#because I have the best blizzard artifacts

[blood-orange-juice]

Other domains: EM? EM? Dendro damage?

That one domain where I need EM or Dendro damage: Defense? Hydro DMG? Anemo DMG?

I KNOW RIGHT

same with domains where I need def

[rubys-domain]

it took for-fucking-ever to get a marechaussee atk sands. but i finally got one. after countless useless artifacts. at least i got a lot of fodder i guess

[instarsandcrime]

Under the Weather

Oh my God @rosieknows you put me up to a really fun challenge!! Vo/x and A/la/stor are the two characters that are the hardest to write for me. But I really enjoyed this and it took so long because it became. Almost 7 pages???? It's a bit long and wordy but I hope you enjoy it, and that it matched what you wanted as a request!

Song near the end is Lady Luck by Ted Lewis and His Band from the musical "Show of Shows".

Thank you so much for your patience, and I hope you enjoy!

---

Alastor would not call himself a reckless man.

He prided himself on his calculations, his patience, and a dash of eloquence for good measure. After all, you can't slice your game without a well-sharpened cleaver.

But if there was one thing The Radio Demon lacked, his one Achilles Heel, was the eye of Lady Luck. Today, for instance. All it took was her flick of the wrist and a winter blizzard had all but ended him. He trudged through the snow, steaming breath hot on his face as it carried on the wind. Without an audience to speak of, and a lack of energy to even hide his misery, he rubbed at a raw nose that wrinkled against the cold.

Sadly, his near-frozen fingers did little to ease what came next.

“Hgg’tshzzzt! Het’tchzzzzt!” He wrenched out, stumbling...somewhere. Strange, he seemed to forget where his path went. His mind began to frost over as a sudden dizziness overtook him from reaching…reaching…where…where was he going again? His snowflake-laden eyelids drooped, swaying on his feet as his impromptu nap was rudely interrupted with a stinging itch that didn’t seem to quit. He wrapped his arms around himself. Image be damned, there was no one around and he was determined to keep his warmth. He was absolutely not going to...t-to...!

“Het’TSSZZZEW! Oh, fuhh..for God's sa-sakeET’SHHHZ̴̠͕͝Z̵̢̛͓̅͛Z̷͈̈́̄̕T̶̢̛̲͇̫͊͛͐̈́!̸̱̟̰̝̗̃” He gasped for air, barely catching himself on his cane. Of course there was nothing more he could do, could he? He was all but reduced to a walking shell. There was no path. There was no opportunity. There was no plan.

“Well, well, well! If it isn't Hell's most ancient artifact!” The ghost of a memory lit through the fog that was just about to swallow him whole. He would be more grateful, if said ghost wasn’t the most annoying burr that dared to attach itself to him every chance it got.

So in the face of his prey he did what he did best: straighten his spine, tug on his lapels, and flash Vox a smile. Despite the fact that its edges were already wearing at the seams. Despite the fact that he felt his face tingle with a rising heat. Despite the fact that, no matter how hard he tried, his nose just wouldn't. Stop. Streaming.

“Aw, what’s the matter? Can’t take a little water? Is the ol’ machinery finally rusting over?”

“I'm ahh-- afraid I don't know what...what you mean.” Alastor cleared his throat to stifle a cough, uncomfortably aware that it did little to hide the rasp in his voice. He quickly pulled his handkerchief from his breast pocket to stall the mess, cringing as its soaked fabric bit the tip, flickering tickle building to a dizzying roar.

“Oh come on! Have you looked in a mirror lately? You look even older than you usually...do...” Vox’s sharp grin fell, screen flickering lightly as he leaned in closer. And for a brief moment, Alastor too was stunned to see the reflection that stared back. His shivering frame rocked his entire body, forcing it to wilt as pathetically as the ears that once stuck straight up. His nose was not unlike the color of his suit, feverishly flushed and twitching madly as he slowly lost the battle against an itch that never seemed to...to...!

“Hgg'tshhhew! Hih-Hegg’tshhhhew!” He let out another desperate set, and Vox yelped as he stumbled back.

“Jesus, fuck! Watch where you're pointing that thing!”

“Well maybe if you weren't in my way you w-wouldn't…h-hhheh..! HeT̴̗͓̱͘̕͜S̵̮͚̽́C̵̼̱̠͎͓̀̊H̴͎̬͓͎͓̋́Ź̸̧̩̺��̝͗̒͠Z̸͔̟͖̒̑͘ͅŹ̸͍͚̝̊̍T̸͔̔̽͌!̷̢̰̯̳́̀̉͒!“

Unable to safely trust his sensitive skin with the handkerchief he carried, he helplessly sneezed into the crook of his collar-- to no avail as the obvious happened and panic began to set in. He could only mourn his sloppy state of mind as he doubled over again.

“Het'tschhh! Het’shh! ‘Tschhh! ‘Tschh’HEW!” Alastor could feel himself lose control of his body. A blur of tentacles broke through the snow, writhing and curling in agony. And though the street was blurred with irritated tears and overwhelming vertigo, he swore he could feel unseen eyes crawl up his back. Examining him on a butcher’s block, sharpened cleavers waiting for the right angle to slice.

“Stop it. S-stop-- kaff! stop looking at me! All…all of you...” Alastor protested through slurring words. 

“There’s...uh. There’s nobody here.” Vox answered.

And all too suddenly the audience grew quieter, satiated– a fever dream that nearly willed itself into existence. But it didn’t matter. All The Radio Demon could do was fall limp into the snow like a ragdoll, landing with a sickening crunch, a sudden gasp responding in kind. If Alastor had the energy to laugh, he would. An all-powerful Overlord reduced to a useless toy. For once, Vox had The Radio Demon in his hands. He had the power to end his life. A limp ear twitched when Vox made the first move. The mounds of ice beneath him shifted. His opponent was thinking. Most likely deciding on how to kill him, or worse. A sharp row of claws slipped to his waist and...

...gently uprighted him, slinging one arm over his savior's neck. Then pulled close, fans whirring to life and soaking the android's wool suit like a soft bedwarmer.

And as two sets of foosteps picked up again, Vox grumbled out an irritable, “You're a fucking idiot.”

For the first time in his afterlife, Alastor couldn't help but agree.

The rest of the walk was a passing blur. By the time Alastor's eyes had opened and awareness returned, the ice between his bones had thawed under layers of blankets— though the ache between his eyes wasn’t quite as settled. He reached to massage the bridge of his nose, mortified to find that it was still horribly sensitive. He clenched his teeth and tried to will the sneeze back–

“Seriously? Again? Come on, it’s not like we’re on air.”

– as Vox continued to examine him, luck still run dry. He sat opposite on an identical couch, leaning over the coffee table between them.

“Why were you out in a storm.” He narrowed his eyes.

“I see no need to dihh...!" Don't you dare! "Di- snfff! dihh-! ...hhh...d-discuss my mundane shopping excursions.” Alastor breathed out, hiding a sigh of relief as the budding tickle subsided.

“Ouch! You have to be feeling like shit if your lies are this bad.”

“And why would I bother concealing the answer to such a ridiculous question? Are you really interested in my everyday activities? My, your obsession for me must run deep.”

A spark popped from Vox’s antennae. “Will you shut up and take this seriously?! I'm trying to interrogate you!”

Alastor hummed, unimpressed as his dulled eyes swept the room. Garish pink and gold wallpaper rudely invaded his vision, wallpaper and furniture alike littered with disgustingly gaudy hearts. And to add insult to injury, the hideous decor touted posters of a familiar Overlord's sex workers. The most famous front and center, proudly rubbing a quote on quote “sexy as fuck” smirk in his face. Well. At the very least, The Radio Demon respected his attempts to make that miserable masquerade of a smile real.

But still.

Eugh.

“You really must choose a more intimidating cell for your next victim. Unless you mean to torture me with sparkles and hearts.” Technical clockwork whirred irritably, flickering screen brightening at the center, not unlike a flustered blush. Alastor's smug grin widened. Pushing himself up on a couch that smelled of smoke and cheap cologne, he grabbed the cane leaning against an armrest, clutching the handle with a death grip. “Now if you'll excuse me, I-- kff kfff! I must be going. I can only entertain your antics for so long."

"Whoa, hey, wait! Don't you dare--"

The second Alastor stood his body swayed, caught in another wave of dizziness. He was pulled in all directions, pitching down down down-- and into Vox's arms.

“The fuck! I saved you from a double death, the least you can do is listen to me!” He spat.

“Oh? And why should I do that?” Alastor huffed. He couldn't help but feel humiliation return at the way he was cradled– cradled– bridal style. Slipped back into the makeshift bed, Vox motioned to the wall wordlessly. Slowly, carefully, Alastor followed suit, paling at the garish sight of his shadow. Its form dripped heavily like ink, clutching its chest and swaying dangerously. Its ears pinned to its skull, stomach heaving once. Twice. Until the tickle that still lingered brushed just under Alastor's nostrils and he found the damn thing mirroring his every feeling, physical or otherwise. He cursed, instinctively reaching for the ruined handkerchief in his breast pocket— when a box of tissues was unceremoniously shoved under the crook of his arm.

“There. There's your fucking reason. Now stay. Down.” Vox hissed through gritted teeth.

And through a string of curses, Alastor ripped two— three— five tissues from the box, bringing it to his nose. “Het’kshhh!! Het’kschhhzzt! Hehh…hekt-! Het’KSCHHHZZT!!”

His lungs finally gave out, collapsing back into the cushions with a hacking cough, wincing in pain.

“Y'see?” Vox snapped, “You suck at not dying but you keep tempting it anyway! How the fuck am I supposed to keep my viewers entertained if you keep doing that?!”

“Doi'g– kff! ...what? ETCHHḤ̵̡̰̣͌̽Z̶̧̠̙̍Ẕ̶̼̱̬̆Ź̵̦T̵̢̳̅͌̊̓!” Alastor wheezed out, blowing his nose. Dignification be damned, he was already saved by this walking, talking eyesore. He didn't expect to sink any lower. “I-- Snff! Ugh, pardon me-- I don't follow.”

“That!” Vox gestured wildly, “That whole ego shit you've got goin' on!”

Alastor opened his mouth to question when a palm pressed to his head. All words died in his throat, and the world came to a standstill, claws blaring with each mechanical beep.

"...102.4." Vox decided, "Ugh, no wonder you're dizzy. Your body's probably running on empty and…uh."

He faltered when he met Alastor’s face– eyelids fluttered closed, ears drooped. He pressed further into the cool, metallic palm, entirely hypnotized. Involuntarily peace only lasting a moment before he stepped back at the sudden telltale twitch of his patient’s nose.

"Et’schhhzzt! Heh-eh-S̵͇̓̀͜C̶̮̻̉H̸̗̃Z̵̛͎͋Z̶̮̖̀͋Z̴͍͎͝Z̷̬̼̀T̷͕̦̓!" He pitched forward, the reluctant caretaker yelping as he barely dodged another wild, uncontrollable circle of tentacles. Shivering, frost laced Alastor’s breath as the lights in the room flickered and darkened– only for a moment as he felt the weight of a comforter. He sunk into the sudden warmth, shadowy whips snaking under the floorboards and disappearing entirely.

"Look, just. Let’s call whatever this is a truce, okay?" An onyx-tipped ear twitched in response from under the hem of the covers. Suddenly, a piercing whistle broke through the darkness. When he opened his eyes time had apparently passed, and Vox was hovering over him with a mug of tea-- and of course it was the Fuck Alastor mug.

"How charming." He sighed, feeling the heat of the ceramic between his claws, relishing the steam that loosened his slowly growing headache. Taking another tissue, he pressed it to his nose to keep from sniffling back the loose congestion that threatened to drip.

"I can see why you wanted to sponsor that broken down shack of a hotel. You're all so weak it's sad--"

"Rosie's."

Vox blinked, "...What?"

"Let me be perfectly clear: I'm only giving you what you want so you will finally stop screeching at me." Alastor muffled in cotton fabric. "I was going to Rosie's to..." His static-laced voice trailed off, as if testing the right words in his mouth. "...treat this bothersome illness."

Silence fell over the room. Vox stared like he had just burst into flames.

"I, uh. Oh." He stumbled over his own stuttering before readjusting himself, sharpening his smile and definitely not wiping the shock from his mind. "I-I mean Christ, about time!"

The Radio Demon narrowed his eyes, doing his best to focus and not somehow slip into unconsciousness while lying down. "I am simply doing this for my survival since you won't leave me to rest-- koff koff! Oh-- koff! Oh, dear." He mumbled, sipping the honey-laced drink to calm his throat. Surfacing with a soft hum to test his voice. "Besides, my death by illness is far less entertaining for you than viewed on those tacky picture boxes of yours."

And from the way you aren't broadcasting my suffering in the first place, your current motives are far more personal. He wanted to add. But didn't-- for his pounding headache, mostly. He wasn't interested in another childish tantrum complete with competitive singing. Instead he felt himself fade again, and allowed it. If not to see Vox's angry face one last time.

The next time Vox woke, the couch was empty.

Good. Finally rid of that smug ass face and stupid fuck ass bob, he rose to his feet, stretching his limbs and popping his spine for good measure— getting his synthetic nerves back in working order. Finally free of that walking malware, he could finally resume his work. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the empty mug resting on the nightstand. Well, it wouldn't hurt to check the balcony. Or the mini bar. And y'know, behind the TV. Just in case the dumbass decided to slink into the shadows.

And as he stepped up to the screen, the sudden blast of snowy static made him nearly leap out of his skin. A rapidly beating heart in his ears calmed, making way for a distant melody that played on the radio waves.

--Come on show me

Show me that you've got it

I wanna see that golden smile.

Oh Lady Luck, I knew, I knew you should

I knew I knew you would be good to me!--

Vox quickly flicked the remote with tightened fingers, an annoyed sigh breaking the short silence.

He really could never read that guy.

[yes-i-write-fanfiction]

Hello again!! Can I request headcanons again for young justice x female reader? The reader being John Constantine's apprentice? (the reader's powers are linked to magic such as invoking portals, stopping time, telepathy, telekinesis, etc.) Thank you in advance.

-Being Constantine's apprentice, you have a bit of an attitude. It's not your fault, honestly! It's just something you picked up after years of studying under the magician. Your first reaction to anything is a snarky comment that isn't always taken the right way. This, coupled with your stubborn nature and inexperience working with non-magic people, makes you a bit of an outcast when you first join Young Justice.

