#bonus points if you know what these all are phew

[inonibird]

Me: Gosh, making my own candles would be a fun little project to try out sometime, maybe I should do it~ :3

Also me: Wouldn't it be neat if I made a bunch of unique scents that shared a theme or came from the same story? :3c

Also also me: Zigmash Simsu Kuninda Ulekni Seshu Zuulum Tukbrush Sandanul Nuurma Kushlal 83c

[sadlynotthevoid]

LCF AU in which Og!Cale, ever since he was a kid, can understand aquatic creatures. Not only the normal animals, not only the magic ones, but also the lake spirits that live in the forest near his home, the youkai that hides in the Ubarr territory's coast, the ghosts haunting a pirate ship, the undines he saw when his mom took him in a trip, all of them.

So, when he feels the lake spirit calling him one night in the bar, he stops mid-sentence, tilts his head to listen and leaves.

Once he reaches the lake— the dangerous one, not the poisoned one— the lady herself comes out to the surface to meet him. Long, translucid water snakes surround her and move in front of her, carrying a giant bubble with them.

"She worked hard for this life of yours."

The bubble floated towards the shore.

"So take good care of them. Prove him she was right."

"Who?"

His hand touched the sphere.

"Gods. Our Sea Goddess may not be a major god, but she's loyal and her love is as endless as the ocean. She won't allow the last with her blessing to be stepped on so easily."

That night Cale learned that his ability was a gift. A sign of the blessing that held his family once upon a time.

As soon as the lake spirit submerged again and the waters calmed down, the bubble exploded. It was a good thing that Cale had always been a creative mind, because he doesn't know how he would had managed to carry three men down through the mountain otherwise.

"Hahhh."

He only wanted to drink, cause a little fuss to ban himself from the next noble event. Why was that when he finally was starting to feel drunk for once— well, maybe he did wanted to get drunk this time, it had been a hard week, ok?— the universe threw him a new task.

Now he was trapped building a semi-sleigh with three unconscious men at his side. It just had to be Tuesday.

Bonus:

Back at the bar,

Cale: Harris Village? Why should my fa— *goes still*

Choi Han: (His fa?)

Cale: *tilts his head, brows furrowed in concentration* Huh. *Leaves*

Choi Han: ...what happened?

Bartender: The fuck I know. The Lord's castle is right at the end of that path. If there's something to report, go there and talk to the guards or Hans, the butler.

Choi Han: Thanks.

Bartender: Now get off if you're not going to drink. You're scaring my customers.

Beacrox, hiding in the shadows: *confused assassin noises*

[After Choi Han leaves]

Bartender: Phew.

Waitress: You okay, boss?

Bartender: I feel like I lost half of my life. Who enters into a shop holding a sword and covered in blood? Youth this days.

Waitress: I'm mostly relieved the young master left when he did. He had that look in his eyes, again.

Bartender: *gets stiff* Thanks grandma in the heavens. I'd have to close if that punk was killed here.

Waitress: Oh shush. You love him.

Bartender: He's a noisy punk. He comes, drinks some bottles, breaks something and then he's gone again. He's part of the bar routine at this point.

[base0h]

Hi can I request Sabo , Ace and Luffy bonus if you want to include Shanks or Kid hcs where finding the reader who’s got her/their arm stuck in a vending machine?

Reader called them up for help because they got their arm stuck while reaching for their candy that was RIGHT on the edge and about to fall but wouldn’t. Basically “I paid for the damn candy, I’m going to get my damn candy!”

Please 💗

a/n - um. I did the same thing today 🧍how did you know 😭

Warnings - g/n reader, crack as usual

I’m getting what I paid for

- he’s afraid of vending machines specifically for this reason- he once paid for a fucking OVERPRICED water ($6.00) and it got stuck in the window

- poor guy was devastated, face on the glass and all as he stared at his overpriced Dasani water that seemed to be taunting him from inside the machine.

- came home and almost cried about it to you 😭 but he’s an big man so he held it in. you could tell he cried about it right outside the door before he came home tho.

- but guess what? You gotta conquer your fears right?? 💪🔥

- so, you two were walking around in the city, and damn you were thirsty, so you found a vending machine and took your wallet out. I imagine that Sabo immediately knew what was happening, he sensed the vending machine on his radar of fear

- he stared ominously as you took your wallet out, and as you took a five dollar bill out, you fed it into the machine, pressing the buttons. WHY WAS THE BEEPING SO LOUD ?? Was he sweating? Was it hot there? sabo honey it’s winter

- the machine slowly made the water come out, and it fell as usual, PHEW! Nothing bad happened… Maybe that vending machine was just weird before right?

- you reached into the machine and oh no. it wasn’t there

- “Damn it..”

- cue the dramatic lighting on Sabo- WHAT? IS IT STUCK?

- “These machines are so 50/50-“ -you

- “Is… is it- stuck?” -him

- “Yeah, just gimme a sec.”

- He’s now crying inside. Dead. Wasted.

- “Aw- I’m sorry y/n.. How much was it? We can go get coffee instead!”

- he was so sweet, literally offering anything in the world as if you just lost your dog or something 😭

- you put your hand in his face as you slammed your arm farther into the machine until only your shoulder was visible, and you were literally about to break the machine 😂😂

- mans was shocked- wtf were you doing?! “Y/N- IS YOUR ARM OK?!”

- “Babe- we can get something else!” -sabo

- “I’M GETTING WHAT I PAID FOR EVEN IF I HAVE TO BREAK THIS DAMN MACHINE.”

- you were his hero, his deity, his idol. How were you so brave to stick your hand in the machine? The thing of his nightmares? God he fell in love with you all over again

- he has spoken to the manager about losing 5 dollars to a vending machine (shanks don’t be a Karen)

- will not hesitate to fight the machine if needed 💀 he would put his hands up and shift his dad sandals into sport mode

- why is water so damn expensive? I mean it’s not like he’s poor or anything but DAMN Dasani 😭

- when you two were peacefully trying to get a soda from the vending machine nearby, OF COURSE. IT GETS STUCK.

- shanks tried punching the window, and shaking the whole ass machine and it just would not budge at all. He couldn’t fit his hands far enough inside the machine, so he asked if you could

- after about a solid 10 minutes of you fighting with this machine, he tried to tell you that he could just buy you a soda elsewhere but no. This machine better give you your fucking soda

- “I’m getting what we paid for shanks.”

- man was laughing, wheezing as you tried so many things to grab the soda can. Sticking your whole arm inside, your foot, hell- you even tried fitting your head in there at some point 💀

- finally… YOU GOT IT!

- if shanks had confetti right now he would be dumping it on your head- and you were so proud of yourself (you should be proud)

- “watch out vending machines, Y/N will not hesitate to fight you 💅”

- ace loved getting donuts… donuts, from the vending machines. (Please come and punch me for this joke) and you did too! Especially the little mini ones that just hit the spot :)

- it was your routinely night out with the amazing and wonderful Ace, and you two stopped by your usual vending machine. You fed the machine a 5 dollar bill and just waited for the machine to dump out the donuts

- you saw it fall, but… Why wasn’t it where the little door was? You reached in farther, feeling around for it, but it still wasn’t there…

- Ace just kept watching you struggle (bitch) and the little greasy shit had a grin on his face.

- “Ace it’s stuck!”

- “Yeah i noticed.”

- “Can you help me?”

- “I dunno it seems like you’ve got it! 👍🤭”

- “bitch.”

- after a couple minutes, you finally got it, and you triumphantly opened the pack of donuts. Ace reached out for one but hell nah. The unhelpful bitch wasn’t gonna get any 💀

- “Y/n please I’m sorry-“

- “No.”

- “PLEASEEEEEE?”

- “…no. Bitch.”

- “why are you so mean?” -ace

- “I know you could’ve just broken open the machine and saved me that trouble.”

- “But it’s funny seeing you frustrated with a vending machine!”

- Surprised you haven’t gone broke because this man raids vending machines. Will not leave ANY snack alive. (RIP snacks)

- “Ooo! Y/n that machine has cookies!”

- Your poor wallet was suffering but it’s ok, Luffy’s happiness was all you needed :) so you bought the cookies, and waited for the machine to drop the pack into the dispenser

- “Thanks y/n! You’re the best :D”

- “You’re welcome Lu, but next time please bring your wallet too.”

- The cookies got stuck in the window, DAMN IT! You shook the machine a bit, and it didn’t do much. Luffy reached into the machine with you, trying to grab the snack.

- “Luffy i got it! Take- your arm out!”

- “I’m getting what I paid for though! I want the cookies!” -Luffy

- “Excuse me what YOU paid for?! I paid for it dumbass!”

- you pushed his arm out before you shoved your arm all the way inside, painfully. Bro was shocked, the effort you were putting into getting his snack! He knew you were the best person in the world but this was yet another reminder of that :)

- you finally grabbed it, pulling it out before giving the machine a punch and a glare, “Stupid ass- machine.”

