#but a thought about mechanic horn is interesting!!!! not sure if it could use magic-- maybe limited?? maybe medic gave him some of his magic

[homkamiro]

HWGWWGWGGWGWGSHAHWBW OWWWWWOOOOOOO LOOK AT THIS ONGG🥺🥺😭💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓 ABSOLUTELY ADOREEEE IT'S PERFECT AAAAAA

i saw homa's mlp tf2 designs.. and i thought would it be cool that engie is so crazy that he made himself a fucking mechanic horn??? or just mechanic hoof is better..idk🤔 im not really an expert in mlp so

[coolstuffiseverywhere]

I have a kinda batshit insane theory that might make sense?

So, I like Tohya and Ikuko’s existence, but Ikuko always felt off to me. We don’t have enough to really grab onto to start building much of a character from her writing unlike Tohya, despite her writing more of it. I know Sayo=Ikuko is a common theory, and I think it works by the logic I’m about to suggest. This is another alternative that I find interesting though.

Ikuko is Rika. Hear me out. Tohya isn’t Battler, in other words, he isn’t the detective. The closest we have to a detective of the future is Ange, who can still see magic. Meaning we don’t actually get an objective viewpoint of the future ever.

This works based more off Featherine, but let me explain how it works in reality: Sometime after breaking the loops, Hanyuu leaves, etc(ignore Gou I’ll get to that) she decides to leave Hinamizawa, setting up a remote place to live with some servants. As heir to the furude family, she has the funds. This doesn’t actually have to be 1986, as finding Tohya and bringing him back immediately aren’t necessarily true and are also a little lucky. My guess would be she finds Tohya while on the way to look for an estate, brings him to the hospital, and they later live together. Together, they lie about her age upon finding him, as she often uses makeup to appear older(and by the time Ange or anyone meets them she’s old enough for it to not matter), to feel more her age after the loops.

Now, my actual reasoning: Featherine on the meta level always seemed weirdly divorced from Hanyuu. I can see some connections of course, it’s all the parts of Hanyuu that got buried in Matsuribayashi. But I never really could get what all their lines about master/servant meant, considering some lines Lambda said and some implications that don’t seem true in Higurashi. Thus, I suggest: Featherine is a mix of their author persona and a witch for Rika to deal with Hanyuu leaving despite being there for her entire life.

This explains Featherine being more of a recorder(although you could also read this as Ikuko’s influence, recording both Ange’s thoughts and Tohya’s story) and watcher then a writer despite also writing. It explains what Bernkastel means by “you taught me”, as she’d be quite literally talking to a manifestation of Hanyuu and Rika, the second of which presumably making Bernkastel as a way to deal with the looping and her trauma, as well as to personify her depression. Hanyuu ofc did teach actual Rika, but Featherine was always not actually Hanyuu, and a lot of the commentary was always more about Featherine anyway. The broken horn thing may make more sense as well: it’s a combination or the Hanyuu inspiration and talking about Rika’s loops.

It also explains the higurashi as a book references: they probably did also write those, Sayo might of read them!

In this scenario, Lambda would be written to be her way of dealing with Takano and her not really getting consequences, as well as her separated friendship with Satoko. Which, on that note:

Gou! I think this would be Ikuko and Satoko, but mostly Satoko, writing it! For the same reasons as the show. And I think it works better as an actual book. She’s trying to use loop’s mechanics more to understand Rika’s experience better, and also they’re both trying to process their friendship ending. I think in this scenario either Rika left before they started high school, or they just went through all of Saint Lucia’s without a loop. Regardless, I think Satoko tried to go to Rika’s school, which was likely fancier. This was just their way of trying to see how that’d actually go for them, and better process that their past relationship was unhealthy.

I think she may of also helped write some of the Lamba parts of Umineko, but that’s mostly conjecture.

This was a bit of a mess, and I’m sure more contradictions and evidence is around, but I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else suggest that some of the last book’s non-Ange future scenes are fantasy scenes. So I hope that at least helps.

[ghoulodont]

ok ive been thinking about this a lot because its related to the ice cream fic that im trying to write... i want to solidify in my personal ghoul lore the mechanics of existing in human society. the traditional answer is shapeshifting which totally makes sense as a power a demon might have but i dont like that answer in my own lore for the following reasons:

i think my ghouls are much more lenient in being known to be demons to maybe not the general public but to fans of the band. my ghouls dont wear masks (until impera era when they inexplicably started wearing helmets) because they just look like that. theres no pretense that theyre humans pretending to be demons, they just are demons

i find it complicated. i personally just dont have enough brainpower to keep track of what they look like when. i sometimes find it confusing when im reading fics

since i love to doubt and overthink everything i get all caught up in how it works. like if you tied something to their tail and they made their tail disappear what would happen? thats sort of the simplest question you could possibly ask im sure i could come up with infinitely many contrived scenarios. i know shapeshifting is a highly established fantasy concept so im sure theres many proposed answers for this

it makes me sad that they have to hide :(

and this really hasnt been a huge problem for me because my ghouls have horns and fangs and thats it. but now im thinking what if they had little pointy ears? what if they had tails? and it starts to be stretching it a little bit. my original thought was if you saw someone who had little horns you would probably be like ok thats interesting and then move on unless youre some sort of conspiracy theorist.

so now im like what are the other options? what comes to mind is some sort of psychological barrier or jedi mind trick where people just dont notice the horns despite them being clearly objectively visible. i sort of feel like thats a cop out answer but i think i would prefer it to literal shapeshifting for its simplicity.

it also would increase the magicalness of my ghouls significantly because they dont have any elemental powers or anything but i think thats ok as ive established that they do ultimately come from magic. i just dont think i could ever have them intentionally use magic but passive properties feels ok

[owlsandwich]

The Mechanics of Magic

Read along with me :D - Chapter 6

Chapter 1 | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

This one took a little longer to do than the last one, as some of these edits were clarifying plot points that previously read as a bit confusing. Hopefully it is much improved!

Also, Roy's back ;)

~

The Mechanics of Magic is a multiple-pov fantasy novel set in an original world where magic exists openly alongside early internet-level technology.

The book follows the surviving prince of a deposed magical royal family, who has been living in secret for two decades, trying to rescue his son whilst uncovering the truth about his family's murder.

Chapter 6 is below the cut!

The cruel screech of a car horn ripped Roy into consciousness. He groaned and pulled a pillow over his head. From the glimpse of light he’d seen breaking in through the curtains, it could be anywhere between eight in the morning and early afternoon. Any time before double digits is too early.

A memory of standing on a table downing a cocktail pitcher floated unbidden to the top of his mind, and Roy cringed. With any luck, none of his colleagues would remember last night’s events in great detail either. 

It was stuffy under the pillow, which was doing nothing to improve his dry mouth. Sleep didn’t seem like it would return any time soon and so, struck by a sudden urge to use the bathroom, Roy dragged himself out of bed.

He stumbled over to the window, slamming it shut to block out the sound of the street below. A faint glow caught his eye as he turned back to his room, emanating from underneath the crumpled T-shirt he’d thrown at his dresser the night before.

That damned wand. 

Whatever it was, being shot at hadn’t sat well with him, and Roy had no desire to start dealing with unknown magic on top of his hangover. Instead, he headed towards the door. The wand had been lying there for a day and a half; it could wait a little longer.

His bedroom door was blocked by a chair wedged under the handle. Roy tugged at it, foggy brain struggling to process how to unhook it. Time and alcohol had done much to settle his frazzled nerves after his trip to Felix Marek’s, but apparently not enough to stop him from barricading himself in.

After some swearing, it finally came loose, and Roy wrenched the door open. Immediately, flashing magelights lit up the bedroom sending stabs of pain through his head. He flung an arm over his eyes until, after a few seconds, the spell burnt out.

He wasn’t sure which was worse: being half-blinded by his own shoddy trap spell, or realising that Drunk Roy was a better caster than he was.

By the time he collapsed onto his worn sofa with a mug of black coffee, his head had mercifully started to clear. It was earlier than he’d expected, only around half twelve, and he switched on the television, intending to take the day easy.

Weekend television always left something to be desired. He flicked aimlessly through the channels, ignoring murder mysteries and overpaid TV chefs. At this rate, it would be more interesting to watch his betta, Mr Shiny-Sides, swimming round the planted fish tank that was the only décor in the room. Eventually, he landed on the news. A reporter seemed to be wrapping up their major story, and Roy half listened as he sipped his drink. 

“...reopened after yesterday’s accident in the capital, in which a bus collided with oncoming traffic. A spokesman for the palace has confirmed that arrangements for the annual celebration are going ahead as planned.”

Ugh, the celebration. That time of year again. Roy’s thoughts drifted back to the wand and he gripped his coffee mug tight.

He’d gone to Marek’s for answers, hadn’t he? Answers that were now potentially sitting on a dresser in his bedroom…

It wasn’t like he had anything better to do.

An hour later, showered, dressed, and having fed Mr Shiny-Sides, Roy found himself at the entrance of his local magic shop. 

The place was almost unnoticeable, slouched between a hairdressers and mini supermarket. Its dingy glass door was covered in hand-written cards: advertisements from registered mages for recharging and passive spell repairs, for those with little magical skill or ability themselves. Roy pushed the door open and heard a pleasant chime echo throughout the shop, announcing his arrival.

A dusty smell permeated the place. Many of the items were clearly second hand, nothing particularly impressive. A curtain hung behind the unattended counter, hiding a door to a back room.

Despite living nearby, Roy had never needed to come into the shop before, having enough magical ability himself to solve most of his needs. Even so, the sensation of magic emanating from the trinkets that lined the shelves was rather pleasant, and he amused himself by analysing the passive spells contained within them while he waited.

He supposed he could have got registered. Plenty of weaker mages still managed to earn some money on the side, especially nowadays with so many Velbians in the city boosting the non-magic population. It would supplement his delivery job, but Roy was damned if he was ever going to be on one of Morgan’s lists. And, despite his dabbles in breaking and entering, Roy wasn’t interested in breaking the law to work unregistered.

A less-than-polite cough from the counter interrupted him as he spun the blades on a desk fan. A middle-aged woman with frizzy brown hair stood there now, peering suspiciously at Roy through her small, square glasses. He snatched his hand away, prompting a barking laugh from the shopkeeper.

“Touch if you want,” she said dismissively. “I doubt you could break anything.”

Not sure if this was a comment on the quality of the wares or a dig at his own magic ability, Roy moved across to the woman as she thumbed through a stack of papers.

“Can I help you?” she spoke without looking up. “If you need a mage, there are numbers on the door. Unless it’s for something more... specific?”

Roy blinked in confusion. “Er... I hope so. That you can help, I mean. I don’t need a mage.”

The woman took her glasses off, closing them with an audible snap, and looked up at him. There was an awkward pause before he realised that she was waiting for him to continue.

“Right, yes. I have something and I don’t know what it is,” Roy said.

“You have something... and you don’t know what it is.” She repeated his words slowly, and Roy shifted his feet. 

“Yeah… Look. I’ll show it to you.” He dug around in his pocket and pulled out the bundled-up T-shirt that contained the wand. Trying to avoid touching the wood, he unfurled it, using the material as a makeshift handle.

Somehow, the wand had regained the magic it had discharged through him at Felix Marek’s house. He'd learned that one the hard way. Carved symbols glowed as he revealed them, a visual display of the unsettling magic it gave off. “I need to know what it’s for.”

“Don’t point it at me!” the woman exclaimed, and Roy thought he caught a glimpse of fear in her eyes. 

“It doesn’t do anything if you don’t touch it,” he explained, lowering the wand. “It’s got some sort of magic in it, but I can’t work out what it’s supposed to do or how it’s been charged.” He tried to keep the details vague. After seeing the shopkeeper’s reaction, he wasn’t sure if he had done the right thing by bringing it here.

“It’s rude to point.” The fear had gone from the woman’s face, and she held out an expectant hand. Instinctively, Roy snatched the wand back, holding it against his chest, and received an exasperated sigh in response. “Do you want me to help you or not?”

Turning the T-shirt handle towards her, he reluctantly passed the wand into the shopkeeper’s waiting hand. With the other, she replaced her glasses and began to inspect it, face so close to the inscribed marks that Roy feared her nose would touch the wood. Then, with a shake of her head, she held it back out to him. “Sorry, can’t help you.”

Shit. So this was a total waste of my—

“But I can point you to some people who might,” the woman continued, interrupting his thoughts.

Roy snapped his head back up. “That would be great,” he said, re-wrapping the wand and slipping it into the deepest pocket of his jacket.

“Don’t get too excited.” The shopkeeper’s eyes narrowed, and she again held out her hand expectantly. “It’ll cost you.” 

Roy wasn’t exactly flush at the moment. He had some cash on him but wasn’t sure he wanted to piss it away on nothing. Still, this was the only lead he had.

“Take it or leave it.” It seemed the woman had about as much patience as he had money.

“Look.” Roy reached into another of his many pockets and fished out a crumpled note. “I’ve got a twenty on me, but that’s a—”

“Twenty will be fine, thank you.” 

He barely felt the note leave his fingers as it was whisked away. “Hang on a second! What exactly am I getting for this?”

“Names,” the woman replied. “Addresses and numbers. These people don’t like me giving their details out to just anyone.”

She tucked the money into her pocket before ducking down to fish out a piece of paper from somewhere under the counter. As she began to scribble something down, Roy resigned himself to hoping for the best.

*

It was early, even for him, when Roy rolled into his local and slumped down in front of the bar. The few regulars dotted about the place didn’t look up, but the bartender inclined his head in greeting and strolled over.

“Long day?” Will had been working here since before Roy had been old enough to drink. He was a stocky, round-faced man who didn’t need a fake smile to put his patrons at ease.

Roy gave a groan in response. His legs ached from traipsing all over the city, and likely for nothing. Choosing to ignore the counter’s stickiness, he rested his arms on it, and his head on top of them in turn.

The first two numbers on the list had gone to voicemail, but the address noted down for one had been a half-hour trip across town. He had arrived at an expensive-looking jewellers, where a snooty staff member had coldly informed him that the person he was asking for was on annual leave. 

“The usual then?” Will prompted when Roy didn’t reply.

“Thanks.” Lifting his head, Roy watched as Will filled a pint glass from the beer tap.

The second address had found him drinking tea on the floral-patterned sofa of an elderly lady who had smiled and nodded as he explained about the wand. He wasn’t positive she had quite understood what he needed, and so took her promise to call him if she found any information with a healthy dose of scepticism, but at least she’d had good taste in biscuits. 

Will placed the pint in front of him, and Roy nodded his thanks before taking a gulp. 

After finally making it away from the elderly woman, he’d decided to give the last person on the list a try. This one had seemed the most promising; the man who’d answered his call had asked him to come immediately to his office, giving his address and hanging up before Roy could protest. 

After a bus trip back across the city, during which he began to question how sensible it was to meet these strangers alone, he had entered what appeared to be a tiny museum. The man from the phone call turned out to be a short, bespectacled gentleman wearing an old tweed suit that looked as though it had been stitched long before Morgan’s takeover.

He had ushered Roy up the narrow staircase at the back of the building, into a small office lined with bookshelves and smelling of dust and stale coffee. The man had inspected the wand closely, making many sketches of the shapes inscribed upon it, before proudly declaring that the one at the end was obviously the mark of the Royal Family. 

It was at this point that Roy had given up. He left his address with the man — who apparently disapproved of such modern contraptions as phones — and headed home. Or rather, to the pub, at which he spent an equal amount of time.

“Was surprised not to see you last night,” Will remarked when Roy had made it halfway down the glass. 

“Nah, it was Friday. I was out with the guys from work.”

Will nodded. “Yeah, of course. Completely forgot. Was worried you’d gotten yourself caught up in all that trouble down the road.” He gestured vaguely towards the door.

“Trouble?” Roy asked, but their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a professional-looking man in a suit who sat down on the rickety bar stool beside him. 

Will made an apologetic face as he went to serve the new patron. “What can I get you?”

Something unintelligible was requested in a posh accent, and Roy assessed the man out of the corner of his eye. At first glance he didn’t appear to be much older than Roy, but with closer attention he could detect the magic the man exuded. He was a mage. Strong, too, making his actual age hard to place. 

Roy didn’t recognise him, but then again this wasn’t one of those local pubs. His soft features were handsome enough to hold Roy’s attention, even marred by signs of stress and lack of sleep, and the well-fitting suit and waistcoat he was wearing made him appear expensive. Perhaps he’d just been fired. 

The drink Will placed down ended up being a suspiciously ordinary glass of red wine. As the man picked it up, he turned and met Roy’s stare with sharp, golden-brown eyes. 

Averting his gaze, Roy waved the bartender back over, trying to pretend he hadn’t noticed the suited man at all. 

“What did you mean, trouble yesterday?” Roy asked. He hadn’t noticed anything off when coming home, though the majority of last night was still eluding him. Another mouthful of beer helped chase away the unwelcome return of the table-dancing memory.

Will gave him a questioning look. “Didn’t you see that the roads were all closed near the market? Only reopened this morning.”

There was something like that on the news, Roy remembered. “You mean the traffic accident?” He hadn’t realised it had happened so close to home.

 “Yeah. Traffic accident,” Will scoffed. “Is that what the news is saying? I had a load of them in here last night — people who saw it, I mean, and they all said it was a magic attack.” He leaned across the counter. “I guess they don’t want people worrying, what with the big party coming up and all.”

Roy breathed out a whistle. “You think it’s a rogue mage?” Anyone stupid enough to draw that much attention to themselves better make sure they weren’t registered. He could imagine the police would be paying a visit to all the high-powered magic users on their books. 

Will shrugged. “Doubt we’ll ever know. I don’t envy whoever it is if Morgan is coming after them.”

Roy pursed his lips into a thin line and nodded, then jumped as the man beside him spoke.

“I heard they used a weapon.”

Eyes still fixed ahead, Roy saw Will nod in response to the comment. “That’s what some of the guys were saying yesterday, too. Never heard of a magic weapon, though. What would a mage need one of those for?”

A shattering of glass at a table across the room caused the bartender to wince. “Back in a sec, gents. Sounds like Steve’s destroying the place again.” He walked off, leaving Roy and the stranger alone.

