fan of strategies that involve standing by and watching.

Even if they can’t do something as extreme as what Magna was suggesting earlier, there must be something they can do to make this mission more fun……. Er, rather, a solution that will make everyone happy with the outcome.

‘……Well, I’ll come up with something as we go.’

As he weighed his thoughts, he pulled out the investigative report that Fuegoleon gave him earlier from his book pouch and flipped through it. The report contained information on several people who were suspected to be Diamond Kingdom spies, but……

‘……Is one of these cute little fellas really a spy?’

 --- Returning to the Magic Academy drinking fountain, after Yami’s second period lesson from hell ---

“You’re amazing, Allison-chan! I can’t believe you talked back at Yami-sensei like that!”

A young girl who Allison has almost never spoken to struck her shoulder as she said this, surprising her. If she remembered correctly, the young girl’s name was Sheila.

“W-what’s with you? Don’t just slap my shoulder like that. Don’t you have any common sense…..?”

“I-I’ve never been told that after slapping a classmate’s shoulder, but……”

She was a little put off by Allison’s odd retort, but Sheila continued to smile.

“Thanks to you, I’m sure even Yami-sensei will start teaching a proper lesson!”

“……I wonder about that.”

Two boys interceded into the conversation. Allison hadn’t talked to either of them much, either, but she was pretty sure that one of them was named Elude.

“That dude is an old geezer who’s okay with making fellow classmates fight to the death. Since you talked back to him, he might make us do something even weirder.”

“Right? We’re all exhausted already, so please don’t rile him up, okay?”

“I mean, trying so hard at some magic academy right on the border of the Forsaken Realm…… you must really be full of yourself, huh?”

Following Elude’s lead, the other boys who follow him put the blame on Allison. Sheila retaliated angrily,

“You’re wrong! Allison said all that for our sakes! Besides, all of you were complaining at Yami-sensei just a little while ago from the beginning!”

“We didn’t complain to his face. We’re telling her not to talk to him like she’s trying to start a fight. Unless, you plan on taking responsibility if something happens?”

Elude smiled maliciously as he said this, but she simply looked back at him with mild confusion.

“…….Huh? Ah, sorry. I was thinking about something else, so I didn’t hear you.”

“In a situation like this!?”

She was thinking about how this would-be bully and his stooges were just way too typical. Straight out of a textbook.

“More importantly, we’ll be scolded if we don’t return soon.”

“H-hey!”

Despite Elude’s pleas, she didn’t stop, boldly cutting her way through them.

“Don’t ignore us! What do you want, anyway!?”

One of Elude’s followers got angry with her attitude and tried to grab her thin arm, but……

“…….H-huh?”

He thought he grabbed her, but she moved out of his reach as smoothly as running water, causing him to stumble forward. Allison continued toward where Yami was, not stopping for even a moment.

“I’m different from all of you.”

 “Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two…… Okay, looks like everyone’s here. Seriously? None of you ran away? But I thought of such an interesting punishment…...”

‘He’s not even trying to hide his true intentions!’ Elude thought angrily. Yami sat on the floor and put his hands on his knees as he looked around at everyone.

“Alright, for third period, I think I’ll hold a Q&A session as Allison suggested.”

Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Much like Sheila did earlier, a number of students looked at Allison thinking things like “Good job!” and “You’re a God!”. However…….

“And so….”

Yami took off his Magic Knight robe, and Magna struck his fist against his palm with a vicious expression on his face.

“Those of you with both questions and courage, come at me and Magna with all you got. If you can land a finishing blow on us, we’ll answer any questions you’ve got.”

“HUUH!?”

— To be continued in Part 2 —

*Note: The reason Yami mentions that he’s a Virgo is that “Virgo” is spelled with the kanji characters for “young lady” in Japanese. In other words, he’s of the “young lady” constellation, but he would probably scare away most young ladies.  I couldn’t think of a good way to localize the joke, so you’ll have to make do with an explanation.

I think Yami might have been hanging around Luck a bit too much if he’s coming up with ideas like having the class do a death match. His comment about countries spying on each other even though they insist that they hate each other like they’re a bunch of teenagers was great, though.  

The kids calling Yami an old geezer had me like “??” at first, but I guess he is twice their age.

This chapter compliments the Magna and Luck one quite well in the sense that it explores yet another aspect of Clover Kingdom’s rampant inequality.  It feels like chapters with Magna in it consistently emphasize Clover Kingdom’s social divides, even if it doesn’t have anything to do with him directly.

Anyway, Yami and Magna get more serious in the next half of the chapter.

[kaypeace21]

Do you have any meta/theory on the significance of the cleric/paladin d&d characters vs wizard/dungeon master. Is maybe one more Will and Mike's relationship and the other their role in the story as a whole? Sorry if you already mentioned this and this is redundant

Yeah, I’ve talked about it before. But why not talk about it again? It’s been a while- and Will’s recently published journal (plus st tweets) added more to this symbolism

The Duffers used Will and Mike’s d&d classes to say they’re soulmates! XD

Will in all 3 seasons identifies as a wizard- he even writes on the mixtape he makes “will the wise- wizard mix” (which is a different class than clerics). Even in s1 Will’s castle byer’s password was “rhadaghast” a lothr wizard.

But in s2 Mike (the paladin) says that Will is a cleric. Meaning this reflects how Mike (alone) actually feels about Will. In d&d, they have similar moral values, powers, and generally need and depend on each other in the lore of d&d.  Mike says Will is a cleric,despite Will still identifying as a wizard in s3, since it shows how deeply Mike actually feels about Will.

It shows he views Will as one of the only people who understands him and views him as a his moral compass 

“ strength of conviction gave many paladins a sense of common fellowship but did not always endear them to others. In many cases, paladins did not get along quite as well with other non-paladin adventurers, with the exception of clerics with similar beliefs.”

“A Paladin tries to hold to the highest standards of conduct, but even the most virtuous Paladin is fallible. Sometimes the heat of emotion causes a Paladin to transgress his or her oath (of honesty, courage, compassion, honor ,and duty). A paladin who has broken a vow typically seeks absolution from a cleric who shares his or her faith or from another paladin of the same order…

“The paladin might spend an all-night vigil in prayer as a sign of penitence, or undertake a fast or similar act of self-denial.”

“After a rite of confession and forgiveness, the paladin starts fresh.”

“Using the ‘lay on hands’ power, paladins can grant their comrades (or themselves) additional resilience with a touch of their hands and a short prayer, though they must give their own strength to do so.”

And Mike calls El a “mage” which wasn’t even a class in D&D (in the 80s)- A line he says to Max about zoomer (who he doesn’t like) …so… how much do you want to bet Mike was the one who made him and Will matching by giving him and Will “lawful good” (since this is writen in his starter kit). And he already ignored the fact Will is a wizard. 

But in Will’s recently published cannon journal he also does this- he keeps Lucas (Ranger) , Dustin (Bard) and his own character (a wizard) …but he changes Mike to a cleric !!!

Because Clerics have the strongest of healing abilities

Mike thinks Will brings out the best in him. And Will thinks Mike as someone who helps him heal. So they both call each other clerics.

D&D also represents their romantic relationship

when they fight in s3 Mike says “I’m not trying to be a jerk. We’re not kids anymore. I mean…what did you think? That we’d never get girlfriends. Play games for the rest of our lives?” And the truth is that’s actually what Mike wants- which is why he was upset about Will trying to give away the d&d game . And why he still has all of Will’s d&d pictures on his basement’s wall (which he’s kept on his wall for years- despite removing the old poster from the wall). And during Hopper’s speech, when it pans to Mike , Hopper says “I miss playing games every night.”

* He also caresses Will’s  d&d drawing- when he thinks he’s dead- and has a binder filled with every d&d drawing Will has ever given him.

 In the first ep - Will  admits he rolls a 7 (since he couldn’t lie to Mike)-  and in the last ep of s1 (they show us Mike smiling at Will right before Will rolls a 14- since they’re 7s together.) Mike even apologizes to EL saying “sorry I sound like a 7 year old.” When talking about how all 3 can play with toys & right after talking about Will visiting to play. and mentions Will’s rolls as a way to convince Lucas to help him look for him.And Mike even mentions Will rolls as a way to convince Lucas to help him look for him in the first ep.

Mike in the last ep in s1 ,writes a d&d story for Will.  in ep one Will tells Mike “it was a 7, the demogorgan it got me.”At the end of the season Mike writes a whole story of him and his friends killing a 7 headed monster, and showing the decapitated head of the monster to king Tristan (Will). Similar to how at the hospital he tells Will to not worry cause “it’s dead now”. This is right after Will rolls a 14 (cause Mike and Will are 7s together). And Mike who is a fan of starwars has King Tristan give them medals after killing the monster. Cause he wants Will/king tristan (instead of Leia -a girl) to present him with medals and be his romantic love interest (and praise him for being a hero)…

In the pilot, they even say Will uses d&d to “escape” his insecurities about his sexuality “like mike” & Mike uses d&d to “escape” his insecurities about not having a gf.  * And no, dustin & Lucas didn’t use d&d to “escape” anything- in the pilot script.

Mike angrily yells “El’s not stupid. It’s not my fault you don’t like girls” to himself- cause Will hit a nerve when saying mileven was ruining their friendship - because a part of Mike is trying to use El to put distance between him and Will . Dustin in s1 foreshadows the fight, saying “all you want to do is spent time with her… and you know it and he knows it. And nobody says anything until you’re yelling at eachother like goblins with intelligence scores of zero.” (Another  d&d ref/ ‘love makes you stupid’ ref.).

And also, maybe a part of him resents how Will is making him feel. So he says this whole speech , in the garage, to himself - to keep his romantic feelings for Will under control ( expecting Will to agree with the heteronormative statement). Which is why he was so shocked when Will (who he assumes is straight) and he expects would agree -  instead says “yeah, I guess I did. I really did.” (about never getting gfs but instead being together for the rest of their lives). 

And the  “crazy together” scene (which is romantic since both Mike & Flo both equate love making you ‘crazy’. Flo says “ only love makes you crazy and that damn stupid”). And the ‘crazy together’ scene also has a zoom-in on Mike’s d&d game.

(x)(x)

Mike and Will both love each other (and El is just confused). He wants to be with Will- but he’s scared. The Hopper dialogue even says “Lately, I feel like you’re pulling away from me or something? I miss playing board games every night.” Mike was upset when Will gives the game up- but Will says “I’ll just play with yours when I come back… if we still want to play?” In other words- the ball is in Mike’s court- if he wants Will, he has to initiate it. Because Will assumes he was “stupid” to think he had a chance. Mike is also acting “stupid” because he’s pushing away Will despite loving him, and hurting him in the process (the opposite of a cleric).

But Mike in s4 will admit his feelings to Will… since after Will says this line, Mike asks

“Yeah, but what happens if you want to join another party? ” (find someone else (‘another’) before that- the other ‘species’, or just someone else: girl, guy or otherwise?”

But Will decides to make himself vulnerable and just be honest,  and shyly admits “Not possible” (much to Mike’s happiness)

so yes- this tweet is about byler

They even answered the question of ‘what makes Mike crazy’ with one’ joke’ response - of Will asking about d&d. And in a separate post made fun of mileven by ending it with “can we just play d&d?”

And when, Mike and Will open up to each other about their mental-health issues,  that’s when they both agree that no matter what they’ll be together- “crazy together”. It’s a double entendre - they’re crazy cause they’re in love- but also “crazy” and will be “together” to help each other through their issues.  This theme is double-downed on in Will’s cannon journal (where it’s established “crazy together” is shown to be Mike & Will’s thing- not mileven’s). As Mike tells Will to tell him when he’s having ptsd episodes since- they're “crazy together”.

*Will draws Mike’s d&d character next to the sticky-note. And we also see throughout Will’s whole journal- Mike’s d&d character is always by Will’s (d&d character’s side). And on the cover of his journal Will ONLY draws his and Mike’s character- cause they’re “crazy together”.

Mike specifically says to get him when he’s having ptsd episodes about the mf (which represent Will’s se*ually abusive father- theory here/ here).

That’s what love is - like Flo said only love makes you “crazy” and “stupid” and this is only applicable to byler.  Mike and Will love and  bring out the best in each other-  heal each other. Being “crazy together” to Mike is about being selfless and wanting the best for you partner’s happiness no matter what- with mileven it was simply a way to excuse his poor behavior to El (under the guise of ‘love’).