- “I love you y/n!”

- “Yeah Mhm..”

- “Here you can have… one. >:)” -Luffy

- “dumbass you better give me more than one 💀”

a/n - ace is such a bitch but I feel bad about the joke

[66sharkteeth]

Weekly thoughts!

Hooboy, the big episode! First off, I think everyone knows by now that you probably shouldn't read these if you haven't read the latest episode, but I ESPECIALLY mean that this week! Talking about some way bigger than usual spoilers.

Phew, this was a big one, both from a writing and drawing perspective. I actually spent a full day on that last panel alone, but writing it took way longer than usual too. Going back and forth between Bell's speech and Jericho's backstory played perfectly like a movie in my head, but it was really hard to portray it as a comic and it was one of the few times I was struggling with the limitations of the format. I think I pulled it off though, since everyone seemed to follow along fine! So while it was probably just a neat scene to everyone else, I'm rather proud of that haha.

As for the actual contents of the episode, I'm also glad everything hit w/ the majority of the audience for the most part. I know a handful were confused about if that was Bell or Jericho who did that, but to those people, I remind you it's been loooong established Jericho can control his extensions (Bell, Charlie, and Claude. Remember, they all took injections of Jericho's blank space?). Also on that note, Bell does not have her own scion... Only Rex and Jericho do. Bell, Charlie and Claude all took injections of Jericho's blank space, thus get to borrow some of his power. I recommend re-reading ep 80 if you need a refresher.

I do consider this ep kind of a big reveal of Jericho's true colors. I mean, you guys have known he's the main villain for ages now, but this is the ep that reveals his "better world for blanks" act is kind of a façade and what he's really seeking is a worse world for humans. The fall of humans benefitting blanks is just kind of a bonus. I'm glad a few people caught onto this with the fact that one of the worst horrors he experienced was having his autonomy taken away from him, then he proceeds to do just that to Bell.

And speaking of Jericho's horrors- Before this season launched, I dropped a bunch of hints about upcoming things. One of them was that the most disturbing scene (in my opinion) was coming up. I was actually referring to what happened to Kallie. I'm not sure if it was as disturbing to everyone else (I totally get like if Claude's leg thing fucked people up more), but being evaporated into nothingness but not dying was an existential dread that really fucks me up haha. If it fucked even a couple of other people up, then I did my job.

I don't have too much else to say about the contents of the episode. It was so hard to bite my tongue for weeks as everyone predicted pretty much every character but Desmond was gonna get it. I'm sorry I don't have too much else to say about him right now given what happened, but I definitely will in the upcoming weeks.

I guess the only other note I have is I might as well address something that bugs me slightly- It's definitely a minority but there's a handful of people who seem done with the series because "too many things go wrong." To which... I'm not sure what to tell ya. I'm fine with critique and criticism to be clear, but honestly, this is one thing I'm actually really confident I'm good at balancing. I'm not sure where people are coming from with "nothing good ever happens in this series" when this season alone has had probably the cutest and fluffiest scenes. Rex has a canon girlfriend, he had his first kiss with her, Desmond was reunited with his sister and learned to accept himself, Lyss learned to move past her trauma and accept blanks, Rex was reunited with Shnee, Rex's scion turns out to be a puppy dog w/ a crush. I'm aware a lot of these got kind of crushed with this latest ep...but that's.. kind of. the. point??? That's how you write tragedy and impactful scenes??

I dunno, maybe this is personal to me because it's ALWAYS bugged me when someone tells me they think a show is bad because it's "too dark." Like no... It's not *bad* because it's too dark, you just don't like dark themes, and that's okay. I TOTALLY get if CoB has gotten too dark for some people- it's definitely hit some hard themes and subjects, but I don't like to accept that as a critique. It just means it's not for you and that's okay. There's a ton of other great comics that are more light-hearted! I think the TLDR of this is it will always annoy me when people say something is bad just because it's not their taste.

Now. That said... everyone is completely valid in their hate of Jericho. I, however, still love him.

[cowpokeomens]

I feel like matt is the type to be casually dominant with you - think moving you from spot to spot, choosing a few options for you to wear that day but you can oy select from what he's picked out, he's constantly got hid hand on your thigh or lower back as a reminder of who you belong to not that you need any reminding

He'd definitely also pick out a little choker for you, it's not quite a collar but it absolutely represents one for you both

I'm leaving now

Yeah yeah hmm yeah

Casual dominance is exactly what it is like he doesn’t need to brand your forehead so the world knows, it’s just for you two :-/ circling back to sitting on his lap: yeah. It’s your throne when you’re not sitting on his face so that’s where you stay! Definitely gets you a necklace with his initial that you wear everywhere all the time :-/ loooooves dressing you up phew doesn’t matter if he’s picking out sweats or an evening gown, he loves dressing you up like a little doll :-/ if y’all are just lounging around at home he definitely sneaks a toy in you somewhere (it changes every day!) because he likes seeing you flustered and squirming for him :-/ bonus points if it comes with a remote :-/ he’s the type to bark orders for no reason other than to see you follow them, makes you take off your panties and hand them to him for him to keep in his pocket while you walk around bare under your dress/skirt :-/ I hate him actually

[starsandgutters]

ok, look, give me a fake dating with kevaaron and my life will be YOURS. (Please)

okay, LISTEN- 😭

It’s actually a travesty I haven’t written this already considering it’s like my fave trope ever. Like I want to read the fake dating KevAaron fic I would write too fr LMAO

I actually !! Have !! A loose !! Concept !! For one !! But I haven’t written anything yet so I cannot offer you an excerpt for WIP Wed 😔 I can give the overview tho

Set when Aaron’s in med school/maybe his residency, and Kevin is playing pro.

Also welcome to the SALU (Shannen’s Aaron’s Literary Universe) where a Frequent Fixture is now his hugely queer biology study/friend group that Katelyn dragged him into. Like, as much as I am a big believer in Aaron & Seth & Matt being bros if given the chance, the unfortunate reality of the situation is Seth’s being deceased before they made amends makes that quite difficult in canon settings. And Aaron is just too much of a skeptic to be cracking the ouija out. Now with Matt, I think they did get on really well when they were roomies, but their lives head in separate directions after college. So. I want Aaron to have friends. That are not connected to his family. And I use OCs very sparingly as I know the reason people come to fanfic is for familiarity and characters they already know/love, but Bio Bunch™️ were well received and consequently I will be recycling them forever thanks (Aaron dated nurse Dylan in my sapphic WIP, Miles’ family adopted Jean and Elodie in my KevNeil AU so now he’s Jean’s lil brother, like literally they’re my standby bonus characters now)

All this to say. Aaron very much appreciates having friends. He was not very good at making them when he was little and going through the worst of Tilda’s abuse, and his teens were lost to a haze of drugs and pain where he had people he would speak to at school/on the team, but no one he was really friends with. Then he gets a brother! But oh no. Andrew doesn’t want him to have friends either and also Aaron kind of feels like he hates him so he’s still alone ☹️ - so to finally be at a point in his life where he has a close knit group of friends, people who actually like him and want to spend time with him for some reason!, it means a lot to him. He would not want to risk damaging those friendships. Especially because he’s not sure how to make new ones, he kind of just absorbed these ones via osmosis through Katelyn.

Which is why he panics when Dylan asks him out.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” he had asked, and Aaron, thinking nothing of it, had said: “No.” Because he doesn’t. He hasn’t dated anyone since Katelyn. Like, he’s been on his med school GRIND, y’know? Who has the time. And who can compare to her anyway?

“Would you maybe like to go out with me sometime?” Dylan then said, and listen, it’s not like Aaron is proud of what he did, but he panicked. He saw his friendless future flash in front of his eyes because he hurt Dylan’s feelings and it’s all awkward between them now and Aaron ends up iced out because he wrecked the vibe, and he panicked!!!

“Oh. Uh. I have a boyfriend though.”

And why the fuck did he even say that what the fuck what the fuck?!

But y’know it worked because Dylan got a sad little smile but nodded and said “lucky guy” and Aaron was like PHEW! Y’know, bullet DODGED! Except somehow this gets around their group, because wow one thing about having friends is apparently you’re not allowed secrets 🙄 (not that his relationship would usually be a secret but considering it is NONEXISTENT he would have appreciated people NOT KNOWING)

Of course Katelyn is on him like a rash because when has she ever let him get away with anything ever there is no peace in this world for him as long as they share space (he loves her more than anything). Immediately quizzing him on WHO he could be dating, because she knows he doesn’t really talk to anyone outside their friend group (because she knows everything about him shit how is he going to lie to her), and she is DYING to know who he has been hiding! (Like shit Kate me too guess we’re gonna find out together)

Consequently the panic continues as he speed skims through his mental catalogue of all the people he has ever actually communicated with who are not A) his family or B) already in committed relationships. And, listen, ok, here’s the thing. There are just not an awful lot of people in Aaron’s life who fit the cross reference of those categories. Really the only person he can think of is Kevin, and then he’s blurting out his name before the consequences of that action occur to him (🦋🦋🦋) because Katelyn KNOWS Kevin so there really should have been a C) someone Katelyn doesn’t know (though on reflection Aaron’s search results would have thrown up entirely blank with this addition)

“Aw, you always did have a crush on him.”