-Because of this, the first couple missions with the team is rough. They are a well oiled machine of cooperation and communication and your sudden addition makes it awkward, no one quite sure what to make of you. It doesn't help that whenever someone tries to talk to you, get closer, you immediately resort to sarcastic remarks that makes you seem distant and rude.

-The teams initial feelings about you aren't the best. Megan tries to be understanding and gentle but your snarky remarks leaves her feeling confused and slightly hurt. Do you not like her? Did she do something wrong? Because of this, Connor doesn't like you, finding you difficult to talk to.

-Wally gets on your nerves, with his one million questions and tendency to mess with your magical equipment. He likes to mess with you and make fun of magic, much to your annoyance. Dick keeps spying on you and questioning everything you do when you perform rituals, not cause he doesn't trust that you know what you're doing but because he feels like he needs to know too.

-Artemis and Kaldur are the most neutral. Kaldur tries to be a buffer when you and the team argue and doesn't really take any of your comments to heart. Artemis is mostly annoyed by Wally's insistence on antagonizing you and does her best to actually adapt to your addition to the team.

-The big break comes during a moment of downtime between missions. Wally is being his usual self, making some teasing remarks about stage magicians and rabbits in hats. Annoyed, you magic him a pair of bunny ears and a tail. Robin sees this and starts laughing like a mad man. Feeling mischievous, you do the same thing to Robin, except you give him cat ears and a tail instead. Now Wally is laughing and the rest of the team, attracted by the sound of laughter, gather around.

-Megan, amused and endeared by the sight, shapeshifts into a dog. Wanting to show off, you create an illusion of a dog. So she shifts into a bear. Now the illusion a bear. Rinse and repeat a couple times until you decide to one-up her by creating an illusion of a magical creature. Robin calls bullshit and says there's no way a creature like that exists, only for you to prove him wrong by showing him a picture of one of your phone (taking during one of your training missions with Constantine).

-You start telling them about other strange creatures you've seen, magical places you've been and supernatural beings you've met. The team listens attentively as, aside from the fact that you're Constantine's apprentice, they know nothing about you.

-After this, things slowly start to work out with the team. You grow closer, come to an understanding and you find yourself an actual place in Young Justice. After some time, you start to actually call them your friends.

-Congratulations! They would now die for you. And while you would never admit it, you would die for them too.

-As the resident magician, you are their go to person with anything mystical and/or supernatural. Some things are obvious like curses or artifacts but sometimes they approach you regarding the strangest things. Like if Mothman is real? Bigfoot? Really? Don't be silly Wally, he died in the blizzard of 96. They can never be certain if you're joking or not and you take delight in their confusion. Only Megan gets straight answers from you and that's because she tells you about Mars in return.

-Speaking of Megan, due to the fact that you can perform telepathy thanks to magic, you and her have most of your conversations in your minds. While yes, she can do so with anyone in the team, the fact that you can perform it on your own and initiate conversations is kinda a big deal. It reminds her of home.

-Wally still teases you but now when you tease back there's none of the malice that there used to be. He delights in your 'magic tricks' and loves it whenever you show off a new spell.

-The team learns about how Constantine sold his soul a couple of times and they held an intervention where they made you promise to never do that. Dick had a whole ass powerpoint presentation about the detriments of selling your soul. You made a joke about 'what if I have already done it?' and Kaldur looked so disappointed that you had to quickly backtrack and promise that you were just kidding.

-Thanks to your versatile set of spells, you have an easy time working with anyone in the team as you can quickly adapt to their powers and skills. This makes you highly valuable in both team missions and while working one-on-one with someone else.

-Not to mention that some of your spells are just hilarious.

-You hit Klarion with a spell that made him voicecrack and he got so embarrassed that he straight up went home. The team went hogwild and Robin actually bought ice cream cake in celebration afterwards.

-While you are a splendid magician, the team also trains you in combat, mostly unarmed. If, for some reason, your magical powers become unavailable to you, they want you to be able to defend yourself anyway. That's how you learned how to sword fight and how to throw a mean punch.

[the-greatest-magic-of-all]

Frightful Snow & Delightful Fire

○ fandom: fantasy high

○ main pairing: fabriz (fabian x riz)

○ characters: fabian | riz

○ genre/warnings: fluff and a bit of hurt/comfort

○ tags: Snowed In | Pining | Sharing a Bed | Post-Campaign 01 Season 02: Fantasy High Sophomore Year (Dimension 20) | Fabian Aramais Seacaster-centric | because Riz is out of commission for a lot of this | Fabian goes through the ringer baby! | Mentioned The Bad Kids (Dimension 20) | Fabian's Fire Elemental | In before Junior Year!

○ word count: 7,454

→ summary: Lost in a blizzard and separated from the rest of the party, Fabian does his best to keep Riz safe while trudging through snowbanks until he happens upon a lonely cottage...

○ note: y'all this was supposed to be short. I hope you enjoy it though!

White.

That’s all Fabian could see.

For miles and miles, all around, as he trudged through banks of snow across the mountainside despite the fall of night. In his mind, thoughts raced about, weaving in and out of the forefront of it like waves lapping at a shore.

Most were complaints and grievances over the chill seeping into his bones. The pieces of snow sneaked into his boots when one slipped deeper than expected into the heaps of snow. There was one thought that never left, though. That he kept repeating endlessly, like a broken record.

A prayer.

One to any deity that would listen.

To Cassandra.

To Helio or Sol.

Anyone.

A desperate plea for a sign, no matter how slight, that he was heading the right way.

He’d been sure of it back when he and Riz had first escaped the abyssal cultists’ sanctum. Stumbling out of a secret passage and into the harsh cold of an unforeseen blizzard, they’d only had seconds to decide before they either froze or got caught.

As thunderous, frosty winds buffeted their bodies and bellowed in their ears, they bickered about their next move. Seeing as splitting up hadn’t been the Bad Kids’ plan going in. But, then again, when had any of their plans ever gone off without a hitch? At least they’d had enough shrewdness to set a rendezvous point at The Last Boulder Inn in the Dwarven village they’d set out from last.

“We didn’t account for not being able to get to the rendezvous point, did we?” Riz yelled over the wind, clutching the artifact they’d stolen (An ancient tome of some kind, don’t ask him.) close to his chest, shielding it from the blizzard the best he could.

Faint shouts began to stir from the tunnel behind them, interrupting any quip Fabian could’ve shot back. Barkings of orders in Infernal—no, he’s heard The Hangman and Gorthalax speak it too many times—in Abyssal. And they were growing louder and louder despite the wind doing its best to drown them out. The cultists. Both of their eyes widened as they looked at the closed secret door, back at each other, and then all around.

Fabian soon realized that even at his height he couldn’t find any substantial path. So, he turned to Riz and said, “Get on my shoulders, see if you can spot a path or a-a cave or, or, or something!”

Passing off the tome to him, Riz scaled Fabian with practiced ease. Only thrown off slightly by the force of the winds, but he got up there nonetheless. The cultists’ cries of anger grew in volume in the panicked yet empty moments of searching.

“There!” Riz shouted from above, sticking out a gloved hand toward something Fabian couldn’t see. “There’s a cabin about a mile, maybe two away from here. We can make it. I know we can.”

“Well, you’re not making it anywhere. Take this,” Fabian shoved the tome back into Riz’s arms before he dropped to one knee. Slinging his backpack off of his shoulders. Zipping it open, he presented the open compartment to Riz. “And get in.”

Riz’s eyes went wide. “But—”

“In this sort of weather, the safest place for you and that book to be is in my backpack.” He said, desperation tinging what authority he tried to have in this moment. “The Ball, your tiny legs aren’t going to be able to keep up with me. Not in snow this deep and gales this strong. Get. In.”

Riz stared at the bag with a scowl before he let out a hiss and shoved his briefcase in the bag before getting in himself. “You’re heading due east, okay? Due. East. With all the ridges and slopes, it’s gonna feel like you’re going the wrong way but I promise you aren’t.” And a second before Fabian zipped it up after him, Riz poked his head out and said, “Oh, and remember—”

“Three pats on my bag if I’m going to open it because if I don’t you’ll shoot me.”

Riz grinned wide, his eyes sparkling. “Best Friends.”

“That’s quite enough out of you.” With a pointed zip of his bag, Fabian hauled his backpack onto his shoulders. Taking a deep breath, he took a glance at Riz’s compass, due northeast, before setting off.

That must’ve been an hour ago.

Maybe longer.

He’d lost sensation in his nose, ears, and cheeks about fifteen minutes in, which was a blessing in some ways. No longer having to endure how the blizzard’s winds whipped and lashed against them. Such strong gusts that a stray thought settled in the back of Fabian’s mind of clothes torn by icy currents and boots rent by frozen snow.

About twenty minutes in, his fingers had gone numb as well, even with his gloved hands. More of a bane than the others, he’d been shaking so badly that, at some point, he’d dropped Riz’s compass. But he couldn’t stop to look for it. He couldn’t stop at all. Because if he did, he wouldn’t start again and if he didn’t start moving again…

Well, best not to think too hard about it. All he had to do was keep moving in the direction Riz had told him to. He’d said there was a cabin, so there must be a cabin. Fabian just has to make it there.

So, he kept trudging. One step after another. Through the mountainside, half frozen, enduring Constitution saving throw after saving throw. Making each one by the skin of his teeth. He crossed his fingers that Riz was as successful as he, though he didn’t know many Rogues with high Constitution scores.

At that thought, he faltered in his strenuous stride. In the crook of two hills whose sides rose well above his head, blocking his vision from anything but the bright grey sky. He stopped. Yelling was a pointless thing to do in a blizzard as severe as this one turned out to be, but Fabian had no other choice. He wouldn’t risk slinging his bag off of his shoulder and opening it up.

One, because he’s semi-convinced that his backpack has frozen to his thick jacket and he couldn’t take it off even if he wanted to. And two, exposing Riz to this cold would certainly finish him off if the failed saving throws hadn’t.

Yelling it was then.

“The Ball?”

No response. He didn’t yell as loud as he could’ve. So, Fabian tried again.

“The Ball!”

The howling wind swirling around him seemed oh so much fiercer and vociferous in the absence of a response. Even faster than it had been beating already, Fabian’s heart picked up speed.

“Riz!” Fabian shouted behind him, his voice shaking. “Riz, talk to me!”

A beat of silence, of stillness. Not that of a calming lake or the morning after winter’s first snow but the silence and stillness of a long-dead corpse. Another beat. And another. It’s only when fear spiked in Fabian’s heart and he jolted his backpack around, trying to get it off, that Riz’s voice reached his ears. Barely making it over the wind.

“I’m fine,” Came Riz’s voice, muffled and weak. Fabian could almost cry at the sound of it. “Just keep going, I’m… fine. We’re almost there, right?”

“Of course, we are.” He lied, his proud voice ringing out into the night because what else could he have said? ‘No, he’s starting to think he’s been walking in circles and that they’re going to freeze to death in the Mountains of Chaos’. Don’t be stupid. “I can see the cottage now. We’ll be out of the cold in no time at all.”

“Told ya. K-knew you could do it.”

Oh.

An epiphany struck him like a well-packed snowball to the face.

He’d thought that if he stopped in all this frost and fury he’d never get himself moving again. But after that, how could he have ever not started moving again?

Gazing up the snowy hill before him, the steepest he’d encountered yet, he resettled Riz on his back, took a deep breath of sharp, frigid air, and set off once more.

Reinvigorated by Riz’s conviction in him, Fabian began climbing up the side of the icy hill. He caught himself several times, seconds before he slipped and fell. Wondering if this is what Kristen meant about all that “As Above, So Below” Cleric business. How her faith, even as a single mortal, was enough to revitalize an entire deity. Simply because she wholeheartedly, unshakably believed in them.

Cresting the hill’s peak, he found not only a plateauing terrain and a sparse grove of evergreens but also a dark, ramshackle, old cottage. As he took in the sight of a sanctuary, Fabian knew he would never underestimate the power of belief. Or perhaps he’d never underestimate the power of Riz Gukgak.

It took three good shoves to burst through the cottage’s frozen door and another to get to shut it again.

Slumped with his shoulder still pressed to the door, Fabian’s laboured pants echoed out in the quiet of the stone cottage. The howls and groans of the blizzard still rang in his ears despite how muted they sounded now. As he inhaled and exhaled ever-shaky breaths, his eyes scanned the place.

Dusty.

Everything in the cottage was covered in a thick layer of dust and dirt. In the center of the wall to his left was a sizable fireplace that looked like it hadn’t been lit in forever. A frightful-looking bed sat in the far corner. Made up of only a thin mattress, a threadbare blanket and a pillow. Which only left the tiny kitchen beside him on his right that spiders had long since colonized. Oh, and a crotchety chair that sat lonely at a rickety table next to it.

Whoever had lived here, had lived alone. But they didn’t anymore, live here that is. Not for many months, probably.

No pissed-off homeowners to run into then. A small blessing.

Alright. No rest for the wicked.

Pushing off of the door with a wince at his aching muscles, Fabian stalked toward the center of the cottage near the fireplace. Beginning the process of detaching his backpack from his back. As gently as he could, he placed his bag down next to the unlit hearth and collapsed into a heap beside it.

Giving the side of the bag the three pats required to signal safety to Riz, he buried his numb face in his numb hands and groaned.

“Ugh, remind me to never go mountaineering again, The Ball. Never again. I swear I had a more pleasurable time trekking through a literal Nightmare Forest than I just did through all that fucking snow. This book better be worth it or I solemnly swear to throw Adaine and her high Arcana checks off the nearest cliff. You hear me, The Ball! Off a very steep, very snowy cliff! Like to see her Portents save her from that. Ha-ha!”

The beat of silence that came after Fabian’s little rant stretched on for far longer than he thought it would. The acute quiet, well, disquieted him. Made his stomach churn and chest tighten. He had good reason to be anxious right now. They’d almost frozen to death in a blizzard and got separated from their friends. Oh, if the rest of the Bad Kids were here, perhaps this wouldn’t feel so bad.

“Do you think she and the others made it out alright? I mean, I have no doubt that Gorgug had those weird cultists handled with his axe and Kristen has all her anti-evil Cleric spells but… Adaine or Fig would’ve messaged one of us if something went really wrong, right? Of course. Of course, they would’ve. So if they haven’t that means they’re fine. Hopefully, all this blizzard shit will let up in the morning and we’ll all make it to that inn in one piece. If not…well, if not…”

Another beat of silence.