 For all the supernatural stuff to stop , Will has to face his trauma and heal. This involves having a strong support  (of friends and family) and Will learning to not hate himself any longer, because of his past abuse and sexuality. And to stop correlating his love (for Mike) with his past abuse/trauma (represented by the monsters. And Mike and Will have to embrace their love for each other. And let go of their shame. When Will ‘dies’ in s1, Mike hugs his mom ,and  Heroes plays, and the lyrics are “and we kiss as though nothing could fall and the shame… was on the other side.” In s1 the term “other side” was used to describe the upside down. So it’s saying Will’s shame relating to Lonnie will eventually be on the other side, and so Mike and Will kiss ‘as though nothing could fall’. In Will’s journal he even draws Mike’s d&d character again with the caption “never Kenny Roggers”. This is because Jonathan asks ‘who would you rather  be friends with David bowie or Kenny roggers?”. And Heroes was originally sung by David Bowie- making the byler hint of this being ‘their song’, more apparent. The cannon Will-comic is even titled  the “other side” and Mike is on the opposite end (‘the other side’ waiting for Will who is trapped in the upside down looking up at the imposing figure of the demogorgan). The demorgogan in blue light and mike in opposing red light. The monsters Will created are based on the d&d game and his prior abuse at the hands of lonnie. But byler’s love is also represented by d&d- and thus the only way to stop it.

gif credit: cath-avery 

[danceworshipper]

Gracie Chiva - HPHM Profile [Redone]

(information is as of sixth year - same universe as Tessa and River)

Identity

Name: Gracie Tessa Chiva

Gender: Female

Age: 16

Birthday: August 17th, 1973 at 3:28 am (leo)

Species: Human/Witch with altered DNA

Blood Status: Pureblood

Sexuality: Bisexual

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Ethnicity: White - German, English

Nationality: British

Residence: Chiva Manor, a heavily warded house in the wizarding part of the English countryside

Personality Type: ISFJ-T (the defender)

The Mage

Wand: 13 3/4 inches of rowan wood encasing a unicorn tail hair core, reasonably supple. The wand is a light color with intricate carvings on the handle and a small peridot sticking out of the front end. This is her only wand, as if her wand breaks she will die immediately. A few different people have put protective spells on it - the peridot is one of them, from Ollivander himself

Animagus: Osprey

Misc. Magical Abilities: Legilimens, very strong. Her Occlumency isn't as strong as it could be, but it's much stronger than Tessa's

Boggart Form: Tessa covered in bloody gashes, gagging and clearly dying

Riddikulus Form: the blood turning into fruit punch while Tessa whines about her shirt being stained

Amortentia (how she smells): Gracie would smell like citrus, poison, and strong wind

Amortentia (what she smells): She smells a mixture of pine trees, spearmint gum, and puffskein fur (Merula)

Patronus: Unicorn

Patronus Memory: the first time she and Tessa were ever allowed to go wandering in the woods on their own. They found a creek and spent the afternoon barefoot, eating berries and splashing each other

Mirror of Erised: Herself, truly happy and looking like she was never cursed

Specialized/Favorite Spells:

- Accio

- Crucio

- Sanguinem Non (stops bleeding, however intense)

- Depulso

- Gelida

Appearance

(picture made using the zepeto app)

Height: 5'6"

Weight: 118lbs

Physique: Skinny, slightly thinner waist than Tessa. Her strength comes more from magical ability than actual muscles

Eye Color: Unnaturally green

Hair Color: Bright white

Skin Tone: Deathly pale, has barely noticeable freckles around her nose

Body Modifications: Two piercings in each earlobe and a cartilage piercing in her left ear

Scarring: Small scars on knees from various childhood injuries, a thin line around her ankle from getting caught in a rope, and a small line on her right middle finger from a cooking incident

Inventory:

- Her wand, either gripped tightly in her hand or tucked in her waistband

- Her pocket knife, hidden in her robes/shorts

- About twenty Galleons

- An icy blue cracked marble to fidget with

Fashion: Gracie likes to look good, but also likes to be comfy. When not in her uniform, she's most likely wearing a thin sweater/shirt depending on the weather, and black skinny jeans or shorts. She frequently wears black fishnet tights, and black heeled ankle boots. Her hair is usually worn down. As for jewelry, she has a necklace with a gold key that unlocks a box full of Vance's childhood memories that he hid for her before he disappeared, mostly of the two of them. She also wears large gold hoops in each of the two piercings, and a gold stud in her cartilage. Makeup-wise she wears dark red lipstick, blush, and heavy dark eyeshadow and mascara. If she hadn't been cursed she might not wear any makeup at all, but as it is, she's insecure about how pale she is and wants to bring some color back to her face

Allegiances

Hogwarts House: Slytherin

Affiliations/Organizations:

- Chiva Family

- Black Family

- R (seventh year)

Professions:

- Current student

- Future Dark Arts Professor at Durmstrang

- Future author

Hogwarts Information

Class Grades:

- Arithmancy: E

- Astronomy: O

- Care of Magical Creatures: O

- Charms: E

- Defense Against the Dark Arts: O

- Flying: O

- Herbology: E

- History of Magic: E

- Potions: O

- Transfiguration: O

Quidditch: Knows how to play, but is not on the team

Extracurriculars:

- Potions Club

- Dueling Club

- Tutor for a few select first year Slytherins, including Aiden

Favorite Professors:

- Professor McGonagall: Despite not being her Head of House, Gracie would much rather turn to McGonagall for advice than Snape. She appreciates McGonagall's teaching style, and her relative lack of prejudice about house/upbringing

- Madam Hooch: When Gracie was first cursed, Madam Hooch was the one to help her calm down and start to accept her changed appearance. Hooch's yellow eyes and whiteish hair are not common either, so the similarities and Hooch's successful life helped Gracie see that she would be okay

Least Favorite Professors:

- Professor Snape: Gracie has never liked her Head of House. Snape is cruel to many of her classmates, grades based on his own opinion of the student, and makes learning in the classroom nearly impossible

- Professor Dumbledore: In the beginning, she didn't mind him, but as the years went on and he proved to be more and more useless during dangerous times, Gracie lost all respect for him. The final straw was when he told her that none of this would have happened if she had left it alone, because she knew that this wasn't her fault and if not for her people would be dead (Redacted's death doesn't happen in my canon)

Relationships

Twin Sister: Tessa Gracie Chiva

- Tessa is younger by eight and a half minutes

- Despite them being the same age, Gracie feels much older and more mature than her sister

- Tessa quit everything to do with the vaults after defeating the second one in third year, so she hasn't seen the horrors that Gracie has

- As such, Gracie feels extremely protective to her sister and tries to always keep her safe, far away from any danger. This is part of why she runs away in seventh year

- Gracie hasn't told Tessa about her crazes and unnatural sadistic urges yet. Tessa finds out a little information shortly before Gracie disappears

- Gracie loves her sister more than anyone else. When they fight, she's always the first one to start crying. She would do anything to protect Tessa, whether it be suffer immense torture, die, anything

- She's also jealous of Tessa's relative innocence

Older Brother: Vance Riley Chiva

- He's five years older than the twins

- As a little girl, Gracie worshipped Vance. He was older and cool, and he spoiled her

- The news of Vance's disappearance shattered her heart, and when she found the key, she spent hours going through all of the memories using her mother's pensieve

- Gracie's main motivation to start looking for the vaults was to find Vance. After finding him and seeing how different he was, she stopped caring about him and only continued to protect Tessa and her friends

- The first spell Gracie learned outside of class was the sticking charm, which she used to stick the clasp of her necklace to the back of her neck. She doesn't undo the spell until the very end of sixth year, when she loses all hope of getting her brother back

- The love she once felt turns to hate fast, but she can't bring herself to throw the key away, so she gives it to Tessa

Younger Cousin: Aiden Carter Darkling

- Aiden is the son of Rachel Chiva, Jason's sister. Rachel and Aiden's father divorced while he was still young, but it was relatively amicable and he comes around for holidays

- Gracie tutors Aiden and a couple of his friends in Potions

- She's always had a liking for the kid. She sees a bit of herself in him, from before she was lost to the vaults

- They aren't the closest, but other than (some of) her immediate family, Aiden is the only family member Gracie doesn't hate

Mother: Clarissa Vanessa Black

- Clarissa passed on her Legilimency to her children

- Gracie's relationship with her mother is strained these days

- They're actually closer than they used to be, with Gracie's favorite parent having been her father as a kid

- Clarissa legally separates from Jason after his arrest, and once she's wiped her hands of him, she and Gracie get closer

- Gracie knows about her mother's girlfriend. Clarissa's upbringing made her too afraid to ever come out, but she's bisexual and began dating her childhood friend Margaret (again) after Jason was arrested

- Gracie also knows that Margaret's husband didn't die of illness, but she never tells anyone that Margaret poisoned him because she had good reason to

- The silent acknowledgement of "I know about you and you know I know but we won't mention it" is the main sense of closeness she and her mother have

- They'll never be as close as they should be, but Gracie does love her mother and her mother does love her

Father: Jason Harvey Chiva

- Similarly to Vance, Gracie loved her father a lot as a kid and looked up to him

- He was an Auror, and a good one. She would beg to visit his office with him and learn about cases

- Despite being pureblood and approving of the Death Eaters, Jason was loving toward his children and never brought up his past

- Jason began acting strangely after she was cursed, but Gracie ignored it

- All the love Gracie felt for her father vanished the day she watched him murder their family friend, a week before she turned thirteen

- After turning him in to his Auror partner, Thomas, they discovered that Jason had killed eleven people in his search to find out who cursed his daughter

- Thus began Gracie's horrible trust issues. Even Vance hadn't ruined her ability to trust completely, but after her father the only two options were trust completely, or not trust at all. Gracie has never trusted another authority figure since (and also has major daddy issues)

- Gracie kills Jason when he escapes from his transfer (she's twenty two). She hates herself for it, but not because it was her father - he deserved it. She's upset that she broke her promise to never kill anyone again after Rakepick (even though both were totally justified - Jason tried to kill Margaret and Rakepick tried to kill most of her friends)

Love Interest: Merula Snyde

- In first year Gracie hated Merula. Merula was mean to Gracie's new friends and was boastful about being the best even though she clearly wasn't, and it was obnoxious having to share a dorm with her

- In second year it gets a bit worse, but then it gets a bit better too. It gets to the point where they don't hate each other and can coexist peacefully, but they still dislike each other

- Then third year starts

- Gracie gets off the train, grabs her stuff, starts heading for the castle, and bumps into Merula

- Merula snaps at her

- Instead of being annoyed, however, Gracie is frozen staring into Merula's eyes with a jolt in her heart

- Well, shit

- Gracie spends that whole year conflicted about if it was actually a crush, or if it was just strange feelings from a strange situation, and eventually lands on being bisexual and indeed having a crush on this girl she used to hate.

- She knows she's bisexual and not a lesbian because she had a small crush on one of the boys in her neighborhood, but that fades pretty quickly after getting back to school

- In fourth year, it starts becoming more apparent that Merula shares her feelings

- Gracie takes a risk and asks her to the Celestial Ball, and Merula says yes

- She and Merula had a lot of fun at the ball, and Gracie's heart nearly exploded during the slow dance

- A week later, Rowan is pissed with the pining and rants about it to Ismelda of all people, who then tells Merula to ask Gracie out before she gets murdered

- Merula does, very hesitantly, and they have their first proper date a few days later. It's awkward and they're scared, but once they open up it's easy to tell everything is mutual

- They have their first kiss that summer while Merula is visiting Gracie

- Fifth year, the night before going into the Portrait Vault, Gracie and Merula are awake, terrified that they'll die the next day

- An impulsive decision leads them to the Room of Requirement (Tessa had found it by accident the year before) and they lose their virginity together

- They don't die, and surviving together brings them closer

- Sixth year problems arise

- Merula is losing her mind, trying to be independent and refusing to be at all affectionate in public, but still clinging to Gracie at night with nightmares

- Gracie also wants Rakepick's head to rot on a stake, but Merula is letting her anger control her and Gracie doesn't know how to help her

- When Gracie runs away in seventh year, Merula will go insane

- When Gracie comes back, Merula will punch her in the face and then hold her close and not let go for over an hour

Best Friend: Rowan Khanna

- Gracie met Rowan in Ollivander's. Rowan walked in just as Ollivander told Gracie her wand wood and Rowan excitedly declared that they had to be best friends

- Being young and relatively sheltered, Gracie said alright because she didn't know how friends really worked

- They did become very close pretty quickly

- They wrote each other letters every day until school started

- Rowan is the only one to know the full extent of Gracie's curse, because she forced it out of her

- Rowan can be pretty scary when she wants to be

- They both know things about the other that no one else does, and they can (and have) talked about everything, even extremely uncomfortable subjects

- Gracie is almost scared by Rowan's level of loyalty, but tries to show her the same

- Gracie mentioned being terrified to be cornered by Rakepick or someone else, so Rowan didn't leave her side at all for a week

- The next time Rowan said something about being afraid, Gracie did the same thing

- Rowan made Gracie teach her the blood healing spell in case Gracie ever can't come back from a craze in time

- The two of them are so close Merula was at one point pretty jealous, but she can recognize that they're just very close friends

Rival: Olivia Green

- The first time Gracie heard of Olivia was when Vance complained about her dating Duncan

- After learning about the vaults and Olivia's involvement with Vance and Duncan, Gracie was determined to find out what happened to her. It takes until seventh year to find out

- (this could all change depending on where Jam City takes the story, but this is where I'm going for now)

- Olivia joined R a year before Duncan died, two years before Vance got trapped in the Portrait. She knew how bad they were, but R was the only place she felt she could grow her power and protect what little she had left, so she faked her own death in order to not be caught by any professors or other authority

- Neither Vance nor Duncan know she's alive

- Over the years Olivia grew cold and ruthless, but she still has a small soft spot for her old friends

- Gracie tries to hate Olivia for everything she's done, but can't help but agree with her reasoning

- Olivia is the one who convinces Gracie to join up with R in seventh year, which is when they end up becoming good friends instead of rivals

School Rival: Diego Caplan

- Gracie hates this boy with everything she has

- He's a flirt with no shame and an ego stretching for miles

- Every time he duels her she makes sure to kick his ass extra hard

- She really doesn't like that he and Tessa are good friends because she thinks he has ulterior motives (he used to, but not anymore)

Enemy: Patricia Rakepick

- Gracie's lack of trust/respect for authority means that Rakepick being brought in for the vaults felt like a direct threat to her. As Rakepick recruited her, Bill, and Merula, Gracie tried to play nice but it's clear she hates the woman

- It's likely that if Bill hadn't knocked her wand out of her hand, Gracie would have killed Rakepick in the Portrait Vault

- It wasn't a craze. She was just furious

- Gracie is as determined as Merula to kill Rakepick (stupid canon mc too weak to murder)

- Joining R will be uncomfortable at first, because Rakepick will taunt her, but they'll learn to work together

- No matter how the game goes, Gracie's adventure with the vaults will end in killing Rakepick

Dormmates:

- Tessa Chiva

- Rowan Khanna

- Merula Snyde

- Ismelda Murk: they could be considered friends, but they aren't as close as they could be

- Liz Tuttle: Liz was close to both of the twins at first, but now is way closer to Tessa

Pets:

- Ruby, the family Crup

- Clara, Vance's toad

- Elaura, an owl

- Lemmy, a moke (he's more Tessa's pet really)