Uncomfortable silence fell. Roy could have sworn he’d felt a tingle of magic just before the glass smashed, but there had been no reaction from the man. In fact, he made no movement at all, other than to drum his fingers lightly against the side of his wine glass. 

Roy had just decided to finish off his pint when the man spoke again. “Apparently, the attackers were seen with what looked to be a wooden rod that shot out magic.”

The glass slipped from Roy’s grip, hitting the table with a clunk. “A wooden rod?” His voice came out as an embarrassing squeak, but the man didn’t seem to notice.

“Indeed. Carved with markings.” The man’s eyes met Roy’s. “I wouldn’t want to be the one in possession of such an object now... A lot of people are going to be looking for them.”

Roy coughed, still recovering from trying to breathe beer, and looked away. “I can imagine.” 

He needed to get out of here fast. It couldn’t possibly be the same one — the wand hadn’t left his room since the night he’d taken it from Marek’s — but how long would it take for someone to figure out he’d been asking around all day about a magical stick with strange glowing markings? That damn woman probably set him up. Her stupid list of stupid numbers. Felix Marek’s lot were already after him; now it would be police, gangs, likely Morgan himself. If he’d realised the bloody wand could’ve been a weapon—

“Are you alright?” The man’s question interrupted Roy’s thoughts.

“Fine. Yes. Sorry, I think I’m just hungover from last night.”

Across the bar, Will was chatting with the group who had broken the glass. He could just leave the money, or duck out without paying the tab. Will would know he was good for it. That was, of course, if he lived through the night...

“I’d be happy to get that drink for you, if you need to go home.”

The offer should have sounded friendly, but the man’s piercing analysis of his thoughts left Roy with a creeping suspicion it had been calculated rather than kind.

“It’s fine mate, thanks.” Hopping down from the stool, Roy pushed a note across the counter. “See he picks that up when he comes over, will you?” The suited man’s eyes seemed to bore into his back as he hurried out.

*

Roy’s front door was within sight when he felt the magic take hold. It gripped his limbs, restraining his movement, and he mentally thrashed in panic, kicking himself for having not run some kind of shield. The spell was too strong to overpower, and the active focus of the caster meant it would take time or distraction to unravel.

A voice rung out from behind him. “Wait, please! I just want to talk.”

Well, that’s nice. Perhaps he wasn’t at the point of imminent death. Footsteps approached from behind, and Roy wished he could turn his head. After a moment, his attacker came into view, and he found himself face to face with the smartly dressed man from the pub. 

“You!” he spluttered, realising that he was still able to speak. 

“Yes. Apologies for this; I had to ensure I had the correct person.” Though apparently sorry, the stranger made no move to release him. 

Roy wasn’t sure how to reply, so decided not to. Instead, he focussed on breaking the spell binding him. It was an active spell — too complex for him to read, but presumably some kind of modified healing construction since it was affecting his body. Still, every spell had a weak point. All it needed was a nudge in the right place.

The man frowned, presumably in response to Roy’s silence. “I know you have the magical weapon we discussed earlier. I would like to make an arrangement.” 

His smooth accent was infuriating. Far too fancy to be one of Marek’s lot. Besides, they’d have just killed him rather than chatting to him in the street.

“I don’t have it on me,” Roy replied, hoping that the man wouldn’t check.

“Of course. I hardly expected you would be stupid enough to bring it with you to a pub.” 

Ouch. Maybe he’d prefer it if the guy was trying to kill him.

“Who do you work for then?” Roy didn’t expect a response, but at least it would change the subject. “Morgan?” 

The corners of the man’s mouth twitched upward, but his faint smile wasn’t sinister.

“I’m afraid Morgan and I don’t see eye to eye,” he replied. “Luckily for you. Nor am I from a criminal organisation, though I was being honest when I said both are likely looking for you.” 

Roy felt the suited man’s focus waver. Immediately, he sent a jolt of his own magic against the point in the spell where the intent began. With a mental click, it unravelled, leaving his captor blinking in surprise. 

Movement returned to his limbs and Roy backed away, wanting to bolt but having no desire to turn his back on a clearly powerful mage. If it came to it, he’d rather go down with a fight. 

“I’m impressed.” The man remained calm. “Though are you quite sure you want to risk someone more dangerous finding you?”

“I’ll take my chances,” Roy replied, though he’d also stopped moving. “Look, I didn’t have any part in that attack. I’m not the guy you want.”

“I’d guessed,” the man replied. “But the weapon you have is clearly of the same kind. All we want is to discover what it is and who made it. From the visits you’ve made today, I believe that you want the same.” 

She did set me up, then.

“I’d actually rather live, to be honest,” he sneered. Maybe he could just give the wand away now and be done.

As if hearing his thoughts, the man replied, “Giving it to me is likely too little too late. Anyone who finds out you were asking will come to interrogate you, whether you have the weapon or not.”

“So what? You’ll offer to keep me safe in exchange for the wand and everything I know? How can I trust that you won’t just off me later when you’ve got what you want?”

“Better than being ‘offed’ now, surely?”

There was that amused expression again. Though the spell no longer bound him, Roy felt well and truly caught. 

The suited man held out a hand. “Do we have an agreement? Safety in exchange for information?”

After a brief hesitation, Roy took it. “Fine.”

“Excellent!” This time the man smiled warmly, as though he hadn’t just attacked an innocent in the street. “And what should I call you?”

Roy let go of the man’s hand. “A fucking idiot, maybe?” he mumbled. “It’s Roy.”

“Pleased to meet you, Roy,” the suited man replied. “My name is Oliver.”

[deliriumsdelight7]

Tell us more about your Kas!Eddie fic!

Gonna throw this under a tag because this is spoilers for like the ENTIRE premise. Minus the fuckin’.

So, a couple weeks ago, I was looking at… well, never mind what I was looking at. And I thought, you know what Hellcheer smut needs? Tentacles. Oh, sure, there’s a few fics out there where Chrissy finds that issue of Heavy Metal with the tentacle smut in Eddie’s room. But we don’t have, like, actual tentacle smut (if I’m wrong SEND ME THAT SHIT). And as anyone who reads my smut knows, even my filthiest stuff tends to be all tender and emotional. So wouldn’t it be fun to make some really tender, intimate tentacle porn?

Yes. Yes it would.

So we all know about the Kas!Eddie theory, which states that Vecna is going to bring Eddie back to life as a vampire next season. Which I’m positive isn’t going to happen because ELEVEN was Kas, but anyway. I started to think of the, I dunno, the mechanics of it. Unlike his namesake, Vecna a.k.a. Henry Creel is not a necromancer. He can’t just make vampires. But if he saw a random teenaged boy bleeding out in the Upside Down, deeply traumatized by everything he’d suffered over the past few days… it would be relatively simple to bind Eddie’s mind to his, and to transform Eddie’s body in the way his own was transformed after he was exiled to the Upside Down.

Yeah. Wetly writhing tentacles and all.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I love all things Beauty and the Beast. It bleeds into a lot of my writing. I think the idea of a truly grotesque beast, a freak of science and nature and maybe a little magic, has serious potential for a ton of hurt/comfort.

I was also partly inspired by Dio’s Dream Evil album cover, in which a monster lurking outside a window watches over a young girl as she sleeps, all the while horrors lurk under her bed. Here:

Now, I don’t know what Murray (the demonic Dio mascot in the window) is meant to be up to. But based on the fact that he’s doing the horns with his fingers - something Ronnie James Dio himself said his grandmother used to do to ward off evil - I think it’s a benevolent presence. A sentinel, warding evil away from the girl’s dreams.

All of that goes into this premise: A year or so after the events of season 4, Chrissy, who (survived/came back to life/don’t worry about it) Vecna’s attack, has started having nightmares again. But every time, before they can get too bad, she’s saved by a steady, soothing presence that she recognizes as Eddie Munson. Which is ridiculous; even if Eddie could somehow get into her dreams, he died a year ago.

Eventually, those horrible visions start bleeding into her waking hours, just as they had a year ago. And this time, when that presence - when Eddie - drives it away, she begs him to reveal himself to her. And that’s the last thing in the world Eddie wants to do (sure, he looks badass and metal as fuck, which is awesome, but he also knows that he’s objectively hideous), but for Chrissy? He’ll do it.

Cue 100% unplanned hurt/comfort, squishy wriggly sex, and some kinda ending that I can’t even BEGIN to figure out.

Thanks for the ask! Hope this sounds interesting!

[bronyinabottle]

MY LITTLE PONY: A NEW GENERATION (G5 Movie) THOUGHTS

It’s finally here. The beginning of Generation 5. Though before I get into the movie in some detail I’m going to reiterate one more time what G5 means for my content and a non-spoilery summary of the movie.

Again, I will say that the movie nor will the G5 series coming later have much of an effect at all on any of my blogs. The revelation in Secrets of the Dragon’s Tear that life itself is also magic means that a world that implied to have no magic for years would mean the extinction of all life (Perhaps resulting in the wasteland we saw in the Season 5 finale). There may be something I’ll probably do at some point on a certain different blog. But even then, that may likely be a one-time thing and probably come around the time the series is starting to air.

That said, just because I’m continuing with mainly G4 content doesn’t mean I disapprove of G5. In fact, my non-spoilers thoughts on the movie is I think it is a good start for this new generation. There are questions I have that I’m not sure will be answered (Though many of those questions are the same ones I had in my Trailer/Preliminary thoughts) quickly enough. But the movie is structured well enough, in fact it’s probably a better movie as a whole compared to any of the movies G4 had (The 2017 movie, Rainbow Roadtrip, and all 4 Equestria Girls movies). As the 2017 movie was fun, but it jumped around a lot, sometimes scenes transitioning too fast. And while Rainbow Roadtrip may have been this on purpose, the entirely slice-of-life story taking up a long length… made it something of a less interesting plot to follow. It feels like some of that special could of been cut to at least a two-parter length and keep the same beats they hit. And while i have a soft spot for the 3rd and 4th Equestria Girls movies, I’ll always say a full-length pony adventure feels better suited for what I want to see out of MLP then spin-off movies with high school movie cliches and weird pony/human world shenanigans.

So movie-wise I’m not a G4 purist. It’ll take some time to see how Gen 5 compares to Friendship is Magic when we get to the series. As I feel it’d take a lot for it to surpass G4 in my mind. But I’m going to try to be as fair as possible and judge on it’s own merits. The implied connection to G4 by referring to G4 being ancient Equestria is going to naturally get the staff and hasbro pressured by fans to tell us what happened in-between the generations. Because that’s the trap they put the writers in when they made it so they want to try to say it’s in the same universe. That’s the double-edged sword Hasbro chose to have, trying to appease the G4 fanbase and keep at least some of them around. But at the cost of questions both nitpicky (Such as character design being inconsistent) or actual honest questions that need to be known (Why did magic disappear, and what happened to the Alicorns) for some of us to truly see this as the same Equestria.

After the break, I’ll have more spoilery thoughts

Even for a brief moment, it was nice seeing the Mane 6 and 2D animation. The former because of course those are the ponies many of us that saw all of G4 loved. And the latter, because while the animation wasn’t bad in this movie. I’m one of those who’d prefer to have 2D animation in an animated film. As in most cases aside from Pixar, it’s just a strong preference of mine. If this had the animation of the 2017 MLP movie but otherwise everything else was generally the same here, I feel that would of have been great.

I wish they didn’t have to have Sunny’s dad die off-screen, as he seems like he could of been a compelling character. And not to mention if perhaps he has any connection the “ancient” days in any fashion. But *sigh* I get it, it’s an old trope where part of the character’s offscreen growth is not having their parent(/s) around.

On a side note there’s quite a few times during the beginning of the movie that somewhat foreshadow what happens to Sunny later. 3 times where she had a fake horn and wings on her. Once in the flashback, then 2 separate times when she’s doing her protest where she has her own costumed wings and horn. As well as the helmet and mechanical wings.

Also, there’s no way around it. Some of the discussions this movie are going to get quite political. (Namely one part of Sunny’s song that could be seen as having a double meaning of a jab at Trumpsts regarding “Building your wall”) From the very premise in the early times, we know that the inspiration for the story was last year’s Black Lives Matter protests. Which honestly, I do support the message they’re going for. Having an anti-racism message to tell kids from the very beginning and making a focus on it is important when in G4 it only got briefly touched upon in Bridle Gossip and the Heath’s Warming Eve play. Although it certainly rose up to some form of prominence with Season 8 and onward. Still, while you can argue if G4 executed the anti-racism message well. it does come with something of a problem that the series finale left Equestria in the least divided it’s ever been.

And personally, I feel it’s a terrible interpretation of time to say “Well, it’s a realistic take. Racism has existed for years in our world. Same should go for the ponies” and while yes, racism is still rampant in today’s world. That said, that ignores that if we went from The Last Problem to the start of G5. There’s a huge difference between our world and Equestria. There is no ancient civilization that we look at like “Yeah, those were the golden days of world peace” when normally the “Golden age” was reserved for the high classes of Ancient Greece or Rome. It was most decidedly not perfect, with slavery rampant and wars for the sake of expanding an empire. While if you look at The Last Problem’s Equestria, you not only have peace between the three main types of ponies. But you literally have non-pony citizens in Equestria. You can see a dragon handing off a flower to a pony which can imply cross-species romantic relations. With the Friendship school still going strong, and was the reason that the world was saved in The Ending of the End. While perhaps it may be too glowing to say that future is perfect for everyone even in-universe. It’s certainly a hell of a lot better outlook then comparing to how we view even the so called Golden age of ancient civilizations. The Last Problem’s Equestria implies it looks to ally with every country outside of Equestria, not conquer them.

So it should still be a valid question on just how this world collapses to the point it gets to where G5 is at the start. I at least assume that it’s not the fault at all of any of the Mane 6 nor Twilight. Or at least I hope it isn’t, as I’d rather the MLP fanbase not have to deal with a The Last Jedi Luke Skywalker situation. (Where after the joyful end of the original trilogy, things go wrong as Luke almost murders the son of one of his best friends and his sister despite trying to hard and succeeding at redeeming his father who at that point in the canon was a galaxy-wide known ruthless mass-murderer.) I assume we’re at a point where everyone of the Mane 6 sans maybe Twilight are presumed dead. And even in Twilight’s case, there’s a chance that G5 decides to say that G4 overestimated the whole Alicorn immortality thing. Though I wouldn’t put it past Hasbro to have some event where the Mane 5 of G5 meet the Mane 6 in some special event whether that’s a a Season finale or a sequel movie/special. Where either the Mane 6 return in a limbo situation similar to the Pillars at the end of Season 7 or Time travel gets involved. They may even string us along on answering just what in the heck happened until they involve a meet-up with the Mane 6 in that way. Though I hope they don’t, I’d really like the beginning of the series (Or I guess this supposed special coming up in Spring supposedly?) starts to answer some questions. G5 should get a chance to stand on it’s own, but I hope the writers are actually well aware there will be so many questions people have and address them in the show. A cynical part of me feels like they’re likely to string us along until at least the Season 1 finale.

Onto the characters for a bit. I think Izzy Moonbow was absolutely the most stand-out character in the whole movie. She was energetic, funny, and aside from “The pegasi are bad news” she along with Zipp and Sunny were the most averse to the way the world was. She was already the most popular due to the tennis ball memes. But now it feels like she legit stands on her own and most certainly deserves to be the most popular character of G5 thus far. Behind her in a bit of a surprise to me was Zipp, who I thought would be mainly a Rainbow Dash-expy. Though she really helps out Izzy and Sunny in Zephyr Heights. Despite having Twilight be my favorite pony from the very beginning of G4 all the way to the end, I didn’t feel as strongly about Sunny for some reason. So she’s in the middle of the pack, she could grow on me later. I just don’t know if I click with her as much as I did with Twilight. As for the last two, while I don’t hate either of them. Either one could be the lowest of the 5 for one reason or another. Pipp (Although I will say she's probably my favorite character design out of the 5) feels like she doesn’t do a whole lot in the movie and it takes until she’s forced to be an outlaw because the other choice was to get imprisoned like her mother was. So she may come off as quite pretentious, though it’s arguable Rarity was the same way early in G4. But she definitely grew later. Could be the same case for Pipp. And as for Hitch, he has shining moments in the film. But what might hurt him is the fact he was such a bad friend to Sunny up until the campfire scene. “I’m the last real friend you have. You really want to lose me too?” is not a healthy friendship. Hitch may have been Sunny’s friend the longest, but it definitely feels like Izzy connected immediately. I don’t know if this show will get into shipping any of the main characters between each other mid-show, but if they do. I hope it’s between Izzy and Sunny currently, cause Hitch and Sunny just gives bad vibes even with Hitch getting better later.

None of the songs I felt were particularly too special. Though I think the closest was Sprout’s “Danger, Danger” song that has similarities to Smells Like Teen Spirit in some parts of the song since I tend towards more rock/metal-esque music.

I touched upon it earlier, but there’s perhaps a stand-out reason for why the G5 movie outdid the 2017 MLP Movie. They have the typical “Our heroic group splits after a sad moment before coming together again for the climatic good end” in Sunny seeing that that the two crystals don’t instantly bring magic back, and when Twilight left the group after an argument that happened with Twilight trying to take a pearl. They perform the same purpose in the movie. But the crystals not working, crushing Sunny’s hope for a little while works better into the story. Where as Twilight’s part frustratingly brought the sea pony scene to an end too quickly and/or doesn’t feel right of Twilight to have done that. It felt forced in the 2017 movie, but works out in the G5 movie. Especially since a part of it is that it’s not the crystals themselves capable of bringing magic back. But it’s the journey going after the crystals that brings the ponies themselves their magic back.

Just a small note on dictator Sprout, he tries to cause a war. Though admittedly the film seems to treat him as a joke the entire time despite his seriously evil ambitions. With the only repercussions is he gets a wishy-washy answer on if he was a good sheriff from his mom. I don’t quite know how I feel about that yet, but I wonder what they’ll have in mind for Sprout given his actions. He and his mom are the only ones that feel like a true antagonist. Though they seem to be ok with things fast when the magic comes back.