“The Ball? Isn’t this where you chime in with one of your numerous and lengthy backup plans?”

Fabian turned around and peered at his now unsettlingly still backpack. He called out again, “Riz?”

Crawling over to it, already flinching away just in case a stray bullet flew out, he hesitantly zipped his backpack open.

Fabian gasped.

Riz’s body trembled as his tail curled up around the tome. His eyes were closed tight while one hand gripped his gun, his fingers having long turned blue. Almost every inch of his visible soft green skin was tinged an icy blue, including his tightly wound tail. He’d failed nearly every Constitution saving throw, taking on exhaustion fivefold.

Worse yet, he’s still making them.

One more failure and he’d—

Fabian bolted to his feet, his heart racing once more.

How should he fix this? What could he do? He wasn’t a high enough level Bard yet to be able to cast Greater Restoration and even if he was, he could only feasibly remove a single level of exhaustion. If he couldn’t remove them… then the only thing to do was prevent Riz from getting his sixth and final level.

Steeling himself with a breath and a look at a freezing Riz, who always believed in him so fiercely, Fabian was prepared to do anything and everything to save him.

Quicker than he thought he could with sensationless fingers, he unbuttoned and ripped off his thick, fur jacket. Uncovering his battle sheet. Thanks to the carefully wrapped Elven silk, heated by his inner fire elemental, he’d been making all those Con saving throws with advantage. Riz needed it much more than he did right now.

Ignoring how the chill of the cottage raised goosebumps on his exposed arms and caused shivers down his spine, Fabian got to work. Scooping Riz out of the backpack and into his arms, he felt like a block of ice. And once Fabian pulled him closer, the soft chattering of teeth reached his ears. He didn’t have much time till the next saving throw arrived.

A precious moment or two was spent prying the thick tome and arquebus out of Riz’s hands. Fabian’s voice softened to a croon as he did, “Come on, Riz. I promise nothing bad will happen to them if you let go. Everything’s okay. You’re safe.”

Eventually, thankfully, Riz’s grip loosened enough to slip the two items out of it. Setting them aside, Fabian got to work unsheathing his Sword of Shadows and swathing Riz in his battle sheet. The motions had a strange familiarity to them.

Bringing him back to a moment of relief within a lengthy battle as rain poured down on them and he held an unconscious Riz in his arms. Just as he’s doing now. His face had been more relaxed back then, instead being tensed and scrunched up in distress. Though, as he finished wrapping him up, Riz’s furrowed eyebrows and curled lips eased as the sheet’s warmth sank into him.

Fabian had almost lost him that day too. Only time would tell if they’d be as fortunate as they were that day to cheat death once more. But, watching Riz sigh and nuzzle into the fabric of the sheet, his boyish charm making a heartening return to his face, their chances looked promising.

Now that he had a warming Riz in his arms, Fabian almost placed him back on the ground. Ready to get to work on a fire when a stray memory of one of Sandra Lynn’s survival lectures stopped him. Something about never sleeping on cold, bare ground. Glancing down at the grungy, creaky floorboards, his nose wrinkled. Yeah, no, he wouldn’t want to rest his sheet down there, let alone Riz.

With a bit of maneuvering, Fabian managed to keep Riz in his arms as he nudged their stuff away from the front of the fireplace and he dragged the ragged mattress from the bed to place it there instead. Giving the old thing a couple of hits to get the dust off of them. He only succeeded in sending whatever foul substance blanketing it into the air.

One coughing fit later, he laid Riz down on the mattress, resting his head on the worn pillow and covering him in the blanket. Which in practice seemed to be just the suggestion of one and provided almost no actual warmth.

Well, it’s the thought that counts.

Nodding once at the sight, he rose to his feet and set out to start a fire in the hearth. Or rather, convince his inner fire elemental to light some logs ablaze. Whatever you wanted to call it, it’s about to get real warm in here real quick. Rubbing his hands together with a tiny smirk, he glanced around the fireplace for logs to burn.

Strange.

There don’t appear to be any logs stacked near the fireplace’s rack. None under the bed. Or resting against the sides of the web-bedecked kitchen counters.

There don’t seem to be any logs… anywhere in the cottage.

Right, nobody has lived here for a long time.

No person. No logs. No fire.

Cool, cool, cool.

That’s fine.

Fabian just needs to… to…

To…

By the Seven Winds and Jane Wren’s blade, this is hopeless.

Look, Fabian has never ever claimed to be the Smart Bad Kid. Adaine and The Ball had that on lock! Not the wisest either, Kristen and, surprisingly, Gorgug could take that medal. And hell! Fig had enough wit and cleverness to sink a galleon.

Figuring stuff out, remembering and recalling information, none of that was Fabian’s job. His job was to deal stupid amounts of damage, prance about with his sheet dealing out bardics and imposing disadvantage when needed, and, finally, to look hot.

That’s about it.

His Intelligence and Wisdom checks have rarely gone well and even when they did, even when he oh so desperately wanted to be the smart one, he could never beat out his friends’ rolls. And, ultimately, he’s fine with it because that’s not his job.

But right now, it is.

And worse, he needs to be good at it.

So, he dug the heels of his palms into his eyes and tried to come up with a solution for his crisis.

There’s no firewood in the cottage. He needs to find some or else Riz will freeze to death. Where does one get firewood? If they were back in Solace, he’d assume that there was a hardware store, one that the Thistlesprings surely patronaged, that sold the stuff. But they’re deep in the Mountains of Chaos and the closest town is too far away to go just for firewood. The previous owner must’ve gotten it themself, which means that… that…

Wait.

A shed!

When he had booked it over to the cottage, he hadn’t paid it any mind, but there had been another structure attached to it. Surely, if the previous owner had to have cut down the trees themself, they would have needed somewhere to put all that lumber! Yes, yes, that’s it!

Throwing on his thick coat and his gloves, he checked on Riz one last time before venturing back into the blizzard. He wasn’t quite the ice block he’d been before, but he was still much too cold for his liking. Ruffling Riz’s wild mane of waves and tucking him a little tighter in the sheet, Fabian went to search for firewood.

As he stepped out, all at once, every ounce of cold he’d shaken off once he stumbled into the cottage returned. Tenfold even, now that he didn’t have his battle sheet to keep him warm. It was like walking straight into a brick wall of frost and harsh winds. None of that discouraged him, though.

Raising a hand to block what little he could of the storm from his face, he trudged through the compounding snow. A gloved hand followed the rough stone exterior walls around the length of the cottage. Until he turned the corner and saw it. The shed wasn’t that big, which is likely why he discredited it at first glance, but it was plenty big enough to hold lumber.

Like the cottage’s front door, it took a few good jerks to yank one of the shed’s double doors open and shut, but only halfway. It would have to do, he wasn’t planning on staying long. Wrapping his arms around himself to preserve what little warmth he had left, Fabian hummed an old sea shanty as he did a once-over of the shed.

Good news: Amongst the lingering dirt and dust, sat bags of kindling and heaps of hefty logs were stacked on a sturdy, metal rack. More than enough for the night they’d be spending here.

Bad news: None of the logs lined up along the wall had been chopped small enough to fit in the fireplace. Fabian didn’t know a lot about survival tactics but all the logs he’d ever seen used in fireplaces were chopped into quarters or eighths. Not one big log.

Promising news: There’s a perfectly good axe nearby to chop those logs into the smaller pieces he needed.

Horrifying news: It’s clutched in the hands of a corpse.

Collapsed in a corner of the shed was what he could only assume was the cottage’s previous owner.

Almost jumping out of his skin, Fabian’s scream went muffled by the raging blizzard as he leapt a foot into the air at the sight. It was too cold for there to be a smell coming from it, but he covered his face anyway. Pressed up against the wall opposite it, he stilled. Controlling his panicked breaths the best he could. He’d dealt with the undead too many times not to have a healthy suspicion of “dead” bodies.

When it’d become apparent that no one was rolling for initiative, his shoulders relaxed. Pushing off of the wall, he crept over to the body. It’d been lying on the ground, curled up around the axe, next to a chopping block. Frozen despite the thick coat wrapped around them.

Riz would’ve probably inched closer to reveal the body’s face currently covered by a large hood, but Fabian couldn’t stomach it. Instead, he focused on the axe, careful to avoid touching the corpse as he took hold of the handle. Try as he might, his mild tugs weren’t enough to wrench it from the body.

Deep sigh.

His grip on the axe tightened. Already wincing at the act of disrespecting the dead. Counting down from ten, when he reached one he yanked the axe free. The sickening crunch of frozen bones breaking that sounded out into the quiet of the shed would haunt him for years.

Turning away from the body, Fabian dragged the axe behind him as he shuffled over to the rack for a bunch of logs. Settling one on the chopping block with a steading breath. Adjusting his hold on the throat and shoulder of the axe, he mimicked the stance he’d seen Gorgug take thousands of times now.

Drawing on every ounce of his strength, he heaved the axe up, his eyes never leaving the center of the log, and brought it down. Splitting the log in two.

The repetitive motions were soothing. In their own way. Even as his muscles began to ache and scream for a break. And even as the chill of the Mountains drained his energy. His mind found comfort in the raising and falling of the axe’s blade and the splitting of wood. It was like trudging through the snow. He didn’t know how far he had to walk; he didn’t know how many logs he’d have to chop. But he kept going anyway.

Fabian’s rhythm finally halted once the axe’s blade sunk so deep into the block that pure momentum wasn’t enough for him to be able to lift it again. Everything he’d been ignoring in favour of chopping hit him all at once. The sting of overworked muscles. The stiffness of his frame. The level of exhaustion.

Crumpling around the axe and onto the chopping block, a stray thought of falling asleep sounded like such a brilliant idea. Right here. Right now. He’d bring the firewood in afterwards. Just for a few minutes. Fabian’s heavy eyelids threatened to shut and stay that way for longer than he’d like. But not before his eyes landed on the corpse. Frozen to death in a crumpled pile in a shed in the middle of nowhere.

No.

That’s not how he’s going to go.

And besides, there’s a freezing Goblin inside who needs him.

Gritting his teeth, ignoring soreness and shaking limbs, Fabian brought himself to his feet. It took a good, solid minute but he eventually got there. Leaning heavily on the upright axe handle, he took a moment to take in just how many logs he’d chopped. The floor of the shed was absolutely covered in them. His eyes widened.

Okay, he’d kind of, maybe overdid it. By a lot.

Holy shit this is so much firewood.

Sheepish, Fabian gathered as much as could in the old, leather firewood carrier, along with a bundle of kindling,. Putting the rest up on the rack before heading back to the cottage.

With a noisy thump, he plopped the carrier and himself down next to the hearth. Unable to ignore how Riz didn’t flinch at its suddenness and volume. He got right to work.

Fabian could feel the palpable judgement from all the rangers and druids he knew as he built the fire. Deciding on something akin to a Jenga tower with the kindling on top. Sitting back, he stared at the logs. A deep frown on his face as he weighed the pros and cons of starting over again before shrugging and summoning his fire elemental.

After that fateful Spring Break, he and his elemental, whom he’d named Nar, had become quite the magical guinea pig for all of the Wizards he knew. Unable to stand the arcane anomaly laid before their inquisitive (read: nosy) minds.

Between Adaine, Aelwen, Ayda, and Zayne, they’d come to a peculiar arcane conclusion. You see, when he’d kissed Nar in Fallinel and swallowed that mote of fire, he’d become a material component of sorts.

Apparently, motes of elemental energy are usually only placed in expensive jewels. Thus becoming an Elemental Gem capable of casting Conjure Elemental. Which would make him the Half-Elven version of it, except better since the Gems are only one use. Or something like that. Fabian had only ever understood that much of their arcane babbling before zoning out.

To him, the academic reasons behind the source of his bardic power never mattered. Much to his Wizard friends’ exasperation. No, what mattered was how he felt and wanted other people to feel, and from there, his magic flowed into the world.

Knowing how freaked out Kalina made Kristen, he’d wanted her to feel every bit the hero she was when he cast Heroism on her. Whenever he cast Faerie Fire, it focused on his want, his need, to see what could potentially harm his friends. Fig had even once described his bardic inspirations as a surging seaside campfire after being shipwrecked. Hopeful and heartening in the face of overwhelming odds. While hers were more like a galvanizing jolt of pure hell-fiery rock n’ roll.

Whenever his Wizard friends had wanted him to conjure his elemental, he always went back to the moment when he summoned it forth for the first time. A time when he wanted nothing more than to protect his friends and keep them safe. More specifically, keeping Riz safe.

This must be why when he tried to summon it, wanting nothing more than to protect his best friend from the cold, Nar appeared quicker than it ever had.

In a rush of flames erupting from his sheet, Nar sprung to life in its sleek Elven shape of roiling flames. Immediately, it curled around Riz’s unconscious form. Adjusting the sheet around him before cupping his face and kissing his forehead.

A small spark of jealousy flared in Fabian’s chest as he rolled his eyes at his elemental’s cooing and doting.

Audibly clearing his throat so that Nar would pay attention to him, he gave a pointed nod at the fireplace. “Alright. If you’re quite finished with your little love fest over there, you have a job to do.”

Crossing its arms, Nar reluctantly left Riz’s side, not before one of their slender hands gave his curls one last ruffle. Without another word from Fabian, it dove into the hearth’s opening. Encompassing the stack of firewood and setting them ablaze. A tidal wave of heat crashed over him, almost to the point of pain against his icy, numb face.

Nar flowed out of the swelling fire to come to stand in front of Fabian, looking quite satisfied with itself. Rolling his eyes, Fabian gave it an obligatory round of claps, to which it did a ballerina’s curtsy before disappearing into his battlesheet.

Just as Fabian shook his head with a fond smile on his lips at his elemental’s dramatics, wondering where in Spyre it could’ve gotten that from, a small sigh pricked up his ears.

Whipping around just in time to watch as Riz sluggishly woke up. His eyelids opened to reveal golden gems, usually keen and hyperacute, now left hazy and weary by his levels of exhaustion. Yet they opened all the same.

“Riz!” Fabian’s heart leapt in his chest as he pulled the mattress closer to him and the fireplace.