- a bunch of creatures in the Reserve that Tessa and Liz coparent, and Gracie tags along sometimes

Closest Canon Friends:

- Jae Kim: a year of spending hours together everyday will do wonders for a friendship

- Penny Haywood: they've been drifting apart, but they spend a lot of time together in the Potions Club

- Charlie Weasley: they were partnered for a Charms project in year two and kept hanging out all the time after it was done

- Olivia Green (while in R)

Closest Non-Canon Friends:

- Tessa Chiva (technically not canon because mc has no siblings besides the Jacob character)

- Rosalie Sonnenschein: a German model who is one year older and attends Durmstrang. First generation part Veela with a very strong natural allure, which she trains Gracie to resist once it becomes apparent that she's affected

- Justin Freed (while in R): a young man one year older than Olivia. He's mean but he's funny, and he helps Gracie get adjusted to the whole group. He's a bit too egotistical and slightly overprotective over Olivia and Gracie as younger women, even though they're both fully capable (and stronger than him)

(Storyline has to be in a different post because of tumblr's dumb text limit)

Future

Marriage and Children: Before the wedding, Gracie timidly approaches Margaret, who married Clarissa two years prior, and asks if they can take her name since neither Gracie nor Merula want to be associated with their fathers anymore. Margaret tears up and tells her of course they can. Gracie gets married to Merula at age twenty five, becoming Gracie and Merula Miller. They get married on a beach, with ice cream cake instead of traditional wedding cake. Penny calls them up one day with the news that she's been working on a potion to allow a woman to become pregnant from another woman and asks them if they'd like to test it. At age twenty six, Gracie nearly passes out watching Merula give birth to their oldest daughter, Destiny. Three years later their second daughter, Dahlia, is born

Career: Gracie becomes the Dark Arts professor at Durmstrang at age twenty three. She's mocked by the other professors for being young and inexperienced, but after she kicks one of their asses in a duel they back off. She's a talented professor, and her curse actually allows her to be a test dummy of sorts for her students so that they're able to learn both from the book and from experience. After marrying Merula they move to Germany to be near Gracie's family, so she ends up being very talented at Apparation

The Second Wizarding War:

- Gracie is out of the country when the war happens, and only returns when she gets word of Bill's attack, leaving Merula and the kids in Germany to be safe (and avoid risking Merula run into her parents, because Gracie knows that Merula would try and duel them)

- She does not participate in the Battle of Hogwarts because if she did, she knew Tessa would too and couldn't risk her sister getting hurt

- She's horrified to discover that Olivia and Justin were some of the people who escaped Azkaban, but relieved that neither of them were spotted in the battle. Olivia shows up on Gracie's doorstep the day after the battle and begs Gracie to forgive her for everything, including killing Justin when he tried to join the Death Eaters. Gracie forgives her, and uses her Legilimency to figure out the best way to get Olivia out of her jail sentence

- Merula hates Olivia quite a bit when she realizes that this Olivia is the one in R (not because she was in R, but because she and Gracie hooked up a few times while they were there together), but is able to get along with her - especially when Olivia takes a great interest in Rosalie

Old Age and Death:

- Gracie dies at the age of one hundred and seventeen from natural causes. After her death, her wand snaps in half by itself

Personality

- Major introvert

- Craves touch, but won't ask for it unless she's super close with the person she wants it from

- Tries to think logically whenever possible

- Might be a bit of an adrenaline junkie

- When she gets upset, making her laugh is the best option

- Sentimental as all hell, borderlining on being a hoarder

- Prefers animals to humans most of the time

Misc Information

- Gracie is bilingual, fluent in both English and German

- She can play cello. She can also sing, but doesn't like doing it in front of other people

- Gracie's misophonia developed around age nine, but didn't start becoming a real issue until the anxiety and depression joined in at age eleven

- By the time Gracie meets Fleur, she's so good at blocking out Rosalie's allure that she doesn't even notice Fleur's. Speaking of Rosalie, she and Olivia do end up marrying

- Gracie nearly kills Tessa the first time a craze is strong enough to target a family member. Tessa falls off of a small cliff and ends up in a coma the day Gracie joins R

- Gracie doesn't find out about it until the next time she actually sees Tessa months later because the craze was strong enough to disorient her, and oh boy does she hate herself when she finds out

- Gracie never officially broke up with Merula when she joined R, but wrongly assumed she would find someone else. Gracie casually hooked up with a couple people in the meantime, including Olivia

- Olivia gives Gracie an amethyst necklace a few months after she joins R, and Gracie charms that one in place instead of Vance's

- Part of why Olivia was able to convince Gracie to join R was because Gracie had recently failed suicide and was desperate to find a way to get R away from Tessa and her friends. If she couldn't die (and get them to stop targeting her friends to get to her, was the faulty reasoning), she might as well join them and be able to warn her loved ones of upcoming attacks

- Vance jumps in front of Tessa during the last fight with R and dies without saying goodbye, which messes both of the twins up for a while

- Gracie's interest in being a professor stemmed from Rowan's. Rowan became Head Girl :) and lived a long happy life as a professor :))))))))

- Rowan also smacked Gracie when she came back from R, which is fair

- Gracie's favorite muggle thing is orange soda

- Gracie likes pineapple pizza

- She has a sweet tooth, but she really likes sour candy as well

- Her favorite color is blue and she feels like it's a betrayal to her house

- Gracie is forever a dog person because of Ruby. She had previously been a cat person

- She writes a lot of poems as she gets older, and eventually tries out creative writing. She loves it and publishes a few books

- Everyone in her immediate family is left handed besides her father

- Her natural body temperature is a few degrees lower than a normal human's. As such, she sweats more and is always warm to the touch (I don't think it makes sense, but that's how it works for me so...)

- She's obsessed with night. She loves being outside at night, looking at the stars when the air is slightly cooler and feeling alone and insignificant in the universe (it comforts her to know she doesn't matter - it's the depression talking)

- Loves thunderstorms

- Believes in aliens 100%

[theguardiansofredland]

Could we hear some more about your rad wizard au

Sure! There are many cities in the kingdom of Lairyon that I’ve fleshed out actually.

Milliara Capital: A wonderful city home to many. Especially merchants and immigrants. A circular city with high walls surrounding it. There are 8 pillars around the city representing the country’s values. Strength, loyalty, wisdom, courage, cooperation, kindness, determination, and empathy/understanding.

Alphasgard: Home to the country’s best training. For both magic and physical combat. Blacksmiths, bladesmiths, gunsmiths, and all types of smiths are prevalent in Alphasgard. This is the best stop if you want armor, weapons or training advice. Many of the military generals of Lairyon often stop by to brush up on their training, teach classes, or purchase new weapons.

* As a result of many military officials visiting, the police and security is top notch.

* Many shops offer their services to imbue weapons with magic and magical properties.

Riveria: A thriving fishing city home to many of the more aquatic inclined people of Lairyon. Water magic specialists hail from this city. With their neighboring city of Watercrest, they supply the country with high quality fish and sea artifacts.

* Riveria is more focused on the fish side of things. With kiplings being the most prevalent race there.

Watercrest: An aquatic city that specializes in water magic and support items. This is the best place to find magic charms, artifacts, and curios.

* Watercrest is also a great place for potions and alchemy. But it is only second to Redland

* A hotspot for artists and artisans to sell their wares. Jewelry especially being a main export.

Redland: The magic capital as it’s called. The best place for mages of all kinds. Many magic schools, and shops reside here. And is home to the best alchemists and potions in Lairyon

* The shops sell all sorts of magical wares. Materials for potions, as well as magical edibles. Such as small more portable versions of potions which come in small gummy form. However the downside to this is that the gummies usually aren’t as strong as the regular potions.

* Also trinkets for wizards like amulets, wands, bags of holding, etc.

* There is a very prestigious academy of magic there. Some of the best mages studied there

Asheborn: Trade and merchant central babyyyyyy. The most popular spot for merchants from all over the world to set up shop. As such, you can find a variety of wares from all over the world here, as well as the largest variety of races.

* The city is separated by its main hub, and then different districts surrounding it. Each district representing some part of the world. Such as the north, south, eastern, western, and central.

* While the city is mainly made up of good, honest businesspeople. There are also the shadier parts of the city. Scammers and con artists like to make there rounds there

* There is also a very large black market underneath the city called the Midnight Market. More rare, and controversial wares are sold here. Such as illegal magical items, and some very powerful but also questionable magic items. Like, a good 45 percent of everything here is cursed in some way.

Addows: A quieter but not really city home to many guilds and other creeds (assassination). The city is always surrounded in a misty thick fog. It is home to the more affordable homes in the country.

* It’s more affordable because this is ghost city.

* Many seers, and clairvoyants live here and offer their services.

* The final resting place of lots of Lairyon’s heroes over history. Having the largest national graveyard and memorials.

* It houses the largest library in all of Lairyon, and is the best place for gathering knowledge.

Cadence: A joyous city that many travelers rest at. It the most inviting city, with the most inns and most hospitable people you’ll ever meet. It’s a peaceful and quiet city, meant to be a moment of peace for adventurers. Hey also have free therapy! For anyone who might be traumatized.

* Lots of former adventurers live here and love to tell tales of their past quests. They also can provide some knowledge that the books don’t write about.

Edenswell: A city amongst the clouds, home to the winged people of Lairyon. The clouds are dense enough for non flighted people to walk on. The city embodies the term spiritual, and is home to lots of spas and relaxation houses. Many religious houses of worship are here, allowing people far from home or a temple to offer thanks and praises to their chosen gods.

* Full of priests and religious people. Like monks. Warrior monks.

* Everyone here is very kind, offering help and advice to lost souls

* Clerics love to stop here to purchase a new artifact if their old one broke.

* This is the best spot if you wanna get healed.

Towns

Kiltón: A shipping town near Addows. The most haunted place in Lairyon. But the people there don’t mind. “Don’t poke it and you’ll be fine.”

Anamola: Mainly a town full of researchers and scientists to study magic and anomalies.

Kittonbrow: A sleepy little town in the flower fruit fields. The know the most about the fields, and hold festivals honoring the nature spirit they say resides in the old and large oak tree in the center of town.

Fielville: A town made up of misfits and druids. They love tradition and know the most about the forest of memories.

Dwarveil: A town deep in the heart of the mountains. Home to many skilled miners and blacksmiths. They offer help and guides to those wanting to head deeper into the mountains.

Mellolín: A town made up of people from all around the world. Many of them knowing how to speak multiple languages. Also home to many who love a good mystery and code to crack. They’ll decipher anything for you as well as translate stuff.

Grandháll: A mining town home to mainly dwarves. Very hospitable and cheery. They know how to throw a good tavern party. But other than that it’s a great place for buying raw ores and crystals.

Crystalla: A happy town that knows the secrets of the rivers and the properties they hold.

Shellor: Ninja town. N I N J A. T O W N

Coral Shores: A town that is supposedly home to Mermaids that learned how to take the form of humans.

Elstara: An elven town home to many libraries and curio shops.

Marinhall: A town known for their bakeries and sweets! Many cooks come here to learn pastry.

Darlón: A town populated by engineers! Redstone central.

Mollenhale: Do you want a magic pet? Come here it’s man’s best friend 24/7 here

Freedana: Mainly a supply town where you can stock up for long journeys

Overture: A town full of music and musicians. A very lively town.

Areas

Ashioll Fjords: Fjords that legends say house Lairyon’s ancient heroes. Waiting for the day their country needs them the most. Elders say they’ll come thundering down the fjords and mountains like spectral ghosts of light. Aiding the land.

Evernight Forest: A large forest that is always blanketed in darkness. The sun never shines and it always appears to be night in these woods. Lots of nocturnal and light sensitive creatures find their home here. They do not like having light brought to their homes. The people of Foresta when venturing into the forest have night vision potions to aid them. (Beasts in here include ROUS rodents of unusual size. And basilisks.)

Evershade Mountains: Tales say this mountain pass is the gate to the underworld. Thus many believe souls make their journey to their final resting place there and it is bad luck to wander the roads at night or to block the roads. For that is when they are making their trek. If you disturb the dead who want to head home, you’ll be cursed. Or so they say.

Forest of Memories: This forest is like a parasite. Feeding off of your emotions. It particularly likes the negative ones. Showing visitors memories of the past. Good if they’re in a good mood, or bad if they are not. It amplifies these emotions and makes the visitors spiral out of control until the forest claims them completely. It’s nickname is the Hangman Playground. For many poor souls often take their life there.

Lionheart Mountains: Where the S class trials are held. Mainly for their extreme difficulty to climb and many dangerous creatures making their homes there. Lots of cliffs and ravines dot the mountains, gravel and loose soil ready to fall beneath your feet. Beware the chimeras and manticores and gryphons. They are plentiful here.

Flowerfruit Fields: A large open peaceful field that is under spring’s protection. Thus it is always spring here. Lots of magical fruit trees and many herbs used in alchemy and medicine can be found here. It is the best place to scavenge for them. Fairies love to play tricks on those who mess with the terrain too much. And legends say that if you pick a flower and give it to your love, you’ll have eternal happiness.

Heartbreak Trench: A large ravine between two of the smaller main islands of Lairyon. Although this place has a mystical property. Adventurers say once they enter, they are transported to a labyrinth of sorts. Some say it’s the work of the Fey who inhabit the area. For they love to see people be fooled. However if you make it to the center of the labyrinth, a treasure tailored to the person exploring lies wait. Once you claim your prize you are transported out of the ravine and labyrinth.

Crystal Mines: Also called the Treasury of the Mountain God, this mine is plentiful of crystals and minerals. It rests at the heart of the Lionheart Mountains. Some say it’s the ruins of an ancient city that used to live in the mountains.