But anyway on to the ending, we see that Sunny becomes an Alicorn. Which I guess with no other real Alicorns around, I guess it makes sense to alicornify her since she’s the real leader behind what united the leaders of each type of pony again. Though there is of course this weird thing where her horn and wings don’t seem like as much a part of her body compared to very obvious connected wings on Twilight when she got hers. Sunny keeps her horn and wings to the end of the movie, and has colored streaks in her hair. Though I do wonder if that;s truly permanent. If it is permanent, I suppose at least they got to have a headstart and have it established at the end of the introductory movie rather then have it shock people at the end of a shortened 3rd season. I still feel like Twilight had well earned her alicornhood considering that besides what she did in the series. She has a whole childhood and time as a teenager learning under Celestia. Which had to mean something, and I’m not sure Celestia just leaving her to live the rest of her days with her friends in ponyville was that. Sunny has no doubt been trying countless time to try to spread friendship throughout her life even after the tragedy of her father’s passing. So there’s no doubt she’s been through a lot, and may indeed be worthy of being an Alicorn at this point. Though in terms of screentime before Alicornhood it's definitely a lot less then Twilight had. And it is at least nice to see that it is possible for non-unicorns to become one. (The only case of that we sort of got was a children's book that may or may not be canon that implied Cadence was a pegasus before she ascended)

Though you have to wonder if the visual differences such as Sunny’s alicorn horn and wings, the cutie mark only on one side (Yes I know that’s how it was normally in the MLP generations before G4. But a distinct visual difference between shows is still noticeable even if the context of G4’s cutie marks on both sides of the flank was about it being easier on the puppets for Flash), and how animals can have wings or weird round shapes such as those bunnies when G4 has normal looking animals. There’s enough striking visual differences for any nitpicky G4 to say “This isn’t the same Equestria”. And if someone tries to say maybe some sort of evolution happened. That’s still trying to put a little too much real world logic on this fantasy world. And evolution tends to take millions of years to have such dramatic changes. Not 1000 years or so, there should still be normal looking animals at this point and time. And these small details are probably going to be the things most ignored but nonetheless can build a case that this isn’t the same Equestria. Even if they touch on the important questions like how magic disappeared and what happened to the Mane 6, there will be details they make different that will add to the case that this is it’s own universe if it doesn’t quite matchup with what was remembered about G4. There will be fans who will be that nitpicky to call G5 out of continuity for small details like that. That is again the trap they put themselves in when they decided to try to say it’s the same Equestria.

All-in-all though, I think that’s at least a good enough chunk about my thoughts on the movie to end off here. If there’s something I missed or something from the movie you’d like me to give a particular opinion about or elaborate on something feel free to ask me here. G5 is indeed off to a good start, just I will be along the many hoping some questions get answered sooner then later. And I’m not sure I’m confident in getting anywhere until a Season finale or a 2nd movie. And it’ll be a year before the series starts proper (Though again I guess there’s a 44 minute special coming in Spring to try to hold us over). But I could definitely see G5 finding it's own following, now there's just the inevitable clashes between some of the more vocal fans of each generation bickering at eachother. But hoping there will be enough that take the movie's lessons on divisiveness to heart and be able to enjoy both even if there may be preferences.

[lets-get-kraken-boys]

FatGum (Taishiro Toyomitsu) X Chubby! Confectioner/Baker! Reader: Sweets and Treats~

(Description: Woo, I’m so excited for my first story on this account! This inspiration came to me after thinking about our one and only, favorite chubby pro hero and me wanting to see some puppy love for you two. Also, the title says Confectioner/Baker, I want to clarify that Reader isn’t truly a baker but I feel like “Confectioner” wouldn’t reach as large of a crowd as “Baker” would, not a big deal but just FYI. I hope my first fic is enjoyed by those who choose to read, thank you for the support.)

~

Fanfiction Lingo

(Y/N) - Your Name

(H/C) - Hair Color

(E/C) - Eye Color

(F/C) - Favorite Color

~

“Normal speech.”

‘Inner thoughts.’

~

Requester: No One!

Reader Gender: Female (She/Her)

Style of Story: Oneshot // Entirely fluff, a pinning love on both ends, and a happy end to boot! There is one little heartbreak moment, but it’s over in a second.

Word Count: 4.5K Words

WARNING(s): None, unless you see adorable, tooth-rotting fluff as a crime!

~

“Morning, Tammy! Lovely day, isn’t it?” you greeted your employee with a bright smile as she stumbled through the door into your bakery.

She huffed, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes, “Sure, but I’ve hardly been up long enough to notice it. How are you always so peppy this early?” She pointed to the mechanical clock ticking from the left wall that read ‘4:04 AM’. You glanced outside and saw hardly anyone walking through the streets, except the occasional drunkard or lonely soul.

You bashfully shrugged your shoulders, “Well, after years of suffering waking up at three in the morning, you kinda get used to the torment! But, hey, so happy we got the shop far away from the center of the city, you can actually see the sunrise from here!” you tried to help her look on the bright side as you handed her one a cup of one of your homemade coffee brews. She took a sip of the drink and let out a content sigh through her nose, a small, but thankful smile on her face.

“You know, for being a confectioner, you make some pretty solid coffee. What is that?” her eyebrows furrowed as she asked, taking another swig to figure out the secret intense flavor.

You giggled, “That’s probably the nutmeg I added. Is it good?”

“More like fantastic, (Y/N). Trying out new recipes again?” she asked over her shoulder, hanging up her light jacket that protected her from the early morning breeze while grabbing her apron. Though, it being July in Japan, she probably wouldn’t need it again for a while.

“Yeah, I think this one will really please the early risers. It gives a special sort of kick to the taste, don’t you think?” you asked while gently sliding open the glass case that held all of the beautifully decorated pastries, grabbing a pair of tongs and a small floral ceramic plate, carefully placing a fresh Apple Strudel onto the plate, and setting it down on the counter.

“Totally. Hey, can I have a--,” Tammy stopped mid-sentence as she turned around to see the delectable treat already waiting for her.

“Your breakfast awaits, m’lady~,” you slurred out in a fake British accent with a cheesy smirk and a dramatic bow.

She scoffed, “You dork. Am I really that predictable?” she asked, scarfing down the pastry in a matter of seconds as she leaned on the counter.

“Yeah, you kinda are,” you joked as she playfully shoved your plush side.

“You know,” she continued, looking down at the gooey food, “It’s a shame you aren’t more popular with the people. You have a great location, an amazing personality and work staff, if I do say so myself, and don’t even get me started on the incredible stuff you make,” she praised.

“Oh, stop it, Tammy. You’re gonna make me blush,” you flushed from her sincere words, “Besides, I’ve only been open for two weeks, it’s going to be slow for awhile. It’ll ramp up eventually.”

“Yeah, I guess, but you can’t deny that your baked goods are better than most of the others in the country! One day, when people get their heads out of their asses, these little gifts of magic are going to make you RICH!” she threw her lanky airs up into the air and around your shoulders. She spun your smaller frame in a circle while the two of you laughed.

“Ha! Yeah yeah, I know! Now, stop your messing around and come help me fill the rest of these Cream Horns.” you concluded while you pat her taller shoulder. She groaned at the request but gave you a tiny nod. Tammy turned around while tying her short, brown hair into a messy bun, readying herself for the busy day ahead. You smiled while she retreated to the kitchen but before you went to follow her you decided to look out the window again.

Shuffling your legs over to the windows, you got a clear view of the rising sun and all its glory, the hints of yellow, orange, pink, red, and even blue from the night's previous dark veil still clung onto the brightening sky. Somehow you had this weird feeling that today something life changing was going to happen. You didn’t know if you should be excited or worried, but you decided to push those thoughts aside and continue on to the back of the shop where you could already hear the clutter and clang of falling pans, no doubt Tammy’s handy work.

Oh, if you only knew how right your hunch was…

~

~ Timeskip to a little later in the day and a P.O.V change to FatGum ~

~

“How much longer do I have for patrol?” I asked myself, pulling out my phone to check the time. The time read ‘9:12 AM’ and I huffed, still a couple more hours to go. Putting the device back in my pocket with a grimace but quickly faked a smile as I continued down the bustling street. The active community, excited civilians, and eager children usually never fails to put a smile on my face, but today everything just felt like a drag. I was sluggish, unfocused, and I couldn’t understand why. I shook my head, get your head in the game, Taishiro. You don’t have time to let your mind wander on duty.

After what seemed like hours, but was more than likely only 15 minutes, I felt my stomach let out a rumbling growl which made me groan. I stopped walking on the sidewalk and took a second to consider the situation, wandering the city for a couple of hours with nothing too exciting to do really works up an appetite, and I do need to keep up my strength. I’m a hero after all, and denying myself is like ignoring my civic duty to protecting the people! At this point, I’ll take any excuse to get out of this pointless shambling. But the REAL question is, what to get? I glanced around the street and noticed a few shops further down the block that looked to be food related. I smirked, perfect.

I wove through the few people occupying the area, past a few excited teenagers who asked for autographs, and eventually made it to the shops. Looking around I saw some insurance shops, an enticing Pad Thai sit down, and few others, but the one that caught my eye was a cutesy, (F/C)-painted bakery named, “Queen of Tarts”. Chuckling at the interesting name choice, I looked inside the establishment through the plexiglass windows.

The inside carried a light, fluffy atmosphere, pastel colored walls combining with the checkered tile floor caused a small smile out of me. A few small tables with delicate iron chairs here and there, but the real prize were the copious amounts of sweets that were displayed in the glass cases. Each were different colors, sizes, but they all looked delicious. Feeling my stomach grumble, I grabbed the door handle, flung it open, and walked into the scrumptious smelling shop. After walking in, the tiny jingle of bells alerting the workers of my presence, I finally saw the most stunning sweet of all.

“Hi, welcome to the Queen of Tarts, how may I help you today?” the gorgeous woman at the counter asked but it didn’t register in my brain because I was already lost in thought. Her adorable (H/C) hair framed her face to show her soft, chubby cheeks, her eyes glistened in the sunlight, and her smile, oh, it completely lit the room with its radiance. Curves in all the right places, I felt my cheeks heat up as I let out a nervous laugh, cursing my inner self for not holding it together. Seriously, I can face the nastiest of villains but throw one pretty lady in front of me and I fall apart? Fantastic. Realizing I wasn’t answering, I quickly stepped forward and cleared my throat.

“Uh, yeah. Hi,” ‘Wow, so smooth, Taishiro,’ I criticized in my head, “I...haven’t seen this store here before, you new?” I offered a smile, which she returned tenfold, making me even more flustered.

“Yes, actually! I set up shop here only a few weeks ago, finally settling in with the hustle and bustle of city life.” she finished, leaning in closer against the marble counter with her arms crossed.

“City life? You didn’t grow up here?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she shrugged, “Grew up on more of the countryside style of life. I love the city though, do you?”

“Yeah, you gotta get used to it when you spend all your time protecting it.” I let a hint of boasting attitude out, hoping she’d realize who I am.

“Ha, I hear ya! I do my own share of ‘protecting’ around here too. Well, if you count making goodies, that is.” she giggled, standing up and walking over to the glass containers. I deflated a little, guess that wasn’t going to work this time. I shuffled over to where she was standing and looked down at the treats they offered.

“So, kind stranger, what is it you’ll be having?” she asked after a minute of me inspecting the pastries. The problem with not being picky about what you eat, means there are tons of more options than that of others, and when all the items look equally as delectable, you get a little overwhelmed. Plus, the fact that a beautiful woman whom I would very much like to not embarrass myself in front of is waiting for my answer doesn’t help.

I gulped, “I don’t know, they all look amazing. What’s your favorite?” I asked, hoping to know a little more about her.

“Oh, gosh, let me think…” she pouted, resting her head on the palm of her hand while looking deep in thought at the treats. The adorable crease of her eyebrows scrunched together, the tip of her tongue poking out in concentration, her lovely, curvalicious body...that’s it, I’m so screwed.

“I think I’d go for the Chocolate Cream Puff,” her answer drawing both me and her out of our distracted states, “My dad taught me years ago this amazing chocolate ganache recipe and I drizzle that all over the tops of homemade pastry puffs and the whipped filling, ugh! It’s to die for, seriously!” she finished, a sparkle in her (E/C) eyes that fueled the fire in my gut. She spoke about food just as passionately as I did! She’s perfect.

Without thinking, I quickly said, “I’ll take ten.”

~

~ (Y/N) P.O.V ~

~

“Alright, there you go, 10 Chocolate Cream Puffs. Have a wonderful day, sir!” I said with a bright smile.

“Please, call me Taishiro. And you are..?” he asked.

I flushed, I’m such a klutz, “(Y/N), pleasure to meet you, Taishiro. I hope you enjoy them and come back to visit m...us! Come visit us again!” I hastily fixed my wording.

As he smiled and waved goodbye, I rolled the tension out of my shoulders and breathed a sigh of relief. It’s okay, he was nice...and cute...and...really handsome. Wow, I am I sweating?

“HOLY CRAP!” I jumped as I heard Tammy squeal out behind me, I spun around to look at her standing in the doorway to the back, watching the leaving guest with an awestruck face.

“What?! Where’s the fire?!” I shouted running up to her, grabbing the edge of my apron.

“(Y/N), look at me,” she grabbed my shoulders and forced me to stare into her hazel eyes, “Do you know who that was?”

I shrugged my shoulders as best as I could under her vice grip, “A customer, right?”

“A custom--ugh, curse you for not keeping up with the media,” she yelled while flinging her arms to the sky in exasperation before shoving them back on my shoulders, “(Y/N), that wasn’t just any old customer! That was the FatGum!”

I blinked, “Uh, who?”

“Aarrghh! The rank 58 Pro Hero in Japan! What did you say to him?!” I paled as her words sunk in. My legs felt like jelly and I wanted to lie on the floor and die of embarrassment as she raved on about my ignorance.

‘Oh, so I’ve fallen for a Pro Hero. Awesome.’

~

~ Timeskip to a few weeks later, same P.O.V ~

~

Who knew meeting a Pro Hero and potentially having a crush on him could be so amazing? After Taishiro, who is apparently a hero named FatGum, left the store, he personally posted on his main platform of media about the shop and how incredible the desserts were! Of course, to get a compliment from a hero who's Quirk is literally based around food, who’s eaten hundreds of thousands of different dishes, for him to specifically point out your’s brought the media swarming. Business went from nearly dead to tons of people coming in at all open hours! It was fantastic, and the handsome gentleman kept his promise of continually coming in and buying heaps of pastries.

You sighed, leaning against the marble counter after helping a few beautiful ladies buy some tarts, watching their desirable, attractive forms leave the shop and walk past the window. Looking around the busy lounge area, all of the customers were stunning, unique, and most of all thin. You glanced down at yourself, insecurities filling your mind about your appearance and unsurprisingly flickering back to the man plaguing your thoughts. You poked the chub, would he? No. He probably already has someone and even if he didn’t, why would he go for you? You’re a no one to him, someone who just sells him baked goods to fuel his Quirk, nothing more.

“Hey, boss man, what’s up?” Asher, a friend and employee of yours, asked while spinning you away from the counter to face him, drawing Tammy’s attention from her place on the stool behind the counter.

“Oh, it’s nothing, Asher. Just distracted is all, I’m fine!” you sighed and faked a smile.

Asher pulled a skeptical look and without looking at Tammy he said, “She’s thinking about him again, isn’t she?”

Tammy, like it was her sixth sense to pick up on gossip, flung herself to Asher’s side with the same skeptical look, “Yep, it’s so obvious.”

“I-It is?!” you yelped, pulling your hands up to your cheeks to hide your growing blush.

“What are we gonna do about them, Tam?” he asked, still not looking at her but instead grabbing your chin and tiling your head from side to side to inspect you.

 “I don’t know what else to do, Ash. He so likes her back but both are too scared to make the first move. Truly a dilemma.” she said, twirling a lock of your (H/C) hair.

“Wait, he does?! How do you know?” you pleaded but they weren’t paying any attention to you anymore, making you puff out your pudgy cheeks in frustration. Opting to ignore them, you listened to the aimless chatter of the seating area. The ambiance of the confectionery made you smile because it was exactly how you’d pictured it as a little girl, the sweet smells, the laughter, it finally felt like home after all these years in the making. All your hard work was paying off in the end. Suddenly, the ringing bells of the door opening drew your attention. Glancing back, you caught a glimpse of a familiar yellow and orange clad figure whose head almost touched the ceiling. You gasped and shoved your friends off of you and to the backroom, spun around, and greeted your favorite customer with a bashful smile.

“Taishiro! How lovely to see you again,” but you quickly noticed it wasn’t just him. Two teenage boys, one with striking red hair and a warm smile and the other trembling and hiding inside of his cloak’s hood, were by FatGum’s side, which made you ask, “And who is this with you?”

“(Y/N), this is Eijirou Kirishima and Tamaki Amajiki, they are training under me for hero internships. I wanted to bring them here so they could try your wicked sweets!” he finished, making you blush even harder.

“Aw, that’s so sweet of you, FatGum! It’s a pleasure to meet you, boys.” you finished, holding out your hand for them to shake.

The red-headed boy, Kirishima, shook your hand with a gentle, but strong grip, “Same here! I’ve heard all about this place because of the news, sorry I couldn’t come sooner!”

“Oh, that’s alright, and it’s wonderful to meet you, Tamaki.” you held out your hand, but all you got from him was a curt nod as he shrunk further into his suit.

“You’ll have to forgive, Amajiki, he’s sort of shy.” Taishiro chuckled, rubbing his hand behind his head.

You pulled your hand back with an understanding smile, “No problem, I totally get social anxiety. Happens to the best of us, I’m afraid.”

“No way,” you suddenly heard Tammy mumble behind you, no doubt to Asher, “He brought his kids to see her. Did not expect that. I respect the flex.”

“Isn’t that a little far for first base material?” Asher whispered back to her. You proceeded to shoot them a terrifying glare and subtly kick both of them in the shins, a symbol for them to scram. They gulped and hobbled off to the back to avoid your wrath while you huffed and whipped your hair out of your face with a smile.

“Anyways, since the three of you are here, what would you boys like? It’s on the house!” you confidently boasted.

Taishiro gasped, “(Y/N), no. I can’t do that to you, we’ll pay.”