“What are you talking about?” No, because what is she talking about??? “No I didn’t.”

“You’re dating him now, why are you getting so defensive?”

He’s not getting defensive. He just thinks it’s an absolutely insane implication to suggest he has or ever will have feelings for Kevin Day. Except he can’t say that. Since that’s his fictional boyfriend now. Fictional on the boyfriend part. Kevin Day is unfortunately very real. A fact that has plagued Aaron’s existence ever since Wymack first brought that broken stray back to PSU.

Enter Kevin, truly baffled by this entire situation.

“Why didn’t you just tell him you’re not interested in guys?”

“Well, Katelyn knows I’m bi, so I couldn’t say that. Maybe he asked her first. Or she might mention it if it comes up.”

“Wait, you’re bi? Since when?”

“Since birth probably, can we focus on the actual issue at hand here.”

But like. This is Aaron. Aaron has never particularly been one to mince words. Kevin doesn’t know why he doesn’t just tell Dylan he’s not into him. Kevin’s been on the receiving end of Aaron’s attitude and bad manners more than often enough. 🤨 But after the truly painful and pitiful display of Extremely Emotionally Constipated Asshole Aaron Minyard trying to explain his newfound value for the Powers of Friendship, Kevin eventually agrees to be his fake date to a party with his friends. Like, whatever. It’s a small event with some med students, it’s not like they even have to be overly affectionate, or that this will get out anywhere. Then they can use Kevin’s busy work schedule as a reason he’s never around, and after a few months Aaron will just pretend they broke up. Easy.

Except photos get leaked to the media, outing Kevin. Instead of the career suicide he expects, he actually gets positive feedback. His PR rep encourages him to bring Aaron to a charity gala for a children’s mental health charity, thinking it could be positive rep for the kids to see a happy older queer couple as queer kids have higher rates of mental health issues. The team are doing some outreach with the actual kids before the gala - going down to play some games with them - Kevin doesn’t expect Aaron to come to this. He can just show up to the event, y’know, it’s basically just a free night out. They’ll just postpone their fake break up another couple of months.

But Aaron is like, uhm, excuse me. Did you even think to ask if I would want to come along to meet the kids? You know I’m going into peds, right? I’d much rather come hang out with the kids than have to rub shoulders with your snotty famous rich friends all night. Of course I’m coming to both of them.

So Aaron does come. Where Kevin is awkward and fumbling and never quite sure of the right thing to say (he never interacted with kids even when he was one???), Aaron is a natural. He’s excellent with them. They all love him within the first ten minutes, and it’s weird, because who is this? This is not an Aaron that Kevin knows. This is not a side of him he’s ever seen at school or around their family. It’s making Kevin feel all weird inside. In SOFT and GUSHY ways.

So they go to the Gala and both get a little tipsy, and whoops. Of course everyone thinks they’re a couple, so they’ve been given a room with one bed (because one bed trope supremacy ALSO 🙏🏻). Kevin thinks Aaron’s gonna be mad or upset, but Aaron’s giggly as he undresses. Which. Oh. Okay. Usually Aaron had weird hang ups about changing outside of the locker rooms. But now he’s. Shirtless. And his body has changed since college. Obviously. He doesn’t spend five days a week training anymore. He’s still kept some of his muscle in his arms and shoulders, and his legs have always been naturally strong, but he’s gotten a bit softer. Which Kevin realises he actually quite likes. And. Oh. Shit. Okay. He might actually be a bit attracted to Aaron. But. That’s fine. That won’t be a problem, right?

Right? 😐

ANYWAY THAT’S ALL I GOT FOR NOW. I simply can’t start another WIP until I finish some of the ones I got running. Like it would be fine if I could write things of a MODERATE length but I’ve never been chill about anything ever in my life and it’s too late to start now so I write excessively and I just. Cannot risk not finishing things by starting something else.

BUT SOME DAY. MAYBE. PROBABLY.

[kiragecko]

How I Enjoy Fanfic:

The authour knows more canon than me - Is THAT what happened? Oh, cool! I feel like I should be taking notes. Yeah, you're writing them perfectly. Oh, I've missed getting to read about that detail. Hey, have those two interacted in canon? They ... they must have! You're too good to have made them do something that dumb! I'M SO HAPPY TO KNOW THAT!

The authour knows as much canon as me - YES! Nobody ever writes about that obscure thing but it is my FAVOURITE. You have them interacting Correctlyᵀᴹ, 1000 points to you! All the tension is leaving me, I feel so safe and at home. I must follow you immediately.

The authour knows a differently continuity than me - you have very interesting OCs! Lots of worldbuilding happe - HEY! I've seen that character name! This is [videogame/TV Show/cartoon/Alternate Universe Continuity], ISN'T IT. OK. This is okay. Let me remember everything I've picked up about that. Yeah, I'm ready. Now I get bonus Mystery Content as I try to figure out what's fanfic, what's canon to this continuity, and what's going to match the version I know!

The authour knows a lot of fanon - Oh oh oh! You're doing the trope I love! Comfort food time! Yes, play with THAT old favourite, I think your version will be fun! Huh, messing with the timeline like it's made of lego blocks? As long as everyone doesn't decide this is canon, now, I think it's fun! Neat, I like that little twist. Yeah, you're really digging into the emotion of this, aren't you? I approve!

The authour is new to the fandom - What ... I see how you would have gotten that impression from the wiki!!! Oh, that is FASCINATING. You're right, if those things had happened together the results would be explosive! I would ... not have written them that way, but you are spawning SO MANY PLOT IDEAS for me. Your creativity is blowing me away. I'm falling back in love with this franchise!

The authour is just passing through - nope, don't read cookie-cutter fi ... FINE. This is the one OOC plotline that grabs me every time, and yeah, I'm a little ashamed, and yeah, it could be ANYONE in these roles, but I still like it. Just ... phew, no phonetic accents.¹ Good, you're ignoring, instead of butchering the other characters. Now, does the 'asshole' to 'heart of gold' ratio match my taste? Yes? Okay, lets have some trashy fun!

-

¹ Only the X-Men are allowed phonetic accents. No one else is stupid enough about them.

[gregre369]

The Lost Boys came out in 1987. And you can’t tell me that Eddie Munson would not have made that film his whole personality.

And you know damn well he would be mad jealous of how hot Steve found Jason Patric, Billy Wirth, Brooke McCarter, Keifer Sutherland, and Alex Winter. Like you know he’d have a poster up in his room that he stole was conveniently missing from family video.

Like genuinely, I see Steve waxing poetic and going on long drawn out tangents about Jason and Brooke’s hair from the movie, specifically. And Eddie just sitting there not so silently fuming. Mumbling under his breathe how SUPER nice and heavy metal his hair is.

Bonus points if it’s Kas Eddie. Phew boy! He’d be pointing out and correcting all the inaccuracies about vampires in the film and getting all stuffy whenever Steve shushes him. Everytime there’s a movie night Steve suggests they watch it. Like at this point he blatantly stole a copy from work. Obviously Eddie calls him on it one night when it’s just the two of them, after steve starts bemoaning his lack of hot vampire goth boyfriend. Eddie finally snaps and gets all in Steve’s face and asks(loudly), “what’s so great about them(their hair/general aesthetic) when you’ve got me?! Who’s an actual vampire…with great hair!!” And Steve just tilts his head and shrugs and says “you know what? You’re right.” Then proceeds to lay one(several) on Eddie.

Bonus bonus points if we have an alive reformed Billy who takes offense to Steve’s(and Eddie’s) attraction to Keifer and Billy Wirth.

Like oh my god! The possibilities are endless.

_____________________________________

Also as I was writing this I thought up of a The Lost Boys/Stranger Things crossover. (I’m pretty sure much more talented and creative people have not only mentioned this but also written it). But like the possibilities are endless.

Just hear me out:

-Vecna as Max

-Billy as David

-Eddie as Star

-Will as Laddie

-Joyce as Lucy

-Steve as Michael(obviously)

-Dustin as Sam

-Lucas and Mike as the frog brothers

-Tommy as Dwayne

-Johnathan as Marco

-Argyle as Paul

-El and Max as friends of Dustin’s who get brought into it.

-Robin as Steve’s new friend

-Nancy as the frogs older sister

-Erica is somewhere in this bc you know she’s sass the shit out of them

-Hopper as the security guard who gets killed(sorry Hop) maybe this is how El gets involved and since Maxine is her bestie so she does too.

-Chrissy, Heather and Jason possible victims. (Sorry Chrissy and Heather💔).