Golden Hearth Mines: Mines blanketed in a ethereal mist (think the tears of light trials from skyward sword). Many workers of Lairyon go here to mine out the ores the Kingdom needs. However there are places belonging to the ancients. Guarded by automaton guardians who will strike you down if you trespass onto their sacred land.

[fallen029]

Night Before

It was one of those moonless nights that, in what felt like another life now, Laxus would lay awake, atop a sleeping bag, and stare up at the stars, in some area far off from home, out on a deadly mission only he and a select few others in the guild could take. Tonight, however, this night, was being spent for the last time alone, in his apartment.

Which was kind of weird, honestly, considering he actually hadn't been alone in it for some time.

Mirajane had moved in a little over a year ago. Officially at least. Unofficially, it had been much longer. But tonight was the first (and last) time that his solitude in the apartment would be attributed to ceremony. Honestly, prior to last week, he didn't even know this was a thing.

"Really?" Lucy giggled some, up at the bar, where she was standing around with the two Strauss sisters, giggling over the impending wedding night of the elder. When Lisanna made mention of how, the night before, they should all have a big, final sleepover in the living room and stay up all night, gossiping and talking. Which sounded like a super bad idea to Laxus, who figured the next morning wouldn't be without his stresses.

Plus, well, he didn't want them in his apartment the night before his wedding.

But oh, Lisanna was quick to inform him this wouldn't be taking place there.

"You can't see the bride the night before the wedding," the younger of the two Strauss sisters giggled into her palm while Mirajane, from where she was working behind the bar, only grinned. "Don't you know anything?"

"Yeah, Laxus," Cana slurred from further down the bar, where she had already put a few back for the night. "Ya act like it's your first wedding."

He only sneered though, over at her, before remarking, "Some of us only have one."

"Don't count if you annul it once you're sober," she offered him, maybe, but Mira was only humming then, from her side of the bar top, as thoughts of her final night without him swirled around in her head.

She told him he should do something similar. He should have Freed and Bickslow over and have a nice night. Something. But he'd already kinda done that, the whole 'farewell to freedom' thing, but it had been rather lame and annoying, honestly, and felt really silly. It didn't help that Freed took it very seriously and Bickslow took it as an excuse to act like a complete fool.

And it also served to remind him, really, he had very few friends…

So no. Laxus didn't want to go through that again. Instead, while Mirajane and her dorky friends got all weepy and would wake up exhausted, the next morning, he would go to bed at a reasonable hour and only stress a little, he decided, over the next day.

He did do part of that, at least.

After a strong drink and listening to some music, he returned rather early, honestly, for him, and hoped the bit of liquor would lull him right to sleep. This, unfortunately, wasn't the case.

For someone who'd spent the past however long thinking it was so silly, marriage and the sanctity others treated it with, suddenly, it was all coming crashing down on him.

Which wasn't to say that Laxus didn't want to marry Mirajane. Because he did. Oh, man, did he. But...only in the sense that it was the next natural step. A necessary one. He wanted to get to the part where they bought a house and started having kids. He felt like they were circling in around that in the next five years or so and Mirajane told him that before she even considered that, there had to be a wedding.

And that was fine.

That was okay.

Marriage to Laxus was just a confirmation of what he already felt and thought. He was committed to his demon. Fully. He loved her and cared for her, but on a deeper level, he saw themselves as close friends who were ready to see one another through trials when, maybe, they didn't love or care for one another as much. Being married just a label that solidified those things in the minds of others and that was fine. That was okay. Mira needed that and it made sense.

To her, he knew, marriage was so much more.

She saw marriage as an extension of the hard wrought life her parents lived, before their death, and that their bond together, through all of those hard times, harder than most knew, was their marriage. There was power in unification, Mirajane felt. A divinity. You had to declare and testify your intentions, confirm your bond, not to those who would observe it, but to something higher, more powerful that Laxus didn't understand and wasn't so certain if he believed in.

But she did.

And if it meant so much to her, if this step was necessary in their path, yeah, alright. Whatever she wanted.

Because Laxus didn't have that. What she did. Not just good parents (heh), but also too good a view of marriage. While Mirajane grew up in the sticks and boonies, where marriage was a necessity not out of tradition, but because it was much more difficult, to survive on your own, Laxus grew up in the city. Where while it was traditional, it was also just as easily broken. Reliance wasn't forged on one another, but rather a misconstruction of lust and love, commitment and complacency. Worse yet, while his parents not so stellar marriage soiled right before his eyes, the rest of his days were spent in a wizard guild, where the seediest of mages arrived home with jewels for their women and children sometimes and other times blew it all on women and booze before they even made it.

Marriage was equally a convenience while also being inconvenient. Most didn't stay married and those who did seemed to detest it, viewing it more as a mistake of their youth rather than a reward as they aged.

So no.

He didn't have the highest of views of the concept.

But still, he was also reverent enough to understand that many of the problematic relationships he observed had their cracks before the bandage of matrimony was applied. Or attempted long before the cracks were given a chance to present themselves.

He'd known Mirajane Strauss for over half his life, however, at this point. And they'd been in a relationship for what was hovering on five years. While the first two of that felt rather tentative, with him being gone on jobs frequently and her still seeing other people in his absence (and well, him regardless), by the second, this just wasn't the case.

They both knew what it was about the other person that drove them mad. In both the great and horrible way. There was mutual respect and understanding about both their positions and goals in life. She knew he was always going to be a high class mage and gone, frequently, on only the most challenging of jobs. And even then, sometimes, not coming back home if he didn't feel like it, as he explored Fiore and his own solitude. In contrast, he knew that she was very serious about her position up at the hall, finally admitting to herself that yes, this was what she wanted and what she planned to do with her life. Not just be a barmaid, but, as the Master only continued to age, slowly take over his job more and more.

She wanted it one day.

To be the Master.

And Laxus only nodded, when she told him then, claimed what was once his dream in realizing his own.

It would never be for him. Not really. And watching his woman, an extension of himself, really, capture it in his place, well, what could be better?

She made certain he knew though, right from the jump, that her life didn't just come to a halt because he decided to roll back into town after weeks or months away. It couldn't. She was depended upon by others. Not to mention, she was more than just his girlfriend, fiancee, wife, waiting around for her man to be her world.

No.

Mira had her own things going on, separate from him, and he liked that. A lot.

When he was a boy, this wasn't the case very often. When a mage was out, his wife would come by the hall all the time, waiting on him, needing him. Not even in a clingy way, mostly. It was cultivated that way, by the man sometimes, other just through the natural order of things, for her life to depend upon his.

But Laxus couldn't imagine ever wanting that. What pressure. What nauseating suffocation.

It didn't mean that he was disappointed sometimes, when she couldn't stay out too late or denied his suggestion of going away for the weekend; it just meant that he understood. Like she did when he needed to get away, get more jewels, be alone. There was no expectation of either changing this behavior for the other and, honestly, they were better for it.

So he didn't think that anything would change, honestly. In their relationship. The next day. When he said the kind of outdated and silly words and, even still, when he signed the papers, like a legit contract over the whole thing. It didn't matter to him what the Kingdom or guild thought of his relationship; only what he and Mira did.

Still, if she needed it…

While he was lying there however, the liquor not helping to calm his nerves in the slightest, Laxus found himself not nearly as passive in this entire thing. Again, it wasn't so much that he felt as if he were making the right decision, no, it was more that, while he knew for certain he was definitely headed towards the correct one, that there was a heavy weight attached to that. Not one of despair or fear or anything with a negative connotation at all.

Rather, finally, he was beginning to get an overwhelming sense of, oh, man, yeah, this is happening and it's real and it was still just something silly, something just confirming for others what he'd know for a long time by this point, what he was certain Mirajane agreed upon for a long time at this point, but there was something so final and...real about it.

And while he didn't feel any mystifying or otherworldly powers associated with the idea of marriage, the fact that Mirajane did, that she saw it as a union of not only the two of them, but their actual souls and that they were one, now, for eternity, it was just…

It was a lot.

A lot that he hadn't thought about or considered because why would he, if he didn't even believe in that, and nothing that he thought before was changed, at all, but now there he was, lying in bed, all alone, freaking out because in the morning, well, the afternoon, he was going to go into the Magnolia Cathedral, where he once waged war again his guild, his own guild, and he was going to marry Mirajane Strauss and she was going to be his wife, his actual wife, and in her mind, they would now be forever joined, for the rest of their lives and even there after and...and...and…

Someone was breaking in.

That's what he thought, at least, in his panic and it took him a few moments, as he stumbled out of bed, tripping over his own feet in his haste, and oh, it wasn't an intruder at all.

"Demon," he panted as he found her there, in the living room and Mira only looked bemused.

"Did I scare you?" she asked as he approached, out of breath, to come cup both her soft, pale cheeks in his rough palms. "Dragon?"

He shook his head a bit before lowering it, so he could rest his forehead against hers, as he asked, "What are you doing home? I thought you were having your final hurrah, or whatever."

"Yep. My wildest of fantasies coming to life. Lisanna and Levy drinking too much and falling asleep while Lucy awkwardly answers all of Cana's super probing questions. It's what I'm leaving behind."

But his mind was too fogged for her sarcasm.

"Why are you here?" he asked instead, very upfront. And Mirajane answered much the same.

"Because I didn't want to be there," she told him quite plainly as, when he dropped her cheeks, she only reached to take his stubbly ones in her own, blue eyes alight as they stared into his droopy own. "I wanted to be with you. I don't care if I'm going to be for the rest of my life; I want to be tonight too."

He grinned then, in a way he only could when they were alone, and Mirajane giggled some, when they tripped together then, over themselves, to fall back into bed.

It felt so much better, like the worries or pressure just melted away, when he wasn't picturing a version of Mirajane in his head, so strict and serious about the holiest of unions, but rather being around the actualized version of her, his Mira, his demon, not what his buzzed mind tortured him with.

"Tomorrow," he whispered softly as she laid there, actually looking up into his eyes now as his head angled above her, "we're gonna get married."

"Yeah," she giggled as when he breathed out, she took it back in. "We are, Lax."

Her bangs were down, the way he liked, and he hated it, the way he was blinking now, trying to fight off sleep. Because she was right. Even if this was awaiting him every night for the rest of his life, that night, that specific one, he wanted for it to continue on for as long as possible. Keep her gaze for as much time as he was allotted. Give her his until he was no longer able.

Everything just felt so much better when she was beside him. He'd never felt as calm as he did when she was around.

"I've never been so happy," he told her then as one of his hands reached out, to brush a thumb against her cheek. He frowned though, just a bit, at his own words as this sounded, well, clunky, for one thing, if not kind of awkward. Cheesy.

But Mirajane, the happiest person he'd ever met, ever had known, only pushed up then, just enough to give him the softest of peck son the lips before falling back down with some sleepy blinks of her own as she told him, "Yeah, dragon. Me too."

[shslgymnastnerd-blog]

OOC - Summary of Moonlight Mist

Overview:

Moonlight Mist is a manga project that Koji Matsuba (Shinobu’s father) started a year after marrying Kotoha Marukichi, though he had been writing notes privately as a hobby since he was in high school.

The story begins with a class of middle schoolers taking a field trip into the nearby Forest of Mystery. While the trip is only supposed to last a day, five students wander away from the class and end up becoming lost in the woods: Aki Akakawa, Yukito Aotani, Haruka Midoriyama, Seitaro Kishima, and Mirabelle Champrose. As night falls, they make camp near a river and hope for rescue to come soon. However, a dense fog descends upon them as they sleep uneasily.

They awaken having been somehow transported to the Myst Continent, a world seemingly taken right out of their fantasies of dragons, elves, and magic. They learn that the land has been in turmoil for centuries. There had been a great war between various powers both mortal and divine, and in the dying breaths of a god the land was cursed. Time now stands still: Day and night never change, leaving different regions in perpetual light or darkness. The seasons have been frozen as well, wreaking havoc on the climate of the continent.

The populace has had centuries to adapt, but tensions still run high as factions fight over resources and territory. The lost students find themselves struggling to stay safe in an unfamiliar land riddled with both overt dangers like bandits and invaders, and more subtle political threats like a king’s iron rule.

But they have one defense against it all: An oracle declares them all the Divine Children foretold in a prophecy by the dying god. In legends passed on through the populace of Myst, it’s believe that heroes born from another world will appear in their land, ushering in an era of justice and mercy. Of course, interpretation of these legends can vary greatly. Some people take the “divine” and “justice” parts very seriously and believe they are demigods smiting the wicked, and some people resent the idea of foreigners upsetting the centuries-long status quo…

The lost children, ambushed by lowly soldiers of the corrupt King Albinus, are protected by the oracle who gives her life up for them. From this sacrifice materializes five jewel-empowered trinkets that awaken the students to magic powers of their own. They transform themselves into the heroes of legend, styling themselves after the heroes in their own stories back home, and fight off the attackers.

The adventure sees the students grappling with the duties that have been thrust upon them so suddenly, while also searching for a way back home. Their morals are often challenged throughout the journey: Is Yukito right when he says that their priority should be getting back to their world safely, or is Aki right in saying they should take long detours on errands and missions? Can Mirabelle give up a life of luxury living among dragons, do the right thing, and go back to save her classmates? Is there a way to make everyone happy when addressing centuries of multilayered strife between different people? And is everyone truly bound by the destiny assigned to them?

Several arcs in, there have been some major shake-ups in the story. First, Aki, Haruka, and their companion guide Kuromura manage to find a way back to Earth after a grand battle, but are separated from the rest of the party, with Yukito forced to take up leadership of the other group. Worse still, they find out that the fantastic creatures and people of Myst have also found their way to Earth and show every indication of wanting to conquer this land, too. Magic and mundane are now in war with each other, and the students find themselves fighting to be the saviors of two worlds.

After everyone is reunited, they learn of a royal commander who is actually a human girl from their world. In fact, she is the long-lost cousin of one of their own. Kikyo finds herself owing a life debt to Seitaro after he rescues her during a disaster, and this begins her own arc as her loyalties slowly begin changing. Ultimately, Kikyo joins the heroes as their sixth party member, and they stand united against her former king.