“F’bian?” Riz murmured, looking like he was caught between wanting to curl up into the sheet further and sitting up to talk to him.

With a gentle hand placed on the center of Riz’s chest, Fabian guided him back to lying down. Maneuvering himself to sit behind the mattress and slightly above Riz. As not to force him to strain as they spoke.

Brushing a rebellious curl out of Riz’s sleepy face, Fabian said, “Yes, it’s me. How are you feeling?”

Riz heaved a shaky sigh, and Fabian’s heart skipped a beat as Riz leaned into the hand that’d lingered near his face. “Tired. I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired.”

“And I’ve seen you not sleep for a month.”

Riz smiled at that memory. “Hehe, yeah, gotta be a record right?”

Yeah, Fabian’s memory of that whole ordeal was less fond.

It’d been over the summer last year, and Riz had gone into “deep cover” again. Only for Fabian to find him perched like a gargoyle underneath the Marigold Docks running on zero sleep and heaps of coffee.

Apparently, he’d been tailing someone for his Dad, official upper planes business. Fabian had hardly cared about the reasons Riz had blustered about when caught, he’d instead immediately cast Sleep at his highest spell slot. Making a Dex save directly after to catch Riz’s unconscious form before he fell into the river.

Riz had woken up hours later in Fabian’s bed more than unimpressed, but Fabian ignored his glares and grumbles. Only mentioning that his dad might prefer that Riz didn’t work himself to an early death, and his mother more so. That shut him up enough to eat the soup Cathilda had made him.

Hmm.

Fabian pursed his lips, still deep in thought. “Are you hungry, perchance?”

“Yeah, I could eat,” Riz answered, furrowing his brow as he sensed they got off-topic somehow. They widened a second later as he bolted upright. “Wait, the tome! Did it make it? Is it ruined?”

“The tome is fine, The Ball. Look see,” Fabian said, reaching over to where he discarded the thick, leather-bound book and presenting it to Riz. “You kept it perfectly safe.”

“Good, good, good,” He said as his body relaxed at the sight of the tome. As he laid back down, his eyes grew heavy and his voice drowsy as he said one last time, “Good.”

By the gods, Riz was adorable when he was tired. With a small smile on his lips, Fabian brushed a few of Riz’s curls from his face and readjusted the battle sheet upwards. “Don’t worry, you focus on resting up and I’ll—” He looked out into the desolate cottage, frowning. “—Find us something to eat.”

Scanning his eyes over the interior of the cottage again, Fabian couldn’t help the grimace that took over his face. Nothing to find but dust and dirt. And heading outside to hunt for food (something he’s never done in his life) definitely wasn’t an option. Oh, this night just wouldn’t end!

An ever-growing sense of fatigue settled over him and a huge yawn escaped his lips. He was just so tired. And his bones ached and muscles screamed at him every time he moved. But he couldn’t fall asleep. Not yet. Just one more thing to do. Find food and then sleep. That’s it. Just find some food.

The first place Fabian looked was in his backpack. Mainly because it meant that he didn’t have to stand back up just yet but also because there could be a couple portions of rations that he hadn’t eaten yet.

Rifling through it, all he managed to find was a bag of loose nuts and berries. Fig had gathered them a couple days ago and tried to figure out how to cast Goodberry. Though she never figured it out (no matter how many times she used the words and movements they’d seen her mother use), they were still berries. And nuts! And thus, food! Sure, they’re still a far cry from anything substantial, but discovering them gave Fabian a much-needed boost in energy.

No longer so hopeless and weary, he gave the cottage a more thorough look through. Opening up creaking, dusty cabinets and cupboards and looking under tables and benches. Until he realized one of the heavier sacks he tossed aside left a trail of scattered oats across the floor.

Oats!

Fabian dropped to his knees, his heart racing and breath bottled up in his chest and lifted the sack upright. Steadying it before he ripped its top seam open. Revealing an entire, large bag of thick rolled oats. Still hesitant, Fabian dipped a hand into the grain and lifted a scoop of it to his nose before letting it fall back into the sack through his fingers. It didn’t smell off. Didn’t look it either. No mould or rot of any kind. There was no way for him to be one hundred percent sure, but he was willing to take the chance.

Now, he isn’t about to act like he’s Spyre’s greatest chef, but he has watched Cathilda make him porridge enough times to know that even he can’t fuck up making oatmeal…. He’s pretty sure he can’t fuck it up…. He has burned water before….

Riz might be fucked.

But it’s worth a shot!

After grabbing a cast-iron cooking pot from beside the fireplace, Fabian ventured back outside into the blizzard to fill the pot with untouched snow. He brought it back inside and hung it on the hook above the livid, scarlet flames. Letting the snow melt and boil as he grabbed a wooden spoon from the kitchen and dragged the sack of oats closer to the fireplace.

Between Riz’s soft snores and the crackling of lit hearth, this moment was strangely peaceful and almost domestic. Safe from the raging snowstorm outside, Fabian sat next to Riz on the mattress. Wiping off the dust from the wooden spoon with his jacket. His gaze shifted from Riz to the pot to the spoon and back again.

Until the snow, now water, began to bubble and boil. Fabian then took the pot off of the hook over the fire and placed it on another away from it but still close enough to keep the water warm. Next, he carefully scooped out handfuls of oats and dropped them into the boiling water. Watching as they began to soften and thicken and cling to the spoon as he stirred. Slowly but surely, it became porridge before his eyes.

Click.

Fabian was startled out of his cooking reverie by the sound of a camera shutter behind him. He whipped around to see Riz, his cheeks still rosy and eyes filled with sleep, holding his crystal up and staring back at him with a lazy grin.

“The Ball!” Fabian said with a gasp. “You can’t take photos of man without telling him!”

Smug as can be, Riz grinned and said, “I just did.”

“You’re supposed to be resting!”

“I was.” He said defiantly before the photo he took on his crystal caught his attention again and his face and voice softened. “It’s just… you looked so content. And none of our friends will believe you cooked anything without photo evidence, so…”

“Alright, fine. But sit tight, it’s almost done.” Fabian peered over the lip of the cooking pot at the bubbling porridge within. His brow arched and lips pursed. “I think.”

Creeping forward until he reached Fabian’s side, Riz took a deep breath as he peered over the pot as well. “Smells good.”

“That’s promising.” Fabian said, following suit. The nutty and slightly sweet aroma filled his nose in short order. Hmm, yes. That does smell rather good. Chalk up another win for Fabian tonight. Stirring the pot with a little more pomp and self-satisfaction, Fabian went on, “I do have to admit that it’s going to be rather plain. All I have to add are some of the berries Fig found a couple days ago.”

“Oh! Wait,” Riz scurried over to the nigh-forgotten backpack and pulled his briefcase out of it. Clicking it open, he stuck an arm into the case and began to rummage through the infinite space within. “Remember the nice couple back near the base of the mountain?”

“You mean the throuple with the freaky ravens?”

“Yes, them. If I’m remembering correctly they kept a hive of bees and gave us—” He pulled out a glass container of something bright and golden and lifted it high in the air. “—Ah ha! Gave us some honey for the road!”

“Huzzah!” Fabian cried, throwing one of his arms up in the air with a little more flourish. “Here, come add it to the pot.”

Still wrapped in the battle sheet, Riz scampered over with the vial of honey. Uncorking it with his teeth, he poured the viscous, golden liquid into the steaming pot of thick oatmeal while Fabian mixed them together. The two of them breathed in the smell of oatmeal now with the added slightly floral smell of the honey and looked at each other with warm smiles. Perfect.

“Brillant as ever the Ball.” Fabian said as he picked up the pouch filled with boysenberries and walnuts and delicately sprinkled them on top of the oatmeal.

Riz shrugged and said with a wry smirk, “Well, I try.”

Huddled together on the mattress with the cooking pot between them, the two of them took turns eating spoonfuls of their dinner. Filling their stomachs with much-needed warmth and sustenance. Between the mouthfuls, they idly talked in hushed tones. Riz flipped through the tome that they stole. Explaining its relevance to their current adventure and theorizing what their plan should be in the morning to Fabian. Who was still only half listening.

Too wrapped up in gazing at how the fireplace’s flickering flames danced in Riz’s amber eyes and softened some of his harsh yet handsome features. Sue him. His best friend was cute. Not that Fabian could ever work up the courage to tell him to his face. He was still a coward in that regard. Far too afraid and confused to ruin what he and Riz have with all these pesky, lovey-dovey feelings. No, he was content to just watch. To keep safe. For now and forever.

Before long, the cooking pot was empty, only the sticky remnants of the oatmeal left clung to the pot’s insides, and their bellies were full. As Riz yawned, large and cat-like, Fabian moved to take the cooking pot and head back outside to fill it with more snow. Planning on washing it out with the boiled snow in the morning for their breakfast. Which, now that he thinks about it, will be a lot less tasty than their dinner. Thanks to them using up all their natural sweeteners.

Hmm.

Well, that was a problem for morning Fabian.

This Fabian was bone tired and wanted nothing more than to fall dead asleep. And he wasn’t the only one.

Once he got back in and hung the pot over the fire, when he went to say something to Riz, Fabian found him curled up on the mattress, passed out. Snoring the night away. Fabian smiled at the sight and gave a nod, more to himself than anything. Quest completed successfully. Time for bed.

As quietly as he could, Fabian brought one of the old wooden chairs over and placed it as close to the fire as he could get it. Settling himself down on it, he tried his best to get comfortable but eventually gave up and simply tried to get some sleep. Nodding off moments later to the sound of Riz’s snores and the glow of the firelight.

“Fabian?”

Maybe a couple hours later, Fabian awoke.

Groggy and half-asleep, he pried his eyes open to find a concerned, shivering Riz in front of him and a low burning fire to his side. And though it took his mind a moment to fire back up, Fabian jumped to his feet and rushed to the fireplace.

Shit, shit, shit, shit.

Clumsily reaching and fumbling for another log before tossing it into the hearth. “Sorry, The Ball. Just one moment.” Fabian said as he reached for the fire poker and started jabbing it into the log. Hazily wondering if he could give a fire bardic inspiration to last longer. He waved a hand at Riz. “Go back to bed, I’ve got it.”

But Riz didn’t move.

He stood there, bathed in the fiery orange glow of the hearth and asked, “Why were you sleeping on the chair?”

A beat.

“Where else I am supposed to sleep?” He answered with another question. Something he knew Riz hated unless he was the one doing it. Riz tilted his head to the side and he scrunched up his face before he took a pointed look at the mattress and then back to him. Fabian smiled queasily. “Oh, I couldn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because, I—” Fabian gulped. “—I’d take up a lot of space. On the matress that is.”

“I woudn’t mind,” Riz said quickly, the words almost falling out of his mouth. “Goblins sleep in piles for warmth, even the ones that live up here in the cold. So…”

“Is that right?” Fabian asked. Riz nodded. Well… if he was fine with it. “Okay then.”

Timidly, Fabian followed Riz back to the mattress. Though he hesitated as he watched Riz get back under the battle sheet and the threadbare blanket.

Furrowing his brows, Riz reached out with his claws and gave his arm a tug. With his eight strength, it didn’t do much but urge Fabian forward. “We don’t have all night. Get in.”

“Alright, alright. Bossy much?” Fabian whined though he hurried to follow Riz’s orders. Slipping under the blanket and battle sheet, he had to stifle a groan as the magical heat of Nar sunk into his skin.

Almost instantly, Riz settled close to him, to his chest. Resting his head underneath Fabian’s chin before curling up into a ball, his tail winding around one of his legs. Without even thinking, Fabian wrapped his arms around him and tucked him deeper into the embrace, hiking up his knees to curl around him. It all felt so right. Like pieces of a puzzle slotting together. Perfect and satisfying. As if this was meant to be.

Finally at peace, Fabian basked in how correct this all felt. In the quiet of the cottage, the freezing wind still howling all around them, he’d never felt as untouchable as he did now. And looking down at Riz, an almost serene expression on his sleeping face, Fabian hoped he felt that way too.

One last thing, before he drifted off to sleep as well, Fabain kissed the top of Riz’s head and squeezed him a little tighter. Slipping off into unconsciousness, he only half noticed Riz squirming a bit in his hold before he felt a brush of lips on his jawline, heard a whispered, “Thanks, Fabes.”, and had one last thought.

Huh. Maybe someone heard his prayers after all.

And then,

Black.

Thank you so much for reading! This is my first d20 fic and though i know the fabriz fandom is quite small now, i look forward to enjoying Junior Year with all of you. Don't be a stranger! I'd love to hear what you think and if you have any requests, i'd be open to hearing and possibly writing them! Thanks again!

[katieskarlette]

Between Wrathion and Sabellian... who has your vote? 👀

I've been asked this several times, and been thinking about it. I think part of why it's hard for me to decide is because I think there are some great stories to be told either way.

If Sabellian becomes Aspect, Wrathion would have to find a new purpose in life, or do freelance Earth Warding, so to speak. He'd be free to choose his own path in a way he has never been, which might be a blessing in disguise. Or Sabellian could turn out to be a bad guy and Wrathion would have to lead a coup. Or Sabellian could turn down the position because he realizes that Wrathion is what the flight needs for a fresh start, untouched by corruption. Lots of potential there.

If Wrathion becomes the Aspect, it could be a glorious culmination of all his efforts, a sort of "and he lived happily ever after" destiny...or it could turn into a disaster because he's immature, brash and impulsive. Or it could start out bumpy but we could watch/help him grow into the role. Or Sabellian could lead a coup against him. Or Wrathion could turn down the position because he eventually realizes his own shortcomings and recognizes Sabellian's superior experience. Tons of potential there, too.

Or...Ebyssian could show up and try to make Sabellian and Wrathion stop fighting about it, and everyone is like, "Wow, now there's a level-headed dragon who can smooth over conflicts, is uncorrupted, and has leadership experience. Let's pick him instead." I know a lot of people have suggested this with varying degrees of seriousness, but I actually wouldn't mind if it became canon. It wouldn't mean Wrathion and Sabellian would have to go away and not be in the story anymore; if anything it would free them from obligations and let them get up to different shenanigans.

That's from a writing/storytelling viewpoint.

If I was a black dragon myself, I'd either have been hiding somewhere on Azeroth, trying to evade Blacktalon assassins since Cataclysm, or I'd be arriving with Sabellian from Outland now. In that case, I'd be more inclined to vote for the devil dragon I knew.