-Or maybe Heather and Carol are Billy’s and Tommy’s love interests before Steve shows up to rock the boat. Chrissy could either be Eddie’s friend or former flame. (Chrissy ends up with Robin)

Oooh or create new characters for Robin, Nancy, Chrissy, El, Max, Johnathan, Argyle, and Heather. Or maybe make the others some of the other vampires in the gang but like their in it against their will, so when Vecna inevitably dies Stobin bffs happens. Idk idk there’s just so much.

And depending if it’s Steddie or Metalsandwich Steve saves Eddie and/or Billy reforms.

Like idk but i love the film, it’s one of my favorites and just gives such great Steddie/metalsandwich vibes.

God just imagine how gay this could all be.

Like somebody else needs to write this. I can’t do it, idk if you’ve seen my liberal use of the word ‘like’ or not but a writer I am not.

[ghostofaboy]

Congratulations on 200 followers!

Since I'm an indecisive person and couldn't narrow it down to one, here are three options you can pick from:

A continuation of your Marcus in lingerie Kinktober fic.

Basically what I left in the comments on your ask game post: Marcus wearing vintage styled lingerie - inspired by 1940s pinup girl art on bomber planes - for Frankie. Bonus points: 1. It's a surprise. 2. It's the first time a male partner has wore lingerie for Frankie.

I know you write/have written FishBen, so feel free to ignore this: Santi railing the fuck out of Frankie. Bonus points for a needy Frankie and Santi giving him all the praise.

Phew, the last of my follower celebration requests done. I'm sorry it took so long, but let me see here:

Marcus wearing pin-up lingerie ✔️ It's a surprise ✔️ It's the first time a male partner has done this for Frankie ✔️

I think I get full points there, and here is a small teaser before I release it tomorrow:

Pulling open the door, Frankie headed into the kitchen, expecting to find Marcus there. But as he stepped into their cozy kitchen, Frankie instead found the room empty.

“Baby?” Frankie called out, making his way slowly down the hall towards the sitting room.

“Up here!” Marcus’ voice came from up the stairs… and their bedroom.

Frankie couldn’t stop himself from grinning as he climbed the stairs to seek out his boyfriend. If Marcus was in the bedroom then he clearly had something fun in mind and that thought had Frankie already pulling off his shirt. As he began to untuck his t-shirt, Frankie pushed open the bedroom door and immediately frozen in place. His plaid shirt, somewhat sweaty from a day spent tinkering in the garage, fell gently to the floor as he took in the sight in front of him.

Posed on the bed, leaning back on his elbows with his legs cross delicately at the ankle, was Marcus. His gorgeous Marcus lay out for him, wearing nothing but lingerie.

[hxhbigbang23]

HxH Big Bang 2023 Info

Hello and Welcome to the Eighth Hunter x Hunter Big Bang!

Sign-ups open January 14th, so below are some important updates and info. Scroll to the bottom for this year’s timeline and links to the Guidebook and our Carrd, keep reading to check out important information and updates!

So, what is the Hunter x Hunter Big Bang?

A Big Bang is an event that pairs artists and writers together to create content for a series, ship, or theme. Writers will complete a longer story and artists will complete at least one piece of artwork based off of their writer’s fic. The goal is to create new, complete works that will inspire and add to the fandom! This will result in an influx of new works for the HxH fandom to enjoy and, as an added bonus, it will encourage collaboration between fandom writers and artists.

Authors will sign up to write a fic, and after they know what they plan to write, submit a summary of their story. Artists will then be able to claim the fic they want based ONLY on the blind summary. From that point the writers will be given a deadline to finish their full stories and then the artists will be able to make their accompanying piece.

How will this work?

Signups open on January 14th, for both authors and artists.

Just like last year, we are implementing a Writer Waitlist to ensure that we don’t overwhelm our wonderful and talented artists! For the last few years, we’ve had more writers than artists sign up—which, while amazing, makes it difficult to assign artists for each fic.

The waitlist means we will be accepting an equal number of applications for writers and artists on a first-come, first-serve basis until January 28th. After this date, writers will be placed on a waitlist while artists continue to apply until signups close officially on March 31st.

Collaborations, you say?

Yep! As before, artists will have the option to collaborate with their author or keep it under wraps until the reveal. Collaborating just means that authors will be keeping their artists updated on their progress periodically, the final art will still be a surprise on reveal day!

Artists who choose not to collaborate will have their pairing kept secret until the reveal—surprises are fun! 

When is reveal day?

The main reveal date for 2023 is July 1st, with a late posting date on July 15th.

For multi-chapter works: Only your first chapter must be posted on July 1st, but we do ask that your full fic be posted by December 31st. 

Where is all of this happening?

Our main and only form of communication with participants will be via Discord, so you will need to make an account if you do not have one already. All important announcements and check-ins will be done through the Discord server. No pressure to participate excessively in the chat, but we’ve put a lot of effort into our server and we’d love to see you there!

Posting will take place on your hosting site of choice (AO3, ffnet, etc.) and should be linked on Tumblr or Twitter so that we can reblog and retweet your awesome stuff.

With everything happening on twitter, we may not be able to use it as we have in the past. It’ll be a learning curve, but we don’t want to discourage any twitter-users from participating regardless!

Phew! That was a lot... Keep all this info handy with our timeline and some useful links.

Click here for the Guidebook! This will be your one-stop-shop for any and all information regarding the Big Bang. Everything from role requirements to nitty-gritty details and mod contact info is there!

Click here for our Carrd! This will have all of our links centralized in one place and will be updated as deadlines come to have nifty countdowns to keep you on track.

Any questions? Feel free to send an ask here or message any of our mods: @shalnarkonice, @storybookprincess, or @clood​

See you soon, and until then—Happy Hunting!

[mi6-cafe]

007 Fest 2023 Survey Results

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, but thank you all for participating in this month-long celebration and for giving thoughtful feedback in our survey. Our incredible team of Cafe volunteers met this weekend to go through all of it and we have lots of ideas for changes based on your feedback. We are by no means done coming up with ideas, but here is our annual survey analysis.

Communication

You all loved the all Fest channel in slack so we’ll be keeping that again for next year. We also decided to freeze the Fest-related channels in slack at the end of August. (More on this coming in slack as we figure out the different options for doing this.) We also acknowledge that Fest is spread out across a lot of different platforms. Next year we will lean a little more heavily on emails for the crucial information throughout the month, and also be more clear about where to expect different types of announcements.

Team Leadership

As always, Fest could not run without amazing leaders! We changed things up this year by having both captains and cheerleaders and your feedback indicates that we should keep this! If you were a team leader this year, we’ll be reaching out later in the year to help us create a new document to further clarify expectations so that we can give a much better orientation to leaders next year.

CAT prize

This year we offered a special Cool, Awesome Teammate prize. There were many great nominations, but there wasn't one person who was a clear stand out above the rest. So rather than us trying to debate between people when we obviously aren't on every team, we are electing not to award one person this year as the stand out. We are, however, still passing on all those nominations and shout outs to the people they were about so that they know how much they are appreciated!

Changes to Points

You all voted on tumblr polls counting as one point each. You also voted to increase the bonus stacking limit to 3. We will also be working throughout the year to make changes to the word count divisions, add new higher point categories, and increase the point value of social events like watch parties

Roleplaying

We have comments about this each year in the survey, both good and bad. We’ve had to adjust our suggestions for the roleplaying aspects across the years, but for next year we are putting a stop to all roleplaying aspects, pressing a reset button of sorts. We know for many of you pretending to be in the spy world is fun, but this year the complaints which stemmed from it far outweighed the compliments. As a team of mods and volunteers, we have a few little details to work out, but we want to be clear on our expectation of no roleplaying aspects to the Fest next year. After 2024, we will reassess.

Team days

Along those lines, team days will also stay retired for another year. However, your feedback indicated that what most people missed was the collaborative spirit that often blossomed when a challenge was issued. So, we are going to work hard to incorporate that in other ways throughout Fest. (If you have ideas for small challenges which require teamwork, let us know!)

Big Format Changes

This is a little vague, but your suggestions inspired what we hope is a great idea to shake up the format of Fest. It will de-emphasize some of the competitive aspects, and also increase the focus on the other ways to contribute, like doing beta work and attending watch parties. We have lots of details to work out, but we’re excited.

Speaking of, we’re going to use the tag #007 Fest Change Log to let you all know about changes we’re working on throughout the year and occasionally use tumblr polls to ask your opinion. 

Phew, that got long. Tl;dr You all had great feedback, the team is working on changes big and small, stay tuned for exciting announcements! 

And stay tuned for LDWS coming up very soon!

~Your Cafe Mods,

Castillon and Linorien

[tvmicroscope]

Hello again. I know you will send an email when a new post comes up but I am here checking anyway. Another question/comment. When Wilhelm visits our favorite therapist for the first time, he's wearing a VERY EXPENSIVE sweatshirt with a small heart with eyes on it. Is he signaling to the therapist his status/wealth? Is he 'wearing his heart on his sleeve' (chest)? There are brands on clothing sprinkled throughout but that sweatshirt stood out to me. And we never see it again. makes you wonder...