Currently, the story is in the middle of an arc that examines the heavy weight laying upon child heroes. They face scorn from people who see them as mere foolish children, or who hold them to the same responsibilities as hardened adult veterans. They’ve been so far away from their normal support networks that they don’t know what to do as normal teenage problems begin creeping up on them. And there are hints of strife between the students themselves: Kikyo has not been fully forgiven by everyone for the crimes she committed under the king’s orders, and Yukito is asserting himself as a more capable leader than Aki.

With the king now personally invested in seeing their entire group eradicated thanks to Kikyo’s betrayal, what will it take for these lost children to endure the trials ahead…?

- - -

Characters:

Aki Akakawa: The primary protagonist of the story. Like many shounen hero, he’s impulsive, hotheaded, and stubborn, yet ultimately brave even in the face of the highest odds. He is gifted a ruby pendant infused with a magical power that lets him become The Hero Crimson, who is designed after the typical warrior class in RPGs.

Yukito Aotani: A cold and aloof classmate that Aki has formed a sort of rivalry with. While in school it began as somewhat friendly competition over test scores (Yukito always won in everything except sports), the dire threats of their adventure brings their personality conflicts to the forefront, putting their friendship on the edge. With his sapphire bracelet, he becomes The Archer Indigo, filling out the ranger archetype, right down to having animal companions he seems to like better than people.

Haruka Midoriyama: Aki’s childhood friend. They used to be inseparable, but middle school saw them being sorted into different homerooms; Haruka’s time off was further devoted into her track team, and as a result they’ve started drifting apart. She is just as boisterous as Aki, but it comes tempered with her attempts to nurture her peers – whether they want her help or not. Her emerald ring lets her transform into The Thief Verdant, a dashing and nimble rogue. And, yes, her name is a reference to the Midoriyama of Sasuke fame, though this isn’t directly acknowledged in-universe.

Seitaro Kishima: One of Haruka’s classmates from her homeroom, who is a shy nerd with a lot of anxiety about being outside or in the middle of crowds. With his topaz brooch he becomes The Wizard Gold, keeping a safe distance from danger as he used mage powers to rain havoc upon foes. In recent issues, Seitaro has begun the reasons behind his anxieties, from the tragic disappearances of his relatives to his growing discomfort with the changes adolescence brings.

Mirabelle Champrose: An exchange student that’s quite popular in Aki’s year… among anyone that isn’t Aki himself. Or Yukito or Haruka or Seitaro. Mirabelle’s charming elegance goes hand-in-hand with a fussiness and an unwillingness to do physical labor, something that becomes a frequent problem during their adventure. Despite it all, she truly cares about the people around her and slowly learns how to get along with them, and as The Priestess Rose she dutifully heals their wounds, even when they’re feuding. She still fawns over the garnet earrings that empower her, though – girl’s gotta have her jewelry!

Kuromura: A fox-like creature that the oracle cared for as a stray animal. Despite that, Kuromura is very much sapient and can talk out loud, serving as a guide, a mentor, and a voice of reason as the students try to find their way through this unfamiliar world. Curiously, Kuromura has a black opal set into their head, but they cannot remember ever being able to cast magic…

Albinus Frost IV: The king of the Frostbitten Crown who continues his family’s bid to expand influence over all the land. Safely entrenched in the bitter-cold mountains to the north, he sends armies out to conquer their neighbors, steadily taking over town after town. Though he claims to be doing this all for the good of the citizens, refugees fleeing from the towns he takes say that he imposes strict control on them all, keeping villages under martial law as his guard closely monitor financial spending, food rations, and communications with other towns. Woe betide those who are vocal about their displeasure; reports suggest many dissidents have disappeared without a trace.

The Diva: First seen clad in full armor, the Diva is a commander of Albinus’s armies, using her music to enchant soldiers with strength and bravery. In time she is revealed to actually be a young human girl, and even later her true identity is revealed to be Kikyo Shimori, a cousin of Seitaro’s who went missing with her family eleven years ago during a hiking trip. In reality they accidentally wandered into the mist world, and Kikyo was somehow separated from her parents (who she assumes are dead) and raised instead as a bard-slash-spy for the Frostbitten Crown. After an arc in which Kikyo’s loyalties are called into question, she finally defects from Albinus and puts herself at great risk saving Seitaro’s life from his generals, resulting in the amethyst circlet materializing before her. With this, Kikyo awakens to her power as the Diva Violet, and thus proves herself a true ally of the team.

- - -

Trivia:

The most popular ships in the fandom are Aki x Haruka, Aki x Yukito, Yukito x Mirabelle, and Yukito x Kikyo. There is also significant support for Aki x Kikyo, Haruka x Mirabelle, and Seitaro x Mirabelle.

Shinobu happens to have a few advance spoilers in regards to canon ships: Aki x Yukito is endgame! The original intention was to make Aki x Haruka canon, but over the years both the in-character dynamics and Koji’s own feelings about his work have changed.

Shinobu also knows that future issues will, over time, make it clear that Seitaro is definitely not cis and is likely nonbinary. Koji started writing this arc as a way to try and connect with Shinobu, especially during some of the rockier month of their relationship when Shinobu was questioning if his parents even cared about what he wanted in life. At times he acts as a sort of consultant, helping his father understand what Seitaro might be feeling right now.

Haruka is another character based closely off Shinobu. At the beginning of the story she symbolized Shinobu the ace athlete: Always determined, always energetic, always ready to give 100% in any situation. As the reality of Shinobu’s life became clear to Koji, he’s since taken a more nuanced writing with Haruka, acknowledging the constant pressure that she faces as both and athlete and as the caretaker of the group. Much of her arc now is her and her teammates learning to accept that just because she’s their emotional pillar doesn’t mean that she’s invincible, and that’s okay.

An anime adaptation of the manga is in progress, and is currently in the earliest arcs, before the temporary group split.

[arrianna21]

~Alchemy et Chaos~

Exploring caves, ruins, and abandoned forts is something you enjoy doing. Normally you do it by yourself, but that changes when your mage friend asks to join you on your latest expedition.

Game: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Note: Little bit of gore

Word Count: 4,123

You collect the Morning Glory pulp and put it away while you continue your search. Figuring that 15 pieces of the flower would suffice, you stand up and make your way to the fort’s entrance before stepping inside. This is the last place you needed to search thankfully. As much as you enjoyed looting and exploring various caves and forts, the constant searching for plants and ingredients was becoming a bit tedious.

Normally you would never do this for free, but if it was for your quirky mage friend you would gladly do it without any pay. Especially considering the fact that he had returned the favor multiple times by creating, and giving you, free potions.

The strong metal doors open to reveal the stone walls, free of any torches or light whatsoever. Crouching down, you sneak down the steps and peek through the already open door. A dog was walking back and forth further down the hall, occasionally sniffing the ground before moving on. You keep your knees bent, walking quietly toward the animal and set a piece of venison near it, stepping carefully down another hall where there is a closed gate. It was locked and you use a lock pick, fiddling with it until you hear a click.

Pushing the doors open, you go inside and find a chest with some gold which you happily take. Going back to the intersection, you find the dog eating the raw meat, tearing large chunks out of it and you pass by to the other locked gate. Unlocking that as well, you find another chest with gold.

Continuing on down the main hall, there are three paths each going a separate direction. You contemplate going left or right, but decide to just walk towards the gate in front where you can hear voices. The metal gate is unlocked and upon entering, you find yourself at a balcony overlooking the area. A group of bandits and marauders are below and two of them are arguing to each other.

From what you can hear, they seem to be talking about a deal gone wrong. No one has noticed you yet so you decide to explore the area first.

Going to the left, there’s a small bridge that leads to a locked chest. Opening it reveals more gold and you head to the right where another short bridge leads to a similar locked chest that is also filled with gold.

As you walk back across the bridge, someone yells from below before chaos erupts. Thinking your cover has been blown, you run back to the balcony and find the large group has divided into two separate ones where the bandits and marauders begin killing each other. This actually makes things easier for you and so you stand at the railing while you enjoy the show. You have to actually stifle a laugh when a bandit accidentally shoots her friend instead of the marauder.

When most of them are dead, except for two bandits, you head to the right first and activate a turn handle that opens a metal gate. Walking down the stairs, you see a chest with two potions of healing inside. Rummaging through the box alerts the bandit nearby.

He yells upon seeing you and you pull your short sword out while fighting him.“Is that the best you can do?” the bandit asks as he wields his hammer at you.

Your response is to merely swing your sword, saying nothing while you hit his armor. After a few more hits, the elf crumples into the water and you huff. That’s the second body you would have to loot in the lake, the first being another marauder who was floating face down.

“You’ll regret stepping foot in here!” the bandit archer yells and a green arrow whizzes by you.

Turning around, you see her shooting from across the fort as she stands on a ledge. Muttering under your breath you grab your arrows and begin firing in return. Each arrow that sinks into her shocks her with lightning and it doesn’t take much before she also dies.

After looting another chest and a female marauder, who didn’t have anything impressive, you swim through the middle of the water, searching the rest of the bodies until you reach the other side. There’s another chest near a dead bandit Hedge Wizard that has 745 gold pieces and some repair hammers.

Other than the plants outside the entrance, Fort Nikel didn’t have much for your mage friend so you decide to leave after coaxing the dog outside, making your way back to the city of Chorrol.

Despite the simple dungeon, you were glad it was your last for this adventure, wanting to go back to your home so you could wash up and sleep for a few hours. Upon returning to the city, you stop by the blacksmith so she can repair your armor. After having a range of monsters and people alike attacking you, it was better to fix it before it had the chance to break completely.

Walking past the Great Oak tree in the center of town, you see Dar-Ma and chat with her for a bit. While you and the reptile Argonian talk about some new items her mother brought to their store, there is an explosion from one of the houses. Looking around in confusion, you watch as a small plume of smoke exits a house in the circle. That house just so happened to be yours and you automatically figure out the cause.

Saying goodbye to your friend, you walk to your house as the townsfolk stare with concern though you smile reassuringly. Pushing your front door open, you walk through the living room and immediately head upstairs to the guest room where you find the mage desperately fanning the room.

“Experiment gone wrong?” you ask and your voice startles him as he whips around to face you.

“Y/N! Back so soon?” the man chuckles awkwardly, not having expected you home for at least a few days.

“I’ve been gone for two days, Joon.”

“Right! Ah, how was your journey?” he abandons his post at the window when you hold out your treasure findings.

“Eventful for the most part,” you admit, describing the encounters you faced at the two forts and one Ayleid ruin.

“Good eventful I hope,” he says, organizing the various flora extracts on his desk.

You nod your head somewhat in agreement. “Besides the usual monsters, each location did have something unique. I did find this iron dagger for you.” Grabbing the weapon, you hand it to the surprised mage.

“Are you sure you don’t need this?” he asks, carefully taking it in his hands.

“Don’t fret, Joon. I found it on some treasure hunt that someone must have left behind.” You tell him about the strange note on top of one of the forts that was next to a sword pointing off in the distance. Following the note and the sword’s direction, it didn’t take you long before you found a chest near a boulder where the dagger sat. “I can even enchant it for you later if you would like.”

“Ahh, you don’t have to do that. You’re already busy enough.” Joon replies, clearly flustered by your offer and you roll your eyes.

“You know I don’t mind. Anyway, what were you trying to make?” you ask, referring to the opened window and cluttered desk oozing with various potions and ingredients.

“That? I’m trying to make a new potion, but it’s not going too well.” Joon rubs the back of his head, sitting on his bed with a faint grimace.

Joon, while intelligent beyond compare, was still learning the ins and outs of alchemy. He could easily make small potions, but he also liked to try his hand with more complex and new mixtures that only some high class mages could perfect.

“Taking a rest from that paper?”

You knew his thesis, while tedious, was not very difficult for him, but he needed to make sure he had enough evidence gathered to prove his point. After you had foiled the plans for the Mythic Dawn cult who attempted to take over Tamriel by opening Oblivion gates, Joon noticed a rise in Conjurers going rogue. He believes that certain factions are attempting to summon more Daedra and use them to gain control of the Imperial City. Not as bad as trying to take over all the land like the former cult, but still a problem nonetheless. Unfortunately, he needed to write a substantial paper discussing and proving his hypothesis.

He sighs before nodding. “I’ve made great progress, it’s over halfway completed, I just need a few more things for research purposes.”

“Like what?”

“They’re not too complicated--we can talk about it some other time. Are you hungry? I’m sure you’re hungry I mean you just returned from a long journey.” The man stands up abruptly and heads downstairs while talking and you silently follow after him. “I went out to buy some cheese and bread while you were away. They had some watermelon too.”

You watch as he begins gathering food from the kitchen and also setting the table for you.

“Joon,” you call to which he responds by looking up at you, bread hovering above the plate.

“Yes?”

“What do I need to get for you?” you ask, helping him set the table with more food. It was very early for supper, only the afternoon, but because of your erratic schedule neither of you ate at a set time, meal times changing daily.

“Just some Daedra things,” he replies cryptically.

Digging through a cupboard for some brandy, you begin grabbing some bottles. “Well if it’s Daedric stuff you need I don’t mind going to my house in Cheydinhal for those.”

“I appreciate the offer, Y/N, but those won’t work. They need to be…fresh.”

You lift your head up and shut the door with your boot, bottles clutched in your hands. “Oh,” immediately understanding his dilemma. “I see. Which Ayleid ruin do I need to go to?”

Sitting down, your armor and weapons clang against the chairs loudly which results in you standing back up before running upstairs to change and put your things away. A few minutes later, you return with a simple shirt and pants, going back to your seat so you can resume your conversation.

“That’s the thing. I wanted to ask you something,” he tells you while you start eating with fervor. Taking large chunks out of your loaf of bread, you urge him to continue and he does. “I want you to take me with you.” The sentence rushing out of him in a large gust as the mage resorts to gulping down his drink.