“Ah, ah, ah, Taishiro. You are by far the most paying of customers and since you’re my favorite of all I want to give this to you. Call it, uh, thank you present for all the publicity you’ve given my store! I couldn’t have made it this far without you.” you grinned.

He sighed and, though it could have been your imagination, blushed a little, “At least let me pay for my portion. I get considerably more than them.”

“Nope, it’s already been decided! Kirishima, what would you like?” you changed the topic before Taishiro could argue with you again. He rolled his eyes, clear girl.

“Hmm,” Kirishima thought, “Do you have anything with strawberries?”

“I got just the thing for you. How about a Strawberry Turnover?” you directed him over to the case with the pastry. He took one glance and excitedly nodded his head and you smiled, grabbed the sweet with a clean pair of tongs, placed it on a napkin, and handed it over to the young man. He grinned and shoveled the pastry into his mouth without hesitation. 

“Thanks so much, Miss (Y/N)! It’s delicious!” he praised through a mouth full of food, making you giggle at his silliness. Walking back over to the registrar, you saw Tamaki looking at you. When he was caught, he gasped, quickly spun around, and hid himself away from you by pressing into FatGum’s body.

“What would you like, Tamaki?” you patiently asked. Taishiro looked at you with doubt and started saying something but you quickly shushed him and continued to wait for the teen’s answer.

Knowing that you weren’t going to give up, Tamaki quietly mumbled out, “D-D-Do you...have anything with...b-black raspberry? I-If you don’t that’s fine too, I-I didn’t mean to sound too rude or--”

“I believe I do,” you quickly interrupted so he didn’t go into a spiraling haze of self doubt, “Would a Black Raspberry Lychee Cake suffice, Tamaki?”

“Y-Yes, Miss (Y/N)...” he sighed in relief, glancing at you with tears in his eyes. You gave him a reassuring smile and grabbed the treat for him, handing it to FatGum so he could hold on to it for Tamaki.

“And now, what’ll you have, kind stranger?” you grinned as he chuckled.

“I’ll take my usual then, 10 Chocolate Cream Puffs, please.” he concluded while giving a sweet grin.

You snarked, “You always get the same thing every time, Taishiro. Don’t you wanna try anything else? I promise they’re poisoned.” you smirked.

He quirked an eyebrow at you, “Are you sure about that?” he joked.

“Taishiro! What kind of business would I be if I poisoned all my guests?” you laughed at him.

“Okay, okay, I’ll try something different, ma’am. Do you have anything with pineapple?” he asked with curiosity.

“You betcha. How does a Pineapple Poke Cake sound, sir?” you interrogated. You saw stars glisten in his eyes and you giggled at his excitement.

“How many?” you joked.

“I’ll take 12!” he concluded, blissfully staring off into space.

You packaged up his request in a cutesy (F/C) box with your confectionery’s logo and, biting your lip in apprehension, decided that if he wasn’t going to make his move then you would. You quickly wrote down your phone number on top of the box in Sharpie and signed off your name with a small black heart. As you finished the lettering you stared at the box and thought about your previous insecurities. There was still time, still time to take out the pastries, put them in a new box, and forget the whole number thing ever happened.

“Hey, don’t you dare take out those treats and put them in a new box, you hear me, girl?!” you heard a tiny male voice whisper above you. Startled, you looked up to see Tammy and Asher peeking through the window that let the customers see into the back of the bakery to watch the baking happen. You glared at the two, so they had been watching you try and confess your feelings to the fluffy hero in a discreet way.

“What am I supposed to do? What if he doesn’t like me and all the signs I’ve been getting from him are me making up a love story that is never going to happen between us?! What if by doing this I ruin our relationship and he makes sure the business tanks?! This is my life's work and I’m putting it on the line for a stupid chance at love!” you whisper yelled at them, the familiar feeling of fear and pain coursing through your system from previous failed love confessions.

“You really think a sweet man like that is going to make your life’s dream completely fall to pieces?” Tammy questioned and you exhaled, shaking your head ‘no’.

“Then go out there and get yo mans! You have to at least try and snatch that, I have to see my OTP become canon!” she sent a determined glare at you, grabbed the box, shoved it in your hands, spun you around, and pushed your forward. You stumbled and almost tripped onto the floor but caught yourself on the marble counter. Standing up tall, you took a deep breath in and urged your legs to move forward. Getting to the registrar, you smiled at Taishiro and the boys and handed over the box to FatGum after giving a subtle cough.

“Thank you for everything, Taishiro, you’ve helped me in ways you could never imagine. Now, I hope you boys come back sometime!” you spoke to the teens, Kirishima grinning at you with his shark-like teeth.

“Will do, Miss (Y/N)! I couldn’t stay away from this place even if I tried, your desserts are the BOMB!” he laughed, punching his fists together in excitement.

“...Thank you, Miss (Y/N).” Tamaki shyly whispered, giving you half a grin before cowering away once more.

“Don’t mention it, loves! Now, Taishiro, remember that I said this is on the--whoa! Are you okay?” you asked the man. His face was almost as red as his student’s hair, his eyes wide and unfocused as he stared at the top of the box, where your number neatly sat. You gulped, maybe it was the wrong decision after all.

Waving a nervous hand in front of Taishiro’s face, it seemed to break him from his spellbound state as he glanced at your eyes, “Are you...feeling okay, Taishiro?”

He looked at you with a shaken gaze as he laughed off his nerves while saying, “Y-Yeah! Just, um...yeah...you...let’s go, boys! Gotta get back to the patrol! Bye, (Y/N)!” he said while ushering the confused boys away from the counter and to the door. You felt your heart shatter into dozens of pieces as you turned your head down to conceal your sorrowed expression from the rest of the lounge area. You felt your eyes wet with tears but you used the sleeve of your white button down you dry them, you have to stay strong. At least you got it off your chest. Sniffling, you turned your head back up only to see FatGum’s face, only he was suddenly a lot more chiseled in the face and body and wow, did it just get hot in here?

“I forgot one thing.” he said with a flustered smile. You, less heartbroken then before just more confused, shrugged your shoulders in question. He then grasped your shoulders, tilted his head to the side, and planted a loving and firm kiss on your right cheek. You felt your face melt into a puddle of red as he held the kiss for a few seconds longer than anticipated but eventually released your cheek, staring back at you with the same expression as you.

“Did you really think I was going to leave without paying you back, cream puff?” he chuckled with a grin.

“I-I, um…” no longer sorrowed, your brain couldn’t catch up with the fact that he most definitely liked you back.

“Heh, you’re cute when you’re flustered for me. I’ll text you later, okay? Keep on the look out for me!” he said, backing up from the counter, only to grow immensely in size as he returned to the state you had met the hero in. He waved goodbye as he walked back to Kirishima who was practically bouncing off the walls in his excitement.

“Congratulations on the relationship, Miss (Y/N)!” the teen sang out as the three of them left the store to patrol the streets for their hero duties once again.

The entire restaurant was silent as they watched your chubby form turn into a puddle of emotions and ditzy giggles, the only thing that was heard was a loud, “YES! IT’S CANON, BABY!”

~

~

~ The End ~

[ethereal-ineffability]

HELL YEAH, DUDE! INFO DUMP ABOUT YOUR OC, OR SO HELP ME!

eyyyyyyyyy. CW for discussion of violent fictional bigots leading to body image issues. Okay so here's the thing. My boy Curio a sweet, kind of shy, well-meaning, socially awkward 28-year-old wizard. Tallish, no muscles whatsoever, big round glasses, kind of stupid facial hair, your standard stereotype.

Except that's not what he looks like, really.

That image is missing a Hat of Disguise (grey irish flat-cap), which he wears constantly, even while sleeping unless he can be sure he's alone. His full first name is Curiosity and what he actually looks like is somewhere around these two pictures, except with broken horns and a helluva lot more faded-over-2-decades facial scarring.

That childhood scarring is the reason why he literally never takes the hat off, no matter what; not because of the scarring itself, but because of what it represents. He grew up with so much baggage attached to his identity as a tiefling because, apart from a very supportive but imperfect and over-her-head single human mother, he had no support network in a small town where he was the only tiefling and almost-if-not-all of the entire town were superstitious humans who were very not interested in examining their biases. The children his age and a few years older were the ones who gave him most of that damage. But there's a reason his mother named him Curiosity; ever since he was old enough to explore, he did so enthusiastically and constantly, and after enough of that (and playing mostly alone) he developed skills that other kids his age didn't have, and he essentially became a gifted child. His mom took advantage of that (and some favors with an old friend) when the bullying got especially bad and got Curio scholarships to send him away to a mage's college in a more open-minded area where he would be protected and taken care of, in exchange for helping with tasks around the college until he was old enough to become an official student. The college became his life. He threw himself into the study of everything having to do with magic - history, mechanics, culture, ethics, etc. - partly as distraction, partly as hyperfixation (I do imagine he's neurodivergent in some way), and partly, subconsciously, as a desperate way to grasp at some sort of explanation for why he exists the way that he does and why the world around him is the way that it is. The enchanted hat was something he got at some point during his time at the college, and it essentially became a comfort item for him, and even though he probably could have gotten by without it with *less* problems than he had in his hometown, he just refused to go without it for years after the fact both out of fear of what could happen again and out of what had become, at that point, a deeply ingrained sense that he was just *wrong* and that he needed to hide himself to avoid burdening others. And all of that is just background for his situation in the current campaign, as a 7th-level wizard who has been traveling with a southern sweetheart druid satyr, a young-looking and mysterious dreamfolk warlock, a puss-in-boots-esque tabaxi fighter, a sweet grandmotherly minotaur barbarian, and a tiefling sorcerer in his late 40's who has a lot of backstory commonalities with Curio, particularly being raised by a single mother, having bad experiences as a kid due to his fiendish heritage, leaving home young, and hiding his appearance when he was younger. (Side note, the sorcerer's player and I *did not plan this*. We both came up with backstories independently, we didn't really have a session 0, and we just now found out how weirdly similar our characters' lives have been, though there's obviously been some differences too.) I started out this campaign by letting all the players know openly that Curio was not human, because I knew I couldn't keep a secret. In the 9 months we've been playing (we had a hiatus for a few, so it's more like 6-7 months of weekly to bi-weekly sessions), the character that's come the closest to figuring it out has been the sorcerer, Turavel, because he has obvious advantages when it comes to picking out which things just don't seem right for a human wizard to do. For example, on top of the weirdness of Curio never taking the hat off, sleeping alone often, bathing alone often, etc., he barely (roll of 15 vs 14) caught Curio tearing up when Turavel was talking about where he came from, and he thought it was weird that Curio could cast things like Hellish Rebuke. (The player, actually, was the only one of us to call this out when it happened, so I made note of it.) At the time (months ago irl, about 2-4 weeks ago in game time), I as the player didn't think Curio's cover had been blown, because I was convinced that Wizards could cast Hellish Rebuke, and I

even informed the player that Curio has fake entries in his spellbook for Hellish Rebuke, Thaumaturgy, and Darkness, just in case anyone ever saw it who also saw him cast those things. But I discovered today while searching for level-up spells for him that I was wrong. As soon as I realized, I sent Turavel's player these messages:

"Looking through wizard-only spells and realized that I as the player made ANOTHER mistake, specifically about which spells would be natural to see a wizard use, which means Curio made another mistake because I'm not retconning anything I said about what he's done. Whoopsie Since you actually called it out at the time (not the latest nat 1, the one time Curio used it before that) I'll be clear with you: Hellish Rebuke is a 2nd level, Warlock-only spell. Curio has the Magic Initiate feat, which might explain why he knows Thaumaturgy which is a cleric-only spell, since his 1st level spell for that feat is Healing Word which is exclusive to clerics, bards, and druids... but if that were the case that wouldn't explain why he can also use Vicious Mockery, which only works with bardic magic. He would have had to have learned Healing Word in a bardic way, leaving Thaumaturgy unaccounted for, unless there's just some explanation other than fiendish heritage or magic initiate that Turavel has literally never heard of before. Maybe there's a bardic college that would allow for the learning of Thaumaturgy? Unlikely. In that case Hellish Rebuke would still be unaccounted for, unless Curio has a secret patron and is a multiclassed warlock/wizard. Occam's razor. And since Turavel's the only one who asked to see his spellbook [in return, after Curio asked to see the spellbooks of all the other spellcasters], help me remember and I'll let you contest me on arcana with advantage to put all this together when we meet next."

And that's where we are. Curio's about to get fully found out because of overthinking and overprotecting himself in ways that weren't necessary, after just casually and confidently trading spellbooks - for strategic study - with the one person in the party who was always leagues more likely than anyone else to figure out what was going on. The same sorcerer who is old enough to be Curio's father and knows almost *exactly* what he's going through, and who Curio would probably be the most ashamed to be found out by, because he would probably be worried that his disguising of his tiefling nature would be interpreted as an insult even though Curio has terrible anxiety about the whole thing and literally can't help it. And I just think it's extra fun that the reason this is happening so soon is because of decisions I made intentionally as a player to make it *harder* to find him out, while truly thinking about what he would actually do. And I swear to god if that roll at advantage doesn't work I'm giving him all the inspiration I've got, because this is too good. I'm excited for the ensuing cathartic drama and for this precious boy to finally start learning how to love himself. p.s. in case any readers haven't picked up by now it's a closeted-trans-youth meets open-trans-elder allegory. This is what happens when you play DnD with other trans people

[ravenclaw-craftsgirl]

~IDENTITY (AS OF 6TH YEAR)~

Name: Lilian Marie Le’Reau

Gender: Female

Age: 17

Birth Date: February 23, 1973

Species: Human

Blood Status: Muggleborn

Sexuality: Gay

Alignment: Neutral

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Nationality: French/English (dual citizenship)

Residence: London, England

Myer Briggs Personality Type: INFJ-T The Advocate

1st Wand: 

Alder Wood 12 3/4 Slightly springy flexibility Unicorn Hair core Alder is an unyielding wood, yet often its ideal owner is not stubborn or obstinate, rather helpful, considerate and most likable. Whereas most wand woods seek similarity in the characters of those they will best serve, alder is unusual in that it seems to desire a nature that is, if not precisely opposite to its own, then certainly of a markedly different type. When an alder wand is happily placed, it becomes a magnificent, loyal helpmate. Of all wand types, alder is best suited to non-verbal spell work, whence comes its reputation for being suitable only for the most advanced witches and wizards.

2nd Wand:

Acacia Wood 13 Supple flexibility Horned Serpent Horn core A very unusual wand wood, which I have found creates tricky wands that often refuse to produce magic for any but their owner, and also withhold their best effects from all but those most gifted. This sensitivity renders them difficult to place, and I keep only a small stock for those witches or wizards of sufficient subtlety, for acacia is not suited to what is commonly known as ‘bangs-and-smells’ magic. When well-matched, an acacia wand matches any for power, though it is often underrated due to the peculiarity of its temperament.

Animagus: Black Ragdoll with curved white marks under the eyes and on the paws

Misc Magical Abilities: Naturally adept at most forms of transfiguration and animation charms, wandless spell casting, silent spell casting

Boggart Form: Death Eater from her past

Riddikulus Form: Darth Vader saying “Lilian, I am your father”

Amortentia (others): A kitchen cooking a full meal; generally steak, green beans, baked potatoes, buttered rolls and brownies

Amortentia (Lilian): (before dating) Machine shop oil, the smell of grease and degreaser (after dating/ married) The smell of an old book and the fragrance of Merula’s perfume

Patronus: Multiple Wolves (average 2-3, more depending on the need)

Patronus Memory: The memory of all her friends, family and loved ones attending the unveiling of her first golem

Mirror of Erised: Herself, living life without fear of persecution by muggles or pureblood wizards.

Specialized/Favourite Spells: 

Piertotum Locomotor

Baubillious (for offense and creation)

Permanent Sticking Charm (It’s easier than weeks of welding)

Aguamenti (you wouldn’t believe how many fires are started near Lilian)

Incendio (speaking of fire…)

Engorgio

Reducio

~APPEARANCE~

In game

Height: 6’3” (190.5 cm)

Weight: 170 lbs (77 kg)

Physique: Toned/ Lean build

Eye Colour: Purple/ Amethyst

Hair Colour: Snow White (originally chestnut)

Skin Tone: Porcelain

Body Modifications: Single Purple streak of Dyed hair

Scarring: After the battle of Hogwarts in the second wizarding war, Lilian loses her left arm and right leg below the joints. She later develops prosthetics nearly identical to her original limbs, but stronger than steel

Inventory: On her person she will have a charm bracelet of several shrunken items including:

-a table -a cooler -a medical cabinet (with everything inside secured) -three Tiny Golems (for easy transport when not in use)

As well as a satchel with several books, pencils and sketch pads for when she has an idea or observes something inspiring. She owns a car and a Thunderbolt broomstick.

Fashion: Lilian normally dresses in black slacks, a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a black vest over the white shirt. She also owns several pairs of boots, most in the style of buckle up platforms with steel toes.  She will also wear various dresses to accentuate her figure, muscles or the dresses design as well as several pop culture t-shirts (her favorites are often science fiction based such as Star Wars and Halo)

~ALLEGIANCES~

Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw

Affiliations/Organizations:

The Order of the Phoenix

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

The Constitutional Republic of France

The Royal Crown of England

Professions:

Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office (consultant)

Department of Magical Equipment Control 

Freelance Craftswoman (magical prosthetics)

Freelance Craftswoman (miscellaneous items)

Freelance Craftswoman (Animated Objects)

~HOGWARTS INFORMATION~

Class Proficiencies:

Astronomy: ★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ (E) Charms: ★★★★★★★★★★ (O) DADA: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ (O) Flying: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ (A) Herbology: ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆ (E) History of Magic: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ (A) Potions: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ (O) Transfiguration: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ (O)

Electives:  Study of Ancient Runes Ancient Runes Alchemy Arithmancy Advanced Arithmancy

Extra Curricular: 

Dungeons and Dragons club Potions Club Magic TheoryAncient Runes Club Education of Muggle Items Group (unofficial president)

Favourite Professors: 

Professor McGonagall: While not typically the first choice of Ravenclaws, Lilian respects Professor McGonagall for her cool and decisive temperament, her rational thought processes and her ability to make the correct call in stressful situations. She is also partial due to the shared Animagus attribute as well as the professor’s forgiving nature towards Lilian’s Experimentation with magical creations.