If I was deciding as a mortal (i.e. non-dragon) character in Azeroth watching this all unfold, I'd be more apt to side with the guy I've worked alongside for years. I watched him geek out over mogu and mantid artifacts in Pandaria. I accompanied him through the August Celestials' challenges and heard the genuine fear and despair in his voice when he spoke of his apocalyptic visions of the Legion's return. I read the logbook detailing how he saved some of Admiral Taylor's troops from death cultists in the Spires of Arak. I saw him risk life and limb to take down N'Zoth. Yes, he's made mistakes, but so do we all. He means well and he's not afraid to throw himself into the action in pursuit of his goals.

As for game mechanics and purely personal sentiment, of course I'll side with, and do quests for, my precious son on my main character. That doesn't mean the first alt I get to 70 will, though...

Most of all, I love both characters and their stories, and don't like to see fans bashing one to support the other. They both have flaws and strengths, and (barring Old Gods turning puppet masters again) I think they both would be fine Aspects.

I also don't want to set my heart on a particular outcome because that's just setting myself up for disappointment. Even if Blizzard's storytelling seems to be improving with this expansion, their recent track record has made me wary. I love the black dragonflight story so far, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it continues to be awesome, but if it takes a nosedive I won't be utterly shocked. Best to keep my expectations low.

So, uh...short answer? Wrathion.

[kaeyapilled]

I've been running Kaeya and Diluc together for nearly 2 years, and I like to think their builds are pretty good. Team comps and rotations are just as important for good damage as character builds are (eg, with a good team set up, my Kaeya hits for 60k. With a bad one, he hits for 10k at most)

If you have him, Bennett is an excellent team mate for Kaeya and Diluc. If not, Barbra with thrilling tales of dragon slayers works.

As for the 4th slot, this one's pretty flexible. An anemo character like Sucrose or kazuha is best. Another cryo character like rosaria is also an option, especially when trying to boost Diluc's damage. Another pyro character like xiangling would work to boost Kaeya's damage. Sucrose is the best f2p friendly option here though.

When it comes to rotations, if Diluc is the one triggering melt he's gonna be doing the most damage. If Kaeya is triggering melt he's the one doing the damage.

Diluc's build is really straightforward. 4 piece crimson witch is basically always best (the set was designed for him). He wants crit, atk% and EM. An atk%, crit or em claymore will be good on him (although crit claymores are hard to come by f2p)

Kaeya's build is more complicated. One of his strengths is how flexible he is as a character. But that makes it more difficult to find out the best way to build him for how you use him.

Burst DPS - melt: 4 piece emblem of severed fate or 2piece blizzard and 2piece nobeless. He needs crit, Energy recharge, EM and atk%.

Burst DPS - freeze: 4 piece blizzard. He needs far less crit rate with this build, especially if you have any constalations. He needs crit DMG, energy recharge and atk%

Sub-DPS/cryo applicator - his personal damage is less important here. He just needs enough ER to get his burst back consistently. Artifact set is also less important, but 4 piece embalem would probably be best.

Physical DPS - 2 piece bloodstained and 2 piece pale flame. Or 2 piece Phys set (like pale flame) and 2 piece atk set (like gladiators final). Or (weirdly) 4 piece blizzard. If running with blizzard, he only really needs crit DMG and atk%. If using another set combination, he needs crit rate and crit DMG as well as atk%

Atk% weapons are the best bet for Kaeya as a f2p. EM may work better for a melt Kaeya, and if you have any crit swords then it makes it easier to balance crit ratios. But 5* weapons are not needed, and weapons banner is a scam.

Anyway this was really long. I'm a bit of a try hard when it comes to character building and combat lmao.

okay this is a lot of info im gonna save this for future reference.

i got bennet recently! i have him c2 i think? i haven't gotten around to building him though. i think he's still lvl 1 actually. as for barbara i have her on my team for healing and hydro support so i can freeze the enemies,, my 3rd slot (barbara is 4th lmao) is kujou sara because i wanted a bow character. even though im aware anemo would be a good choice here augh,,,,,,,,,, and rosaria! i had her on my team for a while but switched her out because i just. needed to shoot things sometimes? and wanted more elemental reactions i guess idk the thought process and i was low ar (not like im super smarter now but.. good excuse nonetheless)

+ i have a phys dmg % sword on kaeya and it works i think but i like throwing ice not just stabbing people</3 i want to give him one with the stats u said but it'll take soooo long for me to get my hands on one.

[thetoxicgamer]

Wow Dragonflight’s Best Feature is the Fact You Don’t Need to Log In

Players no longer need to check into the MMORPG as frequently as they formerly did thanks to WoW Dragonflight's removal of the annoying systems that were present in games like Shadowlands and Battle for Azeroth. While it could seem like a bad thing when players don't log in, the reverse is actually true. One of the main advantages of WoW Dragonflight is Blizzard’s decision to peel back on expansion-specific systems that, for many, became more of a chore than something to look forward to. There’s no infinite resources to collect, no mysterious new currency to grind for; Dragonflight is very much a love letter to the early days of WoW. “This expansion makes me want to login less,” writes one fan on the WoW subreddit. “And it feels oh so amazing!” “I’m not logging in to grind my artifact power (Legion, BFA),” they continue. “I’m not logging in to do gruelling runs of Torghast. (Shadowlands). I’m not logging in to see what World Quest has spawned every day. “I’m logging in, completing some quest, racing my dragon, running a dungeon here or there, doing some PvP, then logging out to play other games because there’s no pressure to grind countless amounts of stupid artefact power to feel ‘caught up’ for dungeons and raids.” This player isn’t the only one; dozens of other fans have been quick to add their voices to the chorus (how Christmassy of me). “I’m amazed at how Blizzard managed to make this expansion full of stuff to do, but no real pressure to get it done,” comments one fan, while another writes “this is how games should be.” One comment counters the thread: “That’s funny. Because I’m the opposite. I want to log in. I even found myself enjoying fishing, even though I’ve never maxed out fishing in any expansion. “Whether I do quests for extra rep, dragon races, exploring places that the campaign didn’t take you to, professions, gearing, and so on. I just like logging in and finding something fun that I want to do, not feeling obligated to catch up.” This is something I really, really empathise with. One of the reasons I enjoyed Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons was the fact I felt like I could take my time; I could slow down, enjoy the environments, follow the story path. With Shadowlands specifically, I felt like you had to rush through content to get to the endgame and start levelling, otherwise you’d fall so far behind that you couldn’t keep up anymore. It’s one of the many reasons my guild and I abandoned The Maw (and in the case of some, WoW entirely). Dragonflight certainly feels less pressurized, which for me is exactly what I wanted. If you’re interested in reading my take on the new World of Warcraft expansion, be sure to check out our WoW Dragonflight review in progress. If this has you convinced, be sure to peruse our list of the best WoW addons, as well as our rundown of the World of Warcraft Dragonflight talents system to kick off your adventure with a bang. Read the full article

[bluexiao]

#Character Reviews (2.4 Reruns)

—reminder: these are mainly my experiences & observations throughout the times i use them. i main them on my accounts and i am looking at this without any bias at all.

—if i were asked which is better than xiao or ganyu, i’d say it depends on you. but if between the three and you don’t have all three, i’d say zhongli.

—i am speaking based on “practicality” especially for those who doesn’t mind getting either and wants to know the pros & cons of each.

—this thread includes builds, tips & other stuff that can help you in building

Pick GANYU if:

- You’re lazy and you just wanna go aim and shoot. (I’m not lying ksjsjs)

- You are F2p. After all, her second best weapon is a craftable weapon (Prototype Crescent)

- You have a shielder ready (quite needed, but she can tank too tbh)

- Aiming good doesn’t actually matter with her since it’s quite simple to aim with her (even on mobile tbh. I am a mobile user and you just have to aim on the ground most of the time)

- You want Elemental reaction. Obviously because she’s a Cryo and compared to Xiao, ofc you will get an Elemental Reaction.

- You don’t need another shielder/you already have Zhongli.

Pick XIAO if:

- You like polearm (melee) playstyle.

- You don’t mind having HP depletion.

- A straightforward build that doesn’t need your decision-making (lmao djksks)

- You have a shielder/healer ready (Diona works good with him. Also Zhongli)

- His cons are that he’s not f2p friendly. Like I said before, having a crit polearm is BEST for him, but if you have no choice, the ER ones are good, but you’re not going to do much damage unless your artifacts are god tier. His best option for f2p is Blackcliff Pole.

- You don’t mind not having Elemental reactions (no, Xiao doesn’t increase damage with EM at all)

Pick ZHONGLI if:

- You are in deep need of a shielder, he is the best out there

- He’s also F2p friendly because he could work well with ER weapons, but crit weapons are recommended for damage output.

- You don’t need another main DPS.

- You want an Archon and a broken character

- Low investment. Very very low. I think just having 2pc Tenacity is enough (though I do recommend 4pc for endgame players).

#character builds & breakdown utc.

those marked with * are crafted or free weapons (not gotten thru gacha or bp)

i arranged each weapons from most to least btw

GANYU

Weapon.

-> Recommended: Amos Bow, Prototype Crescent*, Thundering Pulse, Skyward Harp, Polar Star, Blackcliff Warbow*, Hamayumi, Viridescent Hunt

- I don’t suppose the other ATK% weapons that are not listed above are good with her passive wise

Artifacts Sets.

-> Wanderer’s Troupe

- WT is good as an overall build for Ganyu, especially if you want to do Melt

-> Blizzard Strayer

- BS is good for Freeze Comps or Permafreeze

- Endgame wise, I feel like BS is better than WT

Artifact Stats.

-> EM - Cryo Dmg - Crit

-> ATK% - Cryo Dmg - Crit

- Either way is good but people say it’s better to use EM cup with her. I personally have not tried it but if you have better stats with EM Cup then go for it.

- The only thing I want to add is that seeing that she’s a Cryo Character, Crit Rate is not that much needed IF you have 4pc Blizzard Strayer and your team has a Hydro Applicator & Cryo Resonance, and also you’re playing Permafreeze. However, I still do recommend that she has a decent Crit rate and a high Crit DMG.

- Also, even if you disregard the previous bullet, I think Ganyu can still do more damage. She’s just broken like that.

Talent Prioritization.

-> Normal > Burst > Skill

Tips.

- Like I said, on mobile, you could aim at the ground to hit the enemy, especially with multiple ones. (You could also aim for the head but it depends)

- She needs a built Diona, or probably another Cryo character and a shield character. Diona is actually the best bet imo because she’s a shielder + healer + cryo resonance + battery.

- She’s also a good support DPS btw. If you have a Pyro character like Hu Tao or maybe Diluc I think they’re a good match. Especially Hu Tao since she has downtimes for her skill and during those times, you can use Ganyu and boom problem solved. I think Childe can do good with her as well in a Freeze comp.

- Also, like I said, her Burst can charge up fast anyway so no need for a high ER for her.

XIAO

Weapon.

-> Recommended: Staff of Homa, Primordial Jade Spear, Deathmatch, Blackcliff Pole*, Skyward Spine, Lithic Spear, Prototype Starglitter*, Wavebreaker’s Fin

- other ER based Weapons are not really recommended but they’re next in line

- edit: I placed in Prototype Starglitter there but it’s beyond my recommendation ksksk. which means I don’t really recommend using it to him, but if you’ve got no other choice, then give him an R5.

- edit: Wavebreaker’s Fin’s passive doesn’t work on Xiao’s burst

- edit: Lithic Spear’s passive is quite good since the min. you can get is 7% additional ATK% and 3% crit rate. imagine if you have 2-4 charas from Liyue, then that would be higher, and more so if you have R5. Its Base ATK is also quite good!

- tbh, you only need 120~ ER for Xiao, mine is even lower. I recommend focusing more on Crit and ATK%

- no, Phys weapons are NOT good with him, you’re losing a lot of damage and wasting his potential

Artifacts Sets.

-> 2 pc Viridescent Venerer + 2pc Shimenawa/Gladiator

Artifact Stats.

-> ATK% - Anemo DMG - Crit

- like i said, he has a pretty straightforward build

- and no, he doesn’t need EM

Talent Prioritization.

-> Burst > Normal > Skill

Tips.

- On mobile, it’s difficult to control his burst at first, but I guess it just depends on how you’ve gotten used to jumping up and then plunging down. (Its control is quite the same with the increased jumps on Albedo’s event.)

- His skill CD is quite long, but if you want to make high damage, then use his charged attacks. His charged attacks are quite good since he makes smaller opponents stumble, plus it has high damage.

- You can actually use his skill to charge his own Burst, however if you really need his burst fast, having an Anemo battery will be helpful, or any elem battery (like equipping someone with a Favonius weapon). For me this is why I also use Diona with him because she has an R5 Favonius Bow.

- If you noticed, I placed Staff of Homa higher than his own BiS weapon because Homa gives lots of Cdmg. Cdmg with Xiao is always better, plus it’s easier to just have Crit rate for his Circlet if you have Crit DMG Weapon. Having Crit Rate weapon would mean you have to build up lots of CDmg from his artifacts, which is quite hard.

- I recommend 60/70 CR : 200 CD for his crit. (My Xiao has 70:250 I think and he can do 50k per plunge alone.)

- Actually, R5 Deathmatch is way better than R1 Primordial Jade Winged Spear. If you compare the two, the stats are very similar and reaching just R3 Deathmatch is enough. The only difference would be the high Base ATK from a 5* like PJWS, but then you can compensate that with the passive buffs with an R5 Deathmatch.

ZHONGLI

Weapon.

-> HP reliant build (Purely Shield): Black Tassel, Staff of Homa, Vortex Vanquisher

-> Burst reliant build (Mostly DMG): Lithic Spear, ER Weapons

-> Hybrid (Shield+Burst): Staff of Homa, Primordial Jade Spear, Skyward Spine, Deathmatch, Blackcliff Pole, Vortex Vanquisher, Black Tassel, Lithic Spear, Favonius Lance, Prototype Starglitter, The Catch

- by “build” I also am including the Artifacts. for example, you have HP-HP-HP on artifacts, then that means you have a HP Reliant build. If you have HP-GeoDmg/HP-Crit, you have a hybrid build. burst reliant builds prioritize a lot on ER but honestly I doubt a lot of people only use Zhongli for his burst damage and not with his shield.