Once you finish swallowing, the bread halfway gone, you take a swig of alcohol to wash down your food. “Okay. We leave at 6:00 in the morning tomorrow.”

Your casual response causes Joon to choke and he coughs on his drink. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I said I’ll escort you,” you say, munching on a cheese wedge, the dairy flavor mixing with the wheat bread.

“You just got back from a quest. Wouldn’t it be best to wait a few days?” he asks in concern.

You shake your head. “Do we need to? If you have everything prepared, I’ll be ready as well. I don’t need much anyway.”

“I almost have everything. I wasn’t expecting such a quick answer to be honest,” he admits shyly.

Nodding, you continue eating and when your mouth isn’t full you respond. “Why? It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“I don’t wish to burden you,” he replies and you wave him away.

“Joon, it’s fine, don’t worry about it.” You reassure him until he eventually acquiesces.

Once that is settled, the two of you talk about the rest of your journey and your encounters, laughing at the things you saw and witnessed. The next morning you both wake up early as you prepare for the hike to the Gold Road not too far south. Apparently there was rumor of a large Ayleid ruin by the name of Ceyatatar in that area where Conjurers were doing questionable things.

While you gather your weapons and him his potions, you are soon leaving the city gates as you begin walking. Staying on the main path to avoid any wild animals, the long walk is uneventful and you make small talk on the way.

Arriving later on that morning, you are immediately greeted by two Conjurers accompanied by

Xivilai. You battle the blue Daedra humanoids while Joon tosses some spells at the robed man and woman. One of the demons manages to summon a Clannfear while you slash at him with your sword. The spawned reptilian creature lashes out with its claws, but you ignore it, remaining focused on the Xivilai instead. Once it’s killed, the reptile also vanishes and you run to the other demon, sword meeting its giant Warhammer. It dies as well and when you turn to check on your friend he is throwing a bolt of lightning at the last Conjurer who screams before falling over.

“Here’s a potion of healing if you need it,” he tells you, giving the small vial to you and you put it away, deciding to save it for now while you cast a minor restoration spell on yourself.

“Thanks. I assume this is one of the things you need.” You say, looking down at the dead Daedra beside you. When he nods, you jerk your head to the other body. “Take care of that one and I’ll handle this one here,” you direct him while pulling out your dagger.

You pierce the Xiviliai’s flesh, cutting into it deeply, dark blood painting the grass around it as you separate the hard bones so you can pry the Daedra’s heart out. Standing up, you step over the body so you can check the Conjurers where you then steal a few healing and magika potions. Joon finishes with the corpse as well and after checking the surrounding area, you find no other enemies and head to the center of the crumbling ruin before walking down the spiral staircase.

“How many do you need?” you ask, opening the white door at the bottom and gesturing him inside.

“As many as possible,” is all he says and you shrug.

Entering the dark ruins, there are more stairs in front of you and a bridge with a small railing overlooking the main room below. You pull him down when you see the Conjurer walking around, urging him to remain silent. He follows behind you as you go down the stairs until you reach the archway. You stay crouched and make your way to the woman now standing in front of a wooden table, fiddling with some alchemy tools. Drawing your sword, you wait until you are directly behind her and then you swing hard. She grunts before falling over and you stand straight when the room is clear.

Joon comes forward to look around the room while you loot the body, but finding nothing in her robes. Examining the item on the table, you see the alchemy equipment on the wood along with some ingredients, one of which being another Daedra heart. A book was also hidden under the equipment and you inspect the cover with the title reading, “The Book of Daedra.” You show the book to Joon who takes it and flips through the pages while you continue looking around the candlelit workspace. The bookshelf nearby just has random objects, a human skull, plates, and crystal ball.

“I’m not surprised they have this,” the mage’s voice bounces around the cavern. “If they’re summoning Daedra, it would be expected that they would also have books about the demonic creatures.” He explains before putting the book into his bag.

Moving on, you see another staircase leading further down. Reaching the bottom, you see a Frost Atronach down the hall. Again, you sneak up to it and hit the ice giant hard where it easily falls over. You continue down more stairs while Joon collects the frost salts the giant elemental leaves behind upon killing it. There are more Conjurers and Frost Atronachs so you again sneak towards them in the hopes of taking them by surprise.

As you step closer on the cracked floor, there’s a harsh rumbling and you are abruptly yanked back as stones collapse in front of you. You hadn’t thought to look above you to see the rocks falling from the ceiling. The Conjurers turn around to investigate the noise only to find you and the mage struggling to get to your feet on the stairwell. One shouts and begins pelting you with magic while you try to grab your sword and run across, climbing over the fallen rubble.

You hit the ice giants first and there’s a spell flying behind you as Joon retaliates with an attack of his own, engaging with the dark mages. An Atronach almost crushes you with its cold hands but you jump back, whacking at it harshly. The creatures are harder to eliminate because they weren’t taken by surprise, but eventually you manage to kill them and Joon does the same.

Before you have a chance to investigate the area, a bolt of lightning shoots past you as a Storm Atronach bellows down the hall. Joon throws a frost spell at it and the rock monster collapses in a pile of rubble.

“Good shot,” you compliment to which he blushes, his dimples becoming more prominent as he smiles.

“Thank you,” he says and you laugh, finding his shyness endearing.

You search all the bodies while the man walks over to a table in the far corner and looks around. Collecting all the salts and potions, you find two coffers next to them that hold some gold. After gathering the treasure, you join your friend who has also found some more ingredients on another table, along with the same red book about the Daedra.

“It seems like all the Conjurers are reading this book,” you note.

“I believe so. They need to learn about the creatures if they’re going to summon them.” He explains and you both continue to the door that leads further into the ruin.

This next area is just a small cavern with enormous rocks protruding in various places and a

waterfall in the middle, guarded only by one Conjurer who is quickly dispatched. Crossing the bridge, you look at the slanted rock leading into the water and tell Joon you’ll be back while he collects the dead mage’s potions. When you dive in the pool, you swim around and check for any treasure. As you swim underneath, you find a tunnel that leads to a wooden door.

Going through, you rise to the surface for a short breath of air and see a body across the trench. It’s a dead treasure hunter, you realize as you examine the fur clothing. He only has a few pieces of gold and you check the coffer next to him that has some soul gems and a scroll. Joon would be interested in that, you think as you securely tuck it away in your bag so the water doesn’t destroy it. Swimming back to the other area, you show the mage your findings and move on to the next door.

You head down the stairwell and open the gate that leads to a big room with a Conjurer and more Daedra. Whispering to each other, you discuss your plan of action which is pretty much the same as it has been, he’ll handle the magic user while you take care of the demons. Even though you try to sneak up to the Xivilai, the Conjurer seems to sense your presence the moment you slip into the threshold.

Ducking behind a stone pillar, you dodge the flames as they fly into a wall before dissipating. Joon runs out and retaliates with his own spell, the ice crackling when it hits the dark mage. With the element of surprise gone, you swing at the blue demon with your sword, cutting into its torso. Blood spurts out from the wound and it growls, throwing a bolt of lightning, but it is absorbed by your armor. The other Xivilai also comes to its companion’s aid and at one point you are battling two demons simultaneously. It’s not long though as the first monster falls and you focus solely on the remaining one, hitting it repeatedly until it also dies.

Hearing a loud hiss, you see a Daedroth attacking Joon, the large crocodile monster swiping with its claws. Running to the other fight, you switch to your enchanted sword and hit the beast. Ice damages its scaly body and the Daedra turns its attention to you, allowing the mage to return to his battle with the Conjurer Adept.

The Daedroth tries to bite you, teeth nearly sinking into your face but you back away, stepping around until you are behind the creature where you can effectively swing at its back. The crocodile-like monster turns around and breathes fire to which you jump out of the way. A male’s yell rings in the cavern, your heart stopping in fear at the sound, but when the Daedroth fades away you sigh.

You see Joon cleaning his dagger on the Conjurer’s robes before taking the potions he had in his pockets and turning to collect some Welkynd stones sitting on the corner pedestals. Doing the same to the Xivilai, you extract their organs and explore the room. Some chests and coffers hold more gold, along with spell scrolls, soul gems, and another book.

“Joon, have you heard of this book?” you ask and the mage walks over to you.

He takes the gold book and inspects it carefully. “Summon Dremora Tome?” Joon turns the pages and skims through it quickly. “Oh, this is not good. This is a manual on how to summon all kinds of Daedra. Apparently, that includes a Dremora Lord.”

Your eyes widen as you look over his shoulder to see the ancient text. Cursing lowly, you turn to continue checking the area. “You better take that to the High Council with your paper.”

“I know. If the Conjurers learn the secrets to summoning such powerful beings, the Oblivion gates could open all over again. Only this time we have no King to fight for us.”

Your friend sighs harshly and while you look through the locked prison cells, you find an Orc’s body sprawled inside one. “It might be best to make note of this as well,” you advise to him.

Joon turns in your direction and stares at the dead captive. “I will add that to my list of notes as proof that these Conjurers are surely crossing boundaries.”

“Maybe we can send for the guards so this man can have a proper burial.” You tell him, going to another cell where a coffer sits inside. Opening the gates, you step inside and collect more gold.

Continuing your walk around the area, you see a blue stone block in the wall and upon pressing it, the moving cobble next to it reveals a hidden pathway as the stones drop down one by one.

Both of you crawl across and you see two more coffers next to a short ladder leading to a trap door. The small caskets hold over 500 pieces of gold along with some more scrolls and soul gems. You climb up the ladder first with Joon close behind and you find that you are outside in the Great Forest.

Beginning the walk back to Chorrol, you are both silent and contemplative, each lost in your thoughts.

“Y/N?” Joon calls your name after a minute.

You hum in response.

“Do you…think it would be possible for me to start coming with you on your explorations?”

“Why? Do you perhaps enjoy my presence that much?” you chuckle in amusement.

“N-no! I mean, yes, I enjoy your presence, er-company, but I also feel that it is necessary to see what all these Conjurers are doing in person.” The mage stumbles through his statement and you laugh aloud.

“I am only joking, Joon. Of course you are free to join me whenever you like.”

The man also laughs in return, walking beside you while offering an apple for a snack. You take the sweet fruit and bite into it. As you continue through the forest, you chat while pausing every now and then so the mage can collect some flower samples along the way while you carry on to prepare for your next quest.

A/N: It’s finally complete! I was really happy to write about this game because it is my all-time favorite and it has a special place in my heart. Oblivion is just…glorious and so much fun, it’s great, I love it so so much. Anyway this wraps up the last story in the VideoGame!BTS miniseries. If you enjoyed it, please send me some feedback, I would really like to know your thoughts. Thank you again for reading, I really appreciate you all sticking with me through this series!

[brain-leakage-blog]

Vancian Magic in D&D: It’s a Feature, Not a Bug

As I mentioned a few weeks back, I've been drafted to run a D&D game for a group of new players. We're getting close to running our zero session, probably by the end of this week. I have two players interested in elves, and a third that apparently likes to play healing classes whenever he plays MMO's. I'll lay out all the options and see if that changes come game day, but for now I'm going to run with the assumption that this will be the makeup of the party.

If so, it throws a small hiccup into my plan of using Lamentations of the Flame Princess as my base. 

In LotFP, only Fighters get an increase to their attack bonus as they level up. I actually think this is one of James Raggi's more inspired decisions. It clearly blocks off combat as a the sole specialty of the Fighter, which then encourages the group to work together. After all, you're going to need at least one character to get better at hitting things as the game progresses. Otherwise, your band of adventurers is going to have a very short career.

That said, as much as I admire Raggi's design choice, I'm not about to force a first-time player into a class they don't want. But one of the wonderful things about OSR games is the ability to mix and match them until you arrive at just the right combination.

So, my options:

Beef up the Cleric, making him more of a spell casting pseudo-Paladin. Or maybe just use the Basic Fantasy Roleplaying Game version of the class, which includes an increase to attack bonuses and turn undead as a class ability. 

Just go whole hog with Basic Fantasy Roleplaying, and separate Race and Class altogether. This gives the added bonus of allowing someone to play an elven thief, so there's some skill variation between the two.

However I do it, I'm still planning to use the LotFP encumbrance system, as well as swapping out the Specialist class for the Thief. I also plan to keep the D6-based skill check system.  

Anyway, I'm rambling a bit here. The main thrust of this post is about a weird feature of Old-school D&D, and just how I'm planning to introduce it to a bunch of new players.

That's right. I'm talking about Vancian Magic.

I'll admit, I absolutely hated Vancian magic back in the day. I could never wrap my head around the "fire and forget" nature of the spells. How could a character spend hours studying a spell each day, only to forget it once it was cast?

It never made sense to me, and when I ran my games I used a house-ruled "mana" system instead. Granted, now that I've actually read some Jack Vance, my opinion on the matter has changed. And as in so many things, context is everything. 

Part of the problem is that none of the more experienced guys in my old D&D group ever ran magic as anything other than a character's superpower. In every campaign, spells were widely known. You got access to spells automatically at new levels (no studying or finding a mentor), and there were mid-to-high level mages operating public shops in every jerkwater little village. Before every adventure, we could buy magic items, potions, and scrolls to our heart's content. I distinctly recall abandoning +1 Magic Swords when we found them on certain adventures, because they weren't even worth the effort of bringing them back to town to sell.

Compare that to this passage from Vance's The Dying Earth:

"At one time a thousand or more runes, spells, incantations, curses, and sorceries had been known. The reach of Grand Motholam—Ascolais, the Ide of Kauchique, Almery to the South, the Land of the Falling Wall to the East—swarmed with sorcerers of every description, of whom the chief was the Arch-Necromancer Phandaal. A hundred spells Phandaal personally had formulated—though rumor said that demons whispered at his ear when he wrought magic. Ponticella the Pious, then ruler of Grand Motholam, put Phandaal to torment, and after a terrible night, he killed Phandaal and outlawed sorcery throughout the land. The wizards of Grand Motholam fled like beetles under strong light; the lore was dispersed and forgotten, until now, at this dim time, with the sun dark, wilderness obscuring Ascolais, and the white city Kaiin half in ruins, only a few more than a hundred spells remained to the knowledge of man. Of these, Mazirian had access to seventy-three, and gradually, by stratagem and negotiation, was securing the others.