Thank you very much for your kind ask.

If it’s okay, I’m going to answer the question about Wilhelm’s clothes below and first reply to your question about my substack project.

My most recent post would be the one about the ‘Clementine’ Metaphor. (I don’t know if you’ve read that one. If you have and I’m somehow mixing something up, please forgive me. It’s hard to keep track of everyone.)

The ‘Clementine’ Metaphor post deals with the question of why there are so many satsumas/clementines/tangerines associated with Simon (and with a surprising number of other characters) and what they all mean.

As for any new posts, I’m currently working on two posts at the same time:

One will be a regular post (free for everyone to read) on yet another metaphor

One will be a paid-subscribers-only post

Please rest assured that the overwhelming majority of my substack articles on ‘Young Royals’ will remain FREE for everyone to enjoy, read, discuss and comment on. I will also NEVER retroactively paywall anything that’s currently free and I will never paywall the comment button. (I find a lot of this paywalling thing really, really weird, to be quite frank.)

The only (!) exception to not paywalling anything will be the occasional bonus post for my paid subscribers (basically a post every couple of weeks as a little dessert treat for them). I will make sure that these bonus posts are both a bit different and outside the usual chain of argument, so people who only read the free ones won’t feel like they are missing out on anything. Nobody should feel that there are any weird gaps in the chain of metaphors we’re discussing. There won’t be any missing links in the chain, so to speak. The bonus posts will be strictly additional info.

(Phew, I feel I should maybe make this a separate post and pin it at the top of my tumblr as soon as I work out how to do that.:D)

Anyway, as I said, I’m currently working on two things. I hope to get them both posted over the weekend, but one or the other might be a couple of days late. (It’s difficult to write two things at the same time.)

Now, as for your question about Wilhelm’s hoodie in that therapy scene…

Just so we’re on the same page, we’re talking about this one here, right?

You know…that is a great, great question!:) And you’ve got very sharp eyes because this, indeed, is a deeply meaningful costuming choice! This hoodie is a visual metaphor.

And no, I don’t think it has anything to do with the old saying about ‘wearing one's heart on one's sleeve’. If anything Wilhelm is doing quite the opposite in that scene: He’s not opening up to his therapist. We can see that both in the metaphorical subtext (remember the ‘Clementine’ metaphor: there is a whole bowl of unpeeled clementines in the therapist’s office in that scene, and it tells us that nothing is okay in that sense) and in the plain text (in the literal layer of the script): Wilhelm doesn’t want to open up. He’s not ready for that step yet.

(As I pointed out in the ‘Clementine’ metaphor article, though, there’s also a single apple placed among all the clementines in that bowl, and seeing as apples are symbols signifying temptation, I’d say that Wilhelm is at least tempted to say something…somewhere in the back of his mind.)

Anyway, so the heart on his chest is definitely not so much about ‘wearing your heart on your sleeve’, it simply means that Wilhelm is here because his problem relates to the heart. It’s because of ‘matters of the heart’ that he ended up in the therapists office, in the first place. In other words, it’s the fact that he loves a boy, but isn’t allowed to love him.

Which leads me to the next point: Why is this hoodie a visual metaphor?

Well, because it shows us more than just the heart image on Wilhelm’s chest. It also tells us what awful, horrible contradiction, what polarity, what faultlines there are in Wilhelm’s life: The hoodie is expensive, insanely expensive as a matter of fact. It reeks of wealth and privilege and high status and everything that makes it so impossible for Wilhelm to pursue that relationship with said boy that he loves. In other words, the hoodie is a contradiction in and of itself – just like Wilhelm’s life at that point, his emotional inner life, his psychological outlook on life, his mental health related life, his love life. In all of that, there’s a contradiction between the heart (the things that he actually wants) and the wealth/privilege (his background that forces him to deny himself these exact things). And he wears that contradiction on his very body, i.e. it’s plain for the therapist to see; it’s obvious, and Wilhelm carries is everywhere with him, wherever he goes, stands, sits or lies: it’s written all over him.

And all of that is encompassed in just one piece of clothing, which makes this hoodie a really good visual metaphor and an excellent costuming choice.

Anyway, thank you again for dropping by. I very much appreciate your kind words. My inbox is always open for lovely asks such as yours. Thank you for reading and letting me know you enjoy what I write.:)

[magicalyaku]

Thanks for joining me on this ride through 2022! When I started my reading spree in autumn 2021 I did not expect to find so much joy (and sometimes frustation) to motivate me to write hundreds of words about books every month. I read and write what I want and because I want to, but it's nice to know that sometimes there’s actually someone interested in what I have to say. So thank you for even the small interactions. :)

I had to edit this overview like five times because whenever I thought I was done I found another book I missed. So if I counted correctly I have read a total of 93 books (written and audio, not including manga, comics and non-fiction). That is ... a damn lot! Like 6 years combined compared to before. I also reread two of those books and while editing my novel I read it two whole times. That counts, right? (That’s why there’s 94 covers up there. Because i snuck it inbetween. Because I can. uAu) Only 14 of all these books I would categorise as non-queer. Funnily enough, 6 of those I didn’t like very much. Of the remaining 75 queer books I only found 1 book really bad and I’m picky about 2 more. Huh.

On to the award ceremony! (But don’t expect laudations. I wouldn’t shut up.)

Least favourite phrase:

... it smelled like boy.

(from: The Song that moves the Sun, Darius the Great (probably the 2nd) and the third time I already blocked from my mind (Here the Whole Time???)) That sentence came up fucking three times! Seriously. WHY?! I hate it. 8D

Favourite phrase:

But we have more important things to do than hook up.

(from: The Darkness Outside Us) I laughed so hard at this sentence. Finally someone who gets it! All stupid YA heroines should listen to this.

Favourite protagonists:

Jack Shannon (Aces Wild) and Neil Josten (All for the Game)!

Favourite covers:

Least favourite books:

A Far Wilder Magic (Allison Saft) and If You Change Your Mind (Robbie Weber)

Favourite books (no order):

The Darkness Outside Us (Eliot Schrefer)

Aces Wild: A Heist (Amanda DeWitt)

The City Beautiful (Aden Polydoros)

Every Bird a Prince (Jenn Reese)

All for the Game series: (Nora Sacavic)

I Wish You All the Best (Mason Deaver)

I Hope You Get this Message (Farah Naz Rishi)

More books I greatly enjoyed:

Both can be true (Jules Machias)

A Taste of Gold and Iron (Alexandra Rowland)

The Language of Seabirds (Will Taylor)

A Complicated Love Story Set in Space (Shaun David Hutchinson)

At the Edge of the Universe (Shaun David Hutchinson)

Milo and Marcos at the End of the World (Kevin Christopher Snipes)

Little Black Bird (Anna Kirchner)

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea (Axie Oh)

In Deeper Waters (F.T. Lukens)

So this is Ever After (F.T. Lukens)

All that’s Left in the World (Erik J. Brown)

.... aaaand many many more! uAu

Bonus!

At the half year point I actually counted how often the protagonists names were being used throughout those different books. I felt to lazy do to it in detail for the second half, but I can still present you my preliminery count of most used names for the protagonist, love interest and possibly best friend. These came up at least 3 times!

Will/William

Matt

Nate/Nathan

Andrew/Drew

Daniel

Lame, right? 8D My favourite name choice award goes to Rosemary and Rowan from Mirrored in Evergreen by B. Pigeon!

That’s it! Phew! Thanks the universe for books! :D

[bamboobrat]

succession s4 e7 recap: tom, the one pepper menu item, gets spicy

sorry for the delayed recap this week, girlies. somehow i had a life to live and it was not very conducive to breaking down an episode where literally everyone is going through a breakup.

oh well.

we start the episode at tom and shiv's, where tom has made her breakfast after a long night of boning.

(this is an episode for the foodies, btw. did you guys notice?)

he gives shiv a scorpion as a present because she is toxic and can kill him.

hilarious joke, tommy. hilarious.

all is not well in this household. and none of the other significant relationships seem to be doing that well either:

this shot.... succession camera person, i see you.

i'm so happy we get to see rava, even if the writers are giving us crumbs at this point.

she tells ken to call her daughter. sophie is scared of the election and all the racist rhetoric which is spewed most prominantely by her father's news network.

ken pulls out his inner logan:

seems like most of the kids do this episode and it is certainly not a good thing for their personal relationships....

this goes for everyone except connor, who honestly seems to be having a great time this episode.

he's just happy his father is dead and that he is polling at 4 percent in alaska.

truly a power play by the writers to give con all the best lines in the episode. our girl is thriving!!

the tom/shiv saga continues, this time with sexting.

can't believe they are getting some of the best classically trained theater actors in the world to write this shit.

and make faces like this:

what time to be alive.