Least Favourite Professors:

Professor Trelawney:  While Lilian respects every form of knowledge, she never understood why this class was a core requirement and not an elective. Surely if someone was that desperate to know their ‘future’ they could use their own time instead of forcing an entire class to follow suit. Lilian is a firm believer in ‘you make your own fate’ and views Professor Trelawney as overly superstitious, even by wizarding world standards.

~RELATIONSHIPS~

Father: Daniel Le’Reau Muggle English Professor Attended University of Cambridge, England Short, Chestnut brown hair with matching Goatee. Tall, slightly scrawny 38 years old.

Daniel is soft-spoken and amicable, often seeking the least confrontational methods. Polite and poised, as expected of a respected University professor

Upper Middle Class 

Professor of Literature and English Studies at the University of Cambridge 

Daniel is a very well known professor, often sited in many English studies papers for his ideas on early literature such as Shakespeare and Anglo-Saxton ballads, noting their implications in modern art and culture as well as their historic significance. He is also known to be quite supportive of his students, often treating them like family members and helping them achieve their dreams. 

Known the McKinley family since Lilian was 5 (the day she was almost kidnapped)

Mother: Amelie Nicole Le’Reau Muggle Long straight Black hair, Amethyst eyes, Average height, toned muscles, rugged beauty. Mechanic (military contracted) 37 years old.

Amelie is an outspoken, avid thinker who spends just as much time as her husband educating people.

Amelie originally served in the Royal Engineering Corps in her early years until she met and fell in love with a rather awkward yet lovable man named Daniel. Shortly before her Exit date, she married him and had Lilian. Since then, she’s been a military contractor for the Royal Engineering Corps. Assisting with various mechanical jobs from basic transportation to armored troop transports to Tanks and Mobile Weapons Systems.

Nearly traumatized when a dark wizard kidnapped Lilian after killing several bystanders with magic and curses. Almost forbade Lilian from attending Hogwarts when she received the acceptance letter. Remains in good standing with Shamus McKinley.

Love Interest: Merula

While they only officially started dating during the Sixth year, their relationship started in the Fourth year.

During the Celestial ball, Lilian noticed that Merula didn’t have anyone to dance with and offered to dance with her.  After the Celestial Ball, Merula’s Attitude softened to a degree. While Lilian was still being teased about how tall she was, she was no  longer harassed for being a muggle, nor was she mocked for her passions. While Merula wouldn’t outright ask for help from Lilian, She would never deny Lilian helping her.

Generally the attitude of the two was always Lilian genuinely trying to learn about Merula while Merula made an effort to understand Lilian and where she was from. Eventually Mistrust and Resentment would make way to curiosity and intrigue. 

Only when Lilian had saved Merula’s life from Dementors had she finally figured out her mixed feelings for Lilian, realizing that she had fallen in love with the quiet muggle born witch, eccentricities and all.

Best Friends:

Rowan Hubei Khanna (Female Khanna) Rowan Harrow Khanna (Male Khanna) Ben Copper Penny Haywood Badeea Ali Ismelda Murk Rival: None

Enemy:

Patricia Rakepick

R

Dormmates: 

Rowan Hubei Khanna Badeea Ali Tulip Karasu

Pets:

Eleanor is an american shorthair that Lilian rescued from the street during her trip to Diagon Alley. Eleanor had been a kitten at the time, thus Lilian was given special permission to have her familiar with her during all classes to make sure she didn’t go hungry.

Due to outstanding Circumstance, Lilian has also (legally) adopted an Acromantula that refers to himself as Cain. While technically intelligent enough to take care of himself, he does allow her to give pets and scratch his carapace in the right areas. In exchange, Lilian is given a supply of webbing to refine into silk as she needs.

Closest Canon Friends:

Ismelda Murk Rowan Hubei Khanna

Closest MC Friends:

Helene Adler @heleneplays​

Skylar Morningstar @angrynar​

Ada Corcoran @ask-bincopper-archive​

Neon Welkin @neonbluewaves​

Ethren Whitecross @hogwartsmysterystory​

~BACKGROUND/HISTORY~

[The following is an excerpt from the book The Craftswoman, a biography on the Life and Philosophies of Lilian Le’Reau]

Interviewer: What do you know of Mrs. Le’Reau? Headmistress Rowan Hubei Khanna: Lilian? Wow, where do I begin… She was always quiet. It was almost as if she were watching everything that happened for the sake of safety and precautions. Like she was always expecting the worst to happen to her no matter what. But given her history I wouldn’t put it past her. 

I: Could you please elaborate on that? Headmistress Khanna: Well, I suppose so. When Lilian was around the age of five, she and her mother were attacked by a rogue Death Eater, one of the remnants of the first wizarding war. A lot of people died that day, several more had to have their memory erased. 

I: With the Memory Erasing Charm, yes. The report of ‘The Market Massacre’ were in the papers for weeks after the incident, if I recall. Headmistress Khanna: Right. Well, This death eater had a particular goal in mind. I was told that he kept on rambling about how he was gonna make  new army, one to combat the remnants of the Order of Phoenix. He had planned on kidnapping Children with magical talent in order to build this order. 

I: Fortunately, the Auror Shamus McKinley was nearby to save her. He not only saved her, but dispatched the dark wizard as well, yes? Headmistress Khanna: While this is true, it still had its ramifications. No one goes through that sort of experience the same. Lilian didn’t like to talk about where she came from or about her childhood.

I: Well, how about her years alongside you at Hogwarts? How would you describe that? Headmistress Khana: Our time at Hogwarts was actually rather mundane compared to the adventures of our other classmates. Lilian and I were generally the part of the plan that collected information and helped solve the riddles of the vaults, rather than actually fighting any of the curses there. Otherwise, much of her time was spent studying, trying to figure out new ways to apply spells and context of said spells, and honing her own personal abilities.  Like I said, a rather average Hogwarts tenure for the both of us.

I: Alright. How about during the battle of Hogwarts? Or perhaps anything during then and your graduation of Hogwarts? Headmistress Khanna: The time before the battle of Hogwarts, I can't testify for. For a while, most of us fell out of contact as we moved on with our lives, trying to make a name for ourselves in our own fields. But… 

I: It’s okay if you would like to avoid this subject. Headmistress Khanna: No no, it needs to be said. During the battle of Hogwarts, a lot of us were scared. None of us had been in this sort of conflict before, and those of us that had weren't ready for what we faced. Yet there Lilian was, setting up perimeters and directing people to the best suited jobs to help defend. She even brought in nearly a dozen golems to assist in the defense. We were lucky too, since those were the only things stopping the main host of trolls from climbing up the bridge. The battle itself is a blur, but when the dust settled, we all saw Lilian slumped against a wall, babbling on about equations and how many litres of blood she felt she had lost. She was missing her arm and leg, surrounded by a dozen or so dark wizards. 

I: Thank you, Headmistress. I think that’ll be all for now. Headmistress Khanna: I appreciate the need to document Lilian’s life. She’d be too busy to actually sit down and write it herself, believe it or not.

~PERSONALITY~

Lilian is a very open minded individual. Creative and Intelligent, She will always see projects through to the end, even if she already knows that the result will be failure. Despite the innumerable amount of failures that she’s had, Lilian always finds a way to take joy from any situation. While she mainly focuses on her work, she is a rather quiet and shy woman despite her imposing stature and very apparent abilities. She doesn’t like to brag, nor is she prone to any outwardly negative emotions. 

She does have several flaws though, first and foremost being her inability to cope with overly strong negative stimuli as well as a tendency to hyper fixate on a project at hand, often forgetting to eat and rest until her body physically forces her to sustain itself. (most common being her collapsing from exhaustion and sleep deprivation.)

MISC

Lives in the muggle world (London specifically)

Has family in both France and England

While not typically a fighter, Lilian has mastered the Patronus charm to astonishing success, manifesting three or more Wolf patroni with one casting.

While she is missing her left arm and right leg from the joints down, Lilian has since made prosthetic arms that are not only nearly identical to the previous limbs, they are far stronger than steel and well crafted enough to fool Muggles unless they closely inspect the hand in question.

Lilian married Merula nearly a year after the Battle of Hogwarts

In order to maintain hold of her tools while working and simultaneously casting spells, Lilian has mastered both the art of wandless and silent spellcasting.

Lilian owns a machine shop in London, making both Muggle and Magical items for multiple clients. She is allowed to do this through the employment of Squibs. This also allows her to take Auror Interns, teaching them how muggle technology works.

Lilian attempts to pioneer Golemancy, even attempting to have it recognized as an official practice of magic.

After Much convincing and reassuring, Lilian managed to get Merula to move to the Muggle world. Even then, this was only after several charms had been cast to help hide their magical nature from Ordinary Muggles. (Merula is particularly keen on cell phones.)

After several letters, Lilian agrees to teach several Magic Theory classes at Beauxbatons, much to the joy of several students and faculty. Lilian even demonstrates the magic and technology behind her prosthetics, inspiring the next generation of magic craftsmen and women.

[tanglebond-tales]

Wake Up, Lupin (pt. 1)

Most days, it doesn't matter what time Lupin casts the spell.

But today is Thursday, and therefore, it matters.

Ding a ling a ling, says the first alarm. Ugh. That means it's 6 o'clock. Two hours til work, one hour til portal time.

Lupin goes back to sleep.

Bing bong, says the second alarm. Ugh. Six thirty.

Wake up, Lupin. Now. Says the third alarm. Okay, the first two didn't actually SAY what they said, it was onomatopaiea. Sounds that they made translated into words. But this one actually talks.

"Uh. Portal day."

The alarm clock does not respond. It only knows how to say that one thing, repeatedly, in its tinny little voice.

"Wake up, Lupin. Now."

"Fine! Ugh. Fine. Okay. Get up, Lupin." She rolls out of bed. At least it's warm.

---

"Ugh. Why is it always so warm here."

Lupin draws the final stroke of chalk to complete the circle, and before she can even look up, there is a flash of light.

"Hello, Lupin. It's been a while."

"It's been a week." Her handler's enthusiasm at this time of morning was routinely offensive.

He steps forward out of the teleportation circle, places the supply chest on the sideboard, and makes a show of brushing the dust of the conjuring chalk from his otherwise immaculate coat. "It has! I do hope things are going well with you."

Lupin yawns and stretches. "Not bad. Work is fine. Y'know, hammering steel. Over and over."

"But you are getting plenty of practise with those elementals."

"Well, yeah, it's what I do like literally all day, so yes."

"I am glad. I take it they are co-operative."

Portal successfully cast on time, Lupin has retreated to the kitchen. She is making toast. "They're okay. I mean, some more than others, some of them are rude. Some of them are lazy. But most of them are nice. And some of them are really funny."

"I actually kind of envy you. The air realm boundary here is so thin. You're really getting the best of it. It's a wonderful assignment."

"Rui, I've been here for a year. It's getting pretty boring. And why do you always have to visit so early?"

Ruiprouice Frouce sighed. "I know. It is a long time. But we all do it. And, as you know I have a lot of people to visit. This is how I like to start my Thursdays."

She cracks some eggs into the pan and smiles at him over her shoulder. "You're sweet.” From nowhere, a wooden stirrer coalesces in her hand and she prods at the sizzling eggs. “Okay, look, I know. Rite of passage as a conjurer, blah blah. I get that, and I'm grateful for the chance. But, Pelor, am I ever ready to move on."

"Yes, Lupin." Closest thing Lupin ever had to an uncle, but he never used her nicknames. "Just one more week."

Lupin sighed. "Yes. Just one more week. Have you had breakfast?"

---

Felton Blacksand sighed, stroking his long beard and looking at the chrono dial. "Where, oh where, is Lupin."

"I'm here!" hollered Lupin, her attempt at sneaking into the office foiled by her big mouth and scrabbling feet. "I'm sorry."

"It's Thursday, already?"

"Sure is! So, what needs doing?" she inquires as she catches her breath, coils up her two long braids, and stuffs them into her beret.

Felton sighed. Not that he'd been paying close attention, but he knew the year was almost up. When he'd gotten the letter from the conjurers’ guild - sorry, the Guild of Conjurers and Summoners - he hadn't expected much, a bookish nerd maybe? Certainly not someone so talented in the trade as well as the craft. The thought of Lupin moving on was heavy on his mind.

"Crew two is on the Hammer, so they'll probably need you to help get them started. Third crew is in the mines, so Pelor willing they won't need much attention, but crew four is on the mechanisms so they'll definitely need your support. And crew five is,” he consults his clipboard, “smelting, so they may need some fires put out."

"Put out? Come on." She shimmies indignantly into her company-issue grease-spattered overalls. Frowning as she spots a couple of small tears, she jabs at them with a finger and they mend instantly.

"Loops. We're training your replacements. Give them some space to make mistakes."

Lupin was losing track of the number of sighs today. Plus one. "Can I at least stoke some fire tomorrow?"

"Sure, as long as they learn a lot today."

Lupin rolled her eyes. "Thanks, I guess."

"Crew one is on bucket detail, so keep an ear on them. They're not exactly fast."

"True, that. Anything else? Roll on end of shift, right?"

"Roll on. Don't forget to eat lunch."

"Thanks, boss." Lupin left.

---

It hadn't been an eventful shift. The air elementals had been compliant, mostly, but she'd had to talk down to a fairly large firey, and he almost didn't accept her bluster. She knew the protocol for that situation - contain with a magic circle, call for the water squad - but she was proud of the fact that she hadn't had to do that in a bit over six months. She could usually get them to listen to reason, which helped a lot since her physical stature would hardly be described as intimidating. Not that she didn’t have a few other tricks up her sleeve if it really came down to it.

Anyway. The shift was over, and Lupin was heading home. The viewing platform was on the way - about the closest thing this charming hamlet had to a tourist attraction - and hey, the Hammer in action was always a sight to see after walking up that big darn hill on her short gnome legs, so Lupin often stopped there.

Today was different, though. It was Wednesday; nearly a week had passed since Rui's last visit, and tomorrow was the big day. It was tradition in the guild to time the final day of casting with a visit, do a bit of a ceremony and whatnot, and that was tomorrow.

But more immediately, today there were some actual tourists.

A bunch of weirdoes, actually, thought Lupin as she approached the platform. In a good way, an interesting way, and certainly something she hadn't seen in a while. An elf lady with a fancy-looking bow strapped to her back. A tall human man with rippling muscles and a giant sword. A robed monk, a little girl, a birdman. A lizardy guy. Lizardy? No, more dragon-y. And a peculiar boy, not so much taller than Lupin, humanish but for the pointy, swept-back horns atop his head. Lupin somehow has an impulse to just run forward and hug him.

She suppressed it, barely, and instead sidled up to the group just as the dragony man was leaving. Adventurers? What were they doing here? "Hi! I'm Lupin!" She thrust her hand out in the vague direction of the boy with the horns.

---

It seemed like the boy with the horns had a lot on his mind, but that was okay, because Lupin loved talking about her work, and had been doing so incessantly. "And then, right? We put the molten slug on the anvil. And then, the hammer smashes it flat! So flat. Keeping that hammer working is basically my day job. You know, just the other day..."

Fancy bow lady interrupts her. "So, you work here, then?"

Lupin stops. Was that sarcasm? She wasn't used to that, around here.

"Yes, I do! So where are you guys from?" Funny how the fatigue of a whole shift in the steelworks could be erased with a little bit of chitchat.

---

It turned out they were new in town, just passing through really, and looking for somewhere to eat, drink and sleep. Lupin knew just the place - and what a coincidence, was going that way. Even if she weren't, she would have said she was. She'd learned some names, including the horn-headed fella, Russell. Walking next to him, she felt like he was in need of some cheering up.

"Hey, do you like animals?"

Russell immediately perks up. "Yes! I love animals."

"Oh, well." Lupin clasps her hands together, and then opens them a crack. A tiny nose peeks out, whiskers twitching as it samples the air, followed by the face and long body of a silky white ermine, which scurries up Lupin's arm and perches on her shoulder, looking intently at Russell.

"Russell, this is Snickers."

Russell is agog. "What.. how.. did you just.. summon that?"

"Her. And yes. Well, no. Well, she's always around, just not always in material form. I think she likes you."

Lupin bumps her shoulder into Russell's and Snickers scuttles across, disappearing up Russell's sleeve and, a moment later, poking her fuzzy face out of the neck of his armour.

Russell's excited grin has turned into barely contained paroxysms of laughter. "That.. tickles!!", he exclaims between gasps of air. "Oh yes indeed," says Lupin, "this is definitely her tickliest form. Sometimes she's a cat, sometimes a rat, we didn't really like her as a snake, but birds are a lot of fun. Though, not as cuddly."

Snickers has wriggled free of Russell's armour and parked herself on his shoulder, busying herself with nuzzling him incessantly. Accordingly, Russell has regained the power of speech. "She can change forms?”, he asks, returning the affection. “Like, whenever?"

"Oh, well it takes a little bit of doing. We have to cast a spell for it, which needs some fancy ingredients, so it's a bit of a special occasion when we do, you know?"

Russell is impressed. "That is so, so cool."

Lupin blushes a little. Finding a familiar is among the most basic of basic conjuration, but it’s nice that he's impressed. And it’s nice to be chatting to someone who doesn’t tower over her. "You think that's cool? You should see what I do for a living." She starts into telling him all about a day in the life of an elemental wrangler as they walk on.

---

"So, this guild has had you living here for a year, casting the same spell every day, over and over, to - set up a portal?"

Sitting around an assortment of tables, the adventurers are exercising their elbow muscles hefting tankards of excellent ale. Blacksand's Brewery is crowded, as always after the end of a shift at the 'works, with dwarves, gnomes, and humans, far too many of whom Lupin knows by name. The elder of the Blacksand brothers, Beren, tends bar, and waitstaff sashay busily amongst the tables.

"Yep, that's right. It'll facilitate travel and trade and blah blah blah. And it'll mean I've concluded this stage of my service to the Guild, so I'll be presented with a shiny new badge and make a bunch of people real proud, but best of all, I won't have to stay in this boring excuse for a town anymore."