"Mazirian made a selection from his books and with great effort, forced five spells upon his brain: Phandaal's Gyrator, Felojun's Second Hypnotic Spell, The Excellent Prismatic Spray, The Charm of Untiring Nourishment, and the Spell of the Omnipresent Sphere. This accomplished, Mazirian drank wine and retired to his couch."    

In Vance's work, magic is mysterious, ancient, and virtually forgotten. Less than a tenth of the spells once known to humanity are left. Powerful wizards hoard them in hopes of getting one up on their rivals. Magic is the currency of power in this world, and great effort is spent to seek it out.

Furthermore, the spells themselves aren't passive. Mazirian has to force them into his brain. Once there, the syllables and symbols struggle to escape his consciousness. Casting a spell in these stories isn't so much a matter of reciting words as it is releasing a chaotic force, one the magician is just barely holding in check.

In this context, D&D's default "fire and forget" magic system makes sense. And while I can see why alternative spell systems are popular (like Sorcerers from the 3.X and later editions), there's a kind of pulpy weirdness to the Vancian method I really like.

As for introducing it to the players, I'm probably going to kill two birds with one stone here, once again taking some inspiration from Vance. I'm thinking about giving the party a mid-level Mage as their patron/employer. He'll pay them on a freelance basis for recovering bits of magic for him. He's looking for anything at all: half-torn scrolls, pages from spell books, items he can research. In his quest to re-discover lost spells, he's spent decades tracking down minuscule scraps of them to re-assemble like a jigsaw puzzle.

This also gives the PCs a specific reason to go dungeon delving, as well as reinforcing the overall mystery and rarity of magic. Plus it allows any magic-using PCs to have easy access to a mentor/teacher when it comes time to learn new spells.

Sure, the set up has the potential to be a little railroad-y. But also I think it can give the PC's a little bit of forward momentum, provided I let the adventures themselves evolve organically.

Hmm... I just might have to roll up a paranoid, power-hungry Wizard NPC along with the rest of the campaign splat. 

[mdrartz]

ML RPG AU: Side Characters

Nathaniel owns a small, rustic store in the city. It’s in the less fancier side of town because no one really needs his art supplies [but he sells magic ink and paper for any warlocks, wizards, and etc too].

Max is an apprentice scientist and alchemist [which is slowly on the rise]. Ms. Mendeliev is one of his teachers in the Magi College and is a well-known alchemist. Many have tried to bribe her for poisons - which she is also proficient at but those people have usually fallen ill to mysterious causes.

Sabrina: is a student at the Magi College - she mostly studies in magical artifacts as she doesn’t have much magic herself. She tried to leave with Chloe, but it is revealed that in the story later how Chloe convinced her to stay.

Alix and Kim are two city guards at the first small city Marinette and Adrien meet in. This issue drives the two out of the city. But it is later revealed that they took a bounty contract on the thief. This causes the group to run into them quite frequently, but the two guards never really try to catch them. Saying that this chase gives them a good break from the usual rabble. Also they believe that the lawmaster just wanted them out of there for a while. Almost every encounter is good natured. And there will be a point in time where they travel with the group for a small while. 

Mylene and Ivan own a blacksmith/armor shop together. Mylene is usually hard at work while Ivan tends the shop. It is mostly like this because Mylene is not very good with at sales and because a fair share of nobles mistake her for a halfing or a dwarf [even though she is taller than them]. Ivan’s size also intimidates their customers so they just usually pay asking price. He’s also more steady at holding his original price.

Rose and Juleka own a large, high class, magic gear, trinkets, weapons, potions, and perfume/incense shop. They both divide the work between them. And sometimes Juleka’s brother, Luka, is seen in the shop. He’s a famous bard, however, so he usually covers his head and face.

Lila is a well known and young mage commander of the Fallen Elven King’s army. She’s not really seen as a villain in her eyes. She has a deep dislike for humans, as she’s had bad experiences with them. And she has a venomous tongue when it comes to Marinette. I was thinking to put a past between the two, but I don’t know what. She’s a bit of a trickster.

Just to include them: Aurore and Mirielle are two rival mercenary companies. Kim and Alix end up getting released from the town guard and end up in these companies - separately. Friendly rivalry.

Mr. Damocles is the head mage at the Magi College. Miss Bustier is one of the teachers there.

Jean Duparc is a nobles son. He’s not really involved in the story. But he is usually found at the Magi College and a very high end school.

There is an Arena attached to a school of sorts. They usually train guardsmen, but on the rare occasion [or whoever lines their pockets with enough money] they will take other students. Mr. Armand D’Argencourt taught Adrien how to fight when he was younger. Kagami was also one of his students, and is one of the youngest Lawmasters in the city.

Mylene’s father, Mr. Fred Haprèle, is a bit of entrepreneur. He is with a traveling circus at the moment. He is actually the one who recommends his daughter to the group. The group took a circus contract/quest to send his daughter a letter. [I am only putting a circus cuse of critical rollle <3]

I still need to come up with a map. I want this story to involve two continents - not the whole world. There are other races such as dwarfs and etc but none of the main characters are such and they dont travel into those lands so I don’t need to dive into their culture and such too much. Just elves and humans - the relationship in between.

Marinette and the gang mostly travel between human cities, entering the elven kingdom/continent later in the story. So I probably don’t need to focus too much on elven laws and such. But the story involves the origins of the Elves...BLAH.

Anyways, if there ar emore characters that were added to the ML unviverse [background characters] I will add them to this list :D.

But there are several Magi colleges within the world so not all these people are clustered together. Rose. Juleka, Luka, and Nathaniel live in the capital of the human kingdom for example. While Mylene and Ivan live in one of the little towns the group passes through.

[tumblunni]

.

Man i was just thinking again about that idea i had for a cliche gijinka app card game where the gijinkas are all Interesting Bugs instead of weird sexy anime george washington.

I've kinda got quite attatched to my idea for a leech gijinka as a super cuddly white mage who just happens to look emo and scary. And they'd be a great opportunity for nonbinary representation cos in real life leeches don't have binary sexes anyway. But i cant decide between whether i want them to look like a full plague doctor mask thing or a more cliche cutesy nurse but theyre like super tall and look like the monster girl from the ring so they get sad that people always run away before they can help them! So then i was thinking "hey, alternate skins!" Not like in the other games ive played where there's always one canon skin and all the others require hours of grinding and/or real money to buy. But just that there's like three or so randomized versions of the base character with all the same stats but a different costume. Just to spice up the pool of options a bit! Or maybe it could even be more than just the costume and you can get entirely different reinterpretations of that job class? Like the medusa jellyfish could be either a young kid or a grandpa!

Oh and i'm not really sure how to name this or anything? Cos its not really a clear category of animals, its not all insects or all worms or whatever. More like just..all the animals that are unfairly hated but have Cool Biology Facts that i can babble at u to maybe make u like them more. So i dunno.. Pests? Creepy crawlies? Some entirely made up fantasy term for them?

Also i think the setting will definately be jrpg fantasy! Just a world where all these critters are actually funky people on a comedically bad D&D quest. I wonder who the villains could be tho? Maybe theyre gijinkas of more commonly loved cute animals? Or like.. Not gijinkas but monsterfied versions? Hilariously over the top evil fluffums! hamsters are this setting's dragons! And i dunno maybe the ultimate dark lord is a dog with a cat for a royal vizier or something, cos theyre the kings of popularity.

This could also make it actually make sense why the Clione character could be a beserker like in real life! Cos theyre the most un-hated rare sea slug for looking cute, but their actual personality is big scary predator. But in this universe being seen as cute by humans = evil, so the Clione's fighty doom personality would make perfect sense! Im not sure if i should make them like a tormented Shadow esque antihero or a paladin-looking knight who has a dark streak or maybe even a viking? Cos in videogames theyre like the epitome of 'loves fighting but is still a nice hugs guy'. And it'd be neat to have a chubby buff clione instead of the more cliche bishie gijinka. But then i mean theyre literally nicknamed 'sea angels' or 'sea fairies' depending on country so yeah? Oh or maybe that could mean i make them an elf or an angel but theyre still mega buff! Viking guy with lil chibi wings and halo!

Also randomly i think that Slug will be the other nonbinary character along with Leech. Cos well there's a lot of bugs who dont fit the human gender binary but i'd probably be a bit too obnoxious if i had like 90% enbies and noone else. I always think about like 'if this is my first game project i need to go at a small and reasonable pace with all the Big LGBT Feels', yknow? But then every idea i do is always my first game project cos ive never completed any of them yet XD

Anyway i think Slug would be a more fashionable bishie kind of androgenous character, while Leech is a relateable cuddly socially awkward one who wears a mask. But definately also looks stylish in their own way, and i'm sure Slug is always complimenting them and trying to bolster their spirits! Aside from being super fashionable i also think maybe Slug would be a wandering bard? Cos somehow slow animal -> lazy human -> free spirited instead to be less cliche -> bard. Also the whole 'bard rolls to seduce every boss' meme, lol! So Slug is a very nyeheheh tricksy flirty adventuring song person who aint take nobody's shit. Instead of being sleepy they sleep on the concept of low self confidence! Full and powerful pride at all times!!! Goal in life is to be beautiful AF and handsome AF and make everyone swoon at your feet and also recite an epic poetry so cool that your enemies straight up die from the sick burn. Tho i mean i don't think anyone could actually ACHIEVE that, lol! It might be obnoxious if i actually have a character who's basically 'enby people are literally perfect in all ways'. So i just think Slug is a big ol dork who's like the Gaston archetype of the comically overconfident flirt, but like a good and heroic version who actually respects when people say no to their advances. And is also a great BFF to Leech and tries to help them get out of their shell, because well of course Slug is out of theirs XD

Also actually i dunno whether they should all just be named after the animal or have thier own names but the animal is mentioned on their profile as a job class name or something? Cos it might get awkward once we get to more specific obscure bugs with longer names or ones who only really have a scientific genus name. I'd feel like i'd have to make them all wizards cos their names sound like spells! Oh MAYBE THEYRE SPELLS!! Like each character could chant their own scientific name when they use their ultimate attack??

Oh and maybe Slug and Leech could be just based on the species in general but have their alternate costumes themed after more specific rare subspecies? Like Slug could have nudibranch themed costumes cos the vibrant colours would fit such an elegant fashioniste~ And leech could just be an opportunity to talk about how there's subspecies of leech that dont drink blood, though this character is based on the ones that do because otherwise they wouldnt really have a unique job class, lol. Maybe their rarest alt costume is a fashionable orange ensemble that symbolizes both Slug taking them out for a night on the town in their finest to feel more comfortabke in their self confidence, and also just the fact there's an orange tropical leech. Its kinda funny cos there isnt such a huge range of different colours for leeches, its mostly just different barely visible patterns and a spectrum from greenish brown to brownish black, lol. And then suddenly a bunch of wildly different red and orange ones! And nothing in between! Really does seem like a surprise makeover from your bestie, yknow?

Oh and then when i was thinking about other potential relationships between different magic bug people, i thought of Daddy Longlegs! Cos thats a name confusingly given to multiple bugs of wildly different species who're all mistaken for spiders when they really arent. And this mythical nonexistant daddy longlegs spider also has the myth of having 'the strongest poison but its fangs are too short to bite you' which is COMPLETE nonsense based on nothibg cos how would it even survive in the wild if it cant hunt? But its a real cool myth so it could be an awesome excuse to make them have a move that gambles on either an instant kill or a self debuff. ALSO THEY ARE MARRIED

I was thinking they could be a duo of fabulous zorro-looking assassin dudes who were sent to assassinate each other but instead fell in love and quit the business for good. Like 'you made me want to live again, and the only reason i threw my life away on this job was cos i wanted to die'. And to atone for all the bad mercenary stuff theyd done in the past, now theyre robin hood esque mercenaries who take jobs with world-saving hero groups like our protagonists. And they work for free as long as the cause is just! And they wish they could settle down someday and dream about having children of their own, but they feel like they dont deserve it after all that theyve done. They'd be a rare goofy bugmans that actually have a real emotional backstory! So anyway they're fancy fencing guys who're both the same class but maybe slightly different variants with different stat builds or abilities? More specialized and all. Like maybe one is speedy but weaker and one is slower but stronger? Or one relies more on luck based attacks and one is a consistant damage dealer but has a lower max damage cap? Or even one is status effects and one is attack and really even though they have the same job name theyre wildly different interpretations of it. Fitting for the entomology mistake husbands! I want them to be balanced so that they have special bonuses together but are still viable to use separately if your party setup only requires one of them. Also randomly i think their names would be Albedo and Rubedo? I was originally gonna make Rubedo the name of the leech cos i mean alchemy words and plague masks and all. But then it doesnt really SOUND like an alchemy word, it sounds like a fancy handsome dancer name. And then i started thinking about the cute once-sad-now-happy young assassin dads fighting together so well that it looks like one big dance between them, rather than a battle. And i got REAL EMOTIONAL over goddamn bug gijinkas! Man my heart is made of paper and mush!! Oh and maybe they have combo attacks together but also with all of the party members that are younger? Like special dad instinct combo! A built in ability that they automatically shield the kids from enemy attacks. YOU HIRED A MERCENARY BUT YOU RECEIVED A NICE MARRIED COUPLE WHO PROMPTLY ADOPT YOU. Oh and maybe their alternate costumes could just be each other's costumes? Like they'd already be wearing matching red and white versions of the same thing, but then albino dad wears ginger dad's version and vice versa. Or maybe their alt costumes are different complimentary colour pairs like black and gold or blue and pink? And maybe their ultra rare special costume is Big Cute Dorky Argyle Dad Sweaters! It must be capitalized cos it is IMPORTANT!