- it is purely by reference, honestly. but if you’re on endgame, then I would suggest a hybrid build, especially if you also have a healer on the team.

- you can actually exchange weapons each time if you’re on Hybrid build (i do that too when I’m in deep need of HP), it’s better if your build is flexible like that.

- the tip with Zhongli is that the higher the level of his weapon, the better it is to have a Crit Weapon instead of Black Tassel.

Artifact Sets.

-> Tenacity

-> Archaic Petra

-> 2pc Noblesse (4pc not reco)

-> 2pc Gladiator (if you have 2pc ToM/Archaic/Nob)

- Now like I said he has different builds so I think you should rely more on your rng luck when it comes to deciding Arti Sets & your overall build.

- I do recommend 4pc Tenacity for a hybrid build since it can raise damage for a few seconds as well with its bonus. It’s good for an overall build since it can help your main DPS too.

- Archaic Petra is good… I used it with Tenacity before and it has good damage. If you want a good synergy with your main DPS, go for 4pc Tenacity. For a good support Zhongli who can do his own damage, then 2pc Archaic or maybe Glad with Tenacity.

Artifact Stats.

-> HP - HP - HP (HP reliant, pure Shielder)

-> ATK/ER - Geo - Crit (Burst reliant)

-> HP - Geo/HP - Crit (Hybrid)

- Like I said, I doubt a lot would even do a Burst reliant build unless you’re a boss and just wants to do it for the sake of it, go and lmk how it went hehehe

- I for one use a hybrid build with a Geo Cup and his burst can hit around 60k~ with crit. Tbh if you have a good Main DPS, you won’t need to build his burst much. His burst has a Petrify effect that is very useful especially in Abyss—it’s the most important aspect of his burst in my opinion.

Talent Prioritization.

-> HP Reliant/Hybrid: Skill > Burst > Normal

-> Burst Reliant: Burst > Skill > Normal

Tips.

- Actually, Zhongli’s cons are one of the bests out there. If you’re looking for someone to put your primos on, I’d definitely recommend him.

- I only have him at 80/90 and he’s in tip-top shape. I don’t recommend getting him to 90 if you don’t bias him that much since the important thing in ascending him is just his Skill.

- He’s the best in solving the cube puzzles in Inazuma (he’s the one I always use and I promise he never disappoints)

- I think I already said this but having a hybrid build will make him good with a crit or hp weapon. I for one just switched his weapon while exploring Inazuma before with a low level Tree (i forgot its name ohgod).

CONCLUSION

tbh if I’m the one who doesn’t have all three of them, I’d probably choose Zhongli. i couldn’t imagine having not pulled for him when i did since i barely could fight without him hahah. 

however, if you don’t need a shielder anyway, i’d say pick on your style. ganyu is more for those who crave for meta and wants to dominate the game far easier while xiao, on the other hand, despite being a meta himself, is quite difficult to build. he has more specific details that needs to be done to attain the “perfect build” and high damage, but if you’re lucky and have the perseverance, then why not?

out of everyone, xiao is still my favorite since i like his overall playstyle and he’s by far my strongest character on main. a character is strong depends on how you build them. there’s no weak character imo. question is, how strong are you to survive the farming god tier artifacts? :)

[ayuki-ikuya]

I come bringing ideas and headcanons.

OK, so we all already know what The Three oldest archons abilities. So I’ve come up with my own ideas we could use for the younger archons! (And yes I’m grouping Ei, Venti and Zhongli as the older siblings since Ei Is 1000 years old Venti is 2,500 and Zhongli is 5,000-6,000 and the other archons are still in the hundreds I think)

Again these aren’t canon just stuff you can use for future Requests for Twisted wonderland x Teyvat God! Reader

For Dendro archon!Reader

Definitely a Bow User. And Is a Healer. But the their Ult can cause damage

I have a theory That during the Archon War The dendro Archin created the Regisvines to fight for them, and only two were left. I also Headcanon The dendro archon can bring plants to life and overwrite what each plant can do. (Maybe even bring mushrooms to life 👀).

Maybe They can create a giant plant from the ground that spreads Healing energies and since this is a god where talking about can Cure Curses (Ahem Vils Curses Ahem) and major Diseases and what not.

For Their Ult maybe a giant plant monster (kinda like how Gouba and Oz exists ) that will attack for them (could make for fun combos with different elements like if the dendro archon was wet Hydro Plant monster)

For Hydro archon!reader

Polearm or sword (theirs way too many Hydro Catalyst) Healer and Dps, Why? Cause I say so.

You’ve mentioned how Hydro archon summons a giant wave? I’ll do you one better and their E skill summons a giant sea creature of your choosing to soak the fighters (A cool visual is their polearm turning into a big dream catcher then going swoosh and Baam Maybe like A giant Water Koi fish finna drown your ass *ahem ace ahem*)

Now mihoyo likes to reference Their character form honkai impact into genshin impact (and since they took a characters look from Honkai and another characters abilities with the whole Dual ego thing for Raiden shogun and Ei) I’m gonna base this Ultimate Skill From a character from Honkai (for research search up Herrsercher of Sentience)

Since the Hydro archons whole thing is about Justice. Now here me out here. WATER WHIP. Just a giant whip of water that can go on for miles (maybe it’s salty maybe it’s like fresh water depends on our readers mood lolol). Like, It’s whip of water strong enough to cut diamond or whatever it would be very cool (Kalim would wanna see if he could do something like that with his UM Que jamil trying to stop him)

Maybe their hair turns into water too.

Pyro archon! Reader

Claymore. A Big strong war god needs a big strong weapon. Dps and Defense.

Now It’s not just one claymore, It’s DUAL-CLAYMORE, why? Cause it’s a war god that’s why!

I like to think the shield is like Xinyans and XiangLings combined and it’s constantly sending off tiny Fire Discs. Or just symbols shooting fire like what the Pyro Abyss mages can do

For Ultimate I like to think it’s like Childes Daggers but Bigger and on fire just a huge sword made of fire.

The pyro archon doesn’t think just BURNS. and STABE

Cryo archon! Reader

I can’t really come up with much for Cryo archon. But maybe a Catalyst that can summon a giant blizzard that drops down giant ice swords (kinda like Ganyus)

Definitely a sub DPS.

Maybe a healer too since The Tsaritsa is The archon of love?

What do you think about these abilities? Since you mentioned that the students and staff would assume their just strong mages I tried to be very creative with these abilities.

Also how I think the lore could go is maybe somewhere after leonas overblot and before azuls, Crowly has found a way to send Yuu home reluctantly. Yuu, grim and the aduece duo, and maybe some of heartslaybul or savana claw whoever you want come with them to the office to send them home. But Yuu is contemplating whether or not they WANT to go home now. But something goes wrong, maybe grim messes up the spell for the portal to work becuase (although he doesn’t want to admit it ) doesn’t want Yuu leaving, and their greeted with a surprise guest. Now this gives Yuu time to decide if they genuinely wanna go home and when teh archon finally has the materials they need to create a portal Yuu will tell them to leave the portal open (maybe put it into a tiny pocket mirror like the how we have the teapot) because they wanna stay for a little while or just until grim graduates (Que a happy fire cat ) and the archon whose grown attached to some people here was like ok “let our friends visit whenever they want, only if their headmaster allows it”

Now onto the headcanons

Anemo Archon! Reader and Mondstadt! Yuu

Everyone expected a lot of things not a person with Green eyes and (H/C) hair with green highlights. And an odd thing about them was the glowing stone on their person, Yuu didn’t have that?

Everyone’s freaking out because they’ve accidentaly taken another person from Yuus world.

And since Venti Is a well known famous bard In teyvat let’s say or Dear (y/N) is also a known bard and is not at all freaking out about what’s going on in fact let’s say our dear reader recognizes Yuu! And so now (Y/N) is now a new student (and a new headache for Crowley) in the ramshackle dorm! Yup! Just an ordinary human bard, Ehe~.

I’ll leave the rest of this up to you, Where Yuu has to explain what the world of teyvat is like (and why Yuu doesn’t have a phone (and a vision) because Twisted wonderland is far more advance in Technology and teyvat has JUST invented the Camera)

Also I head canon that people with Visions can summon their weapons and object with their visions, ok? Ok. To make things make more sense when reader pulls out a lyre from floating glitter.

Geo archon!reader and Liyue! Yuu

Same things happend here, but hey! We’ve summoned a Funeral Consultant! A very (ahemATTRACTIVEahem) Wise funeral consultant at best!

Our dear Friend (y/n) is very calm about the situation as well. After all everyone and liyue knows their god was killed and The Adepti are watching over them

So Our dear reader is seeing this as a free vacation 😊

Electro Archon!Reader and Inazuma!yuu

Since the god of Inazuma isn’t “Dead” or hasn’t left and the people know what their beloved archon looks like, Yuu will definitely Be Freaking the fuck out

“YOU DIDNT BRING ME HOME YOU JUST SUMMONED MY PEOPLES FUCKING GOD OH SHIT”

insert the meme of the womens face that gets zoomed in on the second panel “the. WHAT.” 😃

And y’know how Eis “Hello” voice line where she makes the traveler her guard she says the same thing to Yuu except “I recognize you are one of my people as your archon I shall be your guard and keep you safe from any danger in this Foreign world” and let’s say The puppet will not be used and Reader will be in control becuase they don’t have to worry about erosion right now so the puppet will be resting while (Y/N) is in control protecting their Precious Inazuma citizen is ok.

Well until They can get the materials they need to open a portal. I’ll let you figure out the rest, but congrats ramshackle you now have a god in your abode 😃✨

-Plot Anon 💗

PLOT ANON-SAMAAAAAAAAAA ILY!!!!!!!!! Thank you for your hard work sob

Anyways, for skills of the archons-

Dendro Archon

I think they'd use a sword or a catalyst tbh, if the skills you listed, it makes a little more sense to have them be more of a catalyst

For their elemental skill, I think they'd summon/throw something similar to Klee's and Aloy's elemental skill except they heal if someone in your party is nearby, their healing could scale by their EM or ER.

For their burst, I like your head canon for the Dendro Archon, so I might go off from that and your idea for their burst, just more tweaking. The dendro archon would be able to summon a large plant that heals AND deals Dendro damage by sapping mobs hp. The amount of life sapping it does and the healing would scale off their original HP (artifacts that give hp won't be of use)

Hydro Archon

I agree with hydro polearm or sword. Too many catalysts

Mmm... To be honest, I think you should have the burst be her skill... The whip idea is intriguing, but I think it would work more for a skill which can allow them to use it several times before waiting for the CD to go down. I think the whip skill would work better with Crit as well.

AND AS FOR THE MENTIONS OF WAVE AND A SEA CREATURE, I'LL DO YOU ONE BETTER BUT FOR THEIR BURST!!!! They summon a large tsunami which takes form of a monster/animal and lunges at the mobs (similar to Zhongli tossing down a dumbbell), however the amount of damage the burst can do is depending on if they are afflicted by the wet status the mobs are afflicted by. If already afflicted with hydro, the mobs would receive double damage while those with other elements afflicted on them would receive the element combination DMG and normal DMG while those that aren't affected by an element, they would receive normal damage. The amount of damage the burst does is scaled by EM.

Pyro Archon

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA CLAYMORE

Hmmm.... I think the skill would be they set an AoE with magma, mobs will receive damage from it and will continue to receive damage if they stay on it, but those who are in party, they will receive an ATK boost that scales from HP.

For the burst, I think I'll use a character from Honkai Impact with their special move which is Murata Himeko in Vermilion Knight: Eclipse battlesuit. Pyro Archon uses their claymore and another claymore but made of pyro and is far more larger and their cut scene has the Archon raise the pyro claymore above their head and slam it down to send pyro erupting from the ground (similar to the pyro axe wielding hilichurls)

Cryo Archon

I agree with catalyst

Mmmmmm.... I'd say her skill would beeeeee... Trapping several mobs or so in ice. They can either do 2-4 ice traps depending if you got their c1. (The ice traps are similar to Mirror Maidens traps BTW but it deals or affects the mobs with cryo)

For burst, I like the idea of summoning a blizzard/swords, but it's similar to Ganyu's. SO I'LL DO YOU ONE BETTER!!!! Cryo Archon will summon a blizzard which freezes mobs without having to use hydro, the freeze status lasts for a total of 15 seconds or higher if you got their c3

Hmmm... I like the idea, but imma tweak it a bit. The archon was in fact summoned through that portal because Grim decided to mess it up just for Yuu to stay a little longer, and so the Archon now resides in Twisted Wonderland as well in order to aide them until they can return back to their world. That way it makes more sense and makes it more fun.

Anemo archon

Yuu would be a bit jealous about them because they got a vision.

Crowley needs to hide his money

Sam has been strictly told to not give them wine that Sam stores in his shop...

Vargus is conflicted about them because they legit float without magic

Trein recurved a major headache

Divus is praying to whatever god existing to take them back

Ehe

EHE TE NANDAYO!?

Geo Archon

Yuu feels awkward meeting the consultant of the funeral parlor having to meet the Director...

Crowley is praying for dear god for them to go away.

"STOP TAKING MY MONEY YOU GORGEOUS FIEND" - Crowley

Train + Crewel + You = Besties

Sam was literally threatened to not joke around with you with business.

You legit did not fuck around with people when in contracts.

"Osmanthus wi-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP" - everyone

Electro Archon

Yuu is literally terrified in "your" presence.

Shogun malfunctioned due to being in an entirely new world so you had to disable Shogun's rules and create new ones regarding this world.

Yuu is still unaware of Shogun being a puppet

Crowley is no longer safe.

The staff (specifically Crewel) is supporting Shogun/You to beat Crowley's ass into shape.

Only the Diasomnia dorm knows your predicament with you and your puppet(s).

You are the definition of Queen/King/Royalty of the school. If you search up NRC, your picture literally plastered on it as the definition.

[asleepyy]

Quick question. I used to be a Chongyun main but as I got further in game I started to have a lot of trouble beating bosses, so I had to put him on the bench. Now I main Yanfei and Xiao, but I want to use him again really bad because I did really enjoy his playstyle, I just couldn’t do good damage. What’s your build for him?