"Oh come on, it's not so bad. This place is nice. And the hammer is really cool!"

"Yeah, so cool! So much going on here! And I get to hear the clanging all day every day from up close AND far away!" Lupin is thrilled to be using sarcasm again. She makes a show of counting on her fingers. "You've seen the Hammer, you're eating at Blacksand's, and you've met me. I think that about covers the highlights of the Praak experience."

She pauses to sip her ale. "I will not miss this place. I will miss some of the people, though." She looks around at the interior of the Brewery. "And, well, I might miss this place. But Praak generally? I don't think so. I don't exactly have a plan yet, but I'm sure looking out for an excuse to leave." A smiling waitress deposits several plates of delicious-smelling food on the table, and Lupin nods in acknowledgement, suddenly feeling a twinge of guilt for badmouthing the small town. She picks up the smallest plate, containing a boiled egg and small cubes of various cheeses, and sets it to one side. Snickers goes straight for it and gets to nibbling.

"But you have to finish this portal first, right?"

"Oh, yes, well, that's happening tomorrow."

Russell's eyebrows raise precipitously.

"Tomorrow! And you said there's going to be a ceremony?" Had she said that? She wasn't sure, but the thoughtful look on Russell's face stilled her tongue. "Do you know anyone who could transport someone between planes? That's a conjurer thing, right?"

Lupin hesitates, unsure of what is happening. "Well - that's something I'm studying towards, but yes, I suppose I do know some people. And yes," she anticipates his next question, "it is possible some of them might be here tomorrow."

"Huh," says Russell, his eyebrows returning to their typical stance as he grabs a chicken leg and leans back in his chair. "Gaalin will want to meet you."

"Who's Gaalin?", says Lupin.

[jokertrap-ran]

(时空中的绘旅人—For All Time—) EVENT! 「万圣奇幻夜」Halloween Fantasy Night Translations (Clarence Route: Wizards and Dragons Part 2)

*Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut *Maintaining Si Lan’s name as Clarence!

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 (END)

With Clarence's permission, I walked up to the bookshelf and began to browse the collection in front of me.

His shelves were filled with countless tomes of fantasy and fairy tales that were popular with children, perhaps out of consideration that many of them would be coming to this hut to play in the evening.

No, wait a minute! There are a few books with very strange titles...

MC: "The Little Wizarding Kingdom's...Codex"?

Adding on to that were the books titling "Juridical Precedents in Fairy Tales", "The Little Frog that travelled the World of Law" and "The Law Lexicons that the Rabbit speaks"...

Clarence: I can lend you these books if you're interested in it.

MC: This is...

Clarence: It's actually one of our projects. The Law Department wishes to educate children on essential legal knowledge through fantasy and fairy tales.

Clarence: They're only semi-completed products as of now. We'll finish writing them all if we get a good response to them on Halloween.

His eyes were a little hopeful, but I decided to go with what my heart decreed.

MC: No no, no need! I'll leave this learning opportunity for the kids!

Clarence: How humble you are, (Y/n). You can borrow it from me anytime you wish after Halloween.

If I hadn't seen the sincerity in his gaze, I'd have thought the first half of his sentence ironic.

MC: Let's continue on with the tour then.

Clarence nodded and continued introducing me to everything inside the Hut, including the multitude of Herbs he had hung on the Domed Ceiling. The paper label that was attached to the Herbal Medicine was an introduction to what each Herb was. 

Clarence: In the script, the Wizard utilizes Herbs along with some mysterious items such as a talking pumpkin, to make strange potions before making all the potions into Magical Reagents.

Following his gaze, I looked to the Alchemy Stand that was displayed on the lower cabinet.

The clean and sealed test tubes held liquids of various colors.

Clarence: But the little Dragon he raised had accidentally swallowed one of those concoctions he made, growing bigger and bigger into a threatening Dragon. So, the Wizard recruited some brave men to attempt solving this crisis in his hands.

Who knew there was such a story behind his script.

MC: If so, then, anyone who sets foot upon this Hut on Halloween have a chance of becoming one of those Valiant people?

Clarence: Of course. Plus, they can also get rewards by looking for clues around the room.

Clarence broke off halfway, as if suddenly remembering something before moving to take out a strangely shaped object from a wooden box nearby.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

Clarence: This is the little Dragon.

I curiously looked at the small dragon in his palm.

I saw that the workmanship that had gone into this small dragon was nothing short of exquisite. There were two small silver rings on the purple dragon's horns, it's dark wings were detailed, veiny and vivid.

MC: Can I touch it?

It looked like it'd feel really nice to the touch.

Clarence: You can, but...

I had already reached out to touch it before he had finished his sentence. I carefully used my hand to touch the little dragon's head, but what I didn't expect was for it to open its mouth and spray a lick of fire.

MC: !

I was so spooked by it that I immediately withdrew my hand. However, before I could take a better look at it, I heard Clarence's exasperated voice again.

Clarence: I hadn't finished speaking... I was just about to say that touching it on the head would trigger the mechanism that made him spit out his "dragon breath".

Clarence: But the fire is of course, fake, and only to scare the little kids.

Clarence explained as he moved the little dragon's "fiery tongue" to prove that it really was just an accessory.

MC: (Why do I still feel like he planned this...?)

But this dragon was still really cute, and it even matched the colors of the Wizarding Robe that I had designed for him.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

That was when I remembered the Wizarding Robes that had been left forgotten in favor of the Monster House Tour that I had indulged myself with.

MC: Clarence, do you want to try out the outfit I designed for you now?

MC: I can still make adjustments now if anything doesn't fit...

Clarence: Sure.

He took the clothes that I had brought along with me, glancing at me with a strange expression.

Clarence: Are you...going to be staying here?

MC: What? No, no way! I'll wait for you right outside!!

There weren't any other rooms in the Monster House. If Clarence was going be changing inside, then I'd definitely make it a point to book it right out of there. But I can't believe that I didn't think of that first back there.

I do hope that he didn't think that I was going to stay right there and watch him get changed...

When I left the Hut in a hurry, I glimpsed what seemed to be a little quirk on the side of his lips as he turned around.

Really, how embarrassing...

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

After waiting for a while, I heard his voice call out again.

Clarence: I'm done changing.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

I raised my head upon hearing his voice, looking up.

Clarence was standing atop the stairs, dressed in the Robes of my design. Tall and slender, the lines on the corners of the robe resembled streams of mercury under the backdrop of warm yellow lights.

The overall dark colors of the Wizarding Robe didn't appear dark and gloomy on him, but rather, it gave him a mysterious aura, one as deep and mysterious as the night sky.

Clarence: Thank you for designing these clothes, (Y/n). It suits me like a glove, so there's no need to make any modifications.

His last sentence would be music to the ears of any others, and I was of no exception.

MC: Great that it fits! Then, I'll be taking my leave fir...

After I finished speaking, I subconsciously said goodbye to him, trailing off for fear that he'd continue on to say things like "Wait a minute" or "Oh, right" and the like.

Clarence: Oh, yes.

............ Still a step too late.

Clarence: I want to invite you to this Monster House of mine on Halloween.

Turns out that it was just an invitation. If so, then there's nothing to be panicking about!

MC: Sure. I like your Monster House and the little Dragon that comes with it, so I'll definitely be coming by!

Clarence: Why do you look so solemn about it?

MC: No, it's nothing! I'm sure it's just your eyes playing tricks on you...!

He didn't seem like he wanted to probe any further into the matter either, his eyes softening as they looked at me.

Clarence: It's decided then.

MC: Right you are.

───⋅𝕿𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖓𝖊𝖝𝖙 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊…⋆⋅☆

[kunrendeotaku]

Chapter 10

Interestingly enough, my first thought is how different their hands are. Star has calloused hands, strong and thick-she probably swung around a weapon before picking up that wand. Janna’s hands are different, softer, but not as much as I expected. Maybe she really works hard on the mechanical stuff I saw in her room? I didn’t even know she was interested in that, but I guess it makes sense that she’d have to be the one building most of her more complicated traps.

More than that, Star’s hand is so much warmer. Does she run at a hotter temperature than the rest of us? Is it something else? My left hand is getting sweaty because of it, which makes me nervous enough that the rest of me is sweating soon after. Definitely doesn’t help that we’re stuck in a little closet with a bunch of candles. Star doesn’t even seem to care about the little rejection from earlier, smiling in anticipation at both me and Janna equally. Am I the weird one for still feeling hurt she didn’t take my side…?

Before I can put more thought into it, Janna finally starts doing something. “Janna Ordonia, qui maga Echo Creek. Marco Diaz bellator est ab Echo Creek. Star Butterfly, a procer magicae. Tres vocant inde supplices te. Niotalosed, responde huius vocationem.” I raise my eyebrows as she starts chanting in what sounds like latin. Not one of my specialties-there is a limit to being a straight A student. I’m pretty sure I heard our names in there, though…

“Wait-are we summoning an actual demon? This better not be one of Tom’s pranks.” Star frowns, suddenly seeming a bit unsure she wants to be a part of this. I snort, shaking my head. “I’m telling you, Star. We have plenty of crazy people who chant Latin in their basements on Earth-if they could actually summon demons, the planet would be chock full of em by now.” She seems unconvinced, but then she doesn’t tend to believe me on matters of Earth magic I’ve come to realize. Perhaps she just considers herself an expert, bah.

Janna continues chanting that same thing over and over, and just as I begin to wonder how long I’ll be kneeling on this stone floor I start to feel something...odd. It’s an uncomfortably warm sensation in my chest, near my heart. I’d think it might be some weird heartburn, but I’ve actually felt it before-since this year started, I’d get this feeling sometimes when fighting, and almost always during our heavy meditation sessions. Sensei said it was nothing, and the doctors seem to agree when I got myself checked out. I wonder why I’m feeling it now? I guess it could be since I’m kneeling which is...kinda like how I sit while meditating. Close enough?

Janna’s eyes slowly close and her chanting gets a weird echoey background reverb. A microphone? Her room’s acoustics? But why would it only sound out now? I turn to Star to see if she’s noticed this weirdness, but blink. She’s looking rather odd herself-are her cheek stickers glowing a little? “Star, are you causing this?” I try to say, but my breath feels like it's stolen away as soon as I open my mouth. She turns to me when my hand tightens on hers in a panic, and I see by her own wide eyes and flapping lips that she can’t speak either. Shit. Something is definitely wrong, and it wasn’t Star’s doing this time-at least not completely.

Star and I share a deeply concerned look, gripping our hands tighter. Then we both look at Janna, hoping that my creepy friend hasn’t thrown us completely into the deep end. The burning feeling in my chest gets stronger and stronger, while Star’s cheek marks start glowing like lanterns. Just as things reach the point where I’m certain something is going to explode, a wave of cold black smoke blasts out from the center of the pentagram. It chills my chest, and sets Star’s cheeks back to normal, in addition to blowing out the candles.

Janna, however, is still going-she finishes one last chant before throwing open her eyes, a crazed look and a thin green film of energy over them. “Niotalosed, ostende te!” She calls out, and in answer the weird black smoke that fills the room now congeals once more in the center of the pentagram. It slowly forms the shape of an obsidian skinned monster, with squat toad legs, a human torso, lion’s arms, and the head of what looks kind of like a snub nosed dragon of some sort. Lizard like, with more teeth and horns than any being should have.

“Quid ego faciem exitium?” It asks in a rumbling voice. It seems almost conversational in tone, but its size and the sheer depth of its voice still seems like it vibrates the room. It's at this point that Janna’s eyes lose their power and she falls back with a look of amazement and awe on her face. When she lets go, the circle is finally broken and I’m free to move and speak. “Star! What the heck is this?! What the heck was that?! Janna’s eyes were glowing, and your cheeks were doing something weird!”

I jump towards Star’s side of the room and yank her up to her feet and behind me, then take a defensive stance against the monster. It seems rather amused by my actions so far, though my ability to read the face of a lizard thing is probably not exactly the best. At least it hasn’t tried to kill us yet. “Okay, so, yeah. This was definitely demon summoning. Bogwash, I was hoping for something way cooler from Earth magic.” Star lets out a sigh, clearly quite disappointed. I have no idea how she’s staying so calm with this thing in front of us, and that answer of hers wasn’t exactly complete.

Unfortunately I can’t demand more from her as the demon suddenly starts moving. It has apparently lost interest in us and turned towards Janna. She is staring at the thing like its an angel from heaven, cheeks all aflush and still seeming out of it. Regardless of how Janna managed to pull off an actual demon summoning, or my thoughts on her personally, I can’t let this monster just eat her or something! I dash towards it and slam my fist into the kidney of its human looking torso. That clearly seems to hurt it...but not enough, and possibly not as much as it hurt me. That skin is hard as rock, so my scraped up knuckles tell me.

The next thing I know I’m being thrown through the closet door and crash landing on Janna’s bed. I only just barely managed to get my guard up, those lion paws pack a punch. And if it had used its claws… “Hey, that's my friend! Honeybee tornado Swarm!” A yellow tornado buzzing like angry syrup is suddenly visible in the dark closet, after which I see Star flying through the doorway exactly as I was a few moments earlier. Seems she took the hit about as well as I did, though, as she gives me a determined nod once I help her up. “Lets kick this demon’s ass, Star.”

The next few minutes are a blur of bruises, scrapes, lasers, cute animals, and fire. We managed to drag the demon away from Janna to fight it in her room proper, but while we’re destroying all her stuff pretty easily the thing doesn’t even have a scratch. My nascent lizard emotion reading skills tell me it's probably just annoyed at everything we’ve thrown at it. “Janna! You’re the one who summoned it, do something!” This seems to finally knock my weirdo friend out of her daze. I see her walking out of the closet with a book labeled ‘Latin for dummies’ in her arms, and fire in her eyes. Figuratively this time, no weird green magic juicing up my friend, just determination and more than a little smugness.

[broken-clover]

AU-gust Day 16- Treasure Hunters

Hmph. I was so sure I’d be able to finish yesterday, but after being stuck in a car so long I guess I was just too tired.

This one isn’t especially long, and I’m not sure if it really counts, either? I mean, treasure hunting is involved, but I mostly wanted to do something with my GG Persona AU. Then again, what, am I going to go to jail if I don’t do all the prompts perfectly?...well, maybe.

(Also this one has a smidge of Sinbed because self-indulgence. Sorry not sorry)

For a guy who wore an eyepatch, Sin had pretty good eyesight, at least when it came to scouting. The good new about that was he made for an excellent finder of treasure chests hidden at the end of dungeon hallways, and seeing how their ragtag ‘Investigation Team’ was made up entirely of schoolkids with shaky paychecks on the best of days, they appreciated any shiny trinkets they could sell off for healing items and weapon upgrades.

The biggest downside was that, though he was an excellent chest-finder, he wasn’t quite as good as noticing the shadows guarding it until it was too late.

“Dammit, it was guarded?” He hissed, recoiling as the dark sludge formed into a trio of Principality.

“And they’re decently strong ones, too! But it doesn’t look like there’s a good way to evade them, we can’t run!” Said Potemkin, balling his large hands into fists. “Should we try and call the rest of the team? I’m not sure if they’re too far away to hear, but-”

“It doesn’t matter!” Elphelt shouted, pulling out Miss Travallier to shoot her card and summon Anteros. “Just don’t let your guard down!”

They didn’t have any major tricks up their sleeve, but between Potemkin’s physical skills, Elphelt’s healing spells, Ram’s fire, and his own pool of Personas on-hand, Sin couldn’t find it in him to be especially worried.

Elphelt boosted everyone’s defense with Marakukaja before taking a step back. Potemkin lunged forward to attack head-on, and Sin summoned Perseus to fire up a Mazionga. They seemed off to a strong start, with the two victims of their attacks taking a decent chunk of their health off before they could even attack. If they kept up the quick attacks, then they had a pretty good chance to make it out unscathed, right? He was feeling confident about that.

...At least until a flurry of cards tangled around Elphelt, and she suddenly collapsed to the ground like a marionette with snipped strings.

“El?!” He shouted, falling back halfway through another lightning strike. Sin dug through his pockets for a revival bead while Perseus took a thankfully nonlethal blow. “Guys, be careful! At least one of them has an instant-kill spell!”

They still had a few beads on-hand, but as soon as he felt Elphelt stir, he heard Potemkin shout in pain and felt the vibration of him collapsing. “S-shit! El! Get up! We’re taking hits!”

“I am injured.” Ramlethal’s voice managed to carry over the other sounds of the firefight, with a definite tinge of concern to her usually-neutral tone. Nike was fast, but she still struggled to dodge the attacks of three enemies all at once, all the while with Ram trying to find a revival item for Potemkin.

The three shadows managed to get lucky with instant-kill spells remarkably often, leaving the remaining members scrambling to use whatever revival items they had while avoiding more potshots, and any hits they could actually land were quickly healed.

“Dammit! My SP is almost gone! Do we have anything for that?!” Sin barked, as Perseus fired a flimsy bolt of lightning that barely nicked one of the Principality.

“I-I think Ram just drank our last coffee…” El stammered in reply, trying to revive Potemkin yet again while only hobbling by on a handful of HP, herself. “I have enough for a few more healing spells, but we’ve only got the one bead left. Are you sure we can’t run?”

At every opportunity, they had tried, only for the shadows to intercept them. He liked being an optimist, but Sin knew that things had gone horribly downhill. When he tried to conjure more electricity, all it got him in return was a hard smack that knocked his Persona to the ground.

“Shit, brace yourselves- !”

“Did someone need assistance?”

A familiar silver-and-purple gundam skated into the room, throwing up a barrier wall to catch a couple of magic blasts.

“Finally! There you are, we’ve been looking for you!” An echoing voice came from the large machine, but its mouth didn’t move. “Good think you make such a racket.”

“Bedman! About time!” Sin felt himself grinning.

“Looks like you’re all in rough shape. Good thing I brought backup.”

The shadows were still too distracted by the new barrier to care much about the newcomers who ran into the treasure room right under their noses. Ariadne and Thalassa carried Bridget and May in their respective free arms, while Zappa ran along behind. The mechanical Persona began releasing purple smoke from its head-pipes, and a glimmering veil surrounded both it and the second half of the Investigation Team.