Oh and then i was also thinking about the idea i had before of bugs with a queen hive structure being like the workers are the common unit and the breeders and queens and such are rarer variants? But the workers are the only ones actually good in a fight, the others are just for collectables sake. Rare but useless, just like how the real queen bee is so big that she cant leave the hive, and never figjts a day in her life unless the kingdom has already fallen. So maybe queen bee is still unlockable as a rare character but she's just a support that makes worker bee stronger? Like you get a lil event of worker's boss coming to honor her with a knighthood for her good service, allowing her to upgrade her job class. Tho i think she still fights with construction work equipment, now its just like a golden jewelled shovel XD

[sweetmemories2606]

Gruvia Week Day 7

Here's day 7: "You're mine". Or, in this case, "I'm Yours".

It had been 2 months since Gray and Juvia got together on that wonderful Christmas Night. After their friends found out that the two of them were dating through the Sorcerer Weekly edition, things were crazy for a while. They had to deal with people constantly staring at them and teasing, which Gray truly hated. He hated being the center of attention, but it couldn't be helped when you were in the cover of the most popular magazine for wizards.

Thankfully, only a week after the article about his and Juvia's relationship came out, Master Makarov announced that the S-Class Trial would he holding place. So he was able to escape from the world for a while as they went to Tenrou Island to have the trial.

Juvia had been disappointed that he chose Loke as his partner, going as far as trying to get out of the trial since she didn't want to fight against him, but Lisanna convinced her to do it. Gray was glad that she had found good friends apart from him; sometimes he worried when she spent too much time with only him. But she also had Lucy, Erza and Levy; so it was fine.

While they were having the trial, a dark guild showed up out of no where; looking for Zeref. More craziness ensured as Fairy Tail and Grimoire Heart engaged in an exhausting battle, with the former being the victor, of course.

Along that battle, Gray found himself transported to a painful past as he met Ur's daughter, Ultear. The woman tried to manipulate him into killing himself to save everyone from Grimoire Heart's master, Hades, but he didn't believe her. He knew a liar when he saw one and it was proved when he found her a few minutes later.

To say he was angry was an understatement; Gray didn't take it lightly when people hurt his friends, but for Juvia to be almost killed by Ultear had him truly losing his mind. He was quick to save her and was relieved to know that, aside from a few injures, she was overall okay.

The couple took some time to promise each other to be careful and stay safe before they initiated their plan to stop Grimoire Heart together. While Juvia ran after Meredy, who escaped with Zeref, he stayed to fight against Ultear.

In the end he learned that she was nothing more than a broken soul who was used by the darkness, just like Erza's friend Jellal and Juvia herself back when she used to be a member of Phantom Lord. Later Ultear told him that she believed her mother had abandoned her, and that was enough to push Gray to forgive her. He knew what it was like to lose someone you loved, to have them abandon you even tough Ur didn't actually leave her daughter.

Once the battle against Grimoire Heart was over, Fairy Tail reunited on their makeshift camp to heal wounds and discuss their next course of action. Gray and Juvia filled each other on everything that had happened since they had been separated and he was surprised to learn about Meredy's sensory link and how she tried to kill them both.

That day, all those feelings of doubt and fear came back and he wondered if it had been the right choice to date Juvia. But he kew better by then, so he quickly reassured himself that they were both fine and nothing bad would happen to them. Because the fears wouldn't go away so easily, he made Juvia promise him to be careful and not leave him.

Their reunion was short lived as Acnologia suddenly showed up on the island. Fairy Tal gave it their all in the fight against the black dragon, but it was no use. It was a miracle that they managed to survive, but still, seven years passed. More precisely, they lost seven years.

When they finally left Tenrou Island, they were greeted by a whole new world. Their friends had grown older, gotten married and some even had children. It was hard to get used to it, but they had time.

About 2 weeks after their return, they learned of the Grand Magic Games. Natsu and Erza were quick to decide that they should participate, so that's why Gray found himself on Aukani Resort with his best friends and girlfriend as they trained for the event.

Everything was going okay; he had a great time training with Juvia and spending time with his friends. Until an unexpected encounter threatened to tear their relationship apart.

Juvia was happy; she truly was. Her dreams of dating Gray had come true, so she didn't have any reasons to complain. The two of them had become inseparable ever since that wonderful Christmas night and, after what happened on Tenrou Island, she felt like she could trust him completely with her heart. He had given her his, after all; and the fact Meredy managed to link them proved that really did he love her.

The problem was, she still wasn't sure. She didn't even know what it was, but something didn't feel absolutely right. She guessed it must be because every relationship she ever had, with the exception of Gajeel, had ended disastrously. So it was hard to believe this one would work out, even though it had gone so well over the past few weeks.

No one would suspect that behind her cheerful and positive outlook on life, there was great fear. After all, ever since joining Fairy Tail, she'd tried her best to move on from the gloomy Phantom Lord Juvia, but it wasn't that easy. The same fears and doubts that haunted her back then still came sometimes.

She worried that Gray was going to leave her someday, just like they all had. Her parents, the few friends she managed to make at the orphanage, Bora. They all promised to be with her, yet they all left someday. No wonder Juvia had trust issues.

No one saw that, though, cause she kept it to herself. She didn't let anyone else see how broken and afraid she truly was. She told herself over and over again that she could trust Fairy Tail, they were her friends, no, family. And she did, with her heart. But still, the doubt remained.

Did they really love her for who she was? Did they ever truly forgive her for what she did as a Phantom Lord member? Or were they just leading her along, letting her believe everything was fine only so that they could betray her like all the others?

She was scared. Of being alone, of returning to the gloomy person who was constantly haunted by the rain. Scared of losing the only friends she managed to make, of losing him, the love of her life. She was terrified that he'd give up on her someday, walk away and never return.

After what happened on Tenrou Island, she had actually expected him to do so. She had hated herself for putting him in danger, for risking his life. Once the sensory link was undone and he was finally safe, Juvia had wondered if perhaps she should let him go.

He had almost died, because of her. He was clearly not safe around her and the last thing she wanted was to lose him. So she thought, maybe it'd be best if he was far away from her. Maybe it'd be best if she left Fairy Tail, if she left him behind so that he'd be safe.

Thankfully, Gray had showed up not long after and he had been heartbroken at the thought of losing her. He had made her promise never to leave him, and her heart was filled with happiness. He wanted her by his side, he loved her.

And Juvia knew then; love was far stronger than anything that tried to come between them. It was stronger than Meredy's sensory link, stronger than the sword that almost killed her and stronger than her fears. So she allowed herself to be with him, to be happy by his side.

Despite all the craziness that happened next, with Acnologia and then the seven years they missed, she was okay. Until now.

Juvia stood in the middle of the hotel's bar, where he had agreed to meet her so that they could share a drink and have some private time. Even though it was great being surrounded by their friends, sometimes the couple just wanted to be alone. So they took this opportunity since the girls were at the springs while the boys were at the beach.

It was supposed to be their night, but there Gray was, sitting at the bar and talking to some unknown woman. Juvia couldn't see her face, only her long dark hair, but judging by the fact she was with HER boyfriend, having a drink and making him laugh, the water mage hated her already.

So she just stood there, clad in the long red dress that Lucy had chosen for her, a pair of heels she normally wouldn't be caught dead in and her long blue hair cascading in waves over her bare shoulders.

She'd taken her time getting ready with the girls' help; they seemed to believe this would be a special night for the couple and she'd blushed at their implications that their first time would occur then. If only they knew when that had actually happened, they'd never let her live it down.

She was broken out of her thoughts by Gray's loud laughter and her heart constricted in fear. He looked so happy to see this woman, whoever she was. Why couldn't she bring that reaction out of him? She was his girlfriend for Mavis' sake! And yet he never laughed like that when they were together.

Juvia sighed; perhaps it'd be best if she left. Even though they'd agreed to meet there, he was clearly having fun with the strange woman, so she shouldn't interfere. After taking one last longing look at them, she turned around and walked away, missing the moment Gray spotted her and his eyes widened.

"Shit!" Ultear stared at him in confusion. They'd been talking about Ur, reminiscing about good times shared with her mother.

"Is something wrong, Gray?" She raised a brow, confused by his reaction.

"Juvia's here." He replied, placing his drink on the counter.

"Oh." She started feeling guilty; having no idea that his girlfriend would be there. He had agreed to meet her there after she sent him the letter, so it was unclear why Juvia would be there. Most importantly, why he'd worry that she was there.

"I completely forgot to tell her that I'd be meeting you." Gray explained, standing up.

"So you think she's upset with you?" Ultear understood; the poor water mage probably thought that he'd ditched her.

"She couldn't see you face from there." He said; ignoring her as his face paled. "Shit! She probably thinks that I'm cheating on her or something!" He started panicking, mumbling to himself until Ultear placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Then what are you waiting for? Go after her!" He nodded wordlessly before darting in the direction Juvia had gone to. Ultear watched him go with a knowing smile, happy that he had someone who loved him. He deserved that.

"Juvia!" She had just exited the restaurant and stepped into the beach when she heard it. The voice was unmistakable and her heart started beating faster, but she kept going, not wanting to face him yet.

"Damn, she's really mad at me." Gray muttered; seeing as she only increased her pace.

"Why does he keep coming after me? Doesn't he see that I don't want to talk to him now?" Juvia whispered after she turned around, only to see he was still tailing after her.

"Juvia, stop running. Please!" He screamed, but she kept going. The last thing she wanted now was to hear whatever he had to say. She was so scared; every doubt and fear she ever had overwhelming her.

So lost in her thoughts as she was, she failed to see the huge tree in the middle of the path they were following.

"Ouch." Juvia stepped away from the tree, a hand pressing against her aching forehead. Gray let out a relieved sigh now that she had finally stopped running.

"Are you okay?" She didn't turn around, so he approached her slowly.

"What do you want?" He was surprised by the harshness of her tone, but then reminded himself that she had every right to lash out. She thought he was cheating, after all.

"I just wanted to talk." He softly touched her shoulder, not surprised when she pulled away.

"I don't want to talk to you." In the back of her mind, Juvia wondered if perhaps she was overreacting. But then she remembered that Bora had cheated on her countless times and she'd always ignored it.

"I'm sorry, okay? I completely forgot to tell you that she was coming." She turned around this time, only because she was confused by his choice of words.

"So you were going to tell me?" She didn't know whether that made it better or worse, but guessed if she'd known that he'd meet someone else, she wouldn't react like this.

"Of course. Ultear just sent that message so suddenly that I…" She interrupted him, eyes wide.

"Wait, Ultear?" Juvia knew exactly who that was; she'd met with the time mage a few times after their return from Tenrou Island.

"Yeah. I'm not cheating on you, Juvia." He approached her once again, relieved that she didn't move away. "I'd never do that." She was relieved to learn it was his somewhat sister that he'd been meeting, but still, the doubt remained.

"Bora also said that." The words left her lips before she could stop them. She knew Gray didn't like discussing her ex-boyfriend.

"I'm not Bora." He firmly said.

"I'm sorry. I just… I have doubts." He raised a brow, confused.

"You do?" She'd always appeared so sure when it came to their relationship.

"Sometimes, I fear that you're going to leave me." She admitted at last, sighing heavily.

"That's not going to happen." He told her, determined. "I promised you, didn't I?"

"Yes, but so did my parents and Bora. They all broke their promises." For the first time since they had met, Juvia allowed him to see her fears. She removed her mask of confidence and certainty, laying out her broken heart in front of him.

Gray sighed, understanding her. He'd the same fears and doubts over the course of their relationship, but he'd allowed his feeling for her to overshadow that. It had never crossed his mind that she might've also needed to convince herself that love was stronger than her fears.

"Why didn't you tell me about this, Juvia? " Tears were brimming in the corner of her eyes, but she held them back.

"I'm sorry. I guess I've been so used to keeping these negative emotions to myself that I never thought of sharing it." He shook his head.

"You don't have to do that. We're a team, you and I, so you can trust me." She sniffed before nodding.

"Okay." Seeing as some unsureness remained, Gray closed the distance between them before wrapping his arms around her.

"You don't have to worry about me leaving you or finding someone else, okay?" He brought her closer while dark eyes stared determinately into blue ones.

"I'm yours. No matter what anyone says, remember that." A small smile came upon her face.

"You're mine?" It sounded strange, but she liked it.

"Yep. And you're mine." And Gray Fullbuster never let anyone take away what was his.

"Yes, I am. I love you." She told him while her arms encircled his neck.

"I love you too." Gray smiled brightly before leaning in. It wasn't the first time he said those words, but every time it brought him a mix or fear and happiness. For so long he had believed that he'd never say it again, but Juvia showed him it was okay to let go.

They leaned in for a passionate kiss as his hands roamed over her body until reaching her legs, which he lifted and wrapped around his waist before walking towards the tree and pressing her against it. She let out a small groan as her head hit it once again, but it was quickly forgotten as his lips moved down to her neck. He began kissing down until her exposed cleavage while her fingers tightened on his hair.

"Get a room, you two." The shout made the couple pull apart and their eyes widened upon spotting the rest of their friends standing there.

Gray removed his head from her chest before carefully putting her back on the ground. Turning around to face his friends, he kept an arm casually wrapped around her shoulder while both blushed.

"Maybe we will." He replied, smirking once Lucy and Erza's eyes widened.

"We'll be going now." Juvia said before dragging him by the hand as they quickly escaped everyone's teasing looks.

A few hours later, as she watched him sleep while tracing circles on his naked chest, she was finally sure. Gray really did love her. He had more than proved that, so she had no reason to doubt anymore.

What did you think?

Now that the week's over, I'll take my time reading all the amazing works people have made for Gruvia Week.

Can't wait to see what you guys have come up with.