ATN is downsizing. greg is out for skulls.

shiv and tom host a tailgate party before the election which isn't really a tailgate party and all the finest people in the land are gathered, including a strange tv couple and a podcast god.

roman and ken are using the occasion to spread doubt about mattson and the gojo deal:

just two failsons/CE-bros working together for the good of the republic.

also, they've invited nate to go regulatory on mattson's ass, which tom is of course totally chill about.

it's the guest appearance nobody asked for and yet he has more screen time than gerri in this episode. the succession writers truly do not understand me.

con is offered a post as ambassador to somalia if he drops out of the race by mencken, but mogadishu isn't really his vibe.

he came to win this episode.

gerri arrives at the party and roman is like, phew, my girlfriend isn't mad at me for firing her and my guy frank probably worked it all out with her for me, right? right???

wrong.

it's giving high school drama.

let's all take a moment to imagine gerri, three martinis down, ranting about what a little shithead roman is.

the girlies stick together<3

mattson arrives at the tailgate party after shiv tells him about the regulatory route dumb and dumber over there are planning to go down.

he arrives during a moment of silence for logan, but not to worry, this swede knows how to behave and will not put his dick in the guac.

WHAT. IS. THIS. JACKET.

lukas is, of course, his normal charming self:

my face exactly when i'm caught between my potential future boss and the guy i've been boning nonstop for the past 12 hours.

the roman/con negotiations continue. it's a no on the slos, con wants to take berlin by christmas and contemplates opening up north korea like nixon did china.

it's giving napoleon, it's giving girlboss.

if you can believe it, you can achieve it, con con.

but alas, he is offered oman.

shiv asks mattson this:

if i was mattson i would eat her out right then and there.

i'm having perfectly normal feelings about it.

nate continues to.... be there.

luckily he doesn't stay for long. bye bye, nate. see you never!!!

con tries to sell willa on the whole oman thing:

the pros are: no lines at the airport and you can hit people with your car. bonus: you actually DON'T have to live under ground.

this is perhaps the first time in succession history that we see a couple have a truly genuine discussion about what their next move should be - together.

sticking up for your man's delusions really works out, i guess.

oscar is great.

he doesn't like greg. i like oscar.

ebba wants to murder everybody:

communications people with social anxiety, unite!

greg is a try-hard and joins in on the hazing of ebba.

i don't think i've ever liked him less.

anyway, turns out it helps the failbros, who come to ebba's rescue, smoke a cig with her, figure out lukas is basically not the coder from gothenburg he says he is, but instead some swedish elon musk type who took some tech to marked.

bravo.

oh, and his numbers in india are completely wack.

rome and ken are ecstatic!

lets run down a list of mattson's flaws so far: - fudged the numbers - sent weird items to his employee - potentially has a little drug problem? - calls things he doesn't like gay

totally inappropriate for a company like waystar, in other words.....

roman does the best gerri impression i've ever heard.

i know j. said she thinks the impression is stupid but i had to watch that moment three times to figure out if it was actually her saying the line or not, so..... sorry j. <3

gerri is done.

i feel unwell. someone please convince me this isn't their last ever scene together.

j. said there'd be ups and downs. WHERE ARE THE UPS?

roman is upset and takes it out on connor in his best logan impression to date:

con is like nah, i'm good on oman and willa is like everyone hates your fascist candidate, roman.

good for them.

ken and mattson fight over who has the fakest numbers.

mattson shits on new york like a true swede.

anyone doing the "drink every time someone fights" game this episode is dead by now.

speaking of, we get the best hbo balcony scene since the wire season 3 episode 11.

at the risk of mixing my hbo references, this is my red wedding.

the fight goes something like this:

shiv: you are a social climber tom: you are broken, you never got your dads approval and you shouldn't have kids because you are horrible

at least now tom can get some sleep, i guess, because the bonefest is certainly over.

ken talks to frank about taking doing a reverse viking, meaning waystar buys gojo, not the other way around.

OH MY GOD THESE KIDS. they can't even fucking pull off ONE deal before they are on to the next. c'mon.

oh and he wants the CEO position for himself. shocker.

imagine being frank in this scenario. just imagine.

tom is tired from all the sex and all the talk about him getting fired and acts exactly like me whenever i have people over:

tired girlies need representation too.

the era of wambsgans ire is here.

shiv is like oh fuck.

the episode ends with everyone pretty much being alone. there are no teams anymore. there are zero hugs except for one very disturbing one between mattson and ken, and i'm having a hard time remembering if i like any of these characters at all.

oh no, wait, i like connor.

it's all good. i still like connor.

ps: WHERE IS KARL?!

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 63

Old Spice? Is that really still actually a thing?

Marisha is fumbling her part of the plug so badly it's beautiful ... Sam: "Matt ... say something now!" XD

Oh nice, SHORT advert intro this time ... more time for gameplay then ...

"Scallywags" ... XD

Oh yeah, I just remembered IT'S A CLIFFHANGER!!! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!!!

Creepy face, creepy face! Not good ... oh fuck, don't DO THAT, Matt! Oh ... it's NOT Hevestro? Eep ...

Oh yeah, this guy's DEFINITELY not a friend ... whoa, creepy dude ... fuck ... oh shit, is this a FUCKING LICH?!!!

A faint Fey energy? Oh dear ...

"The Hierophant is in ME." Oh boy ...

Liam makes a Perception roll. "Urgh, not great fir me ... 19." (snort ... are you kidding me?)

Is Deni$e seriously arguing about squatters' rights? LOL

Oh boy ... this thing is giving me major Hexus from Ferngully's ultimate skeletal monster form vibes right now ...

Shit ... so this thing is FREE because of the Solstice? That's LOVELY ...

"I know how you can help me ... you can join Hevestro." Crap ... Matt: "Roll initiative." CRAP!!!

Oooooooh ... fancy Battlemap time ... and an adorably specific WizzKids plug from Liam ... XD

Prism and Orym match initiative ... ROLLIES?!!! Liam: "What's your dex?" Emily (chuckling): "Not yours." Yup ... XD

Ashton rages ... and it's a FANCY RAINBOW RAGE again ... love it when he does that ... holding his action, now ... hmmm ...

Deni$e is dashing for cover, holding her action too ...

Orym chucking a dagger "just to see what it does"? Hmmmmmm ... and it hits! Okay ... it DOES find purchase, but ... not a whole lit of effect. Interesting ...

It deals him 8 points of NECROTIC damage? AND knocks him down? Ouch ...

Emily popping into the bottom screen as she leans RIGHT OVER is VERY distracting to me ... I have NO IDEA what Prism actually just DID ...

Frightening Gaze? WHAT?!!! Phew, it doesn't work on her at least ...

Bor'Dor's gonna cast something big, something RAUCOUS ... nope, just a Lightning Bolt ... XD ... and the crossbow SURVIVES!!! Okay ...

It's STRETCHING ... creepy hands ... oh shit, what IS THIS?!!! Ooh, a COUNTERSPELL?!!! Go Prism! Crap ... bugger, that didn't work ...

EVERYBODY has to make a Con Save? Argh ... and FUCKING OUCH!!! Gods that is NASTY ... Necrotic damage ... yeah, this is TOTALLY a lich ...

She can't Rage? Bollocks! Aaaaaaaah ... Held Action is NOT good after all ... double bollocks ...

It has a BONUS ACTION?!!! A red orb? What the fuck is THAT shit?

Laudna casts Darkness on the little red orb ... hmmm ... a DOME OF DARKNESS now ... okay then ... even Marisha isn't sure this is actually a SMART move right now ...

Ashton comes in swinging ... and Taliesin Crit Fails ... ow ... thank the gods for Action Surge ... and then he just thinks himself out of doing much of anything ... bugger ...

Crap ... Deni$e's heals fail her ... bollocks ... whip out? Ooh, intimidation! Yeah!

Flea Jump? Oooh ... way to go, Orym! And an Action Surge! Goading Attack! Yeah! 11 points of damage! Nice! Wait ... that's Hevestro in there? Oh shit ... so they CAN'T damage it without hurting him too? Shit ...

Prism trying Force Damage ... 27 points? Woooo ... so THAT works! Okay, good to know ...

Bor'Dor is at SHIT HP ... yeah, 4th Level Cure Wounds on himself is smart ... he shouts: "I'm coming!" ... and then that's it ...

Orbital Decay? Oooh ... Ashton is a Gravity Well! Sweet! Slows it RIGHT DOWN ... fuck, andnow it's PUKING gaseous unpleasantness into his face! Prism Counterspells it! NICE SAVE!!!

Crap ... and now she's made herself a target ... that won't end well ...

Form of Dread! Yeah! Here we go! And a foibles barrelled Eldritch Blast! BOTH HIT!!! Sweet! Crap damage roll, though ... bummer, 5 and 7? Hmmm ... essentially just TICKLES him ...