“Get ready for an overclock!” The echoing voice shouted. “You're buffed! May, you’re on healer duty, but just focus on knocking out those shadows!”

“Roger!” Bridget hopped off of Ariadne, and began barraging the Principality with physical attacks as soon as the barrier wall began to fragment. Zappa trailed behind with curse spells as Mania dangled over him limply. May did as instructed, throwing on a few mild healing spells, but the evasion buffs made it so it was less necessary than usual.

Following the initial difficulty, the battle swiftly shifted sides. The enemies finally burst back into piles of darkness and faded away, leaving behind nothing but a small pile of money.

“Oh, god, finally…” Sin sat on the ground and tried to catch his breath. “Nearly thought we were goners for a second.”

“Don’t run off like that next time!” May chided him. “How did you even get stuck in here in the first place, it’s a dead end!”

He pointed over his shoulder. “I saw a chest! I thought there’d be something valuable in it.”

“Well, if we cleared this room out, more shadows shouldn’t appear for a while, right?” Asked Elphelt, as she wandered toward the unattended box on a pedestal. “And since that almost got us into some hot water, it’d better be something good.”

“Yeah!” Sin managed to spring back up, following after her. “I’ve got the picks, let’s see what we got!”

Everyone else trailed behind, more than a little interested in whatever shiny trinket was so interesting that it nearly got half their team killed. Sin easily jimmied the lock open, pried the creaky lid back, and...

“Uh...looks like a cheap gemstone...and a piece of armor we already have.”

A collective groan went through the group, plus a few muffled curses and less-than-polite gestures. Sin still pocketed the small gem, but he was in the same boat as the rest of them. “Well, I guess you win some, you lose some. Let’s head back to the safe room to take a break. Bedman, think you can carry Pot? I don’t think we’ll have any luck trying it ourselves.”

The mecha nodded, scooping the unconscious man up like a sack of potatoes. “Everyone can hop on if they don’t feel like walking.”

A few took him up on the offer, and they all headed back. Maybe it was just imaginary, but the safe room felt far warmer and cozier than the rest of the dungeon. At least they knew no more shadows would be popping out to take them by surprise.

“Must be nice having a Persona you can ride in, Bedman.” Bridget said, sliding off the machine’s arm. “Ariadne can barely carry me!”

“Morpheus is remarkably comfortable on the inside, though I can admit it was frightening the first time I was dragged into him. For all I knew, he could have been trying to eat me.”

“I’ve got sandwiches!” Zappa chirped, hoisting up a makeshift lunchbox for everyone to see. “The boss lets me take the ready-made ones once they’re passed the sell-by date, but I promise they’re still good!”

“Ah, damn, that sounds perfect right now.” Sin went up to grab half of a turkey sandwich and begin munching on it.

After being revived, Potemkin found a place to sit near his much smaller leader. “I’m glad you were able to figure something out in the end. But next time, let’s be more careful. Treasure rooms are often more dangerous than one would expect.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right.” Replied Sin, between bites of sandwich. “How’s Kratos?”

“Perfectly fine, I just don’t summon him unless I need him.” Potemkin reached across the table to pull out an egg sandwich, which looked positively miniscule in his large hands. “I’m not sure why you leave yours out so much when we aren’t in battle.”

Sin tilted his head. “Huh? What do you mean? He isn’t out now.”

The man gave him an odd look back. “What do you mean? He’s up there.”

When he looked up to where Potemkin was pointing, Sin was surprised to see that he was right. Perseus hadn’t dissipated, instead he sat on Morpheus’s shoulder, apparently perfectly comfortable where he was. He’d never realized how large Morpheus was, especially odd considering the respective sizes of their owners, but there was plenty of space for his Persona to sit and relax on his teammate.

“Huh?” The girls seemed to notice his staring. “What’s Perseus doing…?”

“I dunno, El. I didn’t make him do that.” He shrugged back. “Why does it even matter?”

“Hmm…” Despite herself, Elphelt had to side-eye the rather affectionate way Perseus cuddled up on his teammate, wrapping an arm around one of his pipe-horns. Hey, weren’t Personas supposed to be a manifestation of their owners...? “Hey, Sin, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, what?”

“Do you...have a crush on anyone?”

Sin balked. “The heck? What does that have to do with anything? What made you ask?”

Behind him, Perseus’ gloved hand stroked Morpheus’ sleek metal head, before he went back to cuddling his horn.

Elphelt glanced away, resisting the urge to blush. “No reason. Just wondering.”

[bedlamhammer]

Fun and Games

All areas of the Last City were not equal in her eyes. While she disliked being in the designated Vanguard section of the wall near where the remains of the old Tower stood, she greatly enjoyed being in the city itself. It gave her time to check in with people she knew, many of whom she had escorted to the City personally. She kept her helmet on, mostly to avoid the exhaustion of having to explain to everyone why a Lightbearer had scars on her face, but it currently wasn't sealed against the atmosphere and allowed her to detect the odors of the street level bazaar around her. Most of the food smells were pleasant, though occasionally she would catch a whiff of excessively strong curry from one of the stalls at the far end of the area or the stench of some unwashed individual.

It was as she passed by a small bookstore that she spotted them. A group of teens huddled around a table that was far too small for their number, talking animatedly and gesturing and laughing. She couldn't hear them through the window, but curiosity got the better of her anyway and she slipped inside. Murdoch didn't exactly take up a lot of space, even with her Titan-esque armor, so it was easy to maneuver the disorganized bookshelves to get closer.

“Alright. The gremlins are advancing on your caravan, so everyone roll initiative!” The voice was familiar, feminine, but she didn't have the speaker in sight just yet. The sound of dice rolling across the table mixed with several thoughtful murmurs, shuffling paper and a couple groans of disappointment before the voice continued. “I saw that, Mick. What was that?”

“A one. I rolled a one.” The voice belonging to Mick replied with a snort. The mechanical echo told Murdoch Mick was an exo.

“That's a shame. You have no clue what everyone else is panicking about, you're still half buried in the back of the wagon thanks to Boga the goblin.” Laughter followed. “Everyone else, get ready to fend off a gremlin ambush.”

Murdoch and her ghost exchanged a look before they stepped around the corner made by two bookshelves coming together. The group was a mix of human and awoken, with a trio of exos. Most of them were focused on the table, which held some sort of board that looked like it was supposed to be a model of a valley, complete with a river and a couple trees. Small figurines were arranged across the board to represent the gremlin ambush and the caravan. The girl at the head of the tiny table looked up as Murdoch was examining them, and her face lit up. “Murdoch!”

No wonder the first voice had been familiar. Murdoch hadn't seen Hannah since the onset of the Red War. She had escorted the girl's father, then a young boy, and grandparents to the Last City many years ago. Hannah's father was killed in the Red War defending Murdoch from a pair of warbeasts when she had lost her Light. The memory made the Lightbearer's chest tighten briefly before she spoke. “Look at you, kid. You've grown up a bit since the Legion got kicked out,” Murdoch said, grinning under her helmet. “What's this here?”

“It's a game!” Hannah beamed. Several of her group eyed Murdoch warily, but the girl didn't seem to notice. “We're pretending to be adventurers on a quest to deliver an artifact to a king. Do you want to play?”

Murdoch cocked her head to the side as Sybil floated by her shoulder. She could see the reluctance on the faces of several people. “I'm afraid I'm terrible at pretending. If it's alright, I'll just watch.”

“That's weird, dad used to tell all kinds of stories of you entertaining people back at Ridgevale. He said you were pretty good at improv.”

“I think he embellished a little, if you ask me.” That was a lie. Murdoch had, on occasion, helped to lighten the spirits of the people she and several other Lightbearers protected by performing small acts. Those had been good times. “I'll watch. I don't know how this sort of game works, anyway.”

It didn't take long. Each player had a little figure that represented their character, and they either acted out or narrated their actions in the scenario. Dice rolls determined how well or how badly they did actions. Hannah was the storyteller, in a way, and was responsible for the actions and rolls of everything the group encountered. By sundown, the players had successfully reached the castle the king lived in with the artifact still in their position. Miraculously, no one's character died.

“Are you here in the City for long?” Hannah asked as she and Murdoch made their way down the street towards her family's apartment building.

“We're here for a while. After spending a few months working between Mars and the Reef, we could use the vacation.” Sybil answered for them. She hadn't spoke while Hannah's group of friends were still present, but now that it was just the three of them, she was more talkative. “I have to ask. Why do you all crowd around such a tiny table? They don't have anything bigger?”

“Not since the Red War. The bookstore owner gave their old table up to help the resistance here, and they've been using these tiny little tables ever since. They can't afford a replacement just yet.”

“That's unfortunate.” Murdoch stopped in front of the structure Hannah had lead them to. It bore battle damage from the Legion's occupation, but repairs had been started on the southern wall. This building was luckier than most. “Your game seems like fun, at least. If a bit crowded.”

“It is, but it's still fun. I'm sorry about how they acted towards you. We don't get to see too many Lightbearers down here, not even the Guardian sort.” Hannah shrugged as she ascended the building's short staircase towards the door. “But I'm sure they'd warm up to you, if you want to come back next week.”

Murdoch considered that for a moment. “When?”

“Every Friday. We start around midday, and go till the sun's down behind the mountain.”

“I'll think about it. Tell your family I'll come visit later, and Joran and Zaeya send their regards.”

⸶⸸⸷

She had the table delivered halfway through the week, before Hannah and her friends held their next game. It wasn't fancy, but it was solid and bigger than the little card table they had been using. The shop owner tried repeatedly to repay her, saying that the table would be used by more than just kids playing games, and Murdoch declined it each time. The store had given up one table, she had explained, and it was only right that it get a new one.

When she returned that Friday, everyone else had already arrived and was setting up. Hannah patted a chair next to hers, ignoring the wary looks given to her. “We've got a guest today! I've known her my whole life, like most of the rest of my family. She and my dad were real good friends.” After an awkward silence, one awoken teen finally came forward and welcomed Murdoch, and the introductions quickly commenced before Murdoch sat down to set up her character for the session.

“So, hold on. You want to be a merchant?” Mick asked incredulously. “Just a merchant? Not a mage, or a barbarian, or even a cleric?”

“Nope. Just a merchant.”

“That's not near as exciting as a warrior or paladin.”

Murdoch peered at Mick as she fidgeted with the little horned figurine in her hand. It was supposed to be her in this game, and Hannah had pointed out the horns on her helmet almost matched the ones on the model. “It might not be exciting to you, but I've spent the last couple hundred years or so being a warrior and fighting monsters. Being a trader sounds pretty good to me.” She watched the thoughtful expressions that crossed several faces, and so it was agreed she would be the proud minotaur owner of a shop.

Over the several hours that the game's session lasted, the questers encountered cut-purses and a mind controlled mob before reaching Murdoch's pretend shop. Her part in the game was small, but by the time she had nearly cleaned each of the other characters out of most of their money (and, sadly, had to sell a very nice magical weapon for almost nothing because of a bad dice roll) before seeing them off to the castle itself, Murdoch found herself smiling. At the end of the session, the artifact was delivered to the king and everyone was able to continue on for their next adventure.

“So how'd you like your first ever roleplay game?” Hannah was asking as she and a few others helped to clean the store up before it closed. “Did you enjoy it?”

“I kind of did, actually. It seems like a fun way to pass an afternoon.”

“Then you're going to love this.” Mick held out something out to her, wrapped in paper. It was a book, and a fairly thick one at that. “It's the latest edition book for the game. Goes over classes and races, skills, the whole bit.”

Murdoch hesitated, book in hand. “You're giving me this? You're sure?”

“Sure am. Just promise me you're going to be something more interesting than a trader.”

“Hahah! Alright, that's fair. You've got a deal.”

[skvaderarts]

Apocrypha Chapter Thirty: Interloper

Masterlist can be found Here! Thanks!

Chapter Thirty: Interloper

 Note: Thanks for all the amazing feedback, everyone! This has been a super stressful week. I just built my first pc, and I have to take it to Geeksquad today (10/26) to have them test it for a power issue that causes my system to randomly shut down without notice. I’m not scared to death at all! Nope! Hahahahahaha! *Cries*.

 (-~-)

 Light shined through thick cracks in the roof of the cavern as excess moisture dripped from above, colliding with the ground below. The area didn’t look entirely dissimilar to that of the underworld, thick layers of luminescent stone coating multiple surfaces around the conduit, and a similar stone forming the monument itself, albeit without the otherworldly glow. The black sludge remained, but no longer seemed to bubble and boil as it once had. How a cold fluid could seemingly boil was beyond Dante, but then again, the many fascinating facets of the underworld were more his brother’s thing.

 “Think of it as a kind of scab, the tear itself being an open wound that never heals.” Trish said as she watched Dante examine the area immediately around the conduit, the youngest of Sparda’s twin sons clearly trying to comprehend the cult’s goals in this place.” And try not to spend too long in that sludge. I’ve heard that it can have strange effects on those who spend extended amounts of time near it.”

 Dante perked up slightly at her statement, formerly lost in thought. “Do you think that it’s going to affect V? He was soaked in this stuff, and he wasn’t exactly in one piece when we found him.”

 As her face migrated towards her hands, she shrugged, not so much aloof as she was indecisive. “I can’t really say. There are very few conduits, so this fluid is very uncommon. It might be worth bringing some back for Magnolia to study, but I’m not sure she could come up with much. She’s a botanist after all, and this isn’t exactly a plant.”

 He responded with a nod, agreeing with her sentiment. Trish was correct, Magnolia wasn’t that kind of scientist. But perhaps she knew someone that could help them identify the core components of the otherworldly substance. It was best to have some sort of idea what they might be going up against if this stuff had actually made it into his bloodstream. And if all else failed, maybe Nico could give it a look. It was a long-shot, but Nero had told Dante that the young mechanism had managed to cobble together an actual time control device from a shard of Geryon’s horn that V had brought back, so anything was possible. Between the two of them, it seemed that nothing was entirely out of the question when it came to dubious acts of scientific research and even more dubious applications of… magic? Was it magic? How the hell did Magnolia do half of the things that she did.

 Dante was very tempted to ask his older twin how they’d met in the first place.

 I mean, it was rather unlikely that he’d asked her on a date or something once upon a time.

 He had a hard time imagining Vergil taking to a woman at all, but then again he did have two sons. But in all fairness, that wasn’t an activity that required much conversation. It was more of an “actions speak louder than words” sort of affair, except in the instances where those actions caused a large quantity of words. Regardless, Dante was somewhat positive that Vergil and Magnolia had never had that sort of relationship. She was several times out of his league, though he liked to imagine that Vergil would pretend to not be interested in her just for the hell of it. 

 The younger of the two twins wasn’t going to pretend that he knew much of anything about his brother’s love life, especially since he quite literally knew nothing about the mother’s of either of his nephews, but he was willing to believe that Vergil was probably the mutually exclusive sort. Deep down, he had to have feelings for at least one of them. And considering the ease in which Magnolia toyed with the devil slayer in blue, he got the impression that they were comfortable around on another. But there was a large gap between conversation and… well that.

 He didn’t really want to imagine anything having to do with his brother’s love life in that regard at all.

 Dante ran his finger against a deposit of Luminite, silently surprised to see it here again. It had been ages since he’d found any of the demonic mineral anywhere, yet here it was, practically oozing from every available surface, and glowing brightly in the dim cavern. What an unusual sight to behold. “Haven’t seen this stuff since I met you. Seems like a lifetime ago now. Any idea why it might be here?” The blond devil jumped down from the spot she was perched on, no longer content with simply observing. Despite the fact that she’d made short work of the place before Dante had arrived, he’d insisted on taking a look for himself before they departed and returned home. While he possessed the utmost respect and confidence in Trish’s judgment and investigative skills, he also felt that coming all this way only to long use his own eyes to give the area a once over would be a foolish mistake, and the last thing he felt like doing was making more of those. So on the off chance that Trish had actually managed to miss something, Dante decided to take the opportunity to check things out for himself, and this rare but all too familiar form of sedimentary stone was far too strange to pass over.

 “If I was willing to make a guess, I’d say that the influence of the conduit is doing this. Things tend to become more demonic immediately around one of these things, and the presence of naturally occurring Luminite in the human world just means that we're close to a huge deposit of demonic power. Malet island isn't unique in that regard.” She took a moment to look at the stone closer, considering something to herself.” That being said, I still can’t imagine what a cult would need V’s blood and an arcana for. It’s not like this is…”

 She froze suddenly, something occurring to her. Dante gave her a curious look, alarm bells sounding in his head as he considered what she might be thinking.” What is it?”

 She shook her head slowly, seemingly understanding their intentions for the first time. And what occurred to her was disturbing to say the least.” … Why didn’t I see it before? This is very bad.” She said, turning in the direction of the now dilapidated exit.” V is a descendant of Sparda like you and your brother. Your father sealed off the human and demon worlds, which is why nothing can really come through a conduit like this in the first place. But with the help of an Arcana that your father helped create, and V’s blood…”

 Dante stopped dead in his tracks.

 Oh. OH. Oh, shit.

 (-~-)

 The fog was noticeably thicker than it had been, a light rain joining it as it blanketed the area in a chilly haze. After coming to the conclusion that hovering over V like he’d developed the bubonic plague wasn’t going to help matters in the slightest, the Darkslayer had allowed Magnolia to talk him into leaving the room. The two had ventured into Magnolia’s attic, the space housing the majority of her plants. The closure of her shop meant literally nothing to her botanical studies, and as such, she still needed to water the specimens in order to keep them in good condition. Well, that went for the majority of her plants, at least. Some were actually allergic to moisture, an aspect of their biology that she was never going to stop finding inconvenient. How on earth did a plant of any kind, be it from the underworld or not, manage to function without the presence of water? One could only imagine that things worked a little differently down there.

 Vergil browsed the wide selection of academic texts that she kept on the bookcases in her workspace, keen to find something to help keep his mind occupied. He couldn’t make V wake up any faster, and she had been kind enough to allow him to stay as long as he liked until such an opportunity presented itself, but there was only one guest room in the house, and it was occupied. If Vergil couldn’t stretch out and make himself comfortable, then he would have to settle for entertaining himself in other ways.