The thing about Chongyun is that realistically, he's really not that good of a DPS because of his cryo shatter, his attacks are slow and he relies a lot on his elemental skill for damage, cause his burst does not a lot of damage compared to other characters!

your best bet for a lot of DMG with chongyun is going for a x2 Blizzard Strayer and x2 Gladiator finale build! the gladiator finale artifacts will boost his attack damage, and the blizzard strayer will up his cryo damage, and try to get Cyro Damage Bonus Goblet, and a CRIT circlet (i have crit rate circlet)

I pair c6 Chongyun together with c6 Yanfei, c1 kokomi and c1 ayaka for a versatile perma freeze and melt build

[seelie-scribbles]

Hello!! would you be able to do hc’s for scaramouche dating an outgoing/eccentric fem? i can’t wait for your blog to blossom. thank you! <3

Aww. Thank you for the kind words! I really appreciate all the positivity on my blog so far. This was a really fun ask, so thank you!! I hope you enjoy my headcanons!!

⚔ Scaramouche x Eccentric!Outgoing!Reader ⚔

✧ As a rather organized boring person, Scaramouche doesn’t really understand your eccentricness

✧ At all

✧ But he does what he can

✧ He’s a great match for someone who’s forgetful/scatter-brained like me, because he’ll help you keep on track

✧ If you showed up to a date one day wearing mismatched socks, he’d just sigh

✧ Or if you wanted a matching set, and couldn’t find any, he’d whip out a pair that he just so happened to have on him

✧ But if you want to wear mismatched socks?

✧ Who is he to stop you?

✧ He honestly thinks you're 10x more attractive when you wear what makes you comfortable and confident, no matter what that looks like for you

✧ Overall very supportive of dressing how you want, but that doesn’t mean you can’t baffle him with your clothing choices at times

✧ Archons forbid you show up to a date wearing artifacts as statement pieces

✧ “Babe?”

✧ “Yes?”

✧ “What are you wearing?”

✧ “A Broken Rime’s Echo.”

✧ “You do know that comes from the Blizzard Strayer set, yes?”

✧ “Yeah, and?”

✧ “I- HUH?? YOU HAVE A PYRO VISION WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘YEAH AND’?”

✧ “IT MATCHES MY OUTFIT PISS OFF!”

✧ On another note, I feel like he’d love it if you made little trinkets into jewelry

✧ Whether you made them or not, Scaramouche thinks it's really cool when you wear jewelry like that he wishes he had your self-confidence

✧ I see keep seeing all these Tiktoks where they turn Worms on a String into earrings, or they’ll turn little toy dinosaurs into bracelets

✧ Which, off topic, is so cool??

✧ Y’all are so creative it warms my heart

✧ Anyway

✧ Somehow, I always find myself wide awake at 3am, and I tend to do crafts I wouldn’t ever do usually?

✧ Assuming you're like me, and have a horrible sleep schedule, you're in luck

✧ If he hears you rustling around in the kitchen at 2am, and he’ll turn the corner, and just-

✧ “Babe, it’s early. Come back to bed.”

✧ “But Scara, look.”

✧ “Is that a Starconch necklace?”

✧ “Yeah.”

✧ *cue sleepy puppy eyes*

✧ “Wear it for me?”

✧ And if you let him keep it?

✧ You best BELIEVE he will wear that shit to work

✧ No hesitation, this man will wear your gifts with pride

✧ He loves you!

✧ And that goes for the things you give him, no matter how 'stupid'

✧ I'd like to believe that he keeps a box of all the things you’ve ever given to him

✧ It’s filled with rocks you picked up while walking on the beach with him, a flower petal that reminds you of his eyes, a mist flower corolla (“Look, Scar, it has a face on it!”) and other random things

✧ He just loves how you see the best everything

✧ The world is a wonderland, and meeting you is like truly seeing it for the first time

✧ He never really looked at things, but now, he’ll find himself staring at a paper kite in the shape of a hilichurl, and thinking about how much you’d like it

✧ If there’s two things he loves about you, it’s 1) your quirkiness, and 2) how friendly and outgoing you are

✧ Unless you’re really persistent, you're not going to get close to a guy like Scaramouche

✧ After all, most people who approach him get ignored

✧ They simply aren't worth his time

✧ But when this bubbly girl pops up out of nowhere, showing him all these weird items?

✧ While he might be cynical and hostile at first, you’ll definitely catch his attention

✧ I get the feeling he would be fiercely protective of you, once you broke down his walls

✧ He knows that you can handle yourself, and he’d die before he doubted you, but he’s seen the worst of this world

✧ He doesn’t you to see it, too

✧ Scaramouche with an extroverted girlfriend is honestly a match made by Celestia herself

✧ It’s 100% a yin and yang situation

✧ You balance each other out perfectly, and help bring out the best in each other

✧ 10/10 would ship

[aminiatureworld]

A Sea of Fragment VI

Word Count: 3.964

Warnings: Slight violence

Author’s Note: I’m back! This chapter was so enjoyable to write, I missed this series so much! Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Also yes I did see the 2.1 trailer. Scaramouche’s JP laugh my evil beloved.

After your little interlude of conversation with Scaramouche you had succumbed once more to the blinding heat that was enveloping you. Having little sense of the world around you, waking up to bits and pieces of movement only to be stolen away by the darkness again, you found yourself completely disoriented by the sight that greeted you when you finally woke up.

You were in a tent, that much was sure, though beyond that you weren’t really aware of much else. The bed that you were lying on, though slightly damp, was clean, and the top cover, which remained underneath you, was folded over neatly. There was a large table next to you, filled with what could only be medical equipment, as well as a dresser, a chair, and a bench, presumably there for medical purposes. However the high quality material of everything, the tent, the sheets, the pillow, made the whole room seem much too fancy to be a simple hospital tent.

You weren’t sure how long you lay there, too afraid to move in case the world started swimming again, when what could only be a medic walked in. The Fatui emblem was embroidered neatly above his breast pocket, but otherwise he seemed completely, almost unnervingly, normal. The only other thing of note was the Anemo vision strapped to his arm.

“Ah I see you’re awake. Good, I didn’t want to have to call the head medic in again, since she made it perfectly clear already that your case didn’t need her specific supervision. Still, when my lord Scaramouche came in shouting, she couldn’t very well say that, ignoring how banged up you were at the time.”

“Scaramouche was here?” You asked, head still slightly fuzzy.

It probably shouldn’t have been a surprise to hear that, after all you weren’t the one walking to the medical tent by yourself considering the state you were in. Still the image felt like an odd one. You figured he would’ve found someone else to do it for him. Letting this information rattle around in your mind you mutely listened as the medic asked you to hold out your arm for pulse checking, barely listening to his halfhearted small talk.

“Your pulse seems to be evening out a bit,” he finally said. “Good, you were going berserk for a little bit there. We even had to call in a healer, didn’t want you to die. Thankfully the healing seemed to help, my lord was saying something about your state being magic induced, and we were worried that there would be no effect.”

“Thank you for your concern,” you replied, knowing full well that this level of treatment was likely the result of being dragged in by a Harbinger. Still, you couldn’t help but feel somewhat grateful.

“It’s nothing. Better have you alive then a dead body on our hands after all.”

“Fair enough.”

“Still, you’ll have to take care. Your iron levels were also somewhat wonky, so we’re going to give you a week’s worth of pills for that. Come back in a week and if everything seems alright you’ll be good to go. Okay?”

“Alright.”

The medic nodded before walking out. Feeling still exhausted you flopped down on the bed. A breeze seemed to be blowing outside and a part of it came in through the slits in the tent. Letting the wind fan over you, you closed your eyes. Soon enough your thoughts swam into incoherence and you were dragged down into the realm of sleep.

 “My lord.”

Scaramouche jerked his head up from the papers he’d been half heartedly studying. Seeing the medic in front of him he immediately stretched himself up a little taller. At least this wasn’t something completely worthless.

“I assume you’re here to tell me about the condition of the person I left with you.”

“Yes, they have just woken up. Their vitals are no longer in critical condition, and they appear to be alert.”

“Good. That will be all.”

“Yes my lord.”

Scaramouche waited until the medic had left before letting his thoughts roam. You were awake, you were finally awake. Though he wanted to deny it, the relief that flooded through him made it all too apparent how worried the Harbinger had been. When you’d first woken up in his tent he had felt worried, yes, perhaps even slightly frantic. Still, he had assumed that that would be the end of it. You collapsing again had made his blood run cold in a way that rarely, if ever happened. He was Scaramouche after all. The Balladeer, the Harbinger who had no room for mercy in his heart, no time to worry about the lives of other people. After all, does the winter blizzard care about whose house it destroys? Certainly not, it only has to fulfill its goal. Yet he had cared about what was happening with you, even more than that, he’d been worried, perhaps even terrified.

Acknowledging these things left a bitter taste in Scaramouche’s mouth, but he wasn’t idiotic enough to try and deny it. Somehow you had managed to become noteworthy to him, important enough to draw such a reaction out of him. Was this some despicable side effect of your ability? No, it was unlikely. There was no use in looking for excuses or denials. What the Harbinger had to do now was figure out what to do with his predicament. He ought to crush it, to treat you as he would any other low-level lackey, he ought not to have brought you over to his personal section of the medical tents, should have had someone else carry you to the general wing. Those sorts of regrets were too late now however. He had acted out of pure panic, hadn’t even thought of the strict hierarchy that ruled all the lives of those who lived under the Tsaritsa.

Not did your aberrant status help, you who weren’t from Snezhnaya, who had no sense of authority, who had no true place amidst the Harbingers. You were merely there, a shadow that Scaramouche had hoped to command who had instead appeared to have manipulated him in some way.

Yet he couldn’t get rid of you, not now. You were still needed in some capacity, needed to tell him of the layout of the village, the location of the artifact, you had said it was a mirror. Besides, Scaramouche still wasn’t entirely sure whether or not Signora would want to inspect you, having brought you to Scaramouche’s attention in the first place. It certainly wasn’t out of the realm of possibility; Signora had a habit of going where she pleased, deriving satisfaction from the ability to draw irritation out of her fellow Harbingers. The mere idea of her sauntering in to inspect you brought a sour sort of taste to Scaramouche’s mouth. Now more than ever he loathed his coworker’s antics.

Still something had to be done, though what was still up in the air. Pondering this Scaramouche stood up. At the very least he ought to look after you, though whether this was tied into the emotions that roiled in him or simple logic he wasn’t yet sure of. At the very least there would certainly be more talking if he didn’t look on you than if he did. If there was anything that the Fatui loved it was erratic behavior. After all those who could be swayed into doing illogical things were certainly much easier to manipulate. No, better for him to make an appearance, to say that he was concerned you were on the verge of death which would have ruined his plans. This excuse in mind he stood up, urging his inner thoughts to silence as he walked out of the tent and into the afternoon sun.

The image he was greeted with upon entering your, or rather his, tent was all too reminiscent of how you had first looked in that forest where he had first met you. Face pale, a slight sheen of sweat visible on your brow, slicking your hair against your neck. Though your eyes had almost immediately snapped open upon hearing the voice of the medic they were unfocused, and for a moment it seemed as if you were squinting to make the Harbinger out.

It was a pathetic image of a person, and a mix of disgust, pity, and worry swept over Scaramouche. Silently hoping that he himself would never look so weak he sat on the only chair in the room, dismissing the medic with a wave of his hand, keeping his focus on you the whole time.

“So,” he began when you two were finally alone, “you have been saved from the teeth of death. If I had known the spectacle you were going to cause I would have never asked you to do such a thing.”

“Most visions don’t go that way,” you replied, voice husky and cracked from lack of use. “It was, it was because of the mirror.”

“You mentioned that before. This mirror, I presume it’s what we’re looking for.”

“I won’t look for it anymore,” your voice seemed to tremble slightly. “Even if my vision it was terrible. It warped the space around it, even from the future. If you were to get into the same room as it, were to try and touch it, I, I don’t know.”

“We must get a hold of it. If it is the Tsaritsa’s wish we would sacrifice a whole reserve for it.”

“How can you say such a thing?” you replied, voice quiet. The dispassionate tone sent a lance through Scaramouche, and for a moment he found himself unable to reply, knowing full well the answers he ought to be giving you, the total loyalty demanded by the archon he served.

“Still,” he finally continued, “you have showed me that you’re certainly not strong enough for this. From now on I will no longer provide you information about this mission, nor will I ask you to do anything to bring it about. All I need is a report about what you saw, if you wish you can write it yourself. There are other things that you would be better suited for.”

“What things? I don’t think you understand. I’m the only one who has seen what could happen, what seems very likely to happen based on the fragments that were lined up in front of me. The best outcome I saw was that you were unable to find it. The worst,” you took a deep breath in, “the worst outcome is that the village goes up in flames.”

“Ridiculous,” scoffed Scaramouche, feeling irritation rise up inside of him. “I thought you would be grateful to hear that you wouldn’t be required to look into the future again, instead you insult me, insult the Fatui.”

“I am glad that you aren’t going to try and force me into the future. I don’t think you could truly convince me to anyways, but I’d rather not fight about it. Still, I want to be there, to make sure that this doesn’t happen. I have to know what’s going on.”

“You don’t have to know anything. I don’t owe you information or position, you’re only here at my pleasure.”

“Yes! I am only here because you forced me to be here, only here because you asked me to do something I didn’t wish to do. And now you take the advice I give you and trample all over it! Why, why are you acting so irrational?”

“You’re the one acting irrational!” Scaramouche shot back, feeling a wave of panic shoot through him. The idea that you had managed to somehow divine the odd emotions that he was currently experiencing seemed unlikely, but that you could sense something was out of place was alarming. “I just need the report,” he pressed, feeling his voice raise in irritation, wanting this to be over.

As you stared at him, silence being your reply, the thoughts that whirled inside the Harbinger’s head seemed to get louder. Why was this suddenly so complicated? All Scaramouche’s career he had easily ordered his way around and over people. Deals were only made with other Harbingers, who quickly stepped aside to let the Balladeer do his duty. Never had someone simply refused his orders. The idea that you would do so, would turn down something so easy and to your benefit, was absolutely infuriating.

“I would like to rest a little more,” your voice finally broke through the thick silence. “I’m tired.”

“I would have gone a long time ago had you just listened to me,” Scaramouche pointed out.

“Please,” you shot him a look, “I’m not in the mood. I don’t want to fight either. I really don’t. It’s the last thing I want to do. I wanted to thank you in fact, for bringing me here rather than letting me lie on the ground or trying to slap me awake or something. But, but you just, you never listen. That’s what makes it so hard, what makes all of it so hard. You never listen so how, how are you ever supposed to hear me?”