Oh man ... this thing is IMMUNE to her Form of Dread? Shit ...

Flaring eyes? Never good ...

FINALLY Ashton starts to do dome real DAMAGE!!! And a Chaos Buest ... ooooh ... Cold Damage? Interesting ... orb is cracked, but still intact ... but he can MOVE IT!!! Okay ... another hit ... POW!!! And it SHATTERS!!! Yes! Nice one, boy!

Orym's getting speared! Laudna casts Silvery Barbs ... and fails! Aaaaaaaah ... fuck ... snd now he's PINNED!!! Shit!

Deni$e attacks with her sickle! And still stumbles? Bloody heels ... a miss .. znd ANOTHER miss ... at least the third one hits ... for 7 points of damage? Oof ...

Orym is pinned and he STILL hits that fucker TWICE!!! Nice ... Grasping Vine! Oh ... he's trying to PULL HEVESTRO OUT?!!! Whoa ... down to a contest of strength ... ah ... Holy shit, that actually WORKED!!! Unbelievable ...

Prism considering using Dimension Door to just get the body out of here ... too risky ... no, she's doing it after all? Okay then ... she sends Dynios to send it to Ashton! And he's just SHOCKED about it ... O.O

Bor'Dor is going for the body ... and he just FUMBLES IT ... nuts ... so he decides to shoit a Firebolt at the remaining orb instead ... it hits! Yes! But since he's shooting THROUGH THE DARKNESS he doesn't actually KNOW IT ... "That felt good!" XD

Counterspelling a Counterspell? Dear gods ... massive frustration, clearly ...

Another double Eldritch Blast! 14 and 10 damage ... not bad, Laudna! It's starting to look ragged ... Chill Touch? Ooooooh ... 13 points of damage and it CAN'T HEAL!!! Nice ...

"Game recognises game!" Sure ...

Ashton's still afraid, so he just PICKS UP THE BODY and books it! XD Okay then ...

Attack or heal? What you gonna do, Deni$e? She goes with mercy ... good choice! Healing Potion! And Hevestro is ALIVE!!! Yes!

Prism is now EXTREMELY PLEASED with herself and I don't blame her ...

Orym squats over the elf and BOOSTS HIS AC!!! Nice!

Radiant Chill Touch! Nice one, Prism! 9 Radiant damage! Meanwhile ... is Dynios FLIRTING with this thing?

Prism: "That's right! I'm becoming a little bit of a Battle Mage!" Taliesin: "And it's gone."

Bor'Dor shoots a Lightning Bolt through the crossbow into the orb ... 23 damage! CRACK!!! And it HURTS the creature! Nice!

A Fireball? Ouch ... 35 points of Fire damage! Oooooh, that smarts! That was just MEAN ...

Shit ... and now Hevestro is a bit crispy and UNCONSCIOUS again! Double shit!

Hexbolt times 2 from Laudna ... NICE!!! Oh yeah, she us FUCKING IT UP!!! And an extra double Eldritch Blast! Nice! AND SHE GETS THE HDYWTDT!!! WHOOOOOO!!!

Oh yeah, she just SHREDS this fucker ... that's beautiful ... and pretty gross ... and then she just sucks it all into her hand snd SQUISHES IT. Nice ...

Bor'Dor does a Mass Cure Wounds ... which looks like loads of blue cotton candy? Awwwww ... :3

So now Hevestro is beholden to them. Here we go ...

Evithorir the Taker? So THAT'S what that thing was ...

Tumilo? Efterin? Oh, here we go, infodump time ... yeah, altogether that sounds pretty intense ...

Orym finally getting down to business ... and Hevestro doesn't actually KNOW what's going on ... so Laudna PROJECTS a Silent Image of the Solstjce itself ... okay ... Matt: "That's where we gonna take a break ..." Yup ...

Back again ...

Requests of transportation to Wildemount AND Marquet ... tomorrow morning? Really? Sweet ...

Heading out into the vestibule? Okay ... and now he's dragging freaky skeletons up out of the ground ... okay ... oh, that is TRAGIC ... lovely ...

And so THAT'S what the weird grave in the wilderness was all about ...

Less luxury than the basic amenities of a youth hostel, then ... sounds about right ...

Deni$e is "trying not to be too aggressive" ... WHILE TANKING HIS ARM ... okay ... and now Bor'Dor's on the floor ... she is going HARD on him right now ... wait ... HE DOESN'T ACTUALLY HAVE a brother? What?

Okay, now I really AM confused, what the hell IS going on with him?

"WTF is with this guy?" Hang on ... did Marisha actually JUST WRITE THAT on the fan?

Okay, so it's storytime around the fire ...

So he's from the Menagerie Coast? Okay ... hiding out from the church ... oh so he already HAD his powers then? Hmmm ... so his mother was killed? Betrayed by her gods? Ouch ... oh man, that got dark FAST ...

Okay, now I'm starting to wonder about this guy myself ... where the hell IS he going with this?

WTF is going on?

HOLY SHIT Bor'Dor is a total LIE!!!

Oh fuck he is ATTACKING THEM WITH FUCKING ACID!!! WTF?!!! 27 Acid damage each? Fuck ...

HOLY FUCK PRISM IS DEAD?!!! NOOOOOOO!!!

Roll initiative! Shit, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!!!

Bor'Dor: "I saw you! You killed my friends in Marquet!" WHAT?!!!

Wow ... now they are GENUINELY trying go work out who the hell through killed that he even means?

Orym kicks dirt in Bor'Dor's face, grabs Prism and pours a Healing Potion into her, then protects her as she wakes up again. WOW he us so awesome ...

Ashton IMMEDIATELY fucking RAGES, charges Bor'Dor and sucks him in with his Gravity Effect ... and SUCKER PUNCHES him right in the gut. Density Well? Oooooh ... and that boy is ON HIS ARSE. Ashton: "Sorcerer, huh?" Now he pops hom on the head with the butt of his hammer ... PUNT!!!

Deni$e grapples him to pin him down ... oh, so he is a GREASY little shit! She tries again ... and this time she OWNS HIM. Nice ...

Utkarsh: "I don't feel like dying anymore ..." Oh great ... NOW what the hell is he planning to do? He Polymorphs himself into a hummingbird ... except Laudna Counterspells him out of it! Okay then ...

Wow ... now he's just crying on the floor and begging them to kill him? Hmmmm ...

Laudna goes full blown NIGHTMARE FUEL into her full-blown Form of Dread ... "I'm really sorry, Bor'Dor ... I just can't bear to have anyone else betray me." And she casts hunger of the Shadow on him? HOLY SHIT ...

Fuck, HOW MUCH DAMAGE did she just roll ... 26 points of Necrotic Damage? Holy shit ...

Yeah, she just STRAIGHT UP MURDERS HIM ... this just went SO BAD ...

Okay, maybe Prism needs to GET THAT ACID OFF right now ... meanwhile she's punching the now stone cold corpse of Bor'Dor for betraying her ... and she causes an actual Auto-Crit on him ...

Ashton drops Rage, grabs Prism and guns her away and leads her off because she doesn't need to see this. Oof ...

Laudna sees Ofym just watching this with total desolation ... but she's TOO FAR GONE right now ... oh boy ... wait ... what the fuck ... "Marisha hates this." What the ... on my gods ...

Wither and Bloom? Shit ...

Oh fuck ... IS THAT FUCKING DELILAH in control right now? Seriously?

And she KILLS HIM.

It's a beautiful and HORRIBLE death ... fucking hell ...

Ashton comforts Laudna as gently as he can as he leads her away ... meanwhile Orym is clearly DESTROYED emotionally right now ... Holy fuck ...

Utkarsh: "I would have stabbed each and every one of you." Jeez ... fucking CHILL, you psycho ... O.O

HE HAS AN IMMOVABLE ROD?!!! Fuck, he has LOADS of loot ... what the hell WAS going on with this guy?

Wow ... is Prism like SUPER TRAUMATISED right now? At least Deni$e is there to SORT OF pick up the pieces ...

She's going to shout at his grave ... and stomp on it ... and apologise for it ... then stomp on it again ... yeesh ...

Hevestro offers up words of comfort ...

Prism talks to Laudna ... Laudna: "I'm afraid that what I did hurt more than just Bor'Dor ..." ouch ... and now the subject of Delilah comes up again ... she's scared she might still be there and I can't blame her, I'm wondering thr same bloody thing right now ...

Wow, she is just tumbling RIGHT DOWN this existential rabbit hole right now, ain't she?

Meanwhile Orym is just pondering in the broodiest way possible ... he's just going through it as bad as his friends right now ...

A very subdued evening before retirement ... oof ...

Morning breaks and they rise again ...

Oh, okay, here we go, then ...

Ashton grabs a little bit of the crystal ... with kind permission, of course ...