 “Do you have any books in this house that aren’t incredibly boring?” Vergil asked offhandedly, looking at the books but not really paying attention to them.

 Magnolia shook her head slightly as she pruned one of her plants, her back to him. “Terribly sorry, darling. I thought you liked your books the way you like your personality.”

 Vergil wasn’t sure if he should be insulted or entertained by her witty remarks. She was truly the queen of sarcastic comebacks. In all the years that he’d known her, Vergil had never been able to go toe to toe with her in regards to witty comebacks. Not that he had been trying to in the first place. Being the eldest son of Sparda, Vergil liked to think he was above such things, but depending on who you asked, they might say that that was a load of bullshit and that deep down he did actually possess a sense of humor.

 After coming to the conclusion that simply opting to ignore her statement was probably the best thing he could do from a self preservation standpoint, he grabbed the first reasonably interesting book he could find and firmly planted himself into one of the nearby chairs. Magnolia continued to prune her strange looking plants, clearly focused on her craft. While he knew a passable amount about the flora and fauna that was native to the Underworld, the vast majority of what grew in her indoor greenhouse was totally unfamiliar to him.

 “Dante nearly touched a cluster of Daturademonica while we were down in the underworld a little while ago. It’s a wonder that he’s still alive.” Vergil said casually as he leafed through the pages of one of her botanical encyclopedias. While the vast majority of the plants in the book would be foreign to even the most experienced botanists, they were average everyday specimens to those who were more supernaturally inclined. It couldn’t hurt to outfit himself with more knowledge on the subject. Such information might have been useful to him during his extended stay in the underworld. More than once he’d nearly consumed (or actually consumed) less than edible flora and fauna in an attempt to provide sustenance for himself. Not being poisoned would have been a nice to have in an environment so hellbent on ending his miserable existence.

 Suddenly, Vergil didn’t miss his time in the underworld at all.

 “I take it that what happened to Redgrave City was your doing, then? I thought as much. Either that, or your return was the most unfortunate case of fortuitous timing that I’ve ever seen.” She stepped away from the table she was working at and gave Vergil a serious yet solemn look as if she were mourning the loss of something dear to her.” But regardless, I’m glad that you both made it back safely. I won’t ask or even pretend to understand why you do anything that you do, Vergil. All I can do is try to help when things go awry.”

 Vergil shifted slightly, crossing his legs in relative discomfort as she walked past him and towards the stairs. She sat her tools down and gestured for Vergil to follow her before descending the stairs. He watched her go for a moment before opting to follow her, taking a moment to return the book to its proper place on the shelf where he’d found it. He then started down the stairs after her, catching up rather quickly as she stopped to open the door to the room that V was located in. Much to his surprise, she stopped for a moment and did a noticeable doubletake before practically skipping back into the room, clearly excited about something.

 Curiosity piqued, Vergil ventured into the room and was nearly as surprised as Magnolia was to see that V was no longer asleep. The young summoner in question was now seated with his back against the wall, looking practically as tired as he had when he’d fallen asleep a few days prior. Vergil was curious to know why he seemingly hadn’t improved much in the time he’d spent unconscious, but the fact that he had finally woken up and was no longer bleeding profusely was enough for him. At least for the time being. Vergil knew that the time for answers wasn’t far off, and as such, he was willing to wait just a little bit longer for that time to arrive.

 As the two baffled onlookers made their way into the room, V eyed them quietly. He hadn’t felt as weak as he did in that moment since he’d been resurrected a short while ago. His head was foggy and the temptation to simply go back to sleep was strong, but he knew that doing so wasn’t advisable. If the looks on Vergil and Magnolias faces were anything to go by, he’d been asleep for a while longer than he’d originally intended.

 “I suppose it’s reasonable to guess that I’ve been asleep for sometime now.” Vergil said horsley, taking a moment to clear his throat. It was almost as if his throat and lungs were glued together.” How long have I been unconscious? The last thing I remember was talking to Nero in the bathroom while you were tending to my injuries. After that, there’s nothing.”

 Magnolia nodded. “That makes sense considering the fact that you passed out shortly after. Well, you sort of just collapsed. It’s still unclear what happened exactly.” She gestured towards the room they were in, firmly planting her hand on her hip.” I asked Nero to bring you in here after that. Keep the change of clothes. The ones you had on are definitely not going to do you any good anymore. There isn’t enough bleach in existence to get demonic residue, blood, and dirt out of something like that. It’s a wonder your hair stays so white.”

 For a moment, V wondered if this was what it was like to be scolded by an angry mother. He had no experience with such matters, but hearing her describe how hard it would be to get stains out of his clothing brought to mind the stereotypical ads he so often saw on billboards, magazines, and television ads. It made him wonder for a moment if the kindly woman that stood before him had any immediate family of her own; any children that came to visit from time to time. Perhaps asking her in the future would be a worthwhile use of his free time.

 “I couldn’t tell you. It just sort of stays the way it is.” V said with a quiet shrug, his gaze turning towards the large window his bed was positioned in front of. Although the fog had yet to dissipate, white light pierced the glass and filled the room with much needed light.”  ...I attempted to dye it once when I was younger. The results were… unsatisfactory to say the least. Apparently my hair is somewhat hydrophobic, at least as far as artificial pigment is concerned.” Vergil resisted the urge to shake his head in a mixture of amusement and bewilderment. The idea of altering his hair color had never crossed his mind in the many years that he had been alive, even if that might have caused him significantly less trouble. Apparently the white hair that ran in their family was quite the dead giveaway to any demon that had ever met their father. So just the entire underworld.

 “Why did you attempt to do so in the first place?” Vergil inquired, his back against the wall nearest to the door. At this point, he was genuinely curious. Had V been going through some sort of rebellious faze and decided that he needed to change things up? That was the only reason he could think of off the top of his head. Perhaps it was simply beyond him to understand why his oldest son did most of the things that he did. They had lived different lives and gone down different paths. All he could do now was hope for the best.

 Much to his surprise, V looked somewhat taken aback by the question. The younger white haired man looked away from both of them for a moment, seemingly contemplating something that he found unpleasant. Magnolia glanced at Vergil for a moment, a questioning look on her face. She got the distinct feeling that whatever he was about to say wasn’t good.

 “There were several aspects of who I was when I was growing up that didn’t sit right with the people around me. I had the misfortune of being a relatively low energy child who was both left handed and seemingly cursed with an unusual hair color.” V paused for a moment, repressing some of the memories that that statement had caused to surface.” At one point when I was at the precipice of becoming a teenager… I ran away from the place I was forced to call home. Changing my most noticeable feature seemed like a good idea at the time. Thankfully, the need to do so never arose. I don’t believe they ever bothered looking for me. I get the impression they would have been glad that I was gone. And I’ve never gone back to prove myself wrong.”

 A strange mixture of emotions hit Vergil as he contemplated the concept of experiencing such a fundamental level of rejection. Although Dante drove him crazy at times when they were children, the idea of running away from home had never occurred to him. For V, someone he considered to be quite level headed and wary of his surroundings to do something so extreme… he must have faced an unprecedented amount of adversity.

 In that moment, a look of heartbroken sympathy crossed Magnolia’s face as she tried to grasp the gravity of what V had just said. What terrible things had he experienced in his youth that had led him to such despair? Had she known that V was in such a state, she would have happily helped him without a moment’s notice. It would have been her pleasure to give him somewhere safe to go. This was awful.

 Suddenly as if to break the tension in the room, the front door opened and two sets of footsteps could be heard coming towards them. Before anyone could react, Dante appeared in the doorway with Trish at his side, the two seemingly eager to share something with them. And whatever that something was, everyone present was willing to believe that it wasn’t good.

 “Vergil... we might have a problem.”

 (-~-)

 I Have a headcanon that V is a lefty because of how he does some of the things in the game. Also, the idea that both he and Nero are lefties is really interesting to me due to the odds of something like that happening. As for his childhood… all in good time. Slowly but surely we shall see more of it. The curse of Sparda family childhoods is alive and well! See you all on Friday. This next part is going to be a doozy!

[rptv-starwars]

'The Empire Strikes Back' at 40: What the 'Star Wars' sequel's iconic special effects owe to Ray Harryhausen

By Ethan Altered-States (Ethan Alter)

Yahoo Entertainment, Yahoo Movies  •  May 27, 2020

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/the-empire-strikes-back-star-wars-special-effects-ray-harryhausen-212159259.html

[article was edited for brevity, clarity, and to omit dumb commentary by the original author]

Dennis Muren poses with an AT-AT walker behind the scenes of The Empire Strikes Back. (Photo: Lucasfilm)

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Both Ray Harryhausen [special effects creator prominent in the 1960s for stop-motion animation] and The Empire Strikes Back (ESB) are celebrating milestone anniversaries this year. 2020 marks the 100th birthday of Harryhausen, the special-effects pioneer behind vintage Hollywood spectacles like The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Jason and the Argonauts, as well as the 40th anniversary of the second movie in the Star Wars original trilogy.

But they have more in common than the calendar year: The AT-ATs and Tauntauns that walk through ESB are inspired by Harryhausen’s menagerie of stop-motion creatures, from cyclopses to krakens. “They had character, they had performance and they had purpose,” says Dennis Muren, who parlayed a childhood spent watching Harryhausen’s films into a groundbreaking career as a Star Wars F/X legend. “They were wondrous to look at, and the designs of the shots were dynamic. Ray’s work grabbed you emotionally, because it began with him. I’m the same way: being emotionally connected to the performance and design of a character who, simply put, looks really neat.”

Currently the Senior Visual Effects Supervisor and Creative Director at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Muren first joined George Lucas’s pioneering visual effects studio in 1976, when it was still making and photographing spaceships in a Van Nuys warehouse. After the success of Star Wars (A New Hope), Muren followed ILM to the Bay Area as Lucas planned for a sequel. “It was the hardest film by far,” Muren says of how ESB came together behind the camera. “Everything just got bigger. The spirit of the film was still fun and adventure, but it had more romance, it had more action, the Empire was bigger and the universe was bigger than we thought on the first movie.”

Muren’s role also expanded with ESB as he took point on directing the fleet of miniatures in the film’s iconic opening on the ice planet, Hoth. With the advent of digital technology still many years away, Muren and his team brought the Rebel’s herd of tauntauns and the Empire’s squad of AT-AT walkers to life by hand. And through it all, he followed the example established by Harryhausen.

“I always think of the Cyclops from The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, who comes out of his cave roaring and angry, and his hands are up because he’s ready to grab one of the sailors,” explains Muren, who later won his first Oscar for his work on the film. (He currently has nine statues, the most of any living person.) “That’s what I always strive to put in my work: that there’s a reason for that creature to be there. You’re not just giving the audience an effect: You want them to feel something from it, whether that’s ‘Oh my God, that’s amazing,’ or ‘Oh, that’s really creepy,’ or ‘Wait, that’s impossible!’”

In honor of ESB's 40th anniversary, Muren walked us through the seemingly-impossible task of making the Hoth sequence, and his own close encounter with his F/X hero.

Yahoo "Entertainment": You said that The Empire Strikes Back was the hardest Star Wars film to make. What was the reason for the degree of difficulty?

Dennis Muren: Well, The Phantom Menace may have been equally difficult, because there was a lot of real groundbreaking work on that in terms of getting all the digital stuff to work. But we had two supervisors on that. For Empire, we had just moved up from Los Angeles, and only brought about 12 people up from the 50 in L.A. and had to hire locally just to get the thing done. All of us working on it wanted to top ourselves, and George had already done that with the designs. The number of lands and battles you saw in Empire was at least five times more than you saw in Star Wars. You had an ice planet and a city in the clouds — how are you going to get that to look right?

Doing any kind of compositing over a light-color background is very, very hard. And the whole movie was full of that in addition to your normal space battles. The vision was so big, and we had a couple of years to do it, but it took us so much time to get the fire to do it and the people to do it. We all wanted what George wanted, which was also what the audience wanted: to show you that this universe is so much bigger than what we saw in Star Wars.

Yahoo "Entertainment": What was the most challenging part of the Hoth sequence specifically?

Dennis Muren: The opening tauntaun shot was one of the most difficult things, and the most interesting. The story behind that was that George had brought back this helicopter shot from Norway [where the Hoth exteriors were filmed], and it was about 200 or 300-feet off the ground with the cameras looking straight down. He didn’t know whether if that shot was going to be necessary to the movie, but at the very end, he said, “Yes, it’s necessary to have this shot. Do you think there’s a way you can add a Tauntaun to this?”

There wasn’t! There were no tracking markers on the ground that would have helped us make the stop motion camera map exactly with the moves the helicopter made, and then we could have combined that with an optical printer. But none of that stuff was there. I thought about building a big model, but I didn’t think it would work with the background. George said, “Well, just think about it.” I spent 15 minutes thinking about it, and figured it out in 15 minutes! I learned an amazing lesson from that: There’s usually an answer, there’s always some way that you can fiddle around with what you know to attempt. If I had stopped thinking at 14 minutes and 59 seconds, we wouldn’t have had that shot in the movie.

Yahoo "Entertainment": The tauntauns definitely feel very Harryhausen in their design and behavior. Did their form match what you could accomplish then with stop-motion or did the stop-motion dictate their form?

Dennis Muren: George had the idea for a galloping horse kind of thing, and I think Ralph [McQuarrie] and Joe [Johnston] worked on the design. I was involved in how we were going to create a setting that looked like it was going to be real, and wouldn’t be encumbered by any of the cameras. I don't know how many shots we had of it — maybe 12 or 15 or something like that, and they were some of the last ones we did. There were a couple that George added right at the very end of that. It was like, “We can finally take a breather after two years, but no, there’s one more shot!”

Dennis Muren (behind the camera) filming Suzanne Pasteur (a friend of Lorne Peterson's) on her horse for tauntaun movement reference. (Photo: Lucasfilm)

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Yahoo "Entertainment": I remember connecting to them very strongly as a kid — I always through they’d be fun to ride.

Dennis Muren: That comes from the design and purpose of it. It doesn’t act like an evil creature: It’s a fairly big, bulky thing and it actually looks kind of cute with a horn and steam coming out of its nose. It’s not a creature that could kidnap you or anything — it’s just a beast of burden. That’s true of all the Star Wars movies: The behavior is familiar, so the audience can relate. Even with the designs of the spaceships; I tried to show how they would bank off to fly to another planet or something, like an airplane would do in the air even though there’s not gravity in space and that would never happen. It looks really neat and you can relate to it.

Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) on a tauntaun on the planet Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back. (Photo: Lucasfilm)

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Yahoo "Entertainment": In terms of the AT-AT walkers, that’s a case where you’re bringing character to a non-living thing. There’s behind-the-scenes footage of the ILM team studying elephants for movement reference.

Dennis Muren: When we saw the designs, we thought they were kind of like big animals. We went to an animal park in Dunn, California, and put a bunch of chalk marks on the elephant and had it walk by left to right and right to left with the camera on. That gave us the weight; those things would have weighed thousands of tons, and we had to make it look like they had gravity or else they were just going to look silly — not as powerful and as evil as they're supposed to look. We also shot the elephants in slow motion to make them look even bigger, and observed traits like how far up the knee goes up and how far forward the body travels. Does the foot just lift up? Does it drop back down again? All that stuff was used as a basis so that when we went to animate, we had a body part to do that.

We also had some really good equipment to look at the frames as we were shooting them and make sure the animation was working well. Like now, there's all sorts of stop-motion photographers, and ours wasn’t done like Ray would have done it where you couldn’t tell if you made a mistake and could go back and say, “Did I move this too far?” We were able to compare and say, “Oh yeah, we did move it too far,” and then change it to move to a better place. So it's probably more of a fluid motion than you might have seen before and that was important. Any sort of chatter in the stop-motion looks like the mechanics of the walkers. They're all mechanical anyway, so there's got to be little bumps and grinds in the motors. So that adds to the feeling, you know?

Yahoo "Entertainment": Besides Hoth, what was your favorite sequence to work on?

Dennis Muren: I don’t know — they’re all so different! [Laughs] I really like the asteroid sequence; that might top Hoth a little bit. It was also really difficult, but a lot of fun to do. George wasn’t interested in the beats of the action, but the attitude. It had to have a certain clarity to see what was going on, which was difficult because the asteroids were coming in from any direction. I did a mock-up of that sequence and realized that everything had to be based on the Millennium Falcon blasting through the asteroids. We came up with the idea of having all the asteroids going in one direction, from one side of the screen to the other, and then you could show how the Falcon makes evasive maneuvers.

Yahoo "Entertainment": Did you get a chance to meet Ray Harryhausen before his death in 2013?

Dennis Muren: Oh, yes. I was probably about 14 at the time, and he used to be in the phone book as was almost everybody else in those days in L.A. I called him up, and he was living up in Malibu, so my mom drove me two hours up to his house, and I met him and his wife. They were just the nicest couple in the world. They invited me in for an hour or two, and we kept in touch. As I got older, I went back to his garage and showed him my home movies, and he showed me some of his early home movies. He was a kindred soul. He later moved to England, so I didn’t see him very often after that.

Special effects legend Ray Harryhausen working on a model for a Clash of the Titans character. (Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection)

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Yahoo "Entertainment": Did he ever visit you while you were making Star Wars or Empire?

Dennis Muren: No, but I did see him while I was working on Dragonslayer. We were at the same studio in England, and he was making Clash of the Titans. I think I brought him by to show him the dragon, and the rear-projection work. We were working on the next step beyond stop-motion, which was the combination of animation with a motion-controlled motorized camera. He didn’t entirely relate to that, and I can understand why: It could take five days if you’re lucky to get a full shot. At the end of the day, [his method] didn’t have quite the realism that ours ended up having, but he also had the energy to just get in there and grab the figure with his hand and spend the next eight hour animating it.

After Empire and things like the Tauntaun sequence especially, I realized that we needed to get away from stop motion and try and look for something else. I would say that we didn't get the tauntaun to move quite as much as we wanted to, and there were some shots that we didn’t quite finish. But George was utterly accommodating about everything, and there was a feeling of real accomplishment when it was all over. Empire just opened everything up: You can see there’s a lot more stories you can tell, and they’re still going on.