The plaintive tone of your voice struck another blow, as Scaramouche found himself suddenly, suddenly what? He found himself leaning out of his chair, the urge to walk over to you so intense it seemed to steal the breath from his lungs. He wanted to do something, though what he wasn’t entirely sure of. To apologize? To demand? To scold? To, to console? What a stupid thing to do. Yet all these things he suddenly wanted to do. Of course he couldn’t do nay of these things, couldn’t push you any farther, couldn’t pull himself back. All he could do was lean forward, as if that might in some way convey what he was feeling.

“Is there something you want?” You asked.

“No,” Scaramouche stood up. “There is nothing more I wish to say to you.” What a lie that was.

Making his way over to the tent flap Scaramouche stopped. Quickly, almost in rebellion with his mind, he turned and walked over to you. Taking your wrist he pressed his fingers to it.

“Your pulse is still irregular,” he noted.

Spinning around and walking out of the tent the Harbinger fought the urge to scream at himself, scream for such an irrational act. Yet part of him wasn’t thinking about that at all, was instead marveling at how warm, how comfortable your hand had been in his own.

 It seemed like an hour had passed by the time your pulse managed to right itself, though surely only a few minutes must’ve passed. You held your wrist in your other hand, staring down at it, as if willing the scene that had just passed to reappear before you. What was that, what in Teyvat was that? You couldn’t make heads or tails of it, could barely acknowledge that it had indeed happened at all. Scaramouche, the Harbinger, the man who had only moments before been berating you, that Scaramouche had walked over to you and checked your pulse, held your hand in his, if only for a moment. It seemed laughable, seemed so surreal as to have been a dream, yet it had surely happened.

Of course maybe to him that had been a completely normal thing to do. After all, the medic had told you that your pulse had been irregular. Surely Scaramouche would have noticed that too. Perhaps his self-righteousness had caused him to want to make his own judgement on the state of your health. Still that didn’t stop your heart from leaping into your throat the moment it had happened, hadn’t stopped you from feeling like you were, for very different reasons than before.

You cradled your wrist, still able to feel the slight pressure his fingers had exerted on it, as if he had somehow branded you. His fingers had been surprisingly soft, not at all rough as you had expected it. Perhaps that was only natural, you knew that he sported no sword hilt, and there were no sharpening stones in his tent, meaning in all likelihood he was a catalyst user. Still, it was unexpected. His fingers had been surprisingly gentle, his palm with which he held your hand was soft and warm. You wondered for a moment what it would be like if he were to hold your hand properly. A small part of you wondered if you might yet do so in the future.

Almost immediately you shook yourself violently, willing those thoughts out of your head. Even now the idea of doing something so domestic, so intimate, with Scaramouche seemed odd, almost heretical. He was a Harbinger, a bloodthirsty man, one who evidently had no problem with a village going up in flames. And yet, and yet…

You sighed, lying back down on the bed. You should sleep, you were exhausted. Everything was going fast, oh so fast. You couldn’t keep up, couldn’t keep up with your feelings, with Scaramouche’s logic. All you wanted to do was block it out, to sleep. As you closed your eyes one final coherent thought floated through your head. He had, despite it all, not asked you to do it again.

 You never realized you were dreaming until about halfway through your dreams. Even then you had no power to stop them, they pulled you along, like a riptide, waiting to drag you down into their depths.

You weren’t exactly sure how you got into the village, the all too familiar landscape. It was hot, and your thoughts seemed to melting along with your legs, as you tried to run towards the now blazing rooftops, yet found yourself hardly moving. Yet you kept moving forward, intent on something, though on what you weren’t sure of. Something very important to be sure. If only you could reach it.

Reaching some sort of back you shinnied your way between the burning. The flames licked at your clothes and at you, but you couldn’t feel them, they certainly weren’t any hotter than the rest of you. In fact the only side effect that seemed to be happening was how close the walls were becoming, so much so that you were barely getting through. Still you kept going, and eventually you found yourself out of the seemingly endless tunnel.

There were a few men in the distance, men who seemed to be barreling towards. Unease spiked through you, somehow you knew that whatever happened they shouldn’t catch you. Yet another part of you dismissed them as no important enough. No, this wasn’t how you wanted it to go, there was something else. As you thought that they seemed to suddenly fade away, or perhaps it was that you had suddenly found yourself somewhere else.

Walking down this road that seemed so busy and so desolate you found yourself in field. Not questioning the black sky above you, the fact that there was a field in the middle of a tiny village, you approached a figure in the middle of the field. Somehow you already knew who it would be.

You had never really thought about the space that Scaramouche took up before. He was simply there, a man, a Harbinger, a person. Just there. Now however he seemed all too small, almost puny. His head was turned to the side, so much as to be unnatural. A slight dribble of blood pooled from his mouth, and his eyes stared with the glassy intensity of the dead, the kind of stare that would forever haunt. You seemed to float above him, high, high above. Yet you wanted to lower yourself, to shake him, to see if he was just pretending. Everything felt glassy and distant, like a play that you were part of but not actively participating in. Soon enough he’d pick himself off the ground and start yelling at you. Soon. Yet someone was wailing in the distance, and for once the voice seemed eerily familiar.

 You opened your eyes, at first seeing nothing before the cloth ceiling of the tent finally revealed itself to you. Lying there, not daring to sit up or roll over or do anything, you replayed your dream. Before it had seemed so distant, so disconnected from you. Now however it close, all too close. Your back was sticky with sweat, and the sudden heaving of your chest, cause panic to flood through your mind, revealed how truly shaken you were. You had seen Scaramouche dead before, had seen his fallen frame in your visions. It had been so different then however. Then he had just been a Harbinger, just been a demanding man. Now however he was, something. Something else.

All this time you had worried about your feelings for Scaramouche, worried that they were just some figment of imagination that stemmed from your visions of the future. Perhaps that was partly the truth, perhaps those visions had indeed provided the fuse for your emotions. Yet somehow you had lit them, or more aptly somehow Scaramouche had. The image of him lying there, dead on the ground, filled you with such distress that it seemed liable to drown you. Even if these feelings were somehow made up, the result of some imagined Scaramouche in the future, some need to line yourself up with some possible path, they were still real. Painfully so, if this was a sign of anything.

Finally sick of lying in one position you sat up. Though the tent was opaque enough you could see little bits of light through the slits of the tent, and the slightly warm air had the distinct feeling of it being at least midday. Standing up you made your way, somewhat hesitantly, over to the flap of the tent. You needed to see Scaramouche, if only to try and convince him again not to go through with such a ridiculous plan. You needed to make sure that your dream didn’t become a reality.

Walking through the tented hallway you quickly ran into the same medic as before, this time pushing a tray with food on it.

“Oh good you’re up,” he said, voice slightly bored. “Maybe you’ll be able to leave tomorrow then.”

“I need to talk to Scaramouche,” you said, words tumbling out and running into one another. “It’s something of the greatest urgency.”

“I’m sorry but my lord isn’t here.”

“Isn’t here? Then, he…”

“He went off on a mission, he said if you were ready to leave before he came back to move you back into your tent tomorrow and to wait until he returned for further instructions.”

“He’s gone?”

“Yes.” The medic replied, seemingly slightly impatient.

Turning around you fell right back onto the bed. Ruining the hospital corners you ripped the blanket over your head, willing it to block out all the light. You needed to get out, you needed to go find him. Somehow you knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Even if you wanted to you doubted the medics would cross Scaramouche’s orders to keep you here until tomorrow. Even more so you had no information on what exactly he had done, though you were almost positive that he had gone to the village. Even if he hadn’t though you had to go check, go make sure. What he was doing was madness, running into a situation without fully comprehending it, what in Teyvat was he thinking?

Anxiety welled up inside you, consuming any and all thoughts you might’ve had. In their place was fear, pure distilled fear. Fear for the Harbinger that you didn’t want to die, and fear for the future that might not come to pass after all.

[catcze]

catte my love !! idk if u have already posted a kokomi build (id u did i am SO sorry for asking again 😭 feel free to ignore this) but i'm planning on pulling for her soon, and i was wondering which artifact set would be the best for her in your opinion? i know that ocean-hued clam was made for her... but would heart of depth be worth it for a little extra dmg? aaaa i'm not sure if it's worth going for any dmg and just try for healing (even tho it would be nice for her to do some dmg, i'd love to main the pretty lady ;;;) i'm just not sure what would suit her kit best

I HOPE U HAVE BEEN HAVING A WONDEFUL TIMEZONE !! i bet u r at least a lil hungover from last night tho 😭😭 sending lots of water ur way SDKFJHSDF 💗💗💗💗

Curse!! My love hi :D Hope you’ve been having a wonderful timezone too !! I had a bit of a hangover earlier but it’s nothing too bad HAHA tysm for the water :DDD  Also omg don’t worry I haven't posted my build yet so you’re fine HAHAH

I talked a lot bit utc, so TL;DR: while HoD is viable for DPS Kokomi, OHC is overall better due to its flexibility + the damage the bubble can do, even at a mid-level investment. As for whether it’s worth it to go for damage, that ultimately depends on how much you’re willing to invest in her. She’s perfectly fine as a low/mid investment healer, and it’s easier to build her like that, too. But if you plan to main her!! I can honestly say that it was so worth all the effort, and I don’t regret the grind for my Kokomi at all <3

Okok so with the summary up top, here’s the full rundown from my own experience HAHAH 

Regarding the damage-dealing, HoD and OHC both have their uses, but imo OHC is more flexible, so that’s what I’d recommend. Bc like the bubble honestly does p decent damage in both a dps-centric and a healing-centric kokomi build–– I’m talking, like, on a mid-investment kokomi, a bubble from her E’s healing alone can probably do 8-10k AoE damage every 3-4 seconds on a lower-end estimate. 

It can be viable in both a team where you just use Kokomi for pure healing via her skill and just want extra damage to help your main DPS, or in a DPS Kokomi team where you use her AAs within her burst and want bigg extra damage (my in-burst kokomi does around 20k ish per bubble, which is on the below average end for DPS Kokomis lmao) 

HoD isn’s bad, though, if you already have that prepped! It’s just that it’s not as flexible as OHC since it mainly shines when Kokomi uses her burst, and not so much passively in the way that OHC does.

Regarding whether or not damage is worth going for, honestly i’d only recommend going for a damage dealing kokomi if it’s something you’re willing to invest in? Because frankly she’s not one of the highest damage dealers, right, and she’s perfectly viable as a low-investment healer, who uses either thrilling tales or prototype amber, paired with 2pcs millelith/maidens/clam (or a 4pcs millelith.)

Resin is super scarce and artifact rng is shit, so you have to be efficient about how you use it, and farming for a decent set that’s got what Kokomi needs does take time. But if you happen to get a good OHC/HoD set passively just from farming blizzard and husk, then that’s great! If you do decide to make her your main, it’s honestly so fun because your team will literally never die and she can legitimately kill shit super fast in the right team comps, and it’s super satisfying to make a character who people said could do damage do damage, yk?

Either way this got too long again i am so sorry holy shit akjnsd But I wish you all the best in pulling for her Curse !!! :DDD I really really hope you get the fish princess <33 

[genshinconfessions]

Tfw your lvl 70 Rosaria with lvl 1 talents and not fully raised artifacts has a higher physical dmg bonus than your lvl 90 triple crowned Kaeya with full +20 Artifacts

(it's because of the weapons. Rosaria has the Dragonspine Spear, which has a higher physical bonus than the Prototype Rancor that I have on my Kaeya. Other than that they've got the same bonus since I run the same sets (2pc Bloodstained 2pc Gladiator and Physical goblet) on both)

Also I'll never get this lucky with artifacts again, yesterday I got a Geo Dmg Bonus goblet on the geo bonus set, and before that a Bloodstained goblet with Physical Dmg Bonus. They've got great substats too. This is why I can't get a decent Blizzard Strayer isn't it.

Anyways how are you all doing my friends? I haven't asked in a while I think. Sorry I'm not as active, my first exam period has been screwing me over and I don't have a ton of time and energy :/

-Seelie

:OOOO DAMN rosaria is jacked

also honestly i think my best luck on artifacts was getting kaeya a decent blizzard strayer 4pc :"))) which is still not very good but shhh

we're okay, just tired and stressed from school :( i hope you're taking care of yourself! it's hard being in school and taking some time off to rest isn't a bad thing!

- katheryne from liyue

[hematomes]

i know we're all about the memes and being soft on here, but i have a little meta question? i keep seeing people talk about damage numbers and i'm ar56 and still have no idea what good damage is??? (i don't particularly care about what other people do with their game, but i've been curious. like, someone saying they do 40k damage regularly just sounds so unattainable?)

zkdkzk dw bub i can be serious from time to time

so what ill say now is not my personal opinion but good damage would be over 50k crit, mainly bc it's an achievement in the game, so it's somewhat reachable. im not talking raw dmg here, it's with support like bennett, sara or other characters + elemental reactions most of the time. could also be with bounty buffs!

however in my own personal opinion (kinda casual player? ar57 and still haven't been able to 9* the 12th abyss floor but it's also bc i kinda suck at this game) numbers aren't important, balance is. you can use different strategies - my favorite is permafreeze (with for example kaeya, chongyun, xingqiu, kokomi - or for full 4* you can add a lil sucrose here) bc it paralyzes the enemy, so you don't have to deal a lot of dmg to clear domains rather easily. + the 4p blizzard artifact set is basically made for permafreeze comp. anyway, what i mean is that with this team i deal like 4-5k per character on normal attacks, and i still clear most domains with no problem AND it's super fun

if you do want to improve your dmg tho, i'd suggest lots of crit, and up the characters talents as much as you can. crown your favorite characters. and use sub dps with good amounts of em (like mona, i run her on em and she can deal 135k on vaporize). as for elemental reactions, vaporize and melt are the most effective because they can crit, so for a good unique hit, it's the best!

you can also do some research on comps and shit, which would fit your main dps the best etc; for example, cryo + electro give the best phys boost (which is why most of the classic phys dps are cryo or electro: razor, eula, rosaria, kaeya... and then there xinyan my poor child), pyro resonnance boosts your atk etc. it takes a bit of time but it's satisfying!!

hope that helped, feel free to ask more specific stuff if im too vague <3