Prism suggests to Dynios that they ... abscond from the Cobalt Soul in the chaos ... and then begs Ashton to egg her on ... hmmm ... wow ... is he actually trying to TALK HER OUT OF IT?!!! Oh, no, turns out he's all for it after all. XD

XD ... now he's trying to convince her to go to Whitestone and rip off Percy ... I love it ...

Yup ... Prism's life of crime and debauchery begins, then ... XD

Deni$e trying to work out how to get sent yo Dariax ... they try to scry on him ... here we go ...

A tavern ... OF COURSE IT IS ... there he is ...getting drunk ... central Tal'dorei ... Westruun? Okay ... oh, Orym's gonna try to get hold of Dorian through the Sending Stone ... aaaaaargh, not the bloody D100 again ... crap ...

A wanted poster? Oh boy ...

Prism wondering if what they went through was real ... and Ashton IMMEDIATELY asking her if she thinks she's just HALLUCINATED the whole thing ... LOL

"Like putting a hat on a hat!" XD

Okay, here we go ... goodbye to Deni$e and Prism, then ...

Oh, so it's a case if "pick your own tree, then" ... and Prism is the "canary in the cost mine" ... XD

Ah yes, Tree Striding ... here we go ...

That's it then, farewell Deni$e ...

Scrying to find the others, then ... okay ...

They're home ... that's it, then. That's where to go.

Laudna gives Prism a hank of her dead hair for her to scry with ... lovely ...

Wow ... Prism's exit is just CRAZY ...

And then the others go through too ...

Oh, Bor'Dor gets a little bit of a coda? That's intriguing ...

Matt: "And THAT'S where we're gonna end the episode."

Wow ... introspective ... and I'm STILL emotionally destroyed ... that episode was TOUGH ...

So yeah ... well done Utkarsh, you went where very few have gone before, narratively ... and Aimee, ALWAYS fun to see you, luv ...

Until next time, then ...

[yukiwrites]

Back to Their Roots

Thanks for the support as usual, @authordgaster!

This is a Support chain C-S Between Byleth and Anna.

Commission info HERE and HERE!

__________________________

C SUPPORT

Anna: Hmmm, but if what’s written here is true, what happened before it all…? (sound of paper rustling) *sighs* There’s no way there’s a Prologue for this, is there?

Byleth: …

Anna: *gasps* Wah! Talk about stealth! Don’t go sneaking up on a girl like that, Professor!

Anna: Rather, would you be interested in using these skills somewhere else? I’m sure although ‘Teacher’ would look good in your resumé, you could be doing much more…

Byleth: Choice 1: What were you worried about before?/ Choice 2: I was a mercenary before being a teacher.

Anna: (Choice 1) So you won’t let that go, huh? / (Choice 2) True, your resumé is already outstanding.

Anna: But that still isn’t enough to yank the answer out of me. I wouldn’t be a great secret seller if I just told about my Secret Thingy to any who asked, would I?

Byleth: I suppose not.

Anna: So! There you have it. Thanks for the chat, Professor! Ta-ta!

Byleth: …

B SUPPORT

(Monster howl)

Anna: Ack! Get away from me!

(slashing sound followed by a thump)

Anna: Huh? Professor! Oh, phew. Thank you so much for getting me out of that one. It was close!

Byleth: Are you hurt?

Anna: No, I’m alright. Thanks again, you showed just at the perfect time! I owe you one.

Anna: But I dislike owing people, so I’ll repay you right now! Is there something you need? Anything at all? I can guarantee the best deals and I’ll cut you a discount if you want something that I don’t have at hand.

Byleth: Choice 1: Just knowing you’re safe is payment enough. / Choice 2: What were you doing out here so far?

Anna: (Choice 1) Aww, aren’t you a charmer? That won’t do, though. / (Choice 2) Urk, hoping that you wouldn’t ask really did not make it come true.

Anna: I guess I owe you at least an explanation — though I will still repay you with something else, later. Hmm but I suppose information IS money, too, so if you’re happy with it, so am I, heehee!

Anna: Where should I start… Well, as you know, my family is pretty big. Wait, you know about it, right? I’m sure you’ve seen my sisters around.

Byleth: Sisters?

Anna: The peddler on the battlefield, or the dark merchant down the river… Don’t tell me you thought they were all me!

Byleth: …

Anna: Heehee, just pulling one over you. It’s fine thinking that; it’s the whole point of the scheme. I have many, many sisters, cousins, aunts, yadda-yadda that are all merchants by the name Anna. It’s kind of our thing.

Anna: We even have a…

Anna: …

Anna: A… secret thingy.

Byleth: …

Anna: Sorry, but saving my life still doesn’t make you privy to this information. It’s really top secret.

Anna: Anyway, we have this secret thingy that I’ve been reading from cover to cover lately, but there’s still so much to know! Information is money! Information keeps the world going! I want to know more, I NEED to know more. What happened BEFORE the thingy? I’m sure I can capitalize on that, but then there’s how the thingy kind of tied our family down here in Fódlan… Maybe if I find more about the Outrealm gate…

Byleth: Outrealm?

Anna: Whoops, said that outloud, did I? Call that a bonus for saving my life! Now that I said too much, it’s time for my strategic retreat. Ta-ta, Professor!

Byleth: …

A SUPPORT

Byleth: …

Anna: Aha! Caught you off guard, didn’t I?

Byleth: Choice 1: That surprised me. / Choice 2: I was looking for you.

Anna: (Choice 1) Good! I won’t be caught by surprise again. / (Choice 2) I know. That’s why I didn’t want to be caught by surprise again.

Anna: Quick learning and knowing how to adapt are key qualities for merchants, you know! Anyway, what did you need me for today, Professor?

Byleth: Choice 1: I’ve just been worried about how you’ve been holding out. / Choice 2: I was wondering about your secret thingy.

Anna: (Choice 1) Aww, truly a person after my own heart. Is that really all, though? / (Choice 2) So it really was about that, huh.

Anna: *sighs* I suppose it’s not much of a secret thingy if you’ve known about it for so long, is it? But before I start, can I ask a few questions?

Byleth: Of course.

Anna: Back when your hair changed, they said you went to another world and met the goddess… Is that true? How was it like? Anything like Fódlan or was it… something else entirely?

Byleth: It was just darkness. The goddess gave me her power so that we could escape it and return here.

Anna: Just darkness, huh… Turns out that world-hopping is a more serious business than it already seems.

Byleth: World-hopping?

Anna: *sighs* The cat’s outta the bag already, so I’ll elaborate on it. But just a little bit! Figure the rest out by yourself.

Anna: There are other worlds. My family is really big. I have the secret thingy here that’s passed down to every Anna before they start their business. What do you think we do?

Byleth: World-hopping?

Anna: Bingo! Though I spelled it out for you, so the credit’s still mine. But there’s the thing: our family hasn’t world-hopped since coming to Fódlan. The records in the manifesto aren’t very clear about when it happened, but I’m guessing it’s been ever since we got our Crest…

Anna: Maybe that bound us to this land? Maybe the power we had to world-hop canceled out? Or maybe we just forgot how to do it since we’ve been here in this land for so long? So many questions, and no one to answer them!

Byleth: I’m sorry I can’t help with this.

Anna: That’s alright. Thanks for listening ‘till the end, though. I don’t need to mention this, but this is ultra top secret information, okay? Don’t go tittle-tattling on me, you hear?

Byleth: *nods*

Anna: Thanks! Ta-ta, Professor!

Byleth: *thinking stance*

S SUPPORT

Anna: Woo! With that war outta the way, I’ll be able to cover more ground for my research. Thanks for letting me join up to help, Professor.

Anna: I got some pretty big numbers in both clinkity-clinks and information, which’s a win-win-win!

Byleth: I’m glad everything got resolved.

Anna: Yup. Something on your mind, though? You seem out of it, somehow.

Byleth: I’ve been thinking about what you told me last time.

Anna: *whispers* World-hopping? We’re alone here, right?

Anna: Okay, we are. So what were you thinking? Do you have any clues?

Byleth: I think that I might be able to use the power of the goddess to find these Outrealms. I can’t hear her voice anymore, but I feel her power growing everyday.

Anna: *Gasp* So… you mean you can world-hop?! This is incredible news! I was thinking that my family was too bound to this place, but if you can help with the power of the goddess… maybe our children can world-hop again!

Anna: Alright, I got the guns on you, take that ring out and put it on my finger, we’re going to cover grounds no other Anna has done since the start of our history here!

Byleth: Choice 1: You surprised me. / Choice 2: How did you know I was going to propose?

Anna: Heehee, a woman must keep her secrets! This is one I won’t be sharing, darling. Now, we’re bound forever, with new heights in sight for us! And so many business opportunities!Anna: Thank you for always thinking of me! Now, we’ll be together forever, as partners, lovers and strangers in other worlds. I’ll share this one secret though: *whispering* I love you. Thanks for believing in me. Okay, enough secrets and more happiness! *kissing